Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Correlation of Alzheimer’s Dementia Markers

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease remains a major cause of morbidity, mortality and dependency in older patients with dementia. With increasing age in older population and dementia in western hemisphere, an inexpensive and unified modality for early diagnosis of AD is of utmost importance. Methods: We sought to investigate single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging of the brain as a less expensive modality in a prospective single blinded study in a cohort with diagnosis of probable Alzheimer’s dementia. Patients’ demographics, family history, Mini Mental Status Exam, brain imaging, biomarkers such as Tau, Amyloid beta protein, and Apo E genotype were obtained and analyzed. We tested different possible correlations models for association of current diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease with SPECT and biomarkers using Chi-square test. Results: Biochemical markers (Amyloid beta 42 and tau protein) have higher sensitivity in identifying patients with AD. APOE genotype is less sensitive as a diagnostic test. SPECT did not correlate with biomarkers in early AD, but showed higher correlation in moderate and severe dementia. Further investigation is warranted to identify a more sensitive and specific yet inexpensive testing for early diagnosis of AD. Discussion: Biochemical and genetic markers have a closer association with each other and with Alzheimer’s compared to their association with brain imaging of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Azidothymidine induces severe hematological toxicity and hepatic injury in Charles Foster rats

Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by the human immunodeficiency virus and it remains one of the world's most significant public health challenges, particularly in low and middleincome countries. As per a WHO report, in 2015 about 36.7 million people were living with HIV and it resulted in 1.2 million deaths Most of those infected live in subSaharan Africa. According to a statistical report of CDC (centre for disease control) between its discovery and 2014 AIDS has caused an estimated 39 million deaths worldwide.
The Effects of a Human Immunodeficiency Virus Diagnosis on the Identities of Black African Women

Black African women make up a significant proportion of the people living with a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the UK and yet they represent an underserved population in terms of research regarding their experiences. Little is known regarding if and how a HIV diagnosis impacts on the personal and social identities of Black African women and in particular, if this population experience HIV-related self-stigma. This gap may exist due to a lack of acknowledgement regarding how different aspects of identity related to Black African women living with HIV in the UK interact with public attitudes, along with the political, social and health systems within the UK. Using a critical realist stance, this research was designed to address this knowledge gap and explore the experiences of a HIV diagnosis on the identities of Black African Women living with HIV in the UK. Photovoice, a participatory action research method was used to ensure collaboration between the researcher and participants, with a focus on social justice. Participants took photographs that they felt represented their identity, provided a description of their photographs and took part in a semi-structured interview using Photovoice techniques to explore the strengths and challenges within the sample’s identity. Five Black African women living with HIV were interviewed. Two women provided two photographs and one woman provided one photograph for use in the research. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Two main themes were identified: ‘retention of self’ and ‘prevalence of outdated information’. Participants described how holding onto personal values was important for them to retain control of their narrative, in spite of awareness of negative attitudes and social or structural barriers regarding their HIV status. None of the women internalised the negative stereotypes that they were aware of, regarding their HIV status. Implications regarding future research, including further considerations of the impact of the intersectionalities of identity are considered, along with clinical and policy implications of the results of this study.
A Study of the Qualities of Effective Mentor Teachers

A STUDY OF THE QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE MENTOR TEACHERS The purpose of this study is to identify the attributes of teachers who are master teachers and exemplary mentors. This qualitative inquiry was designed to shed light on the values, attributes, beliefs and practices of these individuals as they relate to the art of teaching and mentoring novice teachers. A stable faculty provides schools with a strong support structure that enables students to achieve high levels of instruction and new teachers the high quality of mentoring needed during the first phase of their careers. Recruiting new teachers to fill the void of teachers who have left exacts a financial burden and an educational one. Teachers who leave take with them the rich experiences that students need from an educator; the knowledge of the curriculum, the skills to impart knowledge to young people and the establishment of those positive, sometimes lasting relationships that occur between teachers and students, teachers and parents, and within the teaching community. Principals and supervisors in one suburban public school district in New Jersey were asked to nominate exemplary veteran teachers, those dedicated professionals who are beyond good. To aid the administrators in their selection of the teachers, a letter of solicitation illustrated research-based attributes of exemplary mentor teachers. All subjects were veteran teachers with a minimum of ten years teaching experience. The teachers' experience ranged from 10 to 33 years. The ten subjects were interviewed by the researcher and each were asked a series of questions related to five research questions regarding the qualities that they perceive themselves as having as teachers and the strategies that they use to mentor novice teachers. Findings were congruent with the literature. The exemplary mentor teachers in this study were found to be positive, happy people who consider teaching a vocation. They love their students and the act of teaching. They are life-long learners and reflective practitioners. They recognize the importance of caring, trust, listening and patience when mentoring novice teachers. Future studies should include data from novice teachers, administrators and urban school educators.
Subgroups of A in Thai Blood Donors

Abstracts: The frequency of subgroups of A was found to be varied among different populations. The occurrence of anti-A1 in some cases may lead to the problem in blood transfusion, if they were clinically significant. Objective:This study aimed to reveal the frequency of A subgroups in Thai blood donors. The occurrence and reactivity pattern of anti-A1 in A2, A2B and other A subgroup individuals were also studied. Materials and Methods: A total of 13,028 group A and 4,563 group AB were identified during July10, 2017 to August 5, 2017. The techniques used in this study included standardtube technique for agglutination and indirect antiglobulin test. Results:Among group A, the frequencies of A1, A2 and A3 were 13,000 (99.78%), 23(0.18%) and 5(0.04%),respectively. For group AB, the frequencies of A1B, A2B and A3B were 4,483 (98.25%), 59 (1.29%) and 21 (0.46%), respectively. Approximately, 21.30%, 4.63%,54.63% and 19.44% of total 108 A and AB subgroups were A2, A3, A2B and A3B, respectively. Anti-A1 detected at 4๐C was higher in number than at room temperature for A2 andA2B. The most common reactivity pattern that showed discrepancy in ABO typing was for A2B with weak anti-A1. All of anti-A1 found were of no clinical significance. Conclusion: The low frequency of A subgroup distribution in group A and group AB and the imbalance in A2 and A2B phenotype frequencies of ABO group in Thai blood donors were observed. In addition, anti-A1 in all subgroups of A in this study showed no clinical significance. บทคดยอ ความถของหมเลอดยอย A ของหม A และ AB มความหลากหลายในประชากรตางๆ และทสำคญคอ การพบวา ซรมของคนทมหมเลอดยอยบางรายม anti-A1ซงหากเปนชนดทมความสำคญทางคลนก อาจทำใหเกดปญหาในการรบโลหตได วตถประสงค เพอศกษาความถของหมยอยของ A ในผบรจาคโลหตคนไทย รวมทงศกษาปฏกรยาของ anti-A1 ในคนหมยอย A2, A2B และหมยอยชนดอนๆ วสดและวธการ ทำการศกษาระหวางวนท 10 กรกฎาคม - 5 สงหาคม พ. ศ. 2560 ไดตรวจตวอยางโลหตหม A จำนวน13,028 ตวอยาง และหม AB จำนวน 4,563 ตวอยาง โดยทดสอบปฏกรยาการจบกลม และ indirect antiglobulin test ดวยวธหลอดทดลอง ผลการศกษา ในกลมหม A ความถของ A1, A2 และ A3 เทากบ 13,000 (99.78%), 23 (0.18%) และ 5 (0.04%) ตามลำดบ สวน หม AB, มความถของ A1B, A2B และA3B เทากบ 4,483 (98.25%), 59 (1.29%) และ 21 (0.46%) ตามลำดบ anti-A1 ทตรวจไดทอณหภม 4๐C มจำนวนเพมขนจากทตรวจไดทอณหภมหอง สำหรบ A2 และA2B สวนปฏกรยาทพบบอยททำใหมความไมสอดคลองระหวาง เซลลและซรม ของหมโลหต ABO คอ กลม A2B ทม anti-A1 สำหรบ anti-A1 ทพบทงหมดในการศกษาน ทำปฏกรยาอยางออนและเปนชนดททำปฏกรยาไดดในอณหภมตำ ซงนบไดวาไมมความสำคญทางคลนก สรป ความถของหมยอยของ A ในหม A และ AB พบไดนอยมาก และพบความไมสมดลของ A2 และ A2B ของหมเลอด ABO นอกจากนยงพบวา anti-A1 ทตรวจไดในหมยอยทงหมดของ A ในการศกษาน ไมมความสำคญทางคลนก
Resource Allocation for Secure Communication Systems: Algorithmic Solvability

Medium access control and in particular resource allocation is one of the most important tasks when designing wireless communication systems as it determines the overall performance of a system. For the particular allocation of the available resources it is of crucial importance to know whether or not a channel supports a certain quality-of-service (QoS) requirement. This paper develops a decision framework based on Turing machines and studies the algorithmic decidability of whether or not a QoS requirement is met. Turing machines have no limitations on computational complexity, computing capacity, and storage. They can simulate any given algorithm and therewith characterize the fundamental performance limits for today’s digital computers. In this paper, secure communication and identification systems are considered both under channel uncertainty and adversarial attacks. While for perfect channel state information, the question is decidable since the corresponding capacity function is computable, it is shown that the corresponding questions become semidecidable in the case of channel uncertainty and adversarial attacks. This means there exist Turing machines that stop and output the correct answer if and only if a channel supports the given QoS requirement. Interestingly, the opposite question of whether a channel capacity is below a certain threshold is not semidecidable.
Blind Vocoder Speech Reconstruction using Generative Adversarial Networks

The problem of reconstructing vocoder acoustic parameters using only encoded bit stream data is considered with applications to forensics and reverse engineering. Wasserstein generative adversarial networks (GANs) and CycleGANs, that map two unpaired domains, are used. It is shown that it is possible to reconstruct key acoustic parameters such as linear predictive coefficients (LPCs) when these parameters are encoded using scalar quantization. It is further shown that speech reconstruction is possible to some extent when it is known that the vocoder belongs to the family of code excited linear prediction (CELP) models, but the coded bit frame structure is unknown.
Musculoskeletal Complications of Sickle Cell Anaemia and Their Management Approaches in Makurdi, Nigeria

Background:Musculoskeletal complications are responsible for up to 80% of indications for presentation to the hospital by sicklers during their life time.It is important to know when to expect the complications and the treatment options available. Methods:A retrospective study was conducted involving all sickle cell anaemia patients treated between June 2012 and May 2017 at Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), Makurdi, Nigeria. The data collected included age, sex, complications, anatomic site, stage of disease and treatment.Data obtained were analyzed using the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows version 15.0 (SPSS, Inc; Chicago, Illinois) and presented as frequencies (%) and mean values (SD) as appropriate, P < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results:Thirty one out of 85 sicklers presented with 53 musculoskeletal complications giving a prevalence rate of 36.4%. There were 18 males and 13 females with mean age of 14.2±1.03 years. Those ≤ 20 years had more complications than those 21years and above, P=0.0001 . The femur was involved in 20(37.7%) and avascular necrosis 17(20.1%) was the most common complication followed by septic arthritis13(15.3%) and chronic osteomyelitis8(9.4%). The mean Haemoglobin concentration 7.5±0.5mg/dl of the patients with AVN was higher than those without it, P=0.02. Conservative treatment was employed in treatment of 40(75.7%) of the complications while others had arthrotomies and arthroplasties. Conclusion:Avascular necrosis,osteomyelitis and septic arthritis are the most common orthopaedic complication among sicklers in Makurdi.They occur predominantly in the younger age group and many are amenable to conservative treatment .
Effect of Esterification and Alkali Neutralization on Pongamia insulating oil

Insulating oil is used as insulant and coolant in transformers and other such electrical equipments. Presently, mineral oils are widely used in transformers and electrical equipments as insulating oils. These mineral oils are less biodegradable. Hence, from the environment point of view, vegetable oils are used as alternative to mineral insulating oils. This paper investigates the performance of critical characteristics of crude pongamia oil. This non-edible pongamia oil is extracted from seeds. It is a source of sustainable and environment-friendly insulating oil. Crude oil is processed by esterification and alkali neutralization methods to enhance the performance properties for better insulation efficiency. Also processing methods, such as esterification and alkali neutralization, are compared. It is found that esterification the process shows better performance with respect to acidity and electrical performance, but reduces flash and fire point properties. Alkali neutralized process also show similar performance but retains high flash point and fire point values. Further processed oils are evaluated for rapid thermo-oxidative conditioned oils.
Malware Detection based on API Calls Frequency

Nowadays, one of the main dangers to computer system's security is the malware, a piece of software or a computer program that is designed to detriment and penetrate computers without the owner's permission. Traditional signature-based and anomaly-based malware detection approaches are still in use. However, the signature-based detection approach fails for new anonymous malware. In the anomaly-based detection, if the malicious activity behaves like a normal activity, the detection treats it as a normal one. Today's attackers are using various obfuscation techniques which have become a great challenge for the detectors to detect the malicious content with the traditional malware detection techniques. In this research, supervised learning algorithms are used to detect malware using the concept of API Calls usage frequency in a portable executable format. The experimental results provide the accuracy of 93% in distinguishing malware from benign files.
Association of serum bilirubin with longevity: Evidence from a retrospective longitudinal study and cross-sectional data

Abstract Bilirubin is a potent antioxidant and an important anti-inflammatory factor. Therefore, there has been an increasing focus on serum bilirubin as a negative risk factor of cardiovascular mortality in men and an indicator of improved survival in both sexes, but the direct mechanisms of these links and the causes of sex differences are not well understood. Moreover, the evidence from longitudinal studies on effects of bilirubin on longevity is limited. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed two groups of older adults to explore age-dependent changes in serum bilirubin levels and their associations with long-term survival in both sexes. Longitudinal data from 142 individuals (68 men and 74 women) aged 45 to 70 years were compared with cross-sectional data from 225 individuals (113 men and 112 women). The latter group was divided into four categories of survival, i.e. 53, 63, 68, and 76+ based on data on lifespan. ANOVA, t-test, and regression analysis were run. The analysis of the longitudinal data showed an increase in serum total bilirubin levels in men (0.3038e0.093x, R2 = 0.667) and women (0.1838e0.0187x, R2 = 0.950), while the analysis of cross-sectional data revealed a U-shaped pattern of age-related changes in men (0.001x2 - 0.1263x + 4.4524, R2 = 0.999) but an inverted U-shaped pattern in women (0.0006x2 + 0.072x - 1.6924, R2 = 0.195). On balance, these results suggest that elevated but normal bilirubin levels might confer a survival advantage in older men but not women. Alternatively, the positive relationship between serum total bilirubin and lifespan was not causal but coincidental. Further studies are needed to elucidate the direct mechanisms of the association between serum bilirubin levels and longevity in elderly people of both sexes.
Intrinsic Cerebro-Cerebellar Functional Connectivity Reveals the Function of Cerebellum VI in Reading-Related Skills

The engagement of the cerebellum VI in reading was reported in both typically developing and dyslexic readers. However, it is still not clear how the cerebellum VI contributes to reading. Here we have examined the correlation of intrinsic cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity with two critical reading-related skills—phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN)—with fMRI technology. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that the cerebellum may contribute to reading either by phonological skills or by automatizing skills. We chose the left and right cerebellum VI as ROIs, and we calculated the intrinsic cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity during a resting state. We further explored whether and how cerebro-cerebellar resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) is associated with individuals’ reading-related skills including PA and RAN. The results showed that the functional connectivity between the left supramarginal gyrus and bilateral cerebellum VI was related to RAN, and the connectivity between the left insula and right cerebellum VI was related to PA. However, the effect of PA did not survive after the RAN was regressed out. Control analyses further confirmed that it was the intrinsic cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity rather than the local cerebellar functionality that associated with phonological awareness ability and rapid automatized naming ability. For the first time, the relationship between cerebro-cerebellar resting state functional connectivity and specific reading-related skills has been explored, and this has deepened our understanding of the way the cerebellum VI is involved in reading.
Fluctuations in Affective States and Self-Efficacy to Resist Non-Suicidal Self-Injury as Real-Time Predictors of Non-Suicidal Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors

Introduction Although research over the past decade has resulted in significantly increased knowledge about distal risk factors for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), little is known about short-term (proximal) factors that predict NSSI thoughts and behaviors. Drawing on contemporaneous theories of NSSI, as well as the concept of ideation-to-action, the present study clarifies (a) real-time factors that predict NSSI thoughts and (b) the extent to which theoretically important momentary factors (i.e., negative affect, positive affect, and self-efficacy to resist NSSI) predict NSSI behavior in daily life, beyond NSSI thoughts. Methods Using experience sampling methodology, intensive longitudinal data was obtained from 30 young adults with frequent NSSI episodes in the last year. Participants completed assessments up to eight times per day for 12 consecutive days (signal-contingent sampling). This resulted in the collection of 2,222 assessments (median compliance = 79.2%) during which 591 NSSI thoughts and 270 NSSI behaviors were recorded. Using the dynamic structural equation modeling framework, multilevel vector autoregressive models were constructed. Results Within the same assessment, negative affect was positively associated with NSSI thoughts, whereas positive affect and self-efficacy to resist NSSI were each negatively associated with NSSI thoughts. Across assessments, higher-than-usual negative affect and self-efficacy to resist NSSI were predictive of short-term change in NSSI thoughts. While fluctuations in both negative affect and positive affect prospectively predicted NSSI behavior, these factors became non-significant in models that controlled for the predictive effect of NSSI thoughts. In contrast, self-efficacy to resist NSSI incrementally predicted a lower probability of engaging in NSSI, above and beyond NSSI thoughts. Discussion This study provides preliminary evidence that affective fluctuations may uniquely predict NSSI thoughts but not NSSI behaviors, and point to the role of personal belief in the ability to resist NSSI in preventing NSSI behavior. These findings illustrate the need to differentiate between the development of NSSI thoughts and the progression from NSSI thoughts to behavior, as these are likely distinct processes, with different predictors.
Hydroclimate of the Andes Part I: Main Climatic Features

The Andes is the longest cordillera in the world and extends from northern South America to the southern extreme of the continent (from 11°N to 53°S). The Andes runs through seven countries and is characterized by a wide variety of ecosystems strongly related to the contrasting climate over its eastern and western sides, as well as along its latitudinal extension. This region faces very high potential impacts of climate change, which could affect food and water security for about 90 million people. In addition, climate change represents an important threat on biodiversity, particularly in the tropical Andes, which is the most biodiverse region on Earth. From a scientific and societal view, the Andes exhibits specific challenges because of its unique landscape and the fragile equilibrium between the growing population and its environment. In this manuscript, we provide an updated review of the most relevant scientific literature regarding the hydroclimate of the Andes with an integrated view of the entire Andes range. This review paper is presented in two parts. Part I is dedicated to summarize the scientific knowledge about the main climatic features of the Andes, with emphasis on mean large-scale atmospheric circulation, the Andes-Amazon hydroclimate interconnections and the most distinctive diurnal and annual cycles of precipitation. Part II, which is also included in the research topic “Connecting Mountain Hydroclimate Through the American Cordilleras,” focuses on the hydroclimate variability of the Andes at the sub-continental scale, including the effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation.