Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two decades of maternity care fee exemption policies in Ghana: have they benefited the poor?

OBJECTIVE To investigate, the impact of maternity-related fee payment policies on the uptake of skilled birth care amongst the poor in Ghana. METHODS Population data representing 12 288 births between November 1990 and October 2008 from four consecutive rounds of the Ghana demographic and health surveys were used to examine the impact of four major maternity-related payment policies: the full-cost recovery 'cash and carry' scheme; 'antenatal care fee exemption'; 'delivery care fee exemption' and the 'National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)'. Concentration curves were used to analyse the rich-poor gap in the use of skilled birth care by the four policy interventions. Multilevel logistic regression was used to examine the effect of the policies on the uptake of skilled birth care, adjusting for relevant predictors and clustering within communities and districts. FINDINGS The uptake of skilled birth care over the policy periods for the poorest women was trivial when compared with their non-poor counterparts. The rich-poor gap in skilled birth care use was highly pronounced during the 'cash and carry' and 'free antenatal care' policies period. The benefits during the 'free delivery care' and ' NHIS' policy periods accrued more for the rich than the poor. There exist significant differences in skilled birth care use between and within communities and districts, even after adjusting for policy effects and other relevant predictors. CONCLUSIONS The maternal care fee exemption policies specifically targeted towards the poorest women had limited impact on the uptake of skilled birth care.
Prolonged gene expression and cell survival after infection by a herpes simplex virus mutant defective in the immediate-early genes encoding ICP4, ICP27, and ICP22

Very early in infection, herpes simplex virus (HSV) expresses four immediate-early (IE) regulatory proteins, ICP4, ICP0, ICP22, and ICP27. The systematic inactivation of sets of the IE proteins in cis, and the subsequent phenotypic analysis of the resulting mutants, should provide insights into how these proteins function in the HSV life cycle and also into the specific macromolecular events that are altered or perturbed in cells infected with virus strains blocked very early in infection. This approach may also provide a rational basis to assess the efficacy and safety of HSV mutants for use in gene transfer experiments. In this study, we generated and examined the phenotype of an HSV mutant simultaneously mutated in the ICP4, ICP27, and ICP22 genes of HSV. Unlike mutants deficient in ICP4 (d120), ICP4 and ICP27 (d92), and ICP4 and ICP22 (d96), mutants defective in ICP4, ICP27, and ICP22 (d95) were visually much less toxic to Vero and human embryonic lung cells. Cells infected with d95 at a multiplicity of infection of 10 PFU per cell retained a relatively normal morphology and expressed genes from the viral and cellular genomes for at least 3 days postinfection. The other mutant backgrounds were too toxic to allow examination of gene expression past 1 day postinfection. However, when cell survival was measured by the capacity of the infected cells to form colonies, d95 inhibited colony formation similarly to d92. This apparent paradox was reconciled by the observation that host cell DNA synthesis was inhibited in cells infected with d120, d92, d96, and d95. In addition, all of the mutants exhibited pronounced and distinctive alterations in nuclear morphology, as determined by electron microscopy. The appearance of d95-infected cells deviated from that of uninfected cells in that large circular structures formed in the nucleus. d95-infected cells abundantly expressed ICP0, which accumulated in fine punctate structures in the nucleus at early times postinfection and coalesced or grew to the large circular objects that were revealed by electron microscopy. Therefore, while the abundant accumulation of ICPO in the absence of ICP4, ICP22, and ICP27 may allow for prolonged gene expression, cell survival is impaired, in part, as a result of the inhibition of cellular DNA synthesis.
Dynamic Ultrasound Scatterer Simulation Model Using Field-II and FEM for Speckle Tracking

— There is a growing interest in the use of ultrasonic speckle tracking for biomedical image formation of tissue deformation. Speckle tracking is angle independent and has an ability to differentiate soft tissue into benign and malignant regions. In this paper a simulation model for dynamic ultrasound scatterer is presented. The model composes Field-II ultrasonic scatterers and FEM (ANSYS-11) nodes as a regional tissue deformation. A performance evaluation is presented on axial displacement and strain fields estimation of a uniformly elastic model, using speckle tracking based 1D cross-correlation of optimally segmented pre and post-deformation frames. Optimum correlation window length is investigated in terms of highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for a selected region of interest of a smoothed displacement field. Finally, gradient based strain field of both smoothed and non-smoothed displacement fields are compared. Simulation results from the model are shown to compare favorably with FEM results.
Folding and assembly of the large molecular machine Hsp90 studied in single-molecule experiments

Significance Understanding protein folding is, as yet, an unsolved question in the life sciences that has relevance for many diseases. While the folding of simple and small protein domains is well studied, for large proteins, the abundance of pathways and intermediate states makes them difficult to characterize using standard protein folding experiments. With single-molecule optical tweezers experiments, we can overcome these limitations. We observe in real time the folding of a dimeric, three-domain protein from the fully unfolded chain to the biologically active, quaternary structure. The likelihood of the folding process being hindered by misfolded intermediates increases with chain length. These misfolded states can slow down folding significantly and may lead to aggregation in vivo. Folding of small proteins often occurs in a two-state manner and is well understood both experimentally and theoretically. However, many proteins are much larger and often populate misfolded states, complicating their folding process significantly. Here we study the complete folding and assembly process of the 1,418 amino acid, dimeric chaperone Hsp90 using single-molecule optical tweezers. Although the isolated C-terminal domain shows two-state folding, we find that the isolated N-terminal as well as the middle domain populate ensembles of fast-forming, misfolded states. These intradomain misfolds slow down folding by an order of magnitude. Modeling folding as a competition between productive and misfolding pathways allows us to fully describe the folding kinetics. Beyond intradomain misfolding, folding of the full-length protein is further slowed by the formation of interdomain misfolds, suggesting that with growing chain lengths, such misfolds will dominate folding kinetics. Interestingly, we find that small stretching forces applied to the chain can accelerate folding by preventing the formation of cross-domain misfolding intermediates by leading the protein along productive pathways to the native state. The same effect is achieved by cotranslational folding at the ribosome in vivo.
Equivalence Tests

Motivated by the frequent need for equivalence tests in clinical trials, this paper provides insights into tests for equivalence. We summarize and compare equivalence tests for different study designs, including designs for one-sample problem, designs for two-sample problem (paired observations, and two unrelated samples), and designs with multiple treatment arms. Power and sample size estimation are discussed. We also give examples to implement the methods using the FREQ, TTEST, MIXED, and POWER procedures in SAS/SAT® software.
Simultaneous hot-hole injection at drain and source for efficient erase and excellent endurance in SONOS flash EEPROM cells

An efficient erase technique is presented for SONOS EEPROM cells, using the concomitant hot-hole injection (HHI) at the drain and the source. Electrons trapped during the programming are thus fully eliminated throughout the entire channel, securing thereby a satisfactory cell endurance behavior. Additionally in the present HHI scheme the voltage applied at the common bulk terminal enables efficient erase in the entire erase sector. Also, HHI is quantitatively shown much more efficient for erase, compared with Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling. Finally, the elimination of trapped electrons throughout the entire channel is shown crucial for achieving a satisfactory cell endurance behavior.
Two Improved Cancellation Techniques for Direct-Conversion Receivers

To solve the problems of carrier leakage and DC offset in direct-conversion receiver (DCR) system, the paper proposed two kinds of improved technology to overcome the problems in DCR system. One is the RF carrier cancellation technology; the traditional cancellation technology based on lumped parameter filter can be easily influenced by distribution parameters, the improved circuits use a 3 db bridge to realize a 180-degree phase shifter, and the method can adapt to a wider range of RF frequency. Another is DC offset cancellation technique; a novel DC servo loop circuit is proposed to replace the traditional AC-coupled amplifier circuit. It can improve the integrity of the baseband signal and reduces the complexity of the subsequent software algorithm. Experimental results show that two kinds of improved technology can improve the performance of DCR and expand its scope of application.
Role of motor unit structure in defining function

Motor units, defined as a motoneuron and all of its associated muscle fibers, are the basic functional units of skeletal muscle. Their activity represents the final output of the central nervous system, and their role in motor control has been widely studied. However, there has been relatively little work focused on the mechanical significance of recruiting variable numbers of motor units during different motor tasks. This review focuses on factors ranging from molecular to macroanatomical components that influence the mechanical output of a motor unit in the context of the whole muscle. These factors range from the mechanical properties of different muscle fiber types to the unique morphology of the muscle fibers constituting a motor unit of a given type and to the arrangement of those motor unit fibers in three dimensions within the muscle. We suggest that as a result of the integration of multiple levels of structural and physiological levels of organization, unique mechanical properties of motor units are likely to emerge. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 24: 848–866, 2001
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice about Pap Smear among Women Reffering to A Public Hospital

Objective: The Pap smear is a reliable, inexpensive and effective screening test for cervical cancer; the second most common cancer among women worldwide. We aimed to determine women’s knowledge, attitudes and practice towards Pap smear and barriers for the screening in a public hospital. Materials and methods: This study, was carried out on 350 outpatient married women reffering for a visit at the clinics of the Alzahra educational hospital, Rasht- Iran, 2011. A questionnaire including demographic characteristics (24 questions), knowledge (14 questions), attitudes (11 statments) and practice (10 questions) towards Pap smear was completed by interview with the women. The data were analyzed using SPSS ver.13. Results: Mean age of participants was 32 (SD 12) years. Of the respondents, only 44.3% were aware of the Pap smear and 27.1% had had it at least once in their life. The most common reason for having the test was physicians’ or other health workers’ advise and for not having the test was no recommendation by health providers and lack of knowledge about Pap smear. Embarrassing, fear of the test result or economic problems mentioned by only 12 (4.2%) as the main barrier. Mean (±SD) knowledge score of the women who had heard about the Pap smear was 59.4 (24.3) and attitudes score of all participants was 48.5 (11.6) from possible range score of 0-100. Women with a history of Pap smear had had higher awareness and attitudes score. Conclusion: The knowledge and practice of the women was inadequate and need to be promoted. Considering the main reason mentioned by the participants for not having the test, all health providers should educate and encourage women to do regular Pap smear.
Evaluation of Toyocerin, a Probiotic Containing Bacillus toyoi Spores, on Health Status and Productivity of Weaned, Growing and Finishing Pigs

The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of Toyocerin, a probiotic containing Bacillus toyoi spores, on the health status and productivity of pigs, during nursery, growing and finishing phases. On a commercial farrow-to-finish farm in Greece, 3 experimental groups were formed, each of 72 weaned piglets. The pigs of the first group (T1 group; negative controls) received normal feed with no antimicrobials or probiotics, the pigs of the second group (T2 group) received the same type of feed but supplemented with 1.0×10 9 , 0.5×10 9 and 0.2×10 9 spores per kg of feed at weaning, growing and finishing stage, respectively, and the pigs of the third group (T3 group) were fed with Toyocerin at the dose of 1.0×10 9 spores per kg of feed during the entire fattening period (weaning, growing and finishing stages). The results have shown that, compared to the controls, Toyocerin treated pigs had reduced incidence of post- weaning diarrhoea (p<0.05). Enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli were detected in faecal samples of 0% to 25% of pigs of the treated groups, but in 33.5% to 50% of pigs of the non-treated group (p<0.05). Over the negative controls, a significant improvement of weight gain (4.5% and 8.3% for T2 and T3 groups, respectively), and of feed conversion ratio (6.6% and 13.0% for T2 and T3 groups, respectively) was observed. The 76.5% of the carcasses of the T3 group was classified in the top three categories of the EUROP scale (S, E and U), whilst the respective figures were 47.8% for T2 group and only 10.5% for T1 group (p<0.05). (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2003. Vol 16, No. 9 : 1326-1331)
Decision Making Analysis of Video Streaming Algorithm for Private Cloud Computing Infrastructure

The issue on how to effectively deliver video streaming contents over cloud computing infrastructures is tackled in this study. Basically, quality of service of video streaming is strongly influenced by bandwidth, jitter and data loss problems. A number of intelligent video streaming algorithms are proposed by using different techniques to deal with such issues. This study aims to propose and demonstrate a novel decision making analysis which combines ISO 9126 (international standard for software engineering) and Analytic Hierarchy Process to help experts selecting the best video streaming algorithm for the case of private cloud computing infrastructure. The given case study concluded that Scalable Streaming algorithm is the best algorithm to be implemented for delivering high quality of service of video streaming over the private cloud computing infrastructure.
Comparison and evaluation of cache parameters for softcores on FPGAs

Using caches is a common technique to enhance the computational performance of a processor which would otherwise be limited by the timing of a systems main memory. Softcores instantiated inside an FPGA also require caches to achieve a suitable computational performance whenever they use large amounts of memory provided by FPGA external memory resources like DDR-memory. However, the internal structures of an FPGA limit the freedom in designing caches for theses softcores. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of several cache parameters like the total cache size and the degree of associativity on the resource usage, system clock frequency and resulting computational performance of a softcore base system inside an FPGA. As a result, design guidelines/rules for parameterizing softcore-caches within an FPGA are deduced.
Tumor‐associated autoantibody signature for the early detection of gastric cancer

Autoantibodies against tumor‐associated antigens are very attractive biomarkers for the development of noninvasive serological tests for the early detection of cancer because of their specificity and stability in the sera. In our study, we applied T7 phage display‐based serological analysis of recombinant cDNA expression libraries technique to identify a representative set of antigens eliciting humoral responses in patients with gastric cancer (GC), produced phage–antigen microarrays and exploited them for the survey of autoantibody repertoire in patients with GC and inflammatory diseases. We developed procedures for data normalization and cutoff determination to define sero‐positive signals and ranked them by the signal intensity and frequency of reactivity. To identify autoantibodies with the highest diagnostic value, a 1,150‐feature microarray was tested with sera from 100 patients with GC and 100 cancer‐free controls, and then the top‐ranked 86 antigens were used for the production of focused array that was tested with an independent validation set comprising serum samples from 235 patients with GC, 154 patients with peptic ulcer and gastritis and 213 healthy controls. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that 45‐autoantibody signature could discriminate GC and healthy controls with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.79 (59% sensitivity and 90% specificity), GC and peptic ulcer with AUC of 0.76 and GC and gastritis with AUC of 0.64. Moreover, it could detect early GC with equal sensitivity than advanced GC. Interestingly, the autoantibody production did not correlate with histological type, H. pylori status, grade, localization and size of the primary tumor, whereas it appeared to be associated with the metastatic disease.
Do Web 2.0 tools really open the door to learning? Practices, perceptions and profiles of 11–16‐year‐old students

In this paper, we report on survey and focus group data relating to the activities and perceptions of learning with Web 2.0 technologies of students aged between 11 and 16 years in 27 UK secondary schools. The study confirms that these learners had high levels of access to Web 2.0 technologies and that Web 2.0 activities were prolific. However, patterns of use were complex. The types of activity evidenced by the study suggest that learners can be categorised into four main groups: (1) researchers: mainly in terms of reading with little evidence of critical enquiry or analytical awareness; (2) collaborators: mainly with respect to file sharing, gaming and communicating; (3) producers and (4) publishers: mainly in terms of sharing experience through social networking sites. Whilst most expressed an interest in using online technologies to support familiar school activities, such as presentations or for communication, learners seemed cautious about other values associated with Web 2.0 tools, such as the shared construction of knowledge in a public format. Few learners were familiar with the complete spectrum of Web 2.0 activities and only a small number were engaging in more sophisticated activities, such as producing and publishing self‐created content for wider consumption. There was little evidence of groundbreaking activities and only a few embryonic signs of criticality, self‐management or metacognitive reflection. The paper concludes that these higher order thinking skills need to be encouraged and supported in any attempt to use Web 2.0 for learning in formal education.
The Patient-Centered Medical Home

The patient-centered medical home is an important innovation in health care delivery. There is a need to assess the scope and substance of published research on medical homes. This article reviews published evaluations of medical home care for the period 2007 to 2010. Chief findings from these evaluations as a whole include associations between the provision of medical home care and improved quality, in addition to decreased utilization associated with medical home care in high-cost areas such as emergency department use. However, fewer associations were found across evaluations between medical home care and enhanced patient or family experiences. The early medical home research appears to reflect both the wide variation in how medical homes are being designed and implemented in practice and in how researchers are choosing to evaluate patient-centered medical home design and implementation. While some aspects of medical home care show promise, continued evolution of medical home evaluative research is needed.
Validation of the New Zealand Physical Activity Questionnaire (NZPAQ-LF) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-LF) with accelerometry

Background Validation of instruments used to measure physical activity patterns is essential when attempting to assess the effectiveness of physical activity interventions. Objectives To assess the validity of two self-report physical activity questionnaires on a representative sample of New Zealand adults. Methods 70 adults aged 18–65 years from around Christchurch, New Zealand were required to wear an ActiGraph GT1M accelerometer during all waking hours for 7 consecutive days. Immediately following the 7 day accelerometer period participants were required to complete the long forms of both the New Zealand Physical Activity Questionnaire (NZPAQ-LF) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-LF). Results Both the NZPAQ-LF and the IPAQ-LF questionnaires showed small to moderate correlations with ActiGraph data for time spent in moderate-intensity physical activity (r=0.19–0.30) and total physical activity (sum of moderate and vigorous-intensity physical activity, r=0.30–0.32). In comparison with the ActiGraph data, both self-report questionnaires tended to overestimate activity levels by approximately 165%. Total physical activity levels gathered from both questionnaires were strongly correlated with each other (r=0.79) and showed good levels of agreement in the Bland–Altman plots. Conclusions The long forms of the NZPAQ and IPAQ were found to have acceptable validity when detecting participants' ability to meet activity guidelines based on exercise duration, but a significant amount of overestimation was evident. This presents a need for both instruments to be further developed and tested in order to increase validity.