Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spectral Methods in the Identification of Time Series

The analysis of time series is a very important element in much of the systems work carried out at IIASA and elsewhere. The basic principles of time series analysis were laid down by Box and Jenkins in 1970 in an approach which divided model building into three stages: model identification, parameter estimation and model validation. However, while there are many formal approaches to parameter estimation and several formal methods for model validation, the only available tool for model identification is currently visual inspection of the time series plot and autocorrelation function. This is evidently the weakest point of the Box-Jenkins methodology. In an attempt to remedy this, Andrzej Lewandowski proposes here a new approach to Box-Jenkins model identification. In contrast to the existing tools, this approach is based on spectral methods and involves frequency analysis of ARMA models. It differs from the standard spectral approach presented in textbooks on time series analysis, although it is based on a principle well known in control engineering and circuit theory. This method provides a means of analyzing time series in some depth using only a pencil, a piece of paper, and a pocket calculator.
Simulation Study for Non-Bayesian Multiple Imputation.

Rubin (1987)’s combination formula for variance estimation in multiple imputation (MI) requires a imputation method to be Bayesian-proper. However, many census bureau have heavily relied on non-Bayesian imputations. Bjørnstad (2007) suggested an inflated factor (k1) in Rubin (1987)’s combination formula for non-Bayesian imputations. This paper aimed to verify the theoretical derivation of Bjørnstad (2007) in computer simulation. Within Bjørnstad (2007)’s pre-assumed environment, the inflated factor, k1, closely approached the simulated true value, E(k), irrespective of sample size and missing rate. With California schools’ data, confidence intervals using k1 also achieved a desired coverage, (1 − α)%, across varying sample size and missing rate, except in case of MNAR because of biased imputation.
A Generic Feature-based Detection for Facebook Spamming Groups

—Facebook spammers often use Facebook groups to propagate spam because every member will automatically receive a notiﬁcation of the post when a new message is posted on the group’s wall. Hence, a Facebook group which is created to scatter spam is called a spamming group . Even though detection of e-mail spam or Web-based spam has been developed for a long period of time, current Facebook mechanisms still cannot efﬁciently remove spamming groups. In this study, we propose a new spamming group detection approach for Facebook.
The exposome: embrace the complexity

Links between the microbiome and psychiatric and neurological disease have been the focus of much attention in recent years and may add to our understanding of the complexities of these diseases in tandem with our developing knowledge of the genome's role. However, a third domain ‐ the so‐called exposome ‐ may also need consideration if we are to gain deeper insights into the complex nature of psychiatric and neurological disease.
Comparison of risk factors for coronary heart disease morbidity versus mortality

Owing to the often prohibitively high costs of medical examinations, or an absence of infrastructure for linkage of study members to morbidity registries, much aetiological research in the field of cardiovascular research relies on death records. Because they are regarded as being more distal to risk factor assessment than morbidity endpoints, mortality data are generally maligned in this context for seemingly providing less clear insights into aetiology. The relative utility of mortality versus morbidity registries is, however, untested. In a pooling of data from three large cohort studies whose participants had been linked to both death and morbidity registries for coronary heart disease, we related a range of established and emerging risk factors to these two methods of ascertainment. A mean duration of study member surveillance of 10.1 years (mortality) and 9.9 years (morbidity) for a maximum of 20,956 study members (11,868 women) in the analytical sample yielded 289 deaths from coronary heart disease and 770 hospitalisations for this condition. The direction of the age- and sex-adjusted association was the same for 21 of the 24 risk factor– morbidity/mortality combinations. The only marked discordance in effect estimates, such that different conclusions about the association could be drawn, was for social support, total cholesterol, and fruit/vegetable consumption whereby null effects were evident for selected outcomes. In conclusion, variation in disease definition typically did not have an impact on the direction of the association of an array of risk factors for coronary heart disease.
Evaluation of the extracts of Morinda lucida and Tridax procumbens for anti-trypanosomal activity in mice

A major problem besetting the chemotherapy of African Trypanosomiasis is parasite resistance to the few available drugs, and a known strategy is to use combination of drugs to overcome parasite drug resistance. An attempt has been made in this study to explore the potential of Tridax procumbens and Morinda lucida individually as single therapy and as combination therapy in the treatment of trypanosomiasis. The effective dosage of the T. procumbens and M. lucida extracts were combined at ratio 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1(w/w) respectively. All treatments were by intraperitoneal and commenced after the establishment of infection. The methanol extract of M. lucida stem bark and leaves gave significant mean survival of 7.0 ± 3.3 and 9.7 ± 3.7 days respectively when compared to the untreated control (P<0.05). The ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of T. procumbens gave a mean survival of 11.7 ± 5.4 and 14.3 ± 10.2 days respectively (P<0.05). The combination of Tridax procumbens and leaves of Morinda lucida methanol extracts at 1:2 gave significant mean survival of 10±2.2 days (P<0.05) at 200 mg/kg body weight, while the least was when combined in ratio 1:1. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of steroids, saponins, tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols and carbohydrate in the crude methanol extract and phenols, flavonoids and steroids in the crude ethyl acetate extract of T. procumbens while M. lucida showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins and saponins. The methanol extracts of the two plants exhibited significant anti-trypanosomal activity and when combined, the plant extracts showed synergy in their activity. The plant extracts therefore have the potential for use as antitrypanosomal phytomedicine which could provide antitrypanosomal drug leads. Key words: Tridax procumbens, Morinda lucida, antitrypanosomal activity, combination therapy, Rubiaceae, Asteraceae.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia: An Effective and Underutilized Treatment for Insomnia

Sleep difficulties are an extremely prevalent health problem, with about 33% to 50% of adults reporting regular difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. About 7% to 18% of adults meet the criteria for an insomnia disorder.1,2 Sleep disruptions contribute to a variety of medical problems, including cognitive impairment, reduced immune function, metabolic imbalance, and exacerbation of psychiatric conditions.3 The most effective nonpharmacological treatment for chronic insomnia is cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i). CBT-i produces results that are equivalent to sleep medication, with no side effects, fewer episodes of relapse, and a tendency for sleep to continue to improve long past the end of treatment. The long-term improvements seem to result from the patient learning how to support and promote the body’s natural sleep mechanism. The five key components of CBT-i are sleep consolidation, stimulus control, cognitive restructuring, sleep hygiene, and relaxation techniques. Although CBT-i is a safe and highly effective treatment for insomnia, unfortunately, it is underutilized, primarily because of two reasons: (1) There is currently a shortage of trained CBT-i practitioners. (2) Patient are much more likely to learn about sleep medication as a treatment for their insomnia (via drug advertisements and prescribing physicians) than CBT-i. Physicians and health care providers can play an important role in educating their patients about CBT-i and recommending it as a first-line treatment for chronic insomnia.
Vitamin D deficiency in female Saudis with Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remain major health problems. Few data is available on the extent of vitamin D deficiency in Saudi female with T2DM, the aim of this study was to determine vitamin D status in females with T2DM. Method: A cross-sectional single centre study was conducted in 2908 patients with T2DM attended the Diabetes Centre at King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between January 2018 and December 2018. The serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) and HbA1c were measured. Results: There were 2908 female patients with T2DM. The mean age was 53.8 ± 16.5 years (20-105 years). The mean and median 25-OHD concentrations were 59.8 ± 31.6 and 55.3 nmol/l respectively. The prevalence of different vitamin D status were; 9.3% severe deficient, 34.7% deficient, 31.5% insufficient and 24.5% sufficient. The mean 25-OHD was the lowest in the fourth decade and highest in the eighth decade. HbA1c was statistically significant lowest in the severe deficient group and highest in the sufficient one. 25-OHD concentration was significantly positively correlated with age (r = 0.212, p < 0.0001) and significantly negatively correlated with HbA1c (r = 0.135, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in females particularly young with T2DM is high. *Correspondence to: Khalid S. Aljabri, Department of Endocrinology, King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, PO Box 9862. Jeddah 21159. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, E-mail: khalidsaljabri@yahoo.com
Risk stratification for cardiac surgery: Comparison in a Hong Kong population

Risk stratification is an important tool in preoperative decision‐making, counseling, informed consent and quality improvement. The European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (logistic EuroSCORE) and EuroSCORE II were designed for the assessment of surgical risk. However, there are significant geographical and demographic differences between European and Hong Kong patients. The Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) risk score is a risk model designed to predict in‐hospital mortality for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and valve surgery based on local data. In the present study, we compared the precision and clinical performance of the three scoring systems.
Effect of Family-Oriented Health Education Program on Awareness, Adherence to Treatment and Control among Hypertensive Patients

Background: Hypertension is a major health problem in Egypt with low rates of awareness, adherence, and control. Family oriented health education program is needed to know the effect of family involvement on the outcome of hypertension. Aim of the study: to improve care provided to hypertensive patients in family practice settings. Subjects and methods: This study was conducted as an intervention study. The awareness, adherence to treatment and control of hypertension were assessed before and after the intervention program through a structured interview with hypertensive patients and their families (at least one family member attended once/month over 6 months). The study was conducted at two family practice settings (the family practice outpatient clinic and El Mahsama family practice center, both are affiliated to Suez Canal University, Egypt). There were 206 hypertensive patients, who were recruited to reach the estimated sample size (190 patients) to start the intervention program. Results: The overall awareness, adherence, and control before the intervention were 60.2%, 37.1%, and 12.9% respectively. One month after the end of the intervention program, all non-aware patients became aware (p<0.001) and the pre-post adherence and BP control improved significantly (p<0.01 and p< 0.001 respectively). The rural residence and adherence improvement were statistically significant positive predictors of improvement of hypertension control. Conclusion: The family oriented-health education program is effective to improve awareness, adherence, and control of hypertension.
MicroRNA-195 as a prognostic factor for cancer survival outcome in China: a meta-analysis

Purpose MicroRNA-195 is dysregulated in different kinds of cancers and plays a pivotal role in tumorigenesis. It may function as a prognostic biomarker for cancers. However, the results from articles were not consistent. This study was designed to validate the prognostic value of microRNA-195 in human tumors. Methods We conducted a detailed search on PubMed until December 31, 2018. The quality of these publications was assessed on the basis of a list of key reviews presented by PRISMA statement. The pooled hazard ratios (HR) and pooled odds ratios (OR) of each 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated to assess the effect. Results This meta-analysis included 12 studies involving 940 cancer patients to assess the prognostic value of miR-195 in different solid tumors. The results showed that patients with high expression of miR-195 had favorable tumor-node-metastasis (late vs early: pooled OR =0.16, 95% CI: 0.11–0.22, P<0.001), lymph node metastasis (pooled OR =0.25, 95% CI: 0.18–0.35, P<0.001) and distant metastasis (pooled OR =0.26, 95% CI: 0.13–0.52, P<0.001). At the same time, high levels of miR-195 expression were closely correlated with better overall survival (pooled HR =0.46, 95% CI: 0.36–0.58, P<0.001). Conclusion Elevated microRNA-195 may serve as a potential biomarker to predict a favorable prognosis for various cancer types in China.
Stance Detection

Automatic elicitation of semantic information from natural language texts is an important research problem with many practical application areas. Especially after the recent proliferation of online content through channels such as social media sites, news portals, and forums; solutions to problems such as sentiment analysis, sarcasm/controversy/veracity/rumour/fake news detection, and argument mining gained increasing impact and significance, revealed with large volumes of related scientific publications. In this article, we tackle an important problem from the same family and present a survey of stance detection in social media posts and (online) regular texts. Although stance detection is defined in different ways in different application settings, the most common definition is “automatic classification of the stance of the producer of a piece of text, towards a target, into one of these three classes: {Favor, Against, Neither}. ” Our survey includes definitions of related problems and concepts, classifications of the proposed approaches so far, descriptions of the relevant datasets and tools, and related outstanding issues. Stance detection is a recent natural language processing topic with diverse application areas, and our survey article on this newly emerging topic will act as a significant resource for interested researchers and practitioners.
Introduction of Three Independent Selection Markers in Leishmania

The pLE2SCX vector was developed for the stable expression of exogenous genes in the protozoan parasite Leishmania. The pLE2SCX construct contains three independent selection markers: herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK), cytosine deaminase (CD) and streptothericin acetyltransferase gene (sat) in multiple cloning site, flanking by 5’ and 3’ untranslated regions of the previously cloned Leishmania major hexa-binding protein gene. Selection was based on resistance to the nourseothericin (Ns) which corresponds to sat gene. The two negative selection; HSV -TK and CD genes, make the transformed cell sensitive to ganciclovir (GCV) and 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC). The vector was introduced into Leishmania promastigotes by electroporation and maintained as circular form. The selected transfectants were not grown on media with GCV or 5-FC. Using two drug sensitive selectable markers together on a vector is a novel stra tegy in gene cloning in Leishmania. This stable transfection vector has allowed the permanently expression of several different exogenous genes
On the fairness of the main galaxy sample of SDSS

Flux-limited and volume-limited galaxy samples are constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data releases DR4, DR6 and DR7 for statistical analysis. The two-point correlation functions xi(s), monopole of three-point correlation functions zeta(0), projected two-point correlation function w(p) and pairwise velocity dispersion sigma(12) are measured to test if galaxy samples are fair for these statistics. We find that with the increment of sky coverage of subsequent data releases in SDSS, xi(s) of the flux-limited sample is extremely robust and insensitive to local structures at low redshift. However, for volume-limited samples fainter than L* at large scales s greater than or similar to 10 h(-1) Mpc, the deviation of xi(s) from different SDSS data releases (DR7, DR6 and DR4) increases with the increment of absolute magnitude. The case of zeta(0)(s) is similar to that of xi(s). In the weakly nonlinear regime, there is no agreement between zeta(0) of different data releases in all luminosity bins. Furthermore, w(p) of volume-limited samples of DR7 in luminosity bins fainter than -M-r,M-0.1 = [18.5, 19.5] are significantly larger and sigma(12) of the two faintest volume-limited samples of DR7 display a very different scale dependence than results from DR4 and DR6. Our findings call for caution in understanding clustering analysis results of SDSS faint galaxy samples and higher order statistics of SDSS volume-limited samples in the weakly nonlinear regime. The first zero-crossing points of xi(s) from volume-limited samples are also investigated and discussed.
Visualization and manipulation of microRNA in neural cells

microRNA (miRNA) are small non-coding RNA, 21-23 nucleotides long. miRNA provide a new layer of regulatory control over gene expression programs. It is increasingly evident that miRNA are cell type and tissue specific. Many miRNAs have been identified to be highly abundant in certain regions of the brain. It has also been shown that alterations in levels of specific miRNAs have implications in various neurodegenerative disorders. However, the role of individual miRNA remains poorly understood. There are various methods that are used to visualize miRNA, depending on type of sample, resolution and throughput. There is currently no gold standard for transcriptional profiling of miRNA and the use of independent techniques to verify results is preferable. This thesis takes a look at the various techniques available to look at miRNA expression profile, providing insight into advantages, disadvantages, complexities and challenges with each technique. To study the function of miRNA it is also essential to regulate its expression. The thesis highlights various methods used by researchers to downregulate or overexpress miRNA. This thesis comprises of three papers where I have tried to evolve tools to visualize distinct miRNA profile to differentiate between cells, and manipulate miRNA expression in vitro and in vivo. In paper 1, I have used miRNA-regulated vectors to differentiate between embryonic stem cells and brain specific cells. This enabled me to sort out neural cells and transplant them in a Parkinson disease mouse model. Using this method I was able to reduce the frequency of tumor formation post transplantation. [1] It has been shown that miRNA-124 (miR-124) plays a crucial role in establishing and maintaining a neuronal transcription network. In paper 2, I used a similar miRNA-regulated vector to look specifically at miR-124 expression in the brain. Here I also used tools to manipulate the expression of miR-124. I was able to demonstrate that miR-124 is a neuronal fate determinant in the subventricular zone [2]. Finally in paper 3, I showed, using miR-9 regulated vectors that miR-9 is not expressed in microglia. Thereby I developed a novel system by which one can specifically target microglia. This system could be used to target genetic modifications to resident microglia in the rodent brain [3]. Overall, further understanding of biogenesis and functionality of this exceptional gene regulator will in turn enhance techniques used to study them. Hopefully, in the future this leads to opportunities to safely pursue miRNA as therapeutic strategies.
The GridWorld Domain : A Pedagogical Example

Risk and reward are fundamental concepts in the cooperative control of unmanned systems. In this research, we focus on developing a constructive relationship between cooperative planning and learning algorithms to mitigate the learning risk while boosting system (planner + learner) asymptotic performance and guaranteeing the safety of agent behavior. Our framework is an instance of the intelligent cooperative control architecture (iCCA) where the learner incrementally improves on the output of a baseline planner through interaction and constrained exploration. We extend previous work by extracting the embedded parameterized transition model from within the cooperative planner and making it adaptable and accessible to all iCCA modules. We empirically demonstrate the advantage of using an adaptive model over a static model and pure learning approaches in a grid world problem. Finally we discuss two extensions to our approach to handle cases where the true model can not be captured through the presumed functional form.
Antibiotic Resistance Profile of Escherichia coli from Urine of Patients with Suspected Urinary Tract Infections in Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, Nigeria

Aims: This study investigated the antibiotic resistance profile of Escherichia coli from the urine of patients with suspected urinary tract infections in Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, Nigeria. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Sample was obtained from the Federal Medical Center, Keffi and analyzed at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria, between January and April 2018. Methodology: Three hundred and eighty urine samples were collected and E. coli was isolated and identified using standard microbiological methods. Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing for the isolates was carried out and interpreted as described by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Results: The occurrence of the bacterium was 12.9% (49/380). The occurrence in relation to the gender of the patients was higher in the female (15.5%) than the male (9.8%); in relation to age, it was highest at 11-20 years (23.5%) but lowest at > 50 years (2.3%). The isolates were more resistant to ampicillin (81.6%), streptomycin and sulphamethoxazole/ trimethoprime (75.0%) but less resistant to gentamycin (30.6%), and imipenem (22.4%). The occurrences of different classes of resistance were multidrug resistance (MDR) (93.9%) and pan drug resistance (4.2%). Most of the isolates were more resistant to the commonly prescribed antibiotic and were also MDR isolates. Conclusion: The need to review antibiotic use by the hospital is thus justified.