Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Study of Relationship Between Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer and Knowledge and Attitude of Health Workers Toward Pap Smear in Isfahan and Its Comparison with Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in the female reproductive system. Awareness of cervical cancer diagnosis, risk factors and screening can lead to rapid treatment and their well-being. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1900 female health workers in Isfahan province and 230 similar women in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data about knowledge and attitude. Numerical outcomes were analyzed using ANOVA and linear regression methods and categorical outcomes were applied to the chisquared test. Data were analyzed at 5% significant level using SPSS 23. Results: The result of linear regression showed that there was a significant difference in the mean score of knowledge about Pap smear in both provinces (P = 0.001). There was a significant relationship between the mean scores of knowledge about Pap smear in Isfahan province and marriage at an early age (P = 0.001), smoking (P = 0.005) and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province with cervical ulcer (P = 0.03). In addition, there was a significant difference in the mean score of attitude toward Pap smear between both provinces (P = 0.001) and there was a significant relationship between the mean scores attitude toward Pap smear in Isfahan province and marriage at an early age (P = 0.001), cervical ulcer (P = 0.002), and smoking (P = 0.001) and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province with genital infection (P = 0.012) increase the number of pregnancies (P = 0.002). Conclusions: Considering the importance of knowledge and attitude of female health worker in both provinces, it is necessary to carry out educational programs especially in the provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari.
The influence of wages on public officials ’ corruptibility : a laboratory investigation

The influence of wages on public officials’ corruptibility: a laboratory investigation by Roel van Veldhuizen* Previous studies have proposed a link between corruption and wages in the public sector. The present paper investigates this link using a laboratory experiment. In the experiment, public officials have the opportunity to accept a bribe and can then decide between a neutral and a corrupt action. The corrupt action benefits the briber but poses a large negative externality on a charity. The results show that increasing public officials’ wages greatly reduces their corruptibility. In particular, low-wage public officials accept 91% of bribes on average, whereas high-wage public officials accept 38%. Moreover, high-wage public officials are less likely to choose the corrupt option. Additionally, the results suggest that a positive monitoring rate may be necessary for these effects to arise.
Metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors and Schottky diodes studied with scanning microwave microscopy at 18 GHz

We measured the DC and RF impedance characteristics of micrometric metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors and Schottky diodes using scanning microwave microscopy (SMM). The SMM consisting of an atomic force microscopy (AFM) interfaced with a vector network analyser (VNA) was used to measure the reflection S11 coefficient of the metallic MOS and Schottky contact pads at 18 GHz as a function of the tip bias voltage. By controlling the SMM biasing conditions, the AFM tip was used to bias the Schottky contacts between reverse and forward mode. In reverse bias direction, the Schottky contacts showed mostly a change in the imaginary part of the admittance while in forward bias direction the change was mostly in the real part of the admittance. Reference MOS capacitors which are next to the Schottky diodes on the same sample were used to calibrate the SMM S11 data and convert it into capacitance values. Calibrated capacitance between 1–10 fF and 1/C2 spectroscopy curves were acquired on the different Schottky diodes as a function of the DC bias voltage following a linear behavior. Additionally, measurements were done directly with the AFM-tip in contact with the silicon substrate forming a nanoscale Schottky contact. Similar capacitance-voltage curves were obtained but with smaller values (30–300 aF) due to the corresponding smaller AFM-tip diameter. Calibrated capacitance images of both the MOS and Schottky contacts were acquired with nanoscale resolution at different tip-bias voltages.
E-government adoption in Qatar: An investigation of the citizens' perspective

Electronic government (e-government) initiatives are in their early stages in many developing countries and faced with various issues pertaining to their implementation, adoption and diffusion. Like many other developing countries, the e-government initiative in the state of Qatar has faced a number of challenges since its inception in 2000. Using a survey based study this paper describes citizens‟ behavioural intention and adoption in terms of applying and utilising the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of technology (UTAUT) model to explore the adoption and diffusion of e-government services in the state of Qatar. A regression analysis was conducted to examine the influence of e-government adoption factors and the empirical data revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influences determine citizens‟ behavioural intention towards e-government. Moreover, facilitating conditions and behavioural intention were found to determine citizens‟ use of e-government services in the state of Qatar. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
Analysis of Expression and Localization of TLR-2 by Immunofluorescent Technique in Healthy and Inflammed Oral Tissues.

INTRODUCTION Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are an important component of immune system. Among them, TLR-2 plays a dominant role in the oral tissues in initiating inflammation in chronic periodontitis. Not many studies have been done on quantitative expression of TLR-2 by using immunofluorescent techniques (IFT) in oral tissues. In this study, the expression and localisation of TLR-2 were detected in gingival tissues of chronic periodontitis patients and healthy individuals. MATERIAL AND METHODS Immuno Fluorescent Technique (IFT) was used for the expression and localization of TLR-2 in gingival tissue samples from 25 chronic periodontitis patients and from 25 healthy controls. Haematoxylin and Eosin staining was also done for all the samples to determine the histological characteristics of the gingival tissue samples. RESULT Both healthy and periodontitis gingival tissues expressed TLR-2. We found that the expression level of TLR-2 was higher in all the periodontitis patients than in healthy individuals. We also found out that the expression of TLR-2 was higher in the epithelial cells than in the connective tissue cells. CONCLUSION These data suggest a definite involvement of TLR-2 in initiating an inflammatory response in periodontal tissues. More studies are required to define the mechanisms and expression levels of TLR-2 in oral health and diseases.
A refined statistical cloud closure using double-Gaussian probability density functions

Abstract. We introduce a probability density function (PDF)-based scheme to parameterize cloud fraction, average liquid water and liquid water flux in large-scale models, that is developed from and tested against large-eddy simulations and observational data. Because the tails of the PDFs are crucial for an appropriate parameterization of cloud properties, we use a double-Gaussian distribution that is able to represent the observed, skewed PDFs properly. Introducing two closure equations, the resulting parameterization relies on the first three moments of the subgrid variability of temperature and moisture as input parameters. The parameterization is found to be superior to a single-Gaussian approach in diagnosing the cloud fraction and average liquid water profiles. A priori testing also suggests improved accuracy compared to existing double-Gaussian closures. Furthermore, we find that the error of the new parameterization is smallest for a horizontal resolution of about 5–20 km and also depends on the appearance of mesoscale structures that are accompanied by higher rain rates. In combination with simple autoconversion schemes that only depend on the liquid water, the error introduced by the new parameterization is orders of magnitude smaller than the difference between various autoconversion schemes. For the liquid water flux, we introduce a parameterization that is depending on the skewness of the subgrid variability of temperature and moisture and that reproduces the profiles of the liquid water flux well.
Value of ICD-9-Coded Chief Complaints for Detection of Epidemics

To assess the value of ICD-9 coded chief complaints for early detection of epidemics, we measured sensitivity, positive predictive value, and timeliness of Influenza detection using a respiratory set (RS) of ICD-9 codes and an Influenza set (IS). We also measured inherent timeliness of these data using the cross-correlation function. We found that, for a one-year period, the detectors had sensitivity of 100% (1/1 epidemic) and positive predictive values of 50% (1/2) for RS and 25% (1/4) for IS. The timeliness of detection using ICD-9 coded chief complaints was one week earlier than the detection using Pneumonia and Influenza deaths (the gold standard). The inherent timeliness of ICD-9 data measured by the cross-correlation function was two weeks earlier than the gold standard.
Enhancing networking protocols in widely deployed devices

Standardization of networking protocols enables interoperability and reduces cost, but is generally a slow process. As a result, there are many cases in which a networking protocol and the devices that implement it are not able to satisfy emerging user requirements. In such cases, the networking protocol falls short of current user requirements but has been too widely deployed to make a redesign sufficiently timely or cost-effective. In this dissertation, we advocate an approach to solving this problem that leaves deployed devices unmodified, by treating them as a black box. Rather, we show that for certain network devices, it may be sufficient to change the behavior of the device by “externally controlling” it, e.g., from software or another device, such that it solves the problem at hand. We demonstrate the effectiveness of such a black box approach for several challenging problems from two different areas: two problems from 802.11 wireless networking and one problem from inter-domain routing. In the first problem, we discuss the increasingly popular use of VoIP applications in the 802.11 protocol. Our experimental results show that 802.11 is ill-designed to carry VoIP traffic: an 802.11 hotspot faced with even a moderate number of VoIP calls in combination with data traffic may severely degrade the performance of both. The second problem, also from the area of 802.11, addresses unfairness of 802.11 in the face of emerging and potentially selfish upload-oriented applications. The third problem is from the area of inter-domain routing. We address a modern ISP’s requirement for detailed control over routing to meet traffic engineering and security goals and to support applications such as VoIP. We show that the current inter-domain routing protocol, BGP, lacks the flexibility needed to implement the required degree of route control. We have implemented solutions to these problems that follow a black box approach and evaluated their effectiveness in combination with commercial networking devices. Our evaluation demonstrates that enhancing deployed networking protocols using a black box approach can be effective and efficient, yet portable and backward compatible with legacy devices.
2D-DIGE as a strategy to identify serum protein biomarkers to monitor pharmacological efficacy in dopamine-dictated states of Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia

Objectives Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia are clinical scenarios that occur due to dopaminergic deficit and hyperactivity in the midbrain, respectively. Current pharmacological interventions for these two diseases therefore aim to restore normal dopamine levels in the midbrain. But during therapy, there is a overshooting of dopamine concentrations that result in hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease patients and extra-pyramidal symptoms in schizophrenic patients. This causes a lot of inconvenience to the patents and the clinicians. There are no tests currently available to monitor drug efficacy in these two neuropsychiatric diseases. Materials and methods Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenic naïve patients were recruited. Serum proteins isolated from these two clinical phenotypes were labeled with fluorescent cyanine dyes and analyzed by two-dimensional difference in gel electrophoresis proteomic experiment. Differentially expressed spots that had consistent expression pattern across five sets of biological replicate gels were trypsin digested and subjected to mass spectrometric analysis for protein identification. Validation experiments were done for the identified proteins using antibody-based assay on a patient cohort that included naïve, treated, and those who had side effects. Results Serum α- and β-globin chains were identified as differentially expressed proteins having threefold higher expressions in Parkinson’s patients as compared to schizophrenia. Interestingly, concentrations of these two proteins had an inverse correlation across clinical phenotypes in the dopaminergic spectrum. RBC contamination as a source for these proteins was ruled out. Conclusion There is a clear association of free serum globin with dopaminergic clinical states. This lays a platform for protein biomarker–based monitoring of pharmacological efficacy in Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia.
The impact of intermittent versus continuous exposure to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor on selection of EGFR T790M-mutant drug-resistant clones in a lung cancer cell line carrying activating EGFR mutation

Drug-resistant cell lines are essential tools for investigating the mechanisms of resistance to molecular-targeted anti-cancer drugs. However, little is known about how to establish clinically relevant drug-resistant cell lines. Our study examined the impact of a drug-free period on the establishment of a cell line with clinically relevant resistance to molecular-targeted drugs. We used PC9 cells, a lung cancer cell line carrying EGFR mutation, because this is a validated target for EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). PC9 cells were intermittently or continuously exposed to increasing concentrations of gefitinib (0.01 μM to 1.0 μM) and the emergence of the most common acquired resistance mutation in EGFR, T790M, was determined. T790M was detected at a 25-fold lower drug concentration in cells continuously exposed to gefitinib (PC9/GRc) than in cells intermittently exposed to gefitinib (PC9/GRi) (0.04 μM vs 1.0 μM, respectively). The mutation frequencies at those drug concentrations were 19.8% and 8.0% in PC9/GRc and PC9/GRi cells, respectively. After drug-free culture for 8 weeks, resistance to gefitinib decreased in the PC9/GRi cells but not in the PC9/GRc cells. In the PC9/GRc cells, the frequency of the T790M mutation was consistently about 20% from 0.04 μM to 1.0 μM of gefitinib. In the PC9/GRc cells, the T790M mutation was detected in all single-cell clones, at frequencies ranging from 7.0% to 37.0%, with a median of 19.5% (95% confidence interval, 17.3%–20.9%). In conclusion, compared with intermittent drug exposure, continuous exposure might select better minor drug-resistant clones when creating cell lines resistant to molecular-targeted drugs.
THE EFFECT OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECT PERFORMANCE

This study empirically examines the extent to which Total Quality Management (TQM) and project performance are correlated and the effects of TQM on project performance. In this study, a TQM framework is developed according to a comprehensive literature review. This framework demonstrates the relationship between TQM and construction project performance through examining the effects of nine TQM constructs on three element levels of project performance. The proposed model and hypotheses were tested by using data collected from Yemen construction firms. The survey covered 40 companies chosen from construction sector (30%of sample size). 29 questionnaires were returned. The response rate was 72.5 %, normal for such research). The results of this aforementioned model support the proposed hypothesis (TQM has positive effects on teamwork satisfaction, quality of construction project implementation, client satisfaction, and construction project performance. Finally, this research culminates with TQM process for improving construction project performance, a discussion and the general conclusions are extracted in the light of the survey findings. The results finding are expected to provide useful information for future research directions especially as an indicator for the development of a suitable TQM framework for the construction firms.
PCR artifact in testing for homologous recombination in genomic editing in zebrafish

We report a PCR-induced artifact in testing for homologous recombination in zebrafish. We attempted to replace the lnx2a gene with a donor cassette, mediated by a TALEN induced double stranded cut. The donor construct was flanked with homology arms of about 1 kb at the 5’ and 3’ ends. Injected embryos (G0) were raised and outcrossed to wild type fish. A fraction of the progeny appeared to have undergone the desired homologous recombination, as tested by PCR using primer pairs extending from genomic DNA outside the homology region to a site within the donor cassette. However, Southern blots revealed that no recombination had taken place. We conclude that recombination happened during PCR in vitro between the donor integrated elsewhere in the genome and the lnx2a locus, as suggested by earlier work [1]. We conclude that PCR alone may be insufficient to verify homologous recombination in genome editing experiments in zebrafish.
Corporate social responsibility practice of Malaysian public listed government-linked companies: A dimensional analysis

This paper examines the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of the Malaysian public-listed government-linked companies (GLCs) using a dimensional analysis. Four dimensions of CSR activities, namely community, employees, environment and governance, are investigated to study the latest CSR practice of GLCs in year 2016. Each dimension is divided into three subcat-egories to further examine the performance of GLCs on a particular CSR area. This is the first paper in Malaysia which uses CSR ratings (obtained from CSRHub database) to proxy for CSR practice. None of the past literature has been found to adopt this approach. The findings show that Malaysian public-listed GLCs performed better in community, employees and environment dimensions, whilst tend to underperform in governance dimension.
Recent Hadley cell expansion: The role of internal atmospheric variability in reconciling modeled and observed trends

Several studies have reported that global climate models underestimate the observed trend in tropical expansion, with the implication that such models are missing key processes of the climate system. We show here that integrations of a chemistry‐climate model forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs), greenhouse gases, and ozone‐depleting substances can produce 1980 to 2009 expansion trends comparable to those found in most reanalyses data products. Correct representation of the SSTs changes is important for the Northern Hemisphere, while correct representation of stratospheric ozone changes is important for the Southern Hemisphere. The ensemble mean trend (which captures only the forced response) is nearly always much weaker than trends in reanalyses. This suggests that a large fraction of the recently observed changes may, in fact, be a consequence of internal atmospheric variability and not a response of the climate system to anthropogenic forcings.
Factors Affecting the Intention to Adopt M-Learning

Over the recent years, emerging technological applications have been used for making student learning more effective and interactive. M-Learning has been one such technological initiative which has shown promising benefits in the higher education context. Even though the importance of mobile learning has been researched by many, the factors influencing mobile learning adoption intention has not been addressed sufficiently, particularly in the Sri Lankan context. Hence, the purpose of this paper was to present a conceptual model to examine the factors influencing the intention to adopt mobile learning by the students engaged in higher education. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this study extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) with mobile self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation to use mobile devices and the system quality of the m-Learning system. The model describes how the aforementioned factors influence the higher education students’ intention to adopt m-Learning via survey data collected from 151 postgraduate students. The findings suggest that the model explained the factors influencing the intention to adopt m-Learning among students in higher education. In detail, the mobile self -efficacy, system quality and intrinsic motivation significantly influenced the intention to adopt m-Learning. The results could be utilized for increasing the adoption of m-Learning practices and developing mobile applications useful for teaching and learning purposes. This study has incorporated three independent constructs in extending the TAM model; namely, system quality, mobile self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. These were derived from the IS Success theory, Self-efficacy theory and Self-determination theory respectively. Accordingly, this study intends to address the theoretical gap in the higher education context pertaining to the adoption of mobile learning. Since Mobile Self-Efficacy and System Quality were the most significant factors that affect the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, these factors should be given prominence when developing mobile enabled Learning Management Systems within institutions.
33.8 GHz CCS Survey of Molecular Cores in Dark Clouds

We have conducted a survey of the CCS JN = 32-21 line toward 11 dark clouds and star-forming regions at 30″ spatial resolution and 0.054 km s-1 velocity resolution. CCS was detected only in quiescent clouds, not in active star-forming regions. The CCS distribution shows remarkable clumpy structure, and 25 clumps are identified in seven clouds. Seven clumps with extremely narrow nonthermal line widths (<0.1 km s-1) are among the most quiescent clumps ever found. The CCS clumps tend to exist around the higher density regions traced by NH3 emission or submillimeter continuum sources, and the distribution is not spherically symmetric. Variation of the CCS abundance was suggested as an indicator of the evolutionary status of star formation. However, we can only find a weak correlation between N(CCS) and n. The velocity distributions of CCS clouds reveal that a systematic velocity pattern generally exists. The most striking feature in our data is a ring structure in the position-velocity diagram of L1544 with an well-resolved inner hole of 0.04 pc × 0.13 km s-1 and an outer boundary of 0.16 pc × 0.55 km s-1. This position-velocity structure clearly indicates an edge-on disk or ring geometry, and it can be interpreted as a collapsing disk with an infall velocity ≳0.1 km s-1 and a rotational velocity less than our velocity resolution. Nonthermal line width distribution is generally coherent in CCS clouds, which could be evidence for the termination of Larson's Law at small scales, ∼0.1 pc.