Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of insulin resistance in obese Cameroonian women

Several studies indicate that obesity is closely related to insulin resistance (IR). However, this relationship has not been adequately explored among Africans. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of insulin resistance among obese Cameroonian women using some indirect methods for assessment of insulin resistance. We also analysed the correlation between some indices of IR with Triglyceride to HDL cholesterol ratio. We examined 230 obese and overweight women. Anthropometric measurements were done for all individuals. Blood lipids parameters, glucose and insulin were assayed after a 10 h fast. The indices McA, HOMA, QUICKI, ISI, FI and FIGR were used to assess insulin resistance. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that HOMA and QUICKI had high sensitivity and specificity for measuring IR compared to other indices. The overall prevalence of IR was 53.9% by HOMA-IR and 55.7% by QUICKI. TG/HDL-C method detected lower number of patients with IR in our study group and was not related to the homeostatic indexes of insulin resistance HOMA and QUICKI. This study indicates that insulin resistance is present in about half proportions of overweight and obese Cameroonian women.
A Comparison of Community Health Status by Region and an Investigation of related Factors using Community Health Indicators

【Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to compare community health status by region and to investigate related factors using community health and social indicators. Methods: Data were collected from statistics of local districts that were provided by KNSO and KCDC. ANOVA and correlation were analyzed using PASW 18.0. Results: The standardized cancer mortality rate was higher in metropolitan areas than in other areas. On the contrary, the mortality of respiratory disease, traffic accident, and suicide were higher in rural areas. Small cities and county districts showed higher prevalence in obesity prevalence than metropolitan areas. Metropolitan areas presented higher prevalence in alcohol drinking during the previous month, perceived stress, and seat belt use. The age-adjusted standardized mortality rate was correlated with higher prevalence of smoking, obesity, percentage of the elderly, number of beds, number of social welfare facilities, number of registered cars, lower percentage of financial independence, number of doctors, and percentage of water supply service & sewage. Conclusion: Since significant differences in mortality rate and prevalence of health risk behaviors exist between regional areas and the mortality rate was correlated with other social indicators and health indicators, health policies and social policies considering these differences should be develop and implemented to the communities. 】
Teacher- parent collaboration in two primary schools’ special education integrated programmes: Application of epstein’s framework / Girija Kumari a/p K.S.Nayor

Teacher- Parent Collaboration (TPC) is an important factor for the development of Children with Special Needs (CSN). Dividing the role in school and at home as different entities is not appropriate as children need close monitoring at home too. To enable parents to be actively involved in schools, teachers need to cooperate with parents and develop collaboration between them. The aims of this study were: 1) to explore to what extent TPC was practised during the planning and implementation of activities, 2) to explore factors that supported and inhibited the planning and implementation of the activities, and 3) to explore how the framework advocated by Epstein, involving elements such as parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making and collaborating with community was incorporated in the schools’ activities. This study was a case study. Two schools with the Special Education Integrated Programme (SEIP) were selected and the participants of the study comprised two administrators, four special education teachers and four parents of CSN. The data were obtained through interviews, observations and document analysis. NVivo 10, a computer software programme was used to manage the interview transcripts, the observation notes and summaries of the document analysis. The same software was used to code data and form categories within the case analysis, to produce individual reports, before the cross case analysis was done using the constant comparative technique to identify the emerging themes from the TPC activities. The findings revealed that teachers played a major role in determining and planning the activities for the academic year. The involvement of parents in providing suggestions was noted during the frequent short interactions between the teachers and the parents. The activities planned focused on the needs of CSN, and the parents’ needs were identified through feedback obtained during formal and informal interactions with parents. When iv the activities were implemented, the parents followed the teachers and were involved in carrying out the activities planned although parents collaborating with the teachers were only seen in a few activities, where they took on a passive role in most cases. There were activities that were planned but which were not carried out due to some hindering factors. The study concluded that there was more involvement than collaboration between the teachers and the parents. Other than the elements advocated by Epstein, inter-cultural and inter-spiritual knowledge elements were also evident in the activities planned in the two SEIP. If active collaboration were to be carried out in the schools then there would be a shared responsibility between teachers and parents to ensure quality education for CSN, as envisioned in the Malaysian Education Blueprint.
Knowledge, attitude and practice of handwashing with soap in a rural community in north western Nigeria

Background: Hand washing is considered as one of the most effective hygiene promotion activities for public health in developing countries. Handwashing with soap (HWWS) has been found to be more effective in removing germs than handwashing with water alone and yet handwashing with soap is seldom practiced.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of handwashing with soap among 217 mothers of children under the age of five in a rural community of a developing country.Results: Majority of the respondents (59.4%) had inadequate knowledge of HWWS but most of them had a positive attitude towards it (99.1%). A majority (85.7%) of them reported washing their hands with soap within 24 hours preceding the study. However, Only 38.2% did so before feeding a child or after cleaning a child's buttocks (41.9%). There was a statistically significant association between mother's level of education and her knowledge level of hand washing with soap (P=0.007). Conclusion: Findings from this study revealed inadequate knowledge of HWWS among respondents. Its practice was abysmally low during care of under-fives. There is need for the Local Government Authority in the study area to put in place strategies, such as health education, that will promote and increase the practice of hand washing with soap especially before feeding a child and after cleaning the buttocks of a child that has defecated.Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, practice, hand washing, under-five year children
Determining the roles of the intrinsic versus the extrinsic pathway in regulating neuronal programmed cell death in vivo.

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a highly evolved mechanism of cellular suicide that is aberrantly activated following neural injury. Two fundamental PCD signaling pathways termed the extrinsic (caspase-8-mediated) and intrinsic (caspase-9-mediated) pathways, have been described. While each pathway is initiated by distinct cellular stimuli, both pathways culminate in the activation of downstream executioner caspases. Previous efforts to isolate the in vivo contribution of each pathway have been hindered by the embryonic lethality of casp8 and casp9 null mice. In the present study, I overcame this obstacle to directly assess the contribution of each pathway following two well-characterized forms of acute neural injury; excitotoxic destruction of CA1 pyramidal neurons, and the loss of motor neurons following facial nerve transection. To determine the role of caspase-8, I constructed several lines of mice in which caspase-8 was conditionally ablated within the relevant neuronal populations. The results obtained from these animals definitively demonstrate that caspase-8 is not required by either motor neurons or CA1 pyramidal neurons to undergo PCD following injury. Therefore, these findings have provided the first direct experimental evidence to counter the widely held dogma of caspase-8 as the central effector of death receptor-mediated signaling within neurons. With respect to the intrinsic pathway, several lines of evidence suggest that the apoptosome
Morphological Characteristics and Haematological Studies in Wistar Rats Subjected to Prolonged Treatment of Chloramphenicol

Fueron estudiadas las caracteristicas morfologicas y hematologicas de 15 ratas albinas Wistar, macho, entre 12 y 14 semanas y con un peso corporal de 150 - 180g. Las ratas fueron alimentadas con pellet preparado comercialmente y con agua fresca ad libitum. Las ratas fueron divididas en tres grupos de 5 ejemplares cada uno. El Grupo A sirvio como control; Grupo B fue tratado con cloranfenicol en dosis de 25mg/kg de peso corporal durante 20 dias, mientras que el Grupo C recibio este tratamiento durante 25 dias. El esperma utilizado en este estudio se obtuvo desde la cauda del epididimo, donde las aberraciones morfologicas fueron determinadas a partir del conteo de espermatozoides, despues de ser tenidos con la tincion de Wells y Awa. Los resultados del espermiograma puso de manifiesto que el volumen fue disminuyendo a medida que la dosis de cloranfenicol aumentaba. El porcentaje de motilidad en el grupo A (89,0 ± 2,45%), fue diferente significativamente (p <0,05) en comparacion con el Grupo B (72,0 ± 3,74%) y Grupo C (66,0 ± 2,45%). El mismo patron se observo en los porcentaje de habitabilidad, aberracion morfologica y la concentracion de espermatozoides. Esto indica que la prolongacion de la dosis de cloranfenicol puede causar infertilidad en los animales machos. Por lo tanto, se concluye y recomienda que una prolongada dosis de cloranfenicol puede causar infertilidad o esterilidad, asi que no debe utilizarse en animales machos destinados a la cria y en los programas de inseminacion artificial.
Teach the Teachers - E-Learning in Further Education for Lecturers in Higher Education

The article focuses on how lecturers in higher education use e-learning – not only in a teaching role, but furthermore as learners in further education. An insight into two empirical studies concerning the use of media in e-learning contexts in general and social media and tablet use in particular built the basis. Requirements for e-learning tools as well as demands on the teaching and learning settings will be illustrated. Based on the empirical results innovative e-learning settings for further education have been designed.
Interviews with Lifelong Readers: Preliminary Findings from the EDITS (Effects of Digital Information Technology on Seniors) Project

This poster outlines the preliminarily findings of the EDITS study: an inquiry into the digital information habits of senior citizens. The research presented here will focus on the adoption of ereading technology by seniors in order to determine the habits and attitudes, motivations, and barriers experienced by this demographic. Employing semi-structured interviews and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), this study aims to investigate one element of the digital divide that sometimes goes unnoticed: age. Despite ingrained habits based on print, findings show motivations, such as convenience, contribute to the adoption of ereading by seniors.
Chronic Nitric Oxide Synthesis Inhibition Does Not Prevent Pregnancy Vasodilation in the Rat

Objective: To determine if blockade of endothelium-derived nitric oxide synthesis from the day after embryo implantation to the day before parturition prevents maternal systemic vasodilation in the rat.Methods: Timed-pregnant and age-matched nonpregnant Wistar-Kyoto rats were administered the nonselective nitric oxide synthase inhibitor Nw-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (15 mg/rat/day, s.c.) or saline vehicle (untreated) for 14 days using osmotic minipumps. On the last day of treatment (day 20 of gestation in the pregnant rats), plasma total nitrate/nitrite concentration, mean arterial blood pressure, and heart rate were measured. Cardiac output and organ blood flows were then measured using radioactive-labeled microspheres for the calculation of total systemic and organ/tissue vascular conductances, respectively.Results: Chronic blockade of nitric oxide synthesis decreased plasma nitrate/nitrite concentration >90% and induced hypertension with decreased cardiac output and organ blood flows in both nonpreg.
HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia

Summary: The Annual Surveillance Report has been published each year since 1997. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia and includes estimates of incidence and prevalence of HIV and viral hepatitis, by demographic and risk groups, patterns of treatment for HIV and viral hepatitis infection, and behavioural risk factors for HIV and Hepatitis C infection.
Music Analysis and Point-Set Compression

COSIATEC, SIATECCompress and Forth’s algorithm are point-set compression algorithms developed for discovering repeated patterns in music, such as themes and motives that would be of interest to a music analyst. To investigate their effectiveness and versatility, these algorithms were evaluated on three analytical tasks that depend on the discovery of repeated patterns: classifying folk song melodies into tune families, discovering themes and sections in polyphonic music, and discovering subject and countersubject entries in fugues. Each algorithm computes a compressed encoding of a point-set representation of a musical object in the form of a list of compact patterns, each pattern being given with a set of vectors indicating its occurrences. However, the algorithms adopt different strategies in their attempts to discover encodings that maximize compression. The best-performing algorithm on the folk-song classification task was COSIATEC, with a success rate of 84%. On the other tasks, variants of SIATECCom.
Distance Learning in an Accounting Principles Course—Student Satisfaction and Perceptions of Efficacy

In this study, the authors employed a novel, dual approach toward the delivery of course material to assess students' satisfaction with distance learning and their perceptions of its efficacy. Students in two sections of an Introduction to Financial Accounting course received instruction that alternated between traditional, live lectures and live lectures captured for viewing over the Internet. Thus, the course moved from synchronous to asynchronous modes of learning, and vice versa. Results show that the students reported a lower relative level of satisfaction with the distance-learning component, as well as diminished effectiveness in mastering the distance-learning course material.
The Nutritional Status of the Children with Severe- ECC Comparison with the Nutritional Status of Children without Caries Aged 3-5-Years-Old and with the Caregiver’s Demographics in a Kenyan Hospital

Severe early childhood caries (Severe-ECC) is an aggressive, infectious and preventable form of dental caries that affects very young children. The survey purposed to examine any differences in the severity of poor nutrition in children without decay and those children with dental decay in the age group between thirty-six and sixty months. Sampling was purposeful and 196 children aged between 3 to 5 years for this study. The study was hospital-based where eighty-one children with severe dental decay who had attended the Nyanza Provincial General Hospital (NNPGH). Similarly, one hundred and fifteen children who were caries free were chosen from amongst the children attending the maternal child health clinic at NNPGH over a period of three months. Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were used to estimate the strength of association between Severe ECC and nutritional status. The mean dmft for the children with severe Early Childhood Caries (ECC) was 7.5±19. The prevalence of malnutrition was reported among both groups of children with severe ECC and without decay as 28 (14.3%) underweight, wasting 5(2.5%), and stunting 9(4.6%). The malnutrition in children with, Severe-ECC was observed as 27(14%) underweight; 10(4.9%) of the children were wasted, and 5(2.5%) were stunted. However among the children without caries 26 (13.9%) were underweight while 5 (2.6% were wasted, and 12 (6.1%) were stunted. Both children those with severe ECC and those with decay, however, the children who were likely to be underweight at 1.23 times were those affected with severe ECC at 1.23 times compared to the children without decay. Hence other factors may be playing a role in malnutrition of children aged 3-5year old.
Abnormal Hysterosalpingographic Findings in Infertile Women

Objective: to determine the rate and patterns of hysterosalpingography (HSG) abnormality among infertile women at Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kean University, Thailand. Materials and methods: The study patients were identified through the reports of the Infertile Clinic. In our hospital, HSG was routinely performed in all women undergoing an evaluation of infertility problems. Medical records were abstracted for baseline characteristics, types of infertility, and details of HSG findings. A 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to demonstrate the precision of data. Logistic regression model was used to determine an independent impact of the type of infertility on abnormal HSG findings. Results: Overall, 589 women were reviewed. The mean ± SD age was 32.9 ± 5.0 years. Secondary infertility was noted in 163 (27.7%) women. Abnormal HSG was noted in 227 (38.5%, 95% CI, 34.6%-42.6%) women. The most common abnormal HSG findings were tubal occlusion and hydrosalpinx. When adjusted with patients’ age, women with secondary infertility carried a higher risk of having abnormal HSG finding compared to those with primary infertility (an adjusted odds ratio, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.68-3.54). Conclusion: Rate of abnormal HSG findings among infertile women in our setting was approximately 40%. Type of infertility was independently associated with abnormal HSG findings.
Path loss model for indoor emergency stairwell environment at millimeter wave band for 5G network

: The unused millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum offers a superb opportunity to increase mobile broadband capacity due to the enormous amount of available bandwidth. Different candidate operating frequencies for 5G wireless networks are available at the mmWave band. For 5G wireless networks, the emergency case is one of the applications. This paper presents the outcome of indoor emergency stairwell measurement campaigns for 5G system at 26 GHz, 28 GHz, 32 GHz, and 38 GHz, which were conducted at the University Technology Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. To effectively evaluate the performance of 5G wireless systems in these different bands, single-and multifrequency path loss models are proposed for this environment. This paper proposes a new path loss model based on a new physical anchor point referred to as physical-anchor stair (PAS) path loss model. In a single-frequency large-scale case study, the PAS and the floating intercept (FI) path loss model are investigated at the 20 GHz and 30 GHz bands. Moreover, this study is extended to cover the multifrequency path such as the alpha, beta, and gamma model and the close-in free space path loss model with frequency weight (CIF) model. The CIF model is developed in this paper. The proposed PAS model shows high accuracy (physically based model) and less complexity compared with the studied models. Results show that the path loss exponent values vary between 6.6 and 7.9 for all measured frequencies using the proposed PAS model and between 9.1 and 10.9 using the FI model.
Laparoscopic Colon Surgery for Benign Disease: A Comparison to Open Surgery

Backgrounds and Objectives: Today we are witnessed a growing number of minimally invasive surgical techniques for different diseases. Laparoscopic colon surgery as a minimally invasive surgery is currently growing in treatment of malignancies after proving his place in the treatment of benign diseases. We compare in this study results of laparoscopic colorectal surgery with open surgery. Methods: 36 laparoscopic colon resections performed for benign disease were compared to 36 open colon resections with respect to operating times, length of hospital stay, estimated blood loss, days until first postoperative bowel movement, and complications. Results: The laparoscopic colon resection group had decreased length of stay, less blood loss, earlier return of bowel function, and an equivalent number of complication. Duration of surgery was higher in the laparoscopic group. Conclusion: The use of laparoscopic colon surgery for benign disease not only affords the patient the advantage of the laparoscopic approach, but also allows the surgeon to gain experience for laparoscopic colon surgery in malignant disease.
Mental health of HIV positive adolescents in Zambia

Objectives: To assess the mental health of HIV positive Zambian adolescents by comparing with Zambian school sample and an age matched British normative sample. Design: This was a cross-sectional study of adolescents from school in the age range of 11-15 and HIV positive adolescents from clinics in Lusaka. Main outcomes: Mental health of HIV positive Zambian adolescents. Measures: Mental health was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: When compared to the school sample it is found that both the groups are almost similar in the SDQ scales. Although the HIV group seem to have more peer problems, the difference does not reach a level of significance. The HIV sample was also less likely to be in the abnormal range for conduct problems (OR = 1.8). But when compared to a British community sample the Zambian HIV positive adolescents had increased emotional symptoms (OR= 3.6) and peer problems (OR= 7.1). Conclusion: Zambian HIV positive adolescents had increased mental health problems compared to a British Community sample. Keywords : HIV, adolescents, mental health, SDQ, Zam