Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Difficult Task of Evaluating MDG-4

Background. The fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG-4) proposed to reduce under-5 mortality rates (U5MR) by two thirds within 25 years. The article discusses changes in U5MR for 35 sub-Saharan African countries, for which DHS surveys are available. Methods. Analysis of DHS data, reconstruction of time series of U5MR, and comparison with other series. Findings. Few countries were able to achieve MDG-4 from 1985 to 2010, and the few who did seem to have achieved the goal apparently either because of abnormally high baseline or a surprisingly low endpoint. If all countries experienced significant mortality decline, only a minority had a steady decline, and many had periods of rising and falling mortality, for a variety of reasons. Interpretation. Discussion focuses on data quality, on methods for estimating levels and trends in under-5 mortality, and on the circumstances explaining rises and falls in mortality. MDG-4 appeared overambitious for Africa, given high mortality levels, political instability, economic crises, and above all emerging diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS. The last 10 years from 2000 to 2010 appeared as the most favorable period since 1960 in African countries, with the exception of countries with widespread HIV/AIDS.
Identification and characterization of the lipid transport system in the tarantula Grammostola rosea.

Lipids due to its hydrophobic nature are transported in the hemolymph mainly by lipoproteic fractions. In the present work we studied the lipoproteic fractions present in the hemolymph of the spider Grammostola rosea. Through ultracentrifugation two lipoproteic fractions are isolated, one of high density named Gr-HDL (δ = 1.13 - 1.15 g/ml) and the other of very high density called Gr-VHDL (δ = 1.24 - 1.27 g/ml) Gr-VHDL in hemolymph is majority in relation to Gr-HDL. In this sense Gr-VHDL fraction has 98.6% of hemolymphatic proteins, and 89.3% of lipids presents in the hemolymph. Both lipoproteic fractions possess phospholipids such as majority lipids (phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine) and 18:1, 16:0, 18:2 and 18:0 as the major fatty acids. In order to confirm the role played by lipoproteic fractions in vitro assays with different 14C-lipid were performed. It was observed that Gr-VHDL takes up mainly free fatty acids and triacylglycerols unlike that observed for Gr-HDL in relation to phosphatidylcholine. Through electrophoresis it was observed that Gr-VHDL has three proteins: a predominant band of 68 kDa and two others of 99 and 121 kDa. Gr-HDL displayed a predominant band of 93 kDa, and other minority of 249 kDa. In conclusion, this study reports lipid characterization of the lipoproteic fractions present in the hemolymph of the tarantula, G. rosea. The role of each lipoproteic fraction in relation to lipid uptake is sustained by in vitro assays. Similarities and differences are found when it is compared to lipoproteins of only the three species of spiders studied.
Instructors' perceptions of their own effectiveness

The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of college instructors regarding the role of credibility and nonverbal immediacy in teacher’s effective behavior in the classroom. It seeks to understand instructors’ perceptions of the importance of nonverbal immediacy and its impact on their credibility. A qualitative method was used to examine the perceptions of instructors. A sample table and two graphs provide numeric indicators to illustrate the study’s results. Participants were selected based on a convenience sampling of twelve instructors from a communication department at a mid-sized Midwestern university. Although the sample is one of convenience, efforts were made to ensure that the twelve instructors chosen represented a variety of variables including sex, years teaching, and classes taught. This qualitative study explores how sex, experience, content area, and culture play significant roles in forming instructors’ perceptions of the importance of nonverbal immediacy and its impact on their credibility. As this study found, the role of sex comes first among other roles and explains the big differences between male and female instructors in perceiving teaching effectiveness through the role of credibility and nonverbal immediacy. INSTRUCTORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR OWN EFFECTIVENESS: THE ROLE OF CREDIBILITY AND NONVERBAL IMMEDIACY A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Abdullah S. Al-Asmari University of Northern Iowa
When Does Narcissistic Leadership Become Problematic? Dick Fuld at Lehman Brothers

Driven by intense needs for power and prestige, narcissists all too frequently are to be found in leadership positions. Drawing on the dichotomy outlined in the literature that some narcissistic leaders are “constructive” (helpful) whereas others are “reactive” (unhelpful) to their organizations, I offer a new approach by reframing the debate and arguing that, at different times, a single individual may be both constructive and reactive. I draw on concepts from psychoanalysis in this formulation. I also argue that a downturn in the environment is the key factor that may lever a constructive narcissistic leader to become reactive. I use the example of Dick Fuld—whose leadership at Lehman Brothers was at the eye of the 2008 credit crisis storm—to illustrate this. A key implication is that constructive narcissistic leaders may be incubating problems that only become manifest at a later stage.
Discrete analogues in harmonic analysis: Spherical averages

In this paper we prove an analogue in the discrete setting of d ,o fthe spherical maximal theorem for d . The methods used are two-fold: the application of certain “sampling” techniques, and ideas arising in the study of the number of representations of an integer as a sum of d squares, in particular, the “circle method”. The results we obtained are by necessity limited to d ≥ 5, and moreover the range of p for the L p estimates differs from its analogue in d .
Vulnerability for functional somatic disorders: A contemporary psychodynamic approach

Patients with functional somatic disorders (FSD) are markedly heterogeneous with regard to the factors contributing to their illness, their symptoms, and treatment response. In this article, we present a contemporary psychodynamic approach to the conceptualization and treatment of these patients based on attachment and mentalization theory. Extant research is reviewed that suggests a key role for attachment history and mentalization in determining stress and affect regulation, and immune and pain-regulating systems. We focus more specifically on the high interpersonal and metabolic costs associated with the excessive use of insecure secondary attachment strategies in response to stress, and the associated impairments in (embodied) mentalization in patients, both as a cause and consequence of FSD. Finally, a new brief psychodynamic intervention for patients with functional somatic complaints is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
The 'Visual Depiction Effect' in Advertising: Facilitating Embodied Mental Simulation Through Product Orientation

This research demonstrates that visual product depictions within advertisements, such as the subtle manipulation of orienting a product toward a participant’s dominant hand, facilitate mental simulation that evokes motor responses. We propose that viewing an object can lead to similar behavioral consequences as interacting with the object since our minds mentally simulate the experience. Four studies show that visually depicting a product that facilitates more (vs. less) embodied mental simulation results in heightened purchase intentions. The studies support our proposed embodied mental simulation account. For instance, occupying the perceptual resources required for embodied mental simulation attenuates the impact of visual product depiction on purchase intentions. For negatively valenced products, facilitation of embodied mental simulation decreases purchase intentions.
Plant sterol-enriched soy milk consumption modulates 5-lipoxygenase, 12-lipoxygenase, and myeloperoxidase activities in healthy adults – a randomized-controlled trial

Abstract A randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study was conducted to simultaneously measure the effects, after 3-h and 4-week daily exposure to plant sterols-enriched food product, on inflammation, oxidative status, 5-lipoxygenase, 12-lipoxygenase, and myeloperoxidase activities in healthy adults. Eighteen healthy participants (67% female, 35.3 (mean) ± 9.5 (SD) years, mean body mass index 22.8 kg m−2) received two soy milk (20g) treatments daily: placebo and one containing 2.0 g free plant sterols equivalent of their palmitates (β-sitosterol, 55%; campesterol, 29%; stigmasterol, 23%). F2-isoprostanes, leukotriene B4, sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol concentrations were measured in the blood plasma and urine, using stable isotope-labeled gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. High-sensitivity c-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α, and lipoxin A4 concentrations in blood serum were measured using commercially available enzyme immunoassays. Myeloperoxidase activity, serum lipid hydroperoxides, plasma and urinary F2-isoprostanes, plasma and urinary leukotriene B4, and plasma high-sensitivity c-reactive protein concentrations were significantly reduced, while circulating lipoxin A4 concentrations were significantly elevated after 4-week plant sterols treatment. Plant sterols treatment decreased plasma leukotriene B4 and increased plasma lipoxin A4 concentrations acutely. Total plant sterols, β-sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol concentrations were significantly elevated after 4-week treatments compared with the pre-treatment concentrations. Our results suggest that dietary plant sterols, in the combination used, can alleviate lipid peroxidation and inflammatory events in vivo. These effects are possibly exerted via the modulation of myeloperoxidase, 5-lipoxygenase, and 12-lipoxygenase activities.
Cultural Influences on Service Quality Expectations

Service quality has been conceptualized as the difference between perceived service performance and expected service level. The authors study the effect of consumers' cultural orientation on their service quality expectations. Using the Hofstede dimensions of culture operationalized at the individual level and the dimensions of service quality from the SERVQUAL scale, they develop and test hypotheses relating dimensions of culture with overall service expectations and dimensions of those expectations. Results show that consumers low on power distance have high overall service quality expectations and expect responsive and reliable service. Individualistic consumers have high overall service quality expectations and expect empathy and assurance from the service provider Consumers high on uncertainty avoidance and short-termoriented consumers have high overall service quality expectations.
Variational Bayesian Inference Algorithms for Infinite Relational Model of Network Data

Network data show the relationship among one kind of objects, such as social networks and hyperlinks on the Web. Many statistical models have been proposed for analyzing these data. For modeling cluster structures of networks, the infinite relational model (IRM) was proposed as a Bayesian nonparametric extension of the stochastic block model. In this brief, we derive the inference algorithms for the IRM of network data based on the variational Bayesian (VB) inference methods. After showing the standard VB inference, we derive the collapsed VB (CVB) inference and its variant called the zeroth-order CVB inference. We compared the performances of the inference algorithms using six real network datasets. The CVB inference outperformed the VB inference in most of the datasets, and the differences were especially larger in dense networks.
Tourism, faith and politics in the Holy Land: an ideological analysis of evangelical pilgrimage

This article aims to enhance the discussion of the role of ideology in the development of tourism practices through a closer examination of the case of Christian pilgrimage. The analysis focuses on the theo-political ideology of Christian Zionism and its roles and manifestations in the context of evangelical pilgrimages to Israel. Findings suggest that ideological dynamics within the development of these tours can be discussed by distinguishing between four tourism actors, namely, ideological organizations, tour organizers, Israeli officials, and the tourists. We suggest that these actors can be differentiated from each other in accordance with their ideological roles and orientations. Additionally, by demonstrating the similar utilization of pilgrimage by theo-political opponents of Christian Zionism, such as Sabeel and FOSNA, this article illustrates how pilgrimage to the Holy Land has become an arena for competition between these two rival ideologies within the Evangelical movement. The article concludes with a discussion on the role of pilgrimages to Israel as a platform through which theo-political ideologies are manifested, distributed, utilized, and consumed.
Robust Multidimensional Scaling for Cognitive Radio Network Localization

Localization of primary users (PUs) and secondary users (SUs) is one of the essential features of cognitive radio networks (CRNs). Given that there is no communication between PUs and SUs, localization of the whole network is a challenging task. In this paper, we propose a two-stage localization algorithm that combines multidimensional scaling (MDS) and Procrustes analysis for a CRN with proximity information. In the proposed algorithm, a hybrid-connectivity-and-estimated-distance-based strategy is introduced to get maximum benefit from the information available in the network. Simulations are included to compare the proposed algorithm with weighted centroid localization (WCL) in terms of the root-mean-square-error (RMSE) performance, as well as the Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for CRN localization. It is proved that the proposed algorithm outperforms the WCL solutions for the CRN localization problem.
Cystic parathyroid lesions: functional and nonfunctional parathyroid cysts.

HYPOTHESIS Functional parathyroid cysts (FPCs) and nonfunctional parathyroid cysts (NPCs) are 2 distinct clinical and histologic entities. DESIGN Review of prospective clinical database records. SETTING Tertiary academic center. PATIENTS Patients enrolled in a prospective surgical database between January 1, 1990, and May 31, 2007. INTERVENTION Cervical exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism or cervical mass. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Age, sex, morbidity, imaging results, pathologic findings, cyst characteristics (size, location, and fluid), and perioperative calcium and parathyroid hormone levels. RESULTS Cystic parathyroid lesions were found in 48 of 1769 patients (3%) studied. Functional parathyroid cysts were more common than NPCs, arising in 41 of 48 patients (85%), and showed no predisposition for sex or embryologic origin. Single-photon emission computed tomographic imaging failed to localize FPCs in 12 of 37 patients (32%). The fluid in FPCs was clear or colorless in 9 of 15 characterized specimens (60%). Rupture of cystic parathyroid lesions during resection was associated with prolonged elevation of intraoperative parathyroid hormone levels (P =.045). Cystic parathyroid lesions weighing 4 g or more were associated with the development of postoperative symptomatic hypocalcemia (P =.03). Functional parathyroid cysts occurred exclusively in adenomas with cystic change, whereas NPCs (with 1 exception) were without associated adenoma on final histologic examination. CONCLUSIONS Cystic parathyroid lesions often contain turbid or colored fluid, and FPCs are more common than NPCs. Neck cysts of uncertain origin should be diagnostically aspirated for parathyroid hormone content. During resection, cyst rupture should be avoided, and patients with large cysts should be managed expectantly to forestall the development of symptomatic hypocalcemia. Functional parathyroid cysts and NPCs are likely 2 separate clinical and histologic entities.
The Role of the Immune System in Huntington's Disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is characterized by a progressive course of disease until death 15–20 years after the first symptoms occur and is caused by a mutation with expanded CAG repeats in the huntingtin (htt) protein. Mutant htt (mhtt) in the striatum is assumed to be the main reason for neurodegeneration. Knowledge about pathophysiology has rapidly improved discussing influences of excitotoxicity, mitochondrial damage, free radicals, and inflammatory mechanisms. Both innate and adaptive immune systems may play an important role in HD. Activation of microglia with expression of proinflammatory cytokines, impaired migration of macrophages, and deposition of complement factors in the striatum indicate an activation of the innate immune system. As part of the adaptive immune system, dendritic cells (DCs) prime T-cell responses secreting inflammatory mediators. In HD, DCs may contain mhtt which brings the adaptive immune system into the focus of interest. These data underline an increasing interest in the peripheral immune system for pathomechanisms of HD. It is still unclear if neuroinflammation is a reactive process or if there is an active influence on disease progression. Further understanding the influence of inflammation in HD using mouse models may open various avenues for promising therapeutic approaches aiming at slowing disease progression or forestalling onset of disease.
Epidemiology of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Diabetic Foot Infections in a Large Academic Hospital: Implications for Antimicrobial Stewardship

Introduction Diabetic foot infections (DFIs) are the leading cause of non-traumatic lower extremity amputations in the United States. Antimicrobials active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are recommended in patients with associated risk factors; however, limited data exist to support these recommendations. Due to the changing epidemiology of MRSA, and the consequences of unnecessary antibiotic therapy, guidance regarding the necessity of empirical MRSA coverage in DFIs is needed. We sought to 1) describe the prevalence of MRSA DFIs at our institution and compare to the proportion of patients who receive MRSA antibiotic coverage and 2) identify risk factors for MRSA DFI. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of all adult, culture-positive DFI patients managed at University Hospital, San Antonio, TX between January 1, 2010 and September 1, 2014. Patient eligibility included a principal ICD-9-CM discharge diagnosis code for foot infection and a secondary diagnosis of diabetes. The primary outcome was MRSA identified in the wound culture. Independent variables assessed included patient demographics, comorbidities, prior hospitalization, DFI therapies, prior antibiotics, prior MRSA infection, and laboratory values. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for MRSA DFI. Results Overall, 318 patients met inclusion criteria. Patients were predominantly Hispanic (79%) and male (69%). Common comorbidities included hypertension (76%), dyslipidemia (52%), and obesity (49%). S. aureus was present in 46% of culture-positive DFIs (MRSA, 15%). A total of 273 patients (86%) received MRSA antibiotic coverage, resulting in 71% unnecessary use. Male gender (OR 3.09, 95% CI 1.37–7.99) and bone involvement (OR 1.93, 1.00–3.78) were found to be independent risk factors for MRSA DFI. Conclusions Although MRSA was the causative pathogen in a small number of DFI, antibiotic coverage targeted against MRSA was unnecessarily high.
Intracranial EEG study of brain structures affected by internal carotid injection of amobarbital

Hippocampal function, considered critical in memory processing, is supposedly tested in the intracarotid sodium amobarbital (ISA) procedure; however, since the hippocampus is not completely irrigated by the internal carotid artery, some believe the procedure may be invalid for memory testing. We quantified delta activity in intracerebral EEGs during ISA tests. There was increased delta in ipsilateral structures as follows: amygdala (6.4 minutes), anterior hippocampus (7.2), middle hippocampus (7.4), temporal neocortex (9.1), frontal lobe (8.4), central/parietal area (11.0), and occipital lobe (9.7). Contralateral structures usually (>64%) showed increased delta lasting 4 to 5 minutes. The ipsilateral hippocampus had delta waves in over 90% of injections. We conclude that the hippocampus is clearly affected by the ISA injection. We argue that the slow waves may not be caused by a direct effect of the drug, but rather by a functional deafferentation due to the profound inactivation of structures surrounding the hippocampus. Similarly, slow waves contralateral to injection may be caused by sudden removal of neuronal input from the regions receiving the amobarbital.
Dynamic modeling of renal blood flow in Dahl hypertensive and normotensive rats

A method is proposed in this paper which allows characterization of renal autoregulatory dynamics and efficiency using quantitative mathematical methods. Based on data from rat experiments, where arterial blood pressure and renal blood flow are measured, a quantitative model for renal blood flow dynamics is constructed. The mathematical structure for the dynamics is chosen as a "grey-box model," i.e. the model structure is inspired from physiology, but the actual parameters is found by numerical methods. Based on a number of experiments, features are extracted from the estimated parameters, which describe myogenic responses and tubuloglomerular feedback responses separately. The method is applied to data from normo- and hypertensive Dahl rats, and a discriminator that separates data from normotensive Dahl R rats and hypertensive Dahl S rats is constructed.