Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perception of women towards contraceptive methods: using health belief model

Introduction: The Health Belief Model (HBM) is one of the major conceptual frameworks guiding current research as well as practice in the health sciences. It takes into account the multiple factors present in a person’s decisions to live a healthy life, seek help when needed, and maintain periodic check-ups and screening. Aim of the study is to identify perception of women towards contraceptive methods using the health belief model. Research design: A descriptive research design was utilized in this study. Setting: This study was conducted at four family planning clinics affiliated to four maternity hospitals namely: ELShatby Maternity University hospital affiliated to Alexandria University, Dar-Ismail Maternity hospital affiliated to Ministry of Health, Faisal hospital affiliated to Health Insurance and Dar ALWelada hospital affiliated to Medical Health Association. Subjects: A convenience sample of 320 women who were seeking family planning services. Tools; Tool I: Contraceptive users' basic data structured interview schedule; Tool II: Contraceptive users' Health Belief scale. Results: Approximately an equal percent (56.56% & 43.44%) of the contraceptive users perceived themselves either highly susceptible or moderately susceptible for threat of getting pregnant, respectively. More than three-fourths (76.25%) of them had moderate perceived severity to the problems associated with contraceptive use compared to only 23.75% of them who had high level of perception. As much as 84.37% of them highly perceived the benefits of contraception uptake. Meanwhile, almost all (93.44%) of them moderately perceived barriers associated with contraception utilization. Conclusion: Contraceptive users had high perception related to susceptibility of the threat of pregnancy and benefits of contraceptive methods utilization. Moreover, the vast majority of them had moderate perception to severity and barriers associated with contraception uptake. Last but not least, there was a statistically significant correlation between women's health beliefs and their utilization of contraceptive method.
Evaluating the biological pump efficiency of the Last Glacial Maximum ocean using δ13C

Abstract. Although both physical and biological marine changes are required to explain the 100 ppm lower atmospheric pCO2 of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼21 ka) as compared to preindustrial (PI) times, their exact contributions are debated. Proxies of past marine carbon cycling (such as δ13C) document these changes and thus provide constraints for quantifying the drivers of long-term carbon cycle variability. This modeling study discusses the physical and biological changes in the ocean needed to simulate an LGM ocean in satisfactory agreement with proxy data, here focusing especially on δ13C. We prepared a PI and LGM equilibrium simulation using the ocean model NorESM-OC with full biogeochemistry (including the carbon isotopes δ13C and radiocarbon) and dynamic sea ice. The modeled LGM–PI differences are evaluated against a wide range of physical and biogeochemical proxy data and show agreement for key aspects of the physical ocean state within the data uncertainties. However, the lack of a simulated increase of regenerated nutrients for the LGM indicates that additional biogeochemical changes are required to simulate an LGM ocean in agreement with proxy data. In order to examine these changes, we explore the potential effects of different global mean biological pump efficiencies on the simulated marine biogeochemical tracer distributions. Through estimating which biological pump efficiency reduces LGM model–proxy biases the most, we estimate that the global mean biological pump efficiency increased from 38 % (PI) to up to 75 % (LGM). The drivers of such an increase in the biological pump efficiency may be both biological and related to circulation changes that are incompletely captured by our model – such as stronger isolation of Southern Source Water. Finally, even after considering a 75 % biological pump efficiency in the LGM ocean, a remaining model–proxy error in δ13C exists that is 0.07 ‰ larger than the 0.19 ‰ data uncertainty. This error indicates that additional changes in ocean dynamics are needed to simulate an LGM ocean in agreement with proxy data.
Ant diversity in Muhan Pokhari area of Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park, Nepal

Ant diversity was studied in Muhan Pokhari area of Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park (SNNP)at 1,700 m to 1,900 m asl during winter and summer seasons of 2017. Ants were collected using pitfall traps, leaf litter sampling, bait and hand collection methods along a transect of50 m in each of all 5 sites (1,700 m, 1,750 m, 1,800 m, 1,850 m and 1,900 m). Altogether 817individual ants were collected representing 5 sub-families, 16 genera and 23 morpho species. Formicinae (57.67%) was the most abundant sub-family, followed by Myrmicinae (40.39%), Pseudomyrmicinae (0.8%), Ponerinae (0.73%) and Dolichoderinae (0.37%). Camponotus (437individuals) was the most abundant genus followed by Aphaenogaster (287). Species richness was higher in winter (17 morph species) than in spring (14 morph species). Shannon-Wiener diversity index (1.4618) and Evenness index (0.5539) were higher in spring season. Pitfall trap method was found most effective with highest number of individual ants (567) and of 21 species. The Shannon-Weiner diversity index was highest for pitfall method (1.3039) whereas evenness index was highest for the bait method (0.62615). Two genera Pachycondylaand Echinopla were recorded for the first time in Nepal.
Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Informatics

Cognitive radio employs an opportunistic spectrum access approach to ensure efficient utilization of the available spectrum by secondary users (SUs). To allow SUs to access the spectrum opportunistically, the spectrum sensing process must be fast and accurate to avoid possible interference with the primary users. Previously, two-stage spectrum sensing methods were proposed that consider the sensing time and sensing accuracy parameters independently at the cost of a non-optimal spectrum sensing performance. To resolve this non-optimality issue, we consider both parameters in the design of our spectrum sensing scheme. In our scheme, we first derive optimal thresholds using an optimization equation with an objective function of maximizing the probability of detection, subject to the minimal probability of error. We then minimize the average spectrum sensing time using signal-tonoise ratio estimation. Our simulation results show that the proposed improved two-stage spectrum sensing (ITSS) scheme provides a 4%, 7%, and 6% better probability of detection accuracy rate than two-stage combinations of energy detection (ED) and maximum eigenvalue detection, energy detection and cyclostationary feature detection (CFD), and ED and combination of maximum-minimum eigenvalue (CMME) detection, respectively. The ITSS is superior also to single-stage ED by 19% and shows an improved average spectrum sensing time.
Effect of Traditional Methods in Teaching English on Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis Study

The purpose of this meta-analysis study is to determine the overall effect size of the traditional methods on academic achievement in the experimental studies on teaching English. For this purpose, the data were collected from the master's and doctoral thesis carried out in Turkey. The aim of meta-analysis is to compare and combine the results of studies on a subject. 10 doctoral and 40 master’s theses between the years 2005-2018, meeting the inclusion criteria, were included in the study. Results show that traditional methods have large effect d=0,98 [0,83; 1,12] on English academic success. This result means traditional methods increases academic success in teaching English. But this result doesn’t mean that traditional method is more successful than modern approaches.
Computational Design of Ancestral and Consensus Asian Dengue Envelope Protein for Vaccine Candidate

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease of which incidence has rapidly increased in the last few years. Despite the recent development of a licensed dengue vaccine, safer and more efficacious dengue vaccine still needs to be developed. Dengue virus has four antigenically and genetically distinct serotypes. Ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) and consensus sequence (CS) might be able to overcome antigenic distinction between those four serotypes. Envelope (E) protein is responsible for a wide range of dengue virus biological activities. Domain III of the E protein (EDIII) plays a role in receptor binding for viral entry and inducing protective immunity against the dengue virus. We utilised bioinformatics software to computationally design ancestral and consensus sequences of Asian dengue E protein. E protein sequences of 987 DENV strains and 5 outgroups were retrieved from GenBank. We constructed ancestral and consensus sequences for each serotype. For ASR, ancestral sequences were gradually designed to construct ancestral sequence for all serotypes using MEGA X. For CS, all four consensus sequences were directly used to construct consensus sequence for all serotypes using UGENE 1.32. Phylogenetic tree consisting existing dengue sequences as well as ancestral and consensus sequences were visualised using FigTree 1.4. 4. All ancestral and consensus sequences were analysed for conserved motifs, especially in domain III region. ASR sequences were closer to the centre of phylogenetic tree branches while consensus sequences were located among natural isolates. Further CD4 T cell immunogenicity prediction on domain III (EDIII) showed that both ASR and consensus EDIII have the two-highest combined immunogenicity scores. These sequences are potential for further in vitro and in vivo studies as dengue vaccine candidate. Keywords: ancestral sequence, consensus, dengue, envelope protein, vaccine
The Lived Experiences of Emergency Department Personnel in Working with Individuals with Mental Health Needs

Individuals who work in emergency departments and emergency services in the United States have daunting, overwhelming, and difficult tasks to perform. In addition to medical emergencies that include physical trauma and illnesses, emergency personnel treat individuals with psychiatric emergencies. This qualitative research study explored the lived experiences of ten emergency department personnel that had experienced working with individuals with mental health needs. The ultimate purpose of the study was to break down individuals’ experiences into a shared description of a universal phenomenon. The study utilized a phenomenological, qualitative research design to capture the essence of this phenomenon. Participants’ responses to semistructured, open-ended interview questions generated the study’s results. The utilization of phenomenological questions in this study may afford insights into the roles of emergency department and their treatment of individuals with mental health issues.
A Systematic Review of Health Care Ontology

Objective: The study sought to extracts information about the steps, methods, techniques, initiatives and strategies that is use in establishing ontology in the medical sector. Methods: The guideline that was employed for conducting the systematic review in this research work is that which was proposed by Kitchenham. The Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of science were searched for proceedings from conferences and journal papers between 2009 and 2018. Articles focusing on health care and ontology, health ontology and diagnosis system were selected. The AND operator was used in the Boolean language construction for the article search to limit articles presented to those that actually apply Ontology in the Health care. Selected articles were considered eligible based on their studies appropriately fitting into providing answers for the research questions that were presented in this research work within the last 10 years. Results: Twenty (20) research articles were included in the review; of the initiatives of the research works considered, Seven (7) were of Methodology, Two (2) were Technique based, Three (3) were Framework based, Two (2) were Process based while Six (6) were extensions of those in existence. Conclusions: The approaches considered were ontology based in terms of the use of Protégé-owl editor tool, SPARQL, Protégé 4, OWL 2, OWL, RDF, SNOMED CT. The main contributions include but not limited to Modelling of knowledge representation using Protégé for relating data and concepts with references to diabetes diseases, mobile based health care ontology, classification of diseases based on phenotypes, improvement in service delivery and availability of reliable health data. This Ontology heath care review which was carried out shows the need for Ontology based models to improve health service delivery for both the users (patients) and the care providers.
WITHIN-HOST PATTERNS OF RESOURCE UTILIZATION BY A RESTRICTED HOST-RANGED MESOHERBIVORE PADRÕES INTRA-ALGA DE UTILIZAÇÃO DE RECURSO POR UM MESOHERBÍVORO DE ESPECTRO RESTRITO DE HOSPEDEIROS

Macrophytes constitute a major portion of the autotrophic biomass and primary production in coastal marine ecosystems. These organisms also act as biological substrates, harboring a diverse fauna, which represents much of the secondary production in these systems and may be an important link between producers and higher trophic levels. Amongst the faunal colonizers, mesoherbivores are small herbivores that use a plant host as food and shelter, and may have strong impacts on primary producer communities. Herbivorous amphipods constitute an abundant group of mesoherbivores associated with macrophytes, where some are relatively sedentary species that build tubes along the host thallus. Given their intimate association and relative small size to the host, most of the forces driving the patterns of plant-herbivore interactions might happen at the small within-host scales. This should be especially the case since macrophytes may show considerable variation within parts of a same individual in nutritional value and defense allocation. It is, thus, imperative that we understand such interactions at the appropriate scale. This work investigated the patterns of within-host utilization by the restricted host-ranged herbivorous amphipod Sunamphitoe pelagica on Sargassum, a brown macroalga that shows considerable intrathallus variation in nutritional value and defense allocation. For that, the distribution of S. pelagica on apical and basal portions of Sargassum was assessed under field and laboratory conditions. We also investigated the preference-performance relationship of this amphipod on four Sargassum structures under laboratory conditions (apical blades and stems, basal blades and stems). Our results show that this restricted host-ranged herbivore exhibits a high degree of within-host non-selectivity under laboratory conditions, where predation and competition are absent and abiotic factors are controlled. In contrast, under field conditions, where biotic and abiotic factors may play an important role, Sunamphitoe occurs at higher densities on apical portions. However, such field pattern is dependent on epiphytic load, with a negative correlation between Sunamphitoe density and epiphyte biomass on apical Sargassum portions. Also, this relationship with epiphytic load only appears when intrathallus scales are considered, with no effects of epiphyte biomass on Sunamphitoe densities on whole thallus samples of Sargassum. Thus, within-host patterns of resource utilization by small herbivores may be complex, dynamic and dependent on scale, with factors extrinsically to the host possibly modulating within-host herbivore distribution in the field, and herbivore non-selectivity incurring flexibility in host usage, which could lead to reduced exposure to biotic and abiotic stresses.
Allele-specific genome targeting in the development of precision medicine

The CRISPR-based genome editing holds immense potential to fix disease-causing mutations, however, must also handle substantial natural genetic variations between individuals. Previous studies have shown that mismatches between the single guide RNA (sgRNA) and genomic DNA may negatively impact sgRNA efficiencies and lead to imprecise specificity prediction. Hence, the genetic variations bring about a great challenge for designing platinum sgRNAs in large human populations. However, they also provide a promising entry for designing allele-specific sgRNAs for the treatment of each individual. The CRISPR system is rather specific, with the potential ability to discriminate between similar alleles, even based on a single nucleotide difference. Genetic variants contribute to the discrimination capabilities, once they generate a novel protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) site or locate in the seed region near an available PAM. Therefore, it can be leveraged to establish allele-specific targeting in numerous dominant human disorders, by selectively ablating the deleterious alleles. So far, allele-specific CRISPR has been increasingly implemented not only in treating dominantly inherited diseases, but also in research areas such as genome imprinting, haploinsufficiency, spatiotemporal loci imaging and immunocompatible manipulations. In this review, we will describe the working principles of allele-specific genome manipulations by virtue of expanding engineering tools of CRISPR. And then we will review new advances in the versatile applications of allele-specific CRISPR targeting in treating human genetic diseases, as well as in a series of other interesting research areas. Lastly, we will discuss their potential therapeutic utilities and considerations in the era of precision medicine.
Fast transmission of grapevine 'Pinot gris' virus (GPGV) in vineyard

Grapevine 'Pinot gris' virus (GPGV) is a newly emergent virus associated with the appearance of grapevine leaf mottling and deformation disease (GLMD). The worldwide spreading of this virus, and sometimes of the associated disease, that has occurred in the last years, requests further epidemiological studies to verify the progress of natural infection in the field. In the present paper, GPGV infection and spatiotemporal spreading of GLMD, investigated in two vineyards with high disease occurrence, confirmed an elevated presence of the virus in vineyards of Northeastern Italy, and revealed an increasing of symptomatic plants over the time. At the same time, the progress of natural infection was monitored after the placement of new grafted plants near the symptomatic grapevines in the infected vineyards. After three years, 76 % of the plantlets that were initially GPGV-free became GPGV-infected, giving an evidence of the fast transmission of GPGV in the field. Only 14 % of the plantlets, all collocated inside a patch with diseased plants, showed typical GLMD-symptoms. Interestingly, some plantlets, which were already GPGV-infected with the "asymptomatic" GPGV variant before planting in the field, did not become infected with the "symptomatic" viral wild variant after three years and never showed GLMD symptoms.
Green Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial screening of Silver Nanoparticles mediated by water infusion of Sonchus oleraceus L. flower :

ABSTRACT Phytochemical analysis revealed that the infusion of Sonchus oleraceus L. flower is rich in flavonoids, phenolics, reducing sugars and total sugars. The aqueous extract of this flower has been used as a green reducing and stabilizing agent in addition to its desirable biological activity. The biosynthesis of reduced silver nanoparticles was very fast, and silver nanoparticles were synthesized by exposing a mixture of AgNO3 and Sonchus oleraceus L. flower extract to UV-irradiation at different time intervals. Parameters such as reactants ratios and reaction time were varied and investigated. The developed nanoparticles were characterized with the aid of many spectroscopic and analytical techniques such as Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). On contrast to the aqueous extract of the flowers, the resulting silver nanoparticles found to possess broad antimicrobial spectrum increasing proportionally with the increase in concentration of the silver nanoparticles against wide variety of bacterial and fungal pathogenic strains.
Seroprevalence, Knowledge and Behavioral Factors Associated with HIV Infection Among Men Who have Sex with Men (MSM) in Benin

Most of HIV infections among adults in sub-Saharan Africa have been acquired through unprotected sex, including with sex workers and through sex between men. Unprotected sex between men promotes the transmission of STIs and HIV in particular. Unprotected anal penetration is a high-risk route of transmission. The study will estimate HIV prevalence and describe the risk factors associated among MSM population. From January to April 2016, 414 participants were enrolled in the study by the "Respondent-Driven Sampling"; the variables measured were biological, behavioral and HIV knowledge factors. Univariate and multivariate analysis were conducted and the results were weighted. MSM are predominantly young: 50.4% (41.7- 59.2) are between 20 and 24 years old, the weighted HIV prevalence is 21.8% (95% CI: 13.5 - 30.7). More than half of participants 54.4% (43.9 - 64.8) did not have accurate knowledge of HIV. Condom use during the last anal sex is significantly associated with HIV AOR (adjusted odd ratios) 0.47 (95% CI: 0.36-0.62), p<0.0001) adjusted on potentially confounding factors. This is about those below 25 years AOR 0.7 (95%CI: 0.55-0.90, p<0.0005), the educational level AOR 22.18 (95% CI: 9.49-59.75, p<0.0001), living in couple, AOR: 2.01 (95% CI: 1.54-2.63) p<0.0001; frequency of condom use with lubricant, AOR: 1.3 (95% CI: 1.03-1.65, p<0.029). This study highlights a high HIV prevalence among the MSM population and therefore shows the need to develop specific high-impact prevention programs towards this key target group while promoting an environment of protection and respect for human right.
Effect of grape polyphenols on selected inflammatory mediators: A systematic review and meta-analysis randomized clinical trials

Grapes contain different polyphenols and might prevent inflammation by reducing Nitric Oxide (NO) inactivation through antioxidative enzymes. The aim of this article was to demonstrate the effects of grape polyphenols on the selected inflammatory mediators, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). To find papers assessing the effects of grape polyphenols on inflammatory mediators, electronic data bases, including ISI web of science, PubMed/Medline, SCOPUS, and Google scholar, were searched up to March 2019. Delphi checklist was used for evaluating the qualities of the included articles. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (No. CRD42019116695). The mean changes in the intervention and control groups were calculated by subtracting the end values from the baselines. Then, the difference between the two changes was measured and utilized as the effect size in meta-analysis. 9 and 8 articles were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, respectively. Our results indicated that grape polyphenols did not reduce hs-CRP levels, but omission of one article could lead to a significant reduction in hs-CRP (Weight Mean Difference (WMD): −0.54 mg/L, 95 % CI: −1.02, -0.06; P=0.026, I2=0.0 %). Regarding IL-6 and TNF-α, no significant changes were observed in the intervention compared to the control group (WMD: 0.04 pg/mL, 95 % CI: −0.02, 0.28; P=0.744, I2=0.0 %, WMD: -0.10 pg/mL, 95 % CI: −0.25, 0.05; P=0.183, I2=0.0 %, respectively). We found no beneficial effects of grape polyphenols on the selected inflammatory mediators. Still, more studies with higher doses of polyphenols, longer treatment durations, different sources of grape polyphenols, and larger numbers of participants are required.