Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Will circumcision provide even more protection from HIV to women and men? New estimates of the population impact of circumcision interventions

Background Mathematical modelling has indicated that expansion of male circumcision services in high HIV prevalence settings can substantially reduce population-level HIV transmission. However, these projections need revision to incorporate new data on the effect of male circumcision on the risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV. Methods Recent data on the effect of male circumcision during wound healing and the risk of HIV transmission to women were synthesised based on four trials of circumcision among adults and new observational data of HIV transmission rates in stable partnerships from men circumcised at younger ages. New estimates were generated for the impact of circumcision interventions in two mathematical models, representing the HIV epidemics in Zimbabwe and Kisumu, Kenya. The models did not capture the interaction between circumcision, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Results An increase in the risk of HIV acquisition and transmission during wound healing is unlikely to have a major impact of circumcision interventions. However, it was estimated that circumcision confers a 46% reduction in the rate of male-to-female HIV transmission. If this reduction begins 2 years after the procedure, the impact of circumcision is substantially enhanced and accelerated compared with previous projections with no such effect—increasing by 40% the infections averted by the intervention overall and doubling the number of infections averted among women. Conclusions Communities, and especially women, may benefit much more from circumcision interventions than had previously been predicted, and these results provide an even greater imperative to increase scale-up of safe male circumcision services.
Genetic Susceptibility to and Presence of Endogenous Avian Leukosis Viruses Impose No Significant Impact on Survival Days of Chickens Challenged with Very Virulent Plus Marek ’ s Disease Virus

Chicks of distinct genotypes at the tumor virus B locus (TVB) in combination with presence or absence of endogenous avian leukosis virus ev21 gene in their genomes were examined for survival day patterns after challenge with very virulent plus Marek’s disease virus (vv+MDV) in three consecutive trials under controlled conditions. The distinct genotypic groups of the challenged birds were TVB*S1/S3 & ev21+/-, TVB*S3/S3 & ev21 +/-, TVB*S1/S3 & ev21-/-, and TVB*S3/S3 & ev21-/with a frequency of approximately one quarter each. Chickens with the genotype TVB*S1/*S3 are genetically susceptible to the subgroup E avian leukosis viruses; and those with the TVB*S3/*S3 genotype are resistant. Marek’s disease (MD) was diagnosed in all birds within 8 weeks post-challenge with a partially attenuated vv+MDV strain (648A passage 40), despite the fact that all chicks challenged were homozygous for MHCB*21 haplotype, which is known to be relatively resistant to MD. No significant difference in survival day patterns was detected between the chicken genotype groups (P> 0.05). The survival day pattern difference was only detected between the challenged and the unchallenged control groups in all three trials (P< 0.001). The findings from this study suggest the genetic nature in resistance or susceptibility to subgroup E avian leukosis viruses in combination with the presence or absence of the endogenous avian leukosis virus ev21 gene in the chicken genome are not capable of altering MD incidence nor distorting survival day patterns in chickens like those White Leghorns used in this study under the specific challenge conditions. If any influence of avian leukosis virus on MD exists, it may be heavily dependent on genetics of chickens and challenge conditions including varied virulence of MDV.
Use of benzodiazepines and related drugs is associated with a risk of stroke among persons with Alzheimer’s disease

The aim of our study was to investigate the risk of any, ischemic, and hemorrhagic stroke associated with incident benzodiazepine and related drug (BZDR) use among community-dwelling individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Data from the MEDALZ cohort including all community-dwelling persons newly diagnosed with AD between 2005 and 2011 in Finland were utilized. Incident BZDR users were identified with a 1-year washout period for previous use. Persons with a previous stroke were excluded, resulting in a final study sample of 45 050 individuals. Incident any, ischemic, and hemorrhagic strokes were identified from the Hospital Discharge and Causes of Death registers. The risk of stroke between time on BZDRs was compared with nonuse time with Cox proportional hazard models. During the follow-up, 21.9% (N=9879) of persons started BZDR use. Compared with nonuse, BZDR use was associated with an increased risk of any stroke [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 1.21; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04–1.40] and ischemic stroke (aHR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.02–1.44), but the association between BZDR use and hemorrhagic stroke did not reach significance (aHR: 1.26; 95% CI: 0.91–1.74). Z-drug use was associated with a similar risk as benzodiazepine use. In conclusion, BZDR use was associated with an increased risk of stroke among older individuals with AD.
Non-thermal emission from relativistic MHD simulations of pulsar wind nebulae: from synchrotron to inverse Compton

Aims. We develop a set of diagnostic tools for synchrotron-emitting sources, presented in a previous paper, to include a computation of inverse-Compton radiation from the same relativistic particles that give rise to the synchrotron emission. For the first time, we then study the gamma-ray emission properties of Pulsar Wind Nebulae, in the context of the axisymmetric jet-torus scenario. Methods. We evolve the relativistic MHD equations and the maximum energy of the emitting particles, including adiabatic and synchrotron losses along streamlines. The particle energy distribution function is split into two components: one corresponds to radio-emitting electrons, which are interpreted to be a relic population that is born at the outburst of the supernova, and the other is associated with a wind population that is continuously accelerated at the termination shock and emits up to the gamma-ray band. The inverse Compton emissivity is calculated using the general Klein-Nishina differential cross-section and three different photon targets for the relativistic particles are considered: the nebular synchrotron photons, photons associated with the far-infrared thermal excess, and the cosmic microwave background. Results. When the method is applied to the simulations that match the optical and X-ray morphology of the Crab Nebula, the overall synchrotron spectrum can only be fitted assuming an excess of injected particles and a steeper power law (E −2.7 ) with respect to previous models. The resulting TeV emission has then the correct shape but is in excess of the data. This is related to the magneticfield structure in the nebula, derived using simulations: in particular, the field is strongly compressed close to the termination shock, but with a lower than expected volume average. The jet-torus structure is also found to be visible clearly in high-resolution gamma-ray synthetic maps. We present a preliminary exploration of time variability in X- and gamma-rays. We find variations with timescales of about 2 years in both bands. The variability observed originates in the strongly time-dependent MHD motions inside the nebula.
Robust analysis and synthesis of linear polytopic discrete-time periodic systems via LMIs

A particular class of uncertain linear discrete-time periodic systems is considered. The problem of robust stabilization of real polytopic linear discrete-time periodic systems via a periodic state-feedback law is tackled here. Using additional slack variables and the periodic Lyapunov lemma, an extended sufficient condition of robust stabilization is proposed. Based on periodic parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions, this last condition is shown to be always less conservative than the more classic one based on the quadratic stability framework. This is illustrated on numerical examples from the literature.
Genetic variability and evolutionary dynamics of viruses of the family Closteroviridae

RNA viruses have a great potential for genetic variation, rapid evolution and adaptation. Characterization of the genetic variation of viral populations provides relevant information on the processes involved in virus evolution and epidemiology and it is crucial for designing reliable diagnostic tools and developing efficient and durable disease control strategies. Here we performed an updated analysis of sequences available in Genbank and reviewed present knowledge on the genetic variability and evolutionary processes of viruses of the family Closteroviridae. Several factors have shaped the genetic structure and diversity of closteroviruses. (I) A strong negative selection seems to be responsible for the high genetic stability in space and time for some viruses. (2) Long distance migration, probably by human transport of infected propagative plant material, have caused that genetically similar virus isolates are found in distant geographical regions. (3) Recombination between divergent sequence variants have generated new genotypes and plays an important role for the evolution of some viruses of the family Closteroviridae. (4) Interaction between virus strains or between different viruses in mixed infections may alter accumulation of certain strains. (5) Host change or virus transmission by insect vectors induced changes in the viral population structure due to positive selection of sequence variants with higher fitness for host-virus or vector-virus interaction (adaptation) or by genetic drift due to random selection of sequence variants during the population bottleneck associated to the transmission process.
Differences in quality of life in rural and urban populations.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To examine the predictors of health related, quality of life in rural and urban populations. METHODS Parents and grandparents of students from 20 randomly selected primary schools in urban and rural areas of Kirikkale, Turkey were questioned for health-related quality of life (HRQL) and psychological distress, using the Short Form-12 (SF-12) Health Survey and Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS), respectively, which were returned by their children. RESULTS Of 13,225 parents and grandparents 12,270 returned the questionnaires, for an overall response rate of 92.7%. SF-12 physical component summary (PCS), mental component summary (MCS), and overall scores were lower in participants from rural than those from urban areas. Mean HADS overall score was higher in subjects from rural than those from urban areas (16.6+/-6.8 vs. 14.8+/-6.8, P=0.0001). A linear regression model showed associations between SF-12 overall, PCS, and MCS scores with HAD total score after adjusting for sex, age, BMI, smoking, income, and education. CONCLUSIONS Quality of life scores in subjects vary between areas. Psychological distress in subjects in rural areas may account for the poorer scores of quality of life in rural areas.
Oral insulin secretagogues, insulin, and cancer risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND Hyperinsulinemia might be the mechanism leading to an increased cancer risk in patients with type 2 diabetes. The objective was to evaluate the association between oral insulin secretagogues, insulins, and cancer incidence. METHODS A total of 108,920 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes were identified from the Taiwan National Health Insurance claims database during the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2000. As of 31 December 2007, patients with incident cancer were included as cases, and up to four age- and sex-matched controls were selected by risk-set sampling. Logistic regression models were applied to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) between antidiabetic medication and cancer incidence. RESULTS A total of 8,194 incident cancer cases and 32,776 diabetic controls were included. A significantly increased risk for overall cancer incidence was found for any use of insulin (OR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.85-2.09) and glinides (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.06-1.28). Significantly increased risks were found for first- and second-generation sulfonylureas (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.01-1.15), but not for third-generation drug, glimepiride (OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.93-1.08). Use of insulin and glinides was associated with higher risks for liver, colorectal, lung, stomach, and pancreas cancer, whereas sulfonylurea was mainly associated with an increased risk of liver cancer. CONCLUSIONS The results showed that sulfonylureas and glinides increased the risk for overall cancer, but to a lesser extent than insulin. Therapies that are associated with cancer risks certainly require further investigation.
Role of Reorientation Training in Enhancement of the Knowledge Regarding Growth Monitoring Activities by Anganwadi Workers in Urban Slums of Delhi

Early childhood developments constitute the foundation of the human development. Early years of the life are the most crucial period for the physical, mental, social, emotional, language development and lifelong learning. In a malnourished child, development of the milestones is delayed. Developmental delays are mainly observed in the areas like vision and fine motors, language and comprehension and personal social development. The delay was noticed to the extent of 7-11 months in these areas in different age groups. (1) In urban areas, nutritional status of the slum children is poorer than their counterparts in the rural areas. (2) Two-third of the preschool children in the urban slum are underweight. According to NFHS-2 of Delhi, 35% of children under 3 years of age are underweight and 37% are stunted. (3) Anaemia is the most frequent malnutrition among the children from the slum community. (4) ICDS scheme, in such scenario of health, occupies a significant place as an intervention in the socially and economically disadvantaged class of the society. The effective outcome of the nutrition services rendered through the Anganwadi centers (AWCs) depends on the knowledge of the anganwadi workers (AWWs) regarding growth monitoring (GM). A sound knowledge of the AWWs strengthens their skills and raises their capabilities to identify the children earliest moving towards malnutrition with the help of regular GM so as to take appropriate and early corrective action for further departure from good health. It also helps them as a teaching tool for empowering the mothers for preventive actions and better nutrition care of their children. Therefore, attempt has been made to discuss knowledge of AWWs about GM activities and the influence of reorientation training on their correct knowledge.
Quantum walks and wavepacket dynamics on a lattice with twisted photons

A discrete quantum walk occurs in the orbital angular momentum space of light, both for a single photon and for two simultaneous photons. The “quantum walk” has emerged recently as a paradigmatic process for the dynamic simulation of complex quantum systems, entanglement production and quantum computation. Hitherto, photonic implementations of quantum walks have mainly been based on multipath interferometric schemes in real space. We report the experimental realization of a discrete quantum walk taking place in the orbital angular momentum space of light, both for a single photon and for two simultaneous photons. In contrast to previous implementations, the whole process develops in a single light beam, with no need of interferometers; it requires optical resources scaling linearly with the number of steps; and it allows flexible control of input and output superposition states. Exploiting the latter property, we explored the system band structure in momentum space and the associated spin-orbit topological features by simulating the quantum dynamics of Gaussian wavepackets. Our demonstration introduces a novel versatile photonic platform for quantum simulations.
Speed of Initial Atropinisation in Significant Organophosphorus Pesticide Poisoning—A Systematic Comparison of Recommended Regimens

Objective: Early deaths from organophosphorus (OP) pesticide self‐poisoning result from respiratory failure and cardiovascular collapse. Therapy requires the urgent use of atropine to reverse cholinergic excess, thereby improving respiratory function, heart rate, and blood pressure. We aimed to assess variation in textbook recommendations for early atropinisation and to see whether this variation affected time to stabilisation using model data from 22 severely poisoned patients seen in a Sri Lankan clinical trial. Methods: We extracted prospectively recorded data on atropine requirements for 22 OP poisoned patients who required intubation but survived to discharge. We did a systematic search for textbook recommendations for initial atropinisation regimens. These regimens were then applied to data from the Sri Lankan patients. Results: The patients required a mean of 23.4 mg (standard deviation 22.0, range 1–75 mg) atropine to clear the lungs, raise the pulse above 80 bpm, and restore systolic blood pressure to more than 80 mmHg. Textbook recommendations varied markedly—atropinisation of an average patient, requiring the mean dose of 23.4 mg, would have taken 8 to 1380 mins; atropinisation of a very ill patient, requiring 75 mg, would have taken 25 to 4440 mins. Atropinisation was attained most rapidly with a regimen of increasing bolus doses after failure to respond to the previous bolus. Conclusions: There is great variation in recommendations for atropinisation, with some regimens taking hours and even days to stabilise a patient. The guidelines are very flexible—possibly appropriate for experienced emergency physicians or clinical toxicologists, but completely inappropriate for the inexperienced junior doctors who see most cases worldwide. We recommend that a consensus guideline be developed by appropriate organisations to bring order to this important part of OP therapy, while acknowledging the paucity of data to drive the guidelines.
Randomized Block Frank–Wolfe for Convergent Large-Scale Learning

Owing to their low-complexity iterations, Frank–Wolfe (FW) solvers are well suited for various large-scale learning tasks. When block-separable constraints are present, randomized block FW (RB-FW) has been shown to further reduce complexity by updating only a fraction of coordinate blocks per iteration. To circumvent the limitations of existing methods, this paper develops step sizes for RB-FW that enable a flexible selection of the number of blocks to update per iteration while ensuring convergence and feasibility of the iterates. To this end, convergence rates of RB-FW are established through computational bounds on a primal suboptimality measure and on the duality gap. The novel bounds extend the existing convergence analysis, which only applies to a step-size sequence that does not generally lead to feasible iterates. Furthermore, two classes of step-size sequences that guarantee feasibility of the iterates are also proposed to enhance flexibility in choosing decay rates. The novel convergence results are markedly broadened to also encompass nonconvex objectives, and further assert that RB-FW with exact line-search reaches a stationary point at rate $\mathcal{O}(1/\sqrt{t})$. Performance of RB-FW with different step sizes and number of blocks is demonstrated in two applications, namely charging of electrical vehicles and structural support vector machines. Extensive simulated tests demonstrate the performance improvement of RB-FW relative to existing randomized single-block FW methods.
Insulin secretion and glucose metabolism in alpha 1,3‐galactosyltransferase knock‐out pigs compared to wild‐type pigs

Casu A, Echeverri GJ, Bottino R, van der Windt DJ, He J, Ekser B, Ball S, Ayares D, Cooper DKC. Insulin secretion and glucose metabolism in alpha 1,3‐galactosyltransferase knock‐out pigs compared to wild‐type pigs. Xenotransplantation 2010; 17: 131–139. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
Attitude alignment in close relationships.

On the basis of principles of balance theory and interdependence theory, this research examined a phenomenon termed attitude alignment, or the tendency of interacting partners to modify their attitudes in such a manner as to achieve attitudinal congruence. The results of three experiments generally were consistent with the proposed model. First, tendencies toward attitude alignment were greater to the extent that attitudinal discrepancies were salient. Second, alignment tendencies were greater to the extent that an issue was central to the partner; there was also evidence that the degree to which an issue was peripheral to the self affected alignment processes (e.g., for changes in centrality of issue, with regard to persuasion methods). Third, degree of alignment tended to be greater in dating-partner interactions than in stranger interactions and tended to be greater among couples with high adjustment than among those with low adjustment.
[Knowledge, hygiene behavior and risk of bloodborne infections in the selected staff of beauty parlors and hairdressing salons].

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to examine hygiene practices and risk factors for bloodborne infections in the selected staff of beauty parlors and hairdressing salons. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, 118 people (112 women and 6 men), aged 18-55 years, were surveyed. The majority of the respondents (76 people) fell within the 20-29 age group. RESULTS Negligence in obeying some rules of work hygiene were found in the surveyed group of workers; at the same time most of the parlors and salons met legal requirements concerning sanitation and equipment hygiene. Of the total group of respondents, 53% of the staff employed in beauty parlors and hairdressing salons replied "Yes" to a question on incidents of sharp injuries during typical work activities over the last 2 years. The staff of hairdressing salons reported more accidents of this kind. CONCLUSIONS It is necessary to teach this group of employees about hygiene and sanitary practices. The current state of affairs in this small, but quite representative occupational group shows considerable ignorance in this regard. As for sanitation and disease control, special attention must be paid to the constant observance of hygiene rules at work. In particular, hands should be kept clean, gloves should be worn and adequate microbiological cleanliness of tools should be ensured. Inspection services should pay particular attention to whether the rules of handling used materials, a potential source of infection, are obeyed by workers. The results of numerous studies show that a large majority of parlors and salons to cut their operating costs do not follow relevant regulations in force. Incidents of staff exposure to potentially infectious material are usually connected with mechanical skin injuries. Contact with mucous membranes is less frequent. It should be pointed out that employees failed to wear protective gloves during incidents of exposure to potentially infectious material. Scissors, the major tool used by the staff of hairdressing salons were most frequently the cause of injuries.