Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
"Our Branches Are Broken:" Using the Tree Of Life Healing Methodology with Victims of Gukurahundi in Matebeleland, Zimbabwe

Between 1983 and 1987, an estimated 20,000 people from Matabeleland and parts of Midlands Province in Zimbabwe were killed by government forces in an operation code-named Gukurahundi. Since that time, no official apology, justice, reparations or any form of healing process has been offered by the government which was responsible for these atrocities. Many people still suffer trauma from the events of this time. The overall question that this research project sought to answer was whether a small group of survivors of Gukurahundi could heal via participation over time in a group action research project directed at their healing. This article assesses the effectiveness of the Tree of Life healing approach, which was one of the methodologies tried during the course of the research with a small group of survivors of the 1980s atrocities. We found that while the approach was very helpful to the participants, it was difficult to talk about “total healing” due to the fact that the perpetrators are still in power. In addition, no effort had been made to even acknowledge the harm done, and the participants still felt marginalized politically and economically, while the perpetrators appeared to be care-free and enjoying life. Participants agreed that, given the circumstance, this approach offered them a measure of relief and that it was still necessary to address healing holistically. It was however acknowledged that some form of relief was better than a lifetime of painful memories even if systemic change remains to be seen.
The accuracy of neck circumference for assessing overweight and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Context: Neck circumference (NC) has been suggested as an alternative measure to screen for excess body weight. Objective: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the accuracy of neck circumference (NC) as a measure for assessing overweight and obesity in both sexes in different age groups. Methods: Detailed individual search strategies were developed for each of the following bibliographic databases: Cochrane, LILACS, PubMed/MEDLINE, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science. The QUADAS-2 checklist was used to assess the methodology of the studies included. Results: Thirty-eight assessments were performed in 11 articles according to age, sex and weight status. Using sensitivity and specificity, 27 assessments (71.0%) considered NC an accurate measure to diagnose overweight and obesity. The best sensitivity and specificity were found for the age >19 years (82.0%, 82.0%), female (80.0%, 73.0%), and obese (80.0%, 85.0%) categories. Conclusion: NC is an accurate tool for assessing overweight and obesity in males and females of different age groups and could be used to screen for excess body weight in routine medical practice or epidemiological studies. It is also believed that more studies will permit the creation of a reference dataset of NC cut-off values for world populations.
EFFECT OF MANAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS ON THE HELMINTH PARASITES RECOVERED FROM DONKEYS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The helminth burdens and biodiversity of 9 randomly selected donkeys (Equus asinus) were examined after necropsy. Prior to necropsy, 8 of the animals were subjected to 1 of 3 management interventions (monthly fecal removal, prewinter moxidectin treatment, and a combination of both treatments) or a control for a 16-mo period. The remaining animal was killed earlier in the study. Quantitative samples were collected from the gastrointestinal tract for helminth recovery. The intestinal walls were examined with transmural illumination and thereafter digested with a HCl-peptic method for identification of the mucosal larval stages of cyathostomes. In this study, 37 helminth species belonging to the Ascarididae, Atractidae, Dictyocaulidae, Habronematidae, Onchocercidae, Oxyuridae, Strongylidae, and Trichostrongylidae, 1 cestode species of the Anoplocephalidae, and 1 trematode species in the Paramphistomatidae were recovered. In addition, 1 species of oestrid fly of the Gasterophilidae was identified. The results obtained in the present study support the application of several intervention methods to reduce the helminth burdens in donkeys.
Measurement of the amount and number of pollen particles of Cryptomeria japonica (Taxodiaceae) by imaging with a photoacoustic microscope

A photoacoustic microscope (PAM), which includes a condenser microphone and a pair of linear-motor-driven pulse stages, was specially designed for spectroscopic applications. The PAM was applied to measure the amount and number of pollen particles of Cryptomeria japonica (CJ), which is known for its allergic function against eyes and nose. The advantage of photoacoustic (PA) imaging is both its high sensitivity and its counting ability up to high concentrations of the specimen. The CJ pollen particles were fixed on a piece of adhesive tape or on albumen (egg white) on a glass slide set in a PA cell. The PA image showed the ability of this method to count CJ pollen from the several-hundred-milligram region to even a single particle. The PA signal obtained was integrated over the specimen surface. The dependence of the PA signal on the amount or number of the pollen particles was measured. The resulting coefficients of correlation of the calibration curves for the amount and the number of pollen particles were 0.94 and 0.97, respectively
VIX and Volatility Derivatives: A Survey of Relevant Financial Instruments and Pricing Models.

Although it is relatively difficult to predict the exact returns associated with a stock, one can compute, with a certain degree of precision, the volatility associated with the stock’s return by utilizing appropriate mathematical models. In order to account for volatility, a new metric called the Volatility Index (VIX), based on S&P 100 shares, was posited by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). This definition was tweaked eventually to make S&P 500 shares (SPX) the basis for calculating VIX by, averaging the prices of calls and puts on SPX shares, over a wide range of strike prices, considering a time frame of 30 days. Futures and options based on the VIX eventually emerged, and have gone on to acquire a very critical role in financial markets worldwide, especially after the Global Recession. In a similar vein, the India Volatility Index (VIX), reflective of the volatility of the Nifty index options over the next 30-day period, has gradually emerged as the go-to instrument for those who wish to gauge the Indian market volatility. Riding on high VIX levels due to the upcoming Indian General Elections, weekly futures contracts based on this index were introduced in February 2014 to phenomenal demands. However, the demand for these contracts has considerably fizzled out ever since, which in turn, has precluded the annulment of any plans whatsoever regarding the incorporation of new products into the suit of volatility-based derivatives pertaining to the Indian market. Given the novel premise of volatility derivatives, wherein the volatility of the underlying asset is used as the metric for arriving at trading strategies, several financial products, viz. futures, options and ETFs (exchange traded funds) have been developed based upon the same precepts. Volatility-based products are available on exchanges as well as currencies (primarily, FX), and are acquired primarily in the form of institutional volatility derivatives, with retail derivatives coming to the fore more recently. Several OTC derivatives are also available for trading volatility with these instruments being modelled as variance swaps on indexes and individual stocks. Thus, it is quite evident that a wide vista of risk-management/hedging strategies can be implemented using these derivatives. The article primarily intends to explore some of the volatility derivatives which are currently in vogue and the reasons for them being more frequently transacted vis-a-vis other volatility derivatives. Additionally, the article wishes to explore the different pricing methods that are commonly used to price such volatility derivatives. In conclusion, the article decodes the various quantitative and qualitative facets of the India VIX, so as to eventually engender a healthy dialogue pertaining to the efficacy of India VIX-based derivatives.
Ultra‐early hematoma growth in antithrombotic pretreated patients with intracerebral hemorrhage

Patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) pretreated with antithrombotic drugs may have increased early hematoma growth, which would increase mortality risk. The effect of antiplatelet (AP) and vitamin K antagonist (VKA) pretreatment on ultra‐early hematoma growth (uHG) and its relationship with mortality in patients with acute supratentorial ICH was analyzed.
Teachers' Pedagogical Competence in School-Based Management: A Case Study in a Public Secondary School at Pare-Pare, Indonesia

extent of the role of teachers' pedagogical competence on the practice of school-based management (SBM) was explored in this study. Interviews have been conducted in order to collect the qualitative data from the participant in Pare-Pare, South Celebes, Indonesia. It was discovered that the teachers' pedagogical competence has not been developed as it was expected. Accordingly, it was reported that teachers' creativity was limited by the domination of the government's interference. It is suggested that in order to improve the quality of SBM, teachers' continuing professional development is highly required.
Resting metabolic rate, fat-free mass and catecholamine excretion during weight loss in female obese patients

The reduction in resting metabolic rate (RMR) during weight loss exceeds that accounted for by changes in body composition by 15%, suggesting that factors other than fat-free mass (FFM) explain the metabolic adaptation during food restriction in obesity. Our study aimed to establish if changes in the sympathoadrenal system activity, as inferred from an integrated measure such as 24 h urinary excretion of catecholamines, may play a role in the RMR adaptation observed during dietary restriction in obese patients. Ninety-three obese female subjects consumed a low-energy diet (LED) (2930 kJ/d (700 kcal/d)) for a 3-week period. At the beginning and at the end of the study, 24 h urinary excretion of catecholamines, FFM and RMR were measured. The LED induced a significant reduction in body weight (-3·3 (SEM 0·4) KG; P < 0·01), FFM (-1·9 (sem 0·7) kg; P < 0·01) and in the fat mass (-1·2 (sem 0·5) kg; P < 0·01). Noradrenalin excretion (24 h) decreased during the LED from 264 (sem 26) during a weight-maintenance period to 171 (sem 19) nmol/24 h after consumption of the LED for 3 weeks (P < 0·001); mean 24 h adrenalin excretion did not change during the LED (22 (sem 3) during the weight-maintenance period v. 21 (sem 3) nmol/24 h after consumption of the LED for 3 weeks; NS). The LED induced a significant decrease in RMR (7300 (sem 218) v. 6831 (sem 138) kJ/24 h; P < 0·001). The only independent variable that significantly explained variations in RMR both before and after consumption of the LED for 3 weeks, was FFM (r2 0·79 and r2 0·80 respectively). Urinary noradrenalin excretion explained a further 4 % of the variability in RMR, but only before the diet, so that a role of sympathoadrenal system on RMR seems to be present in obese patients in basal conditions but not at the end of the LED.
Serum High Molecular Weight Adiponectin Correlates with Arterial Stiffness in Community-Dwelling Persons

Introduction. Serum high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin, an adipocytokine, which is a protein secreted specifically by adipose tissue, improves insulin sensitivity and plays an important role in the development of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a noninvasive method of measuring arterial stiffness for the assessment of CVD in high-risk populations. We investigated whether serum HMW adiponectin is independently associated with arterial stiffness when evaluated using PWV. Methods. We randomly recruited 99 men aged 69 ± 9 (mean ± standard deviation) years and 170 women aged 68 ± 7 years during their annual health examination in a single community. Peripheral arterial stiffness was evaluated by mean PWV determined at three points: from the heart to the carotid artery, to the brachial artery, and to the ankle. Results and conclusions. Age-adjusted PWV in all sites other than the heart to the carotid artery decreased progressively with increased serum HMW adiponectin. Age-adjusted mean PWV significantly decreased from the lowest to the highest serum HMW adiponectin group. Multiple linear regression analyses for mean PWV revealed that decreased serum HMW adiponectin levels were significantly associated with increased mean PWV as well as age, BMI, SBP, DBP, prevalence of antihypertensive medication, and eGFR. Inclusion of serum HMW adiponectin into the model further increased the coefficient of determination (R2). Multivariate-adjusted mean PWV was significantly lowest in the highest serum HMW adiponectin group.
Multiple dipole modeling and localization from spatio-temporal MEG data

The authors present general descriptive models for spatiotemporal MEG (magnetoencephalogram) data and show the separability of the linear moment parameters and nonlinear location parameters in the MEG problem. A forward model with current dipoles in a spherically symmetric conductor is used as an example: however, other more advanced MEG models, as well as many EEG (electroencephalogram) models, can also be formulated in a similar linear algebra framework. A subspace methodology and computational approach to solving the conventional least-squares problem is presented. A new scanning approach, equivalent to the statistical MUSIC method, is also developed. This subspace method scans three-dimensional space with a one-dipole model, making it computationally feasible to scan the complete head volume. <<ETX>>
Early and mid-term clinical outcome of emergency PCI in patients with STEMI due to unprotected left main coronary artery disease.

OBJECTIVES Evaluation of acute and mid-term outcomes of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing emergency PCI due to unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) disease. BACKGROUND STEMI patients due to ULMCA disease represent a rare, high risk group. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may be the preferred strategy of myocardial revascularization but there are few data about this topic. METHODS We analyzed 30-day and mid-term mortality of 58 patients with STEMI and ULMCA disease as culprit lesion treated in our centre by emergency PCI between 2000 to 2010. RESULTS Mean age was 67.3 ± 11.5 years. Thirty (51.7%) patients had cardiogenic shock on admission. PCI success was achieved in 54 patients (93.1%). Mean follow-up was 15.8 ± 10.9 months (median 14, range 6-45). Thirty-day and mid-term mortality rates were 39.7% and 44%. Backward binary logistic regression model identified cardiogenic shock at presentation (OR 12.6, 95% CI 2.97-53.6, P < 0.001), age ≥75 years (OR 5.9, 95% CI 1.3-26.5, P = 0.019) and post-PCI TIMI flow grade <3 (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.8-5.7 P = 0.02) as independent predictors of 30-day mortality. Cox proportional hazard ratio (HR) identified shock at presentation (HR 5.2, 95% CI 1.8-14.3, P < 0.002), age ≥75 years (HR 3.9, 95% CI 1.8-8.7, P < 0.001), post-PCI TIMI flow grade <3 (HR 4.9, 95% CI 1.6-14.6; P < 0.005) as independent predictors of mid-term mortality. CONCLUSIONS In patients with STEMI and ULMCA as culprit lesion, emergency PCI is a valuable therapeutic strategy. Early and mid-term survival depends on cardiogenic shock, advanced age, and PCI failure. Patients surviving the first month have good mid-term prognosis.
Gender differences in insulin and C-peptide concentrations at birth using cord blood collection

ABSTRACT Objective : To study gender differences in insulin and C-peptide concentrations at birth using cord blood collection. Subjects and methods This study was conducted in a maternity hospital, in Jammu province of Jammu and Kashmir, India. All women with pregnancy who were hospitalized for delivery were followed. All pregnant ladies who had no medical condition affecting insulin levels, as per history and routine antenatal blood testing, were included in the study. The test for cord plasma insulin and C-peptide was done in 60 (30 males) full-term (≥ 37 completed weeks) normal delivery babies within 4 hours of the collection of samples using the electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) on Roche elecsys module immunoassay analyzer. Weight of the babies was taken immediately after birth using digital scales. Results Cord plasma insulin and C-peptide measured in EDTA were compared between boys and girls and also related to birth weight. Girls were lighter (2,830 ± 37 vs. 3,236 ± 46 g; p = < 0.001) but had higher cord insulin (16.48 ± 4.88 vs. 10.53 ± 4.04 µU/mL; p = < 0.001), and C-peptide (2.47 ± 0.66 vs. 0.834 ± 0.26 ng/mL; p = < 0.001) concentrations than newborn boys. Conclusion Female newborn babies have higher cord plasma insulin and C-peptide concentrations than male newborns, despite being smaller, suggesting intrinsic insulin resistance in girls.
Shavenbaby protein isoforms orchestrate the self-renewal versus differentiation of Drosophila intestinal stem cells

Signaling pathways are key regulators of adult stem cell homeostasis and underlying mechanisms are often deregulated in cancers. Recent studies of epithelial tumors have involved OvoL/Svb transcription factors, which produce isoforms with antagonistic activities. Here we show that Svb, the unique OvoL factor in Drosophila, directly integrates multiple signaling inputs to coordinate the behavior of adult intestinal stem cell lineage. Under steady state, Svb mediates Wnt and EGFR signaling to ensure stem cell renewal and progenitor survival. This requires the post-translational processing of Svb into a transcriptional activator by Polished rice (Pri) regulatory peptides, under the regulation of ecdysone signaling. In response to PDM1, Svb expression is specifically maintained in enterocytes where it acts as a transcriptional repressor sufficient to override mitogenic signals and impose differentiation. Altogether, these results demonstrate that the OvoL/Svb transcriptional switch controls the balance between stem cell survival, self-renewal and differentiation.
Immune responses to polyethylenimine delivered plasmid DNA encoding a Fasciola gigantica fatty acid binding protein in mice and rabbits

Abstract Fasciola gigantica fatty acid binding protein (FABP) was evaluated for evoking an effective immune response in mice and rabbits, when delivered as a DNA vaccine in muscle cells. Polyethylenimine (PEI), 25 kDa, branched cationic polymer was used as a delivery vehicle for this DNA in the muscle cells of mice and rabbits. Naked DNA evoked mixed Th1 and Th2 responses in mice. PEI condensed DNA, at amine nitrogen over DNA phosphate (N/P) ratios of 4, 6 and 8 and with various DNA concentrations, failed to evoke a significantly higher antibody response compared to naked DNA in mice. Similarly, the humoral immune response to naked DNA administration in rabbit thigh muscles was poor and no boosting of this antibody response on administration of DNA complexed to PEI was observed. On metacercarial challenge, rabbits failed to show any significant protective immune response in both the naked DNA and PEI–DNA immunized groups. Administration of PEI alone (12.5 μg) in mouse thigh muscles caused significant muscle cytotoxicity but condensation of DNA with PEI had less of a toxic effect on muscle cells, which was inversely related to the N/P ratio. Delivery of plasmid DNA encoding F. gigantica FABP by high molecular weight polyethylenimine (branched, 25 kDa) did not boost the effective immune response in both the animal species, which could either be attributed to cytotoxicity associated with this cationic polymer or muscle cells being unsuitable target cells for PEI condensed DNA delivery.
The Impact of Overconfidence on the Evaluation of Innovations: An Information Market Experiment

The evaluation of new products and innovative technologies is a core task of innovation management. Without valid innovation evaluation, companies fail to identify promising endeavors for future business success. However, the evaluation of innovations is characterized by environments where uncertainty is high and strategic context is poorly understood. A relatively new strand of research promisingly taps heterogeneous individual expectations or the wisdom of crowds to generate valid predictions in such environments. But there is strong evidence that aggregating subjective expectations can yield biased results as individuals often draw highly biased conclusions from available information. Among important individual evaluators of innovations such as entrepreneurs, inventors and business decision makers, overconfidence is the most prominent and important bias. Overconfidence leads individuals to systematically overestimate their evaluation capabilities. We report an experiment that explores the impact of overconfidence on individual behavior in innovation evaluation tasks. We focus a promising method to tap crowd wisdom known as information- or prediction markets, which aggregate individual evaluations of new product success or innovative idea potential via market mechanisms. We induce overconfidence experimentally and study how overconfident individuals interact on these platforms. Our results show that overconfident individuals turn evaluations into actions earlier. They pursue their predictions with more vigor, are more likely to act according to initial evaluations by disregarding contradictory information and are less willing to change a priori predictions after innovation evaluation tasks finish.
Non‐intertwined binary patterns of hydrophobic/nonhydrophobic amino acids are considerably better markers of regular secondary structures than nonconstrained patterns

Patterns of hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues (binary patterns) play an important role in protein architecture and can be roughly categorized into two classes regarding their preferential participation in α‐helices or β‐strands. However, a single binary pattern can be embedded into different longer patterns carrying opposite structural information and thus cannot be as much informative as expected. Here, we consider conditional binary patterns, or hydrophobic clusters, whose existence is conditioned by the presence of a minimum number of nonhydrophobic residues, called the connectivity distance, that separate two hydrophobic amino acids assumed to belong to two distinct patterns. Conditional binary patterns are distinct from simple ones in that they are not intertwined, i.e., they can not include or be included in other conditional patterns and therefore carry a much more differentiated information, in particular being dramatically better correlated with regular secondary structures (especially β ones). The distribution of these nonintertwined binary patterns in natural proteins was assessed relative to randomness, evidencing the structural bricks that are favored and disfavored by evolutionary selection. Several connectivity distances as well as several hydrophobic alphabets were tested, evidencing the clear superiority of a connectivity distance of 4, which mimics the minimum current length of loops in globular domains, and of the VILFMYW alphabet, selected from structural data (secondary structure propension and Voronoï tesselation), in highlighting fundamental properties of protein folds. Proteins 2003;51:236–244. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.