Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cholera Outbreaks in Nigeria Are Associated with Multidrug Resistant Atypical El Tor and Non-O1/Non-O139 Vibrio cholerae

Background The current millennium has seen a steep rise in the number, size and case-fatalities of cholera outbreaks in many African countries. Over 40,000 cases of cholera were reported from Nigeria in 2010. Variants of Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor biotype have emerged but very little is known about strains causing cholera outbreaks in West Africa, which is crucial for the implementation of interventions to control epidemic cholera. Methodology/Principal Findings V. cholerae isolates from outbreaks of acute watery diarrhea in Nigeria from December, 2009 to October, 2010 were identified by standard culture methods. Fifteen O1 and five non-O1/non-O139 strains were analyzed; PCR and sequencing targeted regions associated with virulence, resistance and biotype were performed. We also studied genetic interrelatedness among the strains by multilocus sequence analysis and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The antibiotic susceptibility was tested by the disk diffusion method and E-test. We found that multidrug resistant atypical El Tor strains, with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol, characterized by the presence of the SXT element, and gyrA Ser83Ile/parC Ser85Leu alleles as well CTX phage and TCP cluster characterized by rstR ElTor, ctxB-7 and tcpA CIRS alleles, respectively, were largely responsible for cholera outbreaks in 2009 and 2010. We also identified and characterized a V. cholerae non-O1/non-O139 lineage from cholera-like diarrhea cases in Nigeria. Conclusions/Significance The recent Nigeria outbreaks have been determined by multidrug resistant atypical El Tor and non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae strains, and it seems that the typical El Tor, from the beginning of seventh cholera pandemic, is no longer epidemic/endemic in this country. This scenario is similar to the East Africa, Asia and Caribbean countries. The detection of a highly virulent, antimicrobial resistant lineage in Nigeria is worrisome and points to a need for vaccine-based control of the disease. This study has also revealed the putative importance of non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae in diarrheal disease in Nigeria.
SDSS J124058.03-015919.2: a new AM CVn star with a 37-min orbital period

We present high time-resolution spectroscopy with the Very Large Telescope of SDSS J124058.03−015919.2, a new helium-transferring binary star identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We measure an orbital period of 37.355 ± 0.002 min, confirming the AM CVn nature of the system. From the velocity amplitudes of the accretor and the accretion stream–disc impact, we derive a mass ratio q= 0.039 ± 0.010. Our spectral coverage extends from λλ3700–9500 A and shows the presence of helium, nitrogen, silicon and iron in the accretion disc, plus the redshifted, low-velocity 'central spikes' in the helium lines, known from the low-state AM CVn stars GP Com and CE 315. Doppler tomography of the helium and silicon emission lines reveals an unusual pattern of two bright emission sites in the tomograms, instead of the usual one emission site identified with the impact of the mass stream into the accretion disc. One of the two is preferred as the conventional stream–disc impact point in velocity space, at the 3σ confidence level. We speculate briefly on the origin of the second.
Book Review: Reworking the Student Departure Puzzle

John Braxton’s edited collection Reworking the Student Departure Puzzle is an ambitious call for reinvigorating the work on student retention. The undergraduate attrition rate has remained consistent during the last century, with almost half of all students who enter two and four year colleges leaving without a degree (Tinto, 1993). Many of those who do not persist are low income and students of color. Clearly something must be done to repair this enormous leak in the educational pipeline. Tinto’s (1993) seminal work on student retention has come under fire for several reasons, including its theoretical approach, assimilationist stance and mixed empirical results (Braxton, Sullivan, & Johnson, 1997). The last of those reasons serves as the impetus for this edited volume. As the editor of this new book, Braxton has engaged numerous higher education scholars in a reexamination of Tinto’s work and in a quest for new methodological and theoretical approaches to the study what he has labeled “the departure puzzle. ” In the first chapter, Braxton and Leigh Lien review existing empirical research on retention utilizing Tinto’s framework of persistence as a function of academic and social interaction. The evidence supports the importance of social integration; however, the results on academic integration are mixed. Although there is some evidence that academic integration does affect eventual persistence, particularly in multi-institutional tests, the evidence is modest according to Braxton and Lien. While many scholars may wish to abandon Tinto’s constructs altogether, the authors of this chapter believe that a reconsideration of academic integration is a worthy endeavor. Edward St. John, Alberto Cabrera, Amaury Nora and Asker examine the incorporation of economic variables into retention studies in the second chapter. They thoroughly summarize quantitative research on the role of economics in
Examining the Prevalence and Severity of Anxiety, Depression and Stress among Form Four Examination Candidates

ABSTRACT Examination candidates experience stress, anxiety and depression due to fear of failure and its consequences. This paper examines the prevalence and severity of stress, anxiety and depression among form four candidates. The study was conducted in four secondary schools in Kadoma Central District, Zimbabwe. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. Eighty (80) randomly selected students participated in the study. A questionnaire was used to solicit data on students’ levels of anxiety. Data was analysed and presented in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicate that the majority (90%) experience varying levels of anxiety, depression, and stress ranging from mild to severe. Results show females suffer examination stress more than males. The paper concludes that candidates experience examination stress due to poor preparation before taking an examination, poor examination taking skills and pressures from multiple sources. The paper recommends candidates to timeously
ADAM17 Silencing in Mouse Colon Carcinoma Cells: The Effect on Tumoricidal Cytokines and Angiogenesis

ADAM17 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease 17) is a major sheddase for numerous growth factors, cytokines, receptors, and cell adhesion molecules and is often overexpressed in malignant cells. It is generally accepted that ADAM17 promotes tumor development via activating growth factors from the EGF family, thus facilitating autocrine stimulation of tumor cell proliferation and migration. Here we show, using MC38CEA murine colon carcinoma model, that ADAM17 also regulates tumor angiogenesis and cytokine profile. When ADAM17 was silenced in MC38CEA cells, in vivo tumor growth and in vitro cell motility were significantly diminished, but no effect was seen on in vitro cell proliferation. ADAM17-silencing was accompanied by decreased in vitro expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-A and matrix metalloprotease-9, which was consistent with the limited angiogenesis and slower growth seen in ADAM17-silenced tumors. Among the growth factors susceptible to shedding by ADAM17, neuregulin-1 was the only candidate to mediate the effects of ADAM17 on MC38CEA motility and tumor angiogenesis. Concentrations of TNF and IFNγ, cytokines that synergistically induced proapoptotic effects on MC38CEA cells, were significantly elevated in the lysates of ADAM17-silenced tumors compared to mock transfected controls, suggesting a possible role for ADAM17 in host immune suppression. These results introduce new, complex roles of ADAM17 in tumor progression, including its impact on the anti-tumor immune response.
Health-Promoting Lifestyles and Depression in Urban Elderly Chinese

Objective To explore health-promoting lifestyles, depression and provide further insight into the relationship between health-promoting lifestyles and depression in an urban community sample of elderly Chinese people. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive and correlational study of 954 community-dwelling urban elderly Chinese (aged ≥ 60) was conducted from July to December 2010. Lifestyles and depression were assessed using the revised Chinese Version of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-C) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), respectively. Results In this cohort, 15.8% of elderly urban adults met the criteria for depression. Over half of the sample (62.1%) scored greater than 100 on the HPLP-C, with range of score sum from 55 to 160. There were significant correlations between self-actualization (OR = 1.167, 95%CI: 1.111–1.226), nutrition (OR = 1.118, 95%CI: 1.033–1.209), physical activity (OR = 1.111, 95%CI: 1.015–1.216) and depression among community-dwelling elderly Chinese. Limitations This was a cross-sectional study. The significant associations found do not represent directional causation. Further longitudinal follow-up is recommended to investigate the specific causal relationship between lifestyles and depression. Conclusions Depression was common with medium to high levels of health-promoting lifestyles among urban elderly Chinese people. Lifestyle behaviors such as self-actualization, good nutrition habits and frequent physical activity were correlated to fewer depressive symptoms. Healthy lifestyles should be further developed in this population and measures should be taken for improving their depression.
Using psychology theory to guide serious-injury vocational rehabilitation: Predicting the use of job-retention interventions for those living with spinal cord injury

BACKGROUND. Rehabilitation researchers have long regarded return to work as the “gold standard” by which to judge the success of the rehabilitation effort. Yet, while job acquisition following the suffering of a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) has been extensively studied, there has been almost total neglect of job retention. As job withdrawal represents a substantial – albeit less-visible – employment outcome, rehabilitation interventions that address job withdrawal are vital.OBJECTIVES. To examine whether the theory of reasoned action (TRA) or the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is a better predictor of intervention-participation intention.METHOD. Using purposive sampling, 35 SCI participants completed a structured online survey to assess their beliefs about 10 interventions designed to minimise the influence of specific job-withdrawal factors (i.e. so as to enhance job retention). RESULTS. The TPB was the better predictor of participation intention, except for two interventions (tele-rehabilitation services; pre-employment workshops on assertiveness, information, legal rights and networks) for which the TRA explained an equal amount of variance.CONCLUSION. Application of the TRA and TPB conceptual framework provides rehabilitation professionals and policy-makers with rarely-reported evidence about potential intervention participation so as to more effectively guide public health decision-making.
Adoption of Information and Communication Technology in Small and Medium Enterprises : A Synthesis of Literature

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are an important component of the economy of a country. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) offers tremendous opportunities for the growth and development of SMEs. A number of researchers have tried to explore and investigate issues related to the adoption of ICT. This paper reviews the studies that emphasize the need to adopt ICT in SMEs, benefits of ICT in SMEs, identifies problems in adoption and offers suggestions for overcoming barriers to adoption. An attempt has been made to link various recent researches to present an integrated picture and identify the gaps in the existing research. The study also provides a direction for future researches.
Aesthetic and ideological functions of time and space shifts in the postmodernist narrative

3 INTRODUCTION.4 1. THE SEMANTIC AND STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES IN THE T RADITIONAL NARRATIVE AND THE POSTMODERNIST LITERARY DISCOURSE. 6 1.1 General characteristics of the narrative in th e structuralist narratology.6 1.2 Ideological issues in the narrative discourse. 8 1.3 Different approaches to time and spa ce. 10 1.4 Narrative structure in the tradition al (pre-postmodernist) conception. 14 1.5 The postmodernist treatment of narra tive discourse.22 2. AESTHETIC AND IDEOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF TIME AND SPACE SHIFTS IN THE KURT VONNEGUT’S NOVEL “SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE OR T HE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE A DUTY DANCE WITH DEATH”. 27 2.1 Kurt Vonnegut and his writing context. 27 2.2 The allegorical title and structure of the nov el.29 2.3 Time and space scheme in the novel. 31 2.4 The analysis of the episodes according to the sjuzet of the novel.34 CONCLUSIONS.53 SUMMARY. 55 REFERENCES. 57
Factors Associated With Early Functional Outcome After Hip Fracture Surgery

Background: Hip fractures are common in the elderly and are likely to become more prevalent as the US population ages. Early functional status is an indicator of longer term outcome, yet in-hospital predictors of functional recovery, particularly time of surgery and composition of support staff, after hip fracture surgery have not been well studied. Methods: Ninety-nine consecutive patients underwent hip fracture surgery by a single surgeon between 2009 and 2013. Surgery after 48 hours was deemed as surgical delay, and surgery after 5 pm was deemed as after hours. Surgical support staff experience was determined by experts from our institution as well as documented level of training. Functional status was determined by independent ambulation on postoperative day (POD) 3. Results: On POD3, 48 (79%) of 62 patients with no delay were able to ambulate, whereas only 14 (38%) of 37 patients with delayed surgery were able to ambulate (P < .001). This relationship persisted when adjusted for American Society of Anesthesiologist classification. No delay in patients older than 80 (odds ratio [OR], 6.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.16-22.10) and females (OR, 7.05; 95% CI, 2.34-21.20) was associated with greater chance of early ambulation. After-hours surgery was not associated with ambulation (P = .35). Anesthesiologist and circulating nurse experience had no impact on patient’s ambulatory status; however, nonorthopedic scrub technicians were associated with worse functional status (OR 7.50; 95% CI, 1.46-38.44, P = .01). Conclusion: Surgical delay and nonorthopedic scrub technicians are associated with worse early functional outcome after hip fracture surgery. Surgical delay should be avoided in older patients and women. More work should be done to understand the impact of surgical team composition on outcome.
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Semiology

Epilepsy represents a multifaceted group of disorders divided into two broad categories, partial and generalized, based on the seizure onset zone. The identification of the neuroanatomic site of seizure onset depends on delineation of seizure semiology by a careful history together with video-EEG, and a variety of neuroimaging technologies such as MRI, fMRI, FDG-PET, MEG, or invasive intracranial EEG recording. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the commonest form of focal epilepsy and represents almost 2/3 of cases of intractable epilepsy managed surgically. A history of febrile seizures (especially complex febrile seizures) is common in TLE and is frequently associated with mesial temporal sclerosis (the commonest form of TLE). Seizure auras occur in many TLE patients and often exhibit features that are relatively specific for TLE but few are of lateralizing value. Automatisms, however, often have lateralizing significance. Careful study of seizure semiology remains invaluable in addressing the search for the seizure onset zone.
Morphological awareness, word reading, and reading comprehension in Portuguese

ABSTRACT We investigated the unique effects of morphological awareness on several aspects of reading in Portuguese. We tested 132 Portuguese-speaking children in the fourth grade. Morphological awareness was assessed with a word analogy task that included inflectional and derivational transformations. Results indicated that morphological awareness was a significant predictor of word reading accuracy, word reading fluency, and reading comprehension after controlling for the effects of nonverbal ability and phonological awareness. Morphological awareness also explained unique variance in reading comprehension after adding word reading as a control. In conclusion, morphological awareness has important roles in both word reading and reading comprehension in Portuguese. Educational and clinical implications are discussed.
X-Ray and Optical Eclipses in Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources as Possible Indicators of Black Hole Mass

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with 1039 ergs s-1 ≲ LX < 1041 ergs s-1 have been discovered in great numbers in external galaxies with ROSAT, Chandra, and XMM-Newton. The central question regarding this important class of sources is whether they represent an extension to the luminosity function of binary X-ray sources containing neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes (BHs), or a new class of objects, e.g., systems containing intermediate-mass black holes (100-1000 M☉). We suggest searching for X-ray and optical eclipses in these systems to provide another diagnostic to help distinguish between these two possibilities. The sense of the effect is that ULXs with stellar-mass black hole accretors should be at least twice as likely to exhibit eclipses as intermediate-mass black hole systems—and perhaps much more than a factor of 2. Among other system parameters, the orbital period would follow. This would provide considerable insight as to the nature of the binary.
Model Predictive Control Using Neural Networks [25 Years Ago]

In this article, we present the application of a neural-network-based model predictive control scheme to control pH in a laboratory-scale neutralization reactor. We use a feedforward neural network as the nonlinear prediction model in an extended DMC-algorithm to control the pH-value. The training data set for the neural network was obtained from measurements of the inputs and outputs of the real plant operating with a PI-controller. Thus, no a priori information about the dynamics of the plant and no special operating conditions of the plant were needed to design the controller. The training algorithm used is a combination of an adaptive backpropagation algorithm that tunes the connection weights with a genetic algorithm to modify the slopes of the activation function of each neuron. This combination tuned out to be very robust against getting caught in local minima and it is very insensitive to the initial settings of the weights of the network.
Correct analysis for embedded system modeling: an outcome of east-west scientific cooperation

Contemporary software systems are usually complex and prone to errors due to their complexity. If dependability attributes are defined, some strategies should be adopted. The CORRECT methodology is a semi-formal approach that allows engineering of systems with abnormal behavior fully specified. The paper consists of two parts: the first part presents the work context as an outcome of east-west cooperation, while the second presents the scientific results of CORRECT Analysis (CORA) phase for modeling an embedded system and shows how typical properties for these systems can be precisely specified. For this purpose, CORA models are informally introduced using analysis models applied to a running example of an alarm system.
On the continuum and lattice formulations of N = 4 D = 3 twisted super Yang-Mills

Employing a twisted superspace with eight supercharges, we describe an off-shell formulation of N = 4? D = 3 twisted super Yang-Mills in the continuum spacetime which underlies the recent proposal of N = 4? D = 3 twisted super Yang-Mills on a lattice \cite{DKKN3}. By a dimensional reduction from the N = 2? D = 4, we explore the two possible topological twists of N = 4? D = 3 and then show that the lattice formulation given in \cite{DKKN3} is essentially categorized as the B-type. We also show that, amongst the two inequivalent twists of N = 4? D = 3, only the B-type SYM can be realized on the lattice consistently with the Leibniz rule and the gauge covariance on the lattice.
Energy optimization for mobile nodes in a cluster tree IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee network

IEEE 802.15. 4 proposes a cluster-tree topology to organize a network and to support energy efficient data routing. In this paper, we propose a new approach to manage mobility by adapting this topology. Our approach is based on the link quality indicator (LQI) metric. It aims at anticipating the loss of the association between coordinators and mobile nodes. Hierarchical addresses are attributed to coordinators regarding their position in the network. Then, a speculative algorithm is proposed to choose the next coordinator of association. In this paper, we focus on the consumed energy average and the changing coordinator procedure delay average of moving nodes in the network.
Jump-Diffusion Risk-Sensitive Asset Management II: Jump-Diffusion Factor Model

In this article we extend our earlier work on the jump-diffusion risk-sensitive asset management problem in a factor model [SIAM J. Financial Math., 2 (2011), pp. 22--54] by allowing jumps in both the factor process and the asset prices, as well as stochastic volatility and investment constraints. In this case, the Hamilton--Jacobi--Bellman (HJB) equation is a partial integro-differential equation (PIDE). We are able to show that finding a viscosity solution to this PIDE is equivalent to finding a viscosity solution to a related PDE, for which classical results give uniqueness. With this in hand, a policy improvement argument and classical results on parabolic PDEs show that the HJB PIDE admits a unique smooth solution. The optimal investment strategy is given by the feedback control that minimizes the Hamiltonian function appearing in the HJB PIDE.
Evaluating the Lifelog: a Serious Game for Reminiscence

Body worn cameras record lifelogs as a sequence of images and one therapeutic use is to promote reminiscence in older people. We investigate if the emotional response of the viewer can be used to identify images of interest and whether this can become a serious game for shared interaction with a family member or carer. To evaluate whether this is technically feasible we report on a small evaluation of five healthy participants (Male=3, Female=2) aged between 24-46 years of age. Participants reviewed lifelog images six months after the initial data collection. Galvanic skin response readings were recorded and matched to the image stimuli. By monitoring such responses it is possible to organise the lifelog into events, potentially highlighting activities of daily living and social interaction for subsequent reminiscence. Initial results indicate emotional responses can be quantified and detected but no clear classification of emotional trends emerged. We suggest improvements in methodology to make the approach viable and discuss the need for data reduction. As wearable technology improves, the approach can add to the quantified-self paradigm, allowing wider application to learning and training.