Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of Low Zinc Concentration and Hyperleptinemia with Overweight and Insulin Resistance in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Women

Background & Objective: It has been reported that low concentration of zinc in serum is associated with insulin resistance (IR), also appears to be a relationship between insulin and leptin. In this study the possibility of increased leptin concentration and zinc deficiency was evaluated. Their relationship with overweight and IR was also investigated in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Materials & Methods: In this case-control study, 104 PCOS cases and 99 healthy individuals as control were included. Blood specimens were collected from participants post overnight fasting period; zinc concentrations (spectrophotometry method), leptin (ELISA method), insulin (ECLIA method), lipid profiles and glucose were measured with enzymatic method. The homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index determined the IR level. Results: Zinc level was 87.20 ± 11.32 μg/dl in PCOS group, and 113.68 ± 8. 31μg/dl in control group. Leptin concentration was 23.06 ± 3.33 ng/mL and 19.37 ± 3.34 ng/mL, and IR was 2.37 ± 0.83 and 1.45 ± 0.74 in case and control groups, respectively (all p<0.001). Zinc had marked negative correlation with leptin, insulin, and IR (p<0.001). According to the subject, which waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) parameters were confounding factors, hyperleptinemia and zinc decrement significantly affected PCOS subjects. In contrast, only zinc decrement had an association with PCOS, after eliminating the confounding factors (OR: 0.782, p<0.001). Conclusion: Zinc reduction is more effective on PCOS than hyperleptinemia. Hyperleptinemia has association with waist circumference and BMI; it can also affect PCOS. Zinc deficiency is a more effective factor than an increase in leptin concentration in women with PCOS.
Ophthalmic infections caused by Aspergillus nidulans: A case series and short review of literature

Background and Purpose: Although Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus are more commonly implicated with ocular infections; there are some saprophytic species, such as Aspergillus nidulans (A. nidulans) which may occasionally lead to serious ocular infections. There is a paucity of data on ocular infections caused by A. nidulans. We report a case series of three ophthalmic infections caused by A. nidulans from a tertiary care eye center in North India. Case report: Three cases of ophthalmic infections, including two cases of keratitis and one case of recurrent endophthalmitis caused by A. nidulans were diagnosed at the ocular microbiology section of a tertiary eye care center. One case of keratitis had a history of ophthalmic surgery and underlying diabetes mellitus. The case of recurrent endophthalmitis had undergone cataract surgery in the recent past. Diminution of vision was the most common presenting feature in all three cases. The microbiological diagnosis was made by conventional microscopy and culture techniques. Conclusion: This case series illustrates the potential of uncommon fungal pathogens, such as A. nidulans to cause devastating ocular infections and has an emphasis on the importance of timely microbiological diagnosis in the management of such cases.
Iron Status in Patients With Chronic Left Ventricular Systolic Failure

Background: Heart failure is one of the most important public health problems with an increasing prevalence and identifying its contributing factors is imperative. This study was conducted to evaluate the iron status in patients with chronic systolic heart failure in Shahid Mohammadi Hospital of Bandar Abbas. Materials and Methods: A total of 80 patients with chronic left ventricular failure participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected using a researcher developed checklist containing demographic details and echocardiographic data (left ventricular ejection fraction, LVEF%). Additionally, the frequency and distribution of iron status were measured in the research population. Results: The results showed that the prevalence of anemia was significantly high in patients with chronic heart failure (77.3%). The prevalence of iron deficiency (ID) was 77.33% based on iron level (<60 μg/dL), and it was 82.66% based on the mean ferritin level (ferritin<100, or ferritin of 100 to 299 ng/mL, and transferrin saturation<20%). The prevalence of total iron binding capacity (TIBC)>360 μg/dL was 26.66%, and the prevalence of mean corpuscular volume (MCV)<80 fL was 60%. Age less than 60 years, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) less than 60, and body mass index (BMI) less than 18.5 were also found to increase the risk of anemia in these patients. Conclusion: Our study showed that the prevalence of anemia was significantly high in patients with chronic heart failure. Due to the high prevalence of anemia in patients with chronic systolic heart failure and the impact of anemia on the prognosis of the disease in these patients, effective treatment is necessary in high-risk patients to reduce the severity of their disease, compensate for their heart failure, and reduce their mortality.
Asymmetric co-integration relationship among coal production, real estate development, and CO2 emissions in China

ABSTRACT The real estate industry is associated with coal production and CO2 emissions. The nonlinear ARDL (AutoRegressive Distributed Lag) co-integration method was used to analyze the effects of long-term and short-term real estate development and CO2 emissions on coal production. The results showed that: (1) The positive and negative impacts of CO2 emissions on coal production were similar in the long. Moreover, CO2 emissions negatively affected coal production; (2) In the long run, the positive impact of real estate development on coal production is greater than the negative impact, though it is not significant. In the short term, the negative shock of real estate effectively reduced coal production; (3) The impact of coal production on CO2 emissions is symmetric in both the long and short term. Therefore, in the future, real estate should develop moderately. In addition, lessening coal production demand is crucial to ensure coal production reduction and carbon neutrality.
Reconciling biodiversity conservation and flood risk reduction: The new strategy for freshwater protected areas

Natural disaster risk reduction (DRR) is becoming a more important function of protected area (PAs) for current and future global warming. However, biodiversity conservation and DRR have been handled separately and their interrelationship has not been explicitly addressed. This is mainly because, due of prevailing strategies and criteria for PA placement, a large proportion of PAs are currently located far from human‐occupied areas, and habitats in human‐occupied areas have been largely ignored as potential sites for conservation despite their high biodiversity. If intensely developed lowland areas with high flooding risk overlap with important sites for biodiversity conservation, it would be reasonable to try to harmonize biodiversity conservation and human development in human‐inhabited lowland areas. Here, we examined whether extant PAs can conserve macroinvertebrate and freshwater fish biodiversity and whether human‐inhabited lowland flood risk management sites might be suitable to designate as freshwater protected areas (FPAs).
Is there any financial kuznets curve in Jordan? a structural time series analysis

Abstract This paper investigates the notion of the financial Kuznets curve in an emerging country—Jordan. Both variants of the financial Kuznets curve (growth financial Kuznets curve and inequality financial Kuznets curve) have been examined using different time series methodologies applying to a sample period from 1993 to 2017. The unobserved components model results provide evidence for both variants of the financial Kuznets curve when using private credit to GDP as a proxy for financial-sector development. Moreover, non-nested model tests suggest that financial intermediaries are relatively more important than stock markets for income inequality. Overall, this paper provides evidence for the financial Kuznets curve in emerging countries. Moreover, it provides new insights for policymakers in Jordan in their challenge to boost economic growth and decelerate income inequality, by reversing the trend towards the concentration of power in the financial sector and creating public-financial institutions that provide affordable credit to small businesses and households.
MOOCs as disruptive technologies: strategies for enhancing the learner experience and quality of MOOCs Los MOOC como tecnologías disruptivas: estrategias para mejorar la experiencia de aprendizaje y la calidad de los MOOC.

This chapter considers the pedagogies associated with different types of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It argues that the current discourse around the concept of xMOOCs (primarily based around interaction with content and essentially adopting a behaviourist learning approach), and cMOOCs (which focus on harnessing the power of social media and interaction with peers, adopting a connectivist learning approach), is an inadequate way of describing the variety of MOOCs and the ways in which learners engage with them. It will provide a brief history of the emergence of MOOCs and the key stakeholders. It will introduce an alternative means of categorising MOOCs, based on their key characteristics. It will then describe the 7Cs of Learning Design framework, which can be used to design more pedagogically informed MOOCs, which enhances the learner experience and ensure quality assurance.
The Moderating Role of Context: Relationships between Individual Behaviors and Social Networks

ABSTRACT A social context can be viewed as an entity or unit around which a group of individuals organize their activities and interactions. Social contexts take such diverse forms as families, dwelling places, neighborhoods, classrooms, schools, workplaces, voluntary organizations, and sociocultural events or milieus. Understanding social contexts is essential for the study of individual behaviors, social networks, and the relationships between the two. Contexts shape individual behaviors by providing an avenue for non-dyadic conformity and socialization processes. The co-participation within a context affects personal relationships by acting as a focus for tie formation. Where participation in particular contexts confers status, this effect may also lead to differences in popularity within interpersonal networks. Social contexts may further play a moderating role in within-network influence and selection processes, providing circumstances that either amplify or suppress these effects. In this paper we investigate the joint role of co-participation via social contexts and dyadic interaction in shaping and being shaped by individual behaviors with the context of a U.S. high school. Implications for future study of social contexts are suggested.
Linguistic Imperialism and Standard Language Ideology in an English Textbook Used in China

An increasing number of studies have demonstrated how language textbooks serve as an arena for ideological reproduction. Following the theory of language ideology, this paper aims to examine the ideological representation of English in a textbook targeting Chinese university students in China. Data were subjected to content analysis and critical discourse analysis regarding their reference to the embodied identity options, images, case studies, cultural notes, exercises, dialogues, and reading passages in the textbook. Findings reveals that by highlighting the dominant position of English and simplifying the multilingual landscape, the textbook tends to place English at the center of prominence. The dominance of English is further entrenched by expressions of the values of speaking Standard English. It is argued that the representation of speaking Standard English ideology can be understood as the global penetration of linguistic imperialism. Furthermore, the textbook also reproduces biased gender and class representation of social characters, which might exacerbate learners’ prejudice towards certain groups on the basis of their understandings of real-life power relations. It is hoped that the study can shed some lights on providing English language learners with a more diversified textbooks for cultivating their language awareness and intercultural competence.
Creative Self-efficacy, Political Decision-making, and Offline and Online Political Participation

Creativity plays an important role in politics in both online and offline spaces. Creative forms of political participation have long been tools of disenfranchised groups in their efforts to influence the government. Further, the rise of online creative participatory cultures has afforded new opportunities for civic and political involvement. Creative forms of participatory politics have the potential to facilitate exposure to ideas, foster dialogues, influence agendas and serve as ways to back talk authority. While many avenues for political involvement are creative, the role creativity may play in citizens’ political engagement is not well understood. This study examined the role of creative self-efficacy in political engagement and civic outcomes. Creative self-efficacy represents a belief in one’s ability to produce creative outcomes. A survey of participants living in Australia, South Korea, the Philippines and the USA (USA, Hawaii and Guam) (N = 807) was conducted. Findings suggest that creative self-efficacy was positively associated with political efficacy and scepticism and not associated with apathy. Creative self-efficacy was indirectly associated with offline and online political participation through political efficacy. The implications of these findings are discussed in context of the role creative self-efficacy may play in impacting political outcomes.
A tracer study on challenges affecting the use of ICT in pre-tertiary school administration in Ghana: Administrators’ perspective

Abstract There is a national consultation on how ICTs influences Ghana’s school administration and curriculum instruction. For this vision to be actualized, the researcher envisaged that a tracer study on the challenges affecting the use of ICTs in pre-tertiary school administration would provide first-hand information to policymakers. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and employed the census survey to include 60 public Senior High School administrators in the Birim Central Municipality. The data collection instrument was a close-ended questionnaire with an obtained Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α) of 0.84. The study revealed that pre-tertiary school administrators were satisfied with the accessibility to computers and other hardware equipment but were dissatisfied with the accessibility of software, photocopier, and internet accessibility for administrative works. Furthermore, the institutional barriers (inadequate facilities to support full integration of ICTs and non-inclusion of ICT programs in administrators’ training on curriculum delivery) were the obstacles affecting the use of technological resources in the administration and management of schools. Ghana Education Service accepts criticisms of identified challenges on ICT integration from school administrators to inform proper planning and prompt responses for the successful implementation of ICs in schools.
Plant density of lupine (Lupinus albus L.) intercropping with tef [Eragrostis tef (zucc.) trotter] in additive design in the highlands of Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract Intercropping of cereals and legumes is common in Ethiopia. However, intercropping of lupine with tef is a new practice in Northwestern Ethiopia’s tef-based cropping system. In the 2016 and 2017 main cropping seasons, a field experiment was conducted in Gozamin District, East Gojjam Zone, to assess the effect of plant density of lupine intercropping with tef on the productivity of tef fields. The two experimental factors were two inter-row spacings (20 and 40 cm) and three intra-row spacings (10, 15, and 20 cm) of lupine intercropped with tef, and their factorial combination was studied using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The highest tef grain yield (1.80 t ha−1) was recorded from 40 and 20 cm inter- and intra-row spacing of lupine intercropped with tef, respectively. The highest lupine yield (2.74 t ha−1) was recorded from sole cropping. A total of 40 and 15 cm inter- and intra-row spacing of lupine intercropped with tef improved tef equivalent yield (2.32 t ha−1), area time equivalent ratio (1.09), actual yield loss (0.87), monetary advantage index (396.2 USD), net benefit (2479.5 USD ha−1), and marginal rate of return (MRR) (682%). Among all planting densities, 40 and 15 cm inter- and intra-row spacing of lupine were the most profitable and had the highest yield advantage based on equivalent yield and other economic benefits. To maximize the productivity of tef fields, 40 cm of inter- and 15 cm of intra-row spacing of lupine intercropping with tef was recommended.
Clinical Presentations of Suspected and Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in Shahroud, Iran

Background & Objective: COVID-19 is a serious disease with different symptoms and risk factors infecting and killing many people around the world. This study was performed to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 suspects referred to the hospitals and coronavirus treatment centers of Shahroud, Iran. Materials & Methods: Upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in Shahroud, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences launched a project to systematically record the demographic, clinical, and medical data of all suspects referred to the Corona Center. In this study, the data of 3945 suspected people collected during 5 months were analyzed. The RT-PCR test was used as the criterion for diagnosing the disease. Results: Among 3945 suspected cases, 24.4% had positive RT-PCR test. The mean age of confirmed cases was 52.16 years. Dry cough and fever in addition to anorexia were reported as the most common symptoms. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that people over 60 years with heart disease reduce the risk, while people over 60 years, diabetics, and obese people increase the risk of infection. Conclusion: These results necessitate further lines of research into different symptoms and risk factors to help identify COVID-19 cases earlier and start faster treatment. © 2022, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services. All rights reserved.
University of Birmingham Measurements of the Higgs boson production and decay rates and coupling strengths using pp collision data at s=7 and 8 TeV in the ATLAS experiment

Combined analyses of the Higgs boson production and decay rates as well as its coupling strengths to vector bosons and fermions are presented. The combinations include the results of the analyses of the H → γ γ, Z Z∗, WW ∗, Zγ, bb̄, ττ and μμ decay modes, and the constraints on the associated production with a pair of top quarks and on the off-shell coupling strengths of the Higgs boson. The results are based on the LHC proton-proton collision datasets, with integrated luminosities of up to 4.7 fb−1 at √ s = 7 TeV and 20.3 fb−1 at √s = 8 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2011 and 2012. Combining all production modes and decay channels, the measured signal yield, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, is 1.18+0.15 −0.14. The observed Higgs boson production and decay rates are interpreted in a leading-order coupling framework, exploring a wide range of benchmark coupling models both with and without assumptions on the Higgs boson width and on the Standard Model particle content in loop processes. The data are found to be compatible with the Standard Model expectations for a Higgs boson at a mass of 125.36 GeV for all models considered.
Social Behavior Health and Depression, Anxiety, and Religious Life : A Search for Mediators

We examine several potential mechanisms linking religious involvement to depressive symptoms, major depression, and anxiety. Logistic and OLS regression estimations test five sets of potential psychosocial religion mediators: perceived attitudes toward and motivations for attendance; positive and negative religious coping; religious attitudes, beliefs, and spirituality; congregational support and criticism; and interpersonal and self-forgiveness. Compared to attending services less than once a month or never, attending services once a week but no more is associated with fewer depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Hypothesized mediators, including meaning, interpersonal and self-forgiveness, congregational criticism, social attendance beliefs, and negative coping are independently associated with one or more mental health outcomes.
Performance of evening street markets of agri-food products in Morogoro municipality, Tanzania

Résumé The street food trade is a growing sector in many developing countries today. Street foods have recently begun to attract the attention of governments and various international agencies because one of the features of urbanization in developing countries has been a proliferation of the street food trade. For long, there was a lacuna in the studies of urban street food. Street food was considered as snacks offered by family enterprises to survive and, no further attention was paid to it. The present study showed that the market structure for both snack-meals and fresh fruits were competitive, with high concentration indices. In addition, gender product diversification and type of product had a significant (P<0.05) positive effect on the sellers’ profit. Snack-meals and fresh fruit sellers in the town centre earned more profit per day compared to sellers in the periphery. In this study, street evening marketing in Morogoro municipality was found to be profitable and competitive, with limited barriers to market entry. We recommend enhancing the operational efficiency of evening street agri-food markets and formalisation of the operations by the municipal council through allocation of hygienic premises, provision of business permits and facilitation of formation of sellers’ associations to promote growth and credit worthiness of the evening agri-food street markets.
DECOMPOSIÇÃO DA MATÉRIA VEGETAL NOS ECOSSISTEMAS DE CERRADO

Decomposition of plant litter is a crucial process in the carbon and nutrient cycling in all ecosystems, but our understanding of drivers of this process in cerrado ecosystems is limited. We determined the decomposition rate (k) and the stabilization factor (S), in areas of cerrado sensu stricto and palm swamp (vereda) in Bonito de Minas, Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil, that differ distinctly in environmental conditions. We used the standardized Tea Bag Index method (TBI), characterized soil parameters, and microbial activity. We found higher decomposition rates in the palm swamp when compared to cerrado sensu stricto, possibly due to higher soil temperature and humidity conditions and higher microbial biomass. This could imply that palm swamps play an important role in the dynamics of the decomposition in the Cerrado, thus enabling a faster return of nutrients to soil and plants.