Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria: The Imperatives of Supporting Institutions

Democracy thrives better where good governance is the rule not exception. Since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999, the people expects more from the state. This research was conducted to appraise the role of key pillars of democracy and good governance in Nigeria. These include but not limited to political party, INEC, Judiciary and the Public Service. It was found out in this research that there is selective compliance with court pronouncements by the executive. Party primaries was seen as the litmus test for credible elections in Nigeria. INEC, PDP and former President Goodluck Jonathan were commended for conducting credible polls and relinquishing power freely. The study concluded that success of democracy in Nigeria is contingent on strong democratic institutions. It was recommended that politicians must eschew traditional greedy material accumulation which impedes democratic deliverables. An independent judiciary was urged to rise to the occasion by delivering justice to all- persons and institutions brought before it.
Complete Genome Sequence of IME15, the First T7-Like Bacteriophage Lytic to Pan-Antibiotic-Resistant Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

ABSTRACT T7-like bacteriophages are a class of virulent bacteriophages which have a clearer genetic background and smaller genomes than other phages. In addition, it grows faster and is easier to culture than other phages. At present, the numbers of available T7-like bacteriophage genomes and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia genomes are small, and IME15 is the first T7-like virulent Stenotrophomonas phage whose sequence has been reported. It shows effective lysis of S. maltophilia. Here we announce its complete genome, and major findings from its annotation are described.
Haplotype analysis of the matrix metalloproteinase 3 gene and myocardial infarction in a Chinese Han population

Summary Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 3 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction (MI). Up to now, there has been conflicting data regarding the possible contribution of the MMP3 -1612 5A/6A promoter polymorphism to MI. In this study, we have investigated the possible association of three polymorphisms (-1612 5A/6A, -376C/G, Glu45Lys) in the MMP3 gene with MI in a Chinese Han population. The polymorphisms were analyzed in 509 patients with MI, and in 518 healthy controls. The frequency of the 5A allele was 14% in the healthy controls, which is less than in Western populations (40%-52%). Logistic regression analyses of individual polymorphisms indicated that individuals carrying the -1612 5A allele had an increased risk of MI (odds ratio [OR] 1.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28 to 2.40), as did those carrying the -376 G allele (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.33 to 2.38). The three polymorphisms studied were found to be in strong linkage disequilibria. Haplotype analyses showed that the 5A-G-Lys haplotype (-1612 5A, -376G and 45Lys) was independently associated with susceptibility to MI. Taken together, the effect of the MMP3 polymorphisms studied may be attributable to the -1612 5A/6A polymorphism. We conclude that the MMP3 -1612 5A/6A polymorphism is associated with MI in our population, implying that individuals of the 5A allele carriers have an increased risk of suffering MI.
Improving Resident Outcomes With GAPN Organization Level Interventions

This research tested the effectiveness of the second tier of interventions in a two-tiered nursing intervention model designed to improve quality of care for residents in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). The first tier of the model called for gerontological advanced practice nurses (GAPNs) to provide direct care and to teach staff to implement care protocols for residents with incontinence, pressure ulcers, depression, and aggression. Results of the first-tier study indicated significant improvement in resident outcomes in incontinence, pressure ulcers, and aggression. In the second tier, GAPNs added a set of organization-level (OL) interventions including membership on the LTCF quality assurance committee and collaborating with staff on problem-solving teams. Analysis following the addition of OL interventions revealed significant improvement in both depression scores and in the trajectory of depression in residents of the LTCF where OL interventions were used.
Efficacy of Methylphenidate in ADHD Children across the Normal and the Gifted Intellectual Spectrum.

OBJECTIVE This study evaluates whether attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children with a borderline intelligence quotient (IQ) (70≤FSIQ<80), normal IQ (80≤FSIQ<120) and high IQ (FSIQ≥120) respond differently to psychostimulant treatment. METHOD 502 children, aged 6 to 12 years, with an IQ range from 70 to 150 participated in a two-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover methylphenidate (MPH) trial. RESULTS In addition to differences in socioeconomic background and parental education, higher IQ children were found to present with less severe symptoms. No significant differences were found with regards to treatment response. CONCLUSION ADHD children within the normal and high levels of intellectual functioning all respond equally to psychostimulant treatment, and that proper medication management is necessary for all children with the disorder.
Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of lexatumumab (HGS-ETR2) given every 2 weeks in patients with advanced solid tumors.

BACKGROUND Lexatumumab (HGS-ETR2) is a fully human agonistic mAb to the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor 2 that activates the extrinsic apoptosis pathway and has potent preclinical antitumor activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS This phase 1, dose escalation study assessed the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PKs) and immunogenicity of lexatumumab administered i.v. every 14 days in patients with advanced solid tumors. RESULTS Thirty-one patients received lexatumumab over five dose levels (0.1-10 mg/kg). Most (26 of 31) received four or more cycles of treatment. One patient at 10 mg/kg experienced a possibly related dose-limiting toxicity of grade 3 hyperamylasemia. Nine patients achieved stable disease. One patient with chemotherapy-refractive Hodgkin's disease experienced a mixed response. Lexatumumab PKs were linear up to 10 mg/kg. At the 10 mg/kg dose, the mean (+/-standard deviation) t(1/2b) was 13.67 +/- 4.07 days, clearance was 4.95 +/- 1.93 ml/day/kg, V(1) was 45.55 ml/kg and V(ss) was 79.08 ml/kg, indicating that lexatumumab distributes outside the plasma compartment. No human antihuman antibodies were detected. CONCLUSIONS Lexatumumab can be safely administered every 14 days at 10 mg/kg. The PK profile supports this schedule. Further evaluation of lexatumumab at this dose schedule is warranted, including combination trials with other agents.
FORMATION OF FOCAL ADHESION-LIKE STRUCTURES IN CIRCULATING HUMAN NEUTROPHILS AFTER SEVERE INJURY: TRIGGERING OF A TISSUE-PHASE RESPONSE IN THE VASCULAR SPACE

ABSTRACT Neutrophils play a key role in injury to the lung, kidney, liver, and gastrointestinal tract, often seen after major trauma. We evaluated the role of integrin-linked focal adhesions in the primed state, previously identified in peripheral blood neutrophils from severely injured patients. Immunoblot analysis of Triton-insoluble cell fractions revealed that total paxillin content was unchanged in comparison with that found in neutrophils from healthy volunteers, but phosphorylation of paxillin on tyrosine residue 118 was increased by more than 2-fold. Immunoprecipitation with antipaxillin and immunoblotting for proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2) and for fgr showed significantly more colocalization. Densitometric analysis of total phosphotyrosine profiles also demonstrated significantly more in patient cells as compared with healthy cells. When allowed to adhere to fibronectin-coated plates, healthy and patient cells demonstrate a significant increase in tyrosine phosphorylation from that found in suspension-phase cells. Differential interference contrast microscopy of healthy neutrophils adherent to fibronectin matrices demonstrated rounded cells, without evidence of spreading; spreading was induced by addition of TNF-&agr;. Patient neutrophils spread spontaneously, a response not further enhanced by TNF-&agr;. Confocal imaging using anti-Pyk2 demonstrated aggregation of Pyk2 into punctate structures in patient but not in healthy cells. We conclude that neutrophils from severely injured patients are in a primed state, characterized by formation of focal adhesion-like structures. The identification of such structures in a clinical disease setting where they likely participate in unwanted consequences provides a novel area for study of regulation of neutrophil function.
The Impact of Inaccurate Reporting of Condom Use and Imperfect Diagnosis of Sexually Transmitted Disease Infection in Studies of Condom Effectiveness: A Simulation-Based Assessment

Background and Objectives: The effectiveness of condoms in reducing sexually transmitted disease (STD) infection risk has been debated in the face of equivocal epidemiologic evidence. We assessed the potential magnitude of bias in condom effectiveness studies resulting from inaccurate reporting of condom use behavior and misdiagnosis of STD infection status. Goal: The goal of this study was to illustrate the magnitude of bias in condom effectiveness studies in the presence of inaccurate condom use reporting and diagnostic misclassification. Study: We used probabilistic simulations to mimic plausible outcomes for hypothetical prospective and retrospective condom effectiveness studies subject to both inaccurate reporting of the participants’ true condom use and diagnostic error. The simulations were conducted by generating a series of binomial (yes, no) random variables corresponding with STD infection status and accurate diagnosis of infection. Results: The simulation results illustrate that failure to address reporting and diagnostic errors can lead to a substantial bias in studies of condom effectiveness. This bias resulted in a roughly 25% to 30% reduction in the probability of detecting a true 2-fold reduction of infection risk resulting from using condoms. Conclusion: Inaccurate reporting of condom use and reliance on imperfect diagnostic tests can substantially bias observable measures of condom effectiveness. The potential for these biases should be addressed in the design and analysis of effectiveness studies.
A Novel Spectral Unmixing Method Incorporating Spectral Variability Within Endmember Classes

Some spectral unmixing methods incorporate endmember variability within endmember classes. It is, however, uncertain whether these methods work well when endmember spectra do not completely describe the variability that exists within endmember classes. This paper proposes a novel spectral unmixing method, Spectral Unmixing within a multi-task Gaussian Process framework (SUGP), which is more resistant to problems caused by the use of a small number of endmember spectra. SUGP models the latent function between spectra and abundances in a training set and predicts abundances from a given pixel spectrum. SUGP is different from existing methods in that it incorporates all spectra within each endmember class to estimate abundances within a probabilistic framework. Using simulated data, SUGP was compared with existing linear unmixing methods and was found to be superior in determining the number of endmember classes within each pixel and in estimating abundances. It was also more effective in cases where a small number of spectra within endmember classes were specified and was more resistant to the effects of spectral noise. Methods were applied to the hyperspectral imagery of a mine wall and to imagery acquired over Cuprite, Nevada. Abundance maps generated by SUGP were consistent with the validated reference maps. SUGP opens up possibilities for estimating accurate abundances under conditions where endmember variability is present and where endmember spectra incompletely describe the true variability of each endmember class.
Evolutionary game of investors’ opportunistic behaviour during the operational period in PPP projects

Abstract In public–private partnership (PPP) projects, during the operational period, private investors are prone to act opportunistically in pursuit of their own gain. Based on the perspectives of government’s administrative supervisory functions, this paper analyses the issue of strategic choice for opportunistic behaviour by the government and private investors during the operational period of projects using evolutionary game theory. The results show that there is not a single set of evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS) between the government and the investors. The end results of the evolutionary game are related to the initial states of the system. Conditions that would dissuade investors from adopting an opportunistic behaviour, and settings that would encourage government to supervise closely, are explored. Punishments set by the government, which would then lead to different ultimate choices made by these two parties, are also discussed. Finally, the paper proposes a few policy recommendations for government supervision on the basis of parametric analysis. The findings also serve as a reference for the decision-making process of the government and the investors.
Kernel-Based MMSE Multimedia Signal Reconstruction and Its Application to Spatial Error Concealment

This paper proposes a novel approach for multimedia signal reconstruction based on kernel density estimation (KDE). We make use of a vector formalism in which vectors consist of a first subvector containing a set of missing samples and a second one containing a set of available context samples. The missing subvector is reconstructed by a minimum mean square error estimator which employs a probability density function (pdf) obtained by KDE. As in any kernel-based method, the main issue to deal with is the estimation of an appropriate kernel bandwidth. We propose an adaptive procedure for bandwidth estimation (BE) especially conceived for signal reconstruction. Thus, unlike general KDE or kernel-based regression, which try to obtain a general fit, the focus of this BE procedure is on the specific missing subvector. Also, in order to exploit local signal correlations, our BE proposal adopts a scaling approach in which the bandwidth is computed as the local covariance matrix scaled by two factors. These two scale factors are obtained by minimization of two different approximations to the reconstruction error. The resulting reconstruction methodology is tested on a spatial error concealment (EC) application in which intracoded images have been transmitted through an error prone channel. The experimental results show the superiority of the proposed approach over a wide range of existing EC techniques.
Social Capital in Moneylenders Phenomenon in Blimbing Traditional Market Malang Indonesia

A moneylender is a person who lends money at excessively high rates of interest. The moneylender is called loan shark. The reality shows that moneylender is still an important capital source for merchants. The aim of this research is to know the role of social capital (network, trust, and norm) on moneylender phenomenon. By using phenomenology, the result shows that: (1) Social capital makes merchants prefer using moneylender than formal financial institutions, (2) the more personal relationship that is part of a network makes moneylender is friendlier than the formal financial institution, (3) the intensity of interaction creates trusts that can substitute collateral, (4) moneylender behavior which is humanist is accepted by merchants as added value.
1,1-Dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene and polychlorinated biphenyls and breast cancer: combined analysis of five U.S. studies.

BACKGROUND Environmental exposure to organochlorines has been examined as a potential risk factor for breast cancer. In 1993, five large U.S. studies of women located mainly in the northeastern United States were funded to evaluate the association of levels of 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) ethylene (DDE) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in blood plasma or serum with breast cancer risk. We present a combined analysis of these results to increase precision and to maximize statistical power to detect effect modification by other breast cancer risk factors. METHODS We reanalyzed the data from these five studies, consisting of 1400 case patients with breast cancer and 1642 control subjects, by use of a standardized approach to control for confounding and assess effect modification. We calculated pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) by use of the random-effects model. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS When we compared women in the fifth quintile of lipid-adjusted values with those in the first quintile, the multivariate pooled OR for breast cancer associated with PCBs was 0.94 (95% CI = 0.73 to 1.21), and that associated with DDE was 0.99 (95% CI = 0.77 to 1.27). Although in the original studies there were suggestions of elevated breast cancer risk associated with PCBs in certain groups of women stratified by parity and lactation, these observations were not evident in the pooled analysis. No statistically significant associations were observed in any other stratified analyses, except for an increased risk with higher levels of PCBs among women in the middle tertile of body mass index (25-29.9 kg/m(2)); however, the risk was statistically nonsignificantly decreased among heavier women. CONCLUSIONS Combined evidence does not support an association of breast cancer risk with plasma/serum concentrations of PCBs or DDE. Exposure to these compounds, as measured in adult women, is unlikely to explain the high rates of breast cancer experienced in the northeastern United States.
Recent advances in assembly and commissioning of the steady state superconducting tokamak SST-1

SST-1 is a medium sized, large aspect ratio superconducting tokamak, which is under construction in India. It is designed for plasma discharge duration of /spl sim/1000 seconds and configured to run double null, diverted plasma. It has a major radius of 1.1 m with plasma minor radius of 0.2 m, with maximum toroidal magnetic field of 3 tesla at the plasma center. The mission of the SST-1 project is to address physics and engineering issues related to steady state tokamak operation. Significant progress has been made in the construction of the SST-1. Most of the components of SST-1 are manufactured, tested and available at site, for assembly. Machine support structure and cold mass support structure along with its cryogen connections are assembled and tested. Extensive ground preparation work including functional and qualification tests for major components is nearly at completion stage. Critical dimensions are measured using ECDS (Electronic Coordinate Determination Systems). Major cryogen connections are made using orbital TIG welding process. Ground preparation for vacuum vessel modules along with liquid nitrogen shield is in progress. Ground preparation like inter-pancake joints, cryogen connections etc. are made for most of super-conducting magnets. All the duly tested copper magnets are ready for the assembly. Assembly of a pair of TF superconducting coils along with vacuum vessel module is being done. This paper presents the detailed description of major progress made in the SST-1 assembly. It also details about underpinning ground preparation work and details about methodology to be followed for completion of the remaining work and final testing and commissioning plan of SST-1 machine.
Laminar distribution of Pick bodies, Pick cells and Alzheimer disease pathology in the frontal and temporal cortex in Pick’s disease

Lesions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) have distinct laminar distributions in the cortex. The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the lesions characteristic of Pick’s disease (PD) and AD have distinctly different laminar distributions in cases of PD. Hence, the laminar distribution of Pick bodies (PB), Pick cells (PC), senile plaques (SP) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) was studied in the frontal and temporal cortex in nine patients with PD. In 57% of analyses of individual cortical areas, the density of PB was maximal in the upper cortex while in 25% of analyses, the distribution of PB was bimodal with density peaks in the upper and lower cortex. The density of PC was maximal in the lower cortex in 77% of analyses while a bimodal distribution was present in 5% of analyses. The density of NFT was maximal in the upper cortex in 50% of analyses, in the lower cortex in 15% of analyses, with a bimodal distribution in 4% of analyses. The density of SP did not vary significantly with cortical depth in 86% of analyses. The vertical densities of PB and PC were negatively correlated in 12/21 (57%) of brain areas. The maximum density of PB in the upper cortex was positively correlated with the maximum density of PC in the lower cortex. In 17/25 (68%) of brain areas, there was no significant correlation between the vertical densities of PB and NFT. The data suggest that the pathogenesis of PB may be related to that of the PC. In addition, although in many areas PB and NFT occur predominantly in the upper cortex, the two lesions appeared to affect different neuronal populations.
Politics, capitalism and immigrant threat narrative in the media

POLITICS, CAPITALISM AND IMMIGRANT THREAT NARRATIVE IN THE MEDIA By Jeffrey R. Oliver This dissertation describes the way that the Immigrant Threat Narrative occurs in the media. Through an analysis of 44,897 online media messages that occurred between August 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015 this study finds support for the notion that people are more supportive of the idea of immigration than they are of immigrants themselves. Additionally, the study finds that depicting immigrants as “workers” rather than in a general sense increases the negative classification of immigrants. These findings support the idea that the Immigrant Threat Narrative is an attempt to socially reposition foreign-born individuals as “geographic others” who limit access to scarce resources rather than constituting an attack on the broader concept of immigration per se. Finally, this study finds that dominant groups in society play a large role in setting the agenda relative to the Immigrant Threat Narrative in the media. Specifically, results suggest that social media provides a new forum for the masses to voice their opinion, but that they do so by echoing ideas put forward by more powerful forces rather than by creating new arguments about immigration.
Research for the people.

This paper focuses on the application of the Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, a strategy that seeks to integrate local people as equal participants in the research process, in the environmental initiatives undertaken at Trinidad and Tobago. Although governments throughout the Americas subscribe to the principle of local participation in environmental protection efforts, such participation is often more in name than in actual practice. Local people are at best questioned informally on environmental problems and concerns, but were excluded from the actual research and planning process. However, problems were lessened during the development of the PAR approach. One of the common features of PAR projects is their preventive nature. Instead of focusing on stopgap measures, these projects address the root causes of the problems. Moreover, the PAR strategy is considered a widely accepted approach to health and social science research and the best method in understanding human behavior.