Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Expository Text Structure Training on Iranian Students ' Reading Comprehension Performance

This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of text structure training on Iranian students' reading comprehension performance. The study was conducted with 60 17-year-old female students at one of the high schools in 2014. They were from two separate classes of 30 students each. These two classes were randomly assigned as an experimental group and a control group. Expository passages were given to the students of the two groups of experimental and control. Before the researchers embarked on training the students, they had been assessed on their reading ability through a pre-test. Then they were given two posttests throughout the training program to investigate the progress of the students’ reading ability. Results from Repeated Measures One-Way ANOVA confirmed the superiority of the experimental group over the control group. The findings indicated that expository text structure training and using graphic organizers in reading classes had positive effects on students' reading comprehension performance.
Iron Transport by Rat Small Intestine in Vitro: Effect of Body Iron Status

Summary. Both mucosal uptake and serosal transfer of iron by everted sacs of rat small intestine were maximal in the duodenum and decreased progressively towards the ileum. Transport of iron against a concentration gradient did not occur in any part of the intestine. When the iron concentration in the bathing medium was varied over the range 10–500 μM a saturable transport process was revealed in the proximal small intestine. In iron‐deficient rats mucosal uptake of iron was increased but in iron‐loaded rats it remained normal. The results suggest that iron transport across the proximal small intestine of the rat in vitro involves a carrier mechanism which responds adaptively to iron deficiency but not to overload.
Studies on the relationship of alloxan-diabetes and tumor growth.

Summary The administration of diabetogenic doses of alloxan prior to or after the intraperitoneal implantation of the Novikoff hepatoma or of the Walker 256 carcinoma in the female Wistar rat resulted in a reduction in the size and incidence of tumors, the rate of growth bearing an inverse relationship to the severity of the diabetes. The effect of alloxan-diabetes on the growth of subcutaneous transplants of these tumors was, in general, less pronounced, with no effect on tumor incidence. Conversely, tumors implanted intraperitoneally before or after the administration of alloxan exerted a reciprocal effect either in mitigating its diabetogenic action or in ameliorating the diabetes. Histological study suggested a protective or stimulatory effect of these intraperitoneal tumor transplants on the beta-cells of the pancreatic islets.
Part-of-Speech tagging and detection of social media texts

First, the task of social media text classification in Web pages is addressed, where sequences of Web text segments are classified based on a high-dimensional feature vector. New features motivated by social media text characteristics are introduced and investigated with respect to different classifiers. Two classification problems in the context of social media text classification are treated, (1) the problem of social media text detection and (2) a method for Web page cleaning for social media platforms. A new Web page corpus, particularly designed to train and test the classifiers on representative Web pages is created.
Time-Delay Multiplexing With Linear Arrays of THz Radar Transceivers

The acquisition time of a terahertz imaging radar system with a single transceiver can be halved by using time-delay multiplexing of its beam. This is achieved by splitting a transmitted beam into two beams pointing towards different positions in the target plane. For near-video imaging frame rates, arrays of transceivers would be needed. Both techniques, time-delay multiplexing and the use of transceiver arrays, can be combined to achieve the fastest possible imaging speeds. In this contribution, the feasibility of using the multiplexing technique applied to linear arrays of transceivers is studied. A completely optical multiplexing system, that can work for relatively large arrays, is presented. The technique is demonstrated with measurements in a two-element array.
Outcome of pregnancy in women with valve prostheses.

OBJECTIVE--To study the outcome of pregnancy in women with artificial heart valves treated in major European centres, and to compare the safety and efficacy of different anticoagulant regimens and of mechanical and bioprosthetic valves. DESIGN--Retrospective study. METHOD--The information was obtained by questionnaire sent to all major cardiac centres in Europe sending one cardiologist from each centre a covering letter suggesting that the questionnaire be handed on where appropriate to the most relevant colleague. RESULTS--214 pregnancies were reported in 182 women; 151 pregnancies in 133 women with mechanical valves, and 63 pregnancies in 45 women with bioprostheses. Most women were in New York Heart Association class I or II and in sinus rhythm. 150 women with mechanical valves and 11 (17%) with bioprostheses received anticoagulants during pregnancy. One patient with an aortic valve prosthesis refused to take anticoagulants. Including the spontaneous abortions reported as well as the therapeutic abortions 83% of the pregnancies in women with bioprostheses and 73% in those with mechanical valves resulted in a healthy baby, full term or premature, who did well (NS). The incidence of stillbirths (3% and 6%) and of reported spontaneous abortions are excluded (because they are unlikely to have been fully reported), the success rate was 91% for women with bioprosthetic valves and 84% for women with mechanical valves (NS). 114 (53%) of the women had taken warfarin for some part of the pregnancy (46 (40%) of these during the first trimester) but there were no embryopathies. There were 13 valve thromboses (four fatal), eight embolic events (two fatal), and seven bleeds in women with mechanical valves. Most of these complications occurred with heparin but fatal aortic valve thrombosis occurred in the one woman who refused anticoagulant treatment out of the 151 women with mechanical valves. There were no maternal deaths in the bioprosthesis group but in 17/49 (35%) of these valves functional deterioration led to urgent replacement during pregnancy (two) or soon after. CONCLUSIONS--The outcome of pregnancy was similar for women with mechanical valves or bioprostheses. Warfarin treatment was safe and effective and was not associated with embryopathy. Heparin treatment was associated with more thromboembolic complications and more bleeding complications. Bioprostheses deteriorate rapidly during pregnancy.
Medical students’ characteristics as predictors of career practice location: retrospective cohort study tracking graduates of Nepal’s first medical college

Objective To determine, in one low income country (Nepal), which characteristics of medical students are associated with graduate doctors staying to practise in the country or in its rural areas. Design Observational cohort study. Setting Medical college registry, with internet, phone, and personal follow-up of graduates. Participants 710 graduate doctors from the first 22 classes (1983-2004) of Nepal’s first medical college, the Institute of Medicine. Main outcome measures Career practice location (foreign or in Nepal; in or outside of the capital city Kathmandu) compared with certain pre-graduation characteristics of medical student. Results 710 (97.7%) of the 727 graduates were located: 193 (27.2%) were working in Nepal in districts outside the capital city Kathmandu, 261 (36.8%) were working in Kathmandu, and 256 (36.1%) were working in foreign countries. Of 256 working abroad, 188 (73%) were in the United States. Students from later graduating classes were more likely to be working in foreign countries. Those with pre-medical education as paramedics were twice as likely to be working in Nepal and 3.5 times as likely to be in rural Nepal, compared with students with a college science background. Students who were academically in the lower third of their medical school class were twice as likely to be working in rural Nepal as those from the upper third. In a regression analysis adjusting for all variables, paramedical background (odds ratio 4.4, 95% confidence interval 1.7 to 11.6) was independently associated with a doctor remaining in Nepal. Rural birthplace (odds ratio 3.8, 1.3 to 11.5) and older age at matriculation (1.1, 1.0 to 1.2) were each independently associated with a doctor working in rural Nepal. Conclusions A cluster of medical students’ characteristics, including paramedical background, rural birthplace, and lower academic rank, was associated with a doctor remaining in Nepal and with working outside the capital city of Kathmandu. Policy makers in medical education who are committed to producing doctors for underserved areas of their country could use this evidence to revise their entrance criteria for medical school.
Detection of stromelysin and collagenase in synovial fluid from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and posttraumatic knee injury.

OBJECTIVE To quantify stromelysin and collagenase in synovial fluid (SF) from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or traumatic knee injury. METHODS Stromelysin and collagenase were measured in the SF of 33 patients with RA or posttraumatic knee injury, using specific double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Stromelysin was fractionated from representative SF, and the molecular form was identified by immunoblot analysis. RESULTS The stromelysin concentration was approximately 20-fold higher than the collagenase concentration in the fluids from patients with RA and approximately 8-fold higher in the fluids from patients with traumatic injury. For both metalloproteinases, there was a higher enzyme concentration in RA SF than in the SF from patients with trauma (stromelysin 40.1 +/- 26 micrograms/ml [mean +/- SD] in RA SF, 8.5 +/- 15 micrograms/ml in trauma SF; collagenase 2.2 +/- 3.3 micrograms/ml in RA SF, 1.1 +/- 2.3 micrograms/ml in trauma SF). The majority of the stromelysin within the SF bound to reactive red-agarose and was identified as prostromelysin based on electrophoretic mobility and immunoblotting with monospecific antibodies. CONCLUSION The finding of high levels of stromelysin in SF from patients with RA supports the proposal that this enzyme may play a role in the connective tissue degradation observed in this disease.
Tracheostomy, Extubation, Reintubation: Airway Management Decisions in Intubated Stroke Patients

Background: Both delayed and premature extubation increase complication rate, the need for tracheostomy (TT), the duration of intensive care unit stay, and mortality. In this study, we therefore investigated factors associated with primary TT and predictors for extubation failure (EF) in a sample of severely affected ventilated stroke patients. Methods: One hundred eighty five intubated stroke patients were prospectively analyzed in this observational study. Patients not meeting predefined clinical and respiratory extubation criteria received a TT. All other patients were extubated and followed up for the need of reintubation. Characteristics of patients with and without extubation attempt were examined. Additionally, within the group of extubated patients, subgroups of successfully vs. unsuccessfully extubated patients were compared. Clinical factors associated with reintubation, including a previously established semi-quantitative airway score, were determined and predictors of EF were assessed. Results: Ninety-eight of 185 patients (53%) were primarily extubated; EF rate was 37% (36 patients). Eighty-seven (47%) were tracheostomized without a prior extubation attempt. Primarily tracheostomized patients had more severe strokes, which were more often hemorrhagic, presented with a lower level of consciousness, needed neurosurgical intervention more often, had a higher rate of obesity, and were more frequently intubated because of suspicion of compromised protective reflexes. EF was independently predicted by prior neurosurgical treatment and low airway management scores. No differences were found for the ability to follow simple commands and classical weaning criteria. Conclusion: Airway management decisions in intubated stroke patients represent a clinical challenge. Classical weaning criteria and parameters reflecting the patient's state of consciousness are not reliably predictive of extubation success. Criteria more closely related to airway safety and secretion handling may provide the most relevant information and should therefore be assessed by specific clinical scoring systems.
COMT, BDNF, and DTNBP1 polymorphisms and cognitive functions in patients with brain tumors.

BACKGROUND Cognitive dysfunction is common among patients with brain tumors and can be associated with the disease and treatment with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, little is known about genetic risk factors that may moderate the vulnerability for developing cognitive dysfunction. In this study, we examined the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and dystrobrevin-binding protein 1 (DTNBP1) genes with cognitive functions and neuroimaging outcomes in patients with brain tumors. METHODS One hundred and fifty patients with brain tumors completed neuropsychological tests of attention, executive functions, and memory and were genotyped for polymorphisms in the COMT, BDNF, and DTNBP1 genes. Ratings of white matter (WM) abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed. RESULTS Multivariate regression shrinkage analyses, adjusted for age, education, treatment type, time since treatment completion, and tumor location, indicated a significant association between the COMT SNP rs4680 (Val158Met) and memory with lower scores in delayed recall (P < .01) among homozygotes (valine/valine). Additional COMT, BDNF and DTNBP1 SNPs were significantly associated with attention, executive functions, and memory scores. CONCLUSION This is the first study to suggest that known and newly described polymorphisms in genes associated with executive and memory functions in healthy individuals and other clinical populations may modulate cognitive outcome in patients with brain tumors.
Malaria vector composition and insecticide susceptibility status in Guinea Conakry, West Africa

This study provides data on malaria vector species composition and insecticide susceptibility status from three localities in Guinea Conakry. A total of 497 mosquitoes were collected resting indoors and morphologically identified as belonging to the Anopheles gambiae complex. The majority of these were An. gambiae s.s. (99.6%), but a small percentage (0.4%) were identified as Anopheles arabiensis. Thirty‐four Anopheles funestus s.s. were also collected. The molecular S form of An. gambiae s.s. was predominant over the M form in Siguiri (95%) and Boffa (97.4%), whereas at Mt Nimba the M form was more abundant (61.4%) than the S form (38.1%). One hybrid M/S specimen was recorded from Mt Nimba. Siguiri populations showed high levels of resistance to DDT, dieldrin and bendiocarb. Anopheles gambiae from Boffa were largely susceptible to the insecticides tested. At Mt Nimba, resistance to DDT and bendicocarb was detected. Biochemical enzyme analysis showed that an altered acetylcholinesterase is operating in the field at low levels. The frequency of the 1014F kdr allele in the An. gambiae S form was 0.24 at Siguiri and 0.14 at Mt Nimba. A single RR specimen was found in the M form. The heterogeneity in species composition and resistance profiles between sites requires vector control interventions to be tailored to each site based on the data collected from ongoing monitoring and surveillance.
Homogeneity with incremental degrees and global stabilisation of a class of high-order upper-triangular systems

The problem of global asymptotic stabilisation is investigated for a class of upper-triangular systems with uncontrollable linearisation. A notion of generalised homogeneity is introduced in this article, providing a new insight and a deeper perspective on how to categorise nonlinear terms into the higher-order and equal-order terms in a non-traditional way. The delicate analysis and new categorisation of the vector field make it possible to encompass more general nonlinearities. A globally stabilising controller is recursively constructed by a bottom-up, step-by-step procedure, containing the equal-order terms as its indispensable components. It is illustrated that the results obtained in this article incorporate and extend existing results for the global stabilisation of upper-triangular systems.
A Novel Estradiol/Estrogen Receptor α-dependent Transcriptional Mechanism Controls Expression of the Human Prolactin Receptor*

Prolactin exerts diverse functions in target tissues through its membrane receptors, and is a potent mitogen in normal and neoplastic breast cells. Estradiol (E2) induces human prolactin receptor (hPRLR) gene expression through stimulation of its generic promoter (PIII). This study identifies a novel E2-regulated non-estrogen responsive element-dependent transcriptional mechanism that mediates E2-induced hPRLR expression. E2 stimulated transcriptional activity in MCF7A2 cells transfected with PIII lacking an estrogen responsive element, and increased hPRLR mRNA and protein. The abolition of the E2 effect by mutation of Sp1 or C/EBP elements that bind Sp1/Sp3 and C/EBPβ within PIII indicated the cooperation of these transfactors in E2-induced transcription of the hPRLR. DNA affinity protein assay showed that E2 induced estrogen receptor α (ERα) binding to Sp1/Sp3 and C/EBPβ DNA-protein complexes. The ligand-binding domain of ERα was essential for its physical interaction with C/EBPβ, and E2 promoted this association, and its DNA binding domain was required for transactivation of PIII. Co-immunoprecipitation studies revealed tethering of C/EBPβ to Sp1 by E2-activated ERα. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that E2 induced recruitment of C/EBPβ, ERα, SRC1, p300, pCAF, TFIIB, and Pol II, with no change in Sp1/Sp3. E2 also induced promoter-associated acetylation of H3 and H4. These findings demonstrate that an E2/ERα, Sp1, and C/EBPβ complex with recruitment of coactivators and TFIIB and Pol II are required for E2-activated transcriptional expression of the hPRLR through PIII. Estradiol produced in breast stroma and adipose tissue, which are major sources of estrogen in post-menopausal women, could up-regulate hPRLR gene expression and stimulate breast tumor growth.
Impact of Privacy Concern in Social Networking Websites

Purpose – This study aims to understand the impact of users' privacy concerns on their acceptance of social networking web sites (SNWs). Design/methodology/approach – This paper develops two research models, with privacy concern conceptualized either as an antecedent of acceptance intention, or as a moderator of the relationships in the technology acceptance model (TAM). Using a survey questionnaire, empirical data were collected from 428 undergraduate college students. Structured equation modeling was used to test the validity of the proposed research models.Findings – The privacy concerns of the research respondents were found to be statistically significant. However, they did not directly affect users' acceptance of social networking web sites. Instead, privacy concerns did moderate the effects of perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use, on users' intention to continue to use SNWs.Research limitations/implications – The study identifies the theoretical foundations of privacy and privacy concerns.
Single Molecule Experiments Reveal the Dynamic Heterogeneity and Exchange Time Scales of Polystyrene near the Glass Transition

In a polymeric material near its glass transition temperature, segmental dynamics of a given spatial region may differ considerably from that of neighboring regions without apparent structural origin, analogous to the supercooled liquid state of low molecular weight glass formers. Given that the supercooled liquid state is a (metastable) equilibrium state, spatial variations in dynamics are expected to average out in time, consistent with ergodicity of the system. By probing the rotations of fluorescent guest molecules, local segmental dynamics of polystyrene was scrutinized molecule by molecule. Two perylene dicarboximide dyes were investigated as potential reporters, and one of these was found to report a substantial proportion of the dynamic heterogeneity of the host polystyrene. Using this probe, we demonstrate that the polystyrene system is ergodic and characterize time scales over which molecules experience changes to their dynamics. We identify a characteristic time scale of exchange much longer th.
Infusion of tritiated prostaglandin F 2alpha into the anterior uterine vein of the ewe: absence of local venous-arterial transfer.

A tracer dose of the presumptive uterine luteolytic factor (PGF2\g=a\)was introduced into the anterior uterine vein of twelve ewes, either as a bolus or as a 40to 60-min infusion (0\m=.\2\g=m\Ci/min). The ipsilateral ovary was left attached to or disconnected from its ligaments. Neither a bolus nor an infusion of [9-3H]PGF2\g=a\led to any transfer of radioactivity in the ovarian artery under controlled experimental conditions. These results show conclusively that diffusion, filtration, counter-current exchanges and active transport do not occur bet-
Molecular evidence for repetitive parallel evolution of shell structure in Clausiliidae (Gastropoda, pulmonata).

The division of clausiliid genera, using the type of clausilial apparatus (CA) as the decisive criterion, is ambiguous. Two types of CA can be distinguished: the normal (N) type and the Graciliaria (G) type. Morphological resemblance between species with different types of CA led to the hypothesis that the CA type is homoplasious. Therefore sequence variation, phylogenetic relationships, and the evolution of the CA were studied in the genera Albinaria, Isabellaria, and Sericata. Phylogenetic relations were inferred from parsimony and neighbor-joining analyses of the nucleotide sequences of both internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) of the rDNA of 36 species. The variation among the sequences was great: 21.8% of the sequences were ambiguously aligned and excluded from the analysis. A high GC content in the unambiguously aligned portions and a substitutional bias toward a higher GC content are indicators of substitutional constraints in the spacers. We analyzed the data in several ways: using both spacers together and separately, weighting all mutations equally, correcting for transition/transversion bias by weighting, and using transversions only. In all resulting trees, Isabellaria is not a monophyletic group. Its division into two clades is supported by over 40 mutations and one large indel. Clade 1 consists of Isabellaria and Sericata and clade 2 consists of Isabellaria and Albinaria species. The present distribution of the CA type was plotted on the tree and its most parsimonious evolution was reconstructed. The CA type was shown to be highly homoplasious. In clade 1 and clade 2 both types of CA were found; depending on the ancestral state, either the G or the N type evolved several times in parallel. These results contribute decisively to the current debate on the morphological diagnoses of Albinaria, Sericata, and Isabellaria as monophyletic taxa.