Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Infant feeding decisions and behaviours among low-income smoke-exposed women: timing and change during pregnancy

Abstract Objective The present study aimed to describe change in feeding intentions and predictors of breast-feeding intentions during the course of pregnancy. Design Analysis of prospectively collected data from a larger randomized controlled trial of a health education intervention to reduce environmental smoke exposure among women during and after pregnancy. Setting Participants were recruited from prenatal clinics, but all further communication occurred with participating women living in the community. Subjects Low-income, adult women (n 399) were interviewed during the 16th and 32nd week of pregnancy to ascertain prenatal feeding intentions and breast-feeding knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy. Characteristics of women by infant feeding intention were assessed along with differences in intention from 16 to 32 weeks of pregnancy and feeding behaviours after delivery. Differences in psychosocial variables between women of different intention for infant feeding were measured. Women in each category of feeding intention were assessed for changes in psychosocial factors by eventual infant feeding behaviour. Results Feeding intention early in pregnancy was strongly, but not consistently, associated with feeding intention late in pregnancy, feeding initiation and later feeding patterns. Over one-third of women who were undecided at 16 weeks’ gestation or earlier initiated breast-feeding. Increases in knowledge and improvement in time, social factors and social support barriers were found among those who exclusively breast-fed. Conclusions Results indicate that feeding decisions may change during pregnancy. Determining when women make feeding decisions during their pregnancy warrants more research. Interventions to increase breast-feeding intentions should target knowledge, self-efficacy and barriers.
Comparison of superconducting generators and permanent magnet generators for 10-MW direct-drive wind turbines

Large offshore direct-drive wind turbines of 10-MW power levels are being extensively proposed and studied because of a reduced cost of energy. Conventional permanent magnet generators currently dominating the direct-drive wind turbine market are still under consideration for such large wind turbines. In the meantime, superconducting generators (SCSGs) have been of particular interest to become a significant competitor because of their compactness and light weight. This paper compares the performance indicators of these two direct-drive generator types in the same 10-MW wind turbine under the same design and optimization method. Such comparisons will be interesting and insightful for commercialization of superconducting generators and for development of future wind energy industry, although SCSGs are still far from a high technology readiness level. The results show that the SCSGs may not be too expensive regarding capital cost of energy. If other major costs and reliability factors related to superconductivity are taken into consideration, however, the SCSGs may not be competitive yet at the moment.
Filipino American Dating Violence

Summary This study examined 171 Filipino American undergraduate students on physical, sexual, and psychological definitions and contextual justifications of and experiences with dating violence. A blended methodology that combined survey and focus group data was used. Filipino Americans tended to define dating violence as physical and sexual abuse. Perceptions of psychological abuse were more narrowly defined than physical and sexual violence. Conversely, focus group data indicated that Filipino American students are very cognizant of what comprises psychological abuse. Scaled score findings showed no significant differences between Filipino males and females. However, closer examination of the items comprising the scales revealed significant gender differences in contextual justifications and definitions of psychological abuse. Contextual justification was the only variable to have a significant effect on experiences of dating violence. Filipino American culture and history are used to assist in explaining the findings and formulate implications for practice.
A novel mutation in the nucleoporin NUP35 causes murine degenerative colonic smooth muscle myopathy

Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction (CIPO) is a rare, but life-threatening, disease characterized by severe intestinal dysmotility. Histopathological studies of CIPO patients have identified several different mechanisms that appear to be responsible for the dysmotility, including defects in neurons, smooth muscle or interstitial cells of Cajal. Currently there are few mouse models of the various forms of CIPO. We generated a mouse with a point mutation in the RNA Recognition Motif of the Nup35 gene, which encodes a component of the nuclear pore complex. Nup35 mutants developed a severe megacolon and exhibited reduced lifespan. Histopathological examination revealed a degenerative myopathy that developed after birth and specifically affected smooth muscle in the colon; smooth muscle in the small bowel and the bladder were not affected. Furthermore, no defects were found in enteric neurons or interstitial cells of Cajal. Nup35 mice are likely to be a valuable model for the sub-type of CIPO characterized by degenerative myopathy. Our study also raises the possibility that Nup35 polymorphisms could contribute to some cases of CIPO. Significance Statement Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction (CIPO) is a disabling bowel disorder in which the symptoms resemble those caused by mechanical obstruction, but no physical obstruction is present. Some patients with CIPO have defects in intestinal neurons while in other CIPO patients the muscle cells in the bowel wall appear to degenerate, but the underlying cause of these defects is unknown in most CIPO patients. We generated a mouse that has a mutation in Nup35, which encodes a component of the pores found within the membrane of the cell nucleus. The mutant mice developed intestinal obstruction, which we showed was due to degeneration of the muscle cells in the colon. This mouse is likely to provide new insights into some forms of CIPO.
Matching parts: inner voice led control for symbolic and audio accompaniment

In sympathy with the oft-overlooked inner parts of music, this paper seeks the live control of outer parts by a matching process from the inner voices. This artistic conceit is instantiated in two prototypes; first, in a symbolic MIDI system where a MIDI pianist can control the playback of MIDI files truly from 'within', and second, via live concatenative synthesis constrained to apply audio signal matches to an inner voice filter range, controlling the playback of all remaining spectral parts. These techniques are presented more generally within a context of 'indirect' feature matching via a proxy part linked to a database of playback material. Representational issues and future extensions are discussed.
Dynamic structures of Bacillus subtilis RecN–DNA complexes

Genetic and cytological evidences suggest that Bacillus subtilis RecN acts prior to and after end-processing of DNA double-strand ends via homologous recombination, appears to participate in the assembly of a DNA repair centre and interacts with incoming single-stranded (ss) DNA during natural transformation. We have determined the architecture of RecN-ssDNA complexes by atomic force microscopy (AFM). ATP induces changes in the architecture of the RecN-ssDNA complexes and stimulates inter-complex assembly, thereby increasing the local concentration of DNA ends. The large CII and CIII complexes formed are insensitive to SsbA (counterpart of Escherichia coli SSB or eukaryotic RPA protein) addition, but RecA induces dislodging of RecN from the overhangs of duplex DNA molecules. Reciprocally, in the presence of RecN, RecA does not form large RecA-DNA networks. Based on these results, we hypothesize that in the presence of ATP, RecN tethers the 3'-ssDNA ends, and facilitates the access of RecA to the high local concentration of DNA ends. Then, the resulting RecA nucleoprotein filaments, on different ssDNA segments, might promote the simultaneous genome-wide homology search.
Fault Coverage Measurement of a Timed Test Case Generation Approach

Ensuring that a Real-Time Embedded System(RTES) is absent of major faults that may affect the way it performs is a non-trivial task. RTES behaviour is based on the interactions with its surrounding environment and on the timing characteristics of that same environment. As a result, time poses a new dimension to the complexity of the testing process. In previous research, we introduced a ‘priority-based’ approach which tested the logical and timing behaviour of an RTES modeled formally as Uppaal automata. The ‘priority-based’ approach was based on producing sets of timed test traces by achieving timing constraints coverage according to three sets of priorities, namely boundary, out-boundary and in-boundary. In this paper, we extend that work by validating the ‘priority-based’ approach according to a well-known timed fault model. The validation process shows promising results, notably, that the ‘priority-based’ approach is capable of detecting all the fault types included in the proposed fault model.
In our own backyards: the continuing threat of hazardous waste.

The EPA estimates that between 20 and 40 million Americans live within four miles of the country's worst hazardous waste sites. For public officials charged with protecting human health, determining the health impacts associated with those sites is complicated by scientific and political controversies and, at times, crippling economic and budgetary constraints. The two federal agencies primarily responsible for making such determinations, the EPA, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) are subject to criticism from industries facing cleanup bills, from citizen's groups who believe the agencies are not appropriately responding to the human health threat, and from some scientists and health professionals who tend to line up behind either the industry or citizen's groups. Against this backdrop, federal and state officials must decide which hazardous waste sites pose the most significant health risks and determine the proper means of preventing exposure or reducing exposure from those sites. This paper examines some of those efforts at specific sites around the country and assess the effects of public involvement, politics, and legal regulations in the decision making process.
Improving the Performance of the Random Walk Model for Answering Complex Questions

We consider the problem of answering complex questions that require inferencing and synthesizing information from multiple documents and can be seen as a kind of topic-oriented, informative multi-document summarization. The stochastic, graph-based method for computing the relative importance of textual units (i.e. sentences) is very successful in generic summarization. In this method, a sentence is encoded as a vector in which each component represents the occurrence frequency (TF*IDF) of a word. However, the major limitation of the TF*IDF approach is that it only retains the frequency of the words and does not take into account the sequence, syntactic and semantic information. In this paper, we study the impact of syntactic and shallow semantic information in the graph-based method for answering complex questions.
An Analysis of Student's Cognitive Styles in Asynchronous Distance Education Courses at a Community College.

A study conducted at Southwest Virginia Community College investigated the cognitive styles of students who were enrolled in distance education courses for one semester. Because video-based presentations of material severely limit teacher-student interaction, the distance learner must possess self-discipline, self-organization, and self-planning to direct the learning process. The study's hypothesis predicted that field-independent students would be more successful in distance education telecourses than field-dependent students. According to a cognitive test 71 percent of the students were determined to be field dependent. However, at the conclusion of the telecourse, 67 percent passed the course successfully with a C or better. The study concluded the hypothesis was incorrect. Field-independent students are not more successful in asynchronous distance education telecourses than those who are field-dependent. Findings indicate that cognitive style does not have an impact on student success in distance education, and should encourage educators to offer distance education to all types of students. Contains 31 references. (YKH) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************
The pathophysiology underlying repetitive mild traumatic brain injury in a novel mouse model of chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Background: An animal model of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is essential for further understanding the pathophysiological link between repetitive head injury and the development of chronic neurodegenerative disease. We previously described a model of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in mice that encapsulates the neurobehavioral spectrum characteristic of patients with CTE. We aimed to study the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this animal model. Methods: Our previously described model allows for controlled, closed head impacts to unanesthetized mice. Briefly, 12-week-old mice were divided into three groups: Control, single, and repetitive mTBI. Repetitive mTBI mice received six concussive impacts daily, for 7 days. Mice were then subsequently sacrificed for macro- and micro-histopathologic analysis at 7 days, 1 month, and 6 months after the last TBI received. Brain sections were immunostained for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) for astrocytes, CD68 for activated microglia, and AT8 for phosphorylated tau protein. Results: Brains from single and repetitive mTBI mice lacked macroscopic tissue damage at all time-points. Single mTBI resulted in an acute rea ctive astrocytosis at 7 days and increased phospho-tau immunoreactivity that was present acutely and at 1 month, but was not persistent at 6 months. Repetitive mTBI resulted in a more marked neuroinflammatory response, with persistent and widespread astrogliosis and microglial activation, as well as significantly elevated phospho-tau immunoreactivity to 6-months. Conclusions: The neuropathological findings in this new model of repetitive mTBI resemble some of the histopathological hallmarks of CTE, including increased astrogliosis, microglial activation, and hyperphosphorylated tau protein accumulation.
Colostrums Immunoglobulin Potential Effects Against Some Biochemical Changes In Diabetic Rats

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most distributed public health problem which increases the ability of other diseases and risks. The present work was concerned with the investigation of colostrum immunoglobulin potential effects on some biochemical changes in diabetic rats. The results showed the impact of oral administration of colostrum in healthy and diabetic rats. Regarding to fecal characteristics reflected the improvement of gastrointestinal tract function as increase the absorption which result in decrease fecal weights in association with minimized its volume that significantly effect on the fecal density with slightly increased in pH mean value in case of consuming colostrum. Hematological measurements reflected the positive effects of consuming colostrum on RBCs, WBCs counts, hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit values; as well as erythrocytes indices; such as erythrocyte size or hemoglobin contents. The biochemical measurements showed an improvement in insulin level as well as plasma glucose level in colostrum consumed group. The decrement was reach 21.94% in diabetic rats group compared with healthy group consumed water. On the other hand there were highly significant increases in serum total proteins, albumin and globulin which affect A/G ratio in both healthy and diabetic rat groups. When diabetic rats consumed colostrum it resulted in significant reduction in lipids pattern, the decrement reached 29.53%, 6.90%, 25.09 % and 17.39% for total lipids, total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and LDL-c, respectively in association with the increase in the percentage of HDL-c by 57.99% compared to their corresponding control group that drank water. Data showed that colostrum has positive effect on reducing the oxidative stress risk accompanied with diabetes mellitus including decreased plasma malondialdehyde level with increase in both erythrocytes SOD enzyme activity and increase in hepatic reduced glutathione level. Positive immunological responses were also observed in the levels of immunoglobulin classes IgG and IgA when healthy or diabetic rats received colostrum.
Hybrid force/impedance control for the robotized rehabilitation of the upper limbs

Abstract This paper presents the architecture and the control hierarchy of a 3 degrees-of-freedom robot destined for the rehabilitation of the upper limbs. A hybrid control law, using a weighted sum of force and impedance, is proposed to implement the Active-Assisted rehabilitation mode. Parameters' tuning of the resulting active force feedback controller is based on a compromise between user's safety and dynamic performances. Some results illustrate the performances of the developed controller.
Impact of Preceding Ventricular Premature Beats on Heart Rate Turbulence

Background: Heart rate turbulence (HRT) has recently been introduced as a noninvasive tool for studying autonomic dysfunction. It presented short time fluctuation of sinus cycle length following single ventricular premature contraction (VPC). However, HRT parameters may be influenced by different factors. This study aimed to evaluate the possible influence of VPC frequency on HRT.
Congestion game modeling for brokerage based multimedia resource management

We introduce the concept of resource brokers, which enables efficient and fair management of the available network resources for multimedia users in large networks while reducing the complexity of a central resource allocation authority. To manage the available resources, the resource brokers deploy axiomatic bargaining solutions from economic game theory in order to explicitly consider the utility impact for different resource allocation schemes. We focus on the Kalai-Smorodinsky bargaining solution because it can successfully model relevant autonomous utility-aware fairness policies for multimedia users. Based on the interpretations of the bargaining solutions, we can model the proposed resource allocation scheme as a utility-driven congestion game, thereby ensuring that the presented resource management game will reach a steady-state after a finite (small) number of changes across resource brokers (i.e., at least one Nash equilibrium exists).
Intratumoral cisplatin/epinephrine gel in advanced head and neck cancer: A multicenter, randomized, double‐blind, phase III study in North America

The objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a novel intratumoral cisplatin/epinephrine injectable gel (CDDP/epi gel) for local control and palliation of tumor‐related symptoms in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
Prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis in High Vaginal Swab Samples of Infertile Females

Background: Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum are important causative agents of vaginitis, cervicitis, postpartum sepsis, reproductive infections and infertility in both males and females. Objectives: According to the uncertain prevalence of U. urealyticum and M. hominis in Iranian infertile females, the present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of U. urealyticum and M. hominis in high vaginal swab samples of fertile and infertile females. Patients and Methods: A total of 350 high vaginal swab specimens were taken from fertile and infertile females. Samples were cultured and those that were positive for bacteria were subjected to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for further confirmation. Results: Of the 350 collected samples, eleven were positive for M. hominis (3.14%), fifteen were positive for U. urealyticum (4.28%) and five were positive for both of them (1.42%). Prevalence of U. urealyticum and M. hominis in the high vaginal parts of infertile females was higher than fertile females (P < 0.05). The results of traditional method were also confirmed, using the PCR amplification of urease gene of U. urealyticum and 16SrRNA gene of the M. hominis. Ureaplasma urealyticum and M. hominis had a higher prevalence in the high vaginal samples collected during the summer season. Conclusions: Considerable prevalence of M. hominis and U. urealyticum in the high vaginal swab samples of infertile females compared to the low prevalence in fertile females may suggest that these two pathogens can be cause infertility. Application of the PCR method is recommended for rapid and sensitive detection of M. hominis and U. urealyticum in high vaginal swab samples.
Performance Evaluation of Transactional Composite Web Services

Due to the openness and dynamic characteristics of the network environment, the failure of component services in a composite Web service (CWS) can occur. CWS is a conglomeration of existing Web services (WSs) interacting together to offer a new value-added service. Hence, it is necessary to perform some transactions to ensure its correct and reliable execution. However, their introduction complicates its quality of service (QoS) analysis. How to analyze and evaluate its QoS values based on them becomes an important research issue. To address the problem, this paper introduces transactional properties of a single WS and CWS and conducts the performance analysis of basic workflow patterns such as sequential, parallel, selectable, and loop ones. Then, it develops an algorithm to compute the execution time of CWS and shows an example to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.