Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Peer Education on Deaf Secondary School Students' HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes and Sexual Behaviour

This study evaluated the effect of an AIDS education program on deaf secondary school students' knowledge, attitude and perceived susceptibility to AIDS using peer education. Two secondary schools matched for ownership (government), composition (mixture of hearing and deaf) and teaching arrangement (separate teaching of deaf students using sign language) were used, and each school was randomly allocated the intervention or control status. All students completed a questionnaire on AIDS at baseline and post-intervention. Following baseline, volunteers from the intervention group received four weeks training as peer educators, after which they provided HIV/AIDS information to their peers on one-to-one basis and in group, using a variety of approaches for a period of eight months, while the control subjects did not. Pre-post group differential scores for knowledge of the causes, modes of transmission and methods of prevention of AIDS among intervention group compared with the control group were significant (p (Afr J Reprod Health 2000; 4[2]: 93–103) Resume L'effet de l'education de pairs sur la connaissance, les attitudes et le comportement sexuels des etudiants secondaires sourds par rapport au VIH/SIDA. L'etude a evalue l'effet qu'un programme d'education sur du SIDA a sur la connaissance, les attitudes et la susceptibilite apercue des etudiants secondaires sourds vis-a-vis le SIDA. L'etude a ete faite a l'aide de l'education de pairs. On s'est servi de deux ecoles considerees comme pareilles du point de vue de la propriete (elles appartiennent au gouvernment), de la composition (melange des etudiants sourds et les etudiants normaux) et la modalite de l'enseignement (les etudiants sourds sont enseignes a part a l'aide du langage par signe). Chaque ecole a ete assignee au hasard le statut d'intervention ou de temoins. Tous les etudiants ont rempli un questionnaire sur le SIDA a la ligne de base et a la poste-intervention. Suivant la ligne de base, des volontaires du groupe d'intervention ont beneficie d' une formation de quatre semaines comme formateurs de pairs apres quoi ils ont fourni des renseignements sur le VIH/SIDA a leurs pairs de maniere univoque et en groupe, a l'aide des approches diverses pendant huit mois, tandis que les sujets temoins n'en ont pas beneficie. Les cotations differentielles du groupe pre-post pour la connaissance des causes, la maniere de transmission et les methodes de prevention du SIDA au sein du groupe d'intervention etaient significatives par rapport au groupe temoin (P (Rev Afr Sante Reprod 2000; 4[2]: 93–103) Key Words : HIV/AIDS, deaf, peer education, secondary school students, knowledge, attitude, behaviour
Development of an Artificial Diet for Rearing Conogethes punctiferalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Abstract Conogethes punctiferalis (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is one of the most damaging Lepidoptera, attacking fruit in the temperate and tropical regions of Asia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. Effective methods of control will likely remain limited until further physiological and ecological studies can be conducted, many of which will require effective means of rearing of the insect in the laboratory. To that end, this study was undertaken to develop and assess four meridic diets for rearing C. punctiferalis. The four diets differed in the amounts of chestnut meal, corn meal, and soybean meal. The diet containing 30 g chestnut meal, 70 g corn meal, and 70 g soybean meal per 700-ml diet yielded a larval survival rate of 94.5%, a generation developmental time of 42.4 d, mean pupal weights of 73.6 mg for males and 77.3 mg for females, and an adult fecundity rate of 97.9 eggs/female. Performance on this diet compared favorably with rearing on fresh corn.
Post-hatching environment contributes greatly to phenotypic variation between two populations of the Australian garden skink, Lampropholis guichenoti

Abstract While recent experimental work on a variety of reptile species has demonstrated that incubation temperature influences hatchling phenotypes, the biological significance of such phenotypic variation remains unclear. Incubation temperature may exert significant long-term phenotypic effects. Alternatively, such influences may be temporary, or negligible relative to effects induced by genetic factors, or by the environmental conditions experienced after hatching. Even if incubation temperature exerts long-term effects on phenotype, this might occur indirectly (by influencing hatching dates) rather than by direct modifications of developmental processes. We quantified the influences of the source population, incubation temperature and rearing environment, on the phenotype of the Australian garden skink ( Lampropholis guichenoti ) from populations that differ in nest temperature and phenotype. Interpopulation differences in the phenotypes of young lizards were found to be a product of all three factors. However, the long-term effects of both population and incubation temperature operated indirectly (through variation in the date of hatching) rather than directly (through genetic or developmental factors). That is, once all temporal effects were removed, the only discernible influence on juvenile phenotypes was their rearing environment. Thus, some of the most important influences on lizard phenotypes may operate via modifications of hatching date.
Tolerability of large-dose intravenous levobupivacaine in sheep.

UNLABELLED In preclinical pharmacological studies of levobupivacaine (S-bupivacaine), we determined its tolerability, cardiovascular actions, and pharmacokinetics, and we estimated its margin of safety compared with bupivacaine in conscious sheep. Levobupivacaine HCl. H(2)O was infused IV for 3 min into 10 previously instrumented ewes (approximately 50 kg). On subsequent days, the doses were increased by 50 mg from 200 or 250 mg until fatality occurred. All doses produced convulsions, QRS widening, and cardiac arrhythmias. With incremental doses, 4 of 4 animals survived 200 mg, 7 of 10 survived 250 mg, 3 of 7 survived 300 mg, but 0 of 3 survived 350 mg. Death resulted from sudden onset ventricular fibrillation (n = 3, within 2-3 min), electromechanical dissociation-pump failure (n = 5, within 4-5 min), or ventricular tachycardia-induced cardiac insufficiency (n = 2, >10 min). The estimated fatal dose (mean +/- SD) was 277 +/- 51 mg for levobupivacaine (compared with 156 +/- 31 mg found previously for bupivacaine). Pharmacokinetic analysis indicated initial and total distribution volumes = 4.5 (+/-1.6) and 97 (+/-22) L, total clearance = 1.7 (+/-0.4) L/min, and slow half life = 70 (+/-29) min; these values did not differ from those found previously with smaller doses. Heart and brain tissue levobupivacaine concentrations were approximately 3 times those in arterial blood. The doses of levobupivacaine survived were larger than found previously for bupivacaine, indicating its greater margin of safety. IMPLICATIONS Levobupivacaine produced fatal cardiac toxicity at doses significantly greater than those found in previous studies with bupivacaine. As the two drugs have similar potency for producing clinical nerve blocks, the data imply that levobupivacaine should provide a safer alternative to bupivacaine in practice.
A Sampling Approach to Biases in Conditional Probability Judgments: Beyond Baserate-Neglect and Statistical Format

Conditional probability judgments of rare events are often inflated when some meaningful relation exists between the condition and the low-baserate event. While traditional explanations assume that human judgments are generally insensitive to statistical baserates, more recent evidence shows much better performance when the problems are presented in natural frequency (as opposed to probability) formats and when the conditions refer to natural categories. The theory advanced here suggests a different explanation. Rather than postulating an a priori advantage of natural formats or categories, we emphasize sampling decisions as a key to understanding biased probability judgments. Experiment 1 shows that the seeming advantage of frequencies over probabilities is confined to conditions in which probabilities are scaled with reference to unequal subsamples. In Experiment 2, an active information search paradigm is employed that always provides a natural frequency format. When sampling by the predictor condition, the conditional probability to be estimated, p(criterion/ predictor), is conserved in the samples and the resulting judgments are quite accurate. However, when sampling by the criterion, the low-baserate event is strongly overrepresented in the samples. This sampling bias is even stronger than the resulting judgment bias. In general, judgments reflect the statistics of the actually acquired samples rather accurately, but judges do not understand the logical constraints imposed by their own sampling. This interpretation is corroborated in Experiment 3, where judges can freely choose between predictor sampling and criterion sampling, and in Experiment 4 using direct evaluations of the appropriateness of different sampling procedures.
Thermosoftening treatment of the nasotracheal tube before intubation can reduce epistaxis and nasal damage.

UNLABELLED We evaluated whether a thermosoftening treatment with warm saline of a nasotracheal preformed tube can improve navigability through the nasal passageways and reduce epistaxis and nasal damage. A total of 150 patients were randomly allocated to three groups: Group I (untreated tube group, n = 50), Group II (35 degrees C treated tube group, n = 50), and Group III (45 degrees C treated tube group, n = 50). In Groups II and III, the tubes were softened at 35 +/- 2 degrees C and 45 +/- 2 degrees C with warm saline, respectively. In Group I the tube was prepared at room temperature (25 +/- 2 degrees C). The incidence of epistaxis and nasal damage in Groups II and III was significantly less than that of Group I (P: < 0.05). Despite the more frequent incidence of smooth passage in Group III, no statistical difference was found among the groups. Logistic regression analysis also confirmed that epistaxis was more likely to be reduced when the tube had been thermosoftened (odds ratio = 1.46, 95% confidence interval = 1.02, 2.11). We conclude that simple thermosoftening treatment of the nasotracheal tube with warm saline helps to reduce epistaxis and nasal damage. IMPLICATIONS Thermosoftening treatment of a nasotracheal tube with warm saline before intubation can effectively reduce epistaxis and nasal damage. This technique is safe, easy, and suitable for all types of tubes and does not require additional implements.
A Measurement of the Hubble Constant Using Gravitational Waves from the Binary Merger GW190814

We present a test of the statistical method introduced by Bernard F. Shutz in 1986 using only gravitational waves to infer the Hubble constant (H0) from GW190814, the first high-probability neutron-star–black hole (NS–BH) merger candidate detected by the Laser Interferometer gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo interferometer. We apply a baseline test of this method to the binary neutron star (BNS) merger GW170817 and find km s−1 Mpc−1 (maximum a posteriori and 68.3% highest density posterior interval) for a galaxy B-band luminosity threshold of with a correction for catalog incompleteness. Repeating the calculation for GW190814, we obtain km s−1 Mpc−1 and km s−1 Mpc−1 for and , respectively. Combining the posteriors for both events yields km s−1 Mpc−1, demonstrating the improvement on constraints when using multiple gravitational-wave events. We also confirm the results of other works that adopt this method, showing that increasing the L B threshold enhances the posterior structure and slightly shifts the distribution’s peak to higher H0 values.We repeat the joint inference using the low-spin PhenomPNRT and the newly available combined (SEOBNRv4PHM + IMRPhenomPv3HM) posterior samples for GW170817 and GW190814, respectively, achieving a tighter constraint of km s−1 Mpc−1.
Empirical variance minimization with applications in variance reduction and optimal control

We study the problem of empirical minimization for variance-type functionals over functional classes. Sharp non-asymptotic bounds for the excess variance are derived under mild conditions. In particular, it is shown that under some restrictions imposed on the functional class fast convergence rates can be achieved including the optimal non-parametric rates for expressive classes in the non-Donsker regime under some additional assumptions. Our main applications include variance reduction and optimal control.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE MULTIPLICATION OF BACTERIA IN DIFFERENT VOLUMES OF STORED SEA WATER AND THE INFLUENCE OF OXYGEN TENSION AND SOLID SURFACES

The storage of sea water is accompanied by a great increase in the number of bacteria and a decrease in bacterial species.Appreciably more bacteria per cc. appear in small volumes of sea water than in large volumes of identical water.Although the oxygen content of sea water is a factor which influences the activity of bacteria, it does not account for the denser bacterial populations which appear in the smaller volumes.The favorable influence of small volumes is attributed to the contact of the water with the larger solid surface area in the small receptacles. Between ten and a hundred million bacteria per cc. have been demonstrated in sea water stored in sand which presents an enormous surface area whereas less than three hundred thousand bacteria per cc. appearing similar water stored in 10-liter bottles presenting relatively little surface area.The beneficial effect of small volumes and their large surface areas occurs only in dilute nutrient solutions. Upon the addition of 10 to 100 mgm. of organic ma.
Towards a CFSG-free diameter bound for $\mathrm{Alt}(n)$

Helfgott and Seress have proved the existence of a quasipolynomial upper bound on the diameter of $\mathrm{Alt}(n)$. In this paper, we walk partway towards removing the dependence on CFSG from that result, by using the algorithm solving the string isomorphism problem (due to Babai) in its CFSG-free version (due to Babai and Pyber): the result contained in here relies on the analysis of Babai's algorithm contained in Dona, based in turn on Helfgott. Conditional on a conjecture about certain products of small-indexed subgroups (Conjecture 4.5), we provide a CFSG-free proof of a bound on the diameter of $\mathrm{Alt}(n)$ that is better than the already existing CFSG-free results in the literature. In fact, the same bound holds for all transitive permutation subgroups $G\leq\mathrm{Sym}(n)$. The paper is part of the author's doctoral thesis.
Does the type of judgement required modulate cue competition

According to the comparator process hypothesis (Matute, Arcediano, & Miller, 1996), cue competition in the learning of between-events relationships arises if the judgement required involves a comparison between the probability of the outcome given the target cue and the probability of the outcome given the competing cue. Alternatively, other associative accounts (the Rescorla-Wagner model: Rescorla & Wagner, 1972) conceive cue competition as a learning deficit affecting the target cue-outcome association. Consequently, the comparator process hypothesis predicts that cue competition occurs in inference judgements but not in contiguity ones, for only the first type of judgement implicitly involves such a comparison. On the other hand, the Rescorla-Wagner model predicts cue competition in both inference and contiguity judgements, because it establishes no relevant role for the type of judgement in producing cue competition. In Experiments 1 and 2 we manipulated the relative validity of cues and the type of question (inference vs. contiguity) in a predictive learning task. In both experiments we found a cue competition effect, but no interaction between the relative validity of cues and the type of question, suggesting that the Rescorla-Wagner theory suffices to explain cue competition.
Implicit Memory for Music in Alzheimer's Disease

Short, unfamiliar melodies were presented to young and older adults and to Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in an implicit and an explicit memory task. The explicit task was yes-no recognition, and the implicit task was pleasantness ratings, in which memory was shown by higher ratings for old versus new melodies (the mere exposure effect). Young adults showed retention of the melodies in both tasks. Older adults showed little explicit memory but did show the mere exposure effect. The AD patients showed neither. The authors considered and rejected several artifactual reasons for this null effect in the context of the many studies that have shown implicit memory among AD patients. As the previous studies have almost always used the visual modality for presentation, they speculate that auditory presentation, especially of nonverbal material, may be compromised in AD because of neural degeneration in auditory areas in the temporal lobes.
First report of root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne arenaria and M. hapla (Nemata: Meloidogynidae) from pepino in Turkey

A survey was conducted during 2010-2011 to investigate the root-knot nematode species occurring in pepino (Solanum muricatum Aiton) (Solanaceae) growing areas in Ordu and Samsun provinces, in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. A moderate to severe root-knot infection was observed. Microscopic examination of galled roots revealed the presence of mature females. Extracted females were identified to the species level based on available perineal patterns, morphology, esterase (Est) phenotypes in PAGE (Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis) and the identification confirmed molecularly. The root-knot nematode from Ordu area was identified as Meloidogyne hapla by the exact size of 440 bp amplicons by JMV hapla scar primer. The other Meloidogyne species from Samsun area was identified as M. arenaria based on the size, 420 bp, amplified by M. arenaria SCAR primer. Meloidogyne arenaria and M. hapla are reported for the first time on pepino in Turkey.
The Disruptive Effects of Estrogen Removal Before Puberty on Risk for Binge Eating in Female Rats

Recent research suggests that estrogen is protective against binge eating in adult females and that pubertal estrogen may be critical for these effects. Nonetheless, to date, no study has examined the role of pubertal estrogen in adult binge-eating phenotypes in females, potentially because of difficulties experimentally manipulating estrogen in humans to examine causal effects. We used a novel animal model to examine whether estrogen removal before puberty (via prepubertal ovariectomy, or P-OVX) increased rates of binge-eating-prone (BEP) phenotypes in adulthood in female rats. Seventy-seven P-OVX rats and 79 intact rats were followed from prepuberty into adulthood and phenotyped for BEP status in adulthood. Results showed significantly increased rates (~2–8 times higher) of adult BEP phenotypes in P-OVX compared with intact rats. Findings confirm that estrogen removal substantially increases later risk for binge eating in females, potentially by disrupting typical adolescent brain development.
Do Suicidal Behaviors Increase the Capability for Suicide? A Longitudinal Pretest–Posttest Study of More Than 1,000 High-Risk Individuals

Despite the prominence of the capability-for-suicide construct in suicide research, fundamental hypotheses about its nature and development remain largely untested. In this study, we tested the primary mechanism proposed to account for its development: habituation to painful or provocative events. More than a thousand adults were recruited worldwide from online suicide, self-injury, and mental health web forums and subsequently followed for 28 days. Analyses examined the experiences purported to have the strongest effects: suicidal and nonsuicidal-self-injurious behaviors. Capability was measured explicitly and implicitly. Multiple mediation was used to test whether changes in capability between baseline and 28-day follow-up were accounted for by exposure to self-injurious behaviors that occurred over the intervening time interval. Results failed to support the habituation hypothesis, at least as studied within the methodological constraints of this study. Post hoc power analyses indicated ample power to detect small effects. Results raise questions about the validity of the habituation hypothesis.
Flagellar kinematics reveals the role of environment in shaping sperm motility

Swimming spermatozoa from diverse organisms often have very similar morphologies, yet different motilities as a result of differences in the flagellar waveforms used for propulsion. The origin of these differences has remained largely unknown. Using high-speed video microscopy and mathematical analysis of flagellar shape dynamics, we quantitatively compare sperm flagellar waveforms from marine invertebrates to humans by means of a novel phylokinematic tree. This new approach revealed that genetically dissimilar sperm can exhibit strikingly similar flagellar waveforms and identifies two dominant flagellar waveforms among the deuterostomes studied here, corresponding to internal and external fertilizers. The phylokinematic tree shows marked discordance from the phylogenetic tree, indicating that physical properties of the fluid environment, more than genetic relatedness, act as an important selective pressure in shaping the evolution of sperm motility. More broadly, this work provides a physical axis to complement morphological and genetic studies to understand evolutionary relationships.
Transcriptome Sequencing and Development of Novel Genic SSR Markers From Pistacia vera L.

In this study, we aimed to develop novel genic simple sequence repeat (eSSR) markers and to study phylogenetic relationship among Pistacia species. Transcriptome sequencing was performed in different tissues of Siirt and Atl cultivars of pistachio (Pistacia vera). A total of 37.5-Gb data were used in the assembly. The number of total contigs and unigenes was calculated as 98,831, and the length of N50 was 1,333 bp after assembly. A total of 14,308 dinucleotide, trinucleotide, tetranucleotide, pentanucleotide, and hexanucleotide SSR motifs (4–17) were detected, and the most abundant SSR repeat types were trinucleotide (29.54%), dinucleotide (24.06%), hexanucleotide (20.67%), pentanucleotide (18.88%), and tetranucleotide (6.85%), respectively. Overall 250 primer pairs were designed randomly and tested in eight Pistacia species for amplification. Of them, 233 were generated polymerase chain reaction products in at least one of the Pistacia species. A total of 55 primer pairs that had amplifications in all tested Pistacia species were used to characterize 11 P. vera cultivars and 78 wild Pistacia genotypes belonging to nine Pistacia species (P. khinjuk, P. eurycarpa, P. atlantica, P. mutica, P. integerrima, P. chinensis, P. terebinthus, P. palaestina, and P. lentiscus). A total of 434 alleles were generated from 55 polymorphic eSSR loci with an average of 7.89 alleles per locus. The mean number of effective allele was 3.40 per locus. Polymorphism information content was 0.61, whereas observed (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He) values were 0.39 and 0.65, respectively. UPGMA (unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages) and STRUCTURE analysis divided 89 Pistacia genotypes into seven populations. The closest species to P. vera was P. khinjuk. P. eurycarpa was closer P. atlantica than P. khinjuk. P. atlantica–P. mutica and P. terebinthus–P. palaestina pairs of species were not clearly separated from each other, and they were suggested as the same species. The present study demonstrated that eSSR markers can be used in the characterization and phylogenetic analysis of Pistacia species and cultivars, as well as genetic linkage mapping and QTL (quantitative trait locus) analysis.