Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of Serum C-reactive Protein in Preeclampsia and its Effect on Fetal Birth Weight A Case Control Study

Objective(s): The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in preeclampsia (PE) and its effect on fetal birth weight. Materials and methods: This case control study was conducted in Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh, from July 2013 to June 2014. Study population was pregnant women of third trimester with preeclampsia (case group) and normal blood pressure (control group). The maternal serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured by immune turbidometric assay between 32 weeks to term. The women were divided into three groups: mild PE, severe PE (according to ACOG criteria) and normal healthy group. The value of CRP and its correlation with birth weight was compared between groups. Results: One hundred and fifty (150) pregnant women were analyzed. Among them 50 were case and 100 control. There was no difference between age of the patients of both groups. The mean systolic blood pressure was 148.40 ± 12.35 mm Hg in case and 122.15 ± 6.44 mmHg in control group. The mean diastolic blood pressure was 100.00 ± 9.74 mmHg in case and 74.05 ± 5.97 mmHg for the control. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher in preeclamptic group (P < 0.000). C-reactive protein was 10.28 ± 7.25 mg/ mL in mild PE and 10.94 ± 6.32 mg/mL in severe PE and 3.45 ± 1.71 mg/mL in normotensive group, which was significantly higher in case than control group (P = 0.000). Preeclamptic women delivered at a significantly shorter gestational age than normal pregnant women. Mean gestational age during delivery for the case group and control group was 39.02 ± 1.6 and 39.58 ± 0.8 weeks respectively. Mean birth weight in PE (2.52 ± 0.42 kg) was significantly lower than normal pregnancies (2.88 ± 0.29 kg). The sensitivity and specificity of CRP were 68% and 98% respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed that there is a strong association between CRP levels and PE and birth weight. Conclusion: This small study showed that in case group CRP was raised in 68% cases which is much higher in comparison to healthy control group where CRP was high only in 2% cases. High CRP has association with low birth weight. Therefore, CRP may be used as cost effective investigation to identify the risk of preeclampsia and its effect on fetal birth weight. Bangladesh J Obstet Gynaecol, 2016; Vol. 31(2) : 75-80
A Study of the Effects of Student Self-assessment on the EFL Writing of Chinese College Students

To get more insight into using self-assessment in writing instruction, the present study intends to explore the effects of student self-assessment on students’ EFL writing by adopting writing assignments, analytic scoring rubric, questionnaires and interviews. It is found that students are able to make judgments about the overall quality of their writing in a manner consistent with those made by the teacher and students made significant improvements in content, organization, and mechanics of their writing after the practice of self-assessment while qualities concerning vocabulary and language use have been improved but not to a significant level. Moreover, the study demonstrates that the practice of self-assessment has exerted positive influence on students’ perceptions of their writing skills in terms of organization, language use and mechanics while it does not result in any change of students’ perceptions of their writing skills in content and vocabulary. These implications are conductive to working out a set of new models of the teaching of writing and helping further intensify the innovations of Chinese foreign language teaching.
Four new massive pulsating white dwarfs including an ultramassive DAV

We report the discovery of four massive ($M > 0.8\,M_\odot$) ZZ Ceti white dwarfs, including an ultramassive $1.16\,M_\odot$ star. We obtained ground based, time-series photometry for thirteen white dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 and Data Release 10 whose atmospheric parameters place them within the ZZ Ceti instability strip. We detect mono-periodic pulsations in three of our targets (J1053, J1554, and J2038) and identify three periods of pulsation in J0840 (173, 327, and 797 s). Fourier analysis of the remaining nine objects do not indicate variability above the $4\langle{A}\rangle$ detection threshold. Our preliminary asteroseismic analysis of J0840 yields a stellar mass $M=1.14\pm 0.01\,M_{\odot}$, hydrogen and helium envelope masses of $M_H = 5.8 \times 10^{-7}\,M_{\odot}$ and $M_{He}=4.5 \times 10^{-4}\,M_{\odot}$, and an expected core crystallized mass ratio of 50-70\%. J1053, J1554, and J2038 have masses in the range $0.84-0.91 M_\odot$ and are expected to have a CO core; however, the core of J0840 could consist of highly crystallized CO or ONeMg given its high mass. These newly discovered massive pulsators represent a significant increase in the number of known ZZ Ceti white dwarfs with mass $M > 0.85\,M_\odot$, and detailed asteroseismic modeling of J0840 will allow for significant tests of crystallization theory in CO and ONeMg core white dwarfs.
A Study of Intermediate Syndrome in Organo Phosphorus Compound Poisoning in Rural Area

Poisoning with organophosphorus compounds is one of the commonest forms of poisoning in our country. Patients with organophosphorus poisoning present with the symptoms and signs of acetylcholine excess, which is called as an acute cholinergic crisis. Type II paralysis or Intermediate syndrome (IS) is one of them. This study of 100 patients has been undertaken in the rural region, where the incidence of poisoning with OPCs is very high. Higher incidence has been reported in age groups (12–40 years). The maximum incidence of intermediate syndrome was seen in poisoning with parathion (75%), followed by dimethoate poisoning with an incidence of 45.3%. The overall incidence of intermediate syndrome in the present study was 37%. Onset of IS was noted to be from 16 h to 96 h. The majority of patients improved within 1 week, while some patients had prolonged IS with duration more than 2 weeks. The range of duration of IS as seen in this study was from 2 days to 18 days.
An interpretive study of software risk management perspectives

This research proposes a framework for a field investigation of risk management in the context of a particular software development organization. It was experimentally tested within several companies. This framework was designed to provide an understanding of software development risk phenomena from a project manager's perspective and to give an indication of how this perspective affects their perception. This study can be used as a precursor to improving research into the creation of new software risk management frameworks.
THE Z-TRANSFORM APPLIED TO BIRTH-DEATH MARKOV PROCESSES

Birth-death Markov models have been widely used in the study of natural and physical processes. The analysis of such processes, however, is mostly performed using time series analysis. In this report, a finite state birth‑death Markov process is analyzed using the z‑transform approach. The performance metrics of the system and their variation with the system parameters are then derived and presented. Keywords : Markov processes, birth-death models, frame synchronization, queuing systems, z-transform. Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 28 (2) 2008: pp. 75-84
PRELIMINARY STUDY OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF THE SKIN SECRETIONS OF MALAYSIAN FROGS

Bioactive compounds that exhibit antimicrobial properties in frogs are parts of the animal defense against microbial infections. The lyophilized frog’s skin secretions containing varies bioactive compounds were subjected to screen for their antimicrobial activity. This study was conducted as part of an effort on the search of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) profiles of Malaysian frogs. The results indicate the collected frog skin secretion has antimicrobial effect against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. BLAST and standard phylogenetics were used to establish a preliminary identity of the frog samples.
Delegation of powers in the European union: The need for a multi-principals model

Whereas a principal–agent model has widely been used to analyse the establishment of manifold autonomous agencies at the European level, it fails to capture some key elements of this process, such as the recurrent inter-institutional struggle of agency institutional design or the Commission's basic ambivalence vis-à-vis independent regulators. In contrast, acknowledging the absence of a clearly defined principal in the EU enables us to understand the relative weakness of existing agencies and the multiplicity of controls to which they are subjected. In such a system, strong EU regulators are unlikely to be established.
Polarization-momentum hyperentangled states : Realization and characterization

I. INTRODUCTION Entanglement represents the key resource for quantum information QI. It combines three basic structural elements of quantum theory: the superposition principle, the quantum nonseparability property, and the exponential scaling of the state space with the number of partitions. This unique resource, associated with peculiar nonclassical correlations among separated quantum systems, can be used to perform computational and cryptographic tasks that are impossible for classical systems 1‐3. Quantum optics has represented an excellent experimental test benchmark for various novel concepts introduced within QI theory, such as quantum dense coding 4, teleportation 5,6, and entanglement swapping 7. By the spontaneous parametric down conversion SPDC process pairs of correlated photons are generated by shining a nonlinear NL optical crystal by a pump laser beam 8. Entangled pure or controllable mixed states are generated in this way and photon qubits can be encoded in polarization or energy or momentum directions. Concerning polarization entanglement, the bipartite 22 Hilbert space is spanned by the four Bell states ± = 1
Duplex Stainless Steel Welds and their Susceptibility to Intergranular Corrosion

Duplex stainless steels (DSS) as alternatives to conventional austenitic stainless steels for the construction of pipelines is becoming more wide-spread, particularly for sour service applications where corrosion resistance / stress corrosion cracking resistance is required in aggressive chloride /sulphide environments. While these steels show many superior characteristics, limitations are associated with the welding of these steels, particularly controlling the weld structure and properties and understanding how the weld metallurgy may influence the susceptibility to intergranular corrosion (IGC). The focus of this paper is to report on the findings from a detailed study of the various weld sections within a DSS pipeline, as a function of heat input and type of weld, in terms of the metallurgical structure, composition and mechanical properties and to assess the susceptibility to IGC. Welding was performed using the manual Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) technique at both high and low heat input conditions. Two different join configurations (double bevel single V bevel and double bevel single U joint configuration) were adopted. Structural analysis consisted of (i) optical microscopy of welded specimens; (ii) ferrite content determination; (iii) Vickers hardness measurements; (iv) Charpy impact studies and (v) transverse tensile testing. Two test methods namely a modified ASTM A262 and a modified Double Loop Electrochemical Potentiokinetic Reactivation (DL-ERP) test was used to determine susceptibility to IGC. The electrolyte solution used was 0.5M H2SO4 + 0.001 M TA (thioacetamide). The test was conducted at 60 °C. The potential was scanned from -500 mV (SCE) to +200 mV (SCE) and back to 500 mV (SCE) at a rate of 1.67 mV/s. The ratio of the reactivation charge to the passivation charge was calculated. From the results obtained it can be shown that the fill region was most susceptible to IGC for all weld conditions.
An Ongoing Reversal of Fortune Among Russian Cities: City Age, Natural Resources, and Changing Spatial Income Distribution

This paper documents the negative link between the age of Russian cities and their average wage. This link is robust to various definitions of city age and sample censuring, the inclusion of regional and time fixed effects, dependent variable spatial lag and many urban characteristics. This link is revealed especially for cities founded after the Soviet industriali-zation and for upper quintiles of cities by their average wage. To determine a mechanism behind the established fact, hypotheses as to spatial patterns of economic performance are discussed, including the increasing return hypothesis, the institutions hypothesis and the geography hypothesis. Following the sophisticated version of the geography hypothesis, a model of growth in n-city and two-sector economy is developed. The model replicates the link between age and per capita income and contains testable hypotheses that enable one to check whether a mechanism outlined in the model is behind the link between city age and wage. Our empirical strategy is based on a quasi-experiment, in which the treat-ment effect is made by time and various age groups of the cities are broken up into treatment and control groups. The results are strongly in favor of the sophisticated geography hypothesis. The revealed mechanism suggests that the chang-ing spatial patterns of wage differentials are explained by the changing remaining stocks of natural resources. Older cit-ies are getting relatively poorer due to the shrinking of their remaining resource stocks, while new cities are emerging in resource-rich territories with the respective income advantages.
Spectrotemporal dynamics of an injection-seeded optical parametric oscillator

This paper was published in Journal of the Optical Society of America B-Optical Physics and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website http://www.opticsinfobase. org/josab/abstract.cfm? uri=josab-24-10-2601. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law.
Antioxidant profiling of Latkan ( Baccaurea ramiflora Lour.) wine

Baccaurea ramiflora Lour. (Family: Euphorbiaceae), locally know as Latkan, is a versatile plant with number of uses. Latkan wine is traditionally used in Malayasia and parts of India. In the present study, an attempt has been made to evaluate the total phenols, flavonoids, flavonols and proanthocyanidins as well as DPPH scavenging activity of the wine, prepared from the fruit pulp, with respect to aging in comparison with the juice. The total phenols, flavonoids, flavonols and proanthocyanidins ranged from 141.27-313.78 mg GAE/L, 149.2-531.2 mg QE/L, 103.2-179.2 mg QE/L and 1.46-8.45 µg catechin/L, respectively. The free radical scavenging activity by DPPH method showed the inhibition (%) of the samples in between 5.85-37%.
An Integrated Model of the Factors Influencing the Adoption and Extent of Use of E-Payment Systems by SMEs in Nigeria

This paper investigates the factors influencing the adoption and extent of use of e-payment systems by SMEs in Nigeria. The paper develops an integrated model following a comprehensive review of literature in IS/IT adoption and diffusion in organisations. The paper used primary data culled from a survey conducted in Lagos state of Nigeria in 2012 for a PhD thesis. 239 SMEs were involved. Results of the logistic regression analysis show that three technology attributes (perceived benefits, perceived trust and perceived security), one organisation factor (firm IT infrastructure), one environmental factor (favourable government support policy), and two individual characteristics factors (IT knowledge and educational level) facilitated EPS adoption by SMEs in Nigeria. Furthermore, perceived complexity and age inhibited e-payment systems adoption by SMEs in Nigeria. With regard to the extent of use, perceived benefits, age, and perceived trust facilitated volume of use while perceived complexity and age influenced the breadth of use. Keywords: E-payment adoption, e-payment in Nigeria, IT/IS adoption by SMEs
Assessment of Coronary Blood Flow in Children with Chronic Renal Failure on Regular Hemodialysis

Background: Coronary flow reserve (CFR) reflects the functional capacity of the microcirculation to adapt to blood demand during increased cardiac work. Diminished CFR may account for several symptoms that are often encountered in haemodialysis patients such as chest pain, arrhythmia and hypotension. lschemic heart disease is by far the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Sіnce prevention is not easy, early detection of the disease is the key issue.Objectives: Assessment of coronary flow reserve in children with chronic renal failure on regular hemodialy-sis with transthoracic Doppler echocardiography using dipyridamole as and inducer of coronary hyperemia. Methods: Sixty children of matching age and sex were included in this study, 20 healthy children as a control group and 40 children with chronic renal failure on regular haemodialysis. All studied children were subjected complete history taking, thorough clinical examination, laboratory investigations and assessment of coronary flow reserve with transthoracic Doppler echocardiography using dipyridamole as inducer of coronary hyperemia.Results: There was a significant negative correlation between CFR and LVMI, duration of dialysis, serum cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL levels and blood pressure in hemodialysis patients. A significant positive correlation between CFR and serum IIDI. level was found. There was no significant correlation between CFR and different laboratory parameters.Conclusion: CFR is significantly reduced in children with CAF on regular hemodialysis. Control of blood pressure, correction of anemia and hypervolemia, diet management and physical activity are important in the prevention of / decrease in or improving the coronary flow reserve (CFR).
Immunotherapy in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the most common malignancies and the second leading cause of cancer‐related death worldwide; treatment algorithms include surgery, chemotherapy and targeted therapies. Immunotherapy has recently emerged as an effective treatment approach in several types of cancer, including non–small cell lung cancer, melanoma and kidney cancer. In CRC, novel immune‐checkpoint inhibitors such as anti‐CTLA4 and PD1/PDL1 monoclonal antibodies have shown limited efficacy, although ongoing trials in mismatch repair‐deficient CRC have shown significant and promising results. Here, we review the role of immune‐microenvironment in colorectal cancer and current clinical data about therapeutic activity of immunotherapy in the treatment of CRC.
Distribution of inorganic and organic nutrients in the South Pacific Ocean − evidence for long-term accumulation of organic matter in nitrogen-depleted waters

Abstract. During the BIOSOPE cruise the RV Atalante was dedicated to study the biogeochemical properties in the South Pacific between the Marquesas Islands (141° W–8° S) and the Chilean upwelling (73° W–34° S). Over the 8000 km covered by the cruise, several different trophic situations were encountered, in particular strong oligotrophic conditions in the South Pacific Gyre (SPG, between 123° W and 101° W). In this isolated region, nitrate was undetectable between the surface and 160–180 m and only trace quantities ( 100 μmoles l−1). Due to this large pool of DOM in the SPG photic layer, integrated values followed a converse geographical pattern to that of inorganic nutrients with a large accumulation in the centre of the SPG. Whereas suspended particulate matter in the mixed layer had a C/N ratio largely conforming to the Redfield stochiometry (C/N≈6.6), marked deviations were observed in this excess DOM (C/N≈16 to 23). The marked geographical trend suggests that a net in situ source exists, mainly due to biological processes. Thus, in spite of strong nitrate-depletion leading to low chlorophyll biomass, the closed ecosystem of the SPG can accumulate large amounts of C-rich dissolved organic matter. The implications of this finding are examined, the conclusion being that, due to weak lateral advection, the biologically produced dissolved organic carbon can be accumulated and stored in the photic layer for very long periods. In spite of the lack of seasonal vertical mixing, a significant part of new production (up to 34%), which was mainly supported by dinitrogen fixation, can be exported to deep waters by turbulent diffusion in terms of DOC. The diffusive rate estimated in the SPG (134 μmolesC m−2 d−1), was quite equivalent to the particles flux measured by sediments traps.
The Role of Isolation in Predicting New Principals’ Burnout

Professional isolation has hampered the quality of the work experience for employees in and outside public education for decades. This study explores the role that perceived isolation plays in predicting the quality of the work experience among new principals. The analysis tests whether isolation serves as a mediator in the relationship between factors that are known to affect the quality of work life of principals (social support; role stress; and participation in a structured coaching relationship) and three dimensions of burnout. Regression analysis supports the framework that places isolation as a mediator in predicting physical and emotional burnout, but does not support this role for cognitive burnout.
Mass and metallicity scaling relations of high-redshift star-forming galaxies selected by GRBs

We present a comprehensive study of the relations between gas kinematics, metallicity and stellar mass in a sample of 82 gamma-ray burst (GRB)-selected galaxies using absorption and emission methods. We find the velocity widths of both emission and absorption profiles to be a proxy of stellar mass. We also investigate the velocity–metallicity correlation and its evolution with redshift. Using 33 GRB hosts with measured stellar mass and metallicity, we study the mass–metallicity relation for GRB host galaxies in a stellar mass range of 108.2–1011.1 M⊙ and a redshift range of z ∼ 0.3–3.4. The GRB-selected galaxies appear to track the mass–metallicity relation of star-forming galaxies but with an offset of 0.15 towards lower metallicities. This offset is comparable with the average error bar on the metallicity measurements of the GRB sample and also the scatter on the mass–metallicity relation of the general population. It is hard to decide whether this relatively small offset is due to systematic effects or the intrinsic nature of GRB hosts. We also investigate the possibility of using absorption-line metallicity measurements of GRB hosts to study the mass–metallicity relation at high redshifts. Our analysis shows that the metallicity measurements from absorption methods can significantly differ from emission metallicities and assuming identical measurements from the two methods may result in erroneous conclusions.