Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Invariance of textural features in image cytometry under variation of size and pixel magnitude.

Textural features of the granular structure of stained cell nuclei and nuclear sections derived from co-occurrence and run length matrices are often used for correlation with external (clinical) parameters. The representation of cell nuclei and nuclear sections vary considerably under changes of preparation and fixation conditions. Most obvious are changes in size e.g. by fixation as well as changes in the amount of bound stain. Computer-simulated variations in size and pixel magnitude of a set of images of cell nuclei stained with Feulgen were featured and compared. Resulting feature dependencies are used for the setting of parameters of feature extraction procedures as well as for the selection of invariant features for texture quantification of material with variations examined.
Agricultural students’ academic burnout: the influence of employment challenges

ABSTRACT This study deals with the relationship between students’ views on employment challenges and academic burnout. A survey was conducted among 247 students at Colleges of Agriculture, Iran. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire and were analysed descriptively and inferentially using SPSS/Windows. Questionnaire validity and reliability were confirmed by an experts’ panel consisting of faculty members in Tehran University and by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, respectively. The findings indicated that there were positive and significant relationships between dimensions of academic burnout (emotional exhaustion, cynicism and academic inefficacy) with the five employment challenges (knowledge and skill (K&S), awareness and attitude (A&A), support (S), university and educational expectations (U&EE) and value of knowledge and learning (K&L)). According to standardised coefficients of regression analysis, A&A had the most effect on exhaustion and K&S had the most effects on cynicism and academic inefficacy.
Government Spending With Public Debt, Economic Growth And Fiscal Balance: Evidences From India

This paper has examined the impact of public expenditure on economic growth and viability of fiscal policy when the public expenditure is financed by public borrowing. The ratio of gross fiscal deficit to net national product and the ratio of gross fiscal deficit to total expenditure have been considered as indicators of solvency in fiscal balance. The study is based on theoretical framework and results of econometric analyses. The basic argument of this paper is that if public expenditure is financed by government borrowing, but expenditure fails to generate sufficient growth in income, it will be difficult to repay the loan and fiscal balance will deteriorate. As a result, the viability of the fiscal policy will be under question. The data in the Indian context show that revenue expenditure has increased significantly over time. Since revenue expenditure includes many non-developmental and less productive components, it may not be helpful for economic growth. The results of time series analysis show that the ratio of gross fiscal deficit to net national product (NNP) has increased with increase in total expenditure of the government indicating non-sustainability of fiscal balance. The study also shows that private capital has significant positive impact on NNP but the effect of fiscal deficit on economic growth is not clear.
Experience with a pharmacy technician medication history program.

PURPOSE The implementation and outcomes of a pharmacy technician medication history program are described. SUMMARY An interprofessional medication reconciliation team, led by a clinical pharmacist and a clinical nurse specialist, was charged with implementing a new electronic medication reconciliation system to improve compliance with medication reconciliation at discharge and capture compliance-linked reimbursement. The team recommended that the pharmacy department be allocated new pharmacy technician full-time-equivalent positions to assume ownership of the medication history process. Concurrent with the implementation of this program, a medication history standard was developed to define rules for documentation of what a patient reports he or she is actually taking. The standard requires a structured interview with the patient or caregiver and validation with outside sources as indicated to determine which medications to document in the medication history. The standard is based on four medication administration category rules: scheduled, as-needed, short-term, and discontinued medications. The medication history standard forms the core of the medication history technician training and accountability program. Pharmacy technicians are supervised by pharmacists, using a defined accountability plan based on a set of medical staff approved rules for what medications comprise a best possible medication history. Medication history accuracy and completeness rates have been consistently over 90% and rates of provider compliance with medication reconciliation rose from under 20% to 100% since program implementation. CONCLUSION A defined medication history based on a medication history standard served as an effective foundation for a pharmacy technician medication history program, which helped improve provider compliance with discharge medication reconciliation.
Revisit Financial Development, Trade Openness and Economic Growth Nexus in China Using a New Developed Bootstrap ARDL Test

We revisit the causal links among financial development, trade openness and economic growth in China using a newly developed Bootstrap ARDL test over the period of 1978-2015. Empirical results indicate no long-run relationship among these three variables and Granger causality test based on ARDL model indicates a feedback between trade openness and economic growth and between trade openness and financial development and a one-way Granger causality running from financial development supporting supply-leading hypothesis. By looking at the sign of coefficients of the independent variable that we find both financial development and trade openness promote economic growth and economic growth further reduce trade openness. These empirical results have important policy implications for the government conducting both financial development and trade openness strategies to promote economic growth in China and financial development strategy is the most important one. Apparently our results support the supply-leading hypothesis in China.
EDUCATION CHALLENGES AFFECTING RESEARCH AND SKILFUL TEACHING-LEARNING (PEDAGOGIES) IN ZIMBABWE

Although Zimbabwe has tried devoting resources to address educational challenges, literature reviewed has indicated that Zimbabwe education system still needs priority towards the consolidation and improvement of both quality and quantity. Even though both quantity and quality issues are interrelated this study focused more on qualitative challenges affecting research and skilful teaching-learning (pedagogies) in the classroom. Through data collection and analysis four major challenges affecting skilful teaching were deduced, teacher incompetency, teaching being more teacher-centred preparing students to pass examinations, limited critical thinking teaching-learning activities and ineffective initial teacher training. Quantity challenges directly linked to skilful instructing are mainly, inadequate schools-infrastructure and insufficient resources. The above research findings were reached through qualitative analysis of published literature sources on challenges affecting research and skilful teaching. This research concluded that, the solution to most qualitative classroom based challenges can be solved by teacher competency gained through rigorous teacher training and consistent research/application of innovative pedagogies. Besides realigning teacher education, research funding, consistent teacher in-service and incentives for teachers were recommended. Article visualizations:
Inhibition of Antigen Presentation by the Glycine/Alanine Repeat Domain Is Not Conserved in Simian Homologues of Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigen 1

ABSTRACT Most humans and Old World nonhuman primates are infected for life with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or closely related gammaherpesviruses in the same lymphocryptovirus (LCV) subgroup. Several potential strategies for immune evasion and persistence have been proposed based on studies of EBV infection in humans, but it has been difficult to test their actual contribution experimentally. Interest has focused on the EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) because of its essential role in the maintenance and replication of the episomal viral genome in latently infected cells and because EBNA1 endogenously expressed in these cells is protected from presentation to the major histocompatibility complex class-I restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response through the action of an internal glycine-alanine repeat (GAR). Given the high degree of biologic conservation among LCVs which infect humans and Old World primates, we hypothesized that strategies essential for viral persistence would be well conserved among viruses of this subgroup. We show that the rhesus LCV EBNA1 shares sequence homology with the EBV and baboon LCV EBNA1 and that the rhesus LCV EBNA1 is a functional homologue for EBV EBNA1-dependent plasmid maintenance and replication. Interestingly, all three LCVs possess a GAR domain, but the baboon and rhesus LCV EBNA1 GARs fail to inhibit antigen processing and presentation as determined by using three different in vitro CTL assays. These studies suggest that inhibition of antigen processing and presentation by the EBNA1 GAR may not be an essential mechanism for persistent infection by all LCV and that other mechanisms may be important for immune evasion during LCV infection.
Structural tendon changes in patients with acromegaly: assessment of Achilles tendon with sonoelastography.

AIMS To describe the sonoelastographic appearance of the Achilles tendon in acromegalic patients and to determine whether the blood concentrations of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) are associated with the various sonographic elasticity types of Achilles tendons. MATERIAL AND METHODS Eighty-four Achilles tendons of 42 acromegaly patients and 84 Achilles tendons of 42 healthy volunteers were assessed with sonoelastography. The tendons were classified into two main types according to the elasticity features: type 1 blue/green (hard tissue) and type 2 yellow/red within green (intermediate-soft tissue). Two subtypes of these types were also defined. According to the definition, the elasticity of the tissue was in a spectrum ranging from hard to soft as the type progressed from 1a to 2b. RESULTS The mean thickness of Achilles tendons in patients with acromegaly was significantly higher compared with healthy Achilles tendons (5.1+/-0.7 mm vs. 4.4+/-0.5, p<0.001), and patients with active disease had thicker Achilles tendons (5.5+/-0.8 mm vs. 4.8+/-0.5 mm in inactive disease, p=0.003). A significantly higher proportion of acromegaly patients had type 2 sonoelastographic appearance of the Achilles tendon (124/252 third; 49.2% vs. 81/252 third; 32.1%, p=0.0001). Activity status of acromegaly and GH/IGF-I levels were similar in patients with different types of elasticity (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Sonoelastography revealed structural changes in the tendinous tissue of patients with acromegaly, but it was not sensitive enough to reflect changes in the serum levels of GH/IGF-1.
Impaired balance of type I and type III procollagen mRNA in cultured fibroblasts of patients with incisional hernia.

BACKGROUND Recent findings of an impaired protein ratio of type I to type III procollagen showed a disturbed collagen metabolism in incisional hernia development. We analyzed the type I and type III procollagen messenger RNA to investigate whether these findings represent the altered extracellular matrix or a primary defect at the transcriptional level. METHODS We examined cultured skin fibroblasts of patients with incisional or recurrent incisional hernia in comparison with those without any previous incision (control) and those with a skin scar without clinical appearance of a hernia (scar). Immunohistochemical detection of a lowered protein ratio of type I and type III collagen in the hernia skin tissue leads to mRNA expression analysis. The procollagen mRNA and the ratio of type I to type III procollagen mRNA are detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Northern blot analysis, the collagens type I and III by Western blot analysis. RESULTS Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction revealed an increase of type I procollagen mRNA in the incisional and recurrent hernia (0.90 +/- 0.04 and 1.19 +/- 0.04, respectively) compared with stable scar (0.54 +/- 0.02) or healthy tissue (0.43 +/- 0.01). The obvious rise of type III procollagen mRNA to 4.13 +/- 0.04 for incisional, 6.02 +/- 0.03 for recurrent hernia, 2.29 +/- 0.04 for stable scar, and 1.72 +/- 0.03 for the healthy tissue showed a significantly decreased ratio of type I to type III procollagen mRNA in the hernia patients as compared with the controls (P <.01). By Western blot analysis, an increase of type I and type III collagen protein and a significant rise in the corresponding ratio in the recurrent hernia group were detected. CONCLUSIONS The altered synthesis of type I and type III collagen in cultured skin fibroblasts suggests a disorder of collagen metabolism, at least in patients with recurrent hernia. Hence, a basically impaired wound healing process is likely to contribute to the unsatisfactory results of incisional hernia repair.
Spatio‐temporal selectivity of loss of colour and luminance contrast sensitivity with multiple sclerosis and optic neuritis

Colour and luminance‐contrast thresholds were measured in the presence of dynamic Random Luminance‐contrast Masking (RLM) in individuals who had had past diagnoses of optic neuritis (ON) some of whom have progressed to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). To explore the spatio‐temporal selectivity of chromatic and luminance losses in MS/ON, thresholds were measured using three different sizes and modulation rates of the RLM displays: small checks modulating slowly, medium‐sized checks with moderate modulation and large checks modulating rapidly. The colour of the chromatic stimuli used were specified in a cone‐excitation space to measure relative impairments in red–green and blue–yellow chromatic channels. These observers showed chromatic thresholds along the L/(L + M) axis that were higher than those along the S‐cone axis for all display sizes/modulation rates and both red‐green and blue‐yellow colour thresholds were higher than luminance‐contrast thresholds. The principal change in thresholds with spatio‐temporal changes in the display was a reduction in thresholds for L/(L + M) and S‐cones with increasing check size and modulation rate. However, luminance contrast thresholds did not change with display size/rate. These results are consistent with MS/ON selectively affecting processing in colour pathways rather than in the magnocellular pathway, and that within the colour pathways neurones with opposed L‐ and M‐cone inputs are more damaged than colour‐opponent neurons with input from S‐cones.
Three-dimensional diffuse x-ray scattering from crystals of Staphylococcal nuclease.

We have developed methods for obtaining and characterizing three-dimensional maps of the reciprocal-space distribution of diffuse x-ray scattering from protein crystals, and have used the methods to study the nature of disorder in crystals of Staphylococcal nuclease. Experimentally obtained maps are 99.5% complete in the reciprocal-space resolution range of 10 A-2.5 A, show symmetry consistent with the P41 space group of the unit cell, and are highly reproducible. Quantitative comparisons of the data with three-dimensional simulations imply liquid-like motions of the protein [Caspar, D. L. D. , Clarage, J., Salunke, D. M. & Clarage, M. (1988) Nature (London) 332, 659-662], with a correlation length of 10 A and a root-mean-square displacement of 0.36 A.
Rapid Detection of Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus Isolates by the MRSA-Screen Latex Agglutination Test

ABSTRACT The slide agglutination test MRSA-Screen (Denka Seiken Co., Niigata, Japan) was compared with the mecA PCR (“gold standard”) for the detection of methicillin resistance inStaphylococcus aureus. The MRSA-Screen test detected the penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2a) antigen in 87 of 90 genetically diverse methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) stock culture strains, leading to a sensitivity of 97%. The three discrepant MRSA strains displayed positive results only after induction of themecA gene by exposure to methicillin. Both mecAPCR and MRSA-Screen displayed negative results among the methicillin-susceptible S. aureus strains (n = 106), as well as for Micrococcus spp. (n = 10), members of the familyEnterobacteriaceae (n = 10),Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 10), andEnterococcus spp. (n = 10) (specificity = 100%). Producing the same PBP2a antigen, all 10 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis strains score positived in both the latex test and the mecA PCR. Consequently, the MRSA-Screen test should be applied only after identification of the MRSA strain to the species level to rule out coagulase-negative staphylococci. In conclusion, due to excellent specificity and sensitivity the MRSA-Screen latex test has the potential to be successfully used for routine applications in the microbiology laboratory.
Beyond Narratives: Civic Epistemologies and the Coproduction of Environmental Knowledge and Popular Environmentalism in Thailand

Popular environmentalism can have limited democratic outcomes if it reproduces structures of social order. This article seeks to advance understandings of environmental democratization by examining the analytical framework of civic epistemologies as a complement to the current use of environmental narratives in political ecology and science and technology studies. Civic epistemologies are the preexisting dimensions of political order that the state and other actors seek to maintain as unchallengeable. They add to current analysis because they show the structures around which narratives form, as well as how knowledge and political agencies of different actors are coproduced in reductive ways. The article applies this analysis to popular environmentalism in Thailand and especially concerning community forests and logging from 1968 to present. Using a combination of interviews and content analysis of historic newspaper reporting, the article shows how diverse actors—including state, elite conservationists, and peasant activists—have organized political activism and ecological claims about forests according to unchallenged norms of appropriate community culture and behavior. These actions have kept narratives about forests and society in place and worked against alternative and arguably more empowering visions of communities and forests in recent years. The article argues that revealing civic epistemologies can contribute to a deeper form of environmental democratization than engaging in environmental politics based on existing narratives or analyzing the limitations of narratives alone. Key Words: authoritarianism, environmentalism, political ecology, science and technology studies, Thailand.
Toward an Enterprise Growth Framework for Entering the Base of the Pyramid Market: A Systematic Review

Enterprise growth has long been viewed as a strong success indicator. The literature on enterprise growth is however fragmented. This paper determines the major factors identified in the literature that can be attributed for promoting enterprise growth, linking them to success criteria for for-profit enterprises operating at the base of the pyramid (BOP) market. The rationale behind enterprises entering the BOP is the simultaneous alleviation of poverty and generation of profits. Via a grounded theory (qualitative analysis) approach, 25 enterprise growth factors were identified and the internal, business strategy related, start-up phase influencing factors were applied to BOP oriented enterprises, culminating in an operational framework.
Killing of measles virus-infected cells by human cytotoxic T cells

Lymphocytes from normal individuals were tested for the capacity to generate measles virus-specific cytotoxic T-cell responses after in vitro stimulation with measles virus. Approximately 12% (5 of 40) of the normal adults tested produced significant cytotoxic responses. The cytotoxic response was measles virus specific both at the level of stimulation and at the effector level. Studies of the specificity of cytotoxic effectors from five normal donors by direct lysis or cold target inhibition or both indicated that most, if not all, of the virus-specific activity was self-specific. A detailed analysis of one donor (W6) indicated that measles-specific cytotoxicity was largely HLA-A and -B restricted; unexplained cross-reactive lysis was observed with some targets, but this lysis appeared to be HLA related, since all of the targets expressed HLA-B12. An analysis of the cellular requirements for the production of measles-immune cytotoxic T lymphocytes demonstrated that T cells and macrophages (depleted of natural killer and K cells) were sufficient for the generation of killer cells. Most of the cytotoxic effector activity was mediated by OKT3+ OKT4- OKT8+ cells.
Estimation of ultrasound attenuation coefficient using log-spectrum domain processing

Ultrasound attenuation coefficient is an important diagnostic parameter in medical ultrasonography. Furthermore, it is a parameter of a component related to the attenuation process of the space-variant point spread function, which can be used to improve the spatial resolution of ultrasound images through deconvolution. A recently published approach to the estimation of the ultrasound attenuation coefficient from B-scan radiofrequency data is extended and explained in a detail. First, a parametric image of the mean attenuation coefficients between the probe and a given pixel position is computed by applying linear regression to log-spectra of short segments of radiofrequency signals. Three methods of forming the parametric image are presented. As a second step, the local tissue-specific attenuation coefficients are estimated in small regions of the obtained parametric image. The method has been tested on synthetic radiofrequency data and on radiofrequency data recorded from a tissue-mimicking phantom. A fairly good correlation with the known reference values was achieved.
Design and in silico screening of inhibitors of the cholera toxin

Background: Cholera toxin (CT) is the causative agent for cholera, which is responsible for the death of millions of people. The holotoxin structure of CT in conjunction with its mechanism of action reveals four potential target areas to design CT therapeutic agents: i) the inhibition of adenylate cyclase; ii) the blockage of the active site of the enzyme located in the A subunit; iii) the disruption of the assembly of the holotoxin by interrupting the A2–B interaction; and iv) the interception of the receptor binding to the bottom of the B pentamer. Objective/method: In this review, some of the most exciting and successful CT inhibitors and their design strategies are highlighted. These include transition state analogues and substrate analogues as CTA inhibitors, and pentavalent ligand, sugar-containing dendrimers and sugar mimics as CTB inhibitors. Some recent progress in in silico screening methods is also summarized. Conclusion: The most potent inhibitor demonstrated an IC50 of 50 pM.