Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EYA 1 promotes cell migration and tumor metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients are at high risk for both local recurrence and distant metastasis and tightly associated with poor prognosis. Exploring the molecular mechanism will provide a new opportunity in developing personal treatment for advanced HCC patients. As a critical member of the Retinal Determination Gene Network (RDGN), EYA1 has been identified as a tumor promoter in various cancers; however, its role in HCC has never been investigated. The present study was aimed to explore the role of EYA1 in HCC development. By analyzing public microarray datasets, we found that the EYA1 mRNA level was enhanced in HCC, which was significantly correlated with an aggressive phenotype and poor prognosis. Besides, EYA1 was coordinated with the fibronectin type III domain containing 3B (FNDC3B) to promote the migration and invasion of HCC cells. Western blot assays indicated that EYA1 not only increased the abundance of FNDC3B but also contributed to Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT)-like phenotype change, like increased N-cadherin and decreased E-cadherin expression. Collectively, this study suggested that EYA1 activated FNDC3B to promote the migration and invasion in HCC. The aberrant expressions of EYA1 and FNDC3B may become the poor predictors for HCC patients.
Palm Oil Processing and Marketing and Sustainable Livelihood in Rural Communities of Akwa Ibom State , South-South-Nigeria

Oil palm processing and marketing in South-South Nigeria is one economic activity in which the people eke a living and sustain their lives. Despites its economic importance, the business is fraught with series of challenges begging for solutions. This study was conducted in three palm oil processing communities in Akwa Ibom State. The communities comprised Ibagwa in Abak, Mbiafun Nkuono in Ikono, and Ibesikpo in IbesikpoAsutan Local Government areas, respectively. Sample consisted of 136 selected respondents. Questionnaire and Oral Interview combined with Participant Observation methods were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using Simple Percentages. Findings from the study showed that, palm oil processing and marketing is a lucrative economic activity of Akwa Ibom people of the South-South, Nigeria. The business enhances the financial status of the people, boosts the sales of other economic crops, promotes inter-tribal communication, trade and marriages as well as encouraged the use of locally produced goods and tools. Equally, findings revealed that poor transportation, low pricing of goods, inaccessibility to credit facilities and the used of obsolete processing equipments as the challenges the business is currently facing. The study recommends among others that, palm oil producers should form co-operative associations thereby attracting corporate and govern support and use the services of agricultural agents among others in order to promote proper pricing and increased productivity of palm oil and kernel in the area.
Latin America in the 1990 s *

This article accounts for the role that partisan divisions played in shaping variation in mass preferences for market-oriented policies in Latin America during the 1990s. Most of the existing studies on attitudes toward market reforms have focused on issues such as the timing of reforms, the presence of economic crises, and how economic performance shaped citizens’ preferences. Fewer studies have investigated whether partisan cleavages translated into divergent preferences toward market reforms. Were there systematic differences between leftand rightwing voters in their preferences toward market reforms? Did left-wing voters oppose these policies and right-wing voters favor them? Which of these structural transformations—state retrenchment or trade liberalization—witnessed greater mass polarization along partisan lines? This article answers these questions with the use of a mass survey on public opinion about market reforms conducted by Mori International in eleven Latin American countries in 1998.
CAPTITAL STRUCTURE AND FIRM PERFORMANCE : AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED FIRMS IN CAMEROON

Corporate financing decisions and corporate governance are quite complex processes and existing theories can at best explain only certain facets of their diversity. The main objective of this paper is to examine the effect of financial leverage on firm financial performance using a sample of manufacturing SMEs in Cameroon. We use the return on equity to measure performance and debt-to-asset ratio to capture leverage. Firm growth rate, tangible assets and firm size are used as control variables in the study. Our results show that leverage is negatively related to performance and support the pecking order hypothesis that firms favor the usage of internal resources and will shy away from external financing as long as they are able to generate enough cash from operations to finance their investment opportunities.
Soil Metal Distribution under Different Land Uses of Emerging Mega Cities in Southwest Nigeria and the Associated Ecological Risk

The soil is a repository of contaminants and of importance in ecosystems research (Luo et al., 2007) and pollution studies (Madrid et al., 2002). Among the components of the environment (soil, water, air), soil receives most of its pollutants from other components of the environment. Urban soils however, have high concentrations of heavy metals (Xia et al., 2011; Adedeji et al., 2013). Soils from urban areas are not usually used for farming. This is because of other high valued alternative uses to which the land are used for. However, alternative anthropogenic activities on urban soils have impacted high metals input in the soil, usually above permissible limits. Some of the pathways of exposure to soil contaminants are the inhalation and swallowing of pollutants, and at times, there is dermal contact with the pollutants (Nicholson et al., 2003). This has resulted in toxicological health disorders in adults and children, affecting the central nervous systems and fatty tissues (Xia et al., 2011). Sources of pollution in urban soils are many and at times metal specific. Soil pollutants could have their sources from vehicle emission, chemical industry, coal combustion, municipal solid waste, drug contamination and dust sedimentation (Adedeji et al., 2013; Azeez et al., 2014; Jalili and Azizkhan, 2009; Xia et al., 2011). For example, the concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn are reported to be via traffic sources while most Cd sources are industrial (Imperato et al., 2003; Xia et al., 2011). Other identified sources of soil heavy metals include agricultural inputs (Huang and Jin, 2008), urbanization, industrialization, and mining (Zhong et al., 2012). Agricultural and industrial wastes are reported to be the most damaging anthropogenic activities in the world (Krami et al., 2013). Several studies have also credited heavy metals pollution to anthropogenic sources (Zhang et al., 2009; Acosta et al., 2011; Bini et al., 2011; Gu et al., 2012; Li and Feng, 2012; Chabukdhara and Nema, 2012; Cai et al., 2012; Guo et al., 2012). Despite the negative effects (toxic effects) of these metals in human, their build-up in the soil is not properly monitored in emerging megacities of sub-Saharan Africa. Aside been present in the soils, these metals can also persist for a long time because they are not biodegradable and are immobile. The metals have been reported to be responsible for chronic and acute health disorders in adults and children (Madrid et al., 2002; Lee et al., 2006). Human activities have been reported to affect the natural, geological and biological redistribution of heavy metals in soils (Peter and Adeniyi, 2011). Such activities in urban areas have contributed to the high metal profiles. Recently, research attention has focused on contamination of soils in urban cities in developed countries of Europe, America and Asia. Many of these studies have focused on urban soils as a part of the environment but not on specific land use types. This indicates a research gap, this aspect of research is, however,
The effect of attention on electrophysiological measures of syllable processing: contrastive features sorted according to a secondary contrast

While it is acknowledged that phonological processing begins at an early perceptual stage, the interaction of attention with contrastive speech features is inadequately understood. We investigated the effect of attention on electrophysiological responses to contrastive VOT, vowel length and place of articulation. Specifically, we examined the attentional difference in global field power for contrasts sorted according to secondary contrasts. The attention-contrast difference timeseries that included VOT showed distinct differences between the two secondary levels, occurring less than 132 ms after the mean time at which the contrasts were differentiated in the stimuli. Moreover, there was temporal congruence between the initial point from which the two levels maximally differ for VOT and vowel length, but not for the vowel length-place of articulation contrast or its inverse. These results elucidate the integration and automaticity involved in syllable processing, and they confirm that the cortical response to VOT is robust.
A Phenomenological Study of the Experiences of Master’s Level Students of Color in Counseling Programs

This qualitative study investigated the training experiences of 12 students of color in Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs-accredited master’s-level counseling programs using semi-structured phenomenological interviews. The 12 participants identified as Asian American (n = 2), Japanese American (n = 1), Chinese (n = 1), Black (n = 1), African American (n = 1), Latino and/or Hispanic (n = 3), and multiracial (n = 3). We used interpretive phenomenological analysis and identified three main themes: cultural marginalization, biculturalism, and safe or counter-hegemonic relationships. Training implications for counselor education programs are provided.
ELEVATED COLD-SECTOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

A preliminary study of atmospheric conditions in the vicinity of severe thunderstorms that occurred in the cold sector, north of east-west frontal boundaries, is presented. Upper-air soundings, suiface data and PCGRIDDS data were collected and analyzed from a total of eleven cases from April 1992 through April 1994. The selection criteria necessitated that a report occur at least fifty statute miles north of a well-defined frontal boundary. A brief climatology showed that the vast majority of reports noted large hail (diameter: 1.00-1.75 in.) and that the first report of severe thunderstorms occurred on an average of 150 miles north of the frontal boundary. Data from 22 proximity soundings from these cases revealed a strong baroclinic environment with strong vertical wind shear and warm air advection from just above the suiface through 500 mb. This advection was reasoned to provide a constant source for destabilization from lifting above the frontal inversion. Convective instability was noted in all cases above the boundary layer with stability indices revealing the most unstable parcel located near the 850-mb layer. Despite quite cool and stable suiface conditions, CAPE, best lifted index and totaltotals index values suggested at least a marginal degree of instability was required for cold-sector, severe thunderstorm development. After examining the proximity soundings, PCGRIDDS data were then analyzed to determine whichforecast fields from the ETA model best delineated cold-sector, severe thunderstorm development. Reports of severe weather occurred VelY near the ETA model forecast, 850-mb, warm air advection maximum. In addition, a majority of reports occurred along the axis of strongest 850-mb theta-e advection. Constructed cross-sections normal to isotherms or thickness contours showed where areas of elevated or slightly sloped thetae sUlfaces were located above the frontal suiface. These areas of potential convective instability combined with upward vertical velocity fields correlated well with the location of subsequent severe thunderstorm reports.
Term Structure of Volatilities and Estimation Method of the Term Structure of Interest Rates

In this paper, we proceed to estimate term structure of interest rate volatilities finding that these estimates depend significantly on the model used to estimate the term structure (Nelson and Siegel or Vasicek and Fong) and the heteroskedasticity structure of errors (OLS or GLS weighted by duration). We conclude in our empirical analysis that there are significant differences between these volatilities in the short (less than one year) and long term (more than ten years). Finally, we can detect that three principal components explain the 90 % of the changes in volatility term structure. These components are related with level, slope and curvature.
Points from Unsupervised Inlierness Probability Learning

A wide range of computer vision algorithms rely on identifying sparse interest points in images and establishing correspondences between them. However, only a subset of the initially identified interest points results in true correspondences (inliers). In this paper, we seek a detector that finds the minimum number of points that are likely to result in an application-dependent “sufficient” number of inliers k. To quantify this goal, we introduce the “ksuccinctness” metric. Extracting a minimum number of interest points is attractive for many applications, because it can reduce computational load, memory, and data transmission. Alongside succinctness, we introduce an unsupervised training methodology for interest point detectors that is based on predicting the probability of a given pixel being an inlier. In comparison to previous learned detectors, our method requires the least amount of data pre-processing. Our detector and other state-of-the-art detectors are extensively evaluated with respect to succinctness on popular public datasets covering both indoor and outdoor scenes, and both wide and narrow baselines. In certain cases, our detector is able to obtain an equivalent amount of inliers with as little as 60% of the amount of points of other detectors. The code and trained networks are provided at https://github.com/uzh-rpg/sips2_open.
Molecular typing of Methicillin Resistance Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) isolated from device related infections by SCCmec and PCR-RFLP of coagulase gene

Background: SCC mec and PCR-RFLP are productive and cost-effective methods for epidemiological investigations and source tracking of MRSA. Aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology and molecular characterization of MRSA recovered from device related infection. Methods: A total of 626 MRSA were collected from prosthetic device related infections and subjected for presence of mec gene and SCC mec typing. SCC mec characterized MRSA were subjected for agr typing followed by RFLP genotyping and amplification of PVL gene. Following the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), antibiotic resistance pattern was determined. Results: Of 626 MRSA isolates, 488(78%) were characterized by SCC mec typing. Most common type was SCC mec IV (43%), followed by SCC mec II (25%) SCC mec III (22%) and only 10% was SCC mec V. SCC mec characterized MRSA strains were 100% resistance to tobramycin and chloramphenicol, 96% resistance to ciprofloxacin and 93% resistance to azithromycin. The gene PVL was only present in SCC mec IV. All agr typed MRSA strains were resistance to gentamicin, tobramycin and chloramphenicol. PVL was present in all strains of agr III, 80% of agr IV, 50% of agr II and absent in agr I. RFLP analysis resulted in 16 types of non-duplicate unique bands pattern which were equally distributed among prosthetic device related infection. Conclusion: PVL harboring SCC mec or agr typed MRSA strains are less resistance to antibiotics. RFLP is simple, productive and cost-effective method for molecular typing of MRSA. Correct use of antibiotics and molecular surveillance is indispensable to detect the change in epidemiological and antibiotic resistance trends of MRSA.
ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF SELF-SIMILAR TRAFFIC IN THE PERFORMANCE OF REAL TIME APPLICATIONS

In this work we present a network convergence environment and the results of the performance evaluation of real time applications in the presence of self similar traffic with different levels of burstiness. Our primary goal is to prove that the grooming of traffic flows that may result in different burstiness levels, represented by the Hurst parameter, has to be considered in the mapping of traffic flows in FEC (Forwarding Equivalence Class). We show the results of two different experiments and the latency, losses and interarrival time calculus related to a real time application. Also we make our considerations of how the traffic characterization procedure should promote an improvement in the development of traffic engineering procedures.
An investigation into the effects of pregnancy duration on maternal and fetal outcomes in nulliparous mothers with a gestational age of between 38-40 weeks and over 40 weeks in Be ' sat Hospital , Sanandaj

Many factors affect duration of pregnancy. And after the expected time labor is associated with complications for mothers and fetuses. World Health Organization (WHO) states that pregnancy duration is 280 days. Most studies have also defined pregnancy duration to be 281-283 days. Pregnancy duration can vary in different populations and according to a theory it depends on the cervical ripening time. According to the definition, pregnancy of 42 weeks or more (more that 294 days) is called post-term pregnancy whose incidence has been reported to be 3-12%. Various factors affect pregnancy duration. One of these factors is genetics which results in different pregnancy durations in different populations. Parity also affects pregnancy duration. According a study conducted in Swede, risk of post-term pregnancy is higher in nulliparous women. Other complications of prolonged pregnancy include Intra Uterine Growth Retardation (IUGR) and macrosomia. Intra Uterine Fetal Death (IUFD) is more common among fetuses with IUGR growth limitation that are born after 42 week. In fact, in post dates there are growth limitations in IUFD cases [3]. Pregnancy continuation after 40 weeks is involved with a high risk of fetal mortality. Macrosomia and prolonged second phase of labor are among causes that result in atonic, need for transfusion, and an increase in infection rates. Methods ; In a historic-cohort study, 400 pregnant women (200 of 38 to 40 weeks and 200 of over 40 weeks) were studied. X and Mann-Whitney tests were used for data analysis through SPSS. Results ; The mean age of mothers was 23.57±4.33, no significant difference was observed between the two groups (P>0.05). In terms of maternal hospitalization, induction, cesarean delivery, and fetal decelerations, the two groups were significantly different (P<0.01). Conclusion ; Based on our findings, more care is necessary for the fetal deceleration, induction, cesarean delivery, and fetal me conium. [Shoeleh Shahgheibi, Fariba Farhadifar, Masomeh Rezaei, Fariba Sayed Olshohadaei, Niloofar Farhangi. An investigation into the effects of pregnancy duration on maternal and fetal outcomes in nulliparous mothers with a gestational age of between 38-40 weeks and over 40 weeks in Be'sat Hospital, Sanandaj. Life Sci J 2014;11(6s):57-61]. (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 9
Effects of Azospirillum on germination and seedling growth of commercial sweet corn varieties Insee 2 and Hi-Brix 3

Two sweet corn varieties, Insee 2 and Hi-Brix 3 were used to assess the effects of Azospirillum brasilense strains (LB11, LB1-2, LB1-3, and LB1-4) on seed germination and seedling development under laboratory and greenhouse growth conditions. The highest germination percentage (95%) was observed with the uninoculated (control) seeds in Insee 2 and seeds inoculated with LB1-3 in Hi-Brix3. Insee 2 seeds inoculated with LB1-2 showed the highest germination index (GI) at 62.06% and in Hi-Brix 3, seeds inoculated with LB1-1 had the highest GI at 79.86. The effects of Azospirillum brasilense on seedling growth in both varieties of inoculated seeds in all strains were similar to the control in laboratory conditions. All strains had endophytic characters but showed differences in terms of growth. Only 3 treatments (TS2 9 [reference strain], LB1-1, and LB1-4) in the Insee 2 showed endophytic characters in both conditions. The TS29 and LB1-4 showed endophytic characters in laboratory conditions and all treatments had no endophytic characters in the greenhouse conditions in Hi-Brix 3.
AN ANALYSIS OF SOME SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENTS OF INDOOR AIR-QUALITY IN FIVE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

The country of origin was found to dominate the perception of air quality. Next most important was the respondents’ subjective thermal state. Least important was the thermal environment itself. The concentration of CO2 had a slight negative relation to the perceived air quality. The relative humidity affected the perceptions, air quality being rated most highly at moderate levels of humidity. The air temperature did not affect the perceived air quality if the respondents were in thermal comfort. When respondents felt too warm, high temperature and humidity had an adverse effect on the perceived air-quality. When respondents felt too cool, low temperature and humidity had an adverse effect. These results do not support the view that people prefer the air to be dry and cool, but do support the view that combined high temperature and high humidity have an adverse effect on perceived air quality if people are feeling too warm. INDEX TERMS Perceived air quality, Thermal comfort, Country, Offices, Thermal environment. INTRODUCTION The observations analysed for this paper formed a part of the data collected for the Smart Controls and Thermal Comfort (SCATs) Project [Nicol and McCartney, 2001]. During this project repeated measurements of the indoor climate were made at work-areas in 26 selected office-buildings in five European countries (France, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom). A mobile automated data-acquisition system recorded the air temperature, the temperature of a globe thermometer, the relative humidity, the air speed, the concentration of carbon dioxide, the horizontal illuminance and the sound pressure level at the work-stations. The respondents gave their assessments of the quality of the air on a 7-point scale. There were 5-point rating scales for thermal preference, and for preferred levels of air-movement, humidity, light and sound. There were parallel 7-point scales assessing the subjective levels of these variables. The scales had been translated into the language of the country, and were presented using a flip-chart. Respondents were visited monthly for a year. Researchers made more than 4500 such ‘desk-visits’ between June 1998 and October 1999. ANALYSIS Air quality related to other subjective judgements Figure 1 shows the relation between the judgements of perceived air-quality (1 to 7 – very bad to excellent) and the subjective assessments of the level of air movement (1 to 5 – much less to much more). If the perceived air movement differed from the preferred value, there was a strong adverse effect on the perception of the quality of the air. The perceived air movement, however, was only very slightly affected by the actual air movement. A similar pattern emerged for the humidity, and similar but much weaker patterns for light and sound. ∗ Contact author email: mahumphreys@brookes.ac. uk Proceedings: Indoor Air 2002