Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Personal and food hygiene practices among street-food vendors in Sabon-Gari local government area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Background: Street-food vendors play an important role in the etiology of foodborne disease outbreaks. Foodborne disease pathogens may be transferred by street-food vendors to food either directly or by cross contamination. Deeply concerned by this, the 53rd World Health Assembly in May, 2000 adopted a resolution calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) and its member states to recognize food safety as an essential public health function. The resolution also called on WHO to develop a global strategy for reducing the burden of foodborne diseases. This study, therefore, was aimed at assessing the personal and food hygiene among street-food vendors in Sabon Gari Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 109 adults food vendors that sell cooked food or food items by the roadside or open spaces in the streets of Sabon Gari local government area (LGA) using multistage sampling technique. Observation checklist and a pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions were used for data collection. The obtained data were entered into a computer, cleaned and analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics version 20. Univariate and Bivariate analyses were conducted among the variables. Associations between categorical variables were tested for significance using Chi-square or Fischer's exact test. Statistical significance was said to be achieved where P ≤ 0.05. Results: Most of the street-food vendors were within the age group 35–44 years (40.4%), while 49.5% of the people who patronized them were passers-by. Half (50.5%) of the street-food vendors normally operate under a shade to sell food to customers. All of them did not receive any formal training on personal and food hygiene. Half (50.4%) of the respondents and 48.6% of them had poor practices of personal and food hygiene, respectively. However, 67.0% of the street-food vendors had a fair environmental sanitation status around their vending sites. Conclusion: The study found that none of the street-food vendors had ever received any form of formal training on personal and food hygiene. Many of them have poor personal and food hygiene practices; however, a significant proportion of them have a fairly good environmental sanitation status around their vending sites. Formal training on personal and food hygiene should be conducted among all street-food vendors in the LGA to improve on their personal and food hygienic practices for the vending of safe food to their consumers.
Total Quality Management and Performance of Telecommunication Firms

This study examines the link between Total Quality Management and performance of telecommrmication firms in Nigeria. The research instnnnent utilized for the study was completed by 122 respondents dra\Vll from two leading telecommmrication firms (MTN and Globacom) in Nigeria. Utilizing the regression technique, results of data analysis indicate that TQM practices such as process improvement and employee empowerment significantly influence finn performance. Top management commitment was fmmd not to have a relationship with organizational reputation. It is suggested that employee contribution not only to work processes but also to decision making, encouragement to set objectives for themselves and motivation towards their work enhance their understanding and commitment to their job and the organization at large
Influence of feed intake level on site of digestion in steers fed a high concentrate diet.

A high concentrate diet was fed at 1.2, 1.5, 1.8 and 2.1% of body weight to four Angus steers (258 kg) equipped with cannulas in the proximal duodenum and distal ileum. As level of feed intake increased, flow of N, nonammonia N, microbial N and feed N to the small intestine increased linearly (P less than .05). Bypass of feed N increased from 44 to 71% of fed N. At the highest intake level, ruminal protein degradation and protein solubility were almost equal. At lower intake levels, feed protein degradation exceeded N use by microbes, but at the higher level of intake, microbial protein synthesis exceeded N available from protein degradation. Microbial efficiency increased as feed intake was increased to 1.8% of body weight. Apparent digestion of N in the small intestine increased with feed intake. Starch digestion in the rumen increased slightly with feed intake while organic matter and acid detergent fiber (ADF) digestibility declined. At the highest level of feed intake, no ADF disappearance occurred in the rumen. Results suggest that level of feed intake markedly alters 1) bypass and supply of intestinally digested protein, 2) need for degradable N in the rumen, 3) efficiency of microbial growth and 4) ruminal fiber digestion. Both retention time and contingent characteristics of fermentation in the rumen appear to be involved in these alterations.
Opioid Neurotoxicity: Neuropathologic Effects in Rats of Different Fentanyl Congeners and the Effects of Hexamethonium-Induced Normotension

We tested the hypotheses that convulsant doses of opioids would produce limbic system damage exacerbated by hexamethonium.Ventilated paralyzed rats received intravenous (IV) isovolumic infusion of fentanyl loading dose (LD) 1000 micro gram/kg, maintenance dose (MD) 40 micro gram centered dot kg-1 centered dot min-1 (n = 10), sufentanil LD 400 micro gram/kg, MD 13.3 micro gram centered dot kg-1 centered dot min-1 (n = 10), alfentanil LD 1500 micro gram/kg, MD 150 micro gram centered dot kg-1 centered dot min-1 (n = 10), or 0.9% saline control LD 4 mL/kg, MD 4 mL centered dot kg-1 centered dot h-1 (n = 10), with O2/N2 30%/70% during opioid infusion and O2/N2 O in controls during saline infusion. Hexamethonium (LD 20 mg/kg, MD 40-120 mg centered dot kg-1 centered dot h-1) was given IV during opioid infusion to half of the rats. Cerebral perfusion-fixation with formalin was performed 24 h later, followed by histopathologic assessment. None of the control rats showed any histologic abnormalities. Overall summed neuropathologic severity was worse in opioid treated groups (P = 0.01). Lesions occurred primarily in cortical regions and limbic system structures. When arterial blood pressure was controlled to a lower level with hexamethonium (147 vs 100 mm Hg), rats had less severe lesions (P = 0.02). These data indicate that fentanyl, sufentanil, and alfentanil all can produce histopathologic evidence of brain injury in rats mitigated by hexamethonium. (Anesth Analg 1996;83:141-6)
Poultry farmer perceptions of agricultural advisory services involving value addition and marketing in Wakiso district Uganda

Successful agricultural innovations depend inter alia, upon farmer perception of introduced programmes. The present study determined farmer perceptions of the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) and how these affected innovative technology adoption practices in poultry management in Wakiso district in central Uganda. Social demographic attributes (SDAs) data and perceptions of the NAADS were captured quantitatively using interviews from self-reported survey questionnaires with 231 poultry farmers. Measured perception factors included: attitude, social influence, skills, knowledge and belief about capabilities. Results showed farmer perceptions to be significantly influenced by farmer SDA ‘experience’ and ‘education level’. While ‘attitude’ played a small but significant role, perception factors ‘skills’ and ‘social Influence’ contributed significantly to farmer intentions towards innovative technology adoption. To enhance intentions towards adoption of innovative advisory services, value addition and marketing, farmer SDAs and perception beliefs need to be considered.
Early changes in biochemical markers of bone formation correlate with improvements in bone structure during teriparatide therapy.

CONTEXT Biochemical markers of bone turnover may reflect bone structure during anabolic treatment. OBJECTIVE The objective was to evaluate associations between changes in biochemical markers and structural and dynamic bone parameters during teriparatide treatment. DESIGN This study was a randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled fracture prevention trial, with 20-month median treatment duration for biopsy subset. SETTING The trial was conducted at 11 clinical study sites. PATIENTS Sixty-one postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who had paired transiliac biopsy specimens participated in the study. INTERVENTIONS Once-daily sc injections of either placebo or teriparatide (20 or 40 microg) were administered. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The study measured: 1) serum and urinary biochemical markers of bone formation [bone alkaline phosphatase and procollagen I C-terminal propeptide (PICP)] and resorption (N-telopeptide and deoxypyridinoline); and 2) structural and dynamic analyses of bone biopsies, including two-dimensional (2D) histomorphometry and three-dimensional (3D) micro-computed tomography evaluations measured at baseline (n = 57) and 12 (n = 21) or 22 (n = 36) months. RESULTS U-N-telopeptide/creatinine and serum-PICP correlated with bone structure and dynamic indices at baseline, respectively. Changes in bone alkaline phosphatase at 1 month correlated with changes at 22 months in 2D wall thickness (r = 0.73; P = 0.001), trabecular bone volume (trabecular bone volume per total volume, BV/TV) (r = 0.58; P < 0.05), marrow star volume (r = -0.51; P = 0.05); 3D trabecular thickness (r = 0.49; P < 0.05), and BV/TV (r = 0.54; P < 0.05). Changes in PICP at 1 month correlated with changes in wall thickness (r = 0.60; P = 0.01), and 2D BV/TV (r = 0.51; P < 0.05) at 22 months. Changes in markers at 6 or 12 months were not associated with changes in structural or dynamic parameters. CONCLUSIONS Early (1-month) changes in biochemical markers of bone formation, but not resorption, correlated with improvements in bone structure after 22 months of teriparatide therapy.
3D Transition Matrix Solution for a Path Dependency Problem of Markov Chains-Based Prediction in Cellular Networks

Handover (HO) management is one of the critical challenges in current and future mobile communication systems due to new technologies being deployed at a network level, such as small and femtocells. Because of the smaller sizes of cells, users are expected to perform more frequent HOs, which can increase signaling costs and also decrease user's performance, if a HO is performed poorly. In order to address this issue, predictive HO techniques, such as Markov chains (MC), have been introduced in the literature due to their simplicity and generality. This technique, however, experiences a path dependency problem, specially when a user performs a HO to the same cell, also known as a re-visit. In this paper, the path dependency problem of this kind of predictors is tackled by introducing a new 3D transition matrix, which has an additional dimension representing the orders of HOs, instead of a conventional 2D one. Results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the classical MC based predictors both in terms of accuracy and HO cost when re-visits are considered.
Event Motivation Study of Wine Festival Visitors in Maharashtra

Considering the growing interest among Indian travellers in wine tourism within the country and outside, it becomes pertinent to examine the wine enthusiasts‟ consumer psychology in order to have a deeper understanding of the wine tourism market in India. This study is conducted with a three-fold objective of (a) Profiling wine festival visitors based on socio – demographic characteristics; (b) Examining whether any motivational differences exist across male and female visitors of the festival; and (c)Identifying major driving factors that attract visitors to the wine festival. Seven motivating factors were identified and ranked, of which, unwinding& relaxing, exploring new wines and spending time with family and friends were ranked most important motivators for participating in the wine festival. Friedman‟s Rank Sum Test was performed for confirming significance. In order to analyse the motivational differences across male and female visitors, Mann- Whitney Test was used to test for any significant differences. The socio-demographic profiles of the wine festival visitors were assessed in order to understand the market segment of wine consumers who present a high conversion possibility as potential wine tourists. The study is aimed at forming the basis for further research on wine tourism management in Maharashtra and also contributing to research literature in wine tourism in India.
Is Current Way of Promoting Sustainability, Sustainable?

ABSTRACT Consumer behavior regarding sustainable products has been a complex concept. There is a discrepancy between consumer’s espoused concern towards environment and their purchase of environment friendly products. Past literature suggests greenwashing being a possible reason for this discrepancy. With greenwashing being caused by mismatch between communication and perceived performance, this article focuses on assessment of simultaneous impact of both communication and performance elements on brand attitude. A quantitative study was undertaken to test the hypotheses. This was followed by a qualitative study to understand alternative explanation of hypotheses that was not accepted. The research revealed that a consumer’s attitude toward a green brand is impacted both by his or her general skepticism towards green ads and the credibility that she assigns to the firm’s green message. Perceived value of product also had a positive impact on brand attitude. Findings advance academic literature and support managerial community by highlighting factors for building a positive green brand attitude and resultantly avoiding the trap of being equated with greenwashing.
High levels of metastasis-inducing S100A4 protein and treatment outcome in early rheumatoid arthritis: data from the PERAC cohort

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of S100A4 as a biomarker in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). S100A4 levels were measured in 59 patients with early RA and in 41 healthy controls. The association between the S100A4 levels and the treatment outcome after 12 months was determined using multivariate regression analysis. Serum S100A4 levels were significantly higher in the patients with early RA than in the healthy subjects and significantly decreased after 3 months of treatment. Diseases activity at 12 months was significantly higher in female patients who had initially high levels of S100A4. Persistently high S100A4 levels predicted poor treatment outcome and S100A4 may thus represent promising biomarker for assessing treatment response in patients with RA.
Metformin synergistic pemetrexed suppresses non‐small‐cell lung cancer cell proliferation and invasion in vitro

The aim of this study was to investigate whether metformin in combination with pemetrexed has an effect on the treatment of non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) models and to explore the related molecular mechanism. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) and combination index (CI) of metformin and pemetrexed were detected by the CCK8 assay to assess the antiproliferative and therapeutic effects of the two‐drug combination. Flow cytometry (FCM) and invasion assays were used to estimate the variation in apoptosis rate and invasion ability of the differently treated NSCLC cell lines. Apoptotic markers were detected by western blotting to validate the data related to the antiproliferation and proapoptosis effects. Metformin monotherapy inhibited the growth of NSCLC cell lines and reduced the invasion ability to different degrees compared with the control groups (P < 0.05). Metformin in combination with pemetrexed produced a synergistic effect (CI < 0.90) compared with the two drugs in monotherapy in the three tested NSCLC cell lines. Metformin in combination with pemetrexed significantly increased the cell numbers of HCC827 cells at S phase (P < 0.001), and the combination therapy had no influence on the A549 and H1975 cell lines. We found that combining metformin with pemetrexed induced more cell apoptosis than metformin or pemetrexed used alone (P < 0.05), which was validated by the apoptotic markers. These results demonstrate that the combination of metformin and pemetrexed has a synergistic effect on the treatment of NSCLC cell lines by inducing apoptosis or blocking the cell cycle. Our data indicate that the combination of metformin and pemetrexed could have beneficial antitumor effects on NSCLC cells in vitro.
Narcissism and Machiavellianism

Associations of Machiavellianism and narcissism were examined in two samples (Ns = 214 and 205) via the Mach-IV and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Scores on these self-report measures were correlated. Machiavellianism scores were positively associated with aspects of narcissism which indicate maladjustment, i.e., entitlement and exploitativeness, and inversely associated with adaptive narcissistic tendencies, i.e., self-sufficiency. The discussion focuses on the relative adjustment of those scoring high on Machiavellianism.
X-ray absorption spectroscopic studies of the high-spin iron(II) active site of isopenicillin N synthase: evidence for Fe-S interaction in the enzyme-substrate complex.

Isopenicillin N synthase from Cephalosporium acremonium (IPNS; M(r) 38.4K) is an Fe(2+)-requiring enzyme which catalyzes the oxidative conversion of (L-alpha-amino-delta-adipoyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine (ACV) to isopenicillin N, with concomitant reduction of O2 to 2H2O. Chemical and spectroscopic data have suggested that catalysis proceeds via an enzyme complex of ACV bound to the iron through its cysteinyl thiolate [Baldwin, J. E. , & Abraham, E. P. (1988) Nat. Prod. Rep. 5, 129-145; Chen, V. J., Orville, A. M. , Harpel, M. R. , Frolik, C. A. , Surerus, K. K. , Münck, E. , & Lipscomb, J. D. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 21677-21681; Ming, L. -J., Que, L. , Jr., Kriauciunas, A. , Frolik, C. A. , & Chen, V. J. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 11653-11659]. Here we have employed the technique of Fe K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) to characterize the iron site and to seek direct evidence for or against the formation of an Fe-S interaction upon ACV binding. Our data collected in the absence of substrate and O2 are consistent with the iron center of IPNS being coordinated by only (N,O)-containing ligands in an approximately octahedral arrangement and with an average Fe-(N,O) distance of 2.15 +/- 0.02 A. Upon anaerobic binding of ACV, the iron coordination environment changes considerably, and the associated Fe EXAFS cannot be adequately simulated without incorporating an Fe-S interaction at 2.34 +/- 0.02 A along with four or five Fe-(N,O) interactions at 2.15 +/- 0.02 A. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Phosphoenolpyruvate synthase plays an essential role for glycolysis in the modified Embden‐Meyerhof pathway in Thermococcus kodakarensis

We have carried out a genetic analysis on pyruvate kinase (PykTk) and phosphoenolpyruvate synthase (PpsTk) in the hyperthermophilic archaeon, Thermococcus kodakarensis. In principle, both enzymes can catalyse the final step of the modified Embden‐Meyerhof (EM) pathway found in Thermococcales, the conversion of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to pyruvate, with the former utilizing ADP, while the latter is dependent on AMP and phosphate. Enzyme activities and transcript levels of both PykTk and PpsTk increased in T. kodakarensis under glycolytic conditions when compared with cells grown on pyruvate or amino acids. Using KW128, a tryptophan auxotrophic mutant with a trpE gene disruption, as a host strain, we obtained mutant strains with single gene disruptions in either the pykTk (Δpyk strain) or ppsTk (Δpps strain) gene. Specific growth rates and cell yields were examined in various media and compared with the host KW128 strain. The results indicated that both enzymes participated in pyruvate metabolism, but were not essential. In the presence of maltooligosaccharides, the Δpyk strain displayed a 15% decrease in growth rate compared with the host strain, indicating that PykTk does participate in glycolysis. However an even more dramatic effect was observed in the Δpps strain in that the strain could not grow at all on maltooligosaccharides. The results clearly indicate that, in contrast to the conventional EM pathway dependent on pyruvate kinase, PEP synthase is the essential enzyme for the glycolytic conversion of PEP to pyruvate in T. kodakarensis. The physiological roles of the two enzymes under various growth conditions are discussed.
Acrosome reaction in the head‐attached human sperm

Summary: The physiological acrosome reaction of the sperm occurs on the surface of the oocyte. Although its occurrence on the zona pellucida is considered to be a specific response to zona compounds, whether the simple attachment itself could influence the reaction of motile spermatozoa to a fixed surface and promote onset of the reaction is questioned. A motile human sperm head fixation method was developed recently, through which a group of head‐attached sperm can be established easily. These head‐attached sperm were investigated for their acrosome reactions. After staining by fluorescein iso‐thiocyanate conjugated peanut lectin (FITC‐PNA), many head‐attached spermatozoa (75.7%) were found to have undergone an acrosome reaction.
Effects of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre on Rural Enterprise Growth among Women Beneficiaries in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana

The study sought to highlight the experiences of women beneficiaries of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), with regards to its services and effects on their businesses and lives. A total of 341 women from 5 districts in the Brong Ahafo Region were selected. Face-to-face interviews were used to collect data. Several relevant statistical tests were used for data analysis. The study reveals that, although the women preferred individual loans, which give more money, the majority received microcredit/group loans due to the lack of collateral security. Politicisation of loans and discrimination also affected women’s access to MASLOC loans. The loans that the women received were lower than stipulated by MASLOC and woefully inadequate, coupled with the fewer numbers of times that loans were received, shorter repayment periods and late disbursement caused meaningful and long-time impact on the beneficiaries’ businesses. Nevertheless, the study demonstrates that there was expansion of the women’s businesses and their ability to provide for the personal and basic needs of their children. MASLOC should consider using guarantors only as requirement for individual loans; commit more resources for its operations in order to perform its role as a pro-poor institution; and use mobile money transfer system for loan retrieval to reduce its overall expenditure.