Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are credit and savings services effective against hunger and malnutrition? A literature review and analysis.

The capability of poverty lending programs to achieve sustainable improvements in the quality of life of poor families in developing countries remains unclear. To evaluate this development strategy the literature on the impact of credit and savings programs on hunger and/or malnutrition was reviewed and practitioners with expertise in credit gender issues and nutrition were interviewed. Part I of this review summarizes evidence regarding the relationship of income empowerment and behavior change (hypothesized as the intermediate benefits of poverty lending) to food security and nutritional status while Part II examines findings that poverty lending programs have a positive impact on the intermediate benefits necessary for overcoming the underlying causes of hunger and malnutrition. Most effective are interventions that ensure income increases are experienced by the poorest households controlled by women earned as steady rather than lump sum earnings and enhance the households overall livelihood security. The nutritional impact of increased income will be limited if it is not linked to improvements in the health of those most vulnerable to malnutrition: women and young children. However both economic and social manifestations of empowerment are crucial for women to make nutritionally significant behavior changes and to demand and use health services. Poverty lending designed primarily to support existing economic activities of the poor is more likely to preserve an entrepreneurs self-employment than create new jobs or produce major gains for poor households. On the other hand by providing opportunities for self-employment poverty lending increases womens autonomy self-confidence and status within the household. The potential of poverty lending to counter malnutrition depends on an educational component that overcomes major obstacles to behavior change and promotes problem-solving capabilities.
Reform and maintenance of Juguo Tizhi: governmental management discourse of Chinese elite sport

ABSTRACT Research Questions: This paper aims to identify the nature of continuity and change in the management of the elite sports system in China from 2001, when Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympic Games, to 2013. Research Method: The paper draws on the application of theories of the discursive construction of management strategy. Strategic policy documents are reviewed and data from a series of semi-structured interviews with key representatives of stakeholder groups are analysed. Result & Findings: The paper scrutinises the power of sports bureaucrats, whose careers have been premised upon the success of the Juguo Tizhi system, over the Chinese elite sport management discourse, which, for example, justify the retention of the traditional system by invoking fear of Olympic failure, and/or cloaking advocacy of retention of elements of the Juguo Tizhi system in the rhetoric of reform. The research underlines the construction of competing elite sport management approaches at a juncture in the development of the management of the Chinese sporting system. This reflects a clash of ideologies in the roles of the state and the market, with direct consequences for management of elite sporting organisations. Implications: The research highlights the nature of, and the exercise of power in, the construction of management ‘realities’ of Chinese elite sport; unveils the embedded tension between state-control of elite performance and the reform of the management of Chinese elite sport. It provides a way of understanding the power relationship among different elite sport management ideologies simultaneously addressed by the Chinese government.
Preparing and conducting interviews to collect data.

AIM To describe three styles of interviews and discuss issues regarding planning and conducting interviews. BACKGROUND Interviews are probably the approach most used to collect data in studies. They are particularly useful in uncovering the story behind a participant's experiences. Researchers can follow a line of questions to gain information about a topic, or further explore responses or findings. But the researcher needs to plan and decide the format of the interview before collecting data. REVIEW METHODS The authors included papers on structured, unstructured and semi-structured interviews published in a peer-reviewed joumrnal and in English. DISCUSSION Interviews are one of the most common metods of data collection in qualitative research. However they require the researcher to have a sound understanding of their use and appropriateness. The ability to conduct interviews is one that develops over time and to aid the researcher in developing their interview skills they should consult with other researchers, seeking comments and advice and, critically, to appraise audio recordings. CONCLUSION This article aims to support students who are undertaking research modules as part of their academic studies, writing a research proposal or novice researchers who are about to use interviews as a means of data collection. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH/PRACTICE To conduct a successful interview, researchers need to develop their interview technique, choose the right method and carefully plan for all aspects of the process.
Vpr Is Preferentially Targeted by CTL During HIV-1 Infection1

The HIV-1 accessory proteins Vpr, Vpu, and Vif are essential for viral replication, and their cytoplasmic production suggests that they should be processed for recognition by CTLs. However, the extent to which these proteins are targeted in natural infection, as well as precise CTL epitopes within them, remains to be defined. In this study, CTL responses against HIV-1 Vpr, Vpu, and Vif were analyzed in 60 HIV-1-infected individuals and 10 HIV-1-negative controls using overlapping peptides spanning the entire proteins. Peptide-specific IFN-γ production was measured by ELISPOT assay and flow-based intracellular cytokine quantification. HLA class I restriction and cytotoxic activity were confirmed after isolation of peptide-specific CD8+ T cell lines. CD8+ T cell responses against Vpr, Vpu, and Vif were found in 45%, 2%, and 33% of HIV-1-infected individuals, respectively. Multiple CTL epitopes were identified in functionally important regions of HIV-1 Vpr and Vif. Moreover, in infected individuals in whom the breadth of HIV-1-specific responses was assessed comprehensively, Vpr and p17 were the most preferentially targeted proteins per unit length by CD8+ T cells. These data indicate that despite the small size of these proteins Vif and Vpr are frequently targeted by CTL in natural HIV-1 infection and contribute importantly to the total HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell responses. These findings will be important in evaluating the specificity and breadth of immune responses during acute and chronic infection, and in the design and testing of candidate HIV vaccines.
Long‐term results of radial extracorporeal shock wave treatment for chronic plantar fasciopathy: A prospective, randomized, placebo‐controlled trial with two years follow‐up

Numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrated efficacy and safety of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for chronic plantar fasciopathy (cPF). However, only two such RCTs investigated a follow‐up period of more than 1 year, both applying focused ESWT. Corresponding data for radial ESWT (rESWT) have not yet been reported. We therefore tested the hypothesis that rESWT is effective and safe for the management of cPF with long‐term follow‐up of 2 years. To this end n = 50 patients with cPF were randomly allocated to either two sessions of rESWT (one session per week; 2,000 shock waves with energy flux density of 0.16 mJ/mm2 per session) (n = 25) or to placebo treatment (n = 25). Evaluation was by change in Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score and Roles and Maudsley (RM) score. Mean pretreatment VAS scores for the rESWT and placebo groups were 8.5 and 8.9, respectively. 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after treatment, the mean VAS scores for the rESWT and placebo groups were 0.6, 1.1, 0.5, 2.3, and 1.4 and 7.6, 7.7, 7.4, 6.9, and 5.6 (p < 0.001), respectively. Differences in mean RM scores were statistically significant between groups at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months post treatment, but not at baseline. There were no significant complications. These data indicate that rESWT is effective and safe for the management of cPF with long‐term follow‐up of 2 years. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:1532–1538, 2017.
Evidence for microbial iron reduction in a landfill leachate-polluted aquifer (Vejen, Denmark)

Aquifer sediment samples obtained from the anaerobic part of a landfill leachate plume in Vejen, Denmark, were suspended in groundwater or in an artificial medium and incubated. The strictly anaerobic suspensions were tested for reduction of ferric iron [Fe(III)] oxides, which was measured as an increase in the concentration of dissolved Fe(II). Iron reduction did not occur when the medium was inoculated with inactive sediment and when the organisms in the inoculated medium were killed by formaldehyde, by chloroform, or by pasteurization, whereas the level of iron reduction was significant when living bacteria were present. Mixed cultures were obtained from the sediment samples, and differences in apparent iron reduction rates among the different cultures were maintained during several transfers. In addition, iron reduction was observed in unamended incubation mixtures containing whole sediment and groundwater. Synthetic amorphous Fe(III) oxides, as well as naturally occurring sediment-bound Fe(III) oxides, could be reduced by the cultures. Together, our results provide evidence that iron-reducing bacteria are present and microbial iron reduction occurs in the polluted aquifer sediments which we studied.
Combretastatin A‐4 induces p53 mitochondrial‐relocalisation independent‐apoptosis in non‐small lung cancer cells

Combretastatin A‐4 (CA‐4) is one of the most effective agents used in chemotherapy. Nevertheless, the contribution of p53 and Bim proteins in the CA‐4‐induced apoptosis in non‐small lung cancer cells (NSCLC) remains unresolved, specifically on involving of p53 in the mitochondrial pathway activation by a transcription‐independent mechanism. In this context, the p53‐null H1299 and wt‐p53 H460 NSCLC cells, in the absence and presence of pifithrin‐µ (PFTµ), an inhibitor of p53 mitochondrial‐translocation, were treated with CA‐4 and different cellular endpoints were analysed. In contrast to previous observations in H460 cells, CA‐4 failed in the activation of an apoptotic response in H1299 cells, thus indicating an involvement of p53 in the cell death induced by the drug. We found that CA‐4 led to p53 cellular re‐localisation in H460 cells; in particular, p53 was released from the microtubular network and accumulated at mitochondria where it interacts with Bim protein and other proteins of the Bcl‐2 (B‐cell leukaemia‐2) family, leading to cytochrome c release, alteration in the mitochondrial membrane polarisation, cell cycle arrest at the G2/M‐phase, and cell death. Interestingly, the cytosolic and the mitochondrial accumulation of protein Bim was strictly dependent on p53 status. The extent of cell death was not reduced in H460 after combined treatment of PFTµ with CA‐4. Overall, the data support a model of CA‐4‐induced apoptosis in NSCLC, for which the expression of p53 protein is essential, but its mitochondrial function, linked to p53‐transcription independent apoptosis pathway, is negligible.
Frequency-Domain Analysis of the Periodically-Forced Josephson-Junction Circuit

In this paper, a new frequency domain technique to analyze the Josephson-junction circuit dynamics is presented. This technique overcomes some of the limitations inherent to the analytical and time-integration techniques used in previous works. The technique can be extended to the analysis of this device when combined with distributed elements in microwave systems. It allows an efficient analysis of the different types of steady-state solutions and the bifurcation loci in the presence of a periodic driving current source. No restriction is imposed to the driving source amplitude, enabling an accurate analysis of the influence of this parameter on the device superconducting properties. The technique has also been applied to analyze the quasi-periodic states present in this device together with the synchronized solutions to the driving current source.
Exploitation of Co-reference in Distributional Semantics

The aim of distributional semantics is to model the similarity of the meaning of words via the words they occur with. Thereby, it relies on the distributional hypothesis implying that similar words have similar contexts. Deducing meaning from the distribution of words is interesting as it can be done automatically on large amounts of freely available raw text. It is because of this convenience that most current state-of-the-art-models of distributional semantics operate on raw text, although there have been successful attempts to integrate other kinds of―e.g., syntactic―information to improve distributional semantic models. In contrast, less attention has been paid to semantic information in the research community. One reason for this is that the extraction of semantic information from raw text is a complex, elaborate matter and in great parts not yet satisfyingly solved. Recently, however, there have been successful attempts to integrate a certain kind of semantic information, i.e., co-reference. Two basically different kinds of information contributed by co-reference with respect to the distribution of words will be identified. We will then focus on one of these and examine its general potential to improve distributional semantic models as well as certain more specific hypotheses.
Simulation of 8T SRAM Array for Low Power Sensor Application

The sensor network has become an important aspect in the day today life because of its wide range of application from medical field to the military application. The raw data from sensor node are of large quantity and hence it is necessary to store these data bits. In this paper, design of optimized SRAM array for low power applications is implemented. SRAM cell is designed using 8T. In this, transmission gate is used as access transistor to increase write-ability and decrease the power dissipation. The peripheral circuits are chosen to construct the SRAM array. Simulation are carried out using 180nm technology and result show that the reading and writing of data takes place correctly.
Emerging problems of heart failure practice in Japanese women: lessons from the CHART study.

BACKGROUND The prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) is poor in both men and women. However, the characteristics of, and effective treatment strategy for, female CHF patients still remain unclear. This study was designed to evaluate the prognosis and characteristics of female patients in a CHF cohort termed the Chronic Heart Failure Analysis and Registry in the Tohoku District. METHODS AND RESULTS Of 1,278 patients registered in the cohort, the study population comprised 1,166 symptomatic CHF patients with sufficient data. As compared with male patients, female patients were more likely to be older, have preserved systolic function and non-ischemic etiology of CHF, and underuse standard CHF medications. Although a previous study showed that sex-difference was not a significant prognostic factor in CHF patients, the unadjusted survival analysis revealed an increased event rate in female patients in the present study. Multivariate analysis revealed that older age, diabetes, ventricular tachycardia and anemia were significant prognostic risks in both men and women with CHF. CONCLUSIONS Female sex had a significant link with elderly CHF patients. Given the explosive increase in elderly patients in Westernized countries, further studies are needed to elucidate the evidence for treatment of female CHF patients.
State Variation Mining: On Information Divergence with Message Importance in Big Data

Information transfer which reveals the state variation of variables usually plays a vital role in big data analytics and processing. In fact, the measures for information transfer could reflect the system change by use of the variable distributions, similar to KL divergence and Renyi divergence. Furthermore, in terms of the information transfer in big data, small probability events usually dominate the importance of the total message to some degree. Therefore, it is significant to design an information transfer measure based on the message importance which emphasizes the small probability events. In this paper, we propose a message importance transfer measure (MITM) and investigate its characteristics and applications on three aspects. First, the message importance transfer capacity based on MITM is presented to offer an upper bound for the information transfer process with disturbance. Then, we extend the MITM to the continuous case and discuss the robustness by using it to measuring information distance. Finally, we utilize the MITM to guide the queue length selection in the caching operation of mobile edge computing.
Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Measures Associated With Increased Risk of Covert Brain Infarction and Worsening Leukoaraiosis in Older Adults

Objective— In people without previous stroke, covert findings on serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of incident brain infarcts and worsening leukoaraiosis are associated with increased risk for ischemic stroke and dementia. We evaluated whether various measures of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate are associated with these MRI findings. Approach and Results— In the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study), a longitudinal cohort study of older adults, we used relative risk regression to assess the associations of mean, variability, and trend in systolic BP, diastolic BP, and heart rate measured at 4 annual clinic visits between 2 brain MRIs with incident covert brain infarction and worsening white matter grade (using a 10-point scale to characterize leukoaraiosis). We included participants who had both brain MRIs, no stroke before the follow-up MRI, and no change in antihypertensive medication status during follow-up. Among 878 eligible participants, incident covert brain infarction occurred in 15% and worsening white matter grade in 27%. Mean systolic BP was associated with increased risk for incident covert brain infarction (relative risk per 10 mm Hg, 1.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.12–1.47), and mean diastolic BP was associated with increased risk for worsening white matter grade (relative risk per 10 mm Hg, 1.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.24–1.69). These findings persisted in secondary and sensitivity analyses. Conclusions— Elevated mean systolic BP is associated with increased risk for covert brain infarction, and elevated mean diastolic BP is associated with increased risk for worsening leukoaraiosis. These findings reinforce the importance of hypertension in the development of silent cerebrovascular diseases, but the pathophysiologic relationships to BP for each may differ.
The impact of multiplex genetic testing on disease risk perceptions

This study assessed the effects of multiplex genetic testing on disease risk perceptions among 216 healthy adults. Participants, aged 25–40, were recruited through the Multiplex Initiative, which offered a genetic susceptibility test for eight common diseases. Participants completed baseline telephone and web‐based surveys prior to making the testing decision. Three months after the receipt of mailed test results, participants completed a follow‐up telephone survey. Risk perceptions for the eight diseases were measured at baseline and follow‐up, along with beliefs about genetic causation of those diseases. The main results were: (i) mean risk perceptions were considerably stable from baseline to follow‐up; (ii) the best predictors of follow‐up risk perceptions were the corresponding baseline perceptions and family history; and (iii) within‐individuals, most participants increased or decreased their risk perceptions for specific diseases in concordance with the number of risk markers they carry, their family history and their beliefs about genetic causality of diseases. In conclusion, participants presented a vigilant approach to the interpretation of genetic test results, which provides reassurance with regard to a potential inflation of risk perceptions in the population because of multiplex genetic testing.
Itraconazole Modulates Hedgehog, WNT/β-catenin, as well as Akt Signalling, and Inhibits Proliferation of Cervical Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND/AIM Repurposing itraconazole as an anticancer agent has been evaluated in several studies. The present study investigated whether itraconazole exerts an anticancer effect on cervical cancer cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS CaSki and HeLa cells were cultured in itraconazole and vehicle after which colony-forming and cell viability assays were performed. Transcription and protein expression were assessed by cDNA microarray analysis and immunoblotting, respectively. RESULTS Itraconazole suppressed proliferation of CaSki and HeLa cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, CaSki cells were more significantly affected by itraconazole than HeLa cells. The microarray analysis showed an 8-fold down-regulation in the expression of GLI1, WNT4 and WNT10A among itraconazole-treated CaSki cells. Moreover, the transcription of sterol carrier protein-2 and ATP-binding cassette transporter-1 was unaffected by itraconazole. Immunoblots showed suppression in β-catenin expression and Akt phosphorylation. CONCLUSION Itraconazole is a multi-targeting anticancer agent and a promising therapeutic agent for cervical cancer.
Benefits of faculty-student interactions toward degree completion for nontraditional-aged students

This doctoral thesis examined whether nontraditional-aged student interactions with faculty assist these students with the completion of their degree. Considerable research has revealed that when traditional-aged students (18-22 years old) interact with faculty, they gain many educational benefits, including assisting them with integrating into their academic settings, influencing their decisions to persist and leading them to the completion of their degrees. However, there is limited research on the benefits that faculty-student interactions have on the degree completion of nontraditional-aged students. Further, the existing literature explores the benefits of faculty-student interactions with nontraditional-aged students through the perspective of students rather than through the perspective of faculty. This phenomenological study is distinctive because it was conducted through interviews with faculty members to determine how faculty-student interactions assist nontraditional-aged students towards the completion of their degrees. The findings reveal that there is benefit of faculty-student interaction primarily through the utilization of learning communities and mandatory office hours.