Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teachers’ Instructional Workload Management and Students’ Academic Performance in Public and Private Secondary Schools in Akoko North-East Local Government, Ondo State, Nigeria

The study examined teachers’ workload and determined its implication on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Akoko North East Local Government Area of Ondo State. Descriptive design of the survey type was adopted and a stratified random sampling was used to select 12 schools, which were 6 public and 6 private secondary schools, involving 132 participants who included 120 teachers and 12 principals. A self-constructed questionnaire titled “Teachers’ Workload and Student’s Academic Performance Questionnaire” (TWSAPQ), was administered. Five (5) hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s product moment correlation (PPMCC) and T-test at p<0.05 level of significance. The results showed that there was a negative correlation between teachers’ workload and students’ academic performance (r-cal= -0.420), and a disparity between teachers’ actual workload and workload policy standard (t-cal=27.219), also there was significant difference in teachers’ workload between public and private secondary schools (t-cal=2.364). The findings indicated that teachers’ workload is high in teaching activities (75.8%), data imputation (62.5%), and marking of students’ scripts (76.7%), . and impacted negatively on teachers’ instructional tasks performance and students’ academic performance. It is hereby recommended that the State Government and proprietors of private secondary schools should employ adequate number of qualified teachers to meet the workload standard for effective teaching, while learning facilities should be upgraded to enhance workload implementation and improve students’ academic performance in secondary schools.
Older, greener, and wiser: charting the experiences of older women in the American vegan movement

ABSTRACT Vegan feminist theory argues that women and other marginalized groups frequently experience discrimination in the vegan movement given its failure to apply intersectional praxis. We interviewed a small sample of older vegan women in America, hypothesizing that they would report feeling particularly vulnerable to discrimination given the vegan movement’s patriarchal leanings and its heavy focus on health and vitality. Our results, however, are mixed. Some viewed older age as an asset that strengthened their ability to commit to veganism, while others reported stressed social interactions, underrepresentation in the movement, and lack of support by doctors.
The Neurobiology of Alcoholism in Genetically Selected Rat Models

Rats selectively bred for their tendency to drink large or small quantities of alcohol are a useful model for investigators examining the possible neurobiological processes underlying alcoholism. Studies with the alcohol-preferring (P) and alcohol-nonpreferring (NP) and the high-alcohol-drinking (HAD) and low-alcohol-drinking (LAD) pairs of rat lines developed at Indiana University have illustrated differences in several behavioral and neurobiological characteristics associated with alcohol consumption. Specifically, compared with alcohol-avoiding rats, rats with an affinity for alcohol have a greater sensitivity to the stimulatory effects of low to moderate doses and a reduced sensitivity to the negative effects of high doses. Rats that voluntarily drink large quantities of alcohol also acquire tolerance to alcohol’s aversive effects. In addition, these rats differ from their alcohol-avoiding counterparts in the levels of several chemical mediators (i.e., neurotransmitters) found in the brain, including serotonin, dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and the endogenous opioids.
Distinct Neural Correlates for Resolving Stroop Conflict at Inhibited and Noninhibited Locations in Inhibition of Return

It is well documented that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) are intensively involved in conflict control. However, it remains unclear how these executive brain regions will act when the conflict control process interacts with spatial attentional orienting. In the classical spatial cueing paradigm [Posner, M. I. , & Cohen, Y. (1984). Components of visual orienting. In H. Bouma & D. G. Bouwhuis (Eds.), Attention and performance X (pp. 531556). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum], response to a target is delayed when it appears at the cued location compared with at the uncued location, if the time interval between the cue and the target is greater than 300 msec. This effect of inhibition of return (IOR) can alter the resolution of Stroop conflict such that the Stroop interference effect disappears at the cued (inhibited) location [Vivas, A. B. , & Fuentes, L. J. Stroop interference is affected in inhibition of return. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 8, 315323, 2001]. In this event-related functional magnetic resonance study, we investigate the differential neural mechanisms underlying interactions between pre-response interference, response interference, and spatial orienting. Two types of Stroop words [incongruent response-eligible words (IE), incongruent response-ineligible words (II)] and neutral words were presented either at the cued or uncued location. The significant pre-response interference at the uncued location activated the left rostral ACC as compared with at the cued location. Moreover, although the IE words which have conflicts at both pre-response and response levels did not cause significant behavioral interference at the cued location, they activated the left DLPFC as compared with at the uncued location. Furthermore, neutral words showed significant IOR effects behaviorally, and they activated the left frontal eye field (FEF) at the uncued location relative to the cued location. These results suggest that the left rostral ACC is involved in the interaction between pre-response conflict and IOR, whereas the left DLPFC is involved in the interaction between response conflict and IOR. Moreover, the FEF is involved in shifting attentional focus to novel locations during spatial search.
Epilepsy prevalence in a rural area in Istanbul

This study is a field study with cross-section and case control conducted in the Kucukcekmece Region of Istanbul between June 1999 and February 2000. Four hundred and ninety three dwellings selected by a simple random sampling method were visited. From a population of 2187, 58 people, after filling in a questionnaire were suspected to have epilepsy. Following an interview, neurological examination and an electroencephalogram (EEG) 17 were diagnosed as having epilepsy. Lifetime epilepsy prevalence was 0.8%. 41.2% of the 17 epilepsy cases had partial epilepsy ( n= 7), 47.0% had generalized (n = 8) and in 11.8% seizures could not be classified ( n= 2). The risk factors for epilepsy in the control group ( n= 125) from the same region and those with epilepsy were investigated by means of logistic regression analyses. Educational status (odds ratio : 1.82, 95% confidence interval : 1.13-2.94; P= 0.01), profession (OR : 0.76, 95% CI : 0.60-0.97; P= 0.03), history of epilepsy in the family (OR : 0.67, 95% CI : 0.47-0.94; P= 0.02) were determined to be correlated with epilepsy. The results have drawn attention to the fact that individuals should be informed about epilepsy.
Involvement of neuropeptide FF receptors in neuroadaptive responses to acute and chronic opiate treatments

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Opiates remain the most effective compounds for alleviating severe pain across a wide range of conditions. However, their use is associated with significant side effects. Neuropeptide FF (NPFF) receptors have been implicated in several opiate‐induced neuroadaptive changes including the development of tolerance. In this study, we investigated the consequences of NPFF receptor blockade on acute and chronic stimulation of opioid receptors in mice by using RF9, a potent and selective antagonist of NPFF receptors that can be administered systemically.
A GPBAR1 (TGR5) Small Molecule Agonist Shows Specific Inhibitory Effects on Myeloid Cell Activation In Vitro and Reduces Experimental Autoimmune Encephalitis (EAE) In Vivo

GPBAR1 is a G protein-coupled receptor that is activated by certain bile acids and plays an important role in the regulation of bile acid synthesis, lipid metabolism, and energy homeostasis. Recent evidence suggests that GPBAR1 may also have important effects in reducing the inflammatory response through its expression on monocytes and macrophages. To further understand the role of GPBAR1 in inflammation, we generated a novel, selective, proprietary GPBAR1 agonist and tested its effectiveness at reducing monocyte and macrophage activation in vitro and in vivo. We have used this agonist, together with previously described agonists to study agonism of GPBAR1, and shown that they can all induce cAMP and reduce TLR activation-induced cytokine production in human monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages in vitro. Additionally, through the usage of RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), we identified a select set of genes that are regulated by GPBAR1 agonism during LPS activation. To further define the in vivo role of GPBAR1 in inflammation, we assessed GPBAR1 expression and found high levels on circulating mouse monocytes. Agonism of GPBAR1 reduced LPS-induced cytokine production in mouse monocytes ex vivo and serum cytokine levels in vivo. Agonism of GPBAR1 also had profound effects in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of multiple sclerosis, where monocytes play an important role. Mice treated with the GPBAR1 agonist exhibited a significant reduction in the EAE clinical score which correlated with reduced monocyte and microglial activation and reduced trafficking of monocytes and T cells into the CNS. These data confirm the importance of GPBAR1 in controlling monocyte and macrophage activation in vivo and support the rationale for selective agonists of GPBAR1 in the treatment of inflammatory diseases.
Incorporating direct-to-consumer genomic information into patient care: attitudes and experiences of primary care physicians.

AIM Despite predictions of increased clinical applications, little is known about primary care providers' (PCPs') readiness to apply genomics to patient care. The aim was to assess PCPs' current experience with genetic testing, their assessment of the understandability and clinical utility of information in sample direct-to-consumer reports for genomic assessment of disease risk and warfarin dosing and attitudes toward genomic medicine. MATERIALS & METHODS A web-based survey of PCPs who are members of Knowledge Networks' Physician Consulting Network was conducted. RESULTS Of the 502 respondents (23.3% response rate), most ordered genetic tests infrequently. When presented with the direct-to-consumer genomic testing reports, most believed the reports were understandable, and would be willing to review results with a patient, and many believed the results would be helpful in patient management. CONCLUSION Despite limited experience with genetic tests, PCPs are open to helping patients understand genomic information. However, additional physician education is needed.
Multifunctional and Redundant Roles of Borrelia burgdorferi Outer Surface Proteins in Tissue Adhesion, Colonization, and Complement Evasion

Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of Lyme disease in the U.S., with at least 25,000 cases reported to the CDC each year. B. burgdorferi is thought to enter and exit the bloodstream to achieve rapid dissemination to distal tissue sites during infection. Travel through the bloodstream requires evasion of immune surveillance and pathogen clearance in the host, a process at which B. burgdorferi is adept. B. burgdorferi encodes greater than 19 adhesive outer surface proteins many of which have been found to bind to host cells or components of the extracellular matrix. Several others bind to host complement regulatory factors, in vitro. Production of many of these adhesive proteins is tightly regulated by environmental cues, and some have been shown to aid in vascular interactions and tissue colonization, as well as survival in the blood, in vivo. Recent work has described multifaceted and redundant roles of B. burgdorferi outer surface proteins in complement component interactions and tissue targeted adhesion and colonization, distinct from their previously identified in vitro binding capabilities. Recent insights into the multifunctional roles of previously well-characterized outer surface proteins such as BBK32, DbpA, CspA, and OspC have changed the way we think about the surface proteome of these organisms during the tick–mammal life cycle. With the combination of new and old in vivo models and in vitro techniques, the field has identified distinct ligand binding domains on BBK32 and DbpA that afford tissue colonization or blood survival to B. burgdorferi. In this review, we describe the multifunctional and redundant roles of many adhesive outer surface proteins of B. burgdorferi in tissue adhesion, colonization, and bloodstream survival that, together, promote the survival of Borrelia spp. throughout maintenance in their multi-host lifestyle.
FTO rs 9939609 SNP Is Associated With Adiponectin and Leptin Levels and the Risk of Obesity in a Cohort of Romanian Children Population

Abstract Obesity is a disorder with increasing frequency in children and adolescents, directly linked with various diseases. Variants in the FTO (fat mass and obesity-related) gene have been associated with body mass index and waist and hip circumferences in widespread populations. The aim of this case-control study was to assess if there is any association between FTO gene variants rs9939609, respectively, rs17817449 with anthropometric and metabolic biomarkers (fasting glucose, TC, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides) and adipokines (adiponectin and leptin), in Romanian obese children. A total of 387 children, 201 obese and 186 nonobese individuals, were included in this prospective study. Genotyping of the FTO gene polymorphisms for all subjects was performed using the restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) method. Significant associations were found between FTO rs9939609 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and obesity. AA genotype carriers have a 2.02 times higher risk for obesity compared with AT+TT genotype carriers. Risk allele carriers of rs17817449 SNP had somewhat higher values of weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference, total cholesterol, triglycerides, adiponectin, and fasting glucose. This study revealed the genetic association between rs9939609 SNP of FTO and obesity in a Romanian population, and to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate this association in a Romanian population. This study also established that combined variant genotypes (AA/GG) of FTO rs9939609 /rs17817449 are strongly associated with several measures of adiposity (weight, BMI-SD, mid-upper arm circumference, tricipital skinfold thicknesses) and are also associated with total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol levels.
Augmented expression and release of nonspecific cross‐reacting antigens (NCAs), members of the CEA family, by human neutrophils during cell activation

Nonspecific cross‐reacting antigens (NCAs) are a group of human glycoproteins immunologically cross‐reactive with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Our previous studies have shown that at least seven NCA glycoproteins different in molecular weight and antigenic reactivity, including a species corresponding to CD67, can be detected in neutrophil granulocytes. In the present paper, it is demonstrated that neutrophil activation induced with soluble stimulators, the calcium ionophore A23187, N‐formylmethionyl‐leucyl‐phenylalanine, and phorbol myristate acetate, results in augmented release and cell surface expression of NCAs. The NCA release was correlated with the discharge of azurophil granules but not with that of specific granules and was attributable to the release of NCA species of 53 and 30 kd. The increased NCA expression on the cell surface was due to increments of the NCAs of 160, 100 (CD67), 95, 90, 30, and 26 kd. These results, together with the previous findings that the CEA family members can mediate intercellular adhesion and bind Escherichia coli in vitro, imply that the neutrophil NCAs participate in the functions of neutrophils such as phagocytosis, chemotaxis, and adherence.
Managing For Value: Developing A Performance Measurement System Integrating Economic Value Added and The Balanced Scorecard In Strategic Planning

Economic value added (EVA) systems and the balanced scorecard (BSC) havegenerated a tremendous interest in corporate America recently as approachesto performance management. Implementation of these methodologies has notproven to be easy. This paper introduces the analytical hierarchy process andshows how this methodology addresses the limitations of EVA and BSC by integratingthem into one comprehensive system. A case study is used to illustratethis methodology.
Integrative cortical dysfunction and pervasive motion perception deficit in fragile X syndrome

Background: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is associated with neurologic deficits recently attributed to the magnocellular pathway of the lateral geniculate nucleus. Objective: To test the hypotheses that FXS individuals 1) have a pervasive visual motion perception impairment affecting neocortical circuits in the parietal lobe and 2) have deficits in integrative neocortical mechanisms necessary for perception of complex stimuli. Methods: Psychophysical tests of visual motion and form perception defined by either first-order (luminance) or second-order (texture) attributes were used to probe early and later occipito-temporal and occipito-parietal functioning. Results: When compared to developmental- and age-matched controls, FXS individuals displayed severe impairments in first- and second-order motion perception. This deficit was accompanied by near normal perception for first-order form stimuli but not second-order form stimuli. Conclusions: Impaired visual motion processing for first- and second-order stimuli suggests that both early- and later-level neurologic function of the parietal lobe are affected in Fragile X syndrome (FXS). Furthermore, this deficit likely stems from abnormal input from the magnocellular compartment of the lateral geniculate nucleus. Impaired visual form and motion processing for complex visual stimuli with normal processing for simple (i.e., first-order) form stimuli suggests that FXS individuals have normal early form processing accompanied by a generalized impairment in neurologic mechanisms necessary for integrating all early visual input.
A Complete System for Candidate Polyps Detection in Virtual Colonoscopy

We present a computer-aided detection pipeline for polyp detection in Computer tomographic colonography. The first stage of the pipeline consists of a simple colon segmentation technique that enhances polyps, which is followed by an adaptive-scale candidate polyp delineation, in order to capture the appropriate polyp size. In the last step, candidates are classified based on new texture and geometric features that consider both the information in the candidate polyp location and its immediate surrounding area. The system is tested with ground truth data, including flat and small polyps which are hard to detect even with optical colonoscopy. We achieve 100% sensitivity for polyps larger than 6 mm in size with just 0.9 false positives per case, and 93% sensitivity with 2.8 false positives per case for polyps larger than 3 mm in size.
IMPACT OF TEAMWORK ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: STUDY OF FACULTY MEMBERS IN KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

Purpose: The study focused mainly on factors that were associated with the teamwork approach at the job environment and their contribution on the employee performance and as a result overall performance of Kenyatta University. Methods: The study took a detailed form to analyze the subject using data to describe different perspectives in order to meet the study objective fully. The population targeted was faculty members of Kenyatta University and to cover consumer satisfaction students were involved. The study was an analysis of 100 respondents where the questionnaires were distributed among various schools and in the supportive sector which included the cafeteria and health department. The sampling was purposive in the selection of the respondents and mainly focused on experience period at the faculties. The main instrument used to collect data for this study was mainly a questionnaire and an interactive interview. The instrument was structured in a simple format where simple questions, open-ended, were framed based on the set objectives of the study. Results: The findings indicated that teamwork has proven to be closely related to the performance of the individual employee. This concurs with earlier research work which indicates that teamwork helps to enhance productivity, boosts effectiveness and also efficiency at the workplace. The various faculties and the supporting sectors should seek to enhance the teamwork in attaining their mandate through the participation of every employee. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The organizations which are yet to adopt teamwork should consider doing so following the established benefits of effective teamwork in an organization. The management, on the other hand, should seek to provide the necessary support to the teamwork groups as basic components of the organization operates.
The Engineering Portfolio: Communication, Reflection, and Student Learning Outcomes Assessment*

According to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, portfolios are one possible data collection method that engineering programs may use to document student learning outcomes. Despite the apparent endorsement by ABET of portfolios, ABET materials offer little concrete description of how the portfolio concept should be adapted to the documentation of engineering students' learning. This article traces the development of portfolios in the field of writing assessment and then discusses how portfolios are being adapted in engineering education. The documentation of learning outcomes in communication is the test case used to show the five necessary steps in portfolio development and maintenance: defining engineering communication (or any other learning objective); identifying appropriate skills and mapping them in the curriculum they are currently (or should be) developed; correlating portfolio learning objectives to course and program objectives; facilitating opportunities for students to reflect on their learning; and assessing student learning so that students, faculty, and programs can benefit and improve.
Spectral mask estimation using deep neural networks for inter-sensor data ratio model based robust DOA estimation

Accurate DOA estimation based on clustering the inter-sensor data ratios (ISDRs) of a single acoustic vector sensor (AVS), referred as AVS-ISDR, relies on reliable extraction of time-frequency points with high local signal-to-noise ratio (HLSNR-TFPs) and its performance degrades in noisy environments. This paper investigates deep neural networks (DNNs) trained with noisy-clean speech pairs under different SNR levels and noise types to improve the performance of AVS-ISDR in noise conditions. The DNNs is trained to learn characteristics reflecting the level of speech information at different TFPs, which helps to generate a reliable spectral mask for obtaining a noise-reduced spectral. Correspondingly, a robust DOA estimation algorithm named as AVS-DNN-ISDR has been developed. Experimental results verify the proposed DNN-based spectral mask improves the reliable HLSNR-TFPs extraction at different SNR levels. Results from simulations and real AVS recordings further validate AVS-DNN-ISDR achieving high DOA estimation accuracy even when the SNR is lower than 0dB.