Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The limited impacts of formal education on democratic citizenship in Africa

As part of a larger research project on the various linkages between higher education and democracy in Africa, we extend these studies in this paper in three important ways. First, we attempt to unpack the various elements of cognitive awareness and isolate and trace the direct and indirect effects of formal education. Second, we examine the effects of formal education across a much broader range of dimensions of democratic citizenship than others have studied. Finally, we attempt to isolate and assess the specific impact of higher education within this process.
Microfluidic Cell Culture and Its Application in High-Throughput Drug Screening

Evaluation of drug cardiotoxicity is essential to the safe development of novel pharmaceuticals. Assessing a compound’s risk for prolongation of the surface electrocardiographic QT interval and hence risk for life-threatening arrhythmias is mandated before approval of nearly all new pharmaceuticals. QT prolongation has most commonly been associated with loss of current through hERG (human ether-a-go-go related gene) potassium ion channels due to direct block of the ion channel by drugs or occasionally by inhibition of the plasma membrane expression of the channel protein. To develop an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective hERG screening assay for detecting drug-mediated disruption of hERG membrane trafficking, the authors demonstrate the use of microfluidic-based systems to improve throughput and lower cost of current methods. They validate their microfluidics array platform in polystyrene (PS), cyclo-olefin polymer (COP), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannels for drug-induced disruption of hERG trafficking by culturing stably transfected HEK cells that overexpressed hERG (WT-hERG) and studying their morphology, proliferation rates, hERG protein expression, and response to drug treatment. Results show that WT-hERG cells readily proliferate in PS, COP, and PDMS microfluidic channels. The authors demonstrated that conventional Western blot analysis was possible using cell lysate extracted from a single microchannel. The Western blot analysis also provided important evidence that WT-hERG cells cultured in microchannels maintained regular (well plate-based) expression of hERG. The authors further show that experimental procedures can be streamlined by using direct in-channel immunofluorescence staining in conjunction with detection using an infrared scanner. Finally, treatment of WT-hERG cells with 5 different drugs suggests that PS (and COP) microchannels were more suitable than PDMS microchannels for drug screening applications, particularly for tests involving hydrophobic drug molecules.
Moving dirt: soil, lead, and the dynamic spatial politics of urban gardening

ABSTRACT Urban gardens are often heralded as places for building social, physical, and environmental health. Yet they are also sites of significant conflict based on competing political, economic, and ecological projects. These projects range from radical re-envisionings of liberatory urban spaces, reformist aesthetic and sanitary improvement programmes, to underwriting the production of the neo-liberal city. These projects are based on divergent visions of the garden ground itself, in particular, whether this is soil (the fertile and living source for growing food and social values) or dirt (an inert and even problematic substrate to be removed or built upon for development purposes). These are not fixed or mutually exclusive categories, but are unstable as soil/dirt moves in discursive and material ways over time and space. Contaminants such as lead in the soil contribute to this instability, reframing fertile soil as dangerous dirt. To understand this discursive and material movement of soil/dirt over time and space, a dynamic spatial politics framework is needed that encompasses three scalar concepts: location, duration, and interconnection. This paper applies this dynamic spatial politics framework to interpret the 30-year conflict over the fate of an urban garden in Sacramento, California, that began as a countercultural space and was eventually transformed into a manicured amenity for a gentrifying neighbourhood, and the role of soil lead contamination in this narrative.
A Multitasking Control Algorithm for Grid-Connected Inverters in Distributed Generation Applications Using Adaptive Noise Cancellation Filters

This paper proposes a multitasking control algorithm for grid-connected inverters (GCIs) in distributed generation (DG) applications. A single-phase H-bridge voltage source inverter is used as a power electronic interface between the DG system and the grid. The proposed control algorithm operates the GCI in current control mode to achieve desired active power injection to the grid. In addition to active power injection, the proposed control algorithm has current harmonics mitigation and reactive power compensation capabilities for power quality enhancement. The control algorithm utilizes only the remaining capacity of the GCI for power quality improvement. The proposed control algorithm employs a current decomposition structure based on multiple adaptive noise cancellation (ANC) filters for extraction of harmonic and reactive currents of the local loads. The extracted harmonics are used in estimating compensating currents to be injected by the GCI. A single-phase phase-locked loop (PLL) using ANC filters has been developed to synchronize the GCI at fundamental frequency, which makes the proposed control algorithm adaptive to grid frequency fluctuations and immune to grid voltage distortions. The effectiveness of the proposed control is illustrated through computer simulation and experimental results. The influence of PLL dynamics on GCI performance has also been studied using results.
Protective Factors for Youth Exposed to Violence in Their Communities: A Review of Family, School, and Community Moderators

This review provides a comprehensive investigation of the pattern and strength of findings in the literature regarding the environmental moderators of the relationship between exposure to community violence and mental health among children and adolescents. Twenty-nine studies met criteria for inclusion in our analysis of family, school, and community variables as moderators. Dependent variables included internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder) and externalizing symptoms (e.g., aggression, substance use). Effect sizes for the interactions of exposure to violence and potential moderators were summarized by their patterns of protective processes. The majority of studies in the literature examined family characteristics as moderators of the exposure to violence–symptom relationship, rather than school- or community-level factors. Our results indicated more consistent patterns for (a) close family relationships and social support for internalizing symptoms and (b) close family relationships for externalizing symptoms. Overall, the most common type of protective pattern was protective-stabilizing, in which youth with higher levels of the environmental attribute demonstrate relative stability in mental health despite exposure to violence. We found no consistent evidence that parental monitoring—a dimension inversely associated with exposure to violence in prior studies—moderated the relationship between exposure to violence and symptoms. The study emphasizes the importance of strengthening family support for young people's exposure to community violence; more research is needed to provide a solid evidence base for the role of school and community-level protective factors for youth exposed to violence.
Domain V of m-calpain shows the potential to form an oblique-orientated alpha-helix, which may modulate the enzyme's activity via interactions with anionic lipid.

The activity of m-calpain, a heterodimeric, Ca2+-dependent cysteine protease appears to be modulated by membrane interactions involving oblique-orientated alpha-helix formation by a segment, GTAMRILGGVI, in the protein's smaller subunit. Here, graphical and hydrophobic moment-based analyses predicted that this segment may form an alpha-helix with strong structural resemblance to the influenza virus peptide, HA2, a known oblique-orientated alpha-helix former. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that a peptide homologue of the GTAMRILGGVI segment, VP1, adopted low levels of alpha-helical structure ( approximately 20%) in the presence of zwitterionic lipid and induced a minor decrease (3 degrees C) in the gel to liquid-crystalline phase transition temperature, TC, of the hydrocarbon chains of zwitterionic membranes, suggesting interaction with the lipid headgroup region. In contrast, VP1 adopted high levels of alpha-helical structure (65%) in the presence of anionic lipid, induced a large increase (10 degrees C) in the TC of anionic membranes, and showed high levels of anionic lipid monolayer penetration (DeltaSP = 5.5 mN.m-1), suggesting deep levels of membrane penetration. VP1 showed strong haemolytic ability (LD50 = 1.45 mm), but in the presence of ionic agents, this ability, and that of VP1 to penetrate anionic lipid monolayers, was greatly reduced. In combination, our results suggest that m-calpain domain V may penetrate membranes via the adoption of an oblique-orientated alpha-helix and electrostatic interactions. We speculate that these interactions may involve snorkelling by an arginine residue located in the polar face of this alpha-helix.
Relationship between quality of life and restless legs syndrome among a community-dwelling population in Japan

Objectives Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor disturbance that causes the production of impulses and dysesthesia and makes the patients feel as though they must move their lower extremities. Because the symptoms of RLS in the lower limbs tend to develop at night, RLS could cause sleep disorders. We investigated an association between the symptoms of RLS and the health-related quality of life among community-dwelling individuals in Japan. Methods In this cross-sectional survey, we enrolled 985 volunteers who participated in the Iwaki Health Promotion Project in 2013. The symptoms of RLS were evaluated by the criteria of the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group. The assessments included an interview to obtain sociodemographic data, the second version of the Short Form Health Survey, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. A multiple regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between the symptoms of RLS and subscores of the Short Form Health Survey, Version 2. Results The overall prevalence of RLS in our participants was 1.0%. We found a significant and negative association between symptoms of RLS and physical functioning, role – physical functioning, bodily pain, social functioning, and the physical composite summary score. Conclusion After adjusting for confounders such as age, sex, and comorbidity, the burden of RLS appears to be mainly a physical problem. Impaired health-related quality of life among community individuals with RLS emphasizes the importance of screening for these symptoms and evaluating the need for treatment.
LPXTG Protein InlJ, a Newly Identified Internalin Involved in Listeria monocytogenes Virulence

ABSTRACT Listeria monocytogenes expresses surface proteins covalently anchored to the peptidoglycan by sortase enzymes. Inactivation of srtA attenuates Listeria virulence in mice (H. Bierne, S. K. Mazmanian, M. Trost, M. G. Pucciarelli, G. Liu, P. Dehoux, L. Jansch, F. Garcia-del Portillo, O. Schneewind, and P. Cossart, Mol. Microbiol. 43:869-881, 2002). We show here that an srtA mutant is more attenuated than an internalin mutant in orally infected guinea pigs and transgenic mice expressing human E-cadherin (hEcad mice), indicating the involvement of other SrtA substrates, LPXTG proteins, in food-borne listeriosis. Data recently generated with a listerial DNA macroarray identified two LPXTG protein-encoding genes present in the genomes of L. monocytogenes strains and absent from all other Listeria species, inlI (lmo0333) and inlJ (lmo2821). They also revealed two other LPXTG protein-encoding genes, ORF29 and ORF2568, present only in a subclass of L. monocytogenes serovars, including the epidemic serovar 4b. We report here that an inlJ deletion mutant, in contrast to inlI and ORF29 mutants, is significantly attenuated in virulence after intravenous infection of mice or oral inoculation of hEcad mice. Interestingly, a ΔORF2568 strain showed a slight increase in virulence. inlJ encodes a leucine-rich repeat (LRR) protein that is structurally related to the listerial invasion factor internalin. However, the consensus sequence of the InlJ LRR defines a novel subfamily of cysteine-containing LRRs in bacteria. In conclusion, this postgenomic approach identified InlJ as a new virulence factor among the proteins belonging to the internalin family in L. monocytogenes.
A novel “patient‐like” model of cholangiocarcinoma progression based on bile duct inoculation of tumorigenic rat cholangiocyte cell lines

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma typically presents in an advanced stage in which treatment options are limited. In an effort to recapitulate key biological and clinical features of the progressive disease, we established a novel rat model based on bile duct inoculation of rat cholangiocyte cell lines in different stages of tumor progression. Our BDEneu cell line, which is highly tumorigenic, originated from an immortalized rat cholangiocyte cell line (BDE1 cells) that was stably transfected to constitutively overexpress mutationally activated rat neu oncogene. Our less aggressive tumorigenic BDEsp cholangiocyte cell line was derived from the spontaneous in vitro neoplastic transformation of the same parent BDE1 cell line. Unlike BDEneu cells, BDEsp cells expressed wild‐type c‐neu and exhibited in vitro growth rates intermediate between those of BDEneu and BDE1 cholangiocytes. Cyclooxygenase‐2 and activated Akt were significantly overexpressed in BDEsp cells over those of BDE1 cells, and at higher levels than those expressed in BDEneu cells. Only BDEneu cells overexpressed activated p185neu, which was associated with a significant increase in phospho‐p44/42 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK). Mucin 1 (MUC1) messenger RNA (mRNA), an indicator of cholangiocarcinoma cell progression, was also significantly overexpressed in BDEneu cells over that of BDEsp cells. BDEneu cells inoculated into the bile duct of isogenic rats resulted over a 21‐ to 26‐day period in rapid exponential cholangiocarcinoma tumor growth within liver, paralleled by increases in bile duct obstruction and gross peritoneal metastases. Under comparable conditions, BDEsp cells yielded only small nonmetastatic intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas without bile duct obstruction. Conclusions: A novel model of cholangiocarcinoma progression mimicking progressive development of the advanced human disease has been established, which may serve as a powerful preclinical platform to study cholangiocarcinoma progression and for rapidly testing treatment approaches. (HEPATOLOGY 2008.)
Effects of the Nrf2 Protein Modulator Salvianolic Acid A Alone or Combined with Metformin on Diabetes-associated Macrovascular and Renal Injury*

Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is considered a promising target against diabetic complications such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetic nephropathy. Herein, we investigated the effects of a potential Nrf2 modulator, salvianolic acid A (SAA), which is a natural polyphenol, on diabetes-associated macrovascular and renal injuries in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. Given that lowering glucose is the first objective of diabetic patients, we also examined the effects of SAA combined with metformin (MET) on both complications. Our results showed that SAA significantly increased the macrovascular relaxation response to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside in diabetic mice. Interestingly, treatment with SAA alone only provided minor protection against renal injury, as reflected by minor improvements in impaired renal function and structure, despite significantly reduced oxidative stress observed in the diabetic kidney. We demonstrated that decreased oxidative stress and NF-κB p65 expression were associated with SAA-induced expression of Nrf2-responsive antioxidant enzymes heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (quinone) 1 (NQO-1), and glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPx-1) in vivo or in vitro, which suggested that SAA was a potential Nrf2 modulator. More significantly, compared with treatment with either SAA or MET alone, we found that their combination provided further protection against the macrovascular and renal injury, which was at least partly due to therapeutic activation of both MET-mediated AMP-activated protein kinase and SAA-mediated Nrf2/antioxidant-response element pathways. These findings suggested that polyphenol Nrf2 modulators, especially combined with drugs activating AMP-activated protein kinase, including hypoglycemic drugs, are worthy of further investigation to combat diabetic complications.
Equivalency of Nuclear Transfer‐Derived Embryonic Stem Cells to Those Derived from Fertilized Mouse Blastocysts

Therapeutic cloning, whereby nuclear transfer (NT) is used to generate embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from blastocysts, has been demonstrated successfully in mice and cattle. However, if NT‐ESCs have abnormalities, such as those associated with the offspring produced by reproductive cloning, their scientific and medical utilities might prove limited. To evaluate the characteristics of NT‐ESCs, we established more than 150 NT‐ESC lines from adult somatic cells of several mouse strains. Here, we show that these NT‐ESCs were able to differentiate into all functional embryonic tissues in vivo. Moreover, they were identical to blastocyst‐derived ESCs in terms of their expression of pluripotency markers in the presence of tissue‐dependent differentially DNA methylated regions, in DNA microarray profiles, and in high‐coverage gene expression profiling. Importantly, the NT procedure did not cause irreversible damage to the nuclei. These similarities of NT‐ESCs and ESCs indicate that murine therapeutic cloning by somatic cell NT can provide a reliable model for preclinical stem cell research.
American Finance Association Mutual Fund Performance : An Empirical Decomposition into Stock-Picking Talent , Style , Transactions Costs , and

Mutual Fund Performance: An Empirical Decomposition into Stock-Picking Talent, Style, Transactions Costs, and Expenses: Discussion Author(s): Tobias J. Moskowitz Source: The Journal of Finance, Vol. 55, No. 4, Papers and Proceedings of the Sixtieth Annual Meeting of the American Finance Association, Boston, Massachusetts, January 7-9, 2000 (Aug., 2000), pp. 1695-1703 Published by: Wiley for the American Finance Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor. org/stable/222376 . Accessed: 16/02/2015 13:49
The failure processes and their relation to the business interruption moment

This paper focuses on the investigation of business failure processes. We consider business failure as a process. We have set two objectives. The first objective is to detect and describe different processes of failure between sample failed companies, as already has been done in previous literature. The second objective is to study the relation between the process that follows a failed company and its final and irreversible situation of business failure. This final situation can be one of the following: to be declared insolvent or in dissolution. In conclusion, on the one hand, we observed that the variables selected permit us to distinguish between different failure processes and, on the other hand, it is found that there is no relation between the failure process and the companies' final situations.
The development and role of trust in educational leadership: A comparative study of U.S. and Ugandan school administrators

The development and role of trust in school performance has been built primarily on educational research in the United States. The problem is that the resulting theory of trust may not accurately reflect the development and role of trust in schools in other global contexts. Researchers broadly agree that the implications of trust dynamics filter into every segment of the school's organization. However, trust is often either oversimplified or made to seem overly complex, whereas reality is likely somewhere in the middle and depends largely on specific national and regional circumstances. The resulting problem for school administrators globally is a lack of role clarity regarding their leadership responsibilities related to trust and school performance.
Docking method for hovering type AUVs by acoustic and visual positioning

We propose a docking method for a hovering type AUVs at a seafloor station. Although hovering type AUVs are suitable for detailed surveys of local area, docking methods are currently less studied compared with ones for cruising type AUVs. This paper proposes a docking method for hovering type AUVs based on both the acoustic and visual positioning. The proposed method was implemented in the AUV Tri-TON and a trial station in order to verify its performance through tank experiments. The vehicle succeeded in docking at the station 13 times, which accounts for half of the total number of trials. The possible causes of the failures and improvement methods are also discussed.
Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein A and Soluble Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products after Kidney Transplantation

Background: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) and soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) are new markers related to vascular damage. Methods: Thirty-one patients who had undergone kidney transplantation (TX) in the year 2005 under tacrolimus-based immunosuppression were included in this prospective single-center study. PAPP-A and sRAGE were determined before TX and 2 and 6 weeks and 3 months after TX. The results were correlated with the 3-month protocol kidney graft biopsy findings. Results: Both PAPP-A and sRAGE decreased after TX (mean values in serum: PAPP-A 20.8, 13.7, 12.1, and 10.7 mIU/l, respectively, before and 2 and 6 weeks and 3 months after TX, p < 0.001; sRAGE 4,403.4, 2,512.7, 1,909.0, and 1,817.6 pg/ml, respectively, before and 2 and 6 weeks and 3 months after TX, p < 0.001) and were correlated with the graft function (PAPP-A vs. modification of diet in renal disease formula r = –0.52, p < 0.001; sRAGE vs. modification of diet in renal disease formula r = –0.54, p < 0.001). Additionally, the PAPP-A levels correlated with interstitial inflammation (r = 0.57, p < 0.05) and vascular intimal thickening (r = 0.47, p < 0.05), while sRAGE correlated with arteriolar hyalinosis (r = 0.49, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the role of the kidney in the metabolism and/or the removal of PAPP-A and sRAGE. After successful TX, these substances decrease, and, on the contrary, early chronic vascular changes in the kidney TX are associated with elevation of their serum levels.
A capacitor voltage balancing method for a three phase modular multilevel DC-DC converter

A capacitor voltage balancing method for a three phase modular multilevel DC-DC converter (MMDC) is proposed in the paper. The MMDC is derived from a three phase DAB and a modular multilevel converter (MMC) and inherits desirable features of both topologies. To guarantee stable operation of the MMDC, submodule (SM) capacitor voltages are required to be balanced. The proposed balancing method is to assign the gate signals to SMs according to the SM capacitor voltages and net charge: assign the gate signals with the higher net charge to the SMs with the lower capacitor voltage and vice versa. With the proposed balancing method, the converter can operate in wider voltage ranges and the transformer primary side voltage can generate more level staircase waveforms to reduce the dv/dt stress on the MF transformer. The simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the proposed method.