Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Review of Some Recent Literature: Identifying Factors that Affect Ethiopia’s Education Crisis

Education has been established as the leading power to promote the well being of society by promoting economic growth, creating wealth and development. Ethiopia started introducing modern education in the 1940s. It has remained essential for the country to come out of poverty. And the challenge has been to create educated human capital and skills through developing an education system built and legitimized by the active participation of all the stakeholders who agree to resource and support education development. Several studies (Pankhurst, R. 1972, 1999; Teshome Wagaw, 1979, 1999, 2001; Tekeste Negash, 1990, 2006; UNESCO, 2004; Word Bank, 2005; Damtew Teferra & Altbach, 2004; Messay Kebede, 2006; Damtew Teferra, 2005, 2007; Forum for Social Studies, 2009) have shown that Ethiopia’s educational expansion is plagued by the prevalence of poor quality across the education sectors from primary to higher education. This paper reviews existing literature on education in Ethiopia focusing on factors that have hindered establishing a self-sustaining and strong Ethiopia’s educational system with a view to discovering possible alternatives that can help establish an educational governance system.
No Cytomegalovirus-related Deaths After Non-ablative Stem Cell Allografts

Abstract Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-related deaths and data of clinically evident CMV disease were assessed in a group of 47 individuals given allogeneic non-myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplants (NST). IgG anti-CMV antibodies were found in 56% of the donors and 76% of the receptors. Prophylactic ganciclovir was given to only 12 of the recipients during 100 days after the graft. There were no CMV-related deaths and clinically overt CMV disease was not found in any individual. The follow up post-transplant period of the patients, ranges between 30 and 810 days (median 242 days), the actuarial median survival (SV) is above 810 days and has not been reached, whereas the 810-days SV is 60%. Eighteen patients (38%) died 30-480 days after the transplant; four failed to engraft and died because of progressive disease; three died as a consequence of graft versus host disease (GVHD), whereas eleven individuals had a relapse of the malignancy and died. It is possible that the reduced bone marrow damage during NST, the prompt recovery of both the hematopoiesis and immune function in this type of allografts and the use of peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) is responsible for the absence of CMV-related deaths and clinical disease despite a high prevalence of CMV infection in these individuals.
Automatic Car Counting Method for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Images

This paper presents a solution to solve the car detection and counting problem in images acquired by means of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV images are characterized by a very high spatial resolution (order of few centimeters), and consequently by an extremely high level of details which calls for appropriate automatic analysis methods. The proposed method starts with a screening step of asphalted zones in order to restrict the areas where to detect cars and thus to reduce false alarms. Then, it performs a feature extraction process based on scalar invariant feature transform thanks to which a set of keypoints is identified in the considered image and opportunely described. Successively, it discriminates between keypoints assigned to cars and all the others, by means of a support vector machine classifier. The last step of our method is focused on the grouping of the keypoints belonging to the same car in order to get a “one keypoint-one car” relationship. Finally, the number of cars present in the scene is given by the number of final keypoints identified. The experimental results obtained on a real UAV scene characterized by a spatial resolution of 2 cm show that the proposed method exhibits a promising car counting accuracy.
Shapes of the trajectories of 5 major biomarkers of Alzheimer disease.

OBJECTIVE To characterize the shape of the trajectories of Alzheimer disease biomarkers as a function of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. DESIGN AND SETTING Longitudinal registries from the Mayo Clinic and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. PATIENTS Two different samples (n = 343 and n = 598) were created that spanned the cognitive spectrum from normal to Alzheimer disease dementia. Subgroup analyses were performed in members of both cohorts (n = 243 and n = 328) who were amyloid positive at baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The shape of biomarker trajectories as a function of MMSE score, adjusted for age, was modeled and described as baseline (cross-sectional) and within-subject longitudinal effects. Biomarkers evaluated were cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ42 and tau levels, amyloid and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging, and structural magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS Baseline biomarker values generally worsened (ie, nonzero slope) with lower baseline MMSE score. Baseline hippocampal volume, amyloid positron emission tomography, and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography values plateaued (ie, nonlinear slope) with lower MMSE score in 1 or more analyses. Longitudinally, within-subject rates of biomarker change were associated with worsening MMSE score. Nonconstant within-subject rates (deceleration) of biomarker change were found in only 1 model. CONCLUSIONS Biomarker trajectory shapes by MMSE score were complex and were affected by interactions with age and APOE status. Nonlinearity was found in several baseline effects models. Nonconstant within-subject rates of biomarker change were found in only 1 model, likely owing to limited within-subject longitudinal follow-up. Creating reliable models that describe the full trajectories of Alzheimer disease biomarkers will require significant additional longitudinal data in individual participants.
Up-Regulated Expression of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 in Hep G2 Cells: Interrelationship between Insulin and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1

Summary Insulin resistance represents a situation with a high risk of athero-thrombosis and is accompanied by increased plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) levels. Fasting insulin level is highly correlated with PAI-1 levels in plasma. It has been shown that insulin increases PAI-1 synthesis by the human hepatoma cell line Hep G2. Moreover when Hep G2 cells expressing a down-regulation of insulin receptors by incubation with 10-7 M insulin, were stimulated by 10-9 M insulin, an overexpression of PAI-1 synthesis was observed despite a reduced number of insulin receptors. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) shares many properties with insulin. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of IGF-1 on PAI-1 synthesis by Hep G2 cells down-regulated either by insulin or IGF-1. Incubation of Hep G2 cells with increasing doses from 10-9 to 10-7 M IGF-1 induced a dose-dependent stimulation of PAI-1 synthesis up to 4.5-fold the control level. When cells were first pre-incubated with 10-7M IGF-1 for 18 h, acid washed, and then stimulated with 10-9 M IGF-1, the expression of IGF-1 receptors was greatly reduced (up to 70%). In contrast PAI-1 secretion was increased 3.4-fold the level of control cells and by 1.9-fold the level of cells first stimulated with 10-9M IGF-1. Both transcripts of PAI-1 mRNA were also increased. The overexpression of PAI-1 synthesis was observed irrespective of the hormone used in the down-regulation step (i.e. 10-9 M insulin or IGF-1) or in the stimulation step (i. e. 10-9 M insulin or IGF-1). The results showed an interrelationship between insulin and IGF-1 on PAI-1 synthesis in down-regulated Hep G2 cells. They also suggest that in the insulin resistant state, IGF-1 would be able to participate in the increase in PAI-1 plasma levels by stimulating down-regulated insulin target cells.
Meeting Competing Demands: Committee Performance in the Postreform House

Theory: A conditional model of committee behavior is proposed to explain variation in committee responsiveness to chamber and party principals. Hypotheses: Committee member behavior is consistent with the preferences of both the floor and the party caucuses; variation in salience explains differences in committee responsiveness to noncommittee colleagues. Methods: Committee-specific votes are scaled to produce spatial locations for committee, floor, party caucuses, and party committee delegations; a Monte Carlo simulation is used to assess the statistical significance of voting alignments. Results: Postreform House committees generally act in a manner acceptable to both the chamber and majority party; the Democratic caucus is frequently represented by extreme committee delegations; members of salient committees are more loyal agents of the chamber and majority party than are members of low salient committees.
Climate variability and Ross River virus infections in Riverland, South Australia, 1992–2004

SUMMARY Ross River virus (RRV) infection is the most common notifiable vector-borne disease in Australia, with around 6000 cases annually. This study aimed to examine the relationship between climate variability and notified RRV infections in the Riverland region of South Australia in order to set up an early warning system for the disease in temperate-climate regions. Notified data of RRV infections were collected by the South Australian Department of Health. Climatic variables and monthly river flow were provided by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and South Australian Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation over the period 1992–2004. Spearman correlation and time-series-adjusted Poisson regression analysis were performed. The results indicate that increases in monthly mean minimum and maximum temperatures, monthly total rainfall, monthly mean Southern Oscillation Index and monthly flow in the Murray River increase the likelihood, but an increase in monthly mean relative humidity decreases the likelihood, of disease transmission in the region, with different time-lag effects. This study demonstrates that a useful early warning system can be developed for local regions based on the statistical analysis of readily available climate data. These early warning systems can be utilized by local public health authorities to develop disease prevention and control activities.
The RNA Replication Enhancer Element of Tombusviruses Contains Two Interchangeable Hairpins That Are Functional during Plus-Strand Synthesis

ABSTRACT Replication of the RNA genomes of tombusviruses, which are small plus-sense RNA viruses of plants, may be regulated by cis-acting elements, including promoters and replication enhancers that are present in the RNA templates. Using a partially purified RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) preparation (P. D. Nagy and J. Pogany, Virology 276:279-288, 2000), we demonstrate that the minus-strand templates of tombusviruses contain a replication enhancer, which can upregulate RNA synthesis initiating from the minimal plus-strand initiation promoter by 10- to 20-fold in an in vitro assay. Dissection of the sequence of the replication enhancer element revealed that the two stem-loop structures present within the ∼80-nucleotide-long enhancer region have interchangeable roles in upregulating RNA synthesis. The single-stranded sequence located between the two stem-loops also plays an important role in stimulation of RNA synthesis. We also demonstrate that one of the two hairpins, both of which are similar to the hairpin of the minus-strand initiation promoter, can function as a promoter in vitro in the presence of short cytidylate-containing initiation sites. Overall, the in vitro data presented are consistent with previous in vivo results (D. Ray and K. A. White, Virology 256:162-171, 1999) and they firmly establish the presence of a replication enhancer on the minus-stranded RNA of tombusviruses.
Clinical‐pathological study of uterine leiomyomas with highmitotic activity

OBJECTIVE To evaluate clinical-pathological aspects of mitotically active leiomyomas. STUDY DESIGN Twenty patients with smooth muscle tumors of the uterus, with 5-9 mitotic figures per 10 high power fields and without atypia or necrosis were studied. The clinical and pathological characteristics of these tumors were reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS Patients' ages ranged from 33 to 63 years (mean 42.5 years). The size of the tumors ranged from 1.5 to 9.5 cm (mean 5.4 cm). On gross examination all tumors appeared as typical leiomyomas. Treatment included hysterectomy in 16 patients and myomectomy in four. Follow-up periods ranged from 1.5 to 11 years (mean 6.8 years). None of the patients developed a recurrent tumor. CONCLUSION The benign clinical behavior of such tumors supports their current designation as mitotically active leiomyomas, thus deleting the previous misnomer 'smooth muscle tumors of uncertain malignant potential'. Myomectomy is an appropriate treatment, particularly in young patients interested in reproduction.
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Causes Loss of Intestinal Epithelial Barrier in the Newborn Piglet

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an important life-support system used in neonates and young children with intractable cardiorespiratory failure. In this study, we used our porcine neonatal model of venoarterial ECMO to investigate whether ECMO causes gut barrier dysfunction. We subjected 3-wk-old previously healthy piglets to venoarterial ECMO for up to 8 h and evaluated gut mucosal permeability, bacterial translocation, plasma levels of bacterial products, and ultrastructural changes in gut epithelium. We also measured plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels in a small cohort of human neonates receiving ECMO. In our porcine model, ECMO caused a rapid increase in gut mucosal permeability within the first 2 h of treatment, leading to a 6- to 10-fold rise in circulating bacterial products. These changes in barrier function were associated with cytoskeletal condensation in epithelial cells, which was explained by phosphorylation of a myosin II regulatory light chain. In support of these findings, we also detected elevated plasma LPS levels in human neonates receiving ECMO, indicating a similar loss of gut barrier function in these infants. On the basis of these data, we conclude that ECMO is an independent cause of gut barrier dysfunction and bacterial translocation may be an important contributor to ECMO-related inflammation.
Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide induces per1 and per2 gene expression in the rat suprachiasmatic nucleus late at night

Circadian rhythms in behaviour and physiology generated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) are entrained to the environmental light/dark cycle via the retinohypothalamic tract. How light is able to adjust the endogenous rhythm is not fully understood, but induction of the two clock genes per1 and per2 in the SCN is believed to be important for the adjustment. Recently, it was shown that vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), a neurotransmitter found in light‐responsive cells of the SCN, is able to phase shift the circadian rhythm similar to light. In the present study we show by means of an in vitro brain slice model and quantitative in situ hybridization histochemistry that VIP induces both per1 and per2 gene expression in the SCN during late subjective night (CT19). The signalling pathways responsible for the VIP signalling to the clock were investigated using inhibitors of protein kinase A and phospholipase C mediated signalling. Our results demonstrate that both pathways are involved in VIP induced per gene expression and suggest that VIP is important for light‐induced phase shift late at night.
RISK-SENSITIVE MARKOV-PERFECT EQUILIBRIA

Shubik (1959) initiates the literature on equilibrium point criteria in dynamic oligopoly models. Here, we investigate the existence and structure of equilibrium points when players are risk averse. We consider a sequential game in which each player maximizes the expected exponential utility of the present value of the time stream of rewards. Let be the player's reward in period , the single- \> > " period discount factor, and parameterize risk sensitivity. We assume that the player wishes to - ! maximize and give sufficient conditions for the existence of a Markov- IO / B:Ð  \ NO -D " t=1 " > perfect equilibrium point. There are sets of sufficient conditions for a Markov-perfect equilibrium point to be myopic, namely a sequence of equilibrium points of static games. The myopia results are applied to a dynamic oligopoly model in which firms choose price and production quantities, encounter stochastic demand, and hold inventories.
Transpulmonary disposition of prilocaine, mepivacaine, and bupivacaine in humans in the course of epidural anaesthesia

The pulmonary first‐pass kinetics of the amide‐linked local anaesthetics prilocaine, mepivacaine and bupivacaine were studied in 33 patients after a single epidural injection. Drug concentrations were monitored before and after lung passage, i.e. in samples withdrawn simultaneously from mixed venous and arterial blood. In most cases, maximum plasma concentrations were observed 10 min after injection (range 2 to 30 min). Two min after injection the local anaesthetics were distinctly extracted by the lung (prilocaine 40%, mepivacaine 20%, and bupivacaine 12%). Prilocaine was retained by the lung more effectively than bupivacaine and mepivacaine. However, a transpulmonary concentration gradient could be observed only for a short time, i.e. maximum 15 min. Altogether, in the case of accidental fast absorption, e.g. inadvertent intravenous injection, arterial peak concentrations of these drugs will be attenuated by passage of the lung. However, the lung will not substantially lower the risk of toxicity by amide‐linked local anaesthetics during normal conditions of regional anaesthesia where slow absorption occurs.
The isolation of Lactococcus garvieae from eyes of diseased rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with exopthalmia

In this study, fish were sampled from 9 different fish farms in the dam lakes in the Eastern Black Sea Region between January 2016 and September 2018. It was isolated twenty-two bacteria isolates from eyes of diseased rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ). All isolates identification was carried out by using conventional biochemical tests, api 20 strep tests and PCR tests. ATCC 43921 reference strain was used as a positive control. According to results of the api 20 strep test, it was determined that 20 isolates from 22 bacterial isolates were Lactococcus garvieae . The PZR test was confirmed by using the pLG-1 and pLG-2 reference genes (16S rRNA) specific for the L. garvieae species. As a result of the study, it was confirmed that there were 20 L. garvieae from 22 strains isolated from rainbow trout in the dam lakes fish farms. The antibiotic susceptibility test results showed that L. garvieae isolates were resistant %100 to streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole and sulfamethoxazole+trimethoprim, 94.2% to ampicillin, 72.5% to oxytetracycline, 55.07% to erythromycin and 43.5% to oxolinic acid, 26.09% to enrofloxacin, % 20.3 doxycycline, 8,7% to amoxicillin and florphenicol. The most effective antibiotic was found to be florfenicol, amoxicillin, doxisicline and enrofloxacin.
Structural Requirements for the Interaction of Human IgA with the Human Polymeric Ig Receptor1

Transport of polymeric IgA onto mucosal surfaces to become secretory IgA is mediated by the polymeric Ig receptor (pIgR). To study the interaction of human dimeric IgA (dIgA) (the predominant form of IgA polymer) with the human pIgR (hpIgR), we generated recombinant wild-type dIgA1 and dIgA2m(1) and various mutant dIgA1 and analyzed their interaction with a recombinant human secretory component and membrane-expressed hpIgR. We found that wild-type dIgA1 and dIgA2m(1) bound to recombinant human secretory component with similar affinity and were transcytosed by the hpIgR to the same extent. Mutation of the IgA Cα2 domain residue Cys311 to Ser reduced binding to hpIgR, possibly through disruption of noncovalent interactions between the Cα2 domain and domain 5 of the receptor. Within the Cα3 domain of IgA1, we found that combined mutation of residues Phe411, Val413, and Thr414, which lie close to residues previously implicated in hpIgR binding, abolished interaction with the receptor. Mutation of residue Lys377, located very close to this same region, perturbed receptor interaction. In addition, 4 aa (Pro440-Phe443), which lie on a loop at the domain interface and form part of the binding site for human FcαRI, appear to contribute to hpIgR binding. Lastly, use of a monomeric IgA1 mutant lacking the tailpiece revealed that the tailpiece does not occlude hpIgR-binding residues in IgA1 monomers. This directed mutagenesis approach has thus identified motifs lying principally across the upper surface of the Cα3 domain (i.e., that closest to Cα2) critical for human pIgR binding and transcytosis.
Property and Prices

This book provides the missing theoretical link between Sraffa's Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities and Debreu's Theory of Value. Its thesis is that both classical and neoclassical value theory operate through arbitrage and speculation in the financial markets. Key among those markets is the bourse or stock market. Once a stock market is incorporated into general-equilibrium theory, the classical analysis of value (A la Ricardo, Marx and Sraffa) and the neoclassical theory of price (descending from Walras, Hicks and Arrow-Debreu) can be seen to possess the same mathematical structure. Thus the theory of arbitrage pricing in financial markets is capable of bringing together the two great rival schools of economic thought.
A C/C++ source-to-source compiler for dependable applications

The paper proposes a C/C++ source-to-source compiler able to increase the dependability properties of a given application. The adopted strategies are based on two main techniques, code re-ordering and variables duplication. The proposed approach is portable to any platform, it can be applied to any C/C++ source code, and it introduces code modifications that are transparent to the original program functionality. The RECCO tool, which fully automates the process, allows the user to trade-off between the level of dependability improvement and the performance degradation due to the code modification.
Quantifying the Determinants of the Intensive Margin of Trade

This paper decomposes within-industry differences in bilateral trade flows across countries into the contributions of (observed) trade costs and (unobserved) product appeal, production costs, and markups. To obtain empirical measures for unobserved characteristics, I estimate the structural parameters of a model of international trade that generalizes the benchmark CES monopolistic competition framework to allow for endogenous markups and variable marginal production costs. The empirical results show that, together, differences in product appeal and production costs account for about 95 percent of the cross-sectional variation in trade flows. The results also provide empirical support to the extended model: the largest varieties have estimated markups up to 12 percent higher than the industry average and the estimated output elasticities suggest supply curves are not perfectly elastic.