Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Correlation between urinary nickel and FSH plasma values in workers occupationally exposed to urban stressors

Background: there is a growing concern about the adverse health effects of air pollution on the exposed populations. An important aspect of these effects concerns the endocrine disruption. Diesel exhaust particles, in particular, possess estrogenic, anti-estrogenic, and antiandrogenic disruptor properties that may have a potential negative impact on both male and female reproductive function. Clinical studies on this topic associated Ni exposure with an increased risk of toxicity of the prostrate, infertility, and testicular toxicity. Objectives: the aim of the study is to assess the relationship between occupational exposure to airborne nickel (Ni) and alterations of plasma FSH in workers of the Municipal Police assigned to different types of outdoor tasks. Methods: 359 male subjects were enrolled and divided on the basis of job, age, length of service, and smoking habit. Exposure to airborne Ni, dosage of urinary Ni and plasma FSH were carried out. The normal distribution of variables was assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The results of atmospheric Ni were expressed in terms of mean, standard deviation (SD), median, geometric mean, and range. The comparison between means was performed using the t-test for independent samples, the MannWhitney U test was used for variables with two modes, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for variables with more than two modes. Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis was applied after the logarithmic transformation of the data. The results were considered significant if p values were less than 0.05. Results: a positive constant correlation was found between the values of urinary Ni and plasma FSH on the total sample and for all classes of subdivision. These results were confirmed by multiple linear regression analysis, which indicated Ni as the only significant variable that can contribute to the alterations in FSH. Discussion: the endocrine disruptors are exogenous agents that have the ability to interfere in the functioning of the endocrine system by altering the production, release, transport, metabolism, and mechanisms of hormone actions. The alterations caused by these agents may be temporary or permanent. Exposure to these endocrine disruptors can alter hormone metabolism of the exposed subjects, altering the synthesis and/or release of testosterone, FSH, and LH. Conclusions: based on the results, it is suggested that occupational exposure to low doses of airborne Ni is able to influence some lines of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in exposed workers.
Empirical Analysis on the Relationship between Capital Market and Economic Growth in Nigeria

Capital can be categorized into human and material capital, the latter in its liquid form helps in the allocation and mobilization of savings. This study investigates the relationship between capital market and performance of Nigeria economy, gross domestic product was used to proxy performance of Nigeria economy while capital market was proxied by market capitalization, all share index and total value of transaction. Time series data between the period of 1985 to 2017 was sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria, and statistical bulletin 2018. The study made use of descriptive statistics, Phillip Peron, unit root test, Johansen Co-integration, granger causality test and vector error correction estimate. Based on the findings of the vector error correction estimate, the study, therefore, recommends that there is a need for the free flow of information, this can be achieved by increasing the publicity of market information, as this will increase the volume of transactions in the market.
The combination of fuzzy electre and swot to select private sectors in partnership projects Case study of water treatment project in Iran

Employer Organizations have increasingly interested in outsourcing their projects in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) due to various reasons such as compromising the resource limitations, entering new technologies to the organization and reducing risk. Choosing the private sector as one of the most basic steps in the formation of PPP is of great importance. The present study aims to introduce a hybrid model to evaluate and choose the private sector as one of the parties in PPP using a combination of SWOT-AHP analysis, as one of the most powerful tools in identifying the problem environment, and Fuzzy ELECTRE analysis to evaluate the existing candidates to participate in the partnership using the criteria resulted from SWOT analysis. In first step, criteria set by an organization, as a case, to choose appropriate private sector were identified using SWOT method during various meetings with qualified experts. Then, the best choice was selected using ELECTRE method. Finally, obtained results were compared with the PROMETHE method. The results showed the effectiveness of our proposed method to select private partnerships especially positive and negative inter-organizational and outer-organizational factors significantly influence the private sector selection.
Utilization of Mobile Technology for Knowledge Update among Nurses in Primary and Secondary Healthcare Settings in Osun State , Nigeria

In spite of the need to continuously update their knowledge, Nigerian nurses face numerous challenges in updating their knowledge. These challenges notwithstanding, the nurses still have a professional obligation for safe practice supported by up-to-date knowledge which mobile technology has great potentials to provide. This study examined the utilization of mobile technology among nurses in primary and secondary healthcare settings in Osun State.It is a descriptive design in which 15 primary and 5 secondary healthcare facilities in Osun State were involved. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select266 nurses in Osun State. A self-administered pre-tested questionnaire with 47 close-ended questions and 2 open-ended questions was used to collect the data. The Cronbach alpha reliability co-efficient of α=0.73 was achieved for the instrument. There was 56% response rate. The results showed that the level of nurses’ knowledge in the States was average( 48.0%). There was high adoption of mobile technology among the nurses in Osun State, particularly mobile phone(100%) and laptop PC(72.3%). The nurses’ main driving force for the use of mobile technology was general knowledge update (35.8%) and the main factors restricting respondents from the use of mobile technology were lack of appropriate mobile technology, unreliable connection to the network and too many work demands.
Hostile and Hardened? An Experimental Study on (De-)Sensitization to Violence and Suffering Through Playing Video Games

This study tests whether playing violent video games leads to desensitization and increased cardiovascular responding. In a laboratory experiment, 42 men spent 20 min playing either a high- or low-violence version of a “first-person shooter” game. Arousal (heart rate, respiration rate) was measured continuously. After playing the game, emotional responses to aversive and aggressive stimuli ‐ pictures from Lang, Bradley, and Cuthbert’s (1999) International Affective Picture System ‐ were assessed with self-ratings and physiological measurement (skin conductance). Results showed no differences in the judgments of emotional responses to the stimuli. However, different effects of game violence emerged in the physiological reactions to the different types of stimulus material. Participants in the high-violence condition showed significantly weaker reactions (desensitization) to aversive stimuli and reacted significantly more strongly (sensitization) to aggressive cues. No support was found for the arousal hypothesis. Post-hoc analyses are used to discuss possible moderating influences of gaming experience and player’s trait aggressiveness in terms of the General Aggression Model (Anderson & Bushman, 2001) and the Downward Spiral Model (Slater, Henry, Swaim, & Anderson, 2003).
Hybrid Spectrum Sensing Test Statistic Based on the Gershgorin Theorem and on the Gini Index

The Gershgorin radii and centers ratio (GRCR) and the Gini index detector (GID) test statistics have been recently proposed as, blind, simple and robust solutions for centralized cooperative spectrum sensing under non-uniform and dynamical received signal and noise powers. In this paper, an hybridization of these test statistics is proposed, which is named hybrid GRCR-GID (HGG). It is demonstrated that the HGG harvests the advantages of the base detectors, attaining approximately the same performance of the GRCR in the absence of a dominant propagation path, and a little inferior performance with respect to the GID in the presence of dominant path. Moreover, the HGG is capable of outperforming the GRCR and the GID in some system configurations, maintaining robustness, low computational complexity, and the constant false alarm rate property. Keywords— Cognitive radio, GID, GRCR, HGG, jamming detection, spectrum sensing.
Electrostatic analogy for symmetron gravity

The symmetron model is a scalar-tensor theory of gravity with a screening mechanism that suppresses the effect of the symmetron field at high densities characteristic of the solar system and laboratory scales but allows it to act with gravitational strength at low density on the cosmological scale. We elucidate the screening mechanism by showing that in the quasi-static Newtonian limit there are precise analogies between symmetron gravity and electrostatics for both strong and weak screening. For strong screening we find that large dense bodies behave in a manner analogous to perfect conductors in electrostatics. Based on this analogy we find that the symmetron field exhibits a lightning rod effect wherein the field gradients are enhanced near the ends of pointed or elongated objects. An ellipsoid placed in a uniform symmetron gradient is shown to experience a torque. By symmetry there is no gravitational torque in this case. Hence this effect unmasks the symmetron and might serve as the basis for future laboratory experiments. The symmetron force between a point mass and a large dense body includes a component corresponding to the interaction of the point mass with its image in the larger body. None of these effects have counterparts in the Newtonian limit of Einstein gravity. We discuss the similarities between symmetron gravity and the chameleon model as well as the differences between the two.
Celecoxib suppresses lipopolysaccharide-stimulated oral squamous cell carcinoma proliferation in vitro and in vivo

Periodontitis is one of the most common chronic oral inflammatory conditions worldwide and is associated with a risk of developing oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major pathogen in periodontitis, and its lipopolysaccharide (LPS) promotes the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in OSCC both in vivo and in vitro. Celecoxib is a selective COX-2 inhibitor; however, its antitumor effects on P. gingivalis LPS-stimulated OSCC and the underlying molecular mechanism remain unclear. To elucidate the association between periodontitis and OSCC, the effect of P. gingivalis-derived LPS on OSCC cell proliferation was examined both in vitro and in vivo in the present study. The expression levels of COX-2 and p53 in OSCC cells with/without celecoxib treatment were determined via western blotting. The therapeutic potential of celecoxib in LPS-stimulated OSCC was evaluated by staining for Ki-67 and p21, as well as with terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling staining. LPS treatment significantly increased OSCC cell proliferation in vitro, and celecoxib significantly inhibited cell proliferation with/without LPS treatment. Celecoxib treatment of OSCC cells downregulated the protein expression levels of COX-2 compared with untreated cells, but there was little change in p53 expression. In the mouse xenograft model, oral administration of celecoxib significantly suppressed tumor growth, reduced the expression of Ki-67, increased the apoptosis index and induced p21 expression with/without LPS treatment. The results from the present study demonstrate that P. gingivalis' LPS can stimulate tumor growth by interacting with OSCC cells. In conclusion, these results suggest that celecoxib could be used for the effective prevention and treatment of LPS-stimulated OSCC.
Discourses of education in the age of new imperialism

This fourth volume in the Discourse, Power, Resistance series takes the theme into new territory, setting educational thinking and practice firmly in its global political context. Drawing on schools of thought as diverse as Marxism and eco-feminist theology, the contributors to Part 1 (Global Imperialism and Terror: The Theory and Practice of Othering), led by Peter McLaren, examine the possibilities for critical thinking and transformative practice in the aftermath of 9/11 and the new age of cultural and political imperialism. In Part 2 (Praxis: Thinking and Doing) contributors draw on a range of critical perspectives to examine both the theory and practice of education, taking the reader from the self to the system and back again via dynamic systems theory, flow theory and a multiplicity of diverse (and often conflicting) practices of subversion. The book closes with two radical departures from the norm: a seriously playful transgression into the fields of pop art and film, and a searing poetic lament on the current state of educational policy and practice. As educators, we are all, in William Pinar's words, 'behind enemy lines', in a field which, despite our continued bids for autonomy, is increasingly hijacked by globalizing political forces. This book offers modes of resistance which are startling, unsettling and challenging. It will be of great interest to students, tutors and researchers in education, policy studies and related fields, and to those who are involved in training, or becoming, the educators of the future. The contributors are Peter McLaren, William Pinar, Mike Cole, Lisa Isherwood, Elizabeth Atkinson. Tamsin Haggis, Sue Clegg, Gill Boag-Munroe, Ros Ollin, and Victoria Perselli.
Information Sharing and Credit Outcomes: Evidence from a Natural Experiment∗

We explore the effect of information sharing among lenders on credit outcomes in the unsecured consumer credit market. To advance in isolating the causal effect, we exploit a natural experiment in Colombia made possibly by the “fresh-start” provision of Law 1266/2008, which erased from Private Credit Bureaus detailed information about past defaults that had been settled exogenously sufficiently long before the Law’s enactment. Using a Differencesin-Differences approach, we find a significant decrease in debt issuance for clean borrowers who had not defaulted prior to the Law’s enactment, relative to borrowers whose negative information was not removed by the provision. After the negative information removal, clean borrowers are also found to switch banks at a lower rate and to issue less debt with pre-existing lenders, most likely because outside banks can no longer distinguish them from past default borrowers whose records were cleaned by the provision, and because the information removal increases the informational hold-up of inside banks. The evidence suggests that restrictions to information sharing generate efficiency costs from increased information asymmetry both between banks and borrowers, and between banks. These results bear on the informational efficiency of the consumer credit market, and the efficacy of regulating this market with restrictions to information sharing. ∗This version: May 12th, 2015. We would like to thank the Center for Economic Information and the Monetary Division at the Central Bank of Colombia for having allowed one of the coauthors of this paper confidential access to sample data from the Consumer Credit Chapter of Format 341. We are also indebted to Marcello Bofondi, Vasso Ioannidou, Igor Makarov, Daniel Paravisini, José-Luis Peydró, seminar participants at the Departments of Finance and Economics at LSE, the Department of Economics at Universidad de los Andes, and the Central Bank of Colombia for valuable comments. PRELIMINARY WORK PLEASE DO NOT CITE WITHOUT PERMISSION. †j.gonzalez-uribe@lse.ac. uk ‡dosoriro@banrep.gov. co
All-optical production of a lithium quantum gas using narrow-line laser cooling

We have used the narrow 2S{sub 1/2}{yields}3P{sub 3/2} transition in the ultraviolet (uv) to laser cool and magneto-optically trap (MOT) {sup 6}Li atoms. Laser cooling of lithium is usually performed on the 2S{sub 1/2}{yields}2P{sub 3/2} (D2) transition, and temperatures of {approx}300 {mu}K are typically achieved. The linewidth of the uv transition is seven times narrower than the D2 line, resulting in lower laser cooling temperatures. We demonstrate that a MOT operating on the uv transition reaches temperatures as low as 59 {mu}K. Furthermore, we find that the light shift of the uv transition in an optical dipole trap at 1070 nm is small and blueshifted, facilitating efficient loading from the uv MOT. Evaporative cooling of a two spin-state mixture of {sup 6}Li in the optical trap produces a quantum degenerate Fermi gas with 3x10{sup 6} atoms in a total cycle time of only 11 s.
Microcontroller Sensitivity to Fault-Injection Induced by Near-Field Electromagnetic Interference

This communication deals with fault-injection induced by a source of radiated electromagnetic field at near-field distance of a microcontroller. We show that software execution is altered at targeted instructions if the radiating probe is located above the phase-locked loop device driving the clock tree. Furthermore, the fault-injection rate is analyzed for a pulse-modulated sine wave. The higher rate is obtained within a frequency range that likely corresponds to the upper spectrum associated to the rate of change of voltages / currents of the microcontroller associated with its semiconductor technology.
UBE2T promotes proliferation via G2/M checkpoint in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Growing evidence suggests that the ubiquitin-proteasome system is involved in the pathogenesis and recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); yet, little is known about the role of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2T (UBE2T) in HCC. Materials and methods: UBE2T levels were detected in HCC tissues and hepatoma cell lines using quantitative reserve transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Next, the changes of phenotypes after UBE2T knockdown or overexpression were evaluated using in vitro methods. Finally, the mechanism of UBE2T in HCC was tested using ex vivo and in vivo methods. Results: In the present study, we reported that UBE2T mRNA and protein levels were signi ﬁ cantly upregulated in HCC tissues compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues. Additionally, suppression of UBE2T expression inhibited proliferation, colony formation, tumorigenesis, migration, and invasion of hepatoma cells, whereas UBE2T overexpression led to the opposite outcomes. Moreover, suppression of UBE2T expression resulted in an increase in G2/M phase and a decrease in the percentage of cells in G1 phase, which indicated a cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. In contrast, the percentage of cells in G2/ M phase decreased following UBE2T overexpression. Further study indicated that UBE2T regulated the G2/M transition by modulating cyclin B1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 1. Conclusion: Taken together, the ﬁ ndings of the present study uncover biological functions of UBE2T in hepatoma cells, and delineate preliminary molecular mechanisms of UBE2T in modulating HCC development and progression.
Synthesis of an acid-labile polymeric prodrug DOX-acetal-PEG-acetal-DOX with high drug loading content for pH-triggered intracellular drug release

In this study, three PEGylated doxorubicin (DOX) prodrugs with acid-labile acetal and carbamate linkages have been prepared via the combination of Cu(I)-catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of alkyne and azide (CuAAC) “click” reaction and ammonolysis reaction. The chemical structures of the prodrugs and the drug contents were characterized by 1H NMR, FT-IR and HPLC analyses. To avoid some side effects caused by the acidic degradation products from conventional hydrophobic polymers, DOX was directly linked to the PEG chain. These prodrugs could self-assemble into micelles in aqueous solution with DOX as the core and PEG chains as the corona. The dissociation of prodrug micelles was confirmed by monitoring the size change as a function of time through DLS analysis. Compared with free DOX, the pH-triggered DOX release of prodrugs exhibited a well-controlled and faster release behavior at pH 5.0 than at pH 7.4. In vitro cytotoxicity tests against HeLa cells by MTT assay demonstrated that these prodrugs displayed the desirable antitumor activity. The intracellular drug release was observed by a live cell imaging system at different DOX dosages. This work provides a strategy for the preparation of a new type of pH-cleavable and water-soluble antitumor prodrug for cancer chemotherapy.
Immunohistochemical Expression of p 53 in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lip ( A Clinicopathological Study )

5 201 January 18 Accepted 4 201 May 11 Received Abstract Lip carcinoma is most commonly seen after skin carcinoma in the head-neck region. Mutation of the p53 gene has been reported in a variety of human malignant tumors like squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and is frequently associated with over expression of p53 protein. The purpose of this study was to analyze the immunohistochemical over expression of p53 in SCC of the lip in relation with the clinicopathologic pictures. The materials used in this study consist of (40) formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded lip biopsy specimens of squamous cell carcinoma. p53 immunoreactivity was evaluated in 1000 cells examined under the microscope at 40 magnification and recorded as percentage of p53 positive tumor cells in relation to different clinical and histopathological factors. The p53 index for squamous cell carcinoma of the lip was ranging between 0.5%-58%, and (72.5%, 29 case) showed positivity for p53 and (27.5%, 11 case) were negative. The highest number and percentages of p53 positive cases were seen associated with males (74.19%), ≥60 year’s age group(73.33%), patients with outdoor occupations (100%), upper lip (75.0%), >2cm size lesions(73.68%), patients with palpable lymph node (74.91%), moderately and poorly differentiated type (77.78%), and positive involvement of surgical margins (78.57%). Statistical analysis showed no significant relation of the mean labeling indices with the sex, site, tumor size, the presence or absence of palpable lymph node, grade of differentiation, and involvement of surgical margins(p>0.05), but it showed significant relation with the patient age and occupation (p<0.05). The old age patients (≥60 years) and patients with outdoor occupations showed the highest p53 labeling index significantly.
Migration and Remittances in Senegal: Effects on Labor Supply and Human Capital of Households Members Left Behind

Using a set of econometric models, this article investigates the role of migration and remittances in labour market participation in Senegal, and the effect of remittances on human capital. The results reveal that migration and remittances reduce labour market participation of household members left behind. We also find that remittances increase human capital development of the left-behind. Our results indicate that both the status and the levels of remittances are relevant in understanding labour market participation and human capital formation. These findings hold true across specifications and econometric estimation procedures. JEL Classification: F22, F24, J21, J24