Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of health education on the knowledge, attitude, and uptake of free Pap smear among female teachers in Birnin-Kebbi, North-Western Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION The Routine Pap smear test has successfully reduced the incidence of invasive cervical cancer in the presence of a proper structure for its implementation. This study was designed to assess the effect of health education on the knowledge, attitude, and uptake of Pap smear among female teachers. MATERIALS AND METHODS It was a quasi-experimental, controlled study with a pre-test, post-test design. A total of 100 respondents were recruited for each of the intervention and control groups, by the multistage sampling technique. RESULTS The mean knowledge score of cervical cancer was low in both the interventions (25.5% ± 10.5) and control groups (18.9% ± 10.0) at baseline; a significant rise to 57.2% ± 20.7 was recorded after the intervention in the Intervention group (P<0.0001). The baseline mean attitude score was also low in the intervention and control groups (17.1% ± 6.3 and 14.1% ± 6.4, respectively); post intervention there was a significant rise of up to 28.0% ± 12.8 in the Intervention group (P<0.0001). The proportion of respondents with a reported practice of Pap smear was low and similar in both the groups at baseline (1.1 and 4.9% in the intervention and control groups, respectively, P=0.16). Uptake of free Pap smear was poor at the post-intervention phase in both the groups (P=0.45). Reported reasons for poor uptake included the respondents' dislike for the test (38.4%) and the belief that the test was not necessary (24.4%). About 20% of the respondents did not have any reason at all. CONCLUSION Health education had no significant effect on the uptake of a free Pap smear among teachers. Despite the significant improvement in the attitude toward the test, many respondents did not like the test after than before the intervention. Sociocultural issues such as the gender of the sample collector, and system factors like few service delivery points, and the time required to access the service could have contributed to the poor uptake recorded in this study. A program designed to improve routine cervical cancer screening by Pap smear should therefore address not only the knowledge and cost, but also the sociocultural and systemic factors.
Surveillance of Food- and Smear-Transmitted Pathogens in European Soldiers with Diarrhea on Deployment in the Tropics: Experience from the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) Mali

Introduction. Since 2013, European soldiers have been deployed on the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) in Mali. From the beginning, diarrhea has been among the most “urgent” concerns. Diarrhea surveillance based on deployable real-time PCR equipment was conducted between December 2013 and August 2014. Material and Methods. In total, 53 stool samples were obtained from 51 soldiers with acute diarrhea. Multiplex PCR panels comprised enteroinvasive bacteria, diarrhea-associated Escherichia coli (EPEC, ETEC, EAEC, and EIEC), enteropathogenic viruses, and protozoa. Noroviruses were characterized by sequencing. Cultural screening for Enterobacteriaceae with extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) with subsequent repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) typing was performed. Clinical information was assessed. Results. Positive PCR results for diarrhea-associated pathogens were detected in 43/53 samples, comprising EPEC (n = 21), ETEC (n = 19), EAEC (n = 15), Norovirus (n = 10), Shigella spp. /EIEC (n = 6), Cryptosporidium parvum (n = 3), Giardia duodenalis (n = 2), Salmonella spp. (n = 1), Astrovirus (n = 1), Rotavirus (n = 1), and Sapovirus (n = 1). ESBL-positive Enterobacteriaceae were grown from 13 out of 48 samples. Simultaneous infections with several enteropathogenic agents were observed in 23 instances. Symptoms were mild to moderate. There were hints of autochthonous transmission. Conclusions. Multiplex real-time PCR proved to be suitable for diarrhea surveillance on deployment. Etiological attribution is challenging in cases of detection of multiple pathogens.
Is baseline medication resistance associated with potential for relapse after successful remission of a depressive episode with ECT? Data from the Consortium for Research on Electroconvulsive Therapy (CORE).

OBJECTIVE To test whether pre-electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) medication resistance is associated with post-ECT relapse rates. METHOD In a post hoc analysis of data from a large multicenter trial of post-ECT relapse prevention strategies (conducted from May 1997 to July 2004), we assessed whether response to antidepressant medications prior to ECT for a unipolar nonpsychotic depressive episode (DSM-IV) was associated with differential relapse rates after remission with ECT. Baseline (i.e., pre-ECT) medication use was assessed with the Antidepressant Treatment History Form. Following remission with ECT that was stable for 1 week, patients were randomly assigned to receive 6 months of treatment with either combination lithium carbonate/nortriptyline or continuation ECT. Relapse was assessed with the 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. There were 146 patients followed in the first week after remission (termed the interim week in this study), and 73 in the randomized phase of the study. For the purposes of this trial, medication resistance is defined as not having responded to at least 1 adequate trial of an antidepressant medication before ECT. RESULTS In the first week after acute remission, 9.8% of patients not having at least 1 antidepressant medication trial met relapse criteria, while 31.4% of medication-resistant patients met relapse criteria, a difference that was statistically significant (p = .026). In the randomized phase of the study, 34.6% of non-medication-resistant patients relapsed, while 50.0% of medication-resistant patients relapsed, a difference that was not significant (p = .434). CONCLUSION We conclude that nonpsychotic patients who had at least 1 adequate antidepressant medication trial before ECT may be especially prone to early relapse after successful acute remission with ECT.
The monetary transmission mechanism in Mexico: recent developments

Monetary policy actions are transmitted to the economy through several channels. The relative importance of the different channels and how they change through time, along with the lagged effect of these actions on key variables, are crucial for monetary policy decision making. This paper provides an overview of the transformation of the Mexican economy in recent years and analyzes its implications for the inflation process and the monetary transmission mechanism. After a brief review of the macroeconomic policies and financial reforms that have taken place over the past decade, we summarize recent research undertaken at Banco de México that suggests significant changes in inflation dynamics and in some of the channels of monetary policy transmission have taken place in the last years. We also present estimates to illustrate the increasing importance of the credit and expectations channels of monetary policy transmission, using VAR analysis and a smallscale macroeconomic model.
Protein and Water Balances of Young Adults during Prolonged Exposure to High Altitude (4,300 Meters)

V ERY LITTLE FAdTUAL INFORMATION is available in time literature on the nutrient 1-equirements of normal ad! ults living at high altitudes. As a result, the National Research Council’s Committee on Dietary Allowances (1) has not mad! e any recommendlations as to time calorie, water, and protein allowances for individuals living at higim terrestrial environments. If anything, the dlecreased! oxygen supply at high aititun! e will depi-ess rather than stimulate metabolic processes (2). Pugh (3), during the successful Bi-itish Everest Exped! ition, reported that a high fat diet was not tolerated at altitud! es above 12,000 ft but W.E. Sii-i (personal communication), d tIring the American Everest Expedition, observed! that the members of this group could and did! tolerate a normal American duet with approximately 40% of the total calories as fat without any ill effects. In an earlier study by this Laboratory at 3,475 m, a higim fat diet was very well toleraten! by all of time subjects (luring high-altitude exposure (4). The present study was designed to gather additional information on mmitrogen and! water balances of young adults living at elevations of 4,300 m for a
Ferlins Show Tissue‐Specific Expression and Segregate as Plasma Membrane/Late Endosomal or Trans‐Golgi/Recycling Ferlins

Ferlins are a family of transmembrane‐anchored vesicle fusion proteins uniquely characterized by 5–7 tandem cytoplasmic C2 domains, Ca2+‐regulated phospholipid‐binding domains that regulate vesicle fusion in the synaptotagmin family. In humans, dysferlin mutations cause limb‐girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B (LGMD2B) due to defective Ca2+‐dependent, vesicle‐mediated membrane repair and otoferlin mutations cause non‐syndromic deafness due to defective Ca2+‐triggered auditory neurotransmission. In this study, we describe the tissue‐specific expression, subcellular localization and endocytic trafficking of the ferlin family. Studies of endosomal transit together with 3D‐structured illumination microscopy reveals dysferlin and myoferlin are abundantly expressed at the PM and cycle to Rab7‐positive late endosomes, supporting potential roles in the late‐endosomal pathway. In contrast, Fer1L6 shows concentrated localization to a specific compartment of the trans‐Golgi/recycling endosome, cycling rapidly between this compartment and the PM via Rab11 recycling endosomes. Otoferlin also shows trans‐Golgi to PM cycling, with very low levels of PM otoferlin suggesting either brief PM residence, or rare incorporation of otoferlin molecules into the PM. Thus, type‐I and type‐II ferlins segregate as PM/late‐endosomal or trans‐Golgi/recycling ferlins, consistent with different ferlins mediating vesicle fusion events in specific subcellular locations.
Approximation Algorithms for Orienteering with Time Windows

Orienteering is the following optimization problem: given an edge-weighted graph (directed or undirected), two nodes s,t and a time limit T, find an s-t walk of total length at most T that maximizes the number of distinct nodes visited by the walk. One obtains a generalization, namely orienteering with time-windows (also referred to as TSP with time-windows), if each node v has a specified time-window [R(v), D(v)] and a node v is counted as visited by the walk only if v is visited during its time-window. For the time-window problem, an O(\log \opt) approximation can be achieved even for directed graphs if the algorithm is allowed quasi-polynomial time. However, the best known polynomial time approximation ratios are O(\log^2 \opt) for undirected graphs and O(\log^4 \opt) in directed graphs. In this paper we make some progress towards closing this discrepancy, and in the process obtain improved approximation ratios in several natural settings. Let L(v) = D(v) - R(v) denote the length of the time-window for v and let \lmax = \max_v L(v) and \lmin = \min_v L(v). Our results are given below with \alpha denoting the known approximation ratio for orienteering (without time-windows). Currently \alpha = (2+\eps) for undirected graphs and \alpha = O(\log^2 \opt) in directed graphs. 1. An O(\alpha \log \lmax) approximation when R(v) and D(v) are integer valued for each v. 2. An O(\alpha \max{\log \opt, \log \frac{\lmax}{\lmin}}) approximation. 3. An O(\alpha \log \frac{\lmax}{\lmin}) approximation when no start and end points are specified. In particular, if \frac{\lmax}{\lmin} is poly-bounded, we obtain an O(\log n) approximation for the time-window problem in undirected graphs.
Goal-Oriented Requirements Communication in New Product Development

Product development organizations often distribute the responsibilities for requirements engineering over several roles. The collaboration of product management, concerned with market needs, and product development, concerned with the technological aspects of a product, is well established. Such shared responsibility provides advantages in the utilization of specific knowledge, skills, and resources. However, the collaboration leads to increased demands on coordination. Novel concepts and models need to be investigated to support such collaborative requirements engineering. In this paper we focus on requirements communication from product management to a development team by proposing and evaluating the model of goal-oriented requirements communication. The model explains how efficiency and effectiveness of requirements communication can be increased and allows the utilization of established requirements engineering knowledge in a new way to address the task of requirements communication.
Surface Translocation of Pactolus Is Induced by Cell Activation and Death, but Is Not Required for Neutrophil Migration and Function 1

Pactolus is a cell surface protein expressed by murine neutrophils. Pactolus is similar to the β integrins, except it lacks a functional metal ion-dependent adhesion site domain and is expressed without an α-chain partner. The majority of the Pactolus protein is held within the cell in dense granules in a highly glycosylated form. This intracellular form of Pactolus can be released to the cell surface following inflammatory activation or ligation of Pactolus on the cell surface. In addition, intracellular Pactolus translocates to the neutrophil surface following induction of apoptosis. Neutrophil activation studies suggest that Pactolus does not serve as an activating or phagocytic receptor for the neutrophil. To further define the function of Pactolus, a Pactolus-null mouse was generated. Pactolus-deficient animals mature appropriately and possess normal numbers of neutrophils, display appropriate migration into sites of inflammation, and combat introduced infections efficiently. These data suggest that Pactolus does not function as a neutrophil phagocytic or adhesion receptor, but may instead serve as a sugar-bearing ligand for lectin recognition by other cells.
Experimental methods in studying child language acquisition.

UNLABELLED This article reviews the some of the most widely used methods used for studying children's language acquisition including (1) spontaneous/naturalistic, diary, parental report data, (2) production methods (elicited production, repetition/elicited imitation, syntactic priming/weird word order), (3) comprehension methods (act-out, pointing, intermodal preferential looking, looking while listening, conditioned head turn preference procedure, functional neuroimaging) and (4) judgment methods (grammaticality/acceptability judgments, yes-no/truth-value judgments). The review outlines the types of studies and age-groups to which each method is most suited, as well as the advantage and disadvantages of each. We conclude by summarising the particular methodological considerations that apply to each paradigm and to experimental design more generally. These include (1) choosing an age-appropriate task that makes communicative sense (2) motivating children to co-operate, (3) choosing a between-/within-subjects design, (4) the use of novel items (e.g., novel verbs), (5) fillers, (6) blocked, counterbalanced and random presentation, (7) the appropriate number of trials and participants, (8) drop-out rates (9) the importance of control conditions, (10) choosing a sensitive dependent measure (11) classification of responses, and (12) using an appropriate statistical test. WIREs Cogn Sci 2013, 4:149-168. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1215 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. CONFLICT OF INTEREST The authors declare no conflict of interest.
IL-10 and Lymphotoxin-α Expression Profiles within Marginal Zone-Like B-Cell Populations Are Associated with Control of HIV-1 Disease Progression

Understanding how the immune system facilitates or controls HIV-1 disease progression has important implications for the design of effective interventions. We report that although B-cell dysregulations associated with HIV-1 disease progression are accompanied by an overall decrease in the percentage of total blood B-cells, we observe an increase in relative frequencies of cells presenting characteristics of both transitional immature and first-line marginal zone (MZ) B-cell populations, we designated as precursor MZ-like B-cells. B-cells with similar attributes have been associated with IL-10 expression and “regulatory” potential. As such, the relative frequencies of precursor MZ-like B-cells expressing IL-10 are increased in the blood of viremic HIV-1-infected individuals when compared to HIV-negative subjects. Importantly, in aviremic HIV-1 Elite-Controllers (EC), we found unaltered relative percentages of precursor MZ-like B-cells which presented normal IL-10 expression patterns. Furthermore, EC had increased relative frequencies of blood MZ-like B-cells expressing LT-α. Thus in contrast to viremic HIV-1-infected individuals, EC present MZ-like B-cell populations which IL-10 and LT-α expression profiles may favour homeostasis of immune responses and lymphoid microenvironments.
Critical paths in a metapopulation model of H1N1: Efficiently delaying influenza spreading through flight cancellation

Disease spreading through human travel networks has been a topic of great interest in recent years, as witnessed during outbreaks of influenza A (H1N1) or SARS pandemics. One way to stop spreading over the airline network are travel restrictions for major airports or network hubs based on the total number of passengers of an airport. Here, we test alternative strategies using edge removal, cancelling targeted flight connections rather than restricting traffic for network hubs, for controlling spreading over the airline network. We employ a SEIR metapopulation model that takes into account the population of cities, simulates infection within cities and across the network of the top 500 airports, and tests different flight cancellation methods for limiting the course of infection. The time required to spread an infection globally, as simulated by a stochastic global spreading model was used to rank the candidate control strategies. The model includes both local spreading dynamics at the level of populations and long-range connectivity obtained from real global airline travel data. Simulated spreading in this network showed that spreading infected 37% less individuals after cancelling a quarter of flight connections between cities, as selected by betweenness centrality. The alternative strategy of closing down whole airports causing the same number of cancelled connections only reduced infections by 18%. In conclusion, selecting highly ranked single connections between cities for cancellation was more effective, resulting in fewer individuals infected with influenza, compared to shutting down whole airports. It is also a more efficient strategy, affecting fewer passengers while producing the same reduction in infections.
Cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 expression in Barrett's oesophageal carcinogenesis: an immunohistochemical study

Background : The incidence of Barrett's oesophageal adenocarcinoma is increasing more rapidly than any other malignancy in industrialized countries. Cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 appears to play an important role in gastrointestinal carcinogenesis. Previous studies on cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 expression in Barrett's oesophageal carcinogenesis have utilized tissue samples obtained from different patients. We sought a definitive comparison of cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 expression in the sequence of Barrett's metaplasia–dysplasia–adenocarcinoma within the same patients.
Vaccine-Elicited Tier 2 HIV-1 Neutralizing Antibodies Bind to Quaternary Epitopes Involving Glycan-Deficient Patches Proximal to the CD4 Binding Site

Eliciting broad tier 2 neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) is a major goal of HIV-1 vaccine research. Here we investigated the ability of native, membrane-expressed JR-FL Env trimers to elicit nAbs. Unusually potent nAb titers developed in 2 of 8 rabbits immunized with virus-like particles (VLPs) expressing trimers (trimer VLP sera) and in 1 of 20 rabbits immunized with DNA expressing native Env trimer, followed by a protein boost (DNA trimer sera). All 3 sera neutralized via quaternary epitopes and exploited natural gaps in the glycan defenses of the second conserved region of JR-FL gp120. Specifically, trimer VLP sera took advantage of the unusual absence of a glycan at residue 197 (present in 98.7% of Envs). Intriguingly, removing the N197 glycan (with no loss of tier 2 phenotype) rendered 50% or 16.7% (n = 18) of clade B tier 2 isolates sensitive to the two trimer VLP sera, showing broad neutralization via the surface masked by the N197 glycan. Neutralizing sera targeted epitopes that overlap with the CD4 binding site, consistent with the role of the N197 glycan in a putative “glycan fence” that limits access to this region. A bioinformatics analysis suggested shared features of one of the trimer VLP sera and monoclonal antibody PG9, consistent with its trimer-dependency. The neutralizing DNA trimer serum took advantage of the absence of a glycan at residue 230, also proximal to the CD4 binding site and suggesting an epitope similar to that of monoclonal antibody 8ANC195, albeit lacking tier 2 breadth. Taken together, our data show for the first time that strain-specific holes in the glycan fence can allow the development of tier 2 neutralizing antibodies to native spikes. Moreover, cross-neutralization can occur in the absence of protecting glycan. Overall, our observations provide new insights that may inform the future development of a neutralizing antibody vaccine.
Primate DNA suggests long-term stability of an African rainforest

Red colobus monkeys, due to their sensitivity to environmental change, are indicator species of the overall health of their tropical rainforest habitats. As a result of habitat loss and overhunting, they are among the most endangered primates in the world, with very few viable populations remaining. Traditionally, extant indicator species have been used to signify the conditions of their current habitats, but they have also been employed to track past environmental conditions by detecting previous population fluctuations. Kibale National Park (KNP) in Uganda harbors the only remaining unthreatened large population of red colobus. We used microsatellite DNA to evaluate the historical demography of these red colobus and, therefore, the long-term stability of their habitat. We find that the red colobus population throughout KNP has been stable for at least ∼40,000 years. We interpret this result as evidence of long-term forest stability because a change in the available habitat or population movement would have elicited a corresponding change in population size. We conclude that the forest of what is now Kibale National Park may have served as a Late Pleistocene refuge for many East African species.
Extended Spiking Neural P Systems Generating Strings and Vectors of Non-Negative Integers

We consider extended variants of spiking neural P systems and show how these extensions of the original model allow for easy proofs of the computational completeness of extended spiking neural P systems and for the characterization of semilinear sets and regular languages by finite extended spiking neural P systems (defined by having only finite sets of rules assigned to the cells) with only a bounded number of neurons.