Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Academic Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control and Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Ondo State, Nigeria

In Nigeria, emphasis has been placed on secondary school students’ academic performance because of its direct positive impact on national development. Young students in secondary schools today are expected to be leaders of tomorrow and their academic performance is sine qua non for gaining admission into higher institutions and the quality of manpower the nation can boast of in the future. Unfortunately and generally, secondary school students’ academic performance in Nigeria is a serious matter for concern. Many researchers in recent time are interested in the factors affecting academic performance with a view to finding permanent solutions to the problems of poor academic performance of secondary school students. It is on this premise that the current study was conducted to examine the influence of some psychological factors on students’ academic performance. Descriptive research design of correctional type was used for the study. The sample consisted of three hundred and sixty four students randomly selected from ten secondary schools. Two standardized instruments were used to collect data from the sample while students’ scores in their previous promotion examination were used to measure their academic performance. Through multiple regression analysis, the researchers found that academic self-efficacy and locus of control jointly predicted academic performance. Further analysis revealed that academic self-efficacy significantly predicted academic performance while locus of control was not a good predictor. It is recommended that teachers, school management, school administrators and counselling psychologists should use appropriate psychological interventions to enhance academic self-efficacy of secondary school students. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013. v4n11p570
Outcome of Thrombolysis and Thrombectomy for Thrombosed Endografts Inserted in the Superficial Femoral Artery for Occlusive Disease

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and outcome of thrombolysis and thrombectomy for thrombosed polytetrafluoroethylene stent-grafts inserted in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) for occlusive disease. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of 79 consecutive patients with a thrombosed SFA endograft between November 2001 and December 2011. Of these, 46 (58%) were treated with thrombolysis (n=40, 87%) or thrombectomy (n=6, 13%) and form the study group (33 men; median age 66.8 years, range 30–80). Median time from stent-graft insertion to thrombosis was 3 months (range 0–53). Results: Thrombolysis was successful in 38 (95%) patients over a mean 24 hours (range 3–48); one patient had failed lysis and another died during lytic treatment. Thrombectomy was successful in all 6 patients. Thrombosis without a causal lesion was significantly more common in occlusions that presented <30 days after insertion (p=0.01). Over a median follow-up of 14 months (range 1–69), reinterventions were performed for restenosis in 12 patients and reocclusion in 14 patients, all within 18 months after thrombolytic treatment. More than a third of patients (16/45) had definitive failures (2/6 from the thrombectomy group); 4 were treated conservatively (no/minor symptoms) and 12 had bypass grafts. Three (7%) patients eventually required a major amputation. The primary, assisted primary, and secondary patency rates of thrombolysis at 6 months were 56%, 56%, and 68%, respectively. Secondary patency for the entire cohort was 58% at 1 year. Conclusion: Thrombolysis and thrombectomy of thrombosed endografts in the SFA is effective and safe. Patency rates after treatment are moderate, but prolonged secondary patency can be achieved.
Determinants of user acceptance of a specific social platform for older adults: An empirical examination of user interface characteristics and behavioral intention

The use of the Internet and social applications has many benefits for the elderly, but numerous investigations have shown that the elderly do not perceive online social networks as a friendly social environment. Therefore, TreeIt, a social application specifically designed for the elderly, was developed for this study. In the TreeIt application, seven mechanisms promoting social interaction were designed to allow older adults to use social networking sites (SNSs) to increase social connection, maintain the intensity of social connections and strengthen social experience. This study’s main objective was to investigate how user interface design affects older people’s intention and attitude related to using SNSs. Fourteen user interface evaluation heuristics proposed by Zhang et al. were adopted as the criteria to assess user interface usability and further grouped into three categories: system support, user interface design and navigation. The technology acceptance model was adopted to assess older people’s intention and attitude related to using SNSs. One hundred and one elderly persons were enrolled in this study as subjects, and the results showed that all of the hypotheses proposed in this study were valid: system support and perceived usefulness had a significant effect on behavioral intention; user interface design and perceived ease of use were positively correlated with perceived usefulness; and navigation exerted an influence on perceived ease of use. The results of this study are valuable for the future development of social applications for the elderly.
Evaluation of Results of Diagnostic Ureteroscopy in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the safety of diagnostic ureteroscopy (dURS) in chronic hemodialysis patients. METHODS The data of chronic hemodialysis patients (group I) and the patients with normal estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (group II) who had dURS between 2004 and 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. eGFR, complications, and postoperative stent placement were noted in all patients. Continuous and categorical variables were compared between the groups. p < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS Overall complication rate of group I was 10.5%, while this rate was 4.8% in group II (p = 0.16). No statistically significant differences were noted in terms of gender, age, or laterality between two groups. The mean duration of surgery and the rates of balloon dilatation and postoperative stent placement were higher in group I when compared with group II, and differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS In this study, we determined that dURS was a safe method in chronic hemodialysis patients. However, duration of surgery and the rates of balloon dilatation and postoperative stent placement were high in our study.
ECOLOGY OF MEAD'S MILKWEED (ASCLEPIAS MEADII TORREY)

Mead's milkweed (Asclepias meadii Torrey) is a plant of virgin prairies, whose pre-settlement range included much of the midwest. It is now a rare plant confined to prairie hay meadows, railroad rights-of-way, prairie preserves and pioneer cemeteries. Studies of approximately a hundred individual plants, producing hundreds of flowering and sterile stems, in the wild and in cultivation for seven years (1965-1971) indicated that it was a moderately-sized plant whose stems averaged 56 cm in height with sagittate sessile leaves with a herringbone arrangement of the veins. In late May to early June a mature stem produced a solitary, terminal, nodding umbel with an average of 12 flowers. Pollination was by digger bees (Anthophora spp.) and bumble bees (Bombus spp.). Approximately 6.4% of the flowering stems produced a long narrow pod averaging 12 cm in length and 1.3 cm in diameter with approximately 60 seeds per pod. Seed germination was relatively low (47.6%). Some plants in virgin prairies and in cultivation were over a quarter century old, and indications are they may live for a century or longer. In contrast to most milkweeds, the seedlings were difficult to grow. Four or more years were usually required to reach maturity. Like most milkweeds, a number of insects were asso­ ciated with the plant. Most damaging were the larvae of the milkweed beetles (Tetraopes spp.) and milkweed weevils (Rhyssematus spp.) that fed on the roots and the adult weevils that girdled the peduncle causing the eventual collapse of the terminal umbel.
Immunochemical Quantitation of Human Transferrin in Pregnancy and during the Administration of Oral Contraceptives

Summary. The effects of pregnancy and oral contraceptive administration on serum transferrin levels were studied using an immunochemical method of estimation. Serum iron, total iron‐binding capacity (TIBC) measured chemically, plasma bound iodine (PBI) and serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (SGOT) were also estimated on the same samples. The results show that the striking elevation in TIBC produced by oral contraceptives is due to increase in the transferrin level in the serum. The increase in serum transferrin, TIBC and PBI following the administration of oral contraceptives were of the same order as the changes produced physiologically during the second half of pregnancy. SGOT values were all normal. The findings suggest that changes in transferrin and other serum proteins produced by oral contraceptives are not due to liver damage but perhaps to increased protein synthesis. However, further study is necessary to elucidate the factors regulating the serum transferrin concentration and the effect on these of synthetic hormones.
Quantum-mechanical suppression and enhancement of SCEs in ultrathin SOI MOSFETs

This paper simulates the transport characteristics of ultrathin silicon-on-insulator MOSFETs, and evaluates the influence of the quantum-mechanical mechanism on the short-channel effects on the basis of the density-gradient model. It is clearly shown that the quantum-mechanical mechanism suppresses the buried-insulator-induced barrier lowering with regard to the subthreshold swing because the surface dark space yields a high-field region in the source region adjacent to the channel. It is also suggested that the quantum-mechanical mechanism enhances the impact of the apparent charge-sharing effect on the threshold voltage because the surface dark space effectively increases the thickness of the gate-oxide layer and buried-oxide layer.
Abortive Infection Mechanisms and Prophage Sequences Significantly Influence the Genetic Makeup of Emerging Lytic Lactococcal Phages

ABSTRACT In this study, we demonstrated the remarkable genome plasticity of lytic lactococcal phages that allows them to rapidly adapt to the dynamic dairy environment. The lytic double-stranded DNA phage ul36 was used to sequentially infect a wild-type strain of Lactococcus lactis and two isogenic derivatives with genes encoding two phage resistance mechanisms, AbiK and AbiT. Four phage mutants resistant to one or both Abi mechanisms were isolated. Comparative analysis of their complete genomes, as well as morphological observations, revealed that phage ul36 extensively evolved by large-scale homologous and nonhomologous recombination events with the inducible prophage present in the host strain. One phage mutant exchanged as much as 79% of its genome compared to the core genome of ul36. Thus, natural phage defense mechanisms and prophage elements found in bacterial chromosomes contribute significantly to the evolution of the lytic phage population.
Circuit-aware system design techniques for wireless communication

When designing wireless communication systems, many hardware details are hidden from the algorithm designer, especially with analog hardware. While it is difficult for a designer to understand all aspects of a complex system, some knowledge of circuit constraints can improve system performance by relaxing design constraints. The specifications of a circuit design are generally not equally difficult to meet, allowing excess margin in one area to be used to relax more difficult design constraints. We first propose an uplink/downlink architecture for a network with a multiple antenna central server. This design takes advantage of the central server to allow the nodes to achieve multiplexing gain by forming virtual arrays without coordination, or diversity gain to decrease SNR requirements. Computation and memory are offloaded from the nodes to the server, allowing less complex, inexpensive nodes to be used. We can further use this SNR margin to reduce circuit area and power consumption, sacrificing system capacity for circuit optimization. Besides the more common transmit power reduction, large passive analog components can be removed to reduce chip area, and bias currents lowered to save power at the expense of noise figure. Given the inevitable crosstalk coupling of circuits, we determine the minimum required crosstalk isolation in terms of circuit gain and signal range. Viewing the crosstalk as a static fading channel, we derive a formula for the asymptotic SNR loss, and propose phase randomization to reduce the strong phase dependence of the crosstalk SNR loss. Because the high peak to average power (PAPR) that results from multicarrier systems is difficult for analog circuits to handle, the result is low power efficiencies. We propose two algorithms, both of which can decrease the PAPR by 4 dB or more, resulting in an overall power reduction by over a factor of three in the high and low SNR regimes, when combined with an outphasing linear amplifier. Thesis Supervisor: Gregory W. Wornell Title: Professor
A Nurse Manager Succession Planning Model With Associated Empirical Outcomes

OBJECTIVE: Perceptions of leadership and management competency after a formal nurse manager succession planning program were evaluated. BACKGROUND: A lack of strategic workforce planning and development of a leadership pipeline contributes to a predicted nurse manager shortage. To meet the anticipated needs for future leadership, evidence-based action is critical. METHODS: A quasi-experimental mixed-methods, 1-group pretest/posttest research design was used. Nurses working in an acute care hospital were recruited for the study and selected using an objective evaluative process. RESULTS: Participant perceptions regarding their leadership and management competencies significantly increased after the leadership program. Program evaluations confirmed that participants found the program beneficial. One year after program completion, 100% of the program participants have been retained at the organization and 73% had transitioned to leadership roles. CONCLUSION: Succession planning and leadership development serve as beneficial and strategic mechanisms for identifying and developing high-potential individuals for leadership positions, contributing toward the future nursing leadership pipeline.
Determinants of the acute-phase protein C-reactive protein in myocardial infarction survivors: the role of comorbidities and environmental factors.

BACKGROUND C-reactive protein (CRP), a sensitive marker of the acute-phase response, has been associated with future cardiovascular endpoints independently of other risk factors. A joint analysis of the role of risk factors in predicting mean concentrations and variation of high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) in serum has not been carried out previously. METHODS We used data from 1003 myocardial infarction (MI) survivors who had hsCRP measured monthly up to 8 times and multivariate mixed effects statistical models to study the role of time-variant and -invariant factors on the geometric mean of and the intraindividual variation in hsCRP concentrations. RESULTS Patients with > or =6.5% glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) had 26.2% higher hsCRP concentrations (95% CI, 7.2%-48.6%) and 20.7% greater variation in hsCRP values (P = 0.0034) than patients with lower baseline Hb A(1c) values (<6.5%). Similar but less pronounced differences were seen in patients with a self-reported diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. hsCRP concentrations showed less variation in patients who reported angina pectoris, congestive heart failure, or emphysema (-11.0%, -24.9%, and -41.6%, respectively, vs patients without these conditions) but greater variation in males and smokers (+24.8% and +27.3%, respectively, vs females and nonsmokers). Exposures in the 24 h before blood sampling, including exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, alcohol consumption, and extreme stress, did not have a major impact. CONCLUSIONS One or 2 hsCRP measurements may not be sufficient to adequately characterize different patient groups after MI with similar precisions. We found hsCRP concentrations to be especially variable in males, smokers, and patients with increased Hb A(1c) values.
Performance Comparison of Immunosensors Modified with Polymers, Nanoparticles and Antibody

Our research group is in the quest of developing a biosensor platform that is fast in response time, versatile that can be used to detect a variety of chemicals species and metabolites, and ultra-sensitive that can detect concentrations below pico-level. In this report, we are using this biosensor platform to prepare immunosensors that can be used for detection of specific DNAs and biomarkers of cancers. As a demonstration of concept, we fabricated three immunosensors for the detection of human immunoglobulin G (HIgG) that were based on Pt, Au, and glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with biocomposite coatings. The biocomposite coating consisted of layers of polymers, nanogold particles, and anti-HIgG. The measurement method was cyclicvoltammetry. In general, all three immunosensors were capable to measure HIgG at concentration levels of 10-15 g/mL or lower. Performance comparison of these immunosensors based on sensitivity, durability, and selectivity are addressed.
Bordetella pertussis Serotypes in the United States

To determine the Bordetella pertussis serotypes currently causing whooping cough in the United States, recently isolated cultures from different geographic areas were studied. Specific adsorbed antisera were prepared in our laboratory and used in both tube and slide agglutination tests. Among the 177 cultures isolated during 1966 and 1967 in seven states and one Canadian province, the predominant serotype was 1.3 (or 1.3.6), represented by 85% of the cultures. Fifteen cultures were serotype 1.2. 3.4. 6. The 376 cultures isolated in the Grand Rapids area during the last 30 years showed a changing pattern from serotype 1.2. 3 during the early years to the currently prevailing 1.3 (or 1.3.6). During the 2-year study period, seven cultures of B. parapertussis were isolated in Michigan, and seven were received from other states. One culture of B. bronchiseptica, recovered from a child in Boston, was sent to us.
Ethanol extract of propolis protects endothelial cells from oxidized low density lipoprotein-induced injury by inhibiting lectin-like oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor-1-mediated oxidative stress

Lectin-like oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1), as the primary oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) receptor on endothelial cells, plays a crucial role in endothelial injury, which is a driving force in the initiation and development of atherosclerosis. Our previous studies have shown that ethanol extract of propolis (EEP) promotes reverse cholesterol transport and inhibits atherosclerotic lesion development. However, the protective effects of EEP against ox-LDL-induced injury in endothelial cells and the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that EEP attenuates ox-LDL-induced endothelial oxidative injury via modulation of LOX-1-mediated oxidative stress. Our results showed that exposure of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to ox-LDL (100 mg/L) led to the decrease in cell viability and increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, caspase-3 activation, and apoptosis, whereas pretreatment with EEP (7.5, 15 and 30 mg/L) protected against such damages in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, EEP mitigated ox-LDL uptake by HUVECs and attenuated ox-LDL-upregulated LOX-1 expression both at the mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, EEP suppressed the ox-LDL-induced oxidative stress as assessed by decreased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activation, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and malondialdehyde (MDA) generation as well as increased antioxidant enzyme activities. Similar results were observed in the anti-LOX-1 antibody or diphenyleneiodonium (DPI)-pretreated HUVECs. These data indicate that EEP may protect HUVECs from ox-LDL-induced injury and that the mechanism at least partially involves its ability to inhibit endothelial LOX-1 upregulation and subsequent oxidative stress.
Is stock BBS content correlated with the stock market? — A Japanese case

We analyze the relations between the stock market and a stock bulletin board system (BBS) in Japan. Previous studies in the USA found that the characteristics of messages posted on stock BBSs can predict market volatility and trading volume. We develop hypotheses based on the results of those analyses and apply statistical analysis to the data about companies mentioned in a large number of messages posted on the Yahoo! stock message board in Japan in 2005–2006. We analyze the contents of these messages using natural language processing. We find a significant correlation between the number of postings and market volatility and trading volume, and also find significant correlation between the amount of bullish and bearish opinion and the stock return.
Thick High  $J_\mathrm{c} $ YBCO Films on ABAD-YSZ Templates

In this paper, we report on high critical current density (Jc) YBCO films deposited by pulsed laser deposition on CeO2 buffered ABAD-YSZ/stainless steel templates with a thickness ranging from 0.7 μm up to 4.2 μm. In the thinnest sample, a transition temperature (Tc) of 90 K and a critical current density of 2.6 MA/cm2 was reached at 77 K. With increasing thickness, Tc drops as well as Jc. The total critical current (Ic) increases strongly up to a thickness of 2.8 μm, reaching a value of almost 600 A/cm-width. In thicker films, no further increase in Ic was observed. A higher surface roughness and misoriented YBCO grains were found in layer thicknesses above 2.8 μm and are assumed to be the main reason for the limitation of the current transport.
Does innovation lead to performance? An empirical study of SMEs in Taiwan

– This study attempts to probe within a multi‐dimensional perspective the nature and type of daily innovation practices of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) located in Taiwan. The relationship between innovation and organizational performance will also be explored. , – Data of interest were collected through a telephone survey. From the 2000 Directory of Manufacturing and Service Industries in Northern Part of Taiwan, companies with a total employee number less than 200 (the definition of an SME in Taiwan) were the population. Telephone calls to 877 firms were successfully completed with a response rate of 87 per cent. , – Eighty per cent of the surveyed companies conducted some sort of innovation, the two major types of innovations were technological and marketing innovations. Innovation has a weak link with company sales. Administrative innovations have surfaced to be the most crucial factor in explaining sales rather than technological innovations. , – Creating a successful innovation platform to serve as a base for non‐technology‐related innovations may prove to be the most critical catalyst to capitalize on innovation efforts. The research results also provide some insights for companies that are not sure how to integrate innovation into their business operations. , – This study unveils the innovation practices of this novel economy and particularly focuses on the less explored SMEs in an Asian context.