Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HIV infection of the male genital tract – consequences for sexual transmission and reproduction

Despite semen being the main vector of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) dissemination worldwide, the origin of the virus in this bodily fluid remains unclear. It was recently shown that several organs of the male genital tract (MGT) are infected by HIV/simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and likely to contribute to semen viral load during the primary and chronic stages of the infection. These findings are important in helping answer the following questions: (i) does the MGT constitute a viral reservoir responsible for the persistence of virus release into the semen of a subset of HIV-infected men under antiretroviral therapy, who otherwise show an undetectable blood viral load? (ii) What is the aetiology of the semen abnormalities observed in asymptomatic HIV-infected men? (iii) What is the exact nature of the interactions between the spermatozoa, their testicular progenitors and HIV, an important issue in the context of assisted reproductive techniques proposed for HIV-seropositive (HIV+) men? Answers to these questions are crucial for the design of new therapeutic strategies aimed at eradicating the virus from the genital tract of HIV+ men – thus reducing its sexual transmission – and for improving the care of serodiscordant couples wishing to have children. This review summarizes the most recent literature on HIV infection of the male genital tract, discusses the above issues in light of the latest findings and highlights future directions of research.
Heat and Buoyancy Budgets and Mixing Rates in the Upper Thermocline of the Indian and Global Oceans

Abstract Diapycnal and diathermal diffusivity values in the upper thermocline are estimated from buoyancy and heat budgets for water volumes bounded by isopycnals and isotherms, the air–sea interface, and coastline where applicable. Comprehensive analysis is given to the Indian Ocean, with an extended global general description. The Indian Ocean gains buoyancy in the north (especially in the northeast) and loses buoyancy in the subtropical south. Freshest and least-dense water appears in the Bay of Bengal and isopycnals outcrop southwestward from there and then southward. Computation of diapycnal diffusivity (Kρ) starts from the Bay of Bengal, expanding southwestward and southward and with depth. As isopycnals extend equatorward from the northeast and with increasing depth, Kρ remains at about 1.3 cm2 s−1 for 20.2 σθ (Bay of Bengal) to 22.0 σθ (northeast Indian Ocean). Farther south (poleward) and at greater depth, Kρ decreases from 0.9 cm2 s−1 for 23.0 σθ (north of 20°S) to 0.5 cm2 s−1 for 25.0 σθ (north.
Nonlinear optical studies of single gold nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles are spherical clusters of gold atoms, with diameters typically between 1 and 100 nanometers. The applications of these particles are rather diverse, from optical labels for biological experiments to data carrier for optical data storage. The goal of my project was to develop new methods to study the physical properties of single gold nanoparticles on ultra-short timescales. Exciation with a short laser pulse brings a nanoparticle out of equilibrium, which makes it vibrate with a period that depends on the particle diameter and the speed of sound in gold. The vibrational period of a gold nanoparticle with a diameter of 60 nanometer is 20 picoseconds. This acoustic vibration has been detected by us for the first time for single particles. The main advantage of single-particle studies over bulk detection of these particles lies in the fact that all particles in an ensemble vibrate at slightly different frequencies, which causes increased damping due to dephasing. The damping of the vibrations of single particles only depends on the elastic coupling between the particle and its environment, which offers the possibility of using these particles as mechanical nanosensors.
Linguistic Context and Social Perception

This article considers the role of linguistic context in social memory and social judgment. Two experiments compared perceivers’ responses to person descriptions formulated at a high level of linguistic abstraction (adjectives/traits) versus a low level of linguistic abstraction (action verbs/behaviors). Based on the linguistic category model, together with prior empirical findings in psychology and linguistics, traits as compared with behavioral descriptions of a social target were hypothesized to elicit lower attention, poorer recall, and more expectancy-consistent impressions. Support for these hypotheses was obtained for a social target consisting of an individual as well as a nonentitative group. These results suggest a moderating role of linguistic context in inconsistency processing. Whereas concrete (behavioral) person descriptions elicited relatively deep, systematic processing, abstract (trait) person descriptions elicited more cursory, heuristic processing guided by the perceiver’s expectancies regarding the target person. It is concluded that the methodological and substantive implications of linguistic context deserve greater attention in social psychological research.
Migration and retraction of endothelial and epithelial cells require PHI-1, a specific protein-phosphatase-1 inhibitor protein

Cell migration and retraction are interrelated activities that are crucial for a range of physiological processes such as wound healing and vascular permeability. Immunostaining of brain sections for the specific inhibitor of type-1 protein Ser/Thr phosphatase called PHI-1 showed high expression levels in smooth muscle and especially in vascular endothelial cells. During migration of cultured human lung microvascular endothelial cells, endogenous PHI-1 was concentrated to the trailing edge of the cells. Knockdown of PHI-1 using small interfering RNAs reduced by 45% the rate of HeLa cell migration in a wound-healing assay. These cells exhibited an extremely elongated phenotype relative to controls and time-lapse movies revealed a defect in retraction of the trailing edge. Both HeLa and human vascular endothelial cells depleted of PHI-1 showed increased surface areas relative to controls during cell spreading in a replating assay. Analysis of sequential microscopic images demonstrated this was due to a significant decrease in the number of retraction events, whereas protrusive action was unaffected. The Ser/Thr phosphorylation of several signaling, cytoskeletal and focal-adhesion proteins was unchanged in PHI-1-depleted cells, so the target of PHI-1 inhibited protein-phosphatase 1 remains unidentified. Nonetheless, the results show that PHI-1 participates in regulatory events at the trailing edge of migrating cells and modulates retraction of endothelial and epithelial cells.
Gastrointestinal Duplications: Experience in Seven Children and a Review of the Literature

Background/Aim: Enteric duplication (ED) is a rare congenital anomaly that can occur anywhere along the alimentary tract from the mouth, down to the anus and the nearby organs. This uncommon anomaly may be asymptomatic or presents with vague symptoms mimicking other common pathologies. We aim to present our experience, management challenges and patterns of ED with a review of the literature. Settings and Design: The study was carried out at a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital (2005–2008 inclusive). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed seven patients with ED managed in our hospital for sex, age, clinical presentations, duplication size and site, presence of ectopic tissue, complications, associated anomalies, radiological workups, and prognosis. Data was analyzed using SPSS 11.0 for window. Results: Seven children between the age range of 44 hours–10 years had ED, one sublingual and six intraabdominal duplications. Midgut volvulus with long segment bowel gangrene complicated two cases. The diagnosis was incidental in all. Three cases were diagnosed following conventional radiological contrast examination and the rest at surgery. Ultrasound was not helpful in making diagnosis in all the six intraabdominal duplications. Though surgery was recommended for all, one of the patients declined. Only one patient had unsuccessful surgery. Conclusions: ED requires high index of clinical suspicion and careful management. Many cases of nonspecific abdominal pains should be properly evaluated before patients suffer avoidable complications.
The Role of Human Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter 1 on the Cellular Transport of the DNA Methyltransferase Inhibitors 5-Azacytidine and CP-4200 in Human Leukemia Cells

The nucleoside analog 5-azacytidine is an archetypical drug for epigenetic cancer therapy, and its clinical effectiveness has been demonstrated in the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). However, therapy resistance in patients with MDS/AML remains a challenging issue. Membrane proteins that are involved in drug uptake are potential mediators of drug resistance. The responsible proteins for the transport of 5-azacytidine into MDS/AML cells are unknown. We have now systematically analyzed the expression and activity of various nucleoside transporters. We identified the human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) as the most abundant nucleoside transporter in leukemia cell lines and in AML patient samples. Transport assays using [14C]5-azacytidine demonstrated Na+-independent uptake of the drug into the cells, which was inhibited by S-(4-nitrobenzyl)-6-thioinosine (NBTI), a hENT1 inhibitor. The cellular toxicity of 5-azacytidine and its DNA demethylating activity were strongly reduced after hENT1 inhibition. In contrast, the cellular activity of the 5-azacytidine derivative 5-azacytidine-5′-elaidate (CP-4200), a nucleoside transporter-independent drug, persisted after hENT1 inhibition. A strong dependence of 5-azacytidine-induced DNA demethylation on hENT1 activity was also confirmed by array-based DNA methylation profiling, which uncovered hundreds of loci that became demethylated only when hENT1-mediated transport was active. Our data establish hENT1 as a key transporter for the cellular uptake of 5-azacytidine in leukemia cells and raise the possibility that hENT1 expression might be a useful biomarker to predict the efficiency of 5-azacytidine treatments. Furthermore, our data suggest that CP-4200 may represent a valuable compound for the modulation of transporter-related 5-azacytidine resistances.
Acute Effect of Constant Torque and Angle Stretching on Range of Motion, Muscle Passive Properties, and Stretch Discomfort Perception

Abstract Cabido, CET, Bergamini, JC, Andrade, AGP, Lima, FV, Menzel, HJ, and Chagas, MH. Acute effect of constant torque and angle stretching on range of motion, muscle passive properties, and stretch discomfort perception. J Strength Cond Res 28(4): 1050–1057, 2014—The aim of the present study was to compare the acute effects of constant torque (CT) and constant angle (CA) stretching exercises on the maximum range of motion (ROMmax), passive stiffness (PS), and ROM corresponding to the first sensation of tightness in the posterior thigh (FSTROM). Twenty-three sedentary men (age, 19–33 years) went through 1 familiarization session and afterward proceeded randomly to both CA and CT treatment stretching conditions, on separate days. An isokinetic dynamometer was used to analyze hamstring muscles during passive knee extension. The subjects performed 4 stretches of 30 seconds each with a 15-second interval between them. In the CA stretching, the subject reached a certain ROM (95% of ROMmax), and the angle was kept constant. However, in the CT stretching exercise, the volunteer reached a certain resistance torque (corresponding to 95% of ROMmax) and it was kept constant. The results showed an increase in ROMmax for both CA and CT (p < 0.001), but the increase was greater for CT than for CA (CA vs. CT in poststretching, p = 0.002). Although the PS decreased for both CA and CT (p < 0.001), the decrease was greater for CT than for CA (CA vs. CT in poststretching, p = 0.002). The FSTROM increased for both CA and CT, but the increase for CT was greater than that for CA (CA vs. CT in poststretching, p = 0.003). The greater increase in ROMmax for the CT stretch may be explained by greater changes in the biomechanical properties of the muscle-tendon unit and stretch tolerance, as indicated by the results of PS and FSTROM.
Woodpecker Foraging and the Successional Decay of Ponderosa Pine 1

In 1998 we initiated a long-term study investigating the relationships between woodpecker foraging and snag decay processes in interior ponderosa pine forest communities located in Oregon and California. We describe temporal changes in snag structure and quantify both woodpecker foraging activity and relative sapwood decay in 144 ponderosa pine snags, ranging in age from 1 to 9 years (time since death). Preliminary results indicate that temporal changes in snag characteristics were reflective of both inherent insect activity and woodpecker foraging quality. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in cumulative woodpecker foraging abundance as snags aged, indicating that woodpecker foraging activity occurred primarily in the younger aged snags. Additionally, there was no correlation between woodpecker foraging intensity and relative sapwood decay. These results offer insights into the interactive biology of bark beetles, woodpeckers, and fungi in the decomposition of ponderosa pine.
An Analysis of Resequencing Delay of Reliable Transmission Protocols over Multipath

Multipath transfer utilizes multiple independent end-to-end paths to improve the total transmission throughput. Reliable transmission protocols as TCP and SCTP suffer resequencing delay due to asynchronous packet arrivals at the receiver as a result of packet reordering. The resequencing delay deteriorates the performance of some delay-sensitive applications. In this paper, we make an analysis of the mean resequencing delay for an average packet in a typical multipath transfer scenario. In the scenario, the path delay is assumed to be constant while distinct to each other. In consideration of path selecting probability, path delay and bandwidth, a model of the mean resequencing delay for an average packet in a long-term session is derived. The model is evaluated with the aid of SCTP CMT, which is a technically mature multipath transfer instance. It is shown that the results computed from the analytical model agree well with the output of the simulations. We expect the model can be used as a reference of resequencing delay estimation, aiding multipath transfer algorithms to get a better performance.
Mapping of Antigenic Sites on the Nucleocapsid Protein of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

ABSTRACT Antigenic sites on the nucleocapsid (N) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (SARS-CoV) were mapped by Pepscan analysis with overlapping peptides that span the N protein sequence. Two major immunodominant epitopes located in the C-terminal region (amino acids [aa] 362 to 412) and middle region (aa 153 to 178) reacted with more than 75% of sera from SARS patients. Several minor immunodominant epitopes were reactive with about 50% of the SARS sera. Antisera from mice immunized with inactivated SARS-CoV recognized the two major immunodominant epitopes and one antigenic site located adjacent to the N-terminal region (aa 76 to 101), which did not react with the sera from SARS patients. Several monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV bound to the N- or C-terminal antigenic sites. These results suggest that the above antigenic sites on the N protein are important in eliciting humoral immune response against SARS-CoV in humans and animals and can be used as antigens for developing diagnostic tests.
A three-step floating catchment area method for analyzing spatial access to health services

Gravity-based spatial access models have been widely used to estimate spatial access to healthcare services in an attempt to capture the interaction of various factors. However, these models are inadequate in informing health resource allocation work due to their inappropriate assumption of healthcare demand. For the purpose of effective healthcare resource planning, this article proposes a three-step floating catchment area (3SFCA) method to minimize the healthcare-demand overestimation problem. Specifically, a spatial impedance-based competition scheme is incorporated into the enhanced two-step floating catchment area (E2SFCA) method to account for a reasonable model of healthcare supply and demand. A case study of spatial access to primary care physicians along the Austin–San Antonio corridor area in central Texas showed that the proposed method effectively minimizes the overestimation of healthcare demand and reflects a more balanced geographic pattern of spatial access than E2SFCA. In addition, by using an adjusted spatial access index, the 3SFCA method indicates strong potential for identifying health professional shortage areas. The study concludes that 3SFCA is a promising method to provide health professionals and decision makers with useful healthcare accessibility information.
Experimenting with a computer essay-scoring program based on ESL student writing scripts

Abstract This paper describes a study of the computer essay-scoring program BETSY. While the use of computers in rating written scripts has been criticised in some quarters for lacking transparency or lack of fit with how human raters rate written scripts, a number of essay rating programs are available commercially, many of which claim to offer comparable reliability with human raters. Much of the validation of such programs has focused on native-speaking tertiary-level students writing in subject content areas. Instead of content areas with native-speakers, the data for this study is drawn from a representative sample of scripts from an English as a second language (ESL) Year 11 public examination in Hong Kong. The scripts (900 in total) are taken from a writing test consisting of three topics (300 scripts per topic), each representing a different genre. Results in the study show good correlations between human raters’ scores and the program BETSY. A rater discrepancy rate, where scripts need to be re-marked because of disagreement between two raters, emerged at levels broadly comparable with those derived from discrepancies between paired human raters. Little difference was apparent in the ratings of test takers on the three genres. The paper concludes that while computer essay-scoring programs may appear to rate inside a ‘black box’ with concomitant lack of transparency, they do have potential to act as a third rater, time-saving assessment tool. And as technology develops and rating becomes more transparent, so will their acceptability.
Bioavailable insulin-like growth factor-I as mediator of racial disparity in obesity-relevant breast and colorectal cancer risk among postmenopausal women

Objective: Bioavailable insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) interacts with obesity and exogenous estrogen (E) in a racial disparity in obesity-related cancer risk, yet their interconnected pathways are not fully characterized. We investigated whether circulating bioavailable IGF-I acted as a mediator of the racial disparity in obesity-related cancers such as breast and colorectal (CR) cancers and how obesity and E use regulate this relationship. Methods: A total of 2,425 white and 164 African American (AA) postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study were followed from October 1, 1993 through August 29, 2014. To assess bioactive IGF-I as a mediator of race-cancer relationship, we used the Baron-Kenny method and quantitative estimation of the mediation effect. Results: Compared with white women, AA women had higher IGF-I levels; their higher risk of CR cancer, after accounting for IGF-I, was no longer significant. IGF-I was associated with breast and CR cancers even after controlling for race. Among viscerally obese (waist/hip ratio >0.85) and overall nonobese women (body mass index <30), IGF-I was a strong mediator, reducing the racial disparity in both cancers by 30% and 60%, respectively. In E-only users and nonusers, IGF-I explained the racial disparity in CR cancer only modestly. Conclusions: Bioavailable IGF-I is potentially important in racial disparities in obesity-related breast and CR cancer risk between postmenopausal AA and white women. Body fat distribution and E use may be part of the interconnected hormonal pathways related to racial difference in IGF-I levels and obesity-related cancer risk.
Effect of rubber characteristics on asphalt binder properties

The use of scrap tyres in ground tyre rubber (GTR)-modified binders has continued to evolve since its introduction in the early 1960s. Currently, many states have developed recipe specifications requiring contractors to blend GTR with asphalt binders using specified rubber sizes, percentages, and grinding methods. While these specifications were developed based on early research, the GTR industry has developed new methods and techniques which might improve the quality of GTR in asphalt binders. The objective of this research was to assess how rubber properties affect the properties of an asphalt binder. This objective was completed by blending 12 unique GTR samples with a singular asphalt binder at a loading of 10% rubber. Two of the selected rubbers were additionally tested at 15% loading. These 14 GTR-modified asphalt binders were then tested using the performance grade (PG), multiple stress creep recovery, cigar tube separation test, and softening point methodologies. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine how particle size, grinding temperature, rubber chemistry, and surface area affected the four test results. GTR particle size was the most influential parameter on the majority of the test results. The smaller particle sizes improved the high- and low-temperature PG and particle separation as tested by cigar separation tubes and the softening point.
Activities and Effects of Ergot Alkaloids on Livestock Physiology and Production

Consumption of feedstuffs contaminated with ergot alkaloids has a broad impact on many different physiological mechanisms that alters the homeostasis of livestock. This change in homeostasis causes an increased sensitivity in livestock to perturbations in the ambient environment, resulting in an increased sensitivity to such stressors. This ultimately results in large financial losses in the form of production losses to livestock producers around the world. This review will focus on the underlying physiological mechanisms that are affected by ergot alkaloids that lead to decreases in livestock production.
Notes on Breeding Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks in Barnwell County, South Carolina

Abstract Breeding records of Accipiter striatus (Sharp-shinned Hawks) in the southeastern US are scattered and isolated. We documented a Sharp-shinned Hawk and Accipiter cooperii (Cooper's Hawk) nest while conducting a telemetry study on Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Red-headed Woodpeckers) in Barnwell County, SC in 2006 and 2007. We report the first known nest of a Sharp-shinned Hawk in Barnwell County, SC and the first report of Sharp-shinned Hawks preying upon Red-headed Woodpeckers. Thirteen of 93 (13.9 %) woodpeckers were killed by accipiters in the summers of 2006 and 2007. Large, contiguous forests managed for Picoides borealis (Red-cockaded Woodpeckers) may be used by breeding Sharp-shinned Hawks. The bright plumage, loud calls, and behavior of Red-headed Woodpeckers, particularly during the nestling stage, may make them conspicuous prey for accipiters.