Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contribution of literacy training to development in the context of Tanzania: emerging issues and research implications

Most of what is known about the effects and benefits of literacy training in Tanzania is based on the perspectives of policy makers, or researchers utilizing the official state perspective, while the participation of adult learners in the evaluation of adult literacy training activities has remained minimal. The response of adult learners to the state adult education and literacy training policies has not been adequately studied. while the impact of the latter on the former has tended to be overvalued. At the same time the scope of analysis has been too global to illuminate the actual practice at the grassroots level. Presenting the state of the art review on the contribntions of literacy training to development in the context of Tanzania, this paper argues for more in-depth analyses of the social, political and economic consequences of literacy training. particnlarly at the grassroots level. Since in third world societies it is the state which plays a predominant role in managing societal learning processes, the paper underscores the need to make it an object of analysis as well. 'Then, participatory action research is considered to be the most appropriate research paradigm in such studies which seek to illuminate the more intricate social and political realities.
Analysis of the edge-effects in frequency-domain TDOA estimation

Passive estimation of the Time-Difference of Arrival (TDOA) of a common signal at two (or more) sensors is a fundamental problem in signal processing, with applications mainly in emitter localization. A common approach to TDOA estimation is the maximization of the sample cross-correlation between the received signals. For various reasons, this correlation is sometimes computed via the frequency-domain, following a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) of the signals - in which case the linear correlation is essentially replaced with a cyclic correlation. Although the two computations differ merely by some relatively short “edge-effects”, these edge-effects can entail more impact than commonly predicted by their relative (usually negligible) effective durations. In this work we analyze the mean square TDOA estimation error resulting from the use of cyclic instead of linear correlations, showing that for some signals the loss can be more severe than what would be predicted by a simple linear dependence on the delay value.
RPGRIP1 is Mutated in Leber Congenital Amaurosis: A Mini-Review

RPGRIP1 encodes the retinitis pigmentosa GTPase interacting protein 1 and interacts with RPGR, the latter represents the major X-linked RP (XRRP) gene, as it accounts for 70-80% of the XRRP patients and up to 13% of all RP patients. RPGRIP1 contains a C-terminal RPGR interacting domain (RID) and a coiled-coil (CC) domain, which is homologous to proteins involved in vesicular trafficking. The interactions between the two proteins is between the RCC1-homologous domain of RPGR (RHD) and the RPGR-interacting domain of RPGRIP1 (RID). Both proteins co-localize to the photoreceptor connecting cilium and RPGRIP1 appears to be a structural component of the ciliary axoneme of the connecting cilium (which connects the inner to the outer segment of the photoreceptors) of both rods and cones and functions to anchor RPGR within the cilium. RPGRIP1 loci encode several different isoforms, which have distinct cellular, sub cellular and biochemical properties. RPGRIP1 is uniquely expressed in amacrine cells of the inner retina. Knockout mice studies have shown that RPGRIP1 is required for disc morphogenesis of the outer segments in the mouse, perhaps by regulating cytoskeleton dynamics. Thus far RPGRIP1 appears to be only mutated in LCA and is associated with 6% of LCA in two series. The purpose of this review is to highlight recent advances in our understanding of RPGRIP1 function in normal and diseased retinas.
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ATTITUDES OF THE KEY RELATIVES TOWARDS ‘SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS’ AND ‘PATIENTS OF DISTURBED FAMILY’

SUMMARY Forty six key relatives of 'Schizophrenic Patients' who were hospitalised in Department of Psychiatry, K. G's, Medical College, Lucknow were administered ‘Attitude Questionnaire’ which covered five variables : Number of critical comments about someone else in the home ; Hostility; Dissatisfaction; Warmth and Emotional Involvement. Forty one key relatives of ‘Disturbed Family's Patients’ matched for sex and residence, were assessed on similar parameters. There was significant difference only in the area of ‘Dissatisfaction’.
Metal on Metal Surface Replacement of the Hip: Experience of the McMinn Prosthesis

The historical failure of surface replacement has been due to the production of wear debris with subsequent bone resorption, loosening, and failure. To avoid these problems, a surface replacement using a metal on metal bearing allowing thin components and femoral design and instrumentation to avoid varus alignment has been designed. Two hundred thirty-five joints have been resurfaced with this prosthesis in almost 5 years. There have been no femoral neck fractures and no dislocations. There have been 4 designs differing in the method of fixation. In the press fit group, 6 of 70 hips had to be revised for aseptic loosening. In the cemented group, debonding of the cup occurred in 3 of 43 cases. Six patients had hydroxyapatite coated components and have had excellent clinical outcomes. The current design uses a peripherally expanded hydroxyapatite coated cup and a cemented metal head; 116 of this design have been implanted during a 19-month period with excellent outcome. Despite short followup the authors are hopeful that the combination of a polar metal on metal bearing with appropriate fixation will yield a method of preserving bone stock in the younger patient requiring arthroplasty.
Pathophysiology of duodenal ulcer disease

&NA; Before the discovery of Helicobacter pylori infection some 12 years ago, three major disturbances in gastric physiology had been identified in patients with duodenal ulcer disease. These abnormalities were: impaired acid inhibition of gastrin release from the antral mucosa, increased basal and stimulated acid secretion by the body of the stomach and increased acid load in the duodenum. Some of these abnormalities in gastric function can now be explained by the effects of H. pylori infection. The increased release of gastrin by the antral mucosa in duodenal ulcer patients, for example, can be entirely explained by the effects of this organism. Other abnormalities, however, appear to have a genetic basis or may be due to environmental factors. Much work has been conducted on the relationship between H. pylori and the development of duodenal ulcer disease, and this paper aims to review recent studies in the field and to give an overview of the latest understanding of the pathophysiology of this disease.
Open problems in reset control

It is well-known that there are fundamental performance limitations in the design of linear feedback control systems for single-input-single-output (SISO) linear-time-invariant (LTI) plants. These performance limitations sometimes include overshoot and rise time. This paper shows that for some examples of SISO LTI systems, it is possible to find suitable reset controllers that can overcome such performance limitations, though there are still some robust and implementable issues that need to be solved. This naturally leads to the formulation of several open research problems that we specify.
Reciprocal Regulation of Myocardial microRNAs and Messenger RNA in Human Cardiomyopathy and Reversal of the microRNA Signature by Biomechanical Support

Background— Much has been learned about transcriptional control of cardiac gene expression in clinical and experimental congestive heart failure (CHF), but less is known about dynamic regulation of microRNAs (miRs) in CHF and during CHF treatment. We performed comprehensive microarray profiling of miRs and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in myocardial specimens from human CHF with (n=10) or without (n=17) biomechanical support from left ventricular assist devices in comparison to nonfailing hearts (n=11). Methods and Results— Twenty-eight miRs were upregulated >2.0-fold (P<0.001) in CHF, with nearly complete normalization of the heart failure miR signature by left ventricular assist device treatment. In contrast, of 444 mRNAs that were altered by >1.3-fold in failing hearts, only 29 mRNAs normalized by as much as 25% in post-left ventricular assist device hearts. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of upregulated miRs and mRNAs with nearest centroid analysis and leave-1-out cross-validation revealed that combining the miR and mRNA signatures increased the ability of RNA profiling to serve as a clinical biomarker of diagnostic group and functional class. Conclusions— These results show that miRs are more sensitive than mRNAs to the acute functional status of end-stage heart failure, consistent with important functions for regulated miRs in the myocardial response to stress. Combined miR and mRNA profiling may have superior potential as a diagnostic and prognostic test in end-stage cardiomyopathy.
Managing Intrusion Detection as a Service in Cloud Networks

Cloud computing is frequently being utilized to eliminate the need to local information resources. In this paper, we address the problem of intrusion detection in cloud environments and the possibility of allowing intrusion detection to be provided to clients as a service. The paper describes the Cloud Intrusion Detection Service (CIDS), which is intended to function as an intrusion detection web service to be provided for cloud clients in a service-based manner. CIDS utilizes the “Snort” open source intrusion detection system. The operating logic and user access webpages were developed using J2EE. We implemented a proof-of-concept prototype to evaluate the performance. CIDS was proved to be very friendly to resource allocation. Additionally, CIDS gave better attack detection rates and attack detection times than other solutions. These improvements can be beneficial to both cloud providers and cloud subscribers alike. General Terms Cloud Computing, Intrusion Detection Management
Extra‐thymically induced T regulatory cell subsets: the optimal target for antigen‐specific immunotherapy

Antigen‐specific immunotherapy aims to selectively restore tolerance to innocuous antigens in cases of autoimmune or allergic disease, without the need for general immune suppression. Although the principle of antigen‐specific immunotherapy was discovered more than a century ago, its clinical application to date is limited, particularly in the control of autoimmunity. This has resulted mainly from a lack of in‐depth understanding of the underlying mechanism. More recently, the differentiation of extra‐thymically induced T regulatory (Treg) cell subsets has been shown to be instrumental in peripheral tolerance induction. Two main types of inducible Treg cells, interleukin‐10‐secreting or Foxp3+, have now been described, each with distinct characteristics and methods of therapeutic induction. It is crucial, therefore, to identify the suitability of either subset in the control of specific immune disorders. This review explores their natural function, the known mechanisms of therapeutic differentiation of either subset as well as their in vivo functionality and discusses new developments that may aid their use in antigen‐specific immunotherapy, with a focus on autoimmune disease.
Cardiovascular advantages among the offspring of centenarians.

BACKGROUND A significant component of the ability to survive to exceptional old age may be familial. This study assessed the prevalence of age-related diseases in the offspring of centenarians. METHODS The health histories of centenarian offspring (n=177) and controls (n=166) were assessed from 1997-2000 using a cross-sectional study design. The offspring of 192 centenarian subjects enrolled in the nationwide New England Centenarian Study were recruited and enrolled. Controls consisted of offspring whose parents were born in the same years as the centenarians but at least 1 of whom died at an average life expectancy. Prevalence of age-related diseases including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, stroke, dementia, cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, depression, Parkinson's disease, thyroid disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were compared between the two groups. RESULTS Centenarian offspring had a 56% reduced relative prevalence of heart disease (odds ratio [OR] 0.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24, 0.80), a 66% reduced relative prevalence of hypertension (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.21, 0.55), and 59% reduced relative prevalence of diabetes (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.15, 1.12) after multivariate adjusted analyses. CONCLUSIONS The offspring of centenarians demonstrate a markedly reduced prevalence of diseases associated with aging, in particular for cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors. Along with their parents, the centenarian offspring, who are in their 70s and 80s, may prove to be a valuable cohort to study genetic and environmental factors conducive to the ability to live to very old age in good health.
Influence of Gene Effect on Predicting Animal Phenotype Using Back-Propagation Artificial Neural Networks

Recently, largescale, high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker information has become available. However, the simple relation was not enough for describing the relation between markers and genotype value, and the genetic diversity should be carefully monitored as genomic selection for quantitative traits as a routine technology for animal genetic improvement. In this paper, back-propagation neural network is used to simulate and predict the genotype values, and the different gene effects were used to discuss the influences on estimating the polygenic genotype value. The results showed that after phenotype value being normalized, optimization network could be established for predicting the phenotype value without fearing that the gene effect is too large. If the number of hidden neurons is large enough, the stability of back-propagation artificial neural network established for predicting phenotype value is very well. the gene effect could not affected the precise of optimum neural network for estimating the animal phenotype, the optimum neural network could be selected for predicting the phenotype values of quantitative traits controlled by genes with small or large effects.
Industrial Perspective on the Usefulness of Design Rationale for Software Maintenance: A Survey

Software maintenance is widely known as a problematic area that may consume up to 80% of a software project's resources. It has been claimed that providing an effective mechanism to access design rationale (DR) has great potential to improve software maintenance processes. However, we postulate that the first step towards exploring the potential of DR for improving software maintenance should be to gain a better understanding of what DR means to practitioners, how valuable they consider DR to be and how they use DR. To determine the perceived usefulness of DR, we surveyed a large number of software designers. This exploratory study has discovered that practitioners recognize the importance of DR to understand existing designs and frequently use it to reason about proposed modifications. The results of this study establish that DR is perceived by practitioners to be useful and the efforts required to capture DR for the purpose of maintenance are worthwhile. The findings allow us to identify areas of further research on DR support that have the potential to improve the maintenance process
Aura OMI observations of regional SO2 and NO2 pollution changes from 2005 to 2015

Abstract. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard NASA's Aura satellite has been providing global observations of the ozone layer and key atmospheric pollutant gases, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), since October 2004. The data products from the same instrument provide consistent spatial and temporal coverage and permit the study of anthropogenic and natural emissions on local-to-global scales. In this paper, we examine changes in SO2 and NO2 over some of the world's most polluted industrialized regions during the first decade of OMI observations. In terms of regional pollution changes, we see both upward and downward trends, sometimes in opposite directions for NO2 and SO2, for different study areas. The trends are, for the most part, associated with economic and/or technological changes in energy use, as well as regional regulatory policies. Over the eastern US, both NO2 and SO2 levels decreased dramatically from 2005 to 2015, by more than 40 and 80 %, respectively, as a result of both technological improvements and stricter regulations of emissions. OMI confirmed large reductions in SO2 over eastern Europe's largest coal-fired power plants after installation of flue gas desulfurization devices. The North China Plain has the world's most severe SO2 pollution, but a decreasing trend has been observed since 2011, with about a 50 % reduction in 2012–2015, due to an economic slowdown and government efforts to restrain emissions from the power and industrial sectors. In contrast, India's SO2 and NO2 levels from coal power plants and smelters are growing at a fast pace, increasing by more than 100 and 50 %, respectively, from 2005 to 2015. Several SO2 hot spots observed over the Persian Gulf are probably related to oil and gas operations and indicate a possible underestimation of emissions from these sources in bottom-up emission inventories. Overall, OMI observations have proved valuable in documenting rapid changes in air quality over different parts of the world during last decade. The baseline established during the first 11 years of OMI is indispensable for the interpretation of air quality measurements from current and future satellite atmospheric composition missions.
Random loading fatigue crack growth: Crack closure considerations

The prediction of fatigue crack growth is an important element of effective fracture control for metallic structures and mechanical components, especially in the aerospace industry. The prediction techniques available and applied today are mostly based on fatigue crack growth measurements determined in constant amplitude testing. However, while many service loadings are constant amplitude, many more loadings are random amplitude. An investigation to determine which statistics of random loadings are relevant to fatigue crack closure was conducted. The fundamentals of random processes and crack closure are briefly reviewed, then the relevance of certain random process parameters to the crack closure calculation are discussed qualitatively. A course for further research is outlined.
Environmental effects on the assessment of people with dementia: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this pilot study was to use a standardized assessment of independent living skills to explore the effects of environment on functional performance of individuals with dementia. METHODS Twelve participants (6 males, 6 females), diagnosed with dementia, were given the Structured Assessment of Independent Living Skills (SAILS), a standardized assessment of functional motor, cognitive, instrumental, and social performance. Participants were assessed in their homes, in an adult day-services facility they regularly attended, and in an occupational therapy clinic. RESULTS Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). There was no evidence of a learning effect from repeated assessments. Participants' performances did not differ among the home, clinic, and adult day-services settings on the total SAILS score (F = 1.22; df = 2,20; p = 0.3176), nor on three of its subscales: cognitive score (F = 0.80; df = 2,20; p = 0.4648), instrumental activities (F = 1.37; df = 2,20; p = 0.2777), and social interaction (F = 0.34; df = 2,20; p = 0.7147). However, participants' performance on the SAILS motor score was significantly higher in the home than in the clinic (t = 2.925, df = 11, p = 0.0138). CONCLUSION. Participants' motor performance was significantly better at home than in an unfamiliar environment. Effects of environment on motor performance, and absence of effects on cognitive, instrumental, and social performances, can be explained through ecological theory. These results suggest that the ability to adapt movement to an unfamiliar environment may decline with the onset and progression of dementia.
Depressive symptoms and cognitive decline in late life: a prospective epidemiological study.

CONTEXT Depression is associated with cognitive impairment and dementia. It is less clear whether depression contributes to further cognitive decline over time, independently of incipient dementia. OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and subsequent cognitive decline in a cohort of nondemented older adults, some of whom remained dementia free during follow-up and others in whom incident dementia eventually developed. DESIGN Twelve-year prospective epidemiological study, including biennial measurement of cognition and depressive symptoms, biennial assessment of dementia, and comparison of cognitive function at baseline and over time in persons with and without baseline depressive symptoms in the dementia-free and eventual-dementia groups, using random-effects models. SETTING A largely blue-collar rural community. PARTICIPANTS Population-based sample of 1265 adults 67 years and older without dementia at baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Scores over time on each of several cognitive test composites. RESULTS Among 1094 participants who remained dementia free, those with baseline depressive symptoms had significantly lower baseline scores on all cognitive composites than the nondepressed participants. Among the 171 individuals in whom dementia later developed, depression was associated with worse performance in some but not all baseline cognitive composites. Cognitive decline over time was minimal in the dementia-free group, whereas marked decline was seen in the eventual-dementia group. Depressive symptoms were not associated with rate of cognitive decline over time in either group. CONCLUSIONS Depressive symptoms are cross-sectionally associated with cognitive impairment but not subsequent cognitive decline. Substantial cognitive decline over time cannot be explained by depression and most likely reflects incipient dementia.
Sensor placement for real-time dynamic state estimation in power systems: Structural systems approach

This paper studies the problem of sensor placement design for efficient dynamic real-time state estimation in electric power networks. Given a (linearized) dynamic physical model of the power system, efficient sensor placement strategies are proposed that minimize the observability index of the system. The observability index plays a key role in determining the minimum window length of filters that guarantee stable estimation error and minimizing this index allows the design of memory and computationally efficient filtering schemes with performance guarantees. Specifically, given the system dynamics, the paper addresses the following two sensor placement design problems: (1) determining the minimal number and placement of sensors that achieves a certain desired system observability index, and (2) given the number of sensors to be deployed, obtaining the placement achieving minimal system observability index. These problems are addressed in a structural systems framework, i.e., the placement strategies are obtained on the basis of the sparsity pattern (location of zeroes/non-zeroes) of the system coupling matrix, and the design guarantees hold for almost all numerical parametric realizations of the system. Finally, an example is provided which illustrates the analytical findings.