Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of flipped classroom strategy on acquisition of grammar concepts among primary 6 th grade students in Jordan 49

This study aimed at identifying the effect of using a blended learning method on the achievement of the students' in the English course (101) at Irbid College-Al-Balqa Applied University, through administration of an objective achievement test which consisted of (50) items prepared for this purpose, after verifying its validity and reliability. It was applied as pre-test and a post-test on the subjects of both groups of the study, the experimental taught through blended learning and the control group taught by using the traditional method. Using ANCOVA, results of the study showed a statically significant difference between arithmetic means of the two groups' performance on the achievement test in the English course and the statically significant specialization of management, compared with the specializations of libraries and Arabic language. There was no statistically significant difference that could be attributed to the interaction between both variables: teaching method and specialization. The study concluded the necessity to reconsider university programs in order to integrate concepts of the electronic revolution and blend them with traditional (normal) teaching methods in a way that accomplishes individuals' requirements and the current stage of development.
Image resolution dependency of Local Texture Patterns in classification of color images

In this paper, experiments have been conducted to study the significance of the dots per inch resolution of the color images in texture classification. Textural features of the image are extracted using Gray-Local Texture Patterns (GLTP) operator which is an extended version of Local Texture Patterns (LTP) texture model. Contrast being another important property of images, Color-Local Contrast Variance Patterns (CLCVP) is used to extract contrast feature. However, much important information contained in the image can be revealed by joint distributions of individual features. Hence, GLTP/CLCVP is used as a textural feature extraction technique for classification of color images. The performance of the GLTP/CLCVP operator is tested for classification of images from Outex texture database. From the experimental results, it is observed that the classification accuracy is highly dependent on the dots per inch resolution of the images.
Aromatase inhibitors in the treatment of recurrent ovarian granulosa cell tumors: Brief report and review of the literature

Granulosa cell tumors are ovarian sex cord stromal cancers that are unique for their indolent nature and late recurrence. Standard treatment regimens utilized include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. However, hormonal suppression with aromatase inhibitors, which have shown promising results, may be a viable alternative to these modalities. We present a heavily pre‐treated, multi‐operated patient who experienced significant tumor shrinkage following treatment with an aromatase inhibitor for her recurrent granulosa cell tumor.
Three-dimensional kinetic analysis of lower limbs in barbell squat

Barbell squat can improve the lower body strength for weightlifter to enhance their performance. Previous studies mentioned that the full three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of lower limbs is greatly helpful for understanding the musculoskeletal mechanism in barbell squat exercise. The purpose of this study was to estimate the joint kinetics of lower limbs during the barbell squat. Thirteen male weightlifters from college weightlifting team members performed barbell squat with 85% weight of his one repetition maximum in the motion analysis laboratory. Motion analysis system and two force plateforms were used to collect the kinematic and kinetic data. The results showed that the major joint movements were not only occurred in the sagittal plane, but also in the frontal plane and transverse plane. The knee and hip joints suffered high compression forces and shear forces. The results also showed that ankle plantarflexor, knee extensor, hip flexor, and abductor were dominant muscles in barbell squat exercise. These finding could provide the additional guidelines for sports injury prevention and treatment, as well as guidelines of strength training program design for the coaches and athletic trainer.
Race, infection, and arteriosclerosis in the past

We document racial trends in chronic conditions among older men between 1910 and 2004. The 1910 black arteriosclerosis rate was six times higher than the white 2004 rate and more than two times higher than the 2004 black rate. We argue that blacks' greater lifelong burden of infection led to high arteriosclerosis rates in 1910. Infectious disease, especially respiratory infections at older ages and rheumatic fever and syphilis at younger ages, predicted arteriosclerosis in 1910, suggesting that arteriosclerosis has an infectious cause. Additional risk factors for arteriosclerosis were being born in the second relative to the fourth quarter, consistent with studies implying that atherogenesis begins in utero, and a low body mass index, consistent with an infectious disease origin of arteriosclerosis.
Chemosensitizing effects of carbon-based nanomaterials in cancer cells: enhanced apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation as underlying mechanisms

Recent studies have shown that carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanofibres (CNFs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can exert antitumor activities themselves and sensitize cancer cells to conventional chemotherapeutics such as carboplatin and cisplatin. In the present study, the chemosensitizing effect of CNFs and CNTs on cancer cells of urological origin was investigated regarding the underlying mechanisms. Prostate cancer (DU-145, PC-3) and bladder cancer (EJ28) cells were treated with carbon nanomaterials (CNFs, CNTs) and chemotherapeutics (carboplatin, cisplatin) alone as well as in combination for 24 h. Forty-eight (EJ28) or 72 h (DU-145, PC-3) after the end of treatment the effects on cellular proliferation, clonogenic survival, cell death rate and cell cycle distribution were evaluated. Depending on the cell line, simultaneous administration of chemotherapeutics and carbon nanomaterials produced an additional inhibition of cellular proliferation and clonogenic survival of up to 77% and 98%, respectively, compared to the inhibitory effects of the chemotherapeutics alone. These strongly enhanced antiproliferative effects were accompanied by an elevated cell death rate, which was predominantly mediated via apoptosis and not by necrosis. The antitumor effects of combinations with CNTs were less pronounced than those with CNFs. The enhanced effects of the combinatory treatments on cellular function were mostly of additive to partly synergistic nature. Furthermore, cell cycle analysis demonstrated an arrest at the G2/M phase mediated by a monotreatment with chemotherapeutics. Following combinatory treatments, mostly less than or nearly additive increases of cell fractions in the G2/M phase could be observed. In conclusion, the pronounced chemosensitizing effects of CNFs and CNTs were mediated by an enhanced apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation. The combination of carbon-based nanomaterials and conventional chemotherapeutics represents a novel approach in cancer therapy to bypass chemoresistance by minimizing the chemotherapeutic dosing.
Changing trends of infective endocarditis.

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of culture positive and culture negative endocarditis and type of organisms causing bacterial endocarditis in patients admitted at National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi. METHODS This was a cross sectional, descriptive study conducted from 29th March 2006 to 13th October 2006 at National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi. All patients having clinical suspicion of infective endocarditis were admitted and worked up. Seventy five patients having definite infective endocarditis as per Duke Criteria were included. RESULTS There were 55 (70%) males and 20 (30%) females. Mean age of the patients was 23 +/- 8.9 years. Ninety percent of the patients were below 40 years of age. Six patients had prosthetic valve and six were intravenous drug abusers. The commonest signs and symptoms observed were fever, shortness of breath, weight loss, murmur, pallor and splenomegaly. Mitral valve was affected in majority of patients. Blood cultures were positive in 40 (53.3%) cases while 35 (46.7%) cases were culture negative. Nine (22.5%) patients out of 40 culture positive cases and 29 (82.8%) patients out of 35 culture negative cases were using antibiotics before admission. All six intravenous drug abusers showed culture positive endocarditis. Among culture positive cases, staphylococcus group was found in 21 (52.5%) cases while streptococcus group in 11 (27.5%) cases. Coagulase negative staphylococci were found to be the most common organism, that is 14/40 (35%) patients. CONCLUSION Changes in spectrum of organisms causing bacterial endocarditis reported by western researchers do exist in our community. To know the reason behind these changing trends needs further advanced studies and evaluation.
In vitro comparison of gutta-percha-filled area percentages in root canals instrumented and obturated with different techniques

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of different obturation techniques in root canals instrumented either by hand or rotary instruments with regard to the percentage of gutta- percha-filled area (PGFA). Materials and Methods: One hundred and sixty extracted mandibular premolars with single, straight root canals were studied. Root canals were prepared to an apical size of 30 by hand with a modified crown-down technique or the ProTaper and HEROShaper systems. Teeth were divided into eight groups (n=20) according to the following instrumentation and obturation techniques: G1: Hand files+lateral condensation (LC), G2: Hand files+Thermafil, G3: ProTaper+LC, G4: ProTaper+single-cone, G5: ProTaper+ProTaper-Obturator, G6: HEROShaper+LC, G7: HEROShaper+single-cone, G8: HEROShaper+HEROfill. Horizontal sections were cut at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 mm from the apical foramen. A total of 1120 sections obtained were digitally photographed under a stereomicroscope set at 48X magnification. The cross-sectional area of the canal and the gutta-percha was measured by digital image analysis and the PGFA was calculated for each section. Results: The mean of the PGFA in Thermafil (G2), ProTaper-Obturator (G5) and HEROfill (G8) groups was significantly higher than the other groups. In G3 and G4, PGFA showed no significant difference in the apical segments whereas PGFA was significantly higher at the middle and coronal segments in G3. In G6 and G7, PGFA showed no significant difference in the apical and middle segments whereas PGFA was significantly higher at the coronal segments in G6. Conclusion: The carrier-based gutta-percha obturation systems revealed significantly higher PGFA in comparison to single-cone and lateral condensation techniques.
Three-dimensional magnetic and abundance mapping of the cool Ap star HD 24712 II. Two-dimensional Magnetic Doppler Imaging in all four Stokes parameters

Aims: We present a magnetic Doppler imaging study from all Stokes parameters of the cool, chemically peculiar star HD 24712. This is the very first such analysis performed at a resolving power exceeding 10^5. Methods: The analysis is performed on the basis of phase-resolved observations of line profiles in all four Stokes parameters obtained with the HARPSpol instrument attached at the 3.6-m ESO telescope. We use the magnetic Doppler imaging code, INVERS10, which allows us to derive the magnetic field geometry and surface chemical abundance distributions simultaneously. Results: We report magnetic maps of HD 24712 recovered from a selection of FeI, FeII, NdIII, and NaI lines with strong polarization signals in all Stokes parameters. Our magnetic maps successfully reproduce most of the details available from our observation data. We used these magnetic field maps to produce abundance distribution map of Ca. This new analysis shows that the surface magnetic field of HD 24712 has a dominant dipolar component with a weak contribution from higher-order harmonics. The surface abundance distributions of Fe and Ca show enhancements near the magnetic equator with an underabundant patch at the visible (positive) magnetic pole; Nd is highly abundant around the positive magnetic pole. The Na abundance map shows a high overabundance around the negative magnetic pole. Conclusions: Based on our investigation and similar recent four Stokes parameter magnetic mapping studies, we present a tentative evidence for the hypothesis that Ap stars with dipole-like fields are older than stars with magnetic fields that have more small-scale structures. We find that our abundance maps are inconsistent with recent theoretical calculations of atomic diffusion in presence of magnetic fields.
Detection of Babesia canis rossi, B. canis vogeli, and Hepatozoon canis in Dogs in a Village of Eastern Sudan by Using a Screening PCR and Sequencing Methodologies

ABSTRACT Babesia and Hepatozoon infections of dogs in a village of eastern Sudan were analyzed by using a single PCR and sequencing. Among 78 dogs, 5 were infected with Babesia canis rossi and 2 others were infected with B. canis vogeli. Thirty-three dogs were positive for Hepatozoon. Hepatozoon canis was detected by sequence analysis.
The Impact of Restaurant Table Characteristics on Meal Duration and Spending

Restaurateurs seeking to maximize revenues should look carefully at how long their tables are occupied and at how much the average diner spends. This study examines two aspects of the restaurant environment—table type and table location—to determine whether the placement or configuration of a dining table (in particular, whether it has an architectural anchor) has measurable effects on duration and average check, which were combined to show average spending per minute (SPM). An analysis of more than fourteen hundred meal transactions at a 210-seat, casual Mexican-style restaurant found that the SPM for parties at booths was slightly higher than average, while the SPM for diners at banquette tables was below the average. Ironically, tables in poor locations in the dining room generated SPM values higher than supposedly good tables. These findings suggest that restaurant designers reexamine the use of banquettes and not be overly concerned about “bad” tables.
An Evaluation of Investment Performance of Private Life InsuranceIndustry in India

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model is used to provide valuable information on investment efficiency of private life insurance industry in India. This study utilizes two inputs (shareholders’ investments and policyholders’ investments) and two outputs (net returns on investments to the shareholders and net returns on investments to the policyholders). This study focuses upon 20 private life insurance companies operating in India over a period of 4 years from 2010-11 to 2013-14. Since this study attempts to maximize output, an output oriented DEA model is used. The study finds that investment efficiency of private life insurance industry has improved on Banker, Charnes and Cooper (BCC) model and Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes (CCR) model. The study further highlights that during all years under study, 15% to 40% life insurance companies have been found on the CRS frontier and 40% to 60% life insurance companies have been found on the VRS frontier. With regard to scale efficiency issues, 15% to 40% companies have een operated at their most productive scale over the study period.
A revisit of trisomy 20 mosaicism in prenatal diagnosis—an overview of 103 cases

One hundred and three cases with prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 20 mosaicism through amniocentesis were reviewed. Approximately 90 per cent (90/101) of the cases were associated with grossly normal phenotype. It is likely that, in the majority of cases, cells with trisomy 20 were extraembryonic in origin or largely confined to the placenta. However, in some cases, the cells with trisomy 20 were confined to certain specific fetal organs or tissues such as kidney, skin, etc. Cytogenetic follow‐up studies in liveborns should include a culture from urine sediment.
Dark Current Spectroscopy of Irradiated CCD Image Sensors

Dark current spectroscopy is used to directly investigate deep-level traps induced by alpha particle irradiation in charge-coupled devices, at trap concentrations as low as ~2 times 107 cm-3. The irradiated devices have long dark current histogram tails that are quantized at long imager integration times. This quantization is due to the discrete nature of the distribution of the radiation-induced traps within the device pixels. Four distinct traps, with different dark current generation rates, are found and characterized in terms of their activation energies and capture cross-sections. Two of the traps, identified as the divacancy and the E-center (phosphorus-vacancy), have the highest concentrations and generation rates and are the main constituents of the irradiation tails. The origin of these irradiation tails is explained as a superposition of peaks formed by pixels that contain from a single deep-level trap to multiple traps of the same or different types. Divacancy annealing is shown to result in the formation of four additional traps, which are tentatively attributed to vacancy-oxygen, vacancy-hydrogen, and high-order silicon-vacancy complexes.
Calcium‐activated chloride current determines action potential morphology during calcium alternans in atrial myocytes

Cardiac alternans – periodic beat‐to‐beat alternations in contraction, action potential (AP) morphology or cytosolic calcium transient (CaT) amplitude – is a high risk indicator for cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. However, it remains an unresolved issue whether beat‐to‐beat alternations in intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) or AP morphology are the primary cause of pro‐arrhythmic alternans. Here we show that in atria AP alternans occurs secondary to CaT alternans. CaT alternans leads to complex beat‐to‐beat changes in Ca2+‐regulated ion currents that determine alternans of AP morphology. We report the novel finding that alternans of AP morphology is largely sustained by the activity of Ca2+‐activated Cl− channels (CaCCs). Suppression of the CaCCs significantly reduces AP alternans, while CaT alternans remains unaffected. The demonstration of a major role of CaCCs in the development of AP alternans opens new possibilities for atrial alternans and arrhythmia prevention.
Serum ALT: Tarnished gold standard for interferon response in hepatitis C virus infection

Serial serum samples and pretreatment and post‐treatment liver tissue from patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were tested for HCV RNA by reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction and branched DNA signal amplification assays. At the end of treatment with interferon‐α (IFNα), 4 of 5 patients showing no biochemical response (in alanine aminotransferase activity), 4 of 5 with transient responses, and 1 of 5 showing complete and sustained responses had HCV RNA detectable in serum. The corresponding numbers for liver tissue were 5, 5, and 0 (of 4). However, all 5 complete responders had virological relapses wdthin 6 months. Biochemical response may not reflect virological profile during IFNα treatment of HCV.
Expression of Thrombomodulin, Calretinin, Cytokeratin 5/6, D2–40 and WT-1 in a Series of Primary Carcinomas of the Lung: An Immunohistochemical Study in Comparison with Epithelioid Pleural Mesothelioma

Aims and Background A number of immunohistochemical markers have been suggested as useful in the positive diagnosis of epithelioid mesothelioma. The most widely used mesothelioma markers are thrombomodulin, calretinin, cytokeratin 5/6, D2–40 and WT-1. Numerous investigations have demonstrated their variable sensitivity and specificity in differentiating epithelioid mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma. However, data on the expression of these markers in other types of lung carcinomas are very limited. We evaluated the expression of these markers in a series of 172 primary carcinomas of the lung and in 75 epithelioid pleural mesotheliomas. Results Thrombomodulin expression was found in squamous cell carcinomas (71%), small cell lung carcinomas (11%), adenocarcinomas (4%), large cell carcinomas (50%), large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (25%) and in sarcomatoid carcinomas (10%). Calretinin expression was common in small cell lung carcinomas (44%) and large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (25%), less common in squamous cell carcinomas (20%), rare and focal in adenocarcinomas (4%) and sarcomatoid carcinomas (10%). Cytokeratin 5/6 was expressed in most of the squamous cell carcinomas (94.5%). Immunoreactivity was also found in large cell carcinomas (50%), sarcomatoid carcinomas (30%) and rarely in adenocarcinomas (4%). D2–40 was consistently expressed in squamous cell carcinomas (42%). Focal immunoreactivity was found in adenocarcinomas (3%). WT-1 was focally present in one (2%) squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusions These results indicate that some of the most commonly used mesothelioma markers may react with different types of primary lung carcinomas. These data should be taken into consideration especially when dealing with small biopsy fragments and poorly differentiated tumors.
Bacteremic Pneumonia Caused by a Single Clone ofStreptococcus pneumoniae with Different Optochin Susceptibilities

ABSTRACT Two isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae having different optochin susceptibilities were recovered from a blood sample of a 2-year-old boy with community-acquired pneumonia. The two isolates were documented to belong to a single clone on the basis of the isolates' identical serotype (23F), antibiograms by the E-test, random amplified polymorphic DNA patterns generated by arbitrarily primed PCR, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and restriction fragment length polymorphism of the penicillin-binding protein genes pbp2band pbp2x.
The combined influences of autumnal snow and sea ice on Northern Hemisphere winters

Past studies have demonstrated a significant relationship between the phase and amplitude of the Northern Annular Mode (NAM) and both Arctic sea ice and high‐latitude snow cover during boreal autumn. However, those studies have considered these forcings separately. Here we consider the collective effect of Arctic sea ice and snow cover variability for producing skillful subseasonal forecasts for Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter conditions. We find that these two cryospheric elements interact with the extratropical atmosphere differently through the cold season. Sea ice extent minima during November play a role in stratospheric and tropospheric circulation anomalies during November/December with a secondary maximum in late January/February. October snow cover anomalies, however, have impacts on the NAM primarily during middle to late winter. These timing differences are likely tied to differences in anomalous wave driving between the two cases, though other processes may be in play. We exploit these different influences to produce a skillful forecast model of subseasonal NH surface temperatures using both sea ice and snow cover as predictors, with large gains in skills in January. Overall, our study suggests that the Arctic has a demonstrable and detectable influence on midlatitude winter weather in the present and likely future climate.