Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical presentation and hormonal profile of patients with pituitary tumour

Background: Pituitary tumours represent about 10% of intracranial tumours. To know about the common clinical presentations and hormone profile of patients with pituitary tumour help in early diagnosis and treatment of the disease.Methods: A prospective study was carried out for a duration of 16 months from 1st June 2018 to 30th September 2019, among 93 patients admitted with diagnosis of pituitary tumour in department of neurosurgery in a tertiary care centre. Study involved initial clinical assessment followed by assessment of hormone profile. In the end of the study the most common clinical presentation and the common pituitary hormones that were deranged in those cases were found out. Statistical analysis was done to find out relationship between hormone levels and clinical symptoms.Results: From the study it was found that the most common clinical presentations of pituitary tumour were headache [58 patients (62.4%)] and visual disturbance [53 patients (56.9%)]. Hormone over production was reported in 35 patients (37.6%), of which 25 patients (26.9%) were having high prolactin levels. Most common hormone that showed below normal values in pituitary tumour patients was luteinizing hormone (LH), in 19 patients (19.35%). Study also found out statistically significant association between elevated prolactin levels and headache.Conclusions: In patients with pituitary tumours most common clinical presentations included headache and visual disturbance. Prolactin was the most common hormone which was above normal levels. Most common hormone that was below normal levels were gonadotropins.
Analysis of Online Shopping Involvement among Teachers in Perak

This quantitative study has four objectives to be achieved. It includes identifying teacher’s total expenditure in online shopping, products purchased, online shopping platforms and also the factors that influence online shopping. A five-point Likert scale survey form was used as the research instrument. The sample of this study consists of 319 teachers in the state of Perak selected through snowball sampling. The findings of the study show that the majority of respondents spend online with a total expenditure not exceeding RM1,000 per year and make online purchases on daily necessities such as clothing and personal appearance accessories. Lazada, Shopee and Taobao have been identified as the most widely used online shopping platforms. All independent variables were found to be significantly positive contributing to online shopping. There are some suggestions highlighted at the end of the study.
Genetic Diversity and Antifungal Susceptibility of Candida Albicans Strains Isolated from Lranian HIV+ Patients With Oral Candidiasis

Objective: The objectives of this study were to investigate the antifungal susceptibility and genetic diversity of oral Candida albicans strains isolated from HIV+ patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis. A total of 50 C. albicans isolates were cultured on Sabouraud glucose agar containing chloramohenicol. The antifungal susceptibility of C. albicans against fluconazole, clotrimazole, nystatin, amphotericin B, ketoconazole and flucytosine was assessed using disc diffusion method. The genetic diversity of different C. albicans strains was determined using random amplified polymorphic DNA technique. Results: The inhibition zones ranged from 4±1.8 to 40±3.8 mm for fluconazole, 7±1.0 to 37±1.8 mm for ketoconazole, 14±0.8 to24±0.8 mm for amphotericin B, 25±0.0 to 33±0.0 mm for nystatin and 7±4.2 to 40±0.0 mm for clotrimazole. At 90% similarity, three distinct groups were observed. The smallest cluster composed of 3 of 50 C. albicans isolates, whereas the largest cluster composed of 17 of 50 isolates. Of 50 C. albicans isolates, 32%, 28% and 14% were resistant to fluconazole, ketoconazole and clotrimazole, respectively. There were no significant differences among antifungal susceptibility of different C. albicans strains from three genotype clusters.
Enforced temporariness and skilled migrants’ family plans: examining the friction between institutional, biographical and daily timescales

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of the legal rhythms and temporalities of migration on the specific temporalities of family life, under conditions of enforced temporariness. It apprehends enforced temporariness as a mode of governance infused with chronopolitics, which – by producing specific experiences of time – deprives migrants of the right/capacity to lead their family lives according to their plans and aspirations. Through a focus on highly qualified third-country nationals holding temporary visas in Belgium, it shows that these experiences of time result from the friction between the institutional timescale of administrative procedures and policies, and migrants’ everyday and biographic timescales. Starting from the administrative timescales of highly-skilled migrants, the paper describes the existing Belgian migration legislation, with a focus on administrative procedures. It then explores the specific experiences of time those procedures generate, by highlighting different kinds of friction migrants experience as well as their effects. It presents some of the ways these migrants cope with them, and concludes by highlighting the fruitfulness of applying a friction lens to the study of intersecting timescales.
Morphological, molecular and virulence characterisation of six Cordyceps spp. isolates infecting the diamondback moth, Pluttela xylostella

ABSTRACT Entomopathogenic fungi are widely distributed and well described within the fungal kingdom. Different species of fungi belonging to the Genus Cordyceps are well known pest control agents. This study reports the isolation, characterisation as well as virulence of six fungal isolates belonging to three different species of Cordyceps genus including three C. farinosa isolates; two C. fumosorosea isolates; and one C. tenuipes isolate against P. xylostella. The newly identified strains proved pathogenic to P. xylostella under laboratory conditions. In addition, the C. fumosorosea isolate SCFU-1 was virulent against eggs, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th instar larvae and pupae of P. xylostella having LC50 values of 1.27 × 109, 2.78 × 106, 2.59 × 106, 2.87 × 106, 1.22 × 107, and 1.71 × 109 conidia/mL, respectively 7 days post application. The newly isolated strains can be developed as potential biopesticide for P. xylostella although extensive field bioassays as well as development of proper formulation is still required.
Incorporating Multiyear Temperature Predictions for Water Resources Planning

Multiyear climate predictions provide climate outlooks from years to a decade in advance. As multiyear temperature predictions become more mainstream and skillful, guidance is needed to assist practitioners who wish to explore this maturing field. This paper demonstrates the process and considerations of incorporating multiyear temperature predictions into water resources planning. Multiyear temperature predictions from the Community Earth System Model Decadal Prediction Large Ensemble are presented as discrete and probabilistic products and are used to force two common hydrologic modeling approaches: conceptual and empirical. The approaches are demonstrated to simulate streamflow in the upper Colorado River basin watershed in Colorado, where diagnostics show that increasing temperatures are associated with decreasing streamflows. Using temperature information for lead years 2–6, two analyses are performed: (i) a retrospective hindcast for the climatological period (1981–2010) and (ii) a blind forecast for 2011–15. For the retrospective hindcast, including temperature information improved the percent error as compared with climatology. For the blind forecast, the multiyear temperature prediction for warming was skillful, but the corresponding multiyear average streamflow predictions from both approaches were counterintuitive: with the predicted warming, the multiyear average streamflow was predicted to be lower than the climatological mean; however, the observed multiyear average streamflow was higher than the climatological mean. This was due to above-average precipitation during the prediction time frame, particularly for one of the years. With that year removed, the multiyear streamflow average became lower than the climatological mean. Temperature provides a marginal source of streamflow predictability, but there will be substantial uncertainty until prediction skill for year-to-year climate variability, especially for precipitation, increases.
Geothermal Convection and Double Diffusion Based on Profiling Floats in the Black Sea

Here, we revisit the existing concepts of the vertical structure of deep layers in the Black Sea using data from sensors deployed on profiling floats. The deep transition layer (DTL) between 700 and 1,700 m acts as an interface between the baroclinic layer and the largest bottom convective layer (BCL) of the world oceans. On top of DTL are the warm intermediate layer and deep cold intermediate layer. They both showed strong trends in the last 15 years due to warmer climate and intensification of warmer intrusions from Bosporus. A “salinity wave” was detected in 2005–2009 below ∼1,700 m, which evidenced for the first time the penetration of gravity flow from Bosporus down to the bottom. The layering of water masses was explained as resulting from the different distribution of sources of heat and salt, double diffusion, and balances between the geothermal and salinity flows in the BCL.
Human endogenous retroviruses in cancer: Expression, regulation and function

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are the remnants of ancient retroviruses that infected human germline cells and became integrated into the human genome millions of years ago. Although most of these sequences are incomplete and silent, several potential pathological roles of HERVs have been observed in numerous diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, and especially cancer, including breast cancer and pancreatic carcinoma. The present review investigates the expression signatures and complex regulatory mechanisms of HERVs in cancer. The long terminal repeats-driven transcriptional initiation of HERVs are regulated by transcription factors (such as Sp3) and epigenetic modifications (such as DNA methylation), and are influenced by environmental factors (such as ultraviolet radiation). In addition, this review focuses on the dual opposing effects of HERVs in cancer. HERVs can suppress cancer via immune activation; however, they can also promote cancer. HERV env gene serves a prime role in promoting carcinogenesis in certain malignant tumors, including breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, germ cell tumors, leukemia and Kaposi's sarcoma. Also, HERV ENV proteins can promote cancer via immune suppression. Targeting ENV proteins is a potential future antitumor treatment modality.
The Depiction of Medical Errors in a Sample of Medical Television Shows

Background: Medical errors and adverse events may affect up to 7.5% of hospitalizations, although observational studies suggest the numbers could be even higher. Previous studies have shown that medical television (TV) shows may be a major driver when it comes to a patient’s medical knowledge and perspectives. Methods: Six episodes from the first season of eight medical TV series were analyzed by four reviewers. Demographics of the healthcare provider responsible for the error, demographics of the victim, type of error, setting of error, level of disability, and reporting of the error were recorded. Data was compared with event rates from US hospitals. Results: A total of 242 medical errors (average 6.4/hr) were included in the analysis. The healthcare provider responsible for the error was often an attending physician (55.8%), while victims were often White (73.6%), males (55.0%), aged 16-44 years (50.8%). Errors in diagnosis (28.9%) and operative errors (19.4%) were most common. Compared with data from US hospitals, TV series depicted more errors in diagnosis (p<0.001) and fewer operative errors (p<0.001). The most common levels of disability following medical errors were emotional trauma (37.6%) and temporary injury (30.2%). Emotional trauma was significantly overrepresented and temporary injuries were underrepresented (p<0.001). Error was not reported to the victim in 49.2% of events. Conclusion: There were multiple discrepancies between errors depicted on TV and US hospital data. This may lead to viewer fear and anxiety that results in delays in seeking medical care and increased medicolegal cases. Healthcare systems should attempt to reduce the incidence of medical errors and adverse events by ensuring competencies of their providers, instituting methods of risk analysis and prevention, and training providers on methods of proper error disclosure.
Light Intensity Distribution in a Dual-Lamp Photoreactor

Photochemical and photocatalytic reactors are being widely used in the wastewater treatment and water/air purification. One of the popular reactor configurations for water purification is the multiple lamp tubular reactor. The efficiency of purification in a photoreactor is determined by the distribution of UV radiation within the tubular space. In this study, the light intensity distribution in a two-lamp photoreactor has been evaluated using a finite volume scheme (which is essentially a variant of the discrete ordinate model). The irradiated space was divided into a number of finite volumes and angles (directional discretisation). Simulations were performed for both homogenous and heterogenous (with titania catalyst) reactors. Contours of incident radiation and local volumetric rate of energy absorption were plotted and analysed. Model predictions were used to assess the effect of catalyst loading on the light intensity distribution inside various reactor configurations. The optimum value of the distance between lamps in a 2-lamp photoreactor was found to be dependent on the optical properties of the photocatalyst used. Model predictions were found to match-well qualitatively with the published data from the literature.
Evaluation of knowledge, attitude and practice towards corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among second year medical students in post lockdown period: A quick online questionnaire based study

Background: The year 2019–2020 has seen a worldwide pandemic resulting from corona virus disease 2019 (COVID‑19), which can result in illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Hence, this global health crisis of COVID‑19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practice among medical students. Methods: This prospective, web‑based, cross‑sectional study was conducted among 100 undergraduate medical students after obtaining informed consent during first week of August 2020 using a 37-items structured questionnaire based on the Ministry of Health and Family welfare course materials and was distributed using Google forms. All the tests were performed at a significance level of 5%. Results: Overall, the study participants’ knowledge regarding COVID‑19 was satisfactory they have positive attitude and they followed healthy preventive practices also. There was no significant difference found among male and females in knowledge and practice however attitude score was affected by gender. Conclusions: Most medical students had satisfactory knowledge levels, and discrepancies in the perceptions of COVID‑19, thus, with adequate training and counseling undergraduate medical students via structured teaching program, most medical students can act as a potential reservoir to fill the gaps in health‑care services in the hour of need. Keywords: COVID-19, Knowledge, attitude, Practice, Medical students, questionnaire
Phylogenetic patterns and ontogenetic origins of limb length variation in ecologically diverse lacertine lizards

Limb length is intrinsically linked to function and, ultimately, fitness. Thus, it can co-evolve with habitat structure, as exemplified by tropical lizards in highly heterogeneous environments. But does lizard limb length respond in a similar manner during adaptive diversification in temperate zones? Here, we examine variation in habitat preference and limb length in lacertine lizards from the Palaearctic. We tested the following three hypotheses: (1) species of the Lacertini tribe descended from a generalist ancestor and subsequently underwent habitat specialization; (2) specialized ecological roles are associated with relative limb length in extant species; and (3) interspecific differences in limb length emerge in embryonic development. Our comparisons supported an ancestral ‘rocky’ or ‘generalist’ habitat preference, and phenotype–habitat associations were particularly supported when examining size-adjusted forelimb length in 69 species that represented all known Lacertini genera. Moreover, we revealed an elevated interlimb ratio in high-vegetation species, which might be linked to climbing performance in species with relatively longer forelimbs. Furthermore, embryonic limb variation was detected solely against an Eremiadini outgroup species. Instead, hind limb length differences within Lacertini originated in post-hatching ontogeny. The mechanisms that modulate limb growth are likely to be limited in Lacertini, because adaptive morphological change might mirror historical contingency and the ecological context wherein this clade diversified.
Using the Atherogenic Index of Plasma to Estimate the Prevalence of Ischemic Stroke within a General Population in a Rural Area of China

Objective To investigate the relationship between the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and ischemic stroke. Design We collected a range of data from 11,495 residents (aged ≥35 years; 54.28% female) residing in rural areas of northeast China between January and August 2013, including fasting lipid profile and anthropometric parameters. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the correlation between AIP and ischemic stroke. Category-free analysis was used to determine whether AIP enhanced our capacity to estimate ischemic stroke. Results Irrespective of gender, AIP was independently associated with the occurrence of ischemic stroke. The prevalence of ischemic stroke increased significantly from the lowest quartile to the highest quartile (females: 10.5%-48.7%, P < 0.001; males: 22.0%-36.5%, P = 0.08). After adjusting for age, gender, income, education, smoking, drinking, exercise, hypertension, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, atrial fibrillation, and a family history of stroke, we found that for every 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in AIP, there was a 34.8% and 20.9% increase in the prevalence of stroke for females and males, respectively. Curve fitting was also used to evaluate the linear relationship between AIP and the occurrence of ischemic stroke. Category-free analysis indicated that AIP significantly enhanced our ability to estimate ischemic stroke in both females (NRI (95% confidence interval (CI)): 0.188 (0.105-0.270)) and males (NRI (95% CI): 0.175 (0.017-0.333)). Conclusion Analyses detected a significant and positive linear relationship between AIP and the prevalence of ischemic stroke. This relationship was independent of a range of conventional risk factors.
Relational ethics and epistemology: The case for complementary first principles in psychology

In psychology, where a natural science epistemology holds sway, relationships between the researcher and the researched are usually hierarchical and transactional, bound in procedural and legal ethics. This limited view of ethics fails to account for issues of power and privilege, as well as inequalities in economic and sociocultural structures. We argue for a more complete philosophy of science (and practice) consisting of complementary first principles—relational ethics and epistemology. Valuing relational ethics as a first principle means that how knowledge is produced and acted on is complementary in importance with what knowledge is produced. Collaborative relationships grounded in sincerity, reciprocity, and shared purpose become the basis for how psychological knowledge is produced, disseminated, and acted upon. We present two case studies to show how taking action in an ethical manner through relationships formed in the process of doing psychology deepens our conception and practice of psychology as human science.
Evaluation of Atmospheric Aerosol Optical Depth Products at Ultraviolet Bands Derived from MODIS Products

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation plays a significant role in climate, atmospheric chemical processes, and ecosystem balance. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) at UV wavelengths, the UV-AOD, is an important quantity for studying the extinction of UV radiation in the atmosphere. Ground-based UV-AOD observations, such as those from the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET), are limited in spatial coverage. Current space derived UV-AOD from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) or the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), on the other hand, are subject to large errors associated with low resolution, cloud contamination, assumed height of aerosol layer, and low sensitivity to aerosols in the lower troposphere. In this study, a new UV-AOD product is derived for the year 2009 by extrapolating the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectra-radiometer (MODIS) visible bands AOD product (VIS-AOD) to 380 and 340 nm. Results are evaluated against UV-AOD measurements taken at AERONET sites. Over the oceans, four extrapolating methods are investigated by using two to five wavelengths. The best result, which has a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.90 at both wavelengths and root mean square errors (RMSE) of 0.062 and 0.068 at 380 and 340 nm, respectively, is achieved by combining a linear-extrapolation and a second-order polynomial fitting that takes into account the wavelength dependence of the Ångström exponent. Moreover, more than 80% of the data fall within the uncertainty range of ±0.05 ± 0. 20τ. Over land, UV-AOD is extrapolated using the Ångström exponent derived from VIS-AODs at 470 and 660 nm, the only two wavelengths available from the MODIS AOD product. Compared with AERONET observations, the correlation coefficient is about 0.90 at both 380 and 340 nm, while the RMSE increases to 0.152 at 380 nm and 0.174 at 340 nm, due to the larger uncertainty of MODIS AOD over land. With the relatively low biases, this UV-AOD product will be valuable for climate and atmospheric chemistry research. Copyright 2012 American Association for Aerosol Research
How to Facilitate Innovative Behavior and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Evidence From Public Employees in Korea

For decades, scholars and practitioners have paid serious attention to how to facilitate extra-role behaviors of employees. While many studies have been conducted, it is not yet clear what factors facilitate or suppress those behaviors within organizations and how those factors interact with each other. The current research focuses on two extra-role behaviors of employees: innovative behavior and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Both behaviors have been discussed as determinants of individual and organizational performance. Filling the gap of the existing studies, the current research comprehensively considers organizational characteristics, task characteristics, and motivational factors in explaining those behaviors. Integrating two data sets, the 2015 and 2016 Perception of Public Officials Surveys administered by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), we conducted a hierarchical linear model (HLM) analysis to examine the effects of determinants in the Korean context. Based on the multi-level analysis, this research demonstrates the positive influence of autonomy and PSM on both behaviors. Among organizational-level variables, cooperative culture increases the innovative behavior, whereas the lack of organizational support decreases it. We provide several managerial implications based on the findings.