Immigrant Learning in Community Colleges: Unpacking Student Experiences in Minnesota

This study explored lived experiences of Somali immigrant students as they studied at a community college in Minnesota. Although, many Somalis are pursuing educational opportunities in MN community colleges. Little research is available on their community college experiences. The aim of this study was to extend the limited research on Somali immigrant students by providing valuable information regarding their community college experiences. A qualitative study design with a phenomenological approach was employed to examine the lived experiences of six students who participated in semi-structured focus group and individual interviews. Findings of the study show that Somali students face many challenges in the community college setting. Challenges such as language barriers, financial constraints, family and work obligations, struggle with online learning and culture shock/acculturation. Based on the findings, it is clear that more should be done to ease such obstacles for immigrant students in MN community colleges

Enhancing the Fake News Classification Model Using Find-Tuning Approach

Over the last few years, the rise of fake news on social media has emerged as a significant issue, posing a potential threat to individuals, organizations, and society as a whole. As a solution to this issue, researchers have been using various natural language processing (NLP) techniques to detect fake news. In this study, we introduce a new strategy for fake news detection and classification. Our approach involves enhancing the performance of accuracy through fine-tuning, by merging BEART model with the proposed model DCNN. We have collected the data from secondary sources and combined it into a unified dataset. To improve its quality, we performed various processes such as data cleaning, transformation, integration, and reduction, which involved techniques like stop word removal, tokenization, and stemming, resulting in binary classification. Therefore, DCNN" was trained to classify news articles as real or fake, and the experiments on the dataset show that this approach performs better than several recent studies for detecting fake news, achieving high accurac

Effect of Addition Different Levels of Dried Kefir Milk to the Ration in Some Ratio of Serum Proteins to Broiler Chicks Ross 308

This study was conducted at Poultry Farm of Animal Resources Dept., College of Agriculture, University of AL-Qasim Green to investigate Study the effect of addition different levels of dried Kefir milk to the ration in some ratio of serum proteins to broiler chicks Ross 308 .Use the 240 broiler chicks Ross 308 day-old were randomly assigned to four treatments by 60 chicks per treatment by 4 replicates per treatment (15 chicks per replicate), and treatments were as follows : Treatment for the first (control) without adding dried Kefir Milk into the ration, the second treatment: Add dried Kefir Milk by 0.2 % , third-treatment: Add dried Kefir Milk by 0.4 % and treatment fourth : Add dried Kefir Milk by 0.6 % . The experiment included a study of the following characteristics : Pre-albumin , Albumin , Post-albumin , a-Glob , b-Glob and g-Glob . The results indicated that the addition of dried Kefir Milk by 0.4 and 0.6 % to broiler diet led to a significant improvement ) p<0.05( in Albumin , Post-albumin and g-Glob.It concluded from this experience, that the addition of dried Kefir Milk by 0.4 and 0.6 % feed to the ration can lead to improve in some ratio of serum proteins to broiler chicks . Keywords: dried Kefir milk , serum proteins , broiler chick

Cutting Forces Prediction in Ball End Milling

In curved surface machining, parametric surface representation is normally used for computer aided design (CAD). Parametric surfaces are often machined using a flat end mill for roughing and ball end mill for finishing. The core of this work is to propose and implement a model that is able to estimate the cutting force in milling parametric surfaces with HSS ball end cutter of different diameters. For this purpose, a mechanistic model has been developed to calculate the cutting forces by dividing the cutting edge into small discrete elements and applying simple mathematical expressions for the cutting force estimation, once the force of each discrete element is calculated, these elements summed up along the cutting edge to obtain the resulting cutting force. The slope (inclination angle α) of the surface was included to the model to estimate the influence of ifferent conditions of the slope ( - 90o 〈 a 〈 +90o ) which most parametric surfaces included. The results showed that the predicted results deviate from experimental by (0.6-11 %) for Fx, by (2-10 %) for Fy and by (0.18-14 %) for F

Laminectomy versus interlaminar approach for Lumbar disc herniation

Background: Low back pain is the most common health problem in men and women between the ages of 20 and 50 years. The lumbar disc prolapse has a major role in this condition. Treatment is either conservative or surgical. The most common surgical interventions are either laminectomy or interlaminar approach. Objective: To determine which is the best surgical approach for the patient according to his/her type of disc herniation. Patients and methods: A comparative clinical study conducted in the Neurosciences Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq from January 2016 to January 2018. In this paper we evaluated the clinical outcome following both approaches Results: We studied sixty cases; thirty-four patients had interlaminar approach for lumbar discectomy while twenty-six patients had laminectomy with discectomy. Conclusion: Both methods can manage different types of lumbar disc prolapse, apart from far-lateral disc which favors laminectomy approach

Preservation of meat products with natural antioxidants from rosemary

Oxidative reactions can reduce the quality of meat products. Synthetic antioxidants can delay the formation of oxidation products but their use in muscle foods has been reconsidered among modern consumers willing to purchase clean label products. Rosemary is a relevant source of antioxidants that can be explored as natural additive in muscle foods. This review aims to provide an overview of the protective effect of rosemary active against the oxidative decay in meat products. The use of rosemary essential oil or extract can slow the progression of oxidative reactions and preserve redness, reduce the accumulation of primary and secondary lipid oxidation and protein oxidation products, and slow the increase of perceived rancidity in sensory analysis. These effects were reported during the storage of patties, burgers, meatballs, sausages, and nuggets. In this sense, rosemary extracts and essential oil can be explored as natural antioxidant in meat products

Consanguinity decreases risk of breast cancer – cervical cancer unaffected

Marriages between third-degree and more distant relatives are common in many parts of the world. Offspring of consanguineous parents have increased morbidity and mortality related to recessive gene disorders. In a population with a high frequency of consanguinity, we examined the frequency of breast cancer (related in part to tumour genes) and cervical cancers (related to virus infection) among offspring of consanguineous and non-consanguineous parents. Study was done prospectively in the United Arab Emirates. Selected were married female citizens, ages 40–65, who attended 12 primary health care clinics for whatever reason. In a face-to-face interview, subjects were asked: (a) about consanguineous marriages in family; (b) if they have or have had breast or cervical cancer; (c) about family history of cancer, cancer screening and other parameters. Tumour diagnosis was confirmed by review of medical records. Of 1750 women invited into study, 1445 (79%) could be used in analysis. Among 579 (40%) women of consanguineous and 866 (60%) of non-consanguineous parents there were 24 and 54 with breast cancer, respectively (RR = 0.66, CI 0.42 – 1.06). In the 40 to 50 age group, breast cancer reported 13 of 446 women of consanguineous and 37 of 633 of non-consanguineous parents (RR = 0.50, Cl 0.27 – 0.93). Cervical cancer had 15 women in consanguineous and 32 in non-consanguineous group (RR = 0.70, Cl 0.38 – 1.28). Number of families with history of breast cancer in consanguineous and non-consanguineous group was 21 and 23, respectively (P = 0.29). The cancer screening rates and other variable values had fairly balanced distribution between the 2 groups. Having consanguineous parents decreases the risk of breast cancer especially in younger women, risk of cervical cancer being unaffected. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Impact of the physical-chemical properties of poly(lactic acid)-poly (ethylene glycol) polymeric nanoparticles on biodistribution

Nanoparticle (NP) formulations are inherently polydisperse making their structural characterization and justification of specifications complex. It is essential, however, to gain an understanding of the physico-chemical properties that drive performance in vivo. To elucidate these properties, drug-containing poly(lactic acid) (PLA)–poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) block polymeric NP formulations (or PNPs) were sub-divided into discrete size fractions and analyzed using a combination of advanced techniques, namely cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance, and hard-energy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Together, these techniques revealed a uniquely detailed picture of PNP size, surface structure, internal molecular architecture and the preferred site(s) of incorporation of the hydrophobic drug, AZD5991, properties which cannot be accessed via conventional characterization methodologies. Within the PNP size distribution, it was shown that the smallest PNPs contained significantly less drug than their larger sized counterparts, reducing overall drug loading, while PNP molecular architecture was critical in understanding the nature of in vitro drug release. The effect of PNP size and structure on drug biodistribution was determined by administrating selected PNP size fractions to mice, with the smaller sized NP fractions increasing the total drug-plasma concentration area under the curve and reducing drug concentrations in liver and spleen, due to greater avoidance of the reticuloendothelial system. In contrast, administration of unfractionated PNPs, containing a large population of NPs with extremely low drug load, did not significantly impact the drug's pharmacokinetic behavior - a significant result for nanomedicine development where a uniform formulation is usually an important driver. We also demonstrate how, in this study, it is not practicable to validate the bioanalytical methodology for drug released in vivo due to the NP formulation properties, a process which is applicable for most small molecule-releasing nanomedicines. In conclusion, this work details a strategy for determining the effect of formulation variability on in vivo performance, thereby informing the translation of PNPs, and other NPs, from the laboratory to the clinic.</p

Percentile reference values for anthropometric body composition indices in European children from the IDEFICS study

INTRODUCTION: To characterise the nutritional status in children with obesity or wasting conditions, European anthropometric reference values for body composition measures beyond the body mass index (BMI) are needed. Differentiated assessment of body composition in children has long been hampered by the lack of appropriate references. OBJECTIVES: The aim of our study is to provide percentiles for body composition indices in normal weight European children, based on the IDEFICS cohort (Identification and prevention of Dietary-and lifestyle-induced health Effects in Children and infantS). METHODS: Overall 18 745 2.0-10.9-year-old children from eight countries participated in the study. Children classified as overweight/obese or underweight according to IOTF (N = 5915) were excluded from the analysis. Anthropometric measurements (BMI (N = 12 830); triceps, subscapular, fat mass and fat mass index (N = 11 845-11 901); biceps, suprailiac skinfolds, sum of skinfolds calculated from skinfold thicknesses (N = 8129-8205), neck circumference (N = 12 241); waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio (N = 12 381)) were analysed stratified by sex and smoothed 1st, 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 97th and 99th percentile curves were calculated using GAMLSS. RESULTS: Percentile values of the most important anthropometric measures related to the degree of adiposity are depicted for European girls and boys. Age-and sex-specific differences were investigated for all measures. As an example, the 50th and 99th percentile values of waist circumference ranged from 50.7-59.2 cm and from 51.3-58.7 cm in 4.5-to < 5.0-year-old girls and boys, respectively, to 60.6-74.5 cm in girls and to 59.9-76.7 cm in boys at the age of 10.5-10.9 years. CONCLUSION: The presented percentile curves may aid a differentiated assessment of total and abdominal adiposity in European children