Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using team-based learning to teach pharmacology to second year medical students improves student performance

Background: Team-based learning (TBL) is an innovative instructional method that fosters active learning. It has been shown to improve student performance in some health care education courses. Aim: To examine the effect of teaching pharmacology using a TBL approach on second year medical students’ satisfaction and performance. Methods: A modified TBL method was used in two case-based discussion sessions of the second year pharmacology course: a relatively easy drug metabolism/pharmacogenetics session and a more challenging pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) session. Individual and group answers to all questions were recorded, and an evaluation form was collected for each session. Class performance on a summative quiz was compared to previous years. Results: Students provided positive feedback. Group performance was better than individual performance during the TBL exercises. TBL was less successful when the questions were very difficult, with a difficulty range of 30–70% being the most appropriate. Performance of the class on the pharmacology summative quiz showed significant improvement over that in previous years in the PK/PD part, but was unchanged in other topics taught traditionally. Conclusion: The results suggest that TBL provides a better outcome for students, and provide insight into appropriate design of TBL exercises.
Excitatory amino acid transmitters in neuronal circuits of the cat visual cortex.

To test a possibility that glutamate (Glu) and aspartate (Asp) are transmitters in the visual cortex and to locate their operating sites in the cortical circuitry, we studied effects of microiontophoretic application of Glu/Asp antagonists on visual responses of cortical neurons in the cat. The antagonists tested were kynurenic acid (KYNA), cis-2,3-piperidine dicarboxylic acid, and gamma-D-glutamylglycine. Among these antagonists, KYNA was most effective in blocking visual responses of cortical neurons; it eliminated visual responses in 156 of the 188 cells tested. Usually the maximal suppressive effect appeared 20-30 s after starting KYNA application and recovery of cell's responsiveness 30-60 s after stopping the application. KYNA antagonized excitations induced by ionophoretic application of Glu and Asp but did not block those by acetylcholine, suggesting that KYNA is a selective antagonist of Glu/Asp, and its action is not due to general depressant effects. This suggestion was further supported by the observation that in corticogeniculate cells the latency and probability of invasion of antidromic spikes into the somatodendritic part following electrical stimulation of the lateral geniculate were not changed while visual responses were completely suppressed by KYNA. In terms of actions of the three agonists which give the basis for classifying excitatory amino acid receptors into at least three types, KYNA antagonized excitations by N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) and kainate in almost all the cells tested but did not block those by quisqualate in about half of the cells. These results suggest that KYNA reacts more preferentially with NMDA and kainate receptors than with quisqualate receptors. Effectiveness of KYNA was related to types of receptive fields of cells and to their laminar locations. In 79 of the 104 simple cells tested, KYNA completely suppressed their visual responses, while such a complete block was seen in only 18 of the 68 complex and 3 of the 16 special complex cells. The great majority of the cells in layers IVab, IVc and the upper part of layer VI were completely suppressed by KYNA, whereas most of the cells in the other layers were incompletely suppressed or not suppressed at all. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Lotus japonicus Cytokinin Receptors Work Partially Redundantly to Mediate Nodule Formation[W][OPEN]

In Lotus japonicus, the LHK1 cytokinin receptor performs an essential function but also works partially redundantly with LHK1A and LHK3 to mediate nodule primordium formation within the root cortex. LHK1 is also expressed in the root epidermis, where it likely participates in signaling to restrict rhizobial infection. Previous analysis of the Lotus histidine kinase1 (Lhk1) cytokinin receptor gene has shown that it is required and also sufficient for nodule formation in Lotus japonicus. The L. japonicus mutant carrying the loss-of-function lhk1-1 allele is hyperinfected by its symbiotic partner, Mesorhizobium loti, in the initial absence of nodule organogenesis. At a later time point following bacterial infection, lhk1-1 develops a limited number of nodules, suggesting the presence of an Lhk1-independent mechanism. We have tested a hypothesis that other cytokinin receptors function in at least a partially redundant manner with LHK1 to mediate nodule organogenesis in L. japonicus. We show here that L. japonicus contains a small family of four cytokinin receptor genes, which all respond to M. loti infection. We show that within the root cortex, LHK1 performs an essential role but also works partially redundantly with LHK1A and LHK3 to mediate cell divisions for nodule primordium formation. The LHK1 receptor is also presumed to partake in mediating a feedback mechanism that negatively regulates bacterial infections at the root epidermis. Interestingly, the Arabidopsis thaliana AHK4 receptor gene can functionally replace Lhk1 in mediating nodule organogenesis, indicating that the ability to perform this developmental process is not determined by unique, legume-specific properties of LHK1.
Knowledge and Practice of Breast Self-Examination among Female Undergraduates in South-Eastern Nigeria

Breast disease often presents as palpable masses (lumps), inflammatory lesions, nipple secretion, or mammography abnormalities; and this can be easily treated when discovered early. Breast Self-Examination (BSE) is the quickest and cheapest means of early breast cancer detection. The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and practice of breast self-examination among female undergraduates in Owerri, south eastern Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling design was used to select participants. Interview using structured questionnaire was conducted on randomly selected respondents in six faculties from each tertiary institution. Questionnaire was prepared in English and was self-administered. Permission to conduct the survey was requested and obtained from the university ethical review board. Informed verbal and written consent was obtained from participants. Confidentiality of information was maintained throughout the study. Knowledge and practice of BSE was examined among 720 randomly selected female undergraduates aged 16 to 28 years. It was found that 98.9 percent have heard of BSE but only 32.5 percent of them performed this examination accurately and monthly as required. There is a statistically significant relationship between knowledge of risk factors for breast cancer and practice of BSE (χ2 = 31.17, P χ2 = 86.75, P χ2 = 75.94, P < 0.001). These female undergraduates had a poor knowledge of the right procedure and practice of BSE; therefore there is need for awareness creation on the risks of breast cancer and benefits of early detection among female undergraduates through breast self-examination.
Hepatitis and splenitis due to systemic tetratrichomoniasis in an American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

A free-ranging, young adult, female American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), found dead on the grounds of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Southern California, had severe multifocal to coalescing necrotizing hepatitis and splenitis on postmortem examination. Histologically, within the large areas of necrosis were myriad pleomorphic, 5–20 µm in diameter, protozoal organisms with 1 to multiple nuclei. Ultrastructurally, the organisms were consistent with a trichomonad flagellate. Polymerase chain reaction and sequencing of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene identified nucleotide sequences with 99% identity to Tetratrichomonas gallinarum, which is a common inhabitant of the intestinal tract of galliform and anseriform birds that has occasionally been associated with disease, including typhlitis and hepatitis. Damage to the cecal mucosa in the pelican from trematodes and secondary bacterial infection could have allowed invasion and systemic dissemination of the organism. Exposure of the pelican to a variety of native and exotic anseriform and galliform birds at the zoological institution could have led to cross-species infection and severe manifestation of disease in a novel host.
Dynamic Analysis of Three Snake Robot Gaits

In the present paper, a dynamic analysis is presented, comparing three snake-like robot gaits: lateral undulation, sidewinding locomotion, and sinus-lifting motion. To simplify calculations, sidewinding locomotion and sinus-lifting motion are considered planar movements. Vertical movements are assumed to be small but play a critical role in change where contacts are made. Thus, the normal forces acting on grounded links and the torques applied to pitch joints can be calculated by solving equilibrium equations. The tradeoff between locomotion speed and energy efficiency is studied for all three gaits, at eight different environmental settings distinguished by friction coefficients. Simulation results reveal that sinus-lifting motion and sidewinding locomotion are generally more energy-efficient gaits than is lateral undulation. More specifically, if the anisotropy in friction is large enough, sinus-lifting motion is the most energy-efficient gait; otherwise, sidewinding locomotion is more efficient. However, there are some critical speeds at which the most efficient gait changes, in some environmental settings.
Estimating influenza-related excess mortality and reproduction numbers for seasonal influenza in Norway, 1975–2004

SUMMARY Influenza can be a serious, sometimes deadly, disease, especially for people in high-risk groups such as the elderly and patients with underlying, severe disease. In this paper we estimated the influenza-related excess mortality in Norway for 1975–2004, comparing it with dominant virus types and estimates of the reproduction number. Analysis was done using Poisson regression, explaining the weekly all-cause mortality by rates of reported influenza-like illness, together with markers for seasonal and year-to-year variation. The estimated excess mortality was the difference between the observed and predicted mortality, removing the influenza contribution from the prediction. We estimated the overall influenza-related excess mortality as 910 deaths per season, or 2·08% of the overall deaths. Age-grouped analyses indicated that the major part of the excess mortality occurred in the ⩾65 years age group, but that there was also a significant contribution to mortality in the 0–4 years age group. Estimates of the reproduction number R, ranged from about 1 to 1·69.
Benefit of viral load testing for confirmation of immunological failure in HIV patients treated in rural Malawi

Objective Viral load testing is used in the HIV programme of Chiradzulu, Malawi, to confirm the diagnosis of immunological failure to prevent unnecessary switching to second‐line therapy. Our objective was to quantify the benefit of this strategy for management of treatment failure in a large decentralized HIV programme in Africa.
Alternative Use of Somatic Cell Counts in Genetic Selection for Mastitis

Various alternatives in analyzing somatic cell counts (SCC) as indirect indicator of resistance of mastitis are discussed by integrating knowledge of the dynamics of the infection and statistical methods used in quantitative genetics and epidemiological research. This is done by (1) defining various measures of SCC, (2) identifying non genetic factors of SCC variation, and (3) proposing a new alternative to analyze the data. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Average-value model of modular multilevel converters considering capacitor voltage

The average-value model (AVM) of the modular multilevel converters (MMCs) is the simplified one for the average response of switching devices, converters and control. The effect of sub-module capacitor voltage ripple on the MMC dynamic behavior is explored and an accurate average-value model of MMCs is established. Based on the proposed AVM, the equivalent impedances of the DC and AC sides in the MMC converters can be easily extracted and evaluated. Furthermore, the detailed interaction of the AC side voltages/currents and arm voltages and the coupling relationship of AC output current id and iq can be also precisely described by the introduced AVM. The effectiveness of the presented model on the MMC dynamic performance analysis is verified by the simulation.
Recurrent Neural Networks for Signature Verification

This paper investigates the application of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) to the task of signature verification. Traditional RNNs are capable of modeling dynamical systems with hidden states; they have been successfully applied to domains ranging from financial forecasting to control and speech recognition. We have applied on-line signature time series data to traditional LSTM, LSTM with forget gates and LSTM with peephole connections algorithms which was developed by [4]. It can be clearly seen in this pattern classification problem that traditional LSTM RNNs outperform LSTMs with forget gates and peephole connections. The latter also outperform traditional RNNs which can’t seem to even learn this task due to the long-term dependency problem.
Menstrual cycle irregularities are associated with testosterone levels in healthy premenopausal women

High androgen levels have been associated with menstrual irregularities in clinical populations, but not in healthy women. We examined the association between testosterone and menstrual irregularities in a nonclinical population of 194 healthy premenopausal women, none of whom reported chronic health conditions. Women provided saliva samples for assay of salivary testosterone, and responded to questions about length of menstrual cycles, variability in menses, and retrospective history of menstrual irregularity. Results showed significant correlations between testosterone and menstrual irregularities, even when women with the most irregular cycles were excluded from analyses. This pattern was also apparent for a subgroup of 27 women using hormonal contraceptives. Based on our findings, it appears that even in healthy women reporting no health concerns, menstrual irregularities are associated with higher levels of circulating androgens. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 18:841–844, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Effect of canarypox virus (ALVAC)-mediated cytokine expression on murine prostate tumor growth.

BACKGROUND Canarypox virus, ALVAC, does not replicate in infected mammalian cells and has potential as a vector for gene therapy in the treatment of cancer. PURPOSE Recombinant viruses carrying DNA sequences encoding interleukin 2 (ALVAC-IL-2), interferon gamma (ALVAC-IFN gamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (ALVAC-TNF-alpha), or the co-stimulatory molecule B7-1 (ALVAC-B7-1) were investigated as agents for the treatment of a newly defined mouse prostate tumor model. METHODS RM-1 mouse prostate cancer cells, which are syngeneic (i.e., same genetic background) to C57BL/6 mice, were used. The expression of foreign gene products in vitro in infected RM-1 cells was measured by immunoprecipitation, bioassay, or flow cytometry. The effects of foreign gene product expression on RM-1 tumor cell growth in C57BL/6 mice were measured after subcutaneous injection (in the back) of 5 x 10(5) uninfected or infected cells; measurements included determinations of time to a measurable tumor size, tumor size as a function of time, and survival. The induction of protective immunity by uninfected and infected RM-1 cells was tested by injection of lethally irradiated (70 Gy) cells and subsequent challenge with uninfected cells. The generation of cytotoxic T cells was monitored by use of a 51Cr release assay. Severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice were used to determine whether T or B lymphocytes were involved in ALVAC vector-mediated antitumor responses. Data were analyzed by use of Pearson's modification of the chi-squared test and Kaplan-Meier survival methods. Reported P values are two-sided. RESULTS The level of foreign gene product expression in ALVAC-infected RM-1 cells was dependent on the multiplicity of virus infection used; a multiplicity of five viruses per infected cell was chosen for subsequent experiments. RM-1 tumor growth in C57BL/6 mice was not affected by tumor cell expression of IL-2 alone, IFN gamma alone, or B7-1 alone; however, expression of TNF-alpha alone significantly delayed tumor growth at early time points (compared with parental ALVAC-infected tumors, P = .0001 at day 21 and P = .037 at day 28). Tumor cell expression of both TNF-alpha and IL-2 completely inhibited tumor growth in 60%-100% of treated mice. No protection against subsequent tumor challenge was detected in mice previously exposed to RM-1 cells expressing both TNF-alpha and IL-2. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activity toward RM-1 cells was not observed in C57BL/6 mice that rejected tumors. Tumor cell expression of TNF-alpha and IL-2 also resulted in tumor growth inhibition in SCID mice. CONCLUSIONS RM-1 mouse prostate cancer cells are readily infected by ALVAC vectors, and foreign gene products are efficiently expressed. Inhibition of RM-1 tumor growth by tumor cell expression of TNF-alpha and IL-2 appears to involve nonspecific antitumor activity.
Temporal influences on cross-sectional stock return predictabilities

In this thesis, I examine the following three temporal influences on the cross-section of stock returns: disclosure and analyst regulations, the subprime credit crisis, and time-varying investor sentiment. The thesis consists of three essays.The first essay deals with the influence of regulation. Between 2000 and 2003 a series of disclosure and analyst regulations curbing abusive financial reporting and analyst behavior were enacted to strengthen the information environment of U.S. capital markets. I investigate whether these regulations benefited investors by increasing stock market efficiency. After the regulations, I find a significant reduction in short-term stock price continuation following analyst forecast revisions and past stock returns. The effect was more pronounced among higher information uncertainty firms, where I expect security valuation to be most sensitive to the regulations. Further analysis shows that analyst forecast accuracy improved in these firms, consistent with reduced mispricing being due to an improved corporate information environment following the regulations. My findings are robust to controlling for time trends, trading activity, the recent financial crisis, and changes in firms? analyst coverage status and delistings. In the second essay, I examine whether the value premium survived the recent subprime credit crisis. I find that value stocks underperformed growth stocks during the crisis, resulting in a value discount, while the value premium was significantly positive before the crisis. This is consistent with value stocks being riskier than growth stocks because they are more vulnerable during bad times. The value premium reversal during the crisis worked primarily through financially constrained firms, suggesting that the effect was due to the adverse influence of the crisis rather than confounding effects. The results are robust to controlling for common risk factors and alternative financial constraint proxies.The third essay is related to time-varying investor sentiment. Recent literature in financial economics has examined whether investor sentiment affects asset pricing. An open question is whether an investor sentiment effect reflects mispricing or risk compensation. Currently, the literature supports the former view by documenting that investor sentiment predicts realized stock returns beyond the explanatory power of state-of-the-art factor models. But, despite its popularity, estimating expected returns from realized returns has limitations. I re-examine the evidence on investor sentiment using accounting-based implied costs of capital (ICCs). I find that ICCs cannot explain the sentiment effect on stock returns. If ICCs are reliable expected return proxies, this suggests that the investor sentiment effect does not exist ex ante and confirms previous evidence that mispricing is the driving force behind the investor sentiment effect on stock returns.
A Brief Review of Selective Mutism Literature

Abstract Selective mutism is a disorder characterized by a persistent failure to speak in certain social situations. It is typically diagnosed in childhood, and the disorder can last from just a few months to several years in some individuals. Debate surrounds the origins and causes of this disorder. Recent literature suggests that selective mutism may be a form of social phobia. The present article is a brief review of the literature on the etiology, assessment, comorbid diagnoses, and treatment perspectives from several theoretical orientations, including behavioral, family systems, and psychopharmacological.
Network security through software defined networking: a survey

Network security is a predominant topic both in academia and industry. Many methods and tools have been proposed but the attackers are still able to launch massive and effective attacks. Keeping the pace with the new threats appearing or becoming more sophisticated everyday is of a paramount of importance. Software Defined Networking (SDN) has recently emerged and promotes the programmability of the networks, which thus allows to enable in-network security functions. This includes firewalls, monitoring applications or middlebox support through OpenFlow devices. Therefore, this paper reviews the related approaches which have been proposed by identifying their scope, their practicability, their advantages and their drawbacks.
Parallélisation d'un algorithme d'appariement d'images quasi-dense

Depuis quelques annees, la complexite croissante de besoins informatiques dans tous les domaines de recherche scientifique et technique exige une puissance de calcul sans cesse plus importante. Dans ce contexte, le calcul parallele apparait comme un outil vital qui permet d'exploiter la capacite de calcul de plusieurs microprocesseurs travaillant ensemble. Le domaine auquel le calcul parallele sera applique dans cette these est celui de l'imagerie, plus specifiquement la synthese d'images a partir d'images reelles. Pour permettre la creation de nouvelles vues virtuelles a partir de scenes reelles, une des etapes les plus couteuses en temps de calcul est la phase d'appariement des images. Il s'agit de la formation de paires de pixels qui representent le meme point sur les surfaces de deux images source. Le probleme principal que nous cherchons a resoudre dans cette these est la proposition d'une version parallele pour l'algorithme d'appariement quasi-dense (aussi appele algorithme de propagation) d'images qui est base sur une strategie adaptive globale. Cette version doit etre capable de preserver la qualite du resultat final obtenu par la version sequentielle de l'algorithme de propagation tout en reduisant le temps d'execusion dans un contexte de programmation oriente vers les grappes de processeurs.