Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knowledge, attitude and practice of female genital cutting among antenatal patients in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano.

BACKGROUND Despite the widespread practice of FGC, not much attention had been given to it until recently. The attitude of expectant mothers towards it is crucial in sustaining it. OBJECTIVE To assess knowledge, attitude and practice of female genital cutting among antenatal patients in Aminu Kano Teaching hospital in northern Nigeria METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted on 210 antenatal patients seen at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital from February to March 2003. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect information about socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and practice of female genital cutting. RESULTS Majority (91.4%) of the respondents have heard about FGC. Clitoridectomy and infibulation were known by 36.2% and 5.2% of the respondents respectively. Sixty and 5.2% of respondents knew that HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis could be transmitted by methods used in FGC. Other complications mentioned include sexual dissatisfaction (25.7%) and difficult delivery (8.6%). Furthermore, 16% of respondents wished FGC would continue mainly due to cultural or religious reasons, this opinion was associated with low (20.5%) level of education. Opponents of FGC gave medical complications as their main reason. Prevalence of circumcision was 23.3% and the most common type (36.7%) was clitoridectomy. CONCLUSION Though awareness about FGC has improved, and attitude towards it appears generally negative, the practice still persists in the north, though at a lower level than the Southeast and Southwest. It was therefore recommended that intensive campaign and health education among mothers and the general public, as well as enforcement of legislation are needed.
Endogenous Skill-Biased Invention and its Diffusion to Adoptive Knowledge Through Innovation

A growth model is presented that examines i) the creation of skill-biased knowledge through invention (defined here as additions to leading-edge knowledge) and ii) its diffusion to adoptive knowledge through innovation (defined here as later applications of knowledge to low cost production methods). The model incorporates my theory that invention, innovation, and adoption (as defined here) are sectors that range from the most to least skill-intensive. The model assumes additions to leading-edge knowledge are created with high-skilled researchers in the inventive sector and financed by students acquiring human capital. The remaining high-skilled workers, working with the most recent stock of total knowledge and low-skilled workers in the innovative sector, find low cost methods of production while creating a adoptive knowledge spillover that increases with the size of this sector and that can be used with a lag as an input into the adoptive sector, which requires only low-skilled workers. This paper's model can explain the inverse movements of relative wages and the detrended relative supply of U.S. skilled workers during recent decades. Endogenizing diffusion provides i) an additional channel through which inequality and growth can be affected, and ii) a better fit of the U.S. economic growth data during the inverse movements of the relative supply and relative wage.
SHOULD PSYCHOLOGY ABANDON p VALUES AND TEACH CIs INSTEAD? EVIDENCE-BASED REFORMS IN STATISICS EDUCATION

Several editorial and institutional interventions in psychology have aimed to improve statistical reporting in journals. These efforts have sought to de-emphasise statistical significance and encourage alternative analyses, especially effect sizes and confidence intervals (CIs), but the interventions to date have had short-lived and superficial impact—if any impact at all. I review some of these interventions in psychology and discuss possible reasons for lack of success. I give an inter-disciplinary context by discussing reform efforts in medicine—in which useful reform has already been achieved—and ecology. I then identify statistics education as the next major challenge for reformers, and report data on students’ understanding of CIs, and difficulties they have making appropriate interpretation of CIs. I explain the need for further evidence on which to base improved statistics education in psychology.
The Influence of Topic Status on Written and Spoken Sentence Production

Four experiments investigate the influence of topic status and givenness on how speakers and writers structure sentences. The results of these experiments show that when a referent is previously given, it is more likely to be produced early in both sentences and word lists, confirming prior work showing that givenness increases the accessibility of given referents. When a referent is previously given and assigned topic status, it is even more likely to be produced early in a sentence, but not in a word list. Thus, there appears to be an early mention advantage for topics that is present in both written and spoken modalities but is specific to sentence production. These results suggest that information-structure constructs, like topic, exert an influence that is not based only on increased accessibility but also reflects mapping to syntactic structure during sentence production.
Risk factors for indoor air pollution in rural households in Mauche division, Molo district, Kenya.

BACKGROUND Exposure to indoor air pollution may be responsible for nearly 2 million per year deaths in developing countries. In Kenya, it is among the factors linked to high morbidity, especially in children aged below five years. OBJECTIVES The survey was conducted in 2005 in 350 rural households to identify household factors that are likely to enhance indoor air pollution. METHODS Questionnaire, continuous and spot observations were used to collect data on household characteristics, type of primary building in homestead, number of rooms, type of ventilation present and type of fuel used by the household. RESULTS State of housing and type of fuel used were found to be likely risk factors for indoor air pollution. Fifty two point six percent of those interviewed live in mud walled houses with iron sheet roofs. Ninety one percent live in either single or two roomed houses. Ventilation is provided both by small windows and a space left in between the wall and roof. Thirty seven percent of observed houses have no windows. In all households, fuel wood is used for cooking. CONCLUSION State of housing and fuel used in sampled households encourage indoor air pollution, which has been associated with various diseases.
Emergency medical admissions in Glasgow: general practices vary despite adjustment for age, sex, and deprivation.

BACKGROUND Emergency admission rates have been rising rapidly in Britain. Studies defining the underlying factors are needed. AIM To determine the principal diagnoses, demographic, and socioeconomic factors associated with emergency medical admissions. METHOD Cohort study based on the Greater Glasgow Health Board population of 810,423 adults. A fully anonymized dataset linkage of 43,247 adult emergency admissions to Glasgow medical beds in 1997 was obtained. Emergency admission rates were analysed by diagnosis, age, sex, Carstairs' deprivation category, and by individual general practices (after adjustment for other factors). RESULTS The commonest principal diagnoses were chest pain (9.6%), chronic obstructive airways disease (5.6%), angina (5.4%), heart failure (4.1%), and acute myocardial infarction (3.9%). Twenty-one per cent of patients were coded as having 'ill-defined signs or symptoms'. Emergency medical admission rates rose with the age of the patient, doubling with every two decades' age increase. Admission rates for patients from deprived areas were twice those from affluent areas. Males were more frequently admitted than females (adjusted odds ratio = 1.19). After adjustment for age, sex, and deprivation, the general practices' emergency medical admission rates showed an almost twofold difference between the top and bottom deciles. CONCLUSION Emergency medical admission rates are higher among the elderly, males, and deprived populations. This has implications for equitable resource distribution in the National Health Service. Admissions for exclusion of myocardial disease were common; however, myocardial infarction was not the final diagnosis in two-thirds of these patients. The large variation between the general practices' admission rates requires further investigation.
The Impact of Brief Messages on HSV-2 Screening Uptake Among Female Defendants in a Court Setting: A Randomized Controlled Trial Utilizing Prospect Theory

Epidemiologic data demonstrate that women involved with the criminal justice system in the United States are at high risk for sexually transmitted infections, including herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Female defendants were recruited from a misdemeanor court to assess whether brief framed messages utilizing prospect theory could encourage testing for HSV-2. Participants were randomly assigned to a message condition (gain, loss, or control), completed an interviewer-administered survey assessing factors associated with antibody test uptake/refusal and were offered free point-of-care HSV-2 serologic testing. Although individuals in the loss-frame group accepted testing at the highest rate, an overall statistical difference in HSV-2 testing behavior by group (p ≤ .43) was not detected. The majority of the sample (74.6%) characterized receiving a serological test for HSV-2 as health affirming. However, this did not moderate the effect of the intervention nor was it significantly associated with test acceptance (p ≤ .82). Although the effects of message framing are subtle, the findings have important theoretical implications given the participants' characterization of HSV-2 screening as health affirming despite being a detection behavior. Implications of study results for health care providers interested in brief, low cost interventions are also explored.
Deriving individualised /r/ targets from the acoustics of children’s non-rhotic vowels

ABSTRACT In visual-acoustic biofeedback for rhotic errors, learners are guided to match the third formant (F3) location to a visual target on a real-time acoustic spectrum. As the acoustic properties of correct English /r/differ across speakers, this study aimed to improve target selection by investigating the validity of individualised targets derived from children’s non-rhotic vowels. A previously proposed prediction formula was adjusted using data from a child normative sample and tested in two groups of children. Study 1 found that predicted values were unexpectedly higher than actual F3 values in children whose /r/ errors had been remediated. To understand this discrepancy, Study 2 applied the formula to typically developing children and found that predicted values were also higher than actual F3 values, suggesting that different normative data might better represent the current samples. An updated formula is proposed, which can be used to generate individualised targets within acoustic biofeedback applications.
Change in pulmonary function in children associated with air pollution episodes.

Pulmonary function of approximately 200 school children in Steubenville, OH was measured before and immediately following air pollution alerts in the fall of 1978 and 1979. TSP concentrations exceeded the National Primary Ambient Air Quality 24 h standards in 1978. SO2 exceeded the standard in 1979. The children were then reexamined in three weekly visits following each alert. Estimated mean Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) was approximately 2% lower following each alert, although the lowest means were observed one to two weeks after the episodes. Forced Expired Volume in 0.75 sec (FEV0.75) did not change during the 1978 study, but was 4% lower immediately following the 1979 alert. The children were measured again in five weekly examinations in the spring and fall of 1980. Air pollution levels did not exceed the standards on either occasion. In the spring of 1980, estimated mean FVC and FEV0.75 showed a decline similar to that observed following the alerts in 1978 and 1979. In the fall of 1980, there were no s.
The kilometer-sized Main Belt asteroid population revealed by Spitzer

Aims. Multi-epoch Spitzer Space Telescope 24 μm data is utilized from the MIPSGAL and Taurus Legacy surveys to detect asteroids based on their relative motion. Methods. Infrared detections are matched to known asteroids and average diameters and albedos are derived using the near Earth asteroid thermal model (NEATM) for 1865 asteroids ranging in size from 0.2 to 169 km. A small subsample of these objects was also detected by IRAS or MSX and the single wavelength albedo and diameter fits derived from these data are within the uncertainties of the IRAS and/or MSX derived albedos and diameters and available occultation diameters, which demonstrates the robustness of our technique. Results. The mean geometric albedo of the small Main Belt asteroids in this sample is pV = 0.134 with a sample standard deviation of 0.106. The albedo distribution of this sample is far more diverse than the IRAS or MSX samples. The cumulative size-frequency distribution of asteroids in the Main Belt at small diameters is directly derived and a 3σ deviation from the fitted size-frequency distribution slope is found near 8 km. Completeness limits of the optical and infrared surveys are discussed.
Prediction of male cancer mortality by plasma levels of interacting vitamins: 17‐year follow‐up of the prospective Basel study

Plasma vitamins C, E, retinol and carotene were measured in 1971–1973 in 2,974 men working in Basel Switzerland. In 1990, the vital status of all participants was assessed. A total of 290 men had died from cancer during the 17 years of follow‐up, including 87 with lung cancer, 30 with prostate cancer, 28 with stomach cancer and 22 with colon cancer. Overall mortality from cancer was associated with low mean plasma levels of carotene (adjusted for cholesterol) and of vitamin C. Lung and stomach cancers were associated with a low mean plasma carotene level. After calculation of the relative risk, using the Cox model, with exclusion of mortality during the first 2 years of follow‐up, simultaneously low levels of plasma carotene (below quartile I) and lipid‐adjusted retinol were related to a significantly increased mortality risk for all cancers and for lung cancer. Simultaneously, low levels of plasma vitamin C and lipid‐adjusted vitamin E also were associated with a significantly increased risk for lung cancer. Additionally, low vitamin E levels in smokers were related to an increased risk for prostate cancer. It is concluded that low plasma levels of the vitamins C, E, retinol and carotene are related to increased risk of subsequent overall and lung‐cancer mortality and that low levels of vitamin E in smokers are related to an increased risk of prostate‐cancer mortality. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Planning Local Economic Development

In the context of globalisation, the planning of so-called Local Economic Development (LED) represents one of the most popular policy buzzwords. Over the past decade, it has been argued that, ""local economic development activities have assumed the importance once attached to regional policy. "" The increasing expansion of LED activities reflects a combination of factors, including significant structural adjustment problems in local economies, efforts to improve local competitiveness in the face of new forms of competition and production organisation, as well as the need for local actors and institutions to be active in the policy process. The definition of the term LED is contested, however, and little agreement exists as to its meaning. For organisations such as the World Bank, the core objectives tor LED are enhancing competitiveness and sustainable economic growth. But for other analysts, the essential focus is on challenging the Washington Consensus and instead addressing challenges of unemployment, poverty alleviation and the imperatives for evolving pro-poor LED interventions.
Time-Domain Integral Equation Solver for Planar Circuits Over Layered Media Using Finite Difference Generated Green's Functions

A simple, highly accurate, and efficient 2D finite-difference technique for computing the direct convolution of time-domain Green's functions (TDGFs) of layered media with temporal interpolators is presented. The proposed TDGFs are incorporated into a recently developed marching-on-in-time (MOT)-based time-domain integral equation (TDIE) solver based on noncausal high-order B-Spline temporal interpolators without requiring the prediction of future unknowns. Numerical results demonstrating the applicability of the technique to the analysis of various microwave structures are presented.
Hepatitis C Virus Infection Induces the Beta Interferon Signaling Pathway in Immortalized Human Hepatocytes

ABSTRACT Beta interferon (IFN-β) expression is triggered by double-stranded RNA, a common intermediate in the replication of many viruses including hepatitis C virus (HCV). The recent development of cell culture-grown HCV allowed us to analyze the IFN signaling pathway following virus infection. In this study, we have examined the IFN-β signaling pathway following infection of immortalized human hepatocytes (IHH) with HCV genotype 1a (clone H77) or 2a (clone JFH1). We observed that IHH possesses a functional Toll-like receptor 3 pathway. HCV infection in IHH enhanced IFN-β and IFN-stimulated gene 56 (ISG56) promoter activities; however, poly(I-C)-induced IFN-β and ISG56 expression levels were modestly inhibited upon HCV infection. IHH infected with HCV (genotype 1a or 2a) exhibited various levels of translocation of IRF-3 into the nucleus. The upregulation of endogenous IFN-β and 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthetase 1 mRNA expression was also observed in HCV-infected IHH. Subsequent studies suggested that HCV infection in IHH enhanced STAT1 and ISG56 protein expression. A functional antiviral response of HCV-infected IHH was observed by the growth-inhibitory role in vesicular stomatitis virus. Together, our results suggested that HCV infection in IHH induces the IFN signaling pathway, which corroborates observations from natural HCV infection in humans.
Prevalence of overweight and obesity in affluent adolescent girls in Surat city, western India -

Background: Incidence of obesity is increasing day by day because of various factors. It is important to assess the trend of obesity in particular geographical area. Objective: To assess the prevalence of obesity and overweight in affluent schoolgirls aged 13 to 15 years in Surat, India. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2009 to April 2010. From a list of all private schools in Surat, with tuition fees more than Rs. 2,000 per monyh, two schools were selected randomly using a random table. Height and weight was measured and BMI was calculated. Overweight and obesity was assessed by BMI for age. Student who had BMI for age>85th and 95th percentile of reference population were classified as obese (IAP Growth Monitoring Guidelines for Children from Birth to 18 Year). Results: Prevalence of obesity and overweight amongst the study subjects was 6.6% and 13.5% respectively. Conclusion: There is significant prevalence of obesity in affluent schoolgirls in Surat, India.
Pharmacoeconomic considerations of multiple sclerosis therapy with the new disease-modifying agents

Multiple sclerosis (MS) represents the second most common cause of neurological disability in young adults. The introduction of treatments that can change the natural course of the disease has focused attention on the economic burden of MS. There have been fears that the newly approved treatments for MS will ruin healthcare systems. Other published economic evaluations stress that the economic burden of a disease should be seen in a global perspective and that new treatments offer an opportunity to reduce the burden of the disease in the long-term. This paper reviews a number of key health economic studies in MS, which reveal the burden of MS on society and the cost-effectiveness of the new disease-modifying drugs, and highlight some unresolved issues. All relevant costs, including indirect costs and costs of informal care, should be taken into account for a global estimation of the cost/benefit balance. Further rigorous economic evaluations, focusing on the comparison of different available alternatives, are necessary. A major task will be the collection of data on the impact of the new disease-modifying therapies in reducing disability progression over the long-term, outside clinical trials. Gathering this kind of information is of critical importance in order to improve the precision of cost-effectiveness estimates in the future.
Trade and Politics: Ashkelon's Balancing Act in the Seventh Century B. C. E.

Recent excavations by the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon have uncovered a wealth of new information regarding ancient life in the southern Levant. Perhaps no era has been as successfully illuminated as the seventh century B. C. E. where, as a major Mediterranean port and fortified city on the route between Assyria and Egypt, Ashkelon had a role in both the military and economic changes that swept through the southern Levant. This study examines the nature of Ashkelon's political connections to the military power of the Neo-Assyrian empire and presents new evidence that outlines Ashkelon's trading connections with Phoenicia as a major factor behind the economic growth of Ashkelon in the seventh century B. C. E. Specifically, the petrographic examination of Ashkelon's pottery reveals little connection with the Assyrian provincial system and considerable interaction with the Phoenician maritime economy.
Cyclic AMP Receptor Protein-Dependent Activation of the Escherichia coli acsP2 Promoter by a Synergistic Class III Mechanism

ABSTRACT The cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP) activates transcription of the Escherichia coli acs gene, which encodes an acetate-scavenging enzyme required for fitness during periods of carbon starvation. Two promoters direct transcription of acs, the distal acsP1 and the proximal acsP2. In this study, we demonstrated that acsP2 can function as the major promoter and showed by in vitro studies that CRP facilitates transcription by “focusing” RNA polymerase to acsP2. We proposed that CRP activates transcription from acsP2 by a synergistic class III mechanism. Consistent with this proposal, we showed that CRP binds two sites, CRP I and CRP II. Induction of acs expression absolutely required CRP I, while optimal expression required both CRP I and CRP II. The locations of these DNA sites for CRP (centered at positions −69.5 and −122.5, respectively) suggest that CRP interacts with RNA polymerase through class I interactions. In support of this hypothesis, we demonstrated that acs transcription requires the surfaces of CRP and the C-terminal domain of the α subunit of RNA polymerase holoenzyme (α-CTD), which is known to participate in class I interactions: activating region 1 of CRP and the 287, 265, and 261 determinants of the α-CTD. Other surface-exposed residues in the α-CTD contributed to acs transcription, suggesting that the α-CTD may interact with at least one protein other than CRP.