Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of tumor histogenesis, FDG-PET, and short-course EPOCH with dose-dense rituximab (SC-EPOCH-RR) in HIV-associated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

This is a phase 2 study to assess the role of tumor histogenesis (subtype), fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), and short-course etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin with dose-dense rituximab (SC-EPOCH-RR) in newly diagnosed HIV-associated CD20(+) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Patients received a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 cycles with 1 cycle beyond stable radiographic and FDG-PET scans. Overall, 79% of patients received 3 cycles. Combination antiretroviral therapy was suspended before and resumed after therapy. Thirty-three enrolled patients had a median age of 42 years (range, 9-61 years), and 76% had a high-intermediate or high age-adjusted international prognostic index. At 5 years median follow-up, progression-free and overall survival were 84% and 68%, respectively. There were no treatment-related deaths or new opportunistic infections during treatment, and patients had sustained CD4 cell count recovery and HIV viral control after treatment. FDG-PET after 2 cycles had an excellent negative but poor positive predictive value. Tumor histogenesis was the only characteristic associated with lymphoma-specific outcome with 95% of germinal center B-cell (GCB) versus 44% of non-GCB diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) progression-free at 5 years. SC-EPOCH-RR is highly effective and less immunosuppressive with shorter duration therapy compared with standard strategies. However, new therapeutic advances are needed for non-GCB DLBCL, which remains the important cause of lymphoma-specific death. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as NCT000019253.
Integrative analysis and expression profiling of secondary cell wall genes in C4 biofuel model Setaria italica reveals targets for lignocellulose bioengineering

Several underutilized grasses have excellent potential for use as bioenergy feedstock due to their lignocellulosic biomass. Genomic tools have enabled identification of lignocellulose biosynthesis genes in several sequenced plants. However, the non-availability of whole genome sequence of bioenergy grasses hinders the study on bioenergy genomics and their genomics-assisted crop improvement. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.; Si) is a model crop for studying systems biology of bioenergy grasses. In the present study, a systematic approach has been used for identification of gene families involved in cellulose (CesA/Csl), callose (Gsl) and monolignol biosynthesis (PAL, C4H, 4CL, HCT, C3H, CCoAOMT, F5H, COMT, CCR, CAD) and construction of physical map of foxtail millet. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of identified proteins showed that monolignol biosynthesis proteins were highly diverse, whereas CesA/Csl and Gsl proteins were homologous to rice and Arabidopsis. Comparative mapping of foxtail millet lignocellulose biosynthesis genes with other C4 panicoid genomes revealed maximum homology with switchgrass, followed by sorghum and maize. Expression profiling of candidate lignocellulose genes in response to different abiotic stresses and hormone treatments showed their differential expression pattern, with significant higher expression of SiGsl12, SiPAL2, SiHCT1, SiF5H2, and SiCAD6 genes. Further, due to the evolutionary conservation of grass genomes, the insights gained from the present study could be extrapolated for identifying genes involved in lignocellulose biosynthesis in other biofuel species for further characterization.
“Not So Black and White”

Although Twitter may not be representative of the overall population, information gathered from Twitter can assist our understanding of what people think about certain social issues, particularly race. With this in mind, using Twitter as the main source for data collection, this study tracks the #Ferguson hashtag in the 4 days following the killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, to examine how race was discussed in the aftermath of the event. A key question guiding this article is how do the tweets captured resonate with broader understandings about race in America?
Spread of Varicella-Zoster Virus DNA to Family Members and Environments From Siblings With Varicella in a Household

Objective. To elucidate virus spread from siblings with varicella to other family members and environmental objects in a family setting before and after onset of the disease. Materials and Methods. Among a family consisting of five members, a boy developed varicella and the remaining two siblings developed the disease 17 and 18 days after onset of the index case. Swab samples from throats and hands of parents and three siblings and samples from several sources in the environment of the house were collected frequently before and/or after onset of the disease. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) DNA in the samples was examined by a sensitive polymerase chain reaction amplification assay. Results. In total, 108 samples from the throats and hands of the three children with varicella, 72 such samples from parents, and 72 samples from the surfaces of several sources in the house were collected. Eight days after onset of the index case (the older boy), VZV DNA was detected in both samples from the index case and on the surfaces of four sources (air conditioner filter, table, television channel push-buttons, and door handle), but not from the two other siblings or parents. Then, it was detected once on the mother's hand and the air conditioner filter and three times on the television channel push-buttons by January 30, 1998, when the girl developed varicella, 17 days after onset of the index case. The younger brother developed the disease on January 31. Viral DNA could not be detected in any samples obtained on January 30; however, it was detected on the hands of the older boy and the father and in samples from the hand and throat of the girl on January 31. Thereafter, virus DNA was detected three times intermittently by February 13 on the hand and three times persistently in the throat of the girl. The virus DNA was detected three times between February 1 and 3 on the hand and three times between February 1 and 4 in the throat of the younger boy. It was detected occasionally on the hands of the older boy and the parents, and occasionally or intermittently on surfaces of four environmental sources between February 2 and 13. Conclusions. The present study showed the rapid and broad contamination of the environment with the VZV DNA when the varicella patient appeared in a family, although it does not directly mean infectivity.
Healthcare and the long haul: Long distance truck drivers--a medically underserved population.

BACKGROUND Long distance trucking is associated with significant health risks. However, to our knowledge no published data exist regarding healthcare service access by the estimated two million long-haul truckers in the United States. METHODS A cross-sectional study was designed to assess access to healthcare among these workers. Five hundred-twenty-one anonymous self-administered surveys were completed at 16 truck stops in 14 states from July through August 2002. RESULTS Forty-seven percent of those surveyed lack a regular healthcare provider, 20% frequent emergency rooms and urgent care centers, 32% were unable to receive needed healthcare within the last year, and 56% had difficulty utilizing healthcare services at home. Individuals lacking health insurance (31%) experienced more difficulty with healthcare access than the insured within the last year, were more often without a regular provider (P = 0.002 and P < 0.001), and utilized urgent care centers and emergency rooms more often than the insured (25 vs. 17%). CONCLUSIONS Long distance truck drivers are at risk for poor health outcomes and experience significant difficulty accessing healthcare services. Further studies concerning how to best provide healthcare to this vulnerable, underserved population are needed.
At the leading edge of three-dimensional cell migration

Summary Cells migrating on flat two-dimensional (2D) surfaces use actin polymerization to extend the leading edge of the plasma membrane during lamellipodia-based migration. This mode of migration is not universal; it represents only one of several mechanisms of cell motility in three-dimensional (3D) environments. The distinct modes of 3D migration are strongly dependent on the physical properties of the extracellular matrix, and they can be distinguished by the structure of the leading edge and the degree of matrix adhesion. How are these distinct modes of cell motility in 3D environments related to each other and regulated? Recent studies show that the same type of cell migrating in 3D extracellular matrix can switch between different leading edge structures. This mode-switching behavior, or plasticity, by a single cell suggests that the apparent diversity of motility mechanisms is integrated by a common intracellular signaling pathway that governs the mode of cell migration. In this Commentary, we propose that the mode of 3D cell migration is governed by a signaling axis involving cell–matrix adhesions, RhoA signaling and actomyosin contractility, and that this might represent a universal mechanism that controls 3D cell migration.
The Usefulness of Rapid Diagnostic Tests in the New Context of Low Malaria Transmission in Zanzibar

Background We assessed if histidine-rich-protein-2 (HRP2) based rapid diagnostic test (RDT) remains an efficient tool for Plasmodium falciparum case detection among fever patients in Zanzibar and if primary health care workers continue to adhere to RDT results in the new epidemiological context of low malaria transmission. Further, we evaluated the performance of RDT within the newly adopted integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) algorithm in Zanzibar. Methods and Findings We enrolled 3890 patients aged ≥2 months with uncomplicated febrile illness in this health facility based observational study conducted in 12 primary health care facilities in Zanzibar, between May-July 2010. One patient had an inconclusive RDT result. Overall 121/3889 (3.1%) patients were RDT positive. The highest RDT positivity rate, 32/528 (6.1%), was found in children aged 5–14 years. RDT sensitivity and specificity against PCR was 76.5% (95% CI 69.0–83.9%) and 99.9% (95% CI 99.7–100%), and against blood smear microscopy 78.6% (95% CI 70.8–85.1%) and 99.7% (95% CI 99.6–99.9%), respectively. All RDT positive, but only 3/3768 RDT negative patients received anti-malarial treatment. Adherence to RDT results was thus 3887/3889 (99.9%). RDT performed well in the IMCI algorithm with equally high adherence among children <5 years as compared with other age groups. Conclusions The sensitivity of HRP-2 based RDT in the hands of health care workers compared with both PCR and microscopy for P. falciparum case detection was relatively low, whereas adherence to test results with anti-malarial treatment was excellent. Moreover, the results provide evidence that RDT can be reliably integrated in IMCI as a tool for improved childhood fever management. However, the relatively low RDT sensitivity highlights the need for improved quality control of RDT use in primary health care facilities, but also for more sensitive point-of-care malaria diagnostic tools in the new epidemiological context of low malaria transmission in Zanzibar. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01002066
Patterns of alcohol use and consequences among empirically derived sexual minority subgroups.

OBJECTIVE The current study develops an empirically determined classification of sexual orientation developmental patterns based on participants' annual reports of self-identifications, sexual attractions, and sexual behaviors during the first 4 years of college. A secondary aim of the current work was to examine trajectories of alcohol involvement among identified subgroups. METHOD Data were drawn from a subsample of a longitudinal study of incoming first-time college students at a large, public university (n = 2,068). Longitudinal latent class analysis was used to classify sexual minority participants into empirically derived subgroups based on three self-reported facets of sexual orientation. Multivariate repeated-measures analyses were conducted to examine how trajectories of alcohol involvement varied by sexual orientation class membership. RESULTS Four unique subclasses of sexual orientation developmental patterns were identified for males and females: one consistently exclusively heterosexual group and three sexual minority groups. Despite generally similar alcohol use patterns among subclasses, certain sexual minority subgroups reported elevated levels of alcohol-related negative consequences and maladaptive motivations for use throughout college compared with their exclusively heterosexual counterparts. CONCLUSIONS Elevations in coping and conformity motivations for alcohol use were seen among those subgroups that also evidenced heightened negative alcohol-related consequences. Implications and limitations of the current work are discussed.
The relationships between police performance and public confidence: a case study of Thailand

Abstract There have been very few empirical studies conducted in Thailand on public confidence in the Thai police. Most studies on this topic in Thailand are descriptive and have been done only as part of the organization’s annual reports. The results of this study were from a national survey of 9900 Thai people. The study examined the correlations between various factors and public attitudes toward their confidence in police. Of the four categories (demographic, contextual, contact with the police, and attitudes toward police performance), the study’s findings revealed the attitudes toward crime suppression and toward crime prevention, in that order, had the strongest correlations with confidence attitudes in police.
A Psychodynamic Perspective on a Systematic Review of Online Psychotherapy for Adults

A variety of new psychotherapy modalities has arisen in which the contact between patient and therapist takes place via the internet. The main objective of this systematic review is to investigate the types of online psychotherapy (OP) conducted nowadays, and to describe their main characteristics to psychodynamic psychotherapists who may wish to better understand the current scientific literature on the subject. The review used two databases, EMBASE and PsycINFO. Fifty-nine studies were retrieved and the main online psychotherapy modalities identified were self-therapy programmes using contact via email or chat; videoconference; and therapy exclusively via chat or email. The result of these studies suggests that OP is more effective than a waiting list control group. When compared with face-to-face therapies, OP showed similar effects. Most studies involved cognitive behavioural therapy; only two studies involved a form of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Different forms of communication allow patient and therapist to establish different relationships and therapeutic possibilities. OPs may be feasible treatment alternatives; however, it remains unclear, especially in relation to psychodynamic treatments, if therapeutic technique in OP, which involves changes in comparison with face-to-face therapies, would be useful in severe cases. Psychodynamic psychotherapists should adopt a posture of constant reflection on the changes taking place in the world and their impact on the minds of individuals, without, nevertheless, idealizing the ‘new’.
Utilization of Orthodontic Services in the Fars Province, Iran: The Reasons People Travel to the Capital for Orthodontic Treatment

Statement of the Problem The first step towards appropriately planning orthodontic treatment and prevention services is to understand the needs and demands of the target population. However, this is ignored in most developing countries. Purpose This study aims to evaluate the attitudes of patients in Fars province towards travelling to the provincial capital (Shiraz) to receive orthodontic treatments. Materials and Method This cross-sectional study randomly selected 420 patients referring to two public and four private orthodontic centers in Shiraz, coming from other regions of Fars province. The patients were interviewed about their demographic status, residing area and the reasons of deciding to receive orthodontic treatment in Shiraz. Data were analyzed by SPSS software, using Chi-square and ANOVA statistical tests. Results The response rate was 96% (N=403). Near half of the patients (176; 43.7 %) lived 100-200km, and 80 (19.9%) patients lived farther than 200km from Shiraz. Having no orthodontist (54.8%) and no dentist providing orthodontic treatment (39.2%) in their region were the most important factors bringing the patients to provincial capital for orthodontic treatments. High costs of treatment in their home county and hoping to receive treatment of higher quality were the other important motives for lower and higher socio-economic backgrounds, respectively. Friends'/relatives' recommendation was a more important factor in patients using public clinics for choosing their therapist, while referral from dentists was more important for patients going to private clinics. The patients who lived in counties farther than 200km from Shiraz were more concerned about quality of treatment results than those who lived closer (p= 0.010). Conclusion A multifactorial approach is needed to provide the desired orthodontic services for people in Fars province so that they would not need to travel to the capital for such treatments.
Caudate Nucleus Signals for Breaches of Expectation in a Movement Observation Paradigm

The striatum has been established as a carrier of reward-related prediction errors. This prediction error signal concerns the difference between how much reward was predicted and how much reward is gained. However, it remains to be established whether general breaches of expectation, i.e., perceptual prediction errors, are also implemented in the striatum. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the role of caudate nucleus in breaches of expectation. Importantly, breaches were not related to the occurrence or absence of reward. Preceding the fMRI study, participants were trained to produce a sequence of whole-body movements according to auditory cues. In the fMRI session, they watched movies of a dancer producing the same sequences either according to the cue (88%) or not (12%). Caudate nucleus was activated for the prediction-violating movements. This activation was flanked by activity in posterior superior temporal sulcus, the temporo-parietal junction and adjacent angular gyrus, a network that may convey the deviating movement to caudate nucleus, while frontal areas may reflect adaptive adjustments of the current prediction. Alternative interpretations of caudate activity relating either to the saliency of breaches of expectation or to behavioral adaptation could be excluded by two control contrasts. The results foster the notion that neurons in the caudate nucleus code for a breach in expectation, and point toward a distributed network involved in detecting, signaling and adjusting behavior and expectations toward violated prediction.
Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems ( PACIS ) 2014 UNDERSTANDING E-PROCUREMENT SYSTEM BENEFITS USING ORGANISATIONAL ADOPTION MOTIVATION LENS : A CASE STUDY

Adoption of e-procurement systems and the likely benefits that organisations can achieve have been widely discussed. However, what still remains puzzling is the variation in benefits that organisations experience from the adoption of even the same e-procurement system. A few e-commerce scholars applied the factor-based approach to help explain difference in e-procurement benefits, but with limited success. In this paper, we propose an alternative theoretical framework (known as EPAMS) that draws inspirations from the notion of ‘organisational motivation’ for Inter-Organisational System (IOS) adoption context. Our framework relates organisational adoption motivations for eprocurement systems with three types of benefits. We further report the outcomes of analysing eprocurement benefits experience of a large municipality located in a state capital city of Australia. We explain the municipality’s attainment of e-procurement benefits in terms of motivation it had established for adopting the e-procurement system in the first place. The case study data provide preliminary support for our assertion of an association between an organisation’s e-procurement systems adoption motivation and the benefits these systems can offer. This finding has implications for the IS/e-commerce scholars and practitioners alike.
Cardiovascular properties of LF 2.0254, a new potent vasoselective calcium channel blocker with a slow onset of action

Summary— The effects of LF 2.0254, a new 1,4‐dihydropyridine derivative, were studied in rabbit aorta stimulated by various contractile agents and in isolated guinea pig atria. LF 2.0254 inhibited in a time‐dependent fashion K+‐ and CA2+‐induced contractions of rabbit aorta with respective IC50 of 2.7 nM and 1.7 nM. An action of LF 2.0254 at the voltage operated calcium channel was consistent with the finding that LF 2.0254 antagonized 45Ca2+‐uptake induced by depolarisation of smooth muscle, and since contractile responses evoked by (‐) norepinephrine and the calcium ionophore A23187 were insensitive to the drug. In isolated paced left atria and spontaneously beating right atria of guinea pig, LF 2.0254 added for 60 min at 1 μM only slightly decreased the contractile force and beating rate. In anesthetized open‐thorax dogs, LF 2.0254 (1 to 100 μg/kg, iv) dose‐dependently lowered systemic blood pressure and increased cardiac output with a slower onset of action than nifedipine. LF 2.0254 and nifedipine decreased total peripheral, coronary, femoral and vertebral resistance. In marked contrast to nifedipine, LF 2.0254 induced only a slight decrease in left ventricular dP/dt. In conscious hypertensive dogs LF 2.0254 (0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg per or) decreased blood pressure and concomitantly increased heart rate and plasma renin activity. It is concluded that LF 2.0254 differs markedly from nifedipine in its more gradual onset of action and greater selectivity for the vasculature with respect to the myocardium.
Threshold parameters for a model of epidemic spread among households and workplaces

The basic reproduction number R 0 is one of the most important concepts in modern infectious disease epidemiology. However, for more realistic and more complex models than those assuming homogeneous mixing in the population, other threshold quantities can be defined that are sometimes more useful and easily derived in terms of model parameters. In this paper, we present a model for the spread of a permanently immunizing infection in a population socially structured into households and workplaces/schools, and we propose and discuss a new household-to-household reproduction number R H for it. We show how R H overcomes some of the limitations of a previously proposed threshold parameter, and we highlight its relationship with the effort required to control an epidemic when interventions are targeted at randomly selected households.