Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vital Signs: Estimated Percentages and Numbers of Adults with Indications for Preexposure Prophylaxis to Prevent HIV Acquisition--United States, 2015.

BACKGROUND In 2014, approximately 40,000 persons in the United States received a diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with daily oral antiretroviral medication is a new, highly effective intervention that could reduce the number of new HIV infections. METHODS CDC analyzed nationally representative data to estimate the percentages and numbers of persons in the United States, by transmission risk group, with indications for PrEP consistent with the 2014 U.S. Public Health Service's PrEP clinical practice guideline. RESULTS Approximately 24.7% of sexually active adult men who have sex with men (MSM) (492,000 [95% confidence interval {CI} = 212,000-772,000]), 18.5% of persons who inject drugs (115,000 [CI = 45,000-185,000]), and 0.4% of heterosexually active adults (624,000 [CI = 404,000-846,000]), had substantial risks for acquiring HIV consistent with PrEP indications. CONCLUSIONS Based on current guidelines, many MSM, persons who inject drugs, and heterosexually active adults have indications for PrEP. A higher percentage of MSM and persons who inject drugs have indications for PrEP than heterosexually active adults, consistent with distribution of new HIV diagnoses across these populations. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE Clinical organizations, health departments, and community-based organizations should raise awareness of PrEP among persons with substantial risk for acquiring HIV infection and their health care providers. These data can be used to inform scale-up and evaluation of PrEP coverage. Increasing delivery of PrEP and other highly effective HIV prevention services could lower the number of new HIV infections occurring in the United States each year.
Infection-Derived Enterococcus faecalisStrains Are Enriched in esp, a Gene Encoding a Novel Surface Protein

ABSTRACT We report the identification of a new cell wall-associated protein of Enterococcus faecalis. Studies on the distribution of the gene encoding this novel surface protein, Esp, reveal a significant (P < 0.001) enrichment in infection-derived E. faecalis isolates. Interestingly, the esp gene was not identified in any of 34 clinical E. faecium isolates or in 4 other less pathogenic enterococcal species tested. Analysis of the structural gene among various E. faecalis isolates reveals the existence of alternate forms of expression of the Esp protein. The deduced primary structure of the Esp protein from strain MMH594, inferred to be 1,873 amino acids (aa) with a predicted mass of ∼202 kDa, reveals a core region consisting of repeat units that make up 50% of the protein. Esp bears global organizational similarity to the Rib and C alpha proteins of group B streptococci. Identity among Esp, Rib, and C alpha proteins is strikingly localized to a stretch of 13 aa within repeats of similar length. The high degree of conservation of this 13-residue sequence suggests that it plays an important role in the natural selection for this trait among infection-derived E. faecalis and group B streptococcal isolates.
Laplace transform inversion and passage-time distributions in Markov processes

Products of the Laplace transforms of exponential distributions with different parameters are inverted to give a mixture of Erlang densities, i.e. an expression for the convolution of exponentials. The formula for these inversions is expressed both as an explicit sum and in terms of a recurrence relation which is better suited to numerical computation. The recurrence for the inversion of certain weighted sums of these transforms is then solved by converting it into a linear first-order partial differential equation. The result may be used to find the density function of passage times between states in a Markov process and it is applied to derive an expression for cycle time distribution in tree-structured Markovian queueing networks.
The Continuing Case for Demo-Optimism in Africa

The widespread democratization process which occurred in Africa during the early 1990s gave rise to a varied range of scholarly assessments. They have been categorized in relation to the extent that they presented more or less optimistic or pessimistic views of the significance of what had taken place. Demo‐pessimists tended to argue that this change was relatively superficial and likely to prove ephemeral, whilst demo‐optimists viewed it as having important and longer‐term consequences for the way African states were governed. More recent assessments reflect a movement towards a more demo‐pessimistic perspective on the part of academic observers. Based on an examination of developments in Africa since the early 1990s and an assessment of what are viewed as ‘obstacles’ to democracy in Africa, this article argues that a cautious and limited form of demo‐optimism remains plausible. In spite of obvious difficulties democracy is likely to remain firmly embedded into the African political agenda.
There Are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both Are Important—Our Will Can Be Conscious as Well as Unconscious

I have been asked to write a few words on consciousness in this editorial issue. My thoughts on consciousness will focus on the relation between consciousness and will. Consciousness is not an epiphenomenon as some people believe—it is not a psychological construct either. Consciousness is a brain function. With deeper thought it is even more than that—a brain state. Writing this, I am in a conscious state, I hope at least. In every day philosophy, a close connection of consciousness with will is ventured, and is expressed in the term “conscious free will”. However, this does not mean that our will is totally determined and not free, be it conscious or unconscious. Total determinists postulate total freedom from nature in order to speak of free will. Absolute freedom from nature is an a priori impossibility; there is no way to escape from nature. However, we have relative freedom, graded freedom, freedom in degrees, enabling us to make responsible decisions and be captains of our own destiny. We are not totally determined. We can upregulate our degrees of freedom by self-management or we can downregulate them by self-mismanagement. In the present communication consciousness and the unconscious are discussed in their various aspects and interactions.
Depression and dysthymic disorders

In this chapter, we review 10 evidence-based psychotherapies for depression in adults, which have been examined in two independent randomized controlled trials. These therapies are: cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), behavioral activation treatment (BAT), self-control therapy, problem-solving therapy, social skills training, interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), nondirective supportive therapy, short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy, reminiscence and life review therapy for older adults, and couple therapy. For each of these evidence-based psychotherapies, we summarized consensus panel recommendations and clinical guidelines, reviewed the results of earlier meta-analyses of efficacy studies, and provided a meta-analytic summary of randomized controlled studies examining each type of psychotherapy. The majority of studies have examined the efficacy of CBT, but a considerable number of studies have examined other psychotherapies, including IPT and BAT. All psychotherapies were found to have a significant effect on depression in adults compared to control groups, and when comparing the different types of psychotherapy directly, we found only few indications that some therapies were more efficacious than others (Cuijpers et al., 2008b). Furthermore, the detected differences between studies were small and could very well be caused by outliers. Most evidence indicates that CBT is as effective as pharmacotherapy and that a combined treatment is more efficacious than pharmacotherapy alone, but not than CBT alone. IPT seems to be somewhat less efficacious than pharmacotherapy and there was a trend indicating that a combined treatment of IPT and pharmacotherapy is more efficacious than IPT alone. At the long term, there is evidence that CBT may prevent relapse rates. Keywords: depression; dysthymia; meta-analysis; treatment guidelines; cognitive behavior therapy; behavioral activation treatment; problem-solving therapy; interpersonal psychotherapy; nondirective supportive therapy; psychodynamic psychotherapy
High-Performance Work Systems and Job Control

This study examines relationships among high-performance work systems (HPWS), job control, employee anxiety, role overload, and turnover intentions. Building on theory that challenges the rhetoric versus reality of HPWS, the authors explore a potential “dark side” of HPWS that suggests that HPWS, which are aimed at creating a competitive advantage for organizations, do so at the expense of workers, thus resulting in negative consequences for individual employees. However, the authors argue that these consequences may be tempered when HPWS are also implemented with a sufficient amount of job control, or discretion given to employees in determining how to implement job responsibilities. The authors draw on job demands–control theory and the stress literatures to hypothesize moderated-mediation relationships relating the interaction of HPWS utilization and job control to anxiety and role overload, with subsequent effects on turnover intentions. The authors examine these relationships in a multilevel sample of 1,592 government workers nested in 87 departments from the country of Wales. Results support their hypotheses, which highlight several negative consequences when HPWS are implemented with low levels of job control. They discuss their findings in light of the critique in the literature toward the utilization of HPWS in organizations and offer suggestions for future research directions.
God-Mediated Control and Psychological Well-Being in Late Life

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between feelings of God-mediated control and psychological well-being in a nationally representative sample of older adults. In the process, race differences in the relationship between God-mediated control and well-being are evaluated. The findings reveal that older people with a strong sense of God-mediated control tend to have greater life satisfaction, more optimism, a higher sense of self-worth, and lower levels of death anxiety. Pervasive race differences also emerged from the data. Specifically, older Blacks reported higher levels of God-mediated control than older Whites. In addition, the relationship between God-mediated control and all the well-being outcome measures was stronger for older Blacks than older Whites.
The effects of work‐family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation on job outcomes of front‐line employees

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of work‐family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation on front‐line employees' job performance, job satisfaction, and affective organizational commitment in Turkish retail banks as its setting.Design/methodology/approach – A total number of 363 usable questionnaires were personally retrieved from front‐line employees in the research location. The relevant writings were canvassed in order to design the survey instrument. The hypothesized relationships were tested using LISREL 8.30 through path analysis.Findings – Results reveal that work‐family conflict increased emotional exhaustion and decreased job satisfaction. Intrinsic motivation was found to exert a significant negative impact on emotional exhaustion. Results demonstrate that high levels of intrinsic motivation resulted in high levels of job performance, job satisfaction, and affective commitment to the organization. The empirical results also indicate that emotional.
The Relationship Between Scores on a Diagnostic Writing Skills Test and Success in a Basic Business Communication Course

In recent years, several studies have explored the teaching of grammar in basic business communication. Tesch (1979) and Wunsch (1986) discussed different methods of teaching grammar. Herrick (1985), Stiegler (1972), and Wilkinson (1977) discussed how much grammar should be taught. In a 1986 survey, Herrick found that the percentage of grammar taught ranged from 0-50 percent with a mean of 14.3 percent. In our courses, grammar is not taught formally, but students are held responsible for remedial review. We administer a Diagnostic Writing Skills Test pretest to identify punctuation and grammar usage problems so that students can seek remedial help. Many students enrolled in business communication could not write a complete sentence, let alone have a noun agree with a verb, even after having had English composition. Semicolons were not a part of some students’ vocabularies. If grammar proficiency is very important in basic business communication, a poor grammar background might lead to course failure. We wondered whether our diagnostic grammar pretest might be a good predictor of final course performance.
Integrating Sexual Orientation in Career Counseling: Acting to End a Form of the Personal-Career Dichotomy.

Ignoring sexual orientation in career counseling practice is presented as a specific case of failing to integrate an aspect of the personal dimension into career counseling. Three case examples illustrate specific actions that career counselors must take to integrate this important aspect of the personal dimension into career counseling. The actions suggested involve three general areas: (a) signaling lesbian and gay affirmation in career counseling practice, (b) enhancing the development of a positive gay or lesbian identity in the context of career development work, and (c) recognizing and integrating the reality of anti-gay stigma in career counseling.
Perceptions of Relocation Services in Relocation Decision Making

The importance of relocation services is examined in a sample of 872 employees and spouses. Results indicated that spouses rated all relocation services higher than employees, with the exception of educational information. Comparisons among male and female employees, singleaners and dual-earners, as well as employees with children living at home and those without children living at home also yielded significant differences, primarily in terms of spouse employment assistance, dependent care information, and educational information. Results are discussed in terms of future research and practice, with an emphasis on exploring relocation issues for employees and spouses in a variety of a marital and family arrangements.
Histologic Comparison of Breast Implant Shells with Smooth, Foam, and Pillar Microstructuring in a Rat Model from 1 Day to 6 Months

The purpose of this study was to determine the soft-tissue response to silicone breast implants with different surface morphologies and to correlate implant microtexturing with capsular formation. Using a rat model, we inserted breast implants having three types of shells: micropillared, silicone foam, and smooth silicone (control). We used 96 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing between 250 and 300 gm. Thirty-two rats were assigned to each of the three shell groups. Within each shell group, 4 rats were implanted for 24 hours, 4 for 4 weeks, 4 for 8 weeks, 4 for 12 weeks, 4 for 16 weeks, 4 for 20 weeks, and 4 for 24 weeks. The rats were sacrificed at the end of each time interval, and periprosthetic tissue was obtained for histologic analysis. Our results show a stable soft-tissue response with some macrophages and fibroblasts for the smooth silicone shell group; capsule thicknesses were 10 to 12 cells with interwoven collagen. The silicone foam prolonged the active cellular response with regard to macrophages, fibroblasts, and multinucleated giant cells, along with random collagen deposition and alternating thin and thick capsular areas. The micropillar group had a more stable cellular response, with macrophages and fibroblasts, along with disruption of the long-range orientation of collagen fibers.
Protein Kinase C Regulates the Phosphorylation and Cellular Localization of Occludin*

Occludin is an integral membrane phosphoprotein specifically associated with tight junctions, contributing to the structure and function of this intercellular seal. Occludin function is thought to be regulated by phosphorylation, but no information is available on the molecular pathways involved. In the present study, the involvement of the protein kinase C pathway in the regulation of the phosphorylation and cellular distribution of occludin has been investigated. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol induced the rapid phosphorylation of occludin in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells cultured in low extracellular calcium medium with a concomitant translocation of occludin to the regions of cell-cell contact. The extent of occludin phosphorylation as well as its incorporation into tight junctions induced by protein kinase C activators or calcium switch were markedly decreased by the protein kinase C inhibitor GF-109203X. In addition, in vitroexperiments showed that the recombinant COOH-terminal domain of murine occludin could be phosphorylated by purified protein kinase C. Ser338 of occludin was identified as an in vitro protein kinase C phosphorylation site using peptide mass fingerprint analysis and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectroscopy. These findings indicate that protein kinase C is involved in the regulation of occludin function at tight junctions.
The European Parliament and the Europeanization of Green Parties

‘Europeanization’, or the adaptation of national political actors to European integration, has increased the professionalization of European Green parties. Previous studies of this phenomenon’s effects on the Greens have not fully accounted for the processes behind this form of party development. Using a qualitative adaptation of Harmel and Janda’s (1994) model of party change as a foundation, this article develops an explanation of how the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure produced imperatives for increased co-operation that helped to reduce factionalism and promote professionalism within European Greens. These facilitated their ‘Europeanization’ and allowed them to affect the course of European integration.
Species traits drive contrasting wood decay rates : insights from a new short-term method to study long-term wood decomposition dynamics

SUMMARY 1. While the importance of wood decay for the global carbon balance is widely recognized, surprisingly little is known about its long-term dynamics and its abiotic and biotic drivers. Progress in this field is hindered by the long timescales inherent to the low decay rates of wood and the lack of short-term methods to assess long-term decomposition dynamics in standardized field conditions. 2. Here we present such a method, which relies on the sampling and short-term incubation of wood from several decay stages covering the entire decay process. Together these short-term decay steps are used to model and discriminate between three potential decay dynamics (linear, exponential and sigmoid) using an iterative optimization procedure. We applied this method to analyse long-term wood decay of six subarctic tree species (six stems and two roots) and test the hypotheses that i) different wood species follow distinct decay dynamics and ii) interspecific variation in wood traits controls variation in wood decay rates in a standardized environment. 3. We found interspecific variation in long-term wood decay dynamics: decay of Alnus and Salix stems was best described by exponential models, whereas decay of Sorbus stems and Betula and Pinus roots were best fitted by linear models and Betula, Pinus and Populus stems each displayed a sigmoid decay dynamics (up to five-year initial lag-phase). A six-fold variation was observed between the decomposition half-lives of all eight wood types, from 6.8 years (6.1-7.5, 95% C.I.) for Alnus stems to 41.3 years (34.5-51.8) for Pinus roots. Initial wood traits such as pH (R 2 =0.92), dry matter content (R 2 =0.79) and lignin (R 2 =0.73) were strong predictors of long-term wood decay rates. 4. Synthesis. Our findings suggest changing decay dynamics across wood species and types that are likely to arise from changing underlying wood decay processes (i.e. varying wood functional traits / decomposer community interactions). Our new method, which combines advantages of direct observations and the chronosequence approach, allows reliable comparisons of species contributions to long-term wood decay rates and provides future opportunities to experimentally disentangle intrinsic and external abiotic and biotic drivers of long-term wood decay processes.
Comparing students’ perceived and actual competence in higher vocational education

This article studies the relationship between students’ perceived competence – operationalised in self‐efficacy beliefs – and their competence as assessed by the educational institute. Contrary to previous studies, the current study focuses on competence instead of on isolated knowledge and skills. Students (N = 169) in four subsequent years of a social work bachelor programme filled out a questionnaire. Perceived competence appears to increase during the four‐year programme, with a dip in Year 3. This might be due to internships starting in Year 3, offering students a more realistic picture of the complexity of the work. Students appear to overestimate their competence at the start of the course, and underestimate it when leaving school. Because a slight overestimation of one’s competence is favourable to tackle complex tasks and persist during setbacks, curricula could pay more attention to realistic student perceptions of their competence.
Nitrate reductase assay for the rapid detection of pyrazinamide resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis using nicotinamide.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to develop the nitrate reductase assay (NRA) for the rapid detection of pyrazinamide resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis using nicotinamide resistance as a marker of pyrazinamide resistance in Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) medium at neutral pH. METHODS We tested 68 M. tuberculosis isolates using nicotinamide at three different concentrations (1000, 500 and 250 mg/L) by the NRA in LJ medium and compared the results with those obtained with the BACTEC 460-TB or the BACTEC MGIT 960 as reference standard methods. Mutations in the pncA gene were detected by DNA sequencing of the pyrazinamide-resistant isolates. RESULTS Out of 34 M. tuberculosis pyrazinamide-resistant isolates, 31 were found to be resistant to 1000 and 500 mg/L nicotinamide giving sensitivity and specificity of 91% and 94%, respectively. At 250 mg/L nicotinamide, the sensitivity and specificity decreased to 91% and 71%, respectively. Results were obtained in an average of 10 days. Based on these results, a tentative breakpoint concentration of 500 mg/L nicotinamide was defined. DNA sequencing of the pncA gene detected mutations in 26 out of 34 M. tuberculosis isolates resistant to pyrazinamide. CONCLUSIONS The NRA using nicotinamide to detect resistance to pyrazinamide in LJ medium is a rapid and accurate method that could be useful in limited-resource countries where the BACTEC 460-TB or the BACTEC MGIT 960 system is not available.