Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Burden of Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Pregnant Women and Infants Under 6 Months in Mongolia: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background Pregnant women and infants under 6 months are at risk of influenza-related complications. Limited information exists on their community burden of respiratory viruses. Methods and Findings This prospective, observational open cohort study was conducted in Baganuur district, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia during 2013/14 and 2014/15 influenza seasons. Influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (sARI) were identified by follow-up calls twice a week. For those identified, influenza and respiratory syncytical virus (RSV) were tested by point-of-care test kits. We calculated overall and stratified (by trimester or age group) incidence rates (IR) and used Cox proportional hazard regression for risk factor analyses. Among 1260 unvaccinated pregnant women enrolled, overall IRs for ILI, sARI and influenza A were 11.8 (95% confidence interval (C.I):11.2–12.4), 0.1 (95%C.I:0.0–0.4), and 1.7 (95%C.I:1.5–1.9) per 1,000person-days, respectively. One sARI case was influenza A positive. IRs and adjusted hazard ratios (Adj.HR) for ILI and influenza A were lowest in the third trimester. Those with co-morbidity were 1.4 times more likely to develop ILI [Adj.HR:1.4 (95%C.I:1.1–1.9)]. Among 1304 infants enrolled, overall ILI and sARI IRs were 15.2 (95%C.I:14.5–15.8) and 20.5 (95%C.I:19.7–21.3) per 1,000person-days, respectively. From the tested ILI (77.6%) and sARI (30.6%) cases, the overall positivity rates were 6.3% (influenza A), 1.1% (influenza B) and 9.3% (RSV). Positivity rates of influenza A and RSV tend to increase with age. sARI cases were 1.4 times more likely to be male [Adj.HR:1.4 (95%C.I:1.1–1.8)]. Among all influenza A and RSV positive infants, 11.8% and 68.0% were respectively identified among sARI hospitalized cases. Conclusion We observed low overall influenza A burden in both groups, though underestimation was likely due to point-of-care tests used. For infants, RSV burden was more significant than influenza A. These findings would be useful for establishing control strategies for both viruses in Mongolia.
Metrics-based Analysis of Requirements for Object-Oriented systems: An empirical approach

In an object-oriented environment, it is necessary to ensure that all the requirements are ad- dressed in the design as well as implemented in a consistent manner in UML diagrams like sequence and class diagrams, which model the behavioral and structural aspects of the system. Metrics, which measures the degree of coverage of requirements and the extent of consistency between related models, will be a powerful tool for developers to have a quantitative feedback about the correctness of a sys- tem. We have proposed a new set of metrics namely Requirement Coverage Metrics (RCM) and Design Compliance Metrics (DCM) based on UML design models. RCM indicates the extent of coverage of requirements in design and highlights any missing requirements or inadequate coverage in design. It also helps in measuring progress of a project and thus helps in project management. DCM verifies whether the requirements that have been covered in design have been consistently realized in sequence and class diagrams or not. A case study has been considered and calculation of RCM and DCM has been done for illustration of our approach. We have also discussed implementation methodology using an XML based approach and in this paper we present implementation of a part of the metrics suite (DCM) for substantiation of our approach.
Nepal Journ

Background: Sterilization is most widely used fertility regulation method in Nepal. However, prevalence of uptake of female sterilization in central hilly region is less than the national average. The objective of the study was to explore the number and factors related to intention of married women to undergo female sterilization in rural Kathmandu which lies within central hilly region. Materials and Methods: This is a community based cross-sectional survey research conducted in rural area of Kathmandu valley. Two hundred and forty currently married women with at least one child of any age were interviewed using a structured pre-tested questionnaire. Results: More than four-fifth of the respondents intended to undergo sterilization. Almost two-third of them wanted to limit their family size by taking this option. More than one-third of women not-intending to undergo sterilization feared weakness after sterilization. Age of the respondents, duration of marriage, and number of living children were significantly associated with intention to undergo sterilization. 15-24 years age group were six times more likely to have the intention for sterilization (OR 6.79, CI 2.28-20.19) compared to age 35 years and above group. Mothers with less than 3 living children are about three times more likely to have the intention to undergo sterilization (OR 2.87, CI 1.3-6.33) compared to women with more than 2 living children. Women married for 6 to 10 years were three times more likely to have the intention (OR 3.0, CI 1.09-8.27). However, gender of the living children was not associated with intention to undergo sterilization. Conclusion: There were significant numbers of women intending to undergo sterilization. Age of the mother, number of living children and the duration of marriage were found to be significantly influencing the intention to undergo sterilization. However, as intention refers to future plan, the respondents’ intention may change over time. The national family planning program also needs to identify the key factors in accepting the sterilization and target these women to increase utilization. Keyword: Family Planning; Intention; Sterilization, Nepal. eISSN 2091-0800
CTAP-Minimized Scheduling Algorithm for Millimeter-Wave-Based Wireless Personal Area Networks

Beamforming is used in IEEE 802.15. 3c networks to avoid high propagation attenuation and path loss and improve the overall system throughput by exploiting spatial channel reuse. In this paper, we introduce design challenges of scheduling in beamforming-enabled IEEE 802.15. 3c networks. These challenges include positioning, axis alignment, and interference relation verification. We then propose a joint design of axis alignment, positioning, and scheduling. The objectives of the proposed joint design are to reduce the consumed channel time, increase the degree of spatial channel reuse, and improve the channel utilization. For positioning, we define and prove a sufficient condition for anchor selection to improve positioning accuracy. The designed channel time allocation period (CTAP)-minimized scheduling algorithm is depicted as a two-layer flow graph, and it consists of the following three phases: 1) layer-1 edge construction; 2) layer-2 edge construction; and 3) scheduling. Through the observation of transmission and reception beams, we define a rule to verify the interference relation of two flows. In addition, given correct topology information, we prove that CTAP-minimized uses the least time to serve all data flows. We evaluate and compare our algorithm with existing approaches through simulations. The observed performance metrics include utilized channel time, system throughput, scheduling efficiency, and spatial channel reuse degree. The results show that CTAP-minimized performs well and achieves its objectives.
Adoptive suppression of granuloma formation

Anti-egg granulomas formed in mice with chronic S. mansoni infection are smaller than those formed early (8 wk) after infection. Passive transfer of serum from mice with chronic infections to recipient mice with developing (6 wk) infections did not affect hepatic granuloma size at 8 wk of infection. In contrast, either spleen cells or lymph node cells from mice with chronic infections strongly suppressed the granulomatous process in recipient mice. Spleen cells, but not lymph node cells, of early-(7 wk) infected mice exhibited some ability to diminish granuloma formation in recipients. It appeared that the use of two sequential, weekly passive transfers of spleen or lymph node cells from chronic mice was even more effective in this suppressive capacity than a single transfer.
An Anisotropic Phong Light Reflection Model

A male asparagus plant which is homogenetic and transmits particularly the characteristics of male genes and which include high yield capability, resistance to rust (Puccinia asparagi), tolerance to root rot (Fusarium oxysporum) and crown rot (F. moniliforme), enabling production of male hybrids that likewise embody such characteristics.
Intracerebral and Intravenous Transplantation Represents a Favorable Approach for Application of Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in Intracerebral Hemorrhage Rats

Background Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is one severe subtype of stroke, with a very complex pathology. Stem cell-based therapy holds promising potential in the treatment of neurological disorders. Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) have a therapeutic effect in recovery from brain damage following ICH. The aim of this study was to identify an effective and convenient way of using UC-MSCs in the ICH rat model. Material/Methods CM-DiI-labeled human UC-MSCs were transplanted intracerebrally or intravenously into collagenase VII-induced ICH rat models. Neurological function was evaluated before ICH and at 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after treatment. ICH rats were sacrificed to evaluate the injury volume. Neurogenesis and angiogenesis and vascular areas were investigated using microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) immunohistochemistry at two weeks after transplantation. Results The intracerebral and intravenous administration of UC-MSCs both resulted in significant improvement in neurological function and decrease in injury volume of ICH rats. Transplanted UC-MSCs were chemotactic in vivo and showed a predominant distribution around the ICH region. In addition, UC-MSCs could integrate into the cerebral vasculature in both groups. Conclusions Both intracerebral and intravenous administration of UC-MSCs could have a favorable effect on recovery of neurological function in ICH rats, although the fundamental mechanisms may be different between the two groups. Our data suggest that intravenous implantation of UC-MSCs could serve as a favorable approach for cell-based therapy in central nervous system (CNS) diseases according to clinical needs.
Personality, Punishment and Public Goods: Strategic Shifts towards Cooperation as a Matter of Dispositional Honesty–Humility

Contributions in the public goods game—a classical social dilemma situation—have been shown to depend strongly on the presence versus absence of punishment or sanctions for free riders. Also, there appear to be noteworthy individual differences in the degree to which decision makers cooperate. Herein, we aimed to bring these two lines of research together. Firstly, we predicted that both presence of punishment and high dispositional Honesty–Humility (as conceptualized in the Honesty–Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to experience model of personality) should yield higher contributions. Secondly, and more importantly, we expected an interaction, such that only those low in Honesty–Humility would condition their behaviour on the presence versus absence of punishment, thus employing cooperation strategically. In line with the hypothesis, the results of two experiments (one of which comprised a longitudinal design) corroborated that the degree to which decision makers shift towards higher contributions when punishment is introduced depends on their dispositional level of Honesty–Humility. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
S(t)imulating Journalism in the Classroom: A Structured Comparison of the Design of Pedagogical Newsrooms in Nordic Academic Journalism Training

This article presents a comparison of technical, organizational, and pedagogical structures of six curriculum-related newsrooms in journalism education in the Nordic countries. The newsrooms were selected for comparison on the basis that they had permanent physical facilities and technical channels for publication, and they presented an integral part of the curriculum. To structure this comparison, the concept of the pedagogical newsroom (PN) is introduced, described, and analyzed. It is suggested that a PN is not a direct adoption of a professional newsroom but an attempt to create a critical surplus with regard to the professional newsrooms, more generally reflecting the relationship between journalism education and the professional field of journalism.
Dietary Patterns in Relation to Cardiovascular Disease Incidence and Risk Markers in a Middle-Aged British Male Population: Data from the Caerphilly Prospective Study

Dietary behaviour is an important modifiable factor in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. The study aimed to identify dietary patterns (DPs) and explore their association with CVD incidence and risk markers. A follow-up of 1838 middle-aged men, aged 47–67 years recruited into the Caerphilly Prospective Cohort Study at phase 2 (1984–1988) was undertaken. Principal component analysis identified three DPs at baseline, which explained 24.8% of the total variance of food intake. DP1, characterised by higher intakes of white bread, butter, lard, chips and sugar-sweetened beverages and lower intake of wholegrain bread, was associated with higher CVD (HR 1.35: 95% CI: 1.10, 1.67) and stroke (HR 1.77; 95% CI: 1.18, 2.63) incidence. DP3, characterised by higher intakes of sweet puddings and biscuits, wholegrain breakfast cereals and dairy (excluding cheese and butter) and lower alcohol intake, was associated with lower CVD (HR 0.76; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.93), coronary heart disease (HR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.52, 0.90) and stroke (HR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.47, 0.99) incidence and a beneficial CVD profile at baseline, while DP1 with an unfavourable profile, showed no clear associations after 12 years follow-up. Dietary pattern 2 (DP2), characterised by higher intake of pulses, fish, poultry, processed/red meat, rice, pasta and vegetables, was not associated with the aforementioned outcomes. These data may provide insight for development of public health initiatives focussing on feasible changes in dietary habits.
Maximizing the harvested energy for micro-power applications through efficient MPPT and PMU design

Energy harvesting is becoming more and more popular for micro-power applications where the environmental energy is used to power up the systems. In order to prolong the device lifetime and guarantee the system operation, the harvested power from the energy transducer to supply the system load should be maximized. This paper reviews different techniques and solutions to maximize the harvested power. Different environmental energy sources and the characteristics of the corresponding energy transducers are discussed. Algorithms to detect and track the maximum power point (MPP) of the energy transducer are summarized. Different power management unit (PMU) designs to execute MPP tracking (MPPT) algorithms are presented.
Air Quality and Acute Respiratory Illness in Biomass Fuel using homes in Bagamoyo, Tanzania

Respiratory Diseases are public health concern worldwide. The diseases have been associated with air pollution especially indoor air pollution from biomass fuel burning in developing countries. However, researches on pollution levels and on association of respiratory diseases with biomass fuel pollution are limited. A study was therefore undertaken to characterize the levels of pollutants in biomass fuel using homes and examine the association between biomass fuel smoke exposure and Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) disease in Nianjema village in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Pollution was assessed by measuring PM10, NO2, and CO concentrations in kitchen, living room and outdoors. ARI prevalence was assessed by use of questionnaire which gathered health information for all family members under the study. Results showed that PM10, NO2, and CO concentrations were highest in the kitchen and lowest outdoors. Kitchen concentrations were highest in the kitchen located in the living room for all pollutants except CO. Family size didn’t have effect on the levels measured in kitchens. Overall ARI prevalence for cooks and children under age 5 making up the exposed group was 54.67% with odds ratio (OR) of 5.5; 95% CI 3.6 to 8.5 when compared with unexposed men and non-regular women cooks. Results of this study suggest an association between respiratory diseases and exposure to domestic biomass fuel smoke, but further studies with improved design are needed to confirm the association.
Genome-Wide Interaction with Insulin Secretion Loci Reveals Novel Loci for Type 2 Diabetes in African Americans

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is the result of metabolic defects in insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity, yet most T2D loci identified to date influence insulin secretion. We hypothesized that T2D loci, particularly those affecting insulin sensitivity, can be identified through interaction with insulin secretion loci. To test this hypothesis, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with acute insulin response to glucose (AIRg), a dynamic measure of first-phase insulin secretion, were identified in African Americans from the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Family Study (IRASFS; n = 492 subjects). These SNPs were tested for interaction, individually and jointly as a genetic risk score (GRS), using genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from five cohorts (ARIC, CARDIA, JHS, MESA, WFSM; n = 2,725 cases, 4,167 controls) with T2D as the outcome. In single variant analyses, suggestively significant (Pinteraction<5×10−6) interactions were observed at several loci including LYPLAL1 (rs10746381), CHN2 (rs7796525), and EXOC1 (rs4289500). Notable AIRg GRS interactions were observed with SAMD4A (rs11627203) and UTRN (rs17074194). These data support the hypothesis that additional genetic factors contributing to T2D risk can be identified by interactions with insulin secretion loci.
Thiopurine Methyltransferase Predicts the Extent of Cytotoxicty and DNA Damage in Astroglial Cells after Thioguanine Exposure

Thiopurine methyltransferase (Tpmt) is the primary enzyme responsible for deactivating thiopurine drugs. Thiopurine drugs (i.e., thioguanine [TG], mercaptopurine, azathioprine) are commonly used for the treatment of cancer, organ transplant, and autoimmune disorders. Chronic thiopurine therapy has been linked to the development of brain cancer (most commonly astrocytomas), and Tpmt status has been associated with this risk. Therefore, we investigated whether the level of Tpmt protein activity could predict TG-associated cytotoxicity and DNA damage in astrocytic cells. We found that TG induced cytotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner in Tpmt+/+, Tpmt+/− and Tpmt−/− primary mouse astrocytes and that a low Tpmt phenotype predicted significantly higher sensitivity to TG than did a high Tpmt phenotype. We also found that TG exposure induced significantly more DNA damage in the form of single strand breaks (SSBs) and double strand breaks (DSBs) in primary astrocytes with low Tpmt versus high Tpmt. More interestingly, we found that Tpmt+/− astrocytes had the highest degree of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity (i.e., IC50, SSBs and DSBs) after TG exposure. We then used human glioma cell lines as model astroglial cells to represent high (T98) and low (A172) Tpmt expressers and found that A172 had the highest degree of cytoxicity and SSBs after TG exposure. When we over-expressed Tpmt in the A172 cell line, we found that TG IC50 was significantly higher and SSB's were significantly lower as compared to mock transfected cells. This study shows that low Tpmt can lead to greater sensitivity to thiopurine therapy in astroglial cells. When Tpmt deactivation at the germ-line is considered, this study also suggests that heterozygosity may be subject to the greatest genotoxic effects of thiopurine therapy.
Endothelial Microparticles (EMP) for the Assessment of Endothelial Function: An In Vitro and In Vivo Study on Possible Interference of Plasma Lipids

Background Circulating endothelial microparticles (EMP) reflect the condition of the endothelium and are of increasing interest in cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Recently, increased numbers of EMP following oral fat intake, possibly due to acute endothelial injury, have been reported. On the other hand, the direct interference of lipids with the detection of EMP has been suggested. This study aimed to investigate the effect of lipid-rich solutions, commonly administered in clinical practice, on the detection, both in vitro and in vivo, of EMP. Methods For the in vitro assessment, several lipid-rich solutions were added to whole blood of healthy subjects (n = 8) and patients with coronary heart disease (n = 5). EMP (CD31+/CD42b−) were detected in platelet poor plasma by flow cytometry. For the in vivo study, healthy volunteers were evaluated on 3 different study-days: baseline evaluation, following lipid infusion and after a NaCl infusion. EMP quantification, lipid measurements and peripheral arterial tonometry were performed on each day. Results Both in vitro addition and in vivo administration of lipids significantly decreased EMP (from 198.6 to 53.0 and from 272.6 to 90.6/µl PPP, respectively, p = 0.001 and p = 0.012). The EMP number correlated inversely with the concentration of triglycerides, both in vitro and in vivo (r = −0.707 and −0.589, p<0.001 and p = 0.021, respectively). The validity of EMP as a marker of endothelial function is supported by their inverse relationship with the reactive hyperemia index (r = −0.758, p = 0.011). This inverse relation was confounded by the intravenous administration of lipids. Conclusion The confounding effect of high circulating levels of lipids, commonly found in patients that receive intravenous lipid-based solutions, should be taken into account when flow cytometry is used to quantify EMP.