Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knowledge and practices towards malaria amongst residents of Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Abstract Background Malaria remains one of the greatest public health challenges worldwide and it is amongst the top killers in sub-Saharan Africa. There is however, a general scepticism about the accuracy of Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) in recording all the episodes of malaria in Africa. Given the importance of community knowledge of malaria, its signs and symptoms, as well as prompt treatment-seeking behaviour, the study assessing adult residents’ knowledge and practices in Bushbuckridge provided much needed insights into the Malaria Control Programme (MCP). Objectives The objectives of this study were to determine the adult residents’ knowledge and practices towards malaria in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Method The study was undertaken as a descriptive cross-sectional survey in Bushbuckridge in August 2008. Six hundred and two (602) household heads or their proxies from the randomly selected households in 20 localities were interviewed (one household member per household), using a structured field-piloted questionnaire. Results Approximately 93% of the respondents had heard about malaria, 84.6% of whom correctly associated it with mosquito bites. The health facility (29.1%) and radio (19.8%) were the main sources of malaria information. Knowledge of signs and symptoms was low, whilst treatment-seeking intention at the health facility was high (99%) with 82% of which would be carried out promptly. Survey data showed an indoor residual spraying (IRS) coverage of approximately 70% and a good understanding of the reasons for spraying. Walls were re-plastered infrequently and no evidence was established linking it to the removal of insecticide marks on the wall. Conclusion The study revealed not only that householders possessed an adequate knowledge of malaria, but also that they had positive malaria treatment-seeking intentions. Their knowledge of malaria signs and symptoms was inadequate and required attention. Whilst IRS coverage needed some improvements, the reasons for IRS were well known.
Performance comparison of heuristic algorithms for task scheduling in IaaS cloud computing environment

Cloud computing infrastructure is suitable for meeting computational needs of large task sizes. Optimal scheduling of tasks in cloud computing environment has been proved to be an NP-complete problem, hence the need for the application of heuristic methods. Several heuristic algorithms have been developed and used in addressing this problem, but choosing the appropriate algorithm for solving task assignment problem of a particular nature is difficult since the methods are developed under different assumptions. Therefore, six rule based heuristic algorithms are implemented and used to schedule autonomous tasks in homogeneous and heterogeneous environments with the aim of comparing their performance in terms of cost, degree of imbalance, makespan and throughput. First Come First Serve (FCFS), Minimum Completion Time (MCT), Minimum Execution Time (MET), Max-min, Min-min and Sufferage are the heuristic algorithms considered for the performance comparison and analysis of task scheduling in cloud computing.
Impact and Dynamic Bending Strength Determination of Norway Spruce by Impact Pendulum Deceleration

This research was conducted to determine the impact bending strength and dynamic bending strength of Norway spruce wood from Slovenia. An accelerometer was added to the impact pendulum in order to capture the material’s response to an instantaneous load. Impact bending strength of specimens were determined by standard method measuring the height of pendulum before and after the break. While measuring the impact pendulum decelerations during the fracture of the specimen, the impact bending strength and dynamic bending strength was calculated. Correlations between the measured properties were determined, for which the R2 was in the range 0.88 to 0.51 between the standard and accelerometer method and between the impact bending strength and dynamic bending strength, respectively. The results confirmed that the methods used to determine the impact bending strength were comparable and that it was possible to determine dynamic bending strength on the basis of impact pendulum deceleration measurement.
Drift in Ocular Torsion during Sustained Head Tilt

Purpose: A head tilt towards the shoulder (roll) induces an ocular counter-roll (OCR), i.e. torsion in the opposite direction to the head. How this counter-rolled position is maintained during a static head tilt is in debate. In a previous study, we reported an OCR-increasing drift subsequent to the head tilt. This finding is in contrast to other reports where no such response was found. The primary aim of this study was to repeat the experiment during a prolonged head-tilt test and to describe the OCR characteristics. A secondary aim was to investigate the influence of spatial visual cues on OCR. Methods: Five male subjects performed a head tilt (30°) towards the right shoulder while the eye position was recorded during a 10-minute interval. In test 1, the subjects viewed a target with no cues for spatial orientation. The same head-tilt paradigm was repeated in test 2 with a visual target with spatial cues. Two samples of data were extracted from the start and the end of the recordings for statistical analysis. Results: Subsequent to the head tilt, a slow OCR-increasing drift in the opposite direction to the head roll was found in all subjects. On average, this drift lasted for 30 sec (± 5) in test 1 and for 55 sec (± 18) in test 2. The drift was then found to change its direction, i.e. the eyes were rotated in the same direction as the head roll. When measured after 10 minutes, the OCR was significantly decreased. Conclusions: The OCR during static head tilt is not constant. During the first minute there is a gradually increasing OCR. Thereafter, the amplitude of the OCR decreases gradually. These changes are influenced to some extent by spatial visual cues. Possible mechanisms are adaptive responses in otolithic afferents as well as central nervous memory functions related to the semicircular canal system.
Your word against mine: How a rebel language and script of the Philippines was created, suppressed, recovered and contested

When news of an uncontacted ‘lost tribe’ began emanating from the island of Bohol in the southern Philippines, visitors were fascinated by the group's unique language and complex writing system, used today by some five hundred people in limited domains. Though few persons have attempted to analyse the language—known today as Eskayan—exotic theories of its origins are widely circulated by outsiders. However, according to speakers, Eskayan was created by the ancestor Pinay who used the human body as inspiration. For Pinay, a language and its written mode were inextricable. In the twentieth century, Pinay's language was rediscovered by the rebel soldier Mariano Datahan who retransmitted it to his followers. This creation story is consistent with my linguistic analysis, which points to a sophisticated encryption of the regional Visayan language. Further, the particulars of how Eskayan was designed shed much light on the sociocultural conditions motivating its (re)creation. Implicit notions of linguistic materiality, boundedness, and inter-changeability are reflected in the relexification process carried out by Pinay/Datahan. In defiance of all imperial claimants to the island, Pinay and Datahan effectively reified a language community whose territorial rights were corporeally inscribed.
Differential modulation of motor cortex excitability in BDNF Met allele carriers following experimentally induced and use‐dependent plasticity

The purpose of this study was to investigate how healthy young subjects with one of three variants of the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene modulate motor cortex excitability following experimentally induced and use‐dependent plasticity interventions. Electromyographic recordings were obtained from the right first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle of 12 Val/Val, ten Val/Met and seven Met/Met genotypes (aged 18–39 years). Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left hemisphere was used to assess changes in FDI motor‐evoked potentials (MEPs) following three separate interventions involving paired associative stimulation, a simple ballistic task and complex visuomotor tracking task using the index finger. Val/Val subjects increased FDI MEPs following all interventions (≥ 25%, P < 0.01), whereas the Met allele carriers only showed increased MEPs after the simple motor task (≥ 26%, P < 0.01). In contrast to the simple motor task, there was no significant change in MEPs for the Val/Met subjects (7%, P = 0.50) and a reduction in MEPs for the Met/Met group (−38%, P < 0.01) following the complex motor task. Despite these differences in use‐dependent plasticity, the performance of both motor tasks was not different between BDNF genotypes. We conclude that modulation of motor cortex excitability is strongly influenced by the BDNF polymorphism, with the greatest differences observed for the complex motor task. We also found unique motor cortex plasticity in the rarest form of the BDNF polymorphism (Met/Met subjects), which may have implications for functional recovery after disease or injury to the nervous system in these individuals.
Hematopoietic development of vav-/- mouse embryonic stem cells.

The vav protooncogene product is expressed nearly exclusively in hematopoietic lineages and contains several structural motifs (SH2/SH3 domains and a dbl-oncogene homology region) typical of proteins functioning in signaling pathways. To ascertain if vav expression is required for hematopoiesis we generated vav-negative mouse embryonic stem cells by gene targeting and examined the consequences of loss of vav function on erythroid and myeloid development in vitro and in vivo. In conflict with the conclusions drawn from expression of antisense vav RNA in embryonic stem cells [Wulf, G. M. , Adra, C. N. & Lim, B. (1993) EMBO J. 12, 5065-5074], we observed erythroid and myeloid development in the absence of vav. These experiments demonstrate that vav expression is not absolutely required for hematopoietic development.
Olive pollen allergy: searching for immunodominant T‐cell epitopes on the Ole e 1 molecule

The amino‐acid and nucleotide sequence of Ole e 1 (the major antigen of olive pollen) has been described and the IgE antibody response to this major allergen was associated with DR7/DQ2 antigens. With this previous data we try to define the T‐cell epitopes implicated in Ole e 1 reactivity.
Stone tool experiments and reduction methods at the Acheulean site of Isampur Quarry, India

What better way to understand how to make a handaxe or cleaver than getting into an Acheulean quarry and doing it yourself. The authors experimented at Isampur Quarry in India, finding that handaxes were best produced by reducing a slab to shape, while cleavers were best made by striking large flakes. There was a good correspondence with the ancient implements, and the authors deduced that Acheulean hominins were learning and transmitting standardised manufacturing methods to each other.
An experimental study of lexicon-based sentiment analysis on Bahasa Indonesia

We can get various information only by accessing a certain website. Almost every task can be done by using digital technology. Internet users that increase rapidly also bring more useful data that we can make further analysis. One of the data that we can use is user opinion data. This information helps to make a decision, market research, and search engine. A technique that we can use to obtain this information is opinion mining or usually called sentiment analysis. There are two methods available, supervised and lexicon-based sentiment analysis. The supervised method has better performance than the lexicon-based method. However, supervised method performance is very dependent on the quality and the amount of training data. In this study, we would try to implement lexicon-based sentiment analysis on Indonesian data opinion. Overall, our approach has an accuracy of 0.68. This result is quite good as starting point for further research. This study is expected to trigger another study in lexicon-based sentiment analysis, especially for Bahasa Indonesia.
Tales of the city ? 'Urbanism' in the Early Bronze Age Levant from Mediterranean and Levantine perspectives.

Over the last century, scholars have proposed many models for understanding the rise of urbanism and the nature of urban society throughout the Mediterranean and the Levant. As part of this dialogue, the papers assembled here represent the result of a session held at the Society for American Archaeology meeting in New Orleans (April 2001) to explore recent paradigms for understanding the question of urbanism, specifi cally from a Levantine perspective. The aim of this session was to bring together scholars actively conducting research on the Early Bronze Age (EBA) in the Levant in order to review the form, nature and scale of social complexity and urbanism in Syria- Palestine during the later 4th and 3rd millennia BC. The papers in this issue focus on the historical development, organizational frameworks, and societal fl avor of EBA walled communities in the Levant, encompassing modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Palestine and Egypt.While this region is not tremendously large, Levantine sub-regions experienced different developmental trajectories in terms of the nature and scale of their EBA societies. Table 1 provides a schematic of chronological sequences in current use in the Levant, correlating the major regions and chronologies. The reader should be aware that there remain real problems with the periodization of Syrian material. As Campbell (2000: 53–54) observes, western Syria represents the junction of several confl icting terminologies, each designed to refl ect a different, non-Syrian, material culture sequence (in essence those of the southern Levant, Mesopotamia and Anatolia). As these issues are treated elsewhere in more detail (Marro 2000; Philip 2002: 209–10), they are not discussed at length here. Suffi ce it to say that recent studies (Philip and Baird 2000; Joffe and Dessel 2000) have raised doubts about the region-wide reliability of even the supposedly well-founded Palestinian ceramic sequence.
Mandibular Helical Axis Pathways during Mastication

Condylar and incisor trajectories are often used for the study of mandibular movements. Condylar trajectories, however, depend on the location of the reference point and can be interpreted erroneously. In contrast, the helical axis analysis yields an unequivocal description of rigid body kinematics. The aim of this study was to analyze the mandibular helical axis during mastication. Seven subjects without signs and symptoms of craniomandibular disorders and with class I occlusion were recorded by means of the optoelectronic system Jaws-3D during unilateral mastication of bread cubes (2-cm side). The helical axis was computed every 14 ms with a rotation threshold of 1°. Parameters describing its spatial orientation and position relative to the condyles were calculated. The helical axis changed orientation and position more pronouncedly during the closing than during the opening phases of mastication. The orientation varied significantly from beginning to end of closing but not of opening, indicating less fluctuation of the helical axis on opening than on closing. Also, the distance d CP between helical axis and reference condylar point varied more significantly (p < 0.05) on the working than on the balancing side: On the working side, d CP decreased during both opening and closing, whereas on the balancing side, d CP increased only for closing. Furthermore, the helical axis pathway often showed a bowing ventrally to the balancing condyle, indicating that, during closing, the balancing condyle still translated backward while essentially only rotation occurred around the working condyle. Thus, the helical axis changed its position and orientation continuously during mastication.
Alternative methods of selection for litter size in mice: III. Response to 21 generations of selection.

Alternative methods of selection to increase litter size in mice have been practiced for 21 generations followed by six generations of relaxed selection. Three replicates were used with four selection criteria: index of components (IX:I = 1.21 x total ovulation rate + 9.05 x ova success), uterine capacity (UT), litter size (LS), and an unselected control (LC). In IX, ovulation rate and ova success were measured by number of corpora lutea and number of pups born/number of corpora lutea, respectively. In UT, uterine capacity was measured and defined as number of pups born to unilaterally ovariectomized (right ovary excised) females. Selection in LS was based on number born to unaltered dams. In all cases, number born was fully formed, live or dead pups. Pups from 16 randomly chosen LC dams and from the top 16 dams in IX, UT, and LS were selected to produce the next generation in each criterion-replicate line. Response in number born, selected criteria deviated from control, was regressed on generation number over the 21 generations of selection. Responses for the IX and LS criteria were quite similar (.14 +/- .01 and .16 +/- .01 pups per generation, respectively), whereas response in UT, with only one functional horn, was slightly lower (.09 +/- .01). The average cumulative selection differentials for IX, LS, and UT at Generation 21 were 32.78 index units, 36.38 pups, and 28.53 pups, respectively. The LC criterion had an unintentional cumulative selection differential of 3.3 pups. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
An evaluation of individual plain abdominal radiography findings in pediatric appendicitis: results from a series of 424 children.

BACKGROUND This study was conducted to collect the results of the plain abdominal radiography (PAR) signs, to determine their individual diagnostic values, and to discuss them under a brief literature review. METHODS Eight predetermined PAR signs were individually interpreted in a series of 424 consecutive children (278 males; 146 females; median age 10 years; range 11 months to 17 years) who underwent an operation for appendicitis. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for the signs were determined. RESULTS Appendicitis was confirmed in 378 (89%) patients. Among the remaining 46 (11%) patients with a normal appendix, 20 (5%) had other intraabdominal pathologies. Calcified fecalith, mass image in right-lower-quadrant (RLQ), psoas obscuration, and localized extraluminal air signs were all highly specific and therefore, unlikely to be present if the appendix is normal. On the other hand, the sensitivity values were low, in general, for all the PAR signs investigated. Yet, presence of dilated transverse colon and/or single air fluid level in the RLQ has the highest percentage occurrence with appendicitis. CONCLUSION Although the there is no single PAR finding capable of ruling the diagnosis of appendicitis out, basic knowledge on PAR findings could have an impact on decision making process for clinicians dealing with pediatric acute abdominal pain.
[Efficacy comparison between cimetidine and zinc sulphate in the treatment of multiple and recalcitrant warts].

BACKGROUND Warts are epithelial proliferations on the skin and mucous membrane caused by various types of HPV. They can decrease spontaneously or increase in number and size according to patient's immune status. Cimetidine and zinc sulphate have important effects on the immune system and are used as immunomodulators in the treatment of various diseases. OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy of cimetidine and zinc sulphate in the treatment of multiple and recalcitrant warts. METHODS A random double-blind prospective study. Eighteen patients with multiple warts were divided into two groups: one took 35 mg/Kg/day of cimetidine (maximum 1200 mg/day) and the other 10 mg/Kg/day of zinc sulphate (maximum 600 mg/day) for three months. RESULTS Among the 18 patients who participated in the study, nine took cimetidine and nine zinc sulphate. Just one patient in the zinc sulphate group did not complete treatment due to nausea and vomiting. Five patients who were treated with zinc sulphate were cured and only one did not show modifications in lesions. Among the group who was treated with cimetidine, five did not show modifications in lesions and four showed decrease from baseline below 30%. CONCLUSIONS 10 mg/Kg/day zinc sulphate dose seems to be more effective than cimetidine for the treatment of children and adults with multiple and difficult-to-handle warts. However, the small number of patients did not enable any definitive conclusion.
Management and outcomes after multiple corneal and solid organ transplantations from a donor infected with rabies virus.

BACKGROUND This article describes multiple transmissions of rabies via transplanted solid organ from a single infected donor. The empirical Milwaukee treatment regimen was used in the recipients. METHODS Symptomatic patients were treated by deep sedation (ketamine, midazolam, and phenobarbital), ribavirin, interferon, and active and passive vaccination. Viral loads and antibodies were continuously monitored. RESULTS Recipients of both cornea and liver transplants developed no symptoms. The recipient of the liver transplant had been vaccinated approximately 20 years before transplantation. Two recipients of kidney and lung transplants developed rabies and died within days of symptomatic disease. Another kidney recipient was treated 7 weeks before he died. The cerebrospinal fluid viral load remained at constant low levels (<10,000 copies/mL) for approximately 5 weeks; it increased suddenly by almost 5 orders of magnitude thereafter. After death, no virus was found in peripheral compartments (nerve tissue, heart, liver, or the small intestine) in this patient, in contrast to in patients in the same cohort who died early. CONCLUSIONS Our report includes, to our knowledge, the longest documented treatment course of symptomatic rabies and the first time that the virus concentration was measured over time and in different body compartments. The postmortem virus concentration in the periphery was low, but there was no evidence of a reduction of virus in the brain.
Nutritional assessment and serum zinc and copper concentration in leukemic children.

CONTEXT Malnutrition in childhood cancer is commonly a serious problem. Changes in blood zinc and copper have also been found in malignant diseases. OBJECTIVE To describe the protein-energy nutritional status and serum zinc and copper of children with newly diagnosed leukemia. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING University referral center. PARTICIPANTS 23 children with newly diagnosed acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) or acute non-lymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) between the ages of 1 and 10 years. The control subjects were 31 healthy school children of similar age from local schools. MAIN MEASURES Anthropometric measurements of height/age and weight/height, food intake and serum levels of zinc and copper. RESULTS Almost the entire group of children were eutrophic. Zinc and copper intake were below the recommended values. Serum zinc levels were significantly lower and serum copper levels were significantly higher in the leukemic group when compared to normal children. CONCLUSION At the time of diagnosis the children suffering from leukemia were not overtly malnourished but blood analysis showed alterations in concentrations of the trace elements zinc and copper.