Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
If You Build It, They Will Come

To assess whether a 5-month program involving attendance monitoring, sports participation, and a moral character class would reduce absenteeism, 40 students in a small transitional high school were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups and assessed pre- and postintervention on educational expectations, attitude toward education, and emotional, cognitive, behavioral engagement, and attendance. Findings indicated significant differences between intervention and control groups on all predictor variables. Absenteeism was significantly and negatively related to all predictor variables. The program successfully reduced absenteeism, increased educational expectations, attitude toward education and engagement.
Metal Nanoclusters: Applications in Environmental Monitoring and Cancer Therapy

Metal nanoclusters (NCs), with dimensions between metal atoms and nanoparticles, have attracted more and more attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties. With their size approaching the Fermi wavelength of electrons, metal NCs possess molecule-like properties and excellent fluorescence emission. Owing to their ultrasmall size, strong fluorescence, and excellent biocompatibility, they have been widely studied in environmental and biological fields concerning their applications. In this review, we will introduce the properties of metal NCs, mainly focusing on the synthesis of metal alloy NCs and the recent progress in their applications in environmental monitoring and cancer therapy.
Importance of Risk Factors for Febrile Neutropenia Among Patients Receiving Chemotherapy Regimens Not Classified as High-Risk in Guidelines for Myeloid Growth Factor Use.

BACKGROUND Clinical practice guidelines recommend prophylaxis in patients with cancer receiving a colony-stimulating factor (CSF) when the risk of febrile neutropenia (FN) is high (>20%). For patients receiving chemotherapy regimens not documented as high-risk, the decision regarding CSF prophylaxis use can be challenging, because some patients may be at high risk based on a combination of the regimen and individual risk factors. METHODS A retrospective cohort design and US private health care claims data were used. Study subjects received chemotherapy regimens classified as "low" or "intermediate," or unclassified, in terms of FN risk, and were stratified by cancer and regimen. For each subject, the first chemotherapy course, and each cycle and FN episode within the course, were identified. FN incidence proportions were estimated by the presence and number of risk factors and chronic comorbidities. RESULTS Across the 17 tumor/regimen combinations considered (n=160,304 in total), 74% to 98% of patients had 1 or more risk factor for FN and 41% to 89% had 2 or more. Among patients with 1 or more risk factor, FN incidence ranged from 7.2% to 29.0% across regimens, and the relative risk of FN (vs those without risk factors) ranged from 1.1 (95% CI, 0.8-1.3) to 2.2 (95% CI, 1.5-3.0). FN incidence increased in a graded and monotonic fashion with the number of risk factors and comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS In this retrospective evaluation of patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy regimens not classified as high-risk for FN in US clinical practice, most patients had 1 or more FN risk factor and many had 2 or more. FN incidence was found to be elevated in these patients, especially those with multiple risk factors.
ATP as a multi-target danger signal in the brain

ATP is released in an activity-dependent manner from different cell types in the brain, fulfilling different roles as a neurotransmitter, neuromodulator, in astrocyte-to-neuron communication, propagating astrocytic responses and formatting microglia responses. This involves the activation of different ATP P2 receptors (P2R) as well as adenosine receptors upon extracellular ATP catabolism by ecto-nucleotidases. Notably, brain noxious stimuli trigger a sustained increase of extracellular ATP, which plays a key role as danger signal in the brain. This involves a combined action of extracellular ATP in different cell types, namely increasing the susceptibility of neurons to damage, promoting astrogliosis and recruiting and formatting microglia to mount neuroinflammatory responses. Such actions involve the activation of different receptors, as heralded by neuroprotective effects resulting from blockade mainly of P2X7R, P2Y1R and adenosine A2A receptors (A2AR), which hierarchy, cooperation and/or redundancy is still not resolved. These pleiotropic functions of ATP as a danger signal in brain damage prompt a therapeutic interest to multi-target different purinergic receptors to provide maximal opportunities for neuroprotection.
Responses mediated by excitatory amino acid receptors in solitary retinal ganglion cells from rat.

1. The pharmacological properties of excitatory amino acid responses on ganglion cells dissociated from the rat retina were examined with the use of the whole‐cell voltage‐clamp technique. 2. L‐Glutamate at a concentration of 50 microM produced inward non‐desensitizing currents at negative holding potentials in nearly every cell tested (83%, n = 18) In physiological solutions, L‐glutamate responses reversed at approximately ‐9 mV, and higher concentrations of this agonist introduced a desensitizing component to the response. 3. At negative holding potentials, kainate (25‐125 microM) produced inward currents in all of the cells tested (n = 37). These currents never desensitized, even at high agonist concentrations, and reversed near ‐6 mV. Currents induced by 50 microM‐kainate were reversibly antagonized by kynurenate (100‐300 microM) but not by 100 microM‐2‐amino‐5‐phosphonovalerate (APV). 4. Quisqualate generated smaller, non‐desensitizing currents in only 50% of the cells tested (n = 38). Quisqualate responses reversed in polarity near ‐4 mV and were maximal at an agonist dose of 25 microM, with higher concentrations introducing a rapidly desensitizing component without a detectable increase in amplitude. Currents produced by quisqualate at a concentration of 50 microM were not antagonized by either 750 microM‐kynurenate or 100 microM‐APV. 5. N‐Methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) produced inward currents at negative holding potentials in 68% of the cells tested (n = 31), but only when magnesium was excluded from the extracellular medium. NMDA currents were non‐desensitizing at agonist concentrations of up to 200 microM, with higher concentrations introducing a rapidly desensitizing component. NMDA (200 microM) responses were blocked by APV (100 microM) and kynurenate (300 microM) and reversed near ‐1 mV. 6. Responses generated by kainate (50‐125 microM) were antagonized by quisqualate (30‐250 microM). This antagonism occurred even in cells having no measurable response to quisqualate alone, suggesting the possibility that quisqualate may be acting both as an agonist, in the 50% of the cells that have the quisqualate‐specific receptor, and as an antagonist, at the kainate‐specific site on all cells. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Virtual Patients as Novel Teaching Tools in Psychiatry

Effective interviewing skills are an essential core competency of psychiatric training, especially when eliciting sensitive clinical information from child and adolescent psychiatric patients. Since it is not always possible to interview patients with the full range of psychiatric disorders during training, simulations such as “standardized patients” (SPs), that is, actors hired to portray patients, are nearly universal in current medical education (1, 2), and have been used to evaluate trainees’ skills with objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) (3). Use of computer-generated “virtual human patients” (VPs) is increasingly appealing as technology produces VPs that are consistent and realistic (4–7). A recent randomized trial found that both VPs and SPs produced equivalent improvements in diagnostic ability among nurses, physicians, psychologists, and public health workers (8), and the versatility of VPs makes them well suited to teach clinical reasoning skills (9). VPs can be programmed to reflect a wide variety of clinical symptoms and behaviors useful in teaching trainees critical thinking and diagnostic acuity (9). VPs can also be utilized to evaluate psychiatric residents’ and medical students’ clinicalmanagement strategies. Both SPs and VPs offer a supervised practice for trainees before they encounter a challenging, live patient (e.g., patients with trauma exposure, sexual assault/rape, physical attacks, and physical/sexual abuse); however, VPs, unlike SPs, are not limited by potential financial constraints to train actors (2). At present, there is little published data to guide the design and integration of VPs into psychiatric education; thus, research is needed (9). The potential benefits of VPs in medical education are the unlimited realistic simulations of patients of all ages and diverse ethnic and cultural characteristics to students, in a safe and reproducible manner (10). The objective of this pilot studywas to investigate the feasibility of interviewing a virtual adolescent patient (VP) with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to increase trainees’ and educators’ awareness of this technology (5–7).
Aborted Germinal Center Reactions and B Cell Memory by Follicular T Cells Specific for a B Cell Receptor V Region Peptide

A fundamental problem in immunoregulation is how CD4+ T cells react to immunogenic peptides derived from the V region of the BCR that are created by somatic mechanisms, presented in MHC II, and amplified to abundance by B cell clonal expansion during immunity. BCR neo Ags open a potentially dangerous avenue of T cell help in violation of the principle of linked Ag recognition. To analyze this issue, we developed a murine adoptive transfer model using paired donor B cells and CD4 T cells specific for a BCR-derived peptide. BCR peptide-specific T cells aborted ongoing germinal center reactions and impeded the secondary immune response. Instead, they induced the B cells to differentiate into short-lived extrafollicular plasmablasts that secreted modest quantities of Ig. These results uncover an immunoregulatory process that restricts the memory pathway to B cells that communicate with CD4 T cells via exogenous foreign Ag.
A tunable integrated duplexer with 50dB isolation in 40nm CMOS

Modern RF duplexers rely on frequency-selective filters for isolation. The stringent isolation requirements prohibit the integration of RF duplexers on silicon and particularly in CMOS technology. However, CMOS technology offers superior tuning and calibration capabilities supported by the integrated digital baseband. This work presents the first integrated duplexer in CMOS technology with an adequate performance for full-duplex cellular applications such as WCDMA and HSPA. The proposed implementation is based on electrical balance of a hybrid transformer rather than frequency selectivity which unfavorably requires high-Q elements.
Hegemony or survival - South Africa's soft power and the challenge of xenophobia

The literature on South African politics makes widespread reference to the culture of xenophobia. There is also a small but growing body of literature on South Africa’s soft power currencies. However, no study has attempted to comprehensively examine the nexus between South Africa’s soft power and its culture of xenophobia. Thus, the major question this study seeks to address is: what impact does South Africa’s prevailing culture of xenophobia have on its soft power and, ultimately, its regional hegemonic credentials? This article explores this lacuna through the lenses of hegemonic stability and scapegoating theories. The study used both primary sources (interviews and focus group discussions) and secondary sources to solicit dependable data on the subject matter. It found that South Africa’s pervasive xenophobic posture has the tendency to erode the efficacy of its rising soft power as well as to constrain its capacity to play a hegemonic role within Africa. South Africa has the potential to achieve regional hegemony in Africa, but in order to do so it must address phenomena such as xenophobia, which imposes severe limitations on its credibility and legitimacy. The article concludes that consciously framed policies as well as constructive and positive media reporting are required to mitigate the possibly devastating effects of xenophobia on South Africa’s soft power within its region and globally. Keywords : hegemony, regional hegemony, foreigners, soft power, South Africa, xenophobia
Function and Performance of Nitinol Vascular Implants

Nitinol, an intermetallic compound of Titanium and Nickel has found widespread use as material for vascular implants. Its unusual stress hysteresis and superelasticity makes these devices biomechanically compatible with the body's structures. Nitinol also exhibits excellent corrosion resistance, biocompatibility and MR compatibility. The paper focuses on the material specific properties of self expanding stents to treat peripheral vascular disease, like biased and temperature dependent stiffness, kink resistance, stent durability and fatigue, and describes the design aspects of different Nitinol stents. The function and performance of other Nitinol implants is also explained, like vena cava filters, cardiac septal re- pair devices, and self-expanding heart valve prosthesis. A separate section describes the performance of endovascular Nit- inol implants in Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI.
Perceived Housework Equity, Marital Happiness, and Divorce in Dual-Earner Households

This study uses a nationally representative sample of individuals involved in dual-earner marriages to examine the relationship between perceived fairness of housework completion, marital happiness, and divorce. The authors expected to find that perceived inequality in the division of housework causes tension between spouses that leads to decreased marital quality for both men and women. They further speculated that an unfair division of household labor might contribute to a greater likelihood of divorce. Results indicate that perceived inequity in the division of household labor is negatively associated with both husbands[#X2019] and wives[#X2019]reported marital happiness but is positively associated with the odds of divorce among wives only. Little evidence indicates that marital happiness mediates this relationship. The authors propose that unfair perceptions of the division of household labor not only decrease women[#X2019]s marital quality but also lead to role strain that makes them more likely to end unsatisfying marriages.
Design and Test of an HV-CMOS Intelligent Power Switch With Integrated Protections and Self-Diagnostic for Harsh Automotive Applications

The design and characterization in high-voltage (HV)-CMOS technology of an innovative intelligent power switch (IPS) for harsh automotive applications is proposed in this paper. To safely handle the ordinary and extraordinary automotive electrical and environmental conditions, a systematic design flow is followed: several design solutions are presented at the architectural and circuital level, integrating on-chip self-diagnostic capabilities and full protection against the high voltage and reverse polarity, the effects of wiring parasitics, and the over-current and over-temperature phenomena. Moreover, the current slope and soft start integrated techniques ensure a low electromagnetic interference, and the IPS is also configurable to efficiently drive different interchangeable loads. The innovative IPS has been implemented in a 0.35-μm HV-CMOS technology and has been embedded in mechatronic third generation brush-holder regulator system-on-chip for an automotive alternator. The electrical simulations and experimental characterization and the testing at component and on-board system levels prove that the proposed design allows a compact and smart power switch realization facing the harshest automotive conditions.
A Model of Perceived Risk and Intended Risk-handling Activity

On the basis of previous reviews of the perceived-risk concept, a model of risk perception and its effects on consumers' risk-handling behavior is formulated. Hypotheses derived from this model are empirically tested and indicate that, for the setting studied (women purchasing a dress), the intended use of risk-handling activity increases with higher levels of perceived risk. This relationship is more pronounced after the level of risk exceeds the individual's acceptable level of risk. Also of importance in determining the use of a risk-handling activity are the perceived benefit of the type of risk-handling activity and the consumer's inability to absorb a monetary loss. Copyright 1994 by the University of Chicago.
Formation of benzo(a)pyrene-glucuronic acid conjugates in hamster embryo cell cultures.

Summary Secondary cultures of hamster embryo cells exposed to 0.5 nmole [ 3 H]benzo( a )pyrene (BP) per ml medium metabolized more than 80% of the [ 3 H]BP within 24 hr, and 90% of the metabolites formed remained in the aqueous phase when the medium was extracted with an organic solvent. Thin-layer chromatography of the water-soluble material showed that it contained several minor product peaks and one major product that was sensitive to β-glucuronidase treatment and cochromatographed with a marker of a BP phenol-glucuronide in three thin-layer chromatography systems. β-Glucuronidase treatment of the aqueous phase of a sample of organic solvent-extracted medium from hamster embryo cell cultures converted at least 40% of the material to organic solvent-soluble derivatives. The released material contained 33 to 40% 9-hydroxybenzo( a )pyrene, 18 to 21% 3-hydroxybenzo( a )pyrene, and 8 to 11% BP quinones. Similar amounts of BP phenols and BP quinones were obtained by treating medium samples directly with β-glucuronidase. In contrast, the BP metabolites in the organic solvent extract of the original medium were mainly BP dihydrodiols. Cells exposed to 3-hydroxybenzo( a )pyrene formed a water-soluble product with chromatographic behavior and fluorescence spectra identical with those of 3-hydroxybenzo( a )pyrene glucuronide. Cells exposed to 0.5 nmole [ 3 H]-9-hydroxybenzo( a )pyrene per ml medium converted more than 90% of this phenol to water-soluble derivatives within 24 hr; more than 80% of these were converted to [ 3 H]-9-hydroxybenzo( a )pyrene by β-glucuronidase treatment. These results demonstrate that formation of glucuronic acid conjugates of BP phenols is a major pathway of BP metabolism in hamster embryo cells in culture and that β-glucuronidase treatment of culture medium from these cells provides a method for determining the sites of oxidation of more than one-third of the total BP metabolites formed.
Positions and Numbers of FKS Mutations in Candida albicans Selectively Influence In Vitro and In Vivo Susceptibilities to Echinocandin Treatment

ABSTRACT Candidemia is the fourth most common kind of microbial bloodstream infection, with Candida albicans being the most common causative species. Echinocandins are employed as the first-line treatment for invasive candidiasis until the fungal species is determined and confirmed by clinical diagnosis. Echinocandins block the FKS glucan synthases responsible for embedding β-(1,3)-d-glucan in the cell wall. The increasing use of these drugs has led to the emergence of antifungal resistance, and elevated MICs have been associated with single-residue substitutions in specific hot spot regions of FKS1 and FKS2. Here, we show for the first time the caspofungin-mediated in vivo selection of a double mutation within one allele of the FKS1 hot spot 1 in a clinical isolate. We created a set of isogenic mutants and used a hematogenous murine model to evaluate the in vivo outcomes of echinocandin treatment. Heterozygous and homozygous double mutations significantly enhance the in vivo resistance of C. albicans compared with the resistance seen with heterozygous single mutations. The various FKS1 hot spot mutations differ in the degree of their MIC increase, substance-dependent in vivo response, and impact on virulence. Our results demonstrate that echinocandin EUCAST breakpoint definitions correlate with the in vivo response when a standard dosing regimen is used but cannot predict the in vivo response after a dose escalation. Moreover, patients colonized by a C. albicans strain with multiple mutations in FKS1 have a higher risk for therapeutic failure.
Participating with Experience—A Case Study of Students as Co-Producers of Course Design

Higher Education (HE) needs to handle a diverse student population. The role of student expectations and previous experience is a key to fully participate. This study investigates student meaning making and interaction in a course designed to stimulate student as co-creators of course content and aims. Results revealed that rich communication added structure for students, that open-ended design challenged student approaches and constructed students as subjects. Analysis was made using recorded webinars, asynchronous discussion forums and e-mails. Data was categorised as communicative actions based on their orientations in the course i.e., what further actions they provoked. Analysis was guided by theories on participation and framing (Wenger & Bernstein). The influence of dominating discourses for the didactics of HE risk excluding some perspectives and experiences when students’ experiences and expectations are not regarded as contributing to the meaning making of their own participating in academic educational practices. Finally, the study suggests that a move into web-based contexts more easily challenges students’ preconceptions of studying.
Correction to "Spatially Modulated Orthogonal Space-Time Block Codes With Non-Vanishing Determinants"

This correspondence corrects an error in Section III-B of the paper titled “Spatially Modulated Orthogonal Space-Time Block Codes with Non-Vanishing Determinants”, published in the IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 85–99, Jan. 2014.
A Review on Spectrum Sensing Techniques for Cognitive Radio

The radio frequency spectrum is very limited natural resource and recent spectrum occupancy measurements and studies have shown that pre-allocated spectrum bands are rarely occupied full time by primary users. Cognitive radio is an emerging wireless technology that allows efficient spectrum utilization by allowing secondary users to access the unoccupied frequency bands, called spectrum holes. With the capability to sense the operating environment, learn and adapt in real time environment, cognitive radio technology is seen as the most promising technology for future wireless communication networks. In this paper, we have explored the concept of cognitive radio and other aspects related to spectrum sensing. In addition to this, various challenges of spectrum sensing are also discussed.
A Cultural Lens to Understanding Daily Experiences with Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management among Clinic Patients in M'Bour, Senegal

Diabetes is a steadily increasing threat in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Factors such as urbanization, obesity, physical inactivity, and inadequate access to healthcare are believed to contribute to the increasing burden of diabetes. Interventions that optimize diabetes self-management are critically important since obtaining diabetes medications is challenging due to cost constraints and availability. Culture is a significant factor in shaping health behaviors such as diabetes self-management, where individual health behaviors operate in confluence with family, community, and social structures. This study examined experiences with diabetes self-management among clinic patients residing in M'bour, Senegal, using the PEN3 model as a cultural framework. Results indicate that financial challenges related to accessing medical care and adhering to the prescribed diabetic diet were the main barriers to diabetes management. Family dynamics serve as both supportive and inhibiting forces that influence the aforementioned barriers.