Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigating the mental health and coping strategies of parents with major thalassemic children in Bandar Abbas

Introduction: Major thalassemia is a hereditary, chronic blood disease caused by the synthesis deficiency of one or more polypeptide chains of globin during childhood. This leads to the rise of blood pressure and family tensions. Therefore, the coping strategies of the family could seriously affect and facilitate the thalassemic child's healthy growth. The present research sought to investigate the mental health and coping strategies of families with major thalassemic children in Bandar Abbas in 2013. Materials and Methods: This study is of a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional type. Research population consisted of 140 parents of major thalassemic children who visited Shahid Mohammadi Hospital of Bandar Abbas. The instruments used were the 12-item General Health Questionnaire of Goldberg and Williams along with the coping strategies questionnaire. Nonprobabilistic, convenient sampling method was used. To analyze the data, Spearman's correlation coefficient, Chi-square and descriptive statistical tests were used. The significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results: Data analysis showed that parents’ mental health (32 ± 4.25) along with their coping strategy scores (45 ± 7.50) was about the average. The most prevalent coping strategies among the parents were represented as: “I trust in God in order to get my problems solved” (87%), “to get mentally and spiritually relieved, I would visit mosques and holy shrines” (53%), and “to overcome problems, I make harder attempts” (50.7%). A significant correlation was found between the parents’ coping strategies and general health (P < 0.001). A significant correlation was also observed between mother's educational level (P = 0.044), age (P = 0.022) and general health. Discussion and Conclusion: According to the results of this research, it is categorical for the ministry of health and medical education and those in charge to pay special and adequate attention to the social, spiritual, and mental health of these children and their families.
Amplification of a bovine papillomavirus-simian virus 40 chimera

A chimeric plasmid, pBOP, containing bovine papillomavirus (BPV) and the origin of replication from simian virus 40 (SV40) was constructed. The plasmid was established in mouse cells, where it was maintained stably as an autonomous BPV replicon. Lines carrying pBOP were fused to cells of COS-7, a simian line producing SV40 T antigen. Replication dependent on the SV40 origin and having the kinetics and approximate amplitude of an SV40 infection ensued. SV40 replication is therefore dominant over BPV replication, and the SV40 origin can conveniently be used to amplify lower-copy-number plasmids in mammalian cells.
An examination of a blended learning approach in the teaching of economics to property and construction students

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report a case study from a project funded by the Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) on the use of a blended learning delivery approach in property education. “Blended learning” is a combination of multiple teaching styles and delivery methods which aim to complement each other and work to support and enhance student learning. This paper aims to examine the use of a blended learning approach to teach economics to property and construction students with the aim of improving students’ engagement and employability. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents the development and evaluation of a Property and Construction Economics module. A case study approach was used. An end‐of‐year evaluation of the module was conducted which aimed to obtain students’ feedback on the new delivery approach. An evaluation questionnaire was emailed to 164 students who enrolled on this module at the end of the academic year. A total of 82 completed questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 50 per cent. An analysis of questionnaire responses and written comments is presented. Findings – The students found that the overall structure of the module, including the lecture, workshops, seminars and the use of the Virtual Learning Environment was integrated well and it enhanced their overall learning experience. The students found the module structure was practical and had a good balance of theory and practice and the use of an issues‐based approach made economic concepts easier to understand. Several suggested changes were also made, focusing on greater use of technology during the module delivery and making it more “blended”. It was suggested a more interactive delivery style should be adopted, which would provide more support to students for learning and developing professional skills. An online discussion platform should be developed to facilitate students’ peer support. Originality/value – This paper is the first study to report both lessons learnt in the development of a blended learning delivery method together with students’ interaction with the blended learning environment in property‐related courses in the UK. The paper therefore constitutes the “best available evidence” on these questions and its significance lies in this contribution to knowledge. Property‐related course providers can use the experience of this case study to inform the design of blended learning in their programme in order to improve students’ learning experience and engagement.
Momentum effect in stocks' returns between the rational and the behavioural financial theories: Proposition of the progressive rationality

The puzzling momentum strategies’ payoffs are defying the rational financial theory asserting the stocks returns’ unpredictability. Moreover, the momentum effect persist the main stocks returns’ anomaly escaping any risk-based explanation. The resilience of this phenomenon had favoured the development of behavioural financial field, which breaks with the investor’ full rationality hypothesis. This paper attempts to reconcile between the rational and behavioural financial theories, through the introduction of the progressive rationality concept. Especially, we argue that recognizing the temporary inappropriate investors’ reactions; can resolve the puzzling momentum anomaly. To fulfil our objective, first we correct the monthly returns inherent to 56 stocks listed on the Tunisian stocks market from January 1998 to December 2011, from the related serial autocorrelations involved by the investors’ over and under reactions. Then, we examine the 6/6 momentum strategy’ excess returns before and after the monthly returns serial autocorrelations’ corrections. The result show that the momentum strategy is still profitable but no longer puzzling, since the related excess return is henceforth fully captured by a s and a size effect.
Do Universities Benefit Local Youth? Evidence from University and College Participation, and Graduate Earnings Following the Creation of a New University

In this study, I explore the relationship between the presence of a local university in a city and university and college participation among local youth. The evidence is drawn from Census data, along with information on the creation of new university degree-granting institutions in Canada. Students who do not have access to a local university are far less likely to go on to university than students who grew up near a university, likely due to the added cost of moving away to attend, as opposed to differences in other factors (e.g., family income, parental education, academic achievement). When distant students are faced with a local option, however, their probability of attendance substantially increases. Specifically, the creation of a local degree-granting institution is associated with a 28.1% increase in university attendance among local youth, and large increases were registered in each city affected. However, the increase in university participation came at the expense of college participation in most cities. Furthermore, not everyone benefited equally from new universities. In particular, students from lower income families saw the largest increase in university participation, which is consistent with the notion that distance poses a financial barrier. Also, local aboriginal youth only saw a slight increase in university participation when faced with a local university option.
Interaction between Reverse Transcriptase and Integrase Is Required for Reverse Transcription during HIV-1 Replication

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication requires reverse transcription of its RNA genome into a double-stranded cDNA copy, which is then integrated into the host cell chromosome. The essential steps of reverse transcription and integration are catalyzed by the viral enzymes reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase (IN), respectively. In vitro, HIV-1 RT can bind with IN, and the C-terminal domain (CTD) of IN is necessary and sufficient for this binding. To better define the RT-IN interaction, we performed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy experiments to map a binding surface on the IN CTD in the presence of RT prebound to a duplex DNA construct that mimics the primer-binding site in the HIV-1 genome. To determine the biological significance of the RT-IN interaction during viral replication, we used the NMR chemical shift mapping information as a guide to introduce single amino acid substitutions of nine different residues on the putative RT-binding surface in the IN CTD. We found that six viral clones bearing such IN substitutions (R231E, W243E, G247E, A248E, V250E, and I251E) were noninfectious. Further analyses of the replication-defective IN mutants indicated that the block in replication took place specifically during early reverse transcription. The recombinant INs purified from these mutants, though retaining enzymatic activities, had diminished ability to bind RT in a cosedimentation assay. The results indicate that the RT-IN interaction is functionally relevant during the reverse transcription step of the HIV-1 life cycle. IMPORTANCE To establish a productive infection, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) needs to reverse transcribe its RNA genome to create a double-stranded DNA copy and then integrate this viral DNA genome into the chromosome of the host cell. These two essential steps are catalyzed by the HIV-1 enzymes reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase (IN), respectively. We have shown previously that IN physically interacts with RT, but the importance of this interaction during HIV-1 replication has not been fully characterized. In this study, we have established the biological significance of the HIV-1 RT-IN interaction during the viral life cycle by demonstrating that altering the RT-binding surface on IN disrupts both reverse transcription and viral replication. These findings contribute to our understanding of the RT-IN binding mechanism, as well as indicate that the RT-IN interaction can be exploited as a new antiviral drug target.
Non-linear adjustment in the term structure of interest rates: a cointegration analysis in the non-linear STAR framework

The term structure of interest rates in Japan is analysed by means of a cointegration test in a non-linear smooth transition autoregression (STAR) framework. The STAR approach tests for the null hypothesis with no cointegration against cointegration including a globally stationary process. The results of the STAR cointegration test, differing from the results of cointegration tests assuming linear adjustment, show that the long-run equilibrium relationship between long-term and short-term interest rates is stable with non-linear adjustment. The results indicate non-linear adjustment in the term structure of Japanese interest rates.
Loughborough University Institutional Repository How well do waist circumference and body mass index re ect body composition in pre-pubertal children ?

Objective: To investigate the quantitative relationship between WC and height and subsequently the association between Waist Circumference Index (WCI), BMI, and body composition in pre-pubertal children. Design: Cross-sectional sample (n = 227; boys = 127) of pre-pubertal Black children 5 (age range 8.8 to 11.0 years) from the Bone Health sub-study of the Bt20 birth cohort study set in Soweto-Johannesburg, South Africa. Measures of height, weight, and waist circumference by anthropometry, total and truncal fat and lean mass by Dualenergy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) were used in the analysis. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to examine the associations between BMI, WC, and body 10 composition outcomes. Results: WC was independent of height when height was raised to a power of approximately 0.8. BMI and WCI (WC/Ht) were significantly associated with total and truncal fat and lean mass in both sexes (all P < 0.001). BMI demonstrated consistently and significantly higher correlations with body composition than WCI and 15 this association was significantly greater for fat mass than lean mass. Conclusion: BMI, rather than WCI, would be a better screening tool for total and truncal fat mass in both sexes prior to puberty.
Aşiret Mektebi: Abdülhamid II's School for Tribes (1892–1907)

By order of Sultan Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909) a new school was opened in Istanbul in October 1892 to provide an Ottoman education for the sons of leading tribal notables. The Aşiret Mekteb-i Hümayun, or Imperial School for Tribes, was a five-year boarding school that admitted boys between twelve and sixteen years old. The school has been rightly interpreted as part of a broader policy pursued by Abdülhamid II of integrating the Arab provinces more closely to the Imperial center. However, the school, which reached beyond the Arab provinces to recruit eastern Anatolian Kurds, was essentially an experiment in social engineering which sought to foster an allegiance to the Ottoman state within one of the most alienated segments of its society: the empire's tribes. On the precedent of urban notables whose sons were educated in Istanbul, obtained government offices, and became Ottoman loyalists, Abdülhamid II and his advisers aimed to create a similar body of intermediaries between the state and its tribes. The experiment ran for fifteen years before the Aşiret Mektebi was closed in 1907; yet in that time the school sent waves of graduates on to higher education in special sections of the civil and military academies and thence to government office in the provinces. In all, the tribal education system represents one of the more ambitious Ottoman initiatives to integrate its tribal communities into the political life of the state.
Imaging and dosimetric errors in 4D PET/CT-guided radiotherapy from patient-specific respiratory patterns: a dynamic motion phantom end-to-end study

Effective positron emission tomography / computed tomography (PET/CT) guidance in radiotherapy of lung cancer requires estimation and mitigation of errors due to respiratory motion. An end-to-end workflow was developed to measure patient-specific motion-induced uncertainties in imaging, treatment planning, and radiation delivery with respiratory motion phantoms and dosimeters. A custom torso phantom with inserts mimicking normal lung tissue and lung lesion was filled with [18F]FDG. The lung lesion insert was driven by six different patient-specific respiratory patterns or kept stationary. PET/CT images were acquired under motionless ground truth, tidal breathing motion-averaged (3D), and respiratory phase-correlated (4D) conditions. Target volumes were estimated by standardized uptake value (SUV) thresholds that accurately defined the ground-truth lesion volume. Non-uniform dose-painting plans using volumetrically modulated arc therapy were optimized for fixed normal lung and spinal cord objectives and variable PET-based target objectives. Resulting plans were delivered to a cylindrical diode array at rest, in motion on a platform driven by the same respiratory patterns (3D), or motion-compensated by a robotic couch with an infrared camera tracking system (4D). Errors were estimated relative to the static ground truth condition for mean target-to-background (T/Bmean) ratios, target volumes, planned equivalent uniform target doses, and 2%-2 mm gamma delivery passing rates. Relative to motionless ground truth conditions, PET/CT imaging errors were on the order of 10–20%, treatment planning errors were 5–10%, and treatment delivery errors were 5–30% without motion compensation. Errors from residual motion following compensation methods were reduced to 5–10% in PET/CT imaging, <5% in treatment planning, and <2% in treatment delivery. We have demonstrated that estimation of respiratory motion uncertainty and its propagation from PET/CT imaging to RT planning, and RT delivery under a dose painting paradigm is feasible within an integrated respiratory motion phantom workflow. For a limited set of cases, the magnitude of errors was comparable during PET/CT imaging and treatment delivery without motion compensation. Errors were moderately mitigated during PET/CT imaging and significantly mitigated during RT delivery with motion compensation. This dynamic motion phantom end-to-end workflow provides a method for quality assurance of 4D PET/CT-guided radiotherapy, including evaluation of respiratory motion compensation methods during imaging and treatment delivery.
The specific DNA recognition sequence of the bovine papillomavirus E2 protein is an E2‐dependent enhancer.

The upstream regulatory region (URR) of the bovine papillomavirus (BPV) genome contains an enhancer that is activated by a BPV E2 gene product. We have previously found that a bacterially derived E2 fusion protein specifically interacted with several fragments of URR DNA, suggesting that E2 may activate transcription by directly binding to the enhancer. Each of the bound fragments contains at least one copy of a conserved motif (ACCN6GGT). To determine if this motif is required and sufficient for specific E2 binding, we have now constructed a bacterial expression vector that encodes a full‐length E2 peptide and developed a refinement of the McKay DNA immunoprecipitation assay that allows the determination, to the nucleotide level, of the minimum sequence required for specific binding. The results show that the E2 recognition sequence is a single copy of this motif and that the variant ACCGN4CGGT is bound with greater affinity than the minimum ACCN6GGT motif. An oligonucleotide encoding the motif was able to inhibit E2‐dependent trans‐activation in a transient transfection assay, indicating that the virally encoded E2 also interacts with this sequence in mammalian cells. When present in two or more copies, but not in a single copy, the E2 binding element had intrinsic enhancer activity but only in cells expressing E2. The results indicate that the conserved motif alone is sufficient for E2‐mediated enhancement and that the binding of E2 to the motif is probably required for efficient enhancement. Since a single motif did not have a significant enhancer activity, it is likely that bound E2 molecules act cooperatively in activating transcription.
Clostridium aldenense sp. nov. and Clostridium citroniae sp. nov. Isolated from Human Clinical Infections

ABSTRACT One hundred eight isolates were previously identified in our laboratory as Clostridium clostridioforme by colonial and cellular morphology, as well as biochemical tests. Recent studies have indicated that there are actually three different species in this C. clostridioforme group: C. hathewayi, C. bolteae, and C. clostridioforme. Our isolates were reexamined using biochemical and enzymatic tests and molecular methods. Forty-six isolates were reidentified as C. hathewayi, 34 as C. bolteae, five as C. clostridioforme, and one as C. symbiosum. Twenty-two strains were identified only to the genus level by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and although they are microscopically and morphologically indistinguishable from the above-mentioned three species, they are phenotypically different and only 96 to 98% similar by gene sequencing. Twenty of these 22 strains were indole positive and formed two novel species. We propose Clostridium aldenense sp. nov. and Clostridium citroniae sp. nov. as names for these new species. They are differentiated from each other by results for raffinose, rhamnose, α-galactosidase, and β-galactosidase: positive, negative, positive, and positive, respectively, for the former species and negative, positive, negative, and negative, respectively, for the latter species. The type strain of C. aldenense is RMA 9741 (ATCC BAA-1318; CCUG 52204), and the type strain of C. citroniae is RMA 16102 (ATCC BAA-1317; CCUG 52203).
Anisotropic properties of electrical steels

Anisotropy is an important phenomenon, which should be taken into account by the designers of magnetic circuits in electrical machines. Even the so-called non-oriented (dynamo) steels feature significant anisotropy. It is thus essential to work out new analytical methods and mathematical models, which may be easily implemented in CAD routines. The paper describes one of possible approaches to address the problem. The results of model prediction are compared to available measurement data for chosen grades of non-oriented and grain-oriented steels.
Do banks’ buy and sell recommendations influence stock market volatility? Evidence from the German DAX30

We investigate the impact of good and bad news on stock market volatility. To this end, we utilize a novel data set of banks’ buy and sell recommendations for the German DAX30 stock market index and estimate an EGARCH(1,1) model which features these recommendations as well as several other pertinent explanatory variables in the mean and variance equations. We find that in a rising market, buy recommendations lower the level of volatility and sell recommendations raise volatility, whereas the impact of news on stock market volatility is less clear-cut in a falling market.
[Early otorhinolaryngological manifestations of Wegener's granulomatosis. Analysis of 21 patients].

UNLABELLED Wegener's Granulomatosis (WG) is a necrotizing granulomatous vasculitis that has a strong affinity for the upper respiratory tract. OBJECTIVE To retrospectively study the clinical features of otorhinolaryngological manifestations from 21 WG patients. PATIENTS Eleven men and 10 women were studied with respectively a mean age of 62.7 (23-79) and 63.9 (53-73). METHODS Otorhinolaryngological manifestations were recorded before and during the course of WG. RESULTS Upper respiratory tract involvement occurred in 81% of cases (17/21 patients) and was isolated in 42.8% of cases (9/21 patients). Nasosinusal manifestations occurred in 71.4% of cases (15/21) before and at the time of GW diagnosis. They included bilateral sinusitis (7 cases), nasal crusting (6 cases), purulent rhinorrhea (5 cases), epistaxis (4 cases), nasal ulcers (2 cases), nasal congestion with obstruction (3 cases) and 4 cases of nose deformity (saddle nose or oedema). Otologic manifestations occurred in 28.5% of cases and were never isolated. They included otitis media (3 cases), sudden hearing loss (3 cases), tinnitus (1 case), facial palsy (1 case) and 2 cases of chondritis. Pharyngolaryngotracheal manifestations occurred in 33.3% of cases (7/21). Diagnosis of GW was based on positive ANCA test (95.2% of cases), presence of biologic inflammatory parameters (76% of cases) and histological features. 29 biopsies from nasosinusal lesions on 17 patients were made. 44.8% of the biopsies were contributive with at least one histologic feature of the combination including vasculitis, necrosis and granulomatous inflammation. The best contributive site of biopsy was the paranasal sinus. CONCLUSION We report that otorhinolaryngological manifestations occurred in 81% of cases before and at the time of GW diagnosis. These findings indicate that otorhinolaryngologists have a central role to play in early diagnosis of the disease.