Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Induced abortions and risk of ectopic pregnancy.

The relationship between induced abortions and subsequent risk of ectopic pregnancy has been analysed using data from a case-control study conducted in Milan, Italy. The cases were 158 women with a diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy confirmed by laparoscopy or laparotomy, admitted to a network of university and general hospitals. Two control groups were selected. The first one (obstetric controls) included 243 women who gave birth at term (more than 37 weeks gestation) to healthy infants at the same hospitals where the cases had been identified. The second control group (non-obstetric controls) was a random sample of 158 women of comparable age interviewed in the same calendar period, admitted to hospital for a broad spectrum of acute, non-gynaecological or obstetric conditions. A total of 35 out of 158 cases (22%) reported one or more previous induced abortions; the corresponding figures were 29 out of 243 (12%) obstetric controls and 29 out of 158 (18%) non-obstetric ones. The risk of ectopic pregnancy was higher in women reporting induced abortions: the estimated multivariate relative risks (relative risk) for any induced abortions were 2.9 [95%, confidence interval (CI) 1.6-5.3] in comparison with obstetric controls and 2.5 (95% CI 1.2-5.0) in comparison with women admitted to hospital for other conditions. The risk increased with number of induced abortions, being, compared to women with no induced abortion, 13.1 (95% CI 3.2-54.5) and 3.8 (95% CI 1.1-12.7) in women reporting two or more induced abortions when the comparison groups were respectively obstetric and non-obstetric controls. This study shows an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy after induced abortion. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Long-term sea level trend from tidal data in Malaysia

A broad range of evidence shows that the climate system has warmed. One of it obvious effects due to global warming are sea level rise. Studies have been conducted to see the impact of global warming towards the changes in sea level. In this study, a total of 21 tide gauge stations along the Malaysian coastlines were used to analyse the rate and magnitude of sea level rise using robust fit regression. Tidal data used in this study is from year 1984 to 2013, which is about 30 years. The analysis shows that the total average sea level rate for Malaysian Seas including Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak is rising at 3.67 +/-0.15 mm/yr. While the total average magnitude of sea level rise is at 0.095 m. Conclusively, the sea level trend for all stations along the coasts of Malaysia shows an increasing pattern. This study offers valuable sea level information particularly related to environmental issue such as flood and global warming in Malaysia.
Capacity of Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies to Inhibit HIV-1 Cell-Cell Transmission Is Strain- and Epitope-Dependent

An increasing number of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) are considered leads for HIV-1 vaccine development and novel therapeutics. Here, we systematically explored the capacity of bnAbs to neutralize HIV-1 prior to and post-CD4 engagement and to block HIV-1 cell-cell transmission. Cell-cell spread is known to promote a highly efficient infection with HIV-1 which can inflict dramatic losses in neutralization potency compared to free virus infection. Selection of bnAbs that are capable of suppressing HIV irrespective of the transmission mode therefore needs to be considered to ascertain their in vivo activity in therapeutic use and vaccines. Employing assay systems that allow for unambiguous discrimination between free virus and cell-cell transmission to T cells, we probed a panel of 16 bnAbs for their activity against 11 viruses from subtypes A, B and C during both transmission modes. Over a wide range of bnAb-virus combinations tested, inhibitory activity against HIV-1 cell-cell transmission was strongly decreased compared to free virus transmission. Activity loss varied considerably between virus strains and was inversely associated with neutralization of free virus spread for V1V2- and V3-directed bnAbs. In rare bnAb-virus combinations, inhibition for both transmission modes was comparable but no bnAb potently blocked cell-cell transmission across all probed virus strains. Mathematical analysis indicated an increased probability of bnAb resistance mutations to arise in cell-cell rather than free virus spread, further highlighting the need to block this pathway. Importantly, the capacity to efficiently neutralize prior to CD4 engagement correlated with the inhibition efficacy against free virus but not cell-cell transmitted virus. Pre-CD4 attachment activity proved strongest amongst CD4bs bnAbs and varied substantially for V3 and V1V2 loop bnAbs in a strain-dependent manner. In summary, bnAb activity against divergent viruses varied depending on the transmission mode and differed depending on the window of action during the entry process, underscoring that powerful combinations of bnAbs are needed for in vivo application.
[An effective method of therapy in suicide prevention: problem solving training in the clinical population].

INTRODUCTION The low level of problem solving skills is among the main cognitive factors of suicide vulnerability. Problem solving training (PST), a short, structured form of therapy for in- and out-patients, was developed for the improvement of problem solving skills. The Hungarian adaptation and initial results of PST are presented in this pilot study. METHODS Thirty-four participants between age 18 and 60 with previous suicide attempt, major or recurrent depression in their psychiatric history were assigned to out-patient PST groups. Training lasted for eight weeks, one session per week. Participant's level of depression, anxiety, hopelessness, coping styles and problem solving skills were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the training. RESULTS Post PST assessments showed a significant decrease of level of depression and hopelessness (t=3,029, p<0,001 - t=2,291 p<0,05), an increase of problem analysing and goal orientation scores (p<0,05), while emotion centered coping scores indicated significant decrease (p<0,001). CONCLUSIONS Our results show that the PST can be an efficient, user friendly method in suicide prevention in out- and in-patients. For the more accurate assessment of the efficacy of PST control group studies, and the follow-up of the participants will be needed in the future.
Optimizing distributed actor systems for dynamic interactive services

Distributed actor systems are widely used for developing interactive scalable cloud services, such as social networks and on-line games. By modeling an application as a dynamic set of lightweight communicating "actors", developers can easily build complex distributed applications, while the underlying runtime system deals with low-level complexities of a distributed environment. We present ActOp---a data-driven, application-independent runtime mechanism for optimizing end-to-end service latency of actor-based distributed applications. ActOp targets the two dominant factors affecting latency: the overhead of remote inter-actor communications across servers, and the intra-server queuing delay. ActOp automatically identifies frequently communicating actors and migrates them to the same server transparently to the running application. The migration decisions are driven by a novel scalable distributed graph partitioning algorithm which does not rely on a single server to store the whole communication graph, thereby enabling efficient actor placement even for applications with rapidly changing graphs (e.g., chat services). Further, each server autonomously reduces the queuing delay by learning an internal queuing model and configuring threads according to instantaneous request rate and application demands. We prototype ActOp by integrating it with Orleans -- a popular open-source actor system [4, 13]. Experiments with realistic workloads show latency improvements of up to 75% for the 99th percentile, up to 63% for the mean, with up to 2x increase in peak system throughput.
World population in 2050: assessing the projections: discussion

I would like to follow up on the last sentence of the excellent presentation by Joel Cohen. It is indeed true that the lag between new methodological developments and their actual implementation by statistical agencies is regrettably long, but I think there is some hope that the speed of applying innovations has been accelerating over this century. This is the case in many other areas, and it would be surprising if it were not the case in the field of population forecasting. I would assess with a probability of well above 90 percent that by the end of this century, institutional procedures for projecting population will include probabilistic elements. ; In the following, I would like to mention three additional aspects [new methods, extreme events, and projections of population by level of education] complementing the important remarks made by Cohen.
When is Nonfundamentalness in Vars a Real Problem? an Application to News Shocks

When a structural model has a nonfundamental VAR representation, standard SVAR techniques cannot be used to properly identify the effects of structural shocks. This problem is known to potentially arise when one of the structural shocks represents news about the future. However, as we shall show, in many cases the nonfundamental representation of a time series may be very close to its fundamental representation implying that standard SVAR techniques may provide a very good approximation of the effects of structural shocks even when the nonfundamentalness is formally present. This leads to the question: When is nonfundamentalness a real problem? In this paper we derive and illustrate a diagnostic based on a R2 which provides a simple means of detecting whether nonfundamentalness is likely to be a quantitatively important problem in an applied settings. We use the identification of technological news shocks in US data as our running example.
PIK3CA Mutations Are Not a Major Determinant of Resistance to the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitor Cetuximab in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Purpose: It has been reported that activating KRAS mutations negatively affect response to anti–epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies in metastatic colorectal cancer. The mutation status of signaling molecules downstream of the EGFR target is thus crucial to predict clinical benefit to EGFR-targeted therapies. Other mechanisms of resistance to EGFR inhibitors could involve activating mutations of the other main EGFR effector pathway, i.e., the PI3K/PTEN/AKT pathway. Experimental Design: We analyzed the PIK3CA and KRAS mutation status in a large group (n = 200) of chemorefractory metastatic colorectal cancers treated with cetuximab (Erbitux) in monotherapy or in combination with irinotecan, and correlated the mutation status with outcome. Results: Twenty-three (12%) of the 200 samples carried 1 of the PIK3CA mutations included in our assay. We found no correlation between the presence of a PIK3CA mutation and impaired response to cetuximab. Conclusions: Our findings do not provide any evidence for a strong role of PIK3CA mutations as a single marker in determining response to cetuximab in chemorefractory metastatic colorectal cancer.
Host and bacterial factors that regulate LC3 recruitment to Listeria monocytogenes during the early stages of macrophage infection

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterial pathogen that can escape the phagosome and replicate in the cytosol of host cells during infection. We previously observed that a population (up to 35%) of L. monocytogenes strain 10403S colocalize with the macroautophagy marker LC3 at 1 h postinfection. This is thought to give rise to spacious Listeria-containing phagosomes (SLAPs), a membrane-bound compartment harboring slow-growing bacteria that is associated with persistent infection. Here, we examined the host and bacterial factors that mediate LC3 recruitment to bacteria at 1 h postinfection. At this early time point, LC3+ bacteria were present within single-membrane phagosomes that are LAMP1+. Protein ubiquitination is known to play a role in targeting cytosolic L. monocytogenes to macroautophagy. However, we found that neither protein ubiquitination nor the ubiquitin-binding adaptor SQSTM1/p62 are associated with LC3+ bacteria at 1 h postinfection. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by the CYBB/NOX2 NADPH oxidase was also required for LC3 recruitment to bacteria at 1 h postinfection and for subsequent SLAP formation. Diacylglycerol is an upstream activator of the CYBB/NOX2 NADPH oxidase, and its production by both bacterial and host phospholipases was required for LC3 recruitment to bacteria. Our data suggest that the LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) pathway, which is distinct from macroautophagy, targets L. monocytogenes during the early stage of infection within host macrophages and allows establishment of an intracellular niche (SLAPs) associated with persistent infection.
Schistosoma mansoni and HIV acquisition in fishing communities of Lake Victoria, Uganda: a nested case–control study

It has been suggested that Schistosoma mansoni, which is endemic in African fishing communities, might increase susceptibility to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition. If confirmed, this would be of great public health importance in these high HIV‐risk communities. This study was undertaken to determine whether S. mansoni infection is a risk factor for HIV infection among the fishing communities of Lake Victoria, Uganda. We conducted a matched case–control study, nested within a prospective HIV incidence cohort, including 50 HIV seroconverters (cases) and 150 controls during 2009‐2011.
Transport of fluid and solutes in the body II. Model validation and implications.

A mathematical model of short-term whole body fluid, protein, and ion distribution and transport developed earlier [see companion paper: C. C. Gyenge, B. D. Bowen, R. K. Reed, and J. L. Bert. Am. J. Physiol. 277 ( Heart Circ. Physiol. 46): H1215-H1227, 1999] is validated using experimental data available in the literature. The model was tested against data measured for the following three types of experimental infusions: 1) hyperosmolar saline solutions with an osmolarity in the range of 2,000-2,400 mosmol/l, 2) saline solutions with an osmolarity of ∼270 mosmol/l and composition comparable with Ringer solution, and 3) an isosmotic NaCl solution with an osmolarity of ∼300 mosmol/l. Good agreement between the model predictions and the experimental data was obtained with respect to the trends and magnitudes of fluid shifts between the intra- and extracellular compartments, extracellular ion and protein contents, and hematocrit values. The model is also able to yield information about inaccessible or difficult-to-measure system variables such as intracellular ion contents, cellular volumes, and fluid fluxes across the vascular capillary membrane, data that can be used to help interpret the behavior of the system.
Is hydrokinesitherapy effective on gait and balance in patients with stroke? A clinical and baropodometric investigation

Abstract Background: Patients with stroke present an asymmetric posture, severe balance dysfunction with delayed and disrupted equilibrium reactions, exaggerated postural sway and abnormal gait with an increased risk of falling. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of hydrokinesytherapy on stance, balance and gait in individuals after stroke. Methods: In this single-blinded randomized controlled trial, patients with stroke were divided into two groups: an experimental one (G1), performing hydrokinesytherapy (3 times/week) in addition to a conventional physical therapy (3 times/week) and a control one (G2), performing only a conventional physical therapy (6 times/week). All of the participants underwent a proper clinical and baropodometric evaluation before and after 8 weeks of treatment. Results: The two groups presented similar clinical and instrumental features at enrolment (mean modified Rankin Scale of 3, and a disease duration of 6.3 ± 1.4 months). After treatment, the patients undergoing hydrokinesytherapy showed a significantly greater improvement than those undergoing traditional training. Conclusions: Hydrokinesytherapy may be considered a promising treatment in improving gait and balance in individuals following stroke.
In vivo prenatal chlordane exposure induces development of endogenous inflammatory macrophages

Macrophages (m⊘s), important cells in host resistance, undergo a series of biochemical changes during their progression from the resident to the fully activated stage. Both resident and inflammatory m⊘s are characterized by some unique properties. In the present study, female BALB/c mice were prenatally treated with 8 mg/kg body weight of chlordane, a cyclodiene poly‐chlorinated hydrocarbon that appears to reduce immunocompetence by selectively impairing m⊘ function. Therefore, we examined functions in m⊘s from chlordane‐treated mice that had been stimulated with thioglycollate. The 5'‐nucleotidase activity, present in high levels in resident m⊘s but low levels in inflammatory m⊘s was elevated in resident m⊘s from vehicle‐exposed animals. Conversely, inflammatory m⊘s from these animals showed significantly diminished levels of this function. Moreover, chlordane‐exposed m⊘s, regardless of whether they were resident or inflammatory, exhibited decreased 5'‐nucleotidase responses. When a second function, transferrin receptor binding, was analyzed, vehicle‐treated inflammatory m⊘s displayed high levels of activity whereas the resident m⊘s showed very little transferrin binding. However, both resident and inflammatory m⊘s from the chlordane‐exposed group demonstrated transferrin binding activity similar in magnitude to that of the vehicle‐treated inflammatory m⊘s. Finally, two‐dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of m⊘s from chlordane‐exposed mice have characteristics of normal m⊘s that have advanced to the inflammatory stage.
Synaptic Cross Talk between Perisomatic-Targeting Interneuron Classes Expressing Cholecystokinin and Parvalbumin in Hippocampus

Cholescystokinin (CCK)- or parvalbumin (PV)-containing interneurons are the major perisomatic-targeting interneurons in the cerebral cortex, including hippocampus, and are thought to form mutually exclusive networks. We used several techniques to test the alternative hypothesis that CCK and PV cells are coupled by chemical synapses. Triple immunofluorescence confocal microscopy revealed numerous axosomatic, axodendritic, and axoaxonic contacts stained for CCK, PV, and the presynaptic marker synaptophysin. The existence of mutual CCK and PV synapses was supported by dual EM immunolabeling. Paired whole-cell recordings detected unitary GABAAergic synaptic transmission between identified CCK and PV cells, and single CCK cells could transiently inhibit action potential firing of synaptically coupled PV cells. We conclude that the major hippocampal perisomatic-targeting interneurons communicate synaptically. This communication should affect neuronal network activity, including neuronal oscillations, in which the CCK and PV cells have well established roles. The prevalence of CCK and PV networks in other brain regions suggests that internetwork interactions could be generally important.
Quantification of extracellular and intracellular adenosine production: understanding the transmembranous concentration gradient.

BACKGROUND Inhibitors of adenosine membrane transport cause vasodilation and enhance the plasma adenosine concentration. However, it is unclear why the plasma adenosine concentration rises rather than falls when membrane transport is inhibited. We tested the hypothesis that the cytosolic adenosine concentration exceeds the interstitial concentration under well-oxygenated conditions. METHODS AND RESULTS In isolated, isovolumically working guinea pig hearts (n=50), the release rate of adenosine and accumulation of S-adenosylhomocysteine (after 20 minutes of 200 micromol/L homocysteine), a measure of the free cytosolic adenosine concentration, were determined in the absence and presence of specific and powerful blockers of adenosine membrane transport (nitrobenzylthioinosine 1 micromol/L), adenosine deaminase (erythro-9-hydroxy-nonyl-adenine 5 micromol/L), and adenosine kinase (iodotubericidine 10 micromol/L). Data analysis with a distributed multicompartment model revealed a total cardiac adenosine production rate of 2294 pmol. min-1. g-1, of which 8% was produced in the extracellular region. Because of a high rate of intracellular metabolism, however, 70.3% of extracellularly produced adenosine was taken up into cellular regions, an effect that was effectively eliminated by membrane transport block. The resulting approximately 2.8-fold increase of the interstitial adenosine concentration evoked near-maximal coronary dilation. CONCLUSIONS We rejected the hypothesis that the cytosolic adenosine concentration exceeds the interstitial. Rather, there is significant extracellular production, and the parenchymal cell represents a sink, not a source, for adenosine under well-oxygenated conditions.
Prevalence of human papillomavirus and survival in oropharyngeal cancer other than tonsil or base of tongue cancer

Today, most oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is human papillomavirus (HPV) positive and HPV alone or in combination with p16 is reported to be a favorable prognostic factor for OSCC. Patients with tumors at other OSCC sites (OOSCC) are often included in the same treatment and study protocols as patients with tonsillar‐ and base of tongue SCC, even though the prevalence and clinical significance of HPV infection in OOSCC is unknown. Since tonsillar and base of tongue SSC cover roughly 90% of all OSCC, there is an obvious risk that there may be a misinterpretation of the results for OOSCC. Herein, we therefore study the prevalence of HPV and p16 and their impact on survival in OOSCC. A total of 69 patients were included in the study, and 61 were included in the survival analysis. HPV and p16 were present in only 17% (12/69) and 25% (17/69) of the OOSCC cases, respectively, while the majority 69% (48/69) was both HPV and p16 negative. Neither HPV nor p16 had predictive value for clinical outcome in OOSCC in this study. In conclusion, the prevalence of HPV and/or p16 is much lower in OOSCC compared to earlier reports including all OSCC, or tonsillar‐ and base of tongue cancer alone and HPV and p16 had no impact on clinical outcome in OSCC in this study. Our data highlight the diversity of head neck cancer sub‐sites and the importance of taking OSCC sub‐sites in consideration in future clinical trials and treatment.
Fission Yeast Sec3 and Exo70 Are Transported on Actin Cables and Localize the Exocyst Complex to Cell Poles

The exocyst complex is essential for many exocytic events, by tethering vesicles at the plasma membrane for fusion. In fission yeast, polarized exocytosis for growth relies on the combined action of the exocyst at cell poles and myosin-driven transport along actin cables. We report here the identification of fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe Sec3 protein, which we identified through sequence homology of its PH-like domain. Like other exocyst subunits, sec3 is required for secretion and cell division. Cells deleted for sec3 are only conditionally lethal and can proliferate when osmotically stabilized. Sec3 is redundant with Exo70 for viability and for the localization of other exocyst subunits, suggesting these components act as exocyst tethers at the plasma membrane. Consistently, Sec3 localizes to zones of growth independently of other exocyst subunits but depends on PIP2 and functional Cdc42. FRAP analysis shows that Sec3, like all other exocyst subunits, localizes to cell poles largely independently of the actin cytoskeleton. However, we show that Sec3, Exo70 and Sec5 are transported by the myosin V Myo52 along actin cables. These data suggest that the exocyst holocomplex, including Sec3 and Exo70, is present on exocytic vesicles, which can reach cell poles by either myosin-driven transport or random walk.