Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The use of antenatal care in two rural districts of Upper West Region, Ghana

Background Despite decades of implementation of maternity healthcare programmes, including a focus on increasing the use of antenatal care (ANC) and concomitant birth preparedness and complication readiness (BPCR), the uptake of ANC continues to be below expectations in many developing countries. This has attendant implications for maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates. Known barriers to ANC use include cost, distance to health care services and forces of various socio-cultural beliefs and practices. As part of a larger study on BPCR in rural Ghana, this paper reflects on the use of ANC in the study areas from rights-based and maternal engagement theoretical perspectives, with a focus on the barriers to ANC use. Methods Mixed methods approach was adopted to collect data from 8 study communities from individual in-depth interviews with 80 expectant mothers and 13 health care professionals, and 24 focus groups comprising 240 community members. The qualitative data followed a thematic analytical method, while the quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Results The average number of ANC visits were 3.34±1.292, and the majority of expectant mothers (71.3%) enrolled for ANC at the 8th week or later, with the longest delay recorded at the 6th month of gestation. Traditional norms significantly influenced this delay. Likewise, overall use of ANC during pregnancy was shaped by cultural factors related to perceptions of pregnancy, gender-based roles and responsibilities and concerns that ANC would result in an overweighed baby and culturally inappropriate delivery at a health care facility. Conclusion Greater understanding of the sociocultural barriers to ANC is essential if proposed changes in community-specific health education programs are to facilitate early commencement and increased use of ANC.
An aptamer-doxorubicin physical conjugate as a novel targeted drug-delivery platform.

The active targeting of drugs in a cell-, tissue-, or diseasespecific manner represents a potentially powerful technology with widespread applications in medicine, including the treatment of cancers. In a typical approach, a drug and a ligand are complementarily functionalized to allow for covalent or noncovalent (for example, biotin–streptavidin) conjugation for targeted delivery. The resulting chemical modifications of the drugs and/or the ligands may adversely affect the safety and efficacy profile of the drugs and the binding characteristics of the ligands, thereby resulting in less efficacious drug–ligand conjugates. It would be desirable to develop simple but effective targeted drug-delivery strategies that do not require chemical modification of the drug or the ligands. Recently our group and other investigators have used nucleic acid ligands or aptamers for therapeutic and diagnostic targeted-delivery applications. Aptamers are structured single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules that can specifically bind to small molecules, peptides and proteins, and oligosaccharides with high affinity and specificity. Here we report a novel strategy for the targeted delivery of doxorubicin (Dox) to cancer cells through the formation of an aptamer–Dox physical conjugate. Dox is a well-known anticancer drug which has shown efficacy against a range of neoplasms, including acute lymphoblastic and myeloblastic leukemias, malignant lymphomas, soft tissue and bone sarcomas, and breast, ovarian, prostate, bladder, gastric, and bronchogenic carcinomas. This widely used oncology drug is also associated with dose-dependent cardiotoxicities, including dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure, which make the development of targeted Dox-delivery systems of particular importance. Dox is known to intercalate within the DNA strand due to the presence of flat aromatic rings in this molecule. Other closely associated drugs, such as donarubicin, have also been shown to be intercalated into a double helix of DNA. Since aptamers are known to form tertiary conformations with short doublestranded regions through intramolecular base pairing, we hypothesized that doxorubicin may intercalate into these double-stranded regions and form a physical complex with the aptamers through noncovalent intercalation, a process requiring no modification of the drug or the aptamer (Figure 1). We postulated that the resulting aptamer–Dox physical conjugate may be used for the targeted delivery of
Microbiology of cysts/abscesses of Bartholin's gland: Review of empirical antibiotic therapy against microbial culture

Bartholin's glands are prone to obstruction at their opening into the vestibule, forming cysts which could be infected to become gland abscess. In our unit, treatment of Bartholin's abscess is usually surgical. In addition to surgical treatment, antimicrobial agents are often administered before microbial culture results are known. In this study, we aimed to determine the most common pathogens in Bartholin's glands abscess in our local population so that empiric antimicrobial therapy, if required, could be correctly directed. Among the 78 cases reviewed, there was positive microbial culture in 73.9%. Bartholin's abscess was commonly caused by opportunistic organisms, either as single agents or polymicrobial infections. Aerobic organisms were the commonest with coliforms being the most common bacteria. No cases of N. gonorrhoea or C. trachomatis were encountered. Flucloxacillin as a single agent was the most frequently prescribed antibiotic. Poly-pharmacy was common practice. It was concluded that whether adjuvant antibiotic therapy is necessary following surgical treatment of Bartholin's abscess is still controversial. Where antibiotics are required, the optimal initial therapy is not known. As poly-microbial infections are common, a broad spectrum agent like co-amoxiclav may be suitable for empirical treatment until culture results are known.
Location of Death in Canada

This report compares 20th-century Canadian hospital and nonhospital location-of-death trends and corresponding population mortality trends. One of the chief findings is a hospitalization-of-death trend, with deaths in hospital peaking in 1994 at 80.5% of all deaths. The rise in hospitalization was more pronounced in the years prior to the development of a national health care program (1966). Another key finding is a gradual reduction since 1994 in hospital deaths, with this reduction occurring across all sociodemographic variables. This suggests nonhospital care options are needed to support what may be an ongoing shift away from hospitalized death and dying.
A variant Tc4 transposable element in the nematode C. elegans could encode a novel protein

A variant C. elegans Tc4 transposable element, Tc4-rh1030, has been sequenced and is 3483 bp long. The Tc4 element that had been analyzed previously is 1605 bp long, consists of two 774-bp nearly perfect inverted terminal repeats connected by a 57-bp loop, and lacks significant open reading frames. In Tc4-rh1030, by comparison, a 2343-bp novel sequence is present in place of a 477-bp segment in one of the inverted repeats. The novel sequence of Tc4-rh1030 is present about five times per haploid genome and is invariably associated with Tc4 elements; we have used the designation Tc4v to denote this variant subfamily of Tc4 elements. Sequence analysis of three cDNA clones suggests that a Tc4v element contains at least five exons that could encode a novel basic protein of 537 amino acid residues. On northern blots, a 1.6-kb Tc4v-specific transcript was detected in the mutator strain TR679 but not in the wild-type strain N2; Tc4 elements are known to transpose in TR679 but appear to be quiescent in N2. We have analyzed transcripts produced by an unc-33 gene that has the Tc4-rh1030 insertional mutation in its transcribed region; all or almost all of the Tc4v sequence is frequently spliced out of the mutant unc-33 transcripts, sometimes by means of non-consensus splice acceptor sites.
Government decentralisation and corporate fraud: Evidence from listed state-owned enterprises in China

This paper examines the economic consequences of government decentralisation from the perspective of corporate fraud. Theoretically, government decentralisation reduces the political costs of state intervention and hence decreases the probability of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to engage in fraud. It also aggravates the agency costs (the costs of managerial self-dealing), thereby increasing the probability of SOEs to commit fraud. Using pyramidal layers as a proxy of government decentralisation for SOEs, empirical results show that government decentralisation significantly lowers the probability of SOEs to commit fraud. Further categorisation of types of fraud shows that government decentralisation primarily deters disclosure-related fraud and market transaction-related fraud. Finally, the effect of decentralisation on corporate fraud is more pronounced for SOEs in which government intervention is more likely.
Mediated moderation in combined cognitive behavioral therapy versus component treatments for generalized anxiety disorder.

OBJECTIVE This study examined (a) duration of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) as a moderator of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) versus its components (cognitive therapy and self-control desensitization) and (b) increases in dynamic flexibility of anxious symptoms during the course of psychotherapy as a mediator of this moderation. Degree of dynamic flexibility in daily symptoms was quantified as the inverse of spectral power due to daily to intradaily oscillations in four-times-daily diary data (Fisher, Newman, & Molenaar, 2011). METHOD This was a secondary analysis of the data of Borkovec, Newman, Pincus, and Lytle (2002). Seventy-six participants with a principle diagnosis of GAD were assigned randomly to combined CBT (n = 24), cognitive therapy (n = 25), or self-control desensitization (n = 27). RESULTS Duration of GAD moderated outcome such that those with longer duration showed greater reliable change from component treatments than they showed from CBT, whereas those with shorter duration fared better in response to CBT. Decreasing predictability in daily and intradaily oscillations of anxiety symptoms during therapy reflected less rigidity and more flexible responding. Increases in flexibility over the course of therapy fully mediated the moderating effect of GAD duration on condition, indicating a mediated moderation process. CONCLUSIONS Individuals with longer duration of GAD may respond better to more focused treatments, whereas those with shorter duration of GAD may respond better to a treatment that offers more coping strategies. Importantly, the mechanism by which this moderation occurs appears to be the establishment of flexible responding during treatment.
Regulation of Schwann cell nerve growth factor receptor by cyclic adenosine 3′,5′‐monophosphate

Previous studies indicated that Schwann cells in immature nerves express nerve growth factor (NGF) receptors, and that this expression is down regulated during development but re‐induced by Wallerian degeneration. It was also shown that immature Schwann cells are induced to express galactocerebroside and other molecules characteristic of mature Schwann cells by either contact with an axon or treatment with the cyclic adenosine 3′,5′‐monophosphate (cAMP) analogues dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP) and 8‐bromo cAMP or the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin. In the present study, NGF receptors on the surface of cultured Schwann cells were demonstrated by binding of an anti‐rat NGF receptor monoclonal antibody or of radioiodinated NGF. Treatment of cultured Schwann cells with cAMP analogues or forskolin resulted in a progressive decrease in both immunoreactive NGF receptors and radioiodinated NGF binding. The cultured Schwann cells contained a polyadenylated RNA species homologous with human melanoma NGF receptor mRNA in sequence and size. The amount of this NGF mRNA was lower in cAMP analogue‐treated than in untreated Schwann cells.
Susceptibility of Cry 1 Ab maize-resistant and-susceptible strains of sugarcane borer ( Lepidoptera : Crambidae ) to four individual Cry proteins q

Sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), is a major target of Bt maize in South America and many areas of the US mid-south region. Six laboratory strains of D. saccharalis were established from six single-pair F2 families possessing major resistance alleles to Cry1Ab maize hybrids. Susceptibility of the six strains was evaluated on diet treated with each of four purified trypsin-activated Bt proteins, Cry1Ab, Cry1Aa, Cry1Ac and Cry1F. Bt susceptibility of the six strains was compared with that of known Cry1Ab-susceptible and -resistant strains of D. saccharalis. At least two of the six strains demonstrated a similar level (>526-fold) of resistance to Cry1Ab as shown in the known Cry1Ab-resistant strain, while resistance levels were relatively lower for other strains (116to 129-fold). All the six strains were highly cross-resistant to Cry1Aa (71to 292-fold) and Cry1Ac (30to 248-fold), but only with a low level to Cry1F (<7-fold). Larval growth of all six strains was also inhibited on Bt-treated diet, but, except for Cry1F, the growth inhibition of the six strains was considerably less than that of the Cry1Ab-susceptible larvae. The results provide clear evidence that the observed resistance to Cry1Ab maize in the six strains is a result of resistance to the Cry1Ab protein in the plants. The low level of cross-resistance between Cry1A and Cry1F suggests that pyramiding these two types of Bt proteins into a plant could be a good strategy for managing D. saccharalis. 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Lack of association between herpes simplex virus type 2 infection and cervical cancer--Taq Man realtime PCR assay findings.

BACKGROUND About one third of the human population suffer cancer during their lifetime and more than 20% of total morbidity is related to neoplasia. Cervical cancer is generally the most common cancer in developing countries and the second most common in women globally. The role of human papilloma viruses viruses in its induction is clear. However, the involvement of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is controversial. Therefore a survey was conducted of the prevalence of HSV-2 in patients with cervical cancer and also healthy people with sensitive and quantitative Taq Man real-time PCR assay. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seventy six formaldehyde fixed paraffin embedded tissue specimens from patients with histologically proven history of cervical cancer as well as 150 control blocks were sectioned for deparaffinization and DNA extraction. RESULTS There was no HSV-2 DNA in our patient specimens but four control samples were positive, all with a history of hysterectomy. CONCLUSION Considering the absence of any positive viral HSV-2 DNA in our patients and also the presence of four positive specimens among our controls, we did not find any relationship between the presence of HSV-2 DNA and cervical cancer.
Electrically controllable terahertz square-loop metamaterial based on VO2 thin film

An electrically controllable square-loop metamaterial based on vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin film was proposed in the terahertz frequency regime. The square-loop shaped metamaterial was adopted to perform roles not only as a resonator but also as a micro-heater for the electrical control of the VO2. A dual-resonant square-loop structure was designed to realize band-pass characteristics in the desired frequency band. The measured Q-factors of the basic and scaled-down metamaterials fabricated on VO2 thin films were 2.22 and 1.61 at the center frequencies of 0.44 and 1.14 THz in the passbands, respectively. The transmittances of the proposed metamaterial were successfully controlled by applying a bias voltage without an external heater. The measured transmittance on–off ratios of the metamaterials were over 40 at the center frequencies in the passbands. In the future, electrically controllable terahertz metamaterial based on VO2 metamaterial could be employed as high-performance active filters or sensors.
Street-Level Bureaucratic Discretion: An Investigation of Disproportionality in the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems

This study seeks to provide a structural explanation for a poorly understood administrative and policy phenomenon: the problem of minority overrepresentation or disproportionality in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Disproportionality is a pressing policy and practice concern regarding how to halt the continual over representation of African American and other minority youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. It has social and policy implications at the national, state and local level. Disporportionality affects the lives of youth who are unnecessarily removed from their families or adjudicated and detained as well as state and local budgets when scarce financial resources are spent in costly interventions like detention, juvenile correctional facilities, residential treatment and foster care. A qualitative comparative, explanatory case study methodology treated front line bureaucrats as experts about what transpires within the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and essentially asked those making decisions “what do you think is going on? ”. Thirty-six people were interviewed in two localities regarding the role of professional decision making in generating or maintaining policies and procedures that affect disproportionality. Disproportionality in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in these localities was explored with the goal that the collective insight of these decision makers might result in a greater understanding and explanation of the structural causes of the problem. Participants identified that professional bias is a significant factor affecting assessment at every decision point in the system. Although these findings are case specific and cannot be generalized they add to the literature by providing insights that are
Co-digestion of Olive Mill Wastewater and Swine Manure Using Up-Flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor for Biogas Production

Swine wastewater (SW) and olive mill wastewater (OMW) are two problematic wastes that have become major causes of health and environmental concerns. The main objective of the current work was to evaluate the efficiency of the co-digestion strategy for treatment of SW and OMW mixtures. Mesophilic batch reac-tors fed with mixtures of SW and OMW showed that the two adapted sludges Gadot and Prigat exhibited the best COD removal capacity and biogas production; therefore both were selected to seed up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) continuous reactors. During 170 days of operation, both sludges Gadot and Prigat showed high biodegradation potential. The highest COD removal of 85-95% and biogas production of 0.55 L? g-1 COD were obtained at a mixture consisting of 33% OMW and 67% SW. Under these conditions, an organic load of 28,000 mg? L-1 COD was reduced to 1,500-3,500 mg? L-1. These results strongly suggest that co-digestion technology using UASB reactors is a highly reliable and promising technology for wastewater treatment and biogas production.
Time and cost overruns in power projects in Kenya: A case study of Kenya electricity generating Company limited

Time and cost overruns in infrastructure development projects during implementation continue to pose great challenges to developing countries. Research has found that many factors impede the successful completion of projects on time, within budget and of good quality. This study sought to investigate the factors that significantly contributed to time and cost overruns in power projects implemented by KenGen, to evaluate their relative ranking and to quantify their impacts. The study was based on a questionnaire survey conducted with persons drawn from contractors, consultants and KenGen, who are involved in the implementation of one or more of the four projects in the study. Analysis of 33 significant variables from the survey revealed eight underlying factors contributing to overruns, namely, contractors’ inability, improper project preparation, resource planning, interpretation of requirements, definition of the work involved, timeliness, government bureaucracy and risk allocation. As regards ranking, government bureaucracy topped the list while risk allocation was shown to have been the least significant. There was also a perception that these factors would recur in KenGen’s future projects in a similar implementation environment. By closely relating the factors to the variables, it was observed that they resulted in overruns in the projects by varying magnitudes. The projects had time overruns ranging from –4.6% to 53.4 %, while the cost overruns varied between 9.4% and 29%. These revelations should enable planners to take stock of past performance and incorporate the lessons learnt in future project planning and implementation. Because the variables and underlying factors are likely to recur in future projects, their occurrence needs to be anticipated and appropriate strategies and mechanisms designed in order to overcome or minimize their potential impact. Recommendations are given to assist the Government of Kenya (GoK) and KenGen on how project management could be improved when future projects are planned and implemented. The findings of this paper can be used as a reference by project owners, managers and agencies in developing their own project management strategies. Keywords : KenGen; project management; overruns; variables; factors; project implementation
Assessment of wound dressing practices among nurses at the emergency hospitals in Erbil city

Background and objective: Wound dressing is one of the major nursing responsibilities. Aseptic technique is mandatory to minimize complications. Effective wound dressing promotes wound healing and leads to early discharge and saving costs. This study aimed to assess wound dressing practices among nurses in Erbil emergency hospitals and determine the relationship between the practices and the sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted at three Emergency Hospitals in Erbil city. This study was carried out from November 17th, 2014 to November 17th, 2015 on a non-probability purposive sample of 64 nurses who worked at emergency reception department of three emergency hospitals. The questionnaire was constructed for data collection which consisted of two parts; part I of the questionnaire included demographical characteristics of nurses and part II contained an observational checklist that consists of 24 items of nurses' wound dressing practice. Data were collected through the direct observant approach and analyzed through the application of descriptive analysis measures (frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistical analysis (chi-square and Fisher's exact test). Results: Majority (65.6%) of nurses’ wound dressing practices were at the medium level of practice and minority (34.4%) were at high level. The highest steps practiced was with irrigation and dressing items (1.61), and lowest with the discard wound dressing supplies items (0.79). There was no significant association between the wound dressing practice and nurses’ chararacteristics of age, gender, educational level, years of experience and training participation (P = 0.51, 0.609, 0.54, 0.21 and 0.78, respectively). Conclusion: The overall nurses’ wound dressing practice was suboptimal and not impressive and the worse practice with items related to wound dressing infection control practice.