Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Balanced Policing Model in the Republic of Nigeria

This paper represents an effort to trace Nigeria's political culture to determine whether a police force should be organised nationally and/or locally. Because kidnapping, armed robbery, terrorism, fraud, corruption, etc. are threatening the sense of security in the nation, the issue of whether to continue with a centralised police system or return to a decentralised system is considered. By studying Nigeria from the perspective of political evolution, starting from the amalgamation in 1914 with shared police responsibilities, through coups and civil war, to the present day, when the federal government has exclusive power in policing, it is found that a Balanced Policing Model will work effectively and efficiently to maintain order, create a sense of security and promote democratic principles in Nigeria. The Balanced Policing Model is a proactive philosophy that is found to be the best policing model for Nigeria, as determined by local political culture. Although society is responsible for and answerable to the kind of police it chooses to have – whether by deliberation, power struggle or total neglect – the fact remains that policing is complex and too important to be left to the Nigerian Police Force as it is presently constituted.
Intrauterine onset of acute neuropathic type 2 Gaucher disease: Identification of a novel insertion sequence

A subset of patients with type 2 Gaucher disease is characterized by intrauterine onset of rapidly progressive neuropathic disease, arthrogryposis, hydrops fetalis and in some cases restrictive dermopathy. β‐Glucocerebrosidase (β‐glucosidase) activity is usually low or undetectable. In most cases death ensues either in‐utero or within hours or days after birth. We report on an infant born to non‐consanguineous parents of Caucasian origin presenting at birth with hydrops, arthrogryposis, severe respiratory distress, hepatosplenomegaly, and liver failure. Death occurred within several hours after delivery and autopsy revealed typical Gaucher cells in multiple organs in combination with severe apoptotic neurodegeneration throughout the brain. β‐Glucocerebrosidase activity was 1% of the norm in fibroblasts and a novel heterozygous insertion c. 1515_1516insAGTGAGGGCAAT was identified by genomic sequencing and an insertion‐specific seminested PCR. In addition, molecular studies revealed a previously described in type 1 Gaucher disease missense mutation c.476G → A which results in a heterozygous substitution of R120Q. Our observations confirm considerable genotypic heterogeneity in patients with type 2 Gaucher disease. The transheterozygous combination of a mutation, previously described in type 1 Gaucher disease, together with a newly identified insertion may result in this severe phenotype. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Monetary costs of dementia in the United States.

Chairman Nelson, Ranking Member Collins, Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today on a critically important topic: the monetary costs of dementia in the United States. My testimony will be based upon work performed at the RAND Corporation and the University of Michigan by me, Paco Martorell, Adeline Delavande, Kathleen Mullen, and Kenneth Langa. It was originally published in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 4 of this year.
Enhanced Neurofibrillary Degeneration in Transgenic Mice Expressing Mutant Tau and APP

JNPL3 transgenic mice expressing a mutant tau protein, which develop neurofibrillary tangles and progressive motor disturbance, were crossed with Tg2576 transgenic mice expressing mutant β-amyloid precursor protein (APP), thus modulating the APP-Aβ (β-amyloid peptide) environment. The resulting double mutant (tau/APP) progeny and the Tg2576 parental strain developed Aβ deposits at the same age; however, relative to JNPL3 mice, the double mutants exhibited neurofibrillary tangle pathology that was substantially enhanced in the limbic system and olfactory cortex. These results indicate that either APP or Aβ influences the formation of neurofibrillary tangles. The interaction between Aβ and tau pathologies in these mice supports the hypothesis that a similar interaction occurs in Alzheimer's disease.
The lived experience of everyday activity for individuals with severe mental illness

Engagement in everyday activity is an underplayed area when attempting to understand mental illness. Little is known about the everyday activities of individuals who experience severe mental illness and who are labelled ‘hard to engage’. This article reports on the findings of a longitudinal study. Eleven individuals receiving community mental health services were interviewed over a 12-month period through one-to-one meetings using field notes and audio recordings. Phenomenological methodology was employed to explore the types of activities that constituted participants’ everyday lives and the meanings they attributed to them. Three themes emerged from the findings: illness identity; embodied crisis and managing supports; and boredom. The meanings of everyday activities were conveyed through self-narrative and often as a consequence of the provision of mental health care for the individual. When not receiving medication or attending groups, participants felt alone and ‘bored’, trapped in the mundaneness of the everyday.
The Prowess and Pitfalls of Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling

Muthén and Asparouhov introduced an approach for conducting Bayesian inference in the context of structural equation models that they termed Bayesian structural equation modeling (BSEM). In this article, we provide an overview of the BSEM technique, illustrate how this technique relates to confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis, and highlight several key problems with using the BSEM approach as it is currently advocated. Utilizing data from a large-scale study of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, we develop a modified approach for applying the BSEM technique in a manner that is more consistent with accepted principles of reflective measurement, factor analysis, and model selection. We devise a series of recommendations to guide future use of the BSEM technique to help ensure that mainstream use of this approach heralds the coming of a new day in measurement development rather than a false dawn.
Modeling Defects, Shape Evolution, and Programmed Auto-Origami in Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Liquid crystal elastomers represent a novel class of programmable shape-transforming materials whose shape change trajectory is encoded in the material's nematic director field. Using three-dimensional nonlinear finite element elastodynamics simulation, we model a variety of different actuation geometries and device designs: thin films containing topological defects, patterns that induce formation of folds and twists, and a bas-relief structure. The inclusion of finite bending energy in the simulation model reveals features of actuation trajectory that may be absent when bending energy is neglected. We examine geometries with a director pattern uniform through the film thickness encoding multiple regions of positive Gaussian curvature. Simulations indicate that heating such a system uniformly produces a disordered state with curved regions emerging randomly in both directions due to the film's up-down symmetry. By contrast, applying a thermal gradient by heating the material first on one side breaks up-down symmetry and results in a deterministic trajectory producing a more ordered final shape. We demonstrate that a folding zone design containing cut-out areas accommodates transverse displacements without warping or buckling; and demonstrate that bas-relief and more complex bent-twisted structures can be assembled by combining simple design motifs.
Developmental emergence of transient and persistent hippocampal events and oscillations and their association with infant seizure susceptibility

During the second postnatal week in rats, the hippocampus exhibits a transient period of hyperexcitability. To systematically assess the relationship between the onset and end of this period and spontaneous hippocampal activity, we used silicon depth electrodes in unanaesthetized head‐fixed rats from postnatal day (P)2 to P18. At all ages, hippocampal sharp waves (SPWs) were prominent in the EEG. Beginning at P6, however, marked changes in SPWs and associated oscillations were detected. SPW‐related ‘gamma tails’ (60–100 Hz) and ‘ripples’ (140–200 Hz) were first observed at P6 and P7, respectively, and both oscillations persisted up to P18. Transiently, between P6 and P11, SPW duration decreased and the occurrence of SPW doublets increased. In addition, between P8 and P11, a subset of rats exhibited ‘spontaneous potentiated SPWs’ characterized by double polarity reversals, enhanced likelihood of gamma tails, and population spikes. Having identified a suite of transient hippocampal features consistent with a window of increased excitability, we next assessed whether electrographic seizure activity would be most easily induced during this period. To do this, kainic acid (KA; 200 ng/infusion) was infused into the hippocampus contralateral to the recording probe. KA did not induce seizure activity until P7 and reached peak effectiveness at P9. Thereafter, sensitivity to KA declined. All together, these findings provide in vivo neurophysiological support for the notion of a developmental window of heightened seizure susceptibility during the second postnatal week, and also suggest that spontaneous nonpathological hippocampal activity can be used to mark the onset and end of this period.
Hands across the divide : finding spaces for student-centered pedagogy in the undergraduate science classroom

This study explored college science students' and instructors' experiences with studentgenerated and performed analogies. The objectives of the study were to determine whether the use of student-generated analogies could provide students with opportunities to develop robust understanding of difficult science concepts, and to examine students' and instructors' perspectives on the utilization of these analogies. To address my objectives, I carried out a case study at a university-college in British Columbia. I examined the use of analogies in undergraduate biology and chemistry courses. Working with three instructors, I explored the use of student-generated analogies in five courses. I carried out in-depth analyses for one biology case and one chemistry case. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, researcher journal logs and students' responses to assessment questions. My findings suggest that involvement in the analogy exercise was associated with gains in students' conceptual understanding. Lower-achieving students who participated in the analogy activity exhibited significant gains in understanding of the science concept, but were unable to transfer their knowledge to novel situations. Higher-achieving students who participated in the activity were better able to transfer their knowledge of the analogy-related science topic to novel
Subjective voice quality evaluation of artificial bandwidth extension: comparing different audio bandwidths and speech codecs

Artiﬁcial bandwidth extension (ABE) methods have been developed to improve the quality and intelligibility of telephone speech. In many previous studies, however, the evaluation of ABE has not fully reﬂected the use of ABE in mobile communication (e.g., evaluation with clean speech without coding). In this study, the subjective quality of ABE was evaluated with absolute category rating (ACR) tests involving both clean and noisy speech, two cutoff frequencies of highpass ﬁltering, and input encoded at different bit rates. Three ABE methods were evaluated, two for narrowband-to-wideband extension and one for wideband-to-superwideband extension. Several speech codecs with different audio bandwidths were included in the tests. Narrowband-to-wideband ABE methods were found to signiﬁcantly improve the speech quality when no background noise was present, and the mean quality scores were slightly but not signiﬁcantly increased for noisy speech. Wideband-to-superwideband ABE also showed signiﬁcant improvement in certain conditions with no background noise. ABE did not cause signiﬁcant decrease of the mean scores in any of the tests.
Intrathecal Humoral Immunity to Encephalitic RNA Viruses

The nervous system is the target for acute encephalitic viral infections, as well as a reservoir for persisting viruses. Intrathecal antibody (Ab) synthesis is well documented in humans afflicted by infections associated with neurological complications, as well as the demyelinating disease, multiple sclerosis. This review focuses on the origin, recruitment, maintenance, and biological relevance of Ab-secreting cells (ASC) found in the central nervous system (CNS) following experimental neurotropic RNA virus infections. We will summarize evidence for a highly dynamic, evolving humoral response characterized by temporal alterations in B cell subsets, proliferation, and differentiation. Overall local Ab plays a beneficial role via complement-independent control of virus replication, although cross or self-reactive Ab to CNS antigens may contribute to immune-mediated pathogenesis during some infections. Importantly, protective Ab exert anti-viral activity not only by direct neutralization, but also by binding to cell surface-expressed viral glycoproteins. Ab engagement of viral glycoproteins blocks budding and mediates intracellular signaling leading to restored homeostatic and innate functions. The sustained Ab production by local ASC, as well as chemokines and cytokines associated with ASC recruitment and retention, are highlighted as critical components of immune control.
Cell-based therapy for kidney disease

The prevalence of renal disease continues to increase worldwide. When normal kidney is injured, the damaged renal tissue undergoes pathological and physiological events that lead to acute and chronic kidney diseases, which frequently progress to end stage renal failure. Current treatment of these renal pathologies includes dialysis, which is incapable of restoring full renal function. To address this issue, cell-based therapy has become a potential therapeutic option to treat renal pathologies. Recent development in cell therapy has demonstrated promising therapeutic outcomes, in terms of restoration of renal structure and function impaired by renal disease. This review focuses on the cell therapy approaches for the treatment of kidney diseases, including various cell sources used, as well recent advances made in preclinical and clinical studies.
Remifentanil for labour analgesia: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Context Remifentanil is a potent short-acting &mgr;-opioid receptor agonist which is rapidly metabolised in the mother and fetus and may be ideal for labour analgesia. Objectives To assess efficacy and safety of remifentanil compared with other analgesic techniques for labour pain. Data sources We systematically searched the central register of controlled trials of the Cochrane Library (till August 2011) and MEDLINE (till August 2011). Eligibility criteria Randomised controlled trials investigating efficacy and safety of remifentanil administered via a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device compared with any other analgesic technique for labour pain were included. Results We finally included 12 randomised controlled trials (published from 2001 to 2011). Women treated with remifentanil had a lower risk of conversion to epidural analgesia (P < 0.001), a lower mean pain score after 1 h (P < 0.001) and had higher satisfaction scores (P < 0.05) in comparison with women receiving pethidine. Epidural analgesia decreased pain scores compared with remifentanil (P = 0.003). There was only a limited amount of data comparing remifentanil with nitrous oxide or fentanyl. Serious maternal or fetal adverse outcomes were not reported in these trials. Conclusion During labour, remifentanil-PCA provided superior analgesia and higher patient satisfaction compared with pethidine with a comparable degree of adverse events. Epidural analgesia provided superior pain relief in comparison with remifentanil. Due to a low number of reported adverse events, the safety issue of remifentanil use in labour remains an open question that needs to be addressed in future trials.
Attraction of Lutzomyia longipalpis to human skin odours

Abstract. Male and female Lutzomyia longipalpis sandflies showed attraction to human skin emanations placed on warmed glass Petri dishes. Unfed virgin females were more strongly attracted than males, which also showed attraction. Four human subjects were tested and significant variation was found between the numbers of sandflies attracted to their skin emanations. This suggests that some individuals were more attractive than others. There was a significant difference between the response shown by sandflies from the Jacobina and Lapinha regions of Brazil, suggesting that sandflies from the Jacobina region were more anthropophilic. In addition, sandflies from Jacobina had a significantly higher level of activity than those from Lapinha. The role of sandfly attraction to humans as a risk factor in Leishmania transmission is considered.
Spectrum and Frequency of the GJB2 Gene Pathogenic Variants in a Large Cohort of Patients with Hearing Impairment Living in a Subarctic Region of Russia (the Sakha Republic)

Pathogenic variants in the GJB2 gene, encoding connexin 26, are known to be a major cause of hearing impairment (HI). More than 300 allelic variants have been identified in the GJB2 gene. Spectrum and allelic frequencies of the GJB2 gene vary significantly among different ethnic groups worldwide. Until now, the spectrum and frequency of the pathogenic variants in exon 1, exon 2 and the flanking intronic regions of the GJB2 gene have not been described thoroughly in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), which is located in a subarctic region in Russia. The complete sequencing of the non-coding and coding regions of the GJB2 gene was performed in 393 patients with HI (Yakuts—296, Russians—51, mixed and other ethnicities—46) and in 187 normal hearing individuals of Yakut (n = 107) and Russian (n = 80) populations. In the total sample (n = 580), we revealed 12 allelic variants of the GJB2 gene, 8 of which were recessive pathogenic variants. Ten genotypes with biallelic recessive pathogenic variants in the GJB2 gene (in a homozygous or a compound heterozygous state) were found in 192 out of 393 patients (48.85%). We found that the most frequent GJB2 pathogenic variant in the Yakut patients was c. -23+1G>A (51.82%) and that the second most frequent was c.109G>A (2.37%), followed by c.35delG (1.64%). Pathogenic variants с. 35delG (22.34%), c. -23+1G>A (5.31%), and c. 313_326del14 (2.12%) were found to be the most frequent among the Russian patients. The carrier frequencies of the c. -23+1G>A and с. 109G>A pathogenic variants in the Yakut control group were 10.20% and 2.80%, respectively. The carrier frequencies of с. 35delG and c.101T>C were identical (2.5%) in the Russian control group. We found that the contribution of the GJB2 gene pathogenic variants in HI in the population of the Sakha Republic (48.85%) was the highest among all of the previously studied regions of Asia. We suggest that extensive accumulation of the c. -23+1G>A pathogenic variant in the indigenous Yakut population (92.20% of all mutant chromosomes in patients) and an extremely high (10.20%) carrier frequency in the control group may indicate a possible selective advantage for the c. -23+1G>A carriers living in subarctic climate.
Determination of Benzene, Toluene and Xylene (BTX) Concentrations in Air Using HPLC Developed Method Compared to Gas Chromatography

A new method for analysis of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-UV detection (HPLC-UV) is described and compared to the gas chromatography (GC) method. A charcoal adsorption tube connected to a small pump was used to obtain samples from an atmosphere chamber standard. Samples were extracted with methanol and analyzed by HPLC-UV. Chromatography was isocratic in a mobile phase consisting of water-methanol (30-70). The flow rate was set at 1 ml/min. The analyses were completely separated and were quantified using both methods. The results demonstrated no statistically significant differences between BTX concentrations between the two analytical methods with a correlation coefficient of 0.98-0.99. The GC method provided higher sensitivity than HPLC, but the HPLC determination of BTX were applicable to real samples because its sensivity was lower than the thershold limit recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist (ACGIH) for an 8-hour workday.
Presence of Airborne Fibers in Tungsten Refining and Manufacturing Processes: Preliminary Characterization

In tungsten refining and manufacturing processes, a series of tungsten oxides (WO X ) are typically formed as intermediates in the production of tungsten powder. Studies in the Swedish tungsten refining and manufacturing industry have shown that intermediate tungsten refining processes can create WOX fibers. The purpose of the present study was to identify and provide a preliminary characterization of airborne tungsten-containing fiber dimensions, elemental composition, and concentrations in the U.S. tungsten refining and manufacturing industry. To provide the preliminary characterization, 10 static air samples were collected during the course of normal employee work activities and analyzed using standard fiber sampling and counting methods. Results from transmission electron microscopy analyses conducted indicate that airborne fibers with length > 0.5 μ m, diameter > 0.01 μ m, and aspect ratio ≥ 3:1, with a geometric mean (GM) length of ∼ 2.0 μ m and GM diameter of ∼ 0.25 μ m, were present on 9 of the 10 air samples collected. Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry results indicate that airborne fibers prior to the carburization process consisted primarily of tungsten and oxygen, with other elements being detected in trace quantities. Results from an air sample collected at the carburization process indicated the presence of fibers composed primarily of tungsten with oxygen and carbon, and traces of other elements. Based on National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health standard fiber counting rules, airborne fiber concentrations ranged from below the limit of detection to 0.14 f/cm 3 . The calcining process was associated with the highest airborne fiber concentrations. More than 99% (574/578) of the airborne fibers identified had an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μ m, indicating that they were capable of reaching the thoracic regions. Until more is known about the durability and potential health effects associated with airborne tungsten-containing fibers, it would be prudent to take steps to limit or eliminate occupational exposures.