Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Linguistic Factor and the Millennium Development Goals: A Lesson for Future Sustainable Development in Kenya

This paper looks at why the MDGs were never fully achieved by the year 2015; with a focus on Kenya; and the lessons learned for future. Specifically, it focuses on the place given to language in the implementation of the set goals. The hypothesis in the current work is that language factor is so important that it cannot be ignored in any sustainable developmental agenda. Failure to take cognizance of this is synonymous to planning to fail. This assumption follows from history which has proven that economies that have succeeded in the past in implementing their developmental agenda had to get this fact right. This is because development relies on knowledge and knowledge is created and disseminated through language. This knowledge only becomes relevant when it is disseminated through the most effective and efficient means; that is, in a language that is well understood by the target population. Data that is used in the analysis is provided by 6 policy makers, 6 policy implementers; this is technocrats and 20 citizens (from five Counties); who are all purposively selected. Findings show that the nonutilization of the generated knowledge, which is caused by low receptive rate, that derives from the type of medium that is used negatively worked against the achievement of the MDGs in Kenya. With lessons learned from the implementation of the MDGs, the paper proposes that for the existing and future developmental agenda (including the achievement of the SDGs), policy makers as well as development partners have to consider language as a paramount strategy in the implementation plan; if they are to succeed. It is argued that the starting point has to be in education, where quality and equity is ensured through a common and well understood linguistic system. This study is guided by the constructivism theory of learning that was proposed by Dewey (1916), Piaget (1950), and Vigotsky (1978).
Association of mitochondrial DNA 10398 polymorphism in invasive breast cancer in malay population of peninsular malaysia.

BACKGROUND The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) 10398 polymorphism is hypothesised to alter a mitochondrial subunit of the electron transfer chain and is associated with several neurodegenerative disorders and cancers. METHODS In this study, an mtDNA polymorphism at nucleotide position 10398 was screened in 101 Malay female patients with invasive breast cancer and 90 age-matched healthy female controls using minisequencing analysis. RESULTS The Malay women with the 10398G variant showed a significantly increased risk of invasive breast cancer (OR = 2.29, 95% CI 1.25-4.20, P = 0.007). Immunohistochemistry analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of this polymorphism on the levels of apoptosis in breast cancer cells. The level of Bax (a pro-apoptotic protein) expression was significantly higher than that of Bcl-2 (an anti-apoptotic protein) in patients carrying the G allele (P = 0.016) but not in those carrying the A allele (P = 0.48). CONCLUSION Based on these findings, we propose that the mtDNA 10398 polymorphism may be a potential risk marker for breast cancer susceptibility in the Malay population.
Variation in free jumping technique within and among horses with little experience in show jumping.

OBJECTIVE To quantify variation in the jumping technique within and among young horses with little jumping experience, establish relationships between kinetic and kinematic variables, and identify a limited set of variables characteristic for detecting differences in jumping performance among horses. ANIMALS Fifteen 4-year-old Dutch Warmblood horses. PROCEDURE The horses were raised under standardized conditions and trained in accordance with a fixed protocol for a short period. Subsequently, horses were analyzed kinematically during free jumping over a fence with a height of 1.05 m. RESULTS Within-horse variation in all variables that quantified jumping technique was smaller than variation among horses. However, some horses had less variation than others. Height of the center of gravity (CG) at the apex of the jump ranged from 1.80 to 2.01 m among horses; this variation could be explained by the variation in vertical velocity of the CG at takeoff (r, 0.78). Horses that had higher vertical velocity at takeoff left the ground and landed again farther from the fence, had shorter push-off phases for the forelimbs and hind limbs, and generated greater vertical acceleration of the CG primarily during the hind limb push-off. However, all horses cleared the fence successfully, independent of jumping technique. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Each horse had its own jumping technique. Differences among techniques were characterized by variations in the vertical velocity of the CG at takeoff. It must be determined whether jumping performance later in life can be predicted from observing free jumps of young horses.
Human impact on wildfires varies between regions and with vegetation productivity

We assess the influence of humans on burned area simulated with a dynamic global vegetation model. The human impact in the model is based on population density and cropland fraction, which were identified as important drivers of burned area in analyses of global datasets, and are commonly used in global models. After an evaluation of the sensitivity to these two variables we extend the model by including an additional effect of the cropland fraction on the fire duration. The general pattern of human influence is similar in both model versions: the strongest human impact is found in regions with intermediate productivity, where fire occurrence is not limited by fuel load or climatic conditions. Human effects in the model increases burned area in the tropics, while in temperate regions burned area is reduced. While the population density is similar on average for the tropical and temperate regions, the cropland fraction is higher in temperate regions, and leads to a strong suppression of fire. The model shows a low human impact in the boreal region, where both population density and cropland fraction is very low and the climatic conditions, as well as the vegetation productivity limit fire. Previous studies attributed a decrease in fire activity found in global charcoal datasets to human activity. This is confirmed by our simulations, which only show a decrease in burned area when the human influence on fire is accounted for, and not with only natural effects on fires. We assess how the vegetation–fire feedback influences the results, by comparing simulations with dynamic vegetation biogeography to simulations with prescribed vegetation. The vegetation–fire feedback increases the human impact on burned area by 10% for present day conditions. These results emphasize that projections of burned area need to account for the interactions between fire, climate, vegetation and humans.
Optimization of Pumped Storage Capacity in an Isolated Power System With Large Renewable Penetration

This work describes an economic analysis of the inclusion of pumped storage in a small island system that has abundant renewable energy available but that at times cannot accept all of this power because of limits imposed by security criteria. The question of whether or how much pumped storage to include is addressed by formulating a linear programming optimization problem. The stochastic nature of load and renewable production is addressed using scenarios developed through fuzzy clustering. Both the unit capacity in MW and the reservoir storage capacity in MWh are optimized, and optimal operating strategies for the scenarios are produced. Results showed that including pumped storage can be an effective means of allowing larger penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources, improving both the dynamic security and the economic operation of a test system. Including the dynamic security criteria in the economic question of dimensioning the pumped storage unit proved to make a significant difference in the optimal pumped storage capacity.
In Vivo Imaging of T Cell Priming

The rules by which naïve T cells decide whether and how to respond to antigenic stimuli are incompletely understood. Using multiphoton intravital microscopy (MP-IVM) in lymph nodes (LNs), we have shown that CD8+ T cells are primed by antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs) in three consecutive phases. During phase one, T cells undergo brief serial contacts with many DCs for several hours after homing into the LNs. Subsequently, during phase two, T cells engage in prolonged stable interactions with DCs. Finally, in the third phase, T cells return to transient interactions with DCs as they begin to proliferate and eventually leave the LNs. We have examined the influence of antigen dose on the duration of phase one by systematically varying both the number of cognate peptide–major histocompatability (pMHC) complexes per DC and the density of cognate pMHC complex–presenting DCs per LN. The duration of phase one and the kinetics of CD8+ T cell activation were inversely correlated with both parameters. Very few pMHC complexes were needed for full T cell activation and effector differentiation. Furthermore, there was a sharp threshold of antigen dose below which T cells did not transition to phase two but continued to migrate until they exited the LN, unactivated. The stability of peptide binding to MHC was a critical determinant of this threshold antigen dose in vivo. Our results suggest an integrative mechanism that allows T cells to reach an informed decision about whether to respond, based on the overall antigen dose encountered.
The challenge of electronic health records (EHRs) design and implementation: responses of health workers to drawing a 'big and rich picture' of a future EHR programme using animated tools.

BACKGROUND AND AIM To investigate the use of animation tools to aid visualisation of problems for discussion within focus groups, in the context of healthcare workers discussing electronic health records (EHRs). METHOD Ten healthcare staff focus groups, held in a range of organisational contexts. Each focus group was in four stages: baseline discussion, animator presentation, post-animator discussion and questionnaire. Audio recordings of the focus groups were transcribed and coded and the emergent analytic themes analysed for issues relating to EHR design and implementation. The data allowed a comparison of baseline and post-animator discussion. RESULTS The animator facilitated discussion about EHR issues and these were thematically coded as: Workload; Sharing Information; Access to Information; Record Content; Confidentiality; Patient Consent; and Implementation. CONCLUSION We illustrate that use of the animator in focus groups is one means to raise understanding about a proposed EHR development. The animator provided a visual 'probe' to support a more proactive and discursive localised approach to end-user concerns, which could be part of an effective stakeholder engagement and communication strategy crucial in any EHR or health informatics implementation programme. The results of the focus groups were to raise salient issues and concerns, many of which anticipated those that have emerged in the current NHS Connecting for Health Care Records programme in England. Potentially, animator-type technologies may facilitate the user ownership which other forms of dissemination appear to be failing to achieve.
Inverse optimization: functional and physiological considerations related to the force-sharing problem.

This paper is a review of the optimization techniques used for the solution of the force-sharing problem in biomechanics; that is, the distribution of the net joint moment to the force generating structures such as muscles and ligaments. The solution to this problem is achieved by the minimization (or maximization) of an objective function that includes the design variable (usually muscle forces) that are subject to certain constraints, and it is generally related to physiological or mechanical properties such as muscle stress, maximum force or moment, activation level, etc. The usual constraints require the sum of the exerted moments to be equal to the net joint moment and certain boundary conditions restrict the force solutions within physiologically acceptable limits. Linear optimization (objective and constraint functions are both linear relationships) has limited capabilities for the solution of the force sharing problem, although the use of appropriate constraints and physiologically realistic boundary conditions can improve the solution and lead to reasonable and functionally acceptable muscle force predictions. Nonlinear optimization provides more physiologically acceptable results, especially when the criteria used are related to the dynamics of the movement (e.g., instantaneous maximum force derived from muscle modeling based on length and velocity histories). The evaluation of predicted forces can be performed using direct measurements of forces (usually in animals), relationship with EMG patterns, comparisons with forces obtained from optimized forward dynamics, and by evaluating the results using analytical solutions of the optimal problem to highlight muscle synergism for example. Global objective functions are more restricting compared to local ones that are related to the specific objective of the movement at its different phases (e.g., maximize speed or minimize pain). In complex dynamic activities multiobjective optimization is likely to produce more realistic results.
Comparative biology of calcium signaling during fertilization and egg activation in animals.

During animal fertilizations, each oocyte or egg must produce a proper intracellular calcium signal for development to proceed normally. As a supplement to recent synopses of fertilization-induced calcium responses in mammals, this paper reviews the spatiotemporal properties of calcium signaling during fertilization and egg activation in marine invertebrates and compares these patterns with what has been reported for other animals. Based on the current database, fertilization causes most oocytes or eggs to generate multiple wavelike calcium oscillations that arise at least in part from the release of internal calcium stores sensitive to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3). Such calcium waves are modulated by upstream pathways involving oolemmal receptors and/or soluble sperm factors and in turn regulate calcium-sensitive targets required for subsequent development. Both "protostome" animals (e.g., mollusks, annelids, and arthropods) and "deuterostomes" (e.g., echinoderms and chordates) display fertilization-induced calcium waves, IP3-mediated calcium signaling, and the ability to use a combination of external calcium influx and internal calcium release. Such findings fail to support the dichotomy in calcium signaling modes that had previously been proposed for protostomes vs deuterostomes and instead suggest that various features of fertilization-induced calcium signals are widely shared throughout the animal kingdom.
The agroecology of food systems: Reconnecting agriculture, food, and the environment

ABSTRACT Re-localization is part of the solution but does not fully address the diversity of interdependencies within food systems. Based on the discussion in a workshop that was part of the 2015 conference on The Agroecological Imagination, we argue that an agroecological approach to food systems might provide an appropriate framework for understanding food systems transitions. We address three central questions. (1) Can agroecological practices add value to food, and what process of certification and labeling would help consumers understand the added value that certain practices provide? (2) How can agroecology introduce ecological concepts into decisions on food systems, especially at the scale of food systems rather than the scale of specific products? (3) What approaches to research and action-research are most appropriate – or remain to be developed – in order to favor such processes of reconnection between agriculture, environment and food? We conclude by arguing that an agroecological approach to food systems should favor processes which allow relational reflexivity – the capacity to take into account one’s own interdependencies to others but also interdependencies between other actors.
My intention was a child but I was very afraid: fertility intentions and HIV risk perceptions among HIV-serodiscordant couples experiencing pregnancy in Kenya

We sought to understand fertility intentions and HIV risk considerations among Kenyan HIV-serodiscordant couples who became pregnant during a prospective study. We conducted individual in-depth interviews (n = 36) and focus group discussions (n = 4) and performed qualitative data analysis and interpretation using an inductive approach. Although most of the couples were aware of the risk of horizontal and vertical HIV transmission, almost all couples reported that they had intended to become pregnant and that the desire for children superseded HIV risk considerations. Motivations for pregnancy were numerous and complex: satisfying desired family size, desire for biological children, maintaining stability of the union, and sociocultural pressures. Couples desired strategies to reduce HIV risk during conception, but expressed hesitation toward assisted reproductive technologies as unnatural. HIV prevention programs should therefore address conception desires and counsel about coordinated periconception risk-reduction strategies.
Antagonistic effect of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Saccharomyces boulardii and Escherichia coli combinations against experimental infections with Shigella flexneri and Salmonella enteritidis subsp. typhimurium in gnotobiotic mice

Lactobacillus acidophilus, Saccharomyces boulardii and Escherichia coli are probiotic strains used individually to protect against enteropathogenic agents. In order to determine if a synergistic effect of the individual protective mechanisms ordinarily attributed to each of these biotherapeutic agents is possible, we orally administered Lact. acidophilus H2B20, S. boulardii and E. coli EMO (LSE) to germfree mice. Ten days after colonization of the digestive tract, groups of animals associated (experimental) or not (control) with LSE were challenged orally with streptomycin resistant (Sfr) or streptomycin sensitive (Sfs) Shigella flexneri strains or Salmonella enteritidis subsp. typhimurium. Bacterial counts in faeces from experimental mice showed that the Sfr strain was eliminated 11 d after challenge while Sfs and S. enteritidis subsp. typhimurium colonized the digestive tract and continued to be present at high population levels (108 CFU g−1 of faeces), which is similar to that observed in control animals. All possible di‐ and monoassociations of the three probiotics with gnotobiotic mice were also performed before experimental oral infection with Sfr. The data showed that antagonism was obtained only when E. coli EMO was present. Different sensitivity of Sh. flexneri Sfr and Sfs to E. coli EMO antagonism could be explained by the different generation times between Sfr and Sfs, as shown by colonization kinetic experiments in the digestive tract of gnotobiotic mice.
Pediatric therapists' perspectives on occupation-based practice

Abstract Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the perspectives on occupation-based practice of 22 pediatric occupational therapists in a medical facility in the Midwestern United States. Methods: The study used a grounded theory approach to analyze the individual, semi-structured interviews of 22 pediatric occupational therapists. Transcripts were initially coded using Ethnograph™ 5.0 software and analysis continued using constant comparison techniques and memo writing to produce emergent themes of meaning. Findings: The doing of occupation-based practice was based in personal identity and influenced by professional education. Occupation-based practice was more satisfying and rewarding for therapists, and they found it more effective and individualized. Patients and families were perceived by therapists to find occupation-based practice more motivating, understandable, valuable, and easily generalized to everyday life. However, occupation-based practice was seen as more difficult in a medical-based facility because pragmatic factors and contextual forces exerted strong influences. Conclusions: Therapists used specific creative strategies to negotiate between competing paradigms to maximize occupation-based practice within constraints.
The Stability of Cytadherence Proteins in Mycoplasma pneumoniae Requires Activity of the Protein Kinase PrkC

ABSTRACT Mycoplasma pneumoniae belongs to the mollicutes, a group of bacteria that have strongly reduced genomes but that are nevertheless capable of independent life. With only three transcription factors, the regulatory features of these bacteria are very limited. Thus, posttranslational regulation might be important for M. pneumoniae. In addition to the highly specific HPr kinase, the M. pneumoniae prkC gene encodes the serine/threonine protein kinase C. In order to study the function(s) of this kinase, we isolated an M. pneumoniae mutant affected in PrkC. This mutation resulted in nonadherent growth and loss of cytotoxicity. Examination of the phosphorylation profile of the prkC mutant suggested that phosphorylation of cytadherence proteins was affected by the loss of this kinase. In contrast, inactivation of the prpC gene affecting the protein phosphatase that antagonizes PrkC-dependent phosphorylation resulted in more intensive phosphorylation of the cytadherence proteins HMW1 and HMW3 of the major adhesin P1 and of the surface protein MPN474. Moreover, loss of PrkC affects not only the phosphorylation state of the cytadherence proteins but also their intracellular accumulation. However, the expression of the corresponding genes was not affected by PrkC, suggesting that PrkC-dependent phosphorylation results in stabilization of the cytadherence proteins. The HMW proteins and P1 are part of the so-called terminal organelle of M. pneumoniae that is involved in gliding motility, cell division, and adhesion to host epithelial tissues. Our observations suggest that the posttranslational modification of cytadherence proteins by PrkC is essential for the development and function of the M. pneumoniae terminal organelle.
MEASURING THE MEDIATING ROLE OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION BETWEEN SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN UAE HOTEL INDUSTRY

Tourism has become one of the most essential segments of economy for these Asian countries. Rapid economic growth, political stability, and aggressive tourism campaigns by the governments have strongly enhanced the growth of tourism in this region. This study is primarily designed to review the relationship of service quality and customer satisfaction that leads to customer loyalty in UAE hotels. The study focused on the country UAE and in particular UAE’s hotel sector. Thus, this study has attempted to forward more understanding on the subject matter. This study has employed survey method for data collection where a larger population can be covered in a shorter time. For this research, primary data were used to identify the impact of customer satisfaction between service quality and customer loyalty. In this study, the sample consists of customers who are available within Dubai city. A total sample size of 300 was adequate for this study. The samples for this study were the customers who stay minimum one night is hotels in. In order to attract new customers, manager must first focus on their existing customers. It is because, to take care the existing customers will maintain their profit rather than to attract new customers that mostly will incur higher cost. Companies need to retain existing customers with effectively satisfy their needs so that the existing customers become loyal with their businesses Article visualizations: