Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rates and predictors of attrition among children on antiretroviral therapy in Ethiopia: A prospective cohort study

Introduction Attrition from antiretroviral therapy (ART) programmes is a critical challenge among children receiving care in resource-limited settings. Our objective was to determine the rates and predictors of attrition among children on ART in Ethiopia. Methods Between December 2014 and September 2016, we conducted a prospective cohort study in eight health facilities in Ethiopia. Eligibility criteria included age 3 months–14 years; being on ART for not more than a month. Outcome was attrition due to death and/or loss to follow-up. Predictor variables were child clinical and socio-demographic characteristics, and caregiver socio-demographic characteristics. We used Cox Regression analyses to examine the association between predictors and outcome. Results Of 309 children, 304 were included, 52% were male. Their median age was 9 years (Inter-quartile range, IQR, 6–12). At ART initiation, their median CD4 was 362 cells/mm3 (IQR 231–499); and 74.3% had WHO stage 1 or 2 disease. During 287.7 person-years of observation (PYO), 24 attritions were recorded, yielding an attrition rate of 8.3 per 100 PYO (95% CI 5.4–12.1). Of these, six children were reported dead, leading to a mortality rate of 2.1 per 100 PYO (95% CI 0.8–4.3). Eighteen were lost to follow-up (LTFU) leading to LTFU rate of 6.26 per 100 PYO (95% CI: 3.83–9.70). The majority, 14 (58%) of attrition occurred during the first six months of treatment. Age below three years [aHR] = 5.14 (95% CI: 2.07–12.96), rural residence (aHR = 3.97, 95% CI: 1.34–11.78) and baseline Hgb in g/dl < 10 g/dl [aHR] = 5.68 (95% CI: 2.03–6.23) predicted higher risk of attrition. Baseline Hgb < 10 g/dl (aHR = 16.63, 95% CI: 1.64–168.4) and WHO stage III or IV (aHR = 12.25, 95% CI: 1.26–119.05) predicted the death of the child. Higher attrition was documented among children of both biological parents alive and biologically related close family caregivers. Conclusion Younger children, those from rural areas, and children with anaemia were at higher risk of attrition, especially during the early months of treatment, and therefore should be prioritized during treatment follow-up. Further studies should examine underlying reasons for higher attrition.
Fabrication and characterization of brominated matrimid® 5218 membranes for CO2/CH4 separation: application of response surface methodology (RSM)

Abstract In the present study, special effort was focused on increasing permeability of matrimid membranes. For this objective, a bromination reaction was carried out. The reaction of bromine with polymer was investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis. A combination of pristine and brominated matrimid was used to prepare modified membranes due to the fact that brominated matrimid membranes were too delicate. Employing a gas separation membrane unit, the permeability of pristine and modified membranes for pure gases (CO2 and CH4) was studied. Modified membranes were much more permeable and less selective than pristine membranes. In fact, the increase in permeability of modified membranes can be attributed to the rise in the fractional free volume of modified membranes. Thermal properties of modified and unmodified membranes were also studied by thermal gravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry analysis. As a result, thermal resistance of modified membranes decreased in a limited temperature range. Modified membranes indicated smaller values of tensile strength than pristine membranes which were assessed using tensile strength analysis. The parameters which can affect the pure gases permeation through membranes such as, bromine concentration in modified membranes and operating pressure were considered as variables and the experimental design was carried out.
The influence of enzyme-resistant starch on cholesterol metabolism in rats fed on a conventional diet

Male Wistar rats were fed on a conventional diet containing normal corn starch or 6 % enzyme-resistant starch originating from either raw or retrograded high-amylose corn starch. Furthermore, the diets were either cholesterol-free or contained 1 % cholesterol and 0·1 % cholic acid. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether the addition of enzyme-resistant starch to a rat conventional diet had any effect on cholesterol metabolism. Therefore, plasma and liver cholesterol concentrations, plasma HDL:LDL cholesterol ratios and neutral steroid and bile acid excretion were determined. No significant effect of enzyme-resistant starch feeding on plasma and liver cholesterol concentrations was found. However, consumption of raw or retrograded high-amylose corn starch resulted in a decrease in esterified and total liver cholesterol concentrations of 24 and 22 %, respectively. This was accompanied by a reduction in plasma esterified and total cholesterol levels of 4 % and a tendency to higher daily faecal coprostanol and total bile acid excretion.
Macrophage Extracellular Traps: A Scoping Review

Tissue macrophages are derived from either circulating blood monocytes that originate in the bone marrow, or embryonic precursors that establish residence in tissues and are maintained independent of bone marrow progenitors. Macrophages perform diverse functions including tissue repair, the maintenance of homeostasis, and immune regulation. Recent studies have demonstrated that macrophages produce extracellular traps (ETs). ETs are an immune response by which a cell undergoes “ETosis” to release net-like material, with strands composed of cellular DNA that is studded with histones and cellular proteins. ETs are thought to immobilize and kill microorganisms, but also been implicated in disease pathology including aseptic inflammation and autoimmune disease. We conducted a scoping review to define what is known from the existing literature about the ETs produced by monocytes or macrophages. The results suggest that macrophage ETs (METs) are produced in response to various microorganisms and have similar features to neutrophil ETs (NETs), in that METs are produced by a unique cell death program (METosis), which results in release of fibers composed of DNA and studded with cellular proteins. METs function to immobilize and kill some microorganisms, but may also play a role in disease pathology.
Molecular action of isoflavone genistein in the human epithelial cell line HaCaT

Due to its strong proliferation-reducing effects on keratinocytes, and also anti-inflammatory properties, the isoflavone genistein has already been proposed as a possible antipsoriatic compound. As there is still no detailed information on this topic, we examined the effects of genistein by using an in vitro model of both, normal and “psoriasis-like” keratinocytes at this stage of our work exhaustively testing the selected flavonoid in a mono-treated experimental design. Gene expression studies revealed transcriptional changes that confirms known disease-associated pathways and highlights many psoriasis-related genes. Our results suggested that aberrant expression of genes contributing to the progress of psoriasis could be improved by the action of genistein. Genistein prevented “cytokine mix” as well as TNF-α-induced NF-κB nuclear translocation, with no effect on the PI3K signaling cascade, indicating the luck of turning this pathway into NF-κB activation. It could have attenuated TNF-α and LPS-induced inflammatory responses by suppressing ROS activation. Regardless of the type of keratinocyte stimulation used, reduction of cytokine IL-8, IL-20 and CCL2 production (both at RNA and protein level) following genistein treatment was visible. Because investigations of other groups supported our commentary on potential administration of genistein as a potential weapon in the armamentarium against psoriasis, it is believed that this paper should serve to encourage researchers to conduct further studies on this subject.
Coarse-to-fine approach for fast correlation-based visual tracking

This paper proposes a coarse-to-fine approach for fast image tracking. The tracking method is built based on correlation tracker which employs online learning and fast detection by utilizing Fourier transform principles. Firstly, a small patch is extracted from a region near the tracked pixel. This patch is divided into a number of cells and then features are extracted from each cell, providing a set of training data. Together with the target values which are set as maximum at the center of the patch and getting smaller as the cell position getting farther from the center, a training is performed to determine the filter values. In the successive frame, the filter response is calculated to determine the position of the tracked pixel which is co-located with the maximum response of the filter. Since the features are extracted from cells, the new position of the tracked pixel is not precisely known. By employing a second detection at finer resolution within the corresponding cell, the ambiguity of the tracked pixel is eliminated. The proposed method was evaluated on a public dataset and the result shows that this strategy achieves a faster computation time compared to the baseline method.
Clonal chromosomal and genomic instability during human multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells long-term culture

Background aims Spontaneous mutagenesis often leads to appearance of genetic changes in cells. Although human multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSC) are considered as genetically stable, there is a risk of genomic and structural chromosome instability and, therefore, side effects of cell therapy associated with long-term effects. In this study, the karyotype, genetic variability and clone formation analyses have been carried out in the long-term culture MSC from human gingival mucosa. Methods The immunophenotype of MSC has been examined using flow cytofluorometry and short tandem repeat (STR) analysis has been carried out for authentication. The karyotype has been examined using GTG staining and mFISH, while the assessment of the aneuploidy 8 frequency has been performed using centromere specific chromosome FISH probes in interphase cells. Results The immunophenotype and STR loci combination did not change during the process of cultivation. From passage 23 the proliferative activity of cultured MSCs was significantly reduced. From passage 12 of cultivation, clones of cells with stable chromosome aberrations have been identified and the biggest of these (12%) are tetrasomy of chromosome 8. The random genetic and structural chromosomal aberrations and the spontaneous level of chromosomal aberrations in the hMSC long-term cultures were also described. Conclusions The spectrum of spontaneous chromosomal aberrations in MSC long-term cultivation has been described. Clonal chromosomal aberrations have been identified. A clone of cells with tetrasomy 8 has been detected in passage 12 and has reached the maximum size by passage 18 before and decreased along with the reduction of proliferative activity of cell line by passage 26. At later passages, the MSC line exhibited a set of cells with structural variants of the karyotype with a preponderance of normal diploid cells. The results of our study strongly suggest a need for rigorous genetic analyses of the clone formation in cultured MSCs before use in medicine.
Impact of Hippotherapy on Gross Motor Function and Quality of Life in Children with Bilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Open-Label Crossover Study

Abstract This study investigated the effect of hippotherapy on gross motor function (Gross Motor Function Measure [GMFM]-66, GMFM dimension E and D) and quality of life (Child Health Questionnaire [CHQ 28], KIDSCREEN-27 parental versions) in children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy. Seventy-three children (age: 9.1 ± 3.3 years; male = 44; GMFCS levels II = 27; III = 17; IV = 29) were randomized to an early (n = 35) or late (n = 38) treatment group. Data from 66 probands were available for further analysis. Probands received hippotherapy once to twice weekly during a period of 16 to 20 weeks (mean: 17 treatments) in a crossover approach. Whereas no significant changes were found for total GMFM scores and quality of life parameters, a significant increase in GMFM dimension E was found. Children terminating the study early showed lower mean psychosocial quality of life scores than children who completed the whole study (CHQ-28 “psychosocial dimension”; KIDSCREEN-27 “mood and emotional dimension”). Our data are in line with previous reports and suggest that hippotherapy shows distinct therapeutic strengths with regard to promoting upright stand and gait in children with cerebral palsy. Children with higher psychosocial burden of disease may need special support to get access to and benefit from intensified physiotherapy programs.
X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) Analysis of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized from Erythrina Indica Flowers

Nanoparticles usually speak of particles with a size up to 100 nm with increasing in surface to volume ratio, providing more active surface atoms to contribute the role in applications and improve the properties of the materials1. The control particle size, particle shape and morphology are very much important in nanoparticles preparation. The most important tool to study the nano materials is X-ray diffraction. X-ray diffraction is one of the most important characterization tools used in solid state chemistry and materials science. XRD is an easy tool to determine the size and the shape of the unit cell for any compound. In this study explaining the formation of silver nanoparticles through Erythrina indica flowers. The synthesized AgNPs further examined the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The X-ray diffraction results clearly show that the silver nanoparticles formed by the reduction of Ag+ ions by the Erythrina indica flower extract are crystalline in nature. The average crystalline size of AgNPs is calculated using Debye-Scherrer formula is ~28.19 nm. The EDX reading proved that the required phase of silver (Ag) is present in the sample.
Lagrangian structure functions in turbulence : a quantitative comparison between experiment and direct numerical simulation

A detailed comparison between data from experimental measurements and numerical simulations of Lagrangian velocity structure functions in turbulence is presented. Experimental data, at Reynolds number ranging from Rλ=350 to Rλ=815, are obtained in a swirling water flow between counter-rotating baffled disks. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) data, up to Rλ=284, are obtained from a statistically homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flow. By integrating information from experiments and numerics, a quantitative understanding of the velocity scaling properties over a wide range of time scales and Reynolds numbers is achieved. To this purpose, we discuss in detail the importance of statistical errors, anisotropy effects, and finite volume and filter effects, finite trajectory lengths. The local scaling properties of the Lagrangian velocity increments in the two data sets are in good quantitative agreement for all time lags, showing a degree of intermittency that changes if measured close to the Kolmogorov time.
Endoscopic Endonasal Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak Repair on the Ventral Midline Skull Base: A Single Neurosurgical Center Experience.

AIM To present the results of endoscopic endonasal repair of ventral midline skull base cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak (VMSBL) at our institution and to discuss the technique and results from a neurosurgical perspective. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective analysis of all VMSBL cases that underwent endoscopic endonasal skull base approach (EESBA) for CSF leak repair at a single tertiary neurosurgical center was performed. Twenty six patients with an average age of 44.4 (range: 17-63) years were included in the study. RESULTS The etiology of VMSBL was spontaneous in 16 patients, traumatic in 7, and iatrogenic in 3. The leakage site was the cribriform plate in 13 patients, ethmoidal cells in 7, and sphenoid sinus in 3. There were multiple leaks in 3 patients. This approach for VMSBL repair was performed 28 times on 26 patients. The success rate was 88.5% (23/26 patients) after primary endoscopic repair and 96% after the second attempt. The location of the leakage site relative to the upper attachment of the middle turbinate played a crucial role in the anteriorly located VMSBL, which made an impact on the surgical repair plan. All the 16 cases with accompanying meningoencephaloceles were treated successfully by EESBA. Use of vascularized pedicled flaps to support the repair site resulted in 100% success after primary repair. CONCLUSION EESBA is safe and highly effective and can be a first-line surgical treatment option for VMSBL. In addition, it enables adequate reconstruction of ventral midline skull base meningoencephaloceles regardless of size and location.
STRATEGIC NETWORK FORMATION WITH MANY AGENTS

We consider a random utility model of strategic network formation, where we derive a tractable approximation to the distribution of network links using many-player asymptotics. Our framework assumes that agents have heterogeneous tastes over links, and allows for anonymous and non-anonymous interaction effects among links. The observed network is assumed to be pairwise or cyclically stable, and we impose no restrictions regarding selection among multiple stable outcomes. Our main results concern convergence of the link frequency distribution from finite pairwise stable networks to the many-player limiting distribution. The set of possible limiting distributions is shown to have a fairly simple form and is characterized through aggregate equilibrium conditions, which may permit multiple solutions. We analyze identification of link preferences and propose a method for estimation of preference parameters. JEL Classification: C12, C13, C31, C35, C78
The Effect of Visual Stimuli on Stability and Complexity of Postural Control

Visual input could benefit balance control or increase postural sway, and it is far from fully understanding the effect of visual stimuli on postural stability and its underlying mechanism. In this study, the effect of different visual inputs on stability and complexity of postural control was examined by analyzing the mean velocity (MV), SD, and fuzzy approximate entropy (fApEn) of the center of pressure (COP) signal during quiet upright standing. We designed five visual exposure conditions: eyes-closed, eyes-open (EO), and three virtual reality (VR) scenes (VR1–VR3). The VR scenes were a limited field view of an optokinetic drum rotating around yaw (VR1), pitch (VR2), and roll (VR3) axes, respectively. Sixteen healthy subjects were involved in the experiment, and their COP trajectories were assessed from the force plate data. MV, SD, and fApEn of the COP in anterior–posterior (AP), medial–lateral (ML) directions were calculated. Two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures was conducted to test the statistical significance. We found that all the three parameters obtained the lowest values in the EO condition, and highest in the VR3 condition. We also found that the active neuromuscular intervention, indicated by fApEn, in response to changing the visual exposure conditions were more adaptive in AP direction, and the stability, indicated by SD, in ML direction reflected the changes of visual scenes. MV was found to capture both instability and active neuromuscular control dynamics. It seemed that the three parameters provided compensatory information about the postural control in the immersive virtual environment.
MicroRNA-7 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion in human non-small cell lung cancer cells by targeting FAK through ERK/MAPK signaling pathway

Objective To investigate the effects of microRNA-7 (miR-7) on the proliferation, migration and invasion of non-small cell lung cancer NSCLC) cells by targeting FAK through ERK/MAPK signaling pathway. Methods NSCLC tissues and adjacent normal tissues were obtained from 160 NSCLC patients after operation. NSCLC cell lines (A549, H1299 and H1355) and a normal human fetal lung fibroblast cell line (MRC-5) were obtained. NSCLC cells were assigned into miR-7 inhibitors, miR-7 mimics, blank, miR-7 mimics control, miR-7 inhibitors control, FAK siRNA and miR-7 inhibitors + FAK siRNA groups. The expressions of miR-7 and FAK mRNA in tissues and cell lines were detected by qRT-PCR and Western-Blotting. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were detected by MTT assay, wound scratch assay and Transwell assay. Results Compared with adjacent normal tissues, miR-7 expression was down-regulated, but the mRNA and protein expressions of FAK, ERK and MAPK were up-regulated. Compared with the blank and mimics control groups, miR-7 significantly increased but FAK, ERK and MAPK expressions decreased in miR-7 mimics and FAK siRNA groups. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were inhibited in the miR-7 mimics and FAK siRNA groups, while opposite regarding miR-7 inhibitors group. Conclusion The miR-7 can inhibit the activation of ERK/MAPK signaling pathway by down-regulating FAK expression, thereby suppressing the proliferation, migration and invasion of NSCLC cells. The miR-7 and its target gene FAK may be novel targets for the diagnosis and treatment of NSCLC.
Factors Affecting Customer Loyalty in the Taiwanese Imported Lumber Market

Establishing long-term relationships with Taiwanese lumber buyers generates profits and lowers costs. Marketing efforts, trust, and brand equity may be factors that strengthen relationships in this market. In this study, we assessed the relationships among these constructs using the structural equation model and data collected from a questionnaire sent to Taiwanese lumber importers. Path parameters are found to be statistically significant except for the link between brand equity and trust. Some factors must exist between these two constructs, and further exploration may be necessary in the future. The mediating effects of brand equity and trust are discovered between marketing efforts and customer loyalty. It suggests that lumber suppliers should focus marketing efforts on brand equity and customer trust in order to create customer loyalty.