Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A randomized controlled trial of exercise versus wait-list in chronic tennis elbow (lateral epicondylosis)

Abstract Background. Chronic tennis elbow (lateral epicondylosis) is a common disorder. Like other chronic soft-tissue pain conditions it is often difficult to treat successfully. The effects of exercise have been discussed, but no convincing evidence has been put forward so far, and a simple protocol for exercise is lacking. Aims of the study. This study is a randomized, controlled, clinical trial of the effect of exercise versus expectation (wait-list) on pain, muscle strength, function, and quality of life in patients with long-standing lateral epicondylosis. Methods. Eighty-one subjects with tennis elbow lasting for more than 3 months were randomly allocated to an exercise group (n = 40) or a reference group (n = 41). The exercise group performed daily exercise, with weekly load increase, for 3 months. The reference group was wait-listed, but otherwise followed in the same way. Outcome measures were pain during maximum voluntary muscle contraction (Cozen's test) and pain during maximum muscle elongation with a load (modified Empty-can-test); muscle strength was measured with a Chatillon MSE 100 hand-held dynamometer, and the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and the Gothenburg Quality of Life questionnaires. Results. The exercise group had greater and faster regression of pain, both during muscle contraction and muscle elongation, than the reference group (p = 0.0005 and p = 0.0016, respectively). There was a non-significant muscle strength difference between the groups, but no differences regarding DASH scores or quality of life measures. Conclusions. Exercise appears to be superior to expectation in reducing pain in chronic lateral epicondylosis.
Metformin is a metabolic modulator and radiosensitiser in rectal cancer

Resistance to neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy, is a major challenge in the management of rectal cancer. Increasing evidence supports a role for altered energy metabolism in the resistance of tumours to anti-cancer therapy, suggesting that targeting tumour metabolism may have potential as a novel therapeutic strategy to boost treatment response. In this study, the impact of metformin on the radiosensitivity of colorectal cancer cells, and the potential mechanisms of action of metformin-mediated radiosensitisation were investigated. Metformin treatment was demonstrated to significantly radiosensitise both radiosensitive and radioresistant colorectal cancer cells in vitro. Transcriptomic and functional analysis demonstrated metformin-mediated alterations to energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, cell cycle distribution and progression, cell death and antioxidant levels in colorectal cancer cells. Using ex vivo models, metformin treatment significantly inhibited oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis in treatment naïve rectal cancer biopsies, without affecting the real-time metabolic profile of non-cancer rectal tissue. Importantly, metformin treatment differentially altered the protein secretome of rectal cancer tissue when compared to non-cancer rectal tissue. Together these data highlight the potential utility of metformin as an anti-metabolic radiosensitiser in rectal cancer.
High-Resolution Laser Interference Ablation and Amorphization of Silicon

The laser interference patterning of a silicon surface via UV femtosecond pulse irradiation, resulting in 350 nm periodic structures, is demonstrated. The structuring process was performed using a laser with a 450 fs pulse duration at a wavelength of 248 nm in combination with a mask projection setup. Depending on the laser fluence, single-pulse irradiation leads to amorphization, structure formation via lateral melt flow or the formation of voids via peculiar melt coalescence. Through multipulse irradiation, combined patterns of interference structures and laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) are observed.
Efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae (Mechnikov) Sorokin ICIPE 69 against the melon fly Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) infesting courgette (Cucurbita pepo L.) in field cages

Effective integrated pest management (IPM) of the melon fly Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett), a devastating pest threatening horticultural production in Africa, is urgently needed. In this study, a caged field experiment was implemented in Thika, Kenya to test the efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae (Mechnikov) Sorokin ICIPE 69 for Z. cucurbitae control in courgette Cucurbita pepo L. Treatments included: (1) dry conidia of M. anisopliae ICIPE 69 applied in an autodissemination device (fungus); (2) dry conidia of M. anisopliae ICIPE 69 in an autodissemination device combined with cuelure, a male attractant (fungus + cuelure); (3) a commercial insecticide (profenofos + cypermethrin) (insecticide); and (4) an untreated control (control). Each treatment was replicated thrice and the experiment was conducted twice during two seasons. Flies (300/tunnel) and treatments were introduced at flowering. One day later, 25 flies/tunnel were randomly collected from each cage to assess conidial acquisition (for fungus and fungus + cuelure treatments only) and mortality during a 10‐day interval in the laboratory. Flies in the fungus + cuelure treatment acquired more conidia (18.02 ± 0.48 conidia/fly) than those in the fungus treatment (11.93 ± 0.40 conidia/fly). Flies in the fungus + cuelure treatment experienced the highest mortality (95.31% ± 1.69%), while those in the insecticide treatment experienced the lowest (38.70% ± 4.32%). Dry conidia were collected from the autodissemination devices (in the fungus and fungus + cuelure treatment) daily for 7 days after flowering to check for compatibility through germination tests. Percentage germination reduced over time from 86.45% ± 1.77% and 87.72% ± 1.71% on day 1 to 16.39% ± 2.11% and 42.76% ± 1.74% on day 7 (seasons 1 and 2, respectively). The yield was significantly different among treatments and was, across seasons, highest in the fungus + cuelure (6961 ± 550 kg/ha) and insecticide (7267 ± 352 kg/ha) treatments and lowest in the control treatment (2089 ± 155 kg/ha).
Vision difficulty and dementia: economic hardships among older adults and their caregivers

Introduction Limited research has examined the economic impact of vision difficulty (VD) and dementia on older adults and their caregivers. We aimed to determine whether older adults with VD and/or dementia, and their caregivers, face more economic hardships than their counterparts without VD or dementia. Methods We used cross-sectional data from the 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), a population-based survey of Medicare beneficiaries, linked to their family/unpaid caregivers from the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC). Regression models characterized the association of VD (self-report), dementia (survey and cognitive assessments), and co-occurring VD and dementia with debt, receiving financial help from relatives, government-based Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), other food assistance, utility assistance, and caregiver financial difficulty. Results The NHATS sample included 6,879 community-dwelling older adults (5670 no VD/dementia, 494 VD-alone, 512 dementia-alone, 203 co-occurring VD and dementia). Adults with VD and dementia had higher odds of receiving SNAP benefits (OR = 2.6, 95%CI = 1.4–4.8) and other food assistance (OR = 4.1, 95%CI = 1.8–9.1) than adults without VD/dementia, while no differences were noted for debt, financial help, and utility assistance. Adults with VD-alone had higher odds of debt (OR = 2.1, 95%CI = 1.3–3.2), receiving financial help (OR = 1.7, 95%CI = 1.1–2.5) and other food assistance (OR = 2.7, 95%CI = 1.7–4.3); while adults with dementia-alone had higher odds of debt (OR = 2.8, 95%CI = 1.4–5.5). The NSOC sample included 1,759 caregivers (995 caring for adults without VD/dementia, 223 for VD-alone, 368 for dementia-alone, and 173 for co-occurring VD and dementia). Compared to caregivers of older adults without VD/dementia, caregivers of adults with VD and dementia had higher odds of financial difficulty (OR = 3.0, 95%CI = 1.7–5.3) while caregivers of adults with VD-alone or dementia-alone did not. Discussion While older adults with VD- or dementia-alone experienced increased economic hardships, disparities in food assistance were amplified among older adults with co-occurring disease. Caregivers of adults with co-occurring disease experienced more financial difficulty than caregivers of adults with a single or no disease. This study highlights the need for interventions across clinical and social services to support the economic wellbeing of our aging population and their caregivers.
Topical ocular local anaesthetics as an adjunctive measure in the day-1 treatment of bacterial keratitis

ABSTRACT Introduction The day-1 topical antibiotic treatment for bacterial keratitis (BK) can have a significant impact on treatment outcomes. Symptoms associated with this condition (pain, photophobia, blepharospasm and increased lacrimation) may compromise the effectiveness of topical antibiotic treatment by reducing the antibiotic contact time with the cornea. Topical ocular local anaesthetics (TOLAs) have the potential to alleviate these symptoms and thus potentiate the effect of the antibiotic drops instilled. Areas covered The literature on possible ocular side-effects of TOLAs was searched using Google and PubMed databases (Filters: Humans, English, abstract available), with no filters applied for date of publication. Relevant papers were reviewed, and possible barriers to their use on day-1 in the treatment of BK were identified, examined, and either found to be not applicable to short term use or strategies were identified to resolve any barriers. Published evidence to support the possible potentiation of antibiotic effect via the use of TOLAs was also reviewed. Expert opinion Perceived barriers to the short-term use of TOLAs in BK are not supported by the literature, and there is evidence to suggest that higher corneal antibiotic concentrations may be achieved by using TOLAs in conjunction with topical antibiotic drops in BK on day-1.
Of acts and axes: an ethnography of socio-cultural change in an Aboriginal community, Cape York Peninsula

This thesis is concerned with the processes of sociocultural change set in motion when the Aboriginal people of the Edward River reserve gave up their hunter-gatherer lifestyle and joined with Anglican missionaries to form the Edward River settlement in 1938. In opting for a sedentary life, the Aborigines of the reserve were consciously adopting the role of culture recipients who were dependent on change agents (missionaries, and later government officials) from the mainstream Australian society to provide the sources for socio-cultural change as well as the direction in which it should proceed. The cultural patterns characterising reserve life prior to the establishment of the settlement are reconstructed from informants' memories and the observations of anthropologists who conducted studies among the reserve's peoples between 1925 and 1935. The pre-settlement patterns are then compared with those which characterised settlement life in the period 1968-75 when the author undertook his fieldwork. Two independently formulated hypotheses concerning the degree, direction and sources of socio-cultural change are tested against the actual course of events. The first hypothesis was developed by an anthropologist, Lauriston Sharp, who on the basis of his investigations into the totemic ideology of the Yir Yoront, came to the conclusion that sustained contact between the people of the reserve and European Australians would lead to the collapse of the indigenous cultural system. The second hypothesis was implicit in Queensland state Government policy and legislation. It stated that the Aboriginal people of the Edward River settlement could be transformed over time from a welfare-dependent, managed community to one that was just like a normal country town in Queensland by providing physical amenities similar to those of country towns, and by imposing routines and social structure: similar to those found in the economic systems and formal processes of social control in the dominant society. Neither hypothesis has accurately anticipated the real outcome. Aboriginal belief systems have not collapsed nor have the people of Edward River achieved that level of cultural competence that would permit them to manage their community without help. It is argued in this thesis that the first hypothesis failed because of an anthropological interpretation that over-emphasized the comprehensiveness of the indigenous totemic ideology and thus understated the resilience of Edward River belief systems. It is argued that the second hypothesis concerning the appropriate techniques for inducing change is also failing despite the commitment of the Edward River people to the development of their community. Edward River people have adapted to their institutional environment in such a way as to preserve some fundamental Aboriginal values, and to create a permanent niche for outside managers. There seems little prospect for change in this situation unless certain prerequisites to fruitful socio-cultural change are incorporated in basic planning strategies.
Research on Native or Lingua Franca Model

: With the advancement of globalization, English is no longer considered to belong exclusively to a certain nation or community. Instead, it has interacted with different cultures, giving rise to the emergence and rapid development of varieties of English. In the expanding circle countries where English is used as a lingua franca, it is important to strike a balance between language proficiency and cultural background when choosing a medium for classroom-based instruction. It is crucial to select an easy-to-use and sustainable variety of English based on the teaching practices in a particular context, in order to better cater to the needs of learners. Through a critical review of existing literature, this paper concludes that the native speaker model is more suitable for English classroom instruction in the expanding circle countries compared to the lingua franca English model.
TRIAXIAL DETERMINATION OF SHEAR STRENGTH OF TIRE CHIPS. TECHNICAL NOTE

The authors conducted triaxial compression tests following constant stress paths to determine the shear strength of five process scrap tire products having various gradations and particle shapes. The interparticle frictional component was separated from the total shear strength according to the energy correction concept proposed by investigators. The experimental results indicated that all five tire chip products have ultimate internal friction angles of 45 deg to over 60 deg. The interparticle frictional component of the strength was completely mobilized and nearly attained a constant value after about 5 percent axial strain. The experimental findings confirmed that the strength parameter derived via constant stress paths is more reasonable. This finding is supported by field observation in which the tire chips have an angle of repose ranging from 37 deg to 43 deg (stock piled) and up to 85 deg (compacted). The authors discuss the engineering applications of the experimental results.
Path Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Quality of Life of Chronic Kidney Failure Patients Receiving Hemodialysis

Patients undergoing hemodialysis for chronic kidney failure will experience physical and psychosocial changes that affect their physical, psychological, social, and economic quality of life. Several factors can affect the quality of life of patients with chronic kidney failure, including self-management, self-efficacy, and religiosity. This study aimed to determine the effects of religiosity, self-efficacy, and self-management on the quality of life of hemodialysis patients with chronic kidney failure. This research is a correlational study. The sample size was 71, and the sampling strategy was total sampling. The instrument employs the KDQoL to assess the quality of life, the general self-efficacy (GSE) questionnaire to assess self-efficacy, the hemodialysis self-management instrument (HDSMI) to assess self-management, and the Duke University Religion Index to assess religious affiliation (DUREL). Utilizing path analysis for statistical analysis. Results indicated that the mean and standard deviation of quality of life was 62.76 (8.36), self-management was 51.56 (5.64), self-efficacy was 71.11 (8.44), and religiosity was 21.02. (2.78). Self-management (b = 0.280, p = 0.006), self-efficacy (b = 0.270, p = 0.013), and religiosity (b = 0.425, p = 0.000) have a direct influence on the quality of life. Religiosity indirectly influences the quality of life via self-efficacy and self-management. Through self-management, self-efficacy has an indirect effect on the quality of life. The conclusion is that religiosity, self-efficacy, and self-management can enhance the quality of life for patients with chronic kidney failure. In order for the hospital to improve the patient’s quality of life, intensive education concerning the three variables is therefore anticipated. Keywords: quality of life, religiosity, self-management, self-ef
The modified Borg/6-min walk distance ratio: a method to assess exertional breathlessness and leg discomfort using the 6-min walk test

Background The 6-min walk test (6MWT) is widely used to assess exercise capacity across chronic health conditions, but is currently not useful to assess symptoms, as the scores do not account for the 6-min walk distance (6MWD). We aimed to 1) develop normative reference equations for breathlessness and leg discomfort intensity expressed as modified Borg (mBorg)/6MWD ratios; and 2) validate the equations in people with COPD. Methods Analysis of people aged ≥40 years who performed two 6MWTs (on a 20-m course) in the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (CanCOLD) study: a healthy cohort (n=291; mean±sd age 67.5±9.4 years; 54% male) with normal 6MWD and lung function, and a COPD cohort (n=156; age 66.2±9.0 years; 56% male; forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity 56.6±8.2%; FEV1 74.4±18.6% pred). The mBorg score was calculated as the Borg 0–10 category ratio intensity rating of breathlessness or leg discomfort recorded at the end of the 6MWT +1 (range 1–11), to avoid zeros and yield ratios proportional to the symptom score and 6MWD−1. Results Using data from the healthy cohort, sex-specific normative reference equations for breathlessness and leg discomfort mBorg/6MWD ratios were developed using multivariable linear regression, accounting for age, and body mass or body mass index. In the COPD cohort, abnormal breathlessness and leg discomfort (mBorg/6MWD>upper limit of normal) showed strong concurrent validity with worse airflow limitation, Medical Research Council breathlessness and COPD Assessment Test scores. Conclusion Normative references for the mBorg/6MWD ratio are presented to assess breathlessness and leg discomfort responses to the 6MWT in COPD. Tweetable abstract We present and validate a new method and normative reference equations to measure the breathlessness and leg discomfort response to a 6-min walk test that account for the level of exertion performed https://bit.ly/3OuU41A
Trends in the demand for primary education in Cameroon

chapter 1 Introduction chapter 2 The Evolution of Primary Education in Cameroon chapter 3 Conceptual Framework chapter 4 Characteristics Relevant to the Demand for Primary Education in Cameroon chapter 5 Methodology and Design chapter 6 Major Results: Describing the Existing Situation chapter 7 Major Results: Factors Affecting the Demand for Primary Education in Cameroon chapter 8 Achieving and Sustaining Universal Primary Education chapter 9 Recommendations chapter 10 Appendix chapter 11 Bibliography chapter 12 Author Index chapter 13 Subject Index
Laser-Based 3D Body Scanning Reveals a Higher Prevalence of Abdominal Obesity than Tape Measurements: Results from a Population-Based Sample

Background: The global obesity epidemic is a major public health concern, and accurate diagnosis is essential for identifying at-risk individuals. Three-dimensional (3D) body scanning technology offers several advantages over the standard practice of tape measurements for diagnosing obesity. This study was conducted to validate body scan data from a German population-based cohort and explore clinical implications of this technology in the context of metabolic syndrome. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 354 participants from the Study of Health in Pomerania that completed a 3D body scanning examination. The agreement of anthropometric data obtained from 3D body scanning with manual tape measurements was analyzed using correlation analysis and Bland–Altman plots. Classification agreement regarding abdominal obesity based on IDF guidelines was assessed using Cohen’s kappa. The association of body scan measures with metabolic syndrome components was explored using correlation analysis. Results: Three-dimensional body scanning showed excellent validity with slightly larger values that presumably reflect the true circumferences more accurately. Metabolic syndrome was highly prevalent in the sample (31%) and showed strong associations with central obesity. Using body scan vs. tape measurements of waist circumference for classification resulted in a 16% relative increase in the prevalence of abdominal obesity (61.3% vs. 52.8%). Conclusions: These results suggest that the prevalence of obesity may be underestimated using the standard method of tape measurements, highlighting the need for more accurate approaches.
Holocene development and permafrost history of two mires in Tavvavuoma, Northern Sweden

Two peat cores from two mires with different characteristics, but both containingpermafrost features and located in the eastern part of the Tavvavuoma mire complex innorthernmost Sweden, were analysed for macrofossils and geochemical properties. Local vegetationsequences and changes in geochemical properties of peat were used to reconstruct development ofthe studied mires during the Holocene. The study includes measurements of water/ice content, bulkdensity, loss-on-ignition and C/N ratio. Radiocarbon dates for peatland inception and permafrostaggradation are available. The main purpose of the study is to verify permafrost history in thepeatlands. The results of the macrofossil analysis and values of C/N ratio indicate nutrient poor tointermediate fen environments in both studied mires until recently. Signs of permafrost upheavalwhich caused formation of xerophilic peat can be proved only since late 1950’s. The study resultscorroborate with other studies from Northern Fennoscandia and infer peatland initiation soon afterthe deglaciation of the area and permafrost-free conditions throughout entire Holocene untilrecently.
Effects of ADMA upon gene expression : an insight into the pathophysiological significance of raised plasma ADMA

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