Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coinfection with hepatitis viruses and outcome of initial antiretroviral regimens in previously naive HIV-infected subjects.

BACKGROUND The effect of chronic coinfection with hepatitis viruses on the response to therapy against human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) remains debated. METHODS In a prospective cohort study, the effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) serostatus on the outcome of potent HIV-1 therapy was analyzed in HIV-1-infected patients previously naive to antiretroviral therapy. Changes from baseline CD4+ cell counts and HIV RNA levels over time were analyzed by linear regression models. Time to clinical progression and time to reach virologic and immunologic response were analyzed by multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS We studied 1320 patients, among whom 600 were HCV antibody-positive and 90 were HBV surface antigen-positive. During a median follow-up of 37 months (range, 1-48 months), clinical progression was observed in 99 patients (56 new acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-defining events and 43 deaths). In multivariate models, HCV-positive HBV-negative patients showed a shorter time to clinical progression (hazard ratio, 1.55; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-2.41). Patients who were HCV-positive also showed mean CD4+ recoveries over time that were at least 30 cells/ micro L fewer than those of seronegative patients. Hepatitis virus serostatus did not affect the virologic response to HIV-1 therapy. CONCLUSIONS Clinical progression of HIV-1 disease after starting potent antiretroviral therapy is accelerated by concomitant infection with HCV. Compared with patients without coinfection, coinfected patients showed impaired CD4+ cell recovery, despite similar virologic response to HIV-1 therapy. These findings may have important implications for the treatment of HCV and for the timing of initiation of HIV-1 therapy in coinfected individuals.
Production , Manufacturing and Logistics Learning curves for imperfect production processes with reworks and process restoration interruptions

Many production processes are not defect free, and reworks are unavoidable. This makes the assumption of the Wright’s learning curve [Wright, T. , 1936. Factors affecting the cost of airplanes. Journal of Aeronautical Science 3 (2), 122–128] that all units produced are of acceptable quality impractical, suggesting a linkage between quality and learning to be inevitable. The quality learning curve (QLC) developed by Jaber and Guiffrida [Jaber, M.Y. , Guiffrida, A.L. , 2004. Learning curves for processes generating defects requiring reworks. European Journal of Operational Research 159 (3), 663–672] is a modification of the Wright’s learning curve for processes that generate defects that can be reworked. This paper investigates the QLC for the assumption that the production process is interrupted for quality maintenance to bring the process in control again. New learning curves are developed with numerical examples provided and results discussed. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Fluid-mineral-CO2 interactions during geological storage of carbon dioxide

In order utilise geological carbon dioxide storage (GCS) at an industrial scale predictions of reservoir scale behaviour, both chemical and physical must be made. In order to ground-truth the geochemical data underlying such predictions, laboratory experiments at temperatures and CO2 pressures relevant to GCS are essential. Mineral dissolution rate, CO2 solubility and pH data has been collected from batch experiments carried out on quartz, K-feldspar, albite, calcite, dolomite and Sherwood Sandstone materials. These experiments were designed to assess the influence of a variety of factors on dissolution rates: changes in grain size from 125μm - 180μm to 500μm - 600μm; changes in fluid composition from deionised water to 1.36M NaCl solution; changes in CO2 pressure from 4 bar to 31 bar; changes in temperature from 22°C to 70°C. Experiments carried out on the Sherwood Sandstone material also included work on consolidated rock, rather than the powder used in other experiments. Calculated dissolution rates for silicates were found to agree well with values calculated from literature-sourced dissolution equations and the USGS-produced general rate equation (USGS 2004) was found to be suitable for predicting these rates. Calculated dissolution rates for the carbonate minerals was found to be strongly retarded due to transport effects, with literature-sourced equations significantly over-predicting dissolution rates. Dissolution of the sandstone material was found to be dominated by K-feldspar and dolomite dissolution, rates of which compare favourably with those obtained from the single mineral experiments. A significant increase in porosity was observed in the core flow-through experiment, associated with dolomite dissolution. Several experiments were carried out using a Hele-Shaw cell in order to visualise the formation and migration of density plumes which form as CO2 dissolved into unsaturated fluids. Introduction of NaCl and decreases in permeability were found to significantly retard migration of CO2 saturated fluid, while minor heterogeneities in the cells served to focus and accelerate plume movement. Modelling work suggests that predictive models currently underestimate the rapidity of formation and migration of these plumes.
Contribution of Ethylene Biosynthesis for Resistance to Blast Fungus Infection in Young Rice Plants1[OA]

The role of ethylene (ET) in resistance to infection with blast fungus (Magnaporthe grisea) in rice (Oryza sativa) is poorly understood. To study it, we quantified ET levels after inoculation, using young rice plants at the four-leaf stage of rice cv Nipponbare (wild type) and its isogenic plant (IL7), which contains the Pi-i resistance gene to blast fungus race 003. Small necrotic lesions by hypersensitive reaction (HR) were formed at 42 to 72 h postinoculation (hpi) in resistant IL7 leaves, and whitish expanding lesions at 96 hpi in susceptible wild-type leaves. Notable was the enhanced ET emission at 48 hpi accompanied by increased 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) levels and highly elevated ACC oxidase (ACO) activity in IL7 leaves, whereas only an enhanced ACC increase at 96 hpi in wild-type leaves. Among six ACC synthase (ACS) and seven ACO genes found in the rice genome, OsACS2 was transiently expressed at 48 hpi in IL7 and at 96 hpi in wild type, and OsACO7 was expressed at 48 hpi in IL7. Treatment with an inhibitor for ACS, aminooxyacetic acid, suppressed enhanced ET emission at 48 hpi in IL7, resulting in expanding lesions instead of HR lesions. Exogenously supplied ACC compromised the aminooxyacetic acid-induced breakdown of resistance in IL7, and treatment with 1-methylcyclopropene and silver thiosulfate, inhibitors of ET action, did not suppress resistance. These findings suggest the importance of ET biosynthesis and, consequently, the coproduct, cyanide, for HR-accompanied resistance to blast fungus in young rice plants and the contribution of induced OsACS2 and OsACO7 gene expression to it.
Retroactive Streaming Fails to Improve Concurrent Vowel Identification

The sequential organization of sound over time can interact with the concurrent organization of sounds across frequency. Previous studies using simple acoustic stimuli have suggested that sequential streaming cues can retroactively affect the perceptual organization of sounds that have already occurred. It is unknown whether such effects generalize to the perception of speech sounds. Listeners’ ability to identify two simultaneously presented vowels was measured in the following conditions: no context, a preceding context stream (precursors), and a following context stream (postcursors). The context stream was comprised of brief repetitions of one of the two vowels, and the primary measure of performance was listeners’ ability to identify the other vowel. Results in the precursor condition showed a significant advantage for the identification of the second vowel compared to the no-context condition, suggesting that sequential grouping mechanisms aided the segregation of the concurrent vowels, in agreement with previous work. However, performance in the postcursor condition was significantly worse compared to the no-context condition, providing no evidence for an effect of stream segregation, and suggesting a possible interference effect. Two additional experiments involving inharmonic (jittered) vowels were performed to provide additional cues to aid retroactive stream segregation; however, neither manipulation enabled listeners to improve their identification of the target vowel. Taken together with earlier studies, the results suggest that retroactive streaming may require large spectral differences between concurrent sources and thus may not provide a robust segregation cue for natural broadband sounds such as speech.
A regional climate modeling study of the effect of desert dust on the West African monsoon

[1] We investigate the effect of the shortwave radiative forcing of Saharan dust on the West African monsoon with a regional climate model interactively coupled to a dust model. Toward this purpose we intercompare sets of 38 summer monsoon season simulations (1969–2006) with and without dust effects over a domain encompassing most of the African continent and adjacent regions. We find that the main effect of the dust radiative shortwave forcing is to reduce precipitation over the Sahel region. This is in response to cooling over the Sahara, which decreases the meridional gradient of moist static energy and results in a weakening of the monsoon energy pump. The dust effects also cause a strengthening of the southern branch of the African Easterly Jet and a weakening of Tropical Easterly Jet. Over the Sahel the dust forcing causes climate response patterns that are similar to those found during dry years over the Sahel, which suggests that Saharan dust feedbacks might have a role in maintaining drought events over the region. Overall, the inclusion of dust also tends to improve the model simulation of the West African monsoon, as well as African and Tropical Easterly jets. This work focuses on climatic feedback associated to shortwave radiation forcing and should be further completed by the study of dust effect on long-wave radiation.
Ontong Java Plateau eruption as a trigger for the early Aptian oceanic anoxic event

The Early Cretaceous Ontong Java Plateau was emplaced at almost the same time as marine biotic changes that culminated in oceanic anoxic event 1 (OAE1a). A causative link between these events has been suggested, but direct evidence has been lacking until now. New Os isotope measurements across the Lower Aptian “Selli Level” black shale deposited during OAE1a in central Italy reveal two negative excursions in marine 187 Os/ 188 Os ratios within a period of 2 Ma starting above the Barremian-Aptian boundary and ending just above the Selli Level horizon, suggesting an order-of-magnitude increase in the global fl ux of unradiogenic Os. The results are consistent with early and major phases of eruption of the Ontong Java Plateau. The latter phase is estimated to have been as short as ~1 Ma and may have induced widespread oceanic stratifi cation that triggered OAE1a.
Experimental Evaluation of High-speed Data Transmission in a Waveguide-based Interconnect

The waveguide-based interconnects can be embedded within the substrate of electronic systems using PCB technology. In this paper, the first experimental validation of a waveguide-based interconnect system for high-speed digital transmission is presented. The efficiency of the interconnect is demonstrated by measuring the eye diagrams for 2.5Gb/s data transmission
Influence of Wood Debris Accumulation on Bridge Pier Scour

This note deals with the influence of debris accumulation on scour around bridge piers. Clear-water experiments in different hydraulic conditions have been carried out with three wood debris shapes: rectangular, triangular, and cylindrical. A wide range of debris thickness and width were studied in order to determine their influence on the maximum scour hole depth temporal evolution. The ratio of the pier diameter to the channel width was varied between 0.05 and 0.12 with total bridge contractions up to 20%. A proposed relation presents a simple design procedure to predict the increase in scour depth, which mainly depends on the flow contraction due to the debris accumulation.
Multivalent ions induce lateral structural inhomogeneities in polyelectrolyte brushes

Polymer chain bridging by multivalent ions and solvophobic attractions drives structure formation in charged polymer brushes. Subtle details about a polyelectrolyte’s surrounding environment can dictate its structural features and potential applications. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), surface forces apparatus (SFA) measurements, and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations are combined to study the structure of planar polyelectrolyte brushes [poly(styrenesulfonate), PSS] in a variety of solvent conditions. More specifically, AFM images provide a first direct visualization of lateral inhomogeneities on the surface of polyelectrolyte brushes collapsed in solutions containing trivalent counterions. These images are interpreted in the context of a coarse-grained molecular model and are corroborated by accompanying interaction force measurements with the SFA. Our findings indicate that lateral inhomogeneities are absent from PSS brush layers collapsed in a poor solvent without multivalent ions. Together, AFM, SFA, and our molecular model present a detailed picture in which solvophobic and multivalent ion–induced effects work in concert to drive strong phase separation, with electrostatic bridging of polyelectrolyte chains playing an essential role in the collapsed structure formation.
Environmental Impact Of Hazardous Waste Landfill Breakdown

The subject of the study was a haaardous waste landfill in Pozd'Btky (Southern Moravia, Czech Kepublic), where tox~c chemicals started to escape into surrounding area causing s~gn~ficant impact on environment. The source of pollution was waste fcrrous sulphate dcpositcd at the landfill in total amount 12 000 tons. Because of perforation of bottom linen. as well as destruction of upper c o w a g e HDPE foil. the highly acidic and concentrated leachates (pH 2 3, up to 45 000 mgll) were formed in landfill body and released into groundwater and in some cases even direcllq flowed on the ground surface. This paper reports the ecotoxicological analysis of the area impacted by landfill breakdown, Three different types oC soil ecotox~cological tests were performed using samples taken at the area affected. The inam adverse effect observed has caused by low pH. No additional toxic rcsponse was obtained after neutralisation.
Biomechanical determinants of transverse and rotary gallop in cursorial mammals

SUMMARY Transverse and rotary gallop differ in the placement of the leading hindfeet and forefeet: ipsilateral in the former gait, contralateral in the latter. We analysed 351 filmed sequences to assess the gallop type of 89 investigated mammalian species belonging to Carnivora, Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla orders. Twenty-three biometrical, ecological and physiological parameters were collected for each species both from literature data and from animal specimens. Most of the species showed only one kind of gallop: transverse (42%) or rotary (39%), while some species performed rotary gallop only at high speed (19%). In a factorial analysis, the first principal component (PC), which accounted for 40% of the total variance, was positively correlated to the relative speed and negatively correlated to size and body mass. The second PC was correlated to the ratio between distal and proximal limb segments. Large size and longer proximal limb segments were associated with transverse gallop, while rotary and speed-dependent species showed higher metacarpus/humerus and metatarsus/femur length ratio and faster relative speeds. The resulting limb excursion angles were proportional to the square-root of the Froude number, and significantly higher in rotary gallopers. The gait pattern analysis indicated significant differences between transverse and rotary gallop in forelimb and hindlimb duty factor (t-test; P<0.001), and in duration of the forelimb contact (t-test; P=0.045). Our results show that an exclusive gallop gait is adopted by a large number of mammalian species, and indicate that the gallop pattern depends on diverse environmental, morphometrical and biomechanical characters.
Basaltic fragments in lunar feldspathic meteorites: Connecting sample analyses to orbital remote sensing

Abstract– The feldspathic lunar meteorites contain rare fragments of crystalline basalts. We analyzed 16 basalt fragments from four feldspathic lunar meteorites (Allan Hills [ALHA] 81005, MacAlpine Hills [MAC] 88104/88105, Queen Alexandra Range [QUE] 93069, Miller Range [MIL] 07006) and utilized literature data for another (Dhofar [Dho] 1180). We compositionally classify basalt fragments according to their magma’s estimated TiO2 contents, which we derive for crystalline basalts from pyroxene TiO2 and the mineral‐melt Ti distribution coefficient. Overall, most of the basalt fragments are low‐Ti basalts (1–6% TiO2), with a significant proportion of very‐low‐Ti basalts (<1% TiO2). Only a few basalt clasts were high‐Ti or intermediate Ti types (>10% TiO2 and 6–10% TiO2, respectively). This distribution of basalt TiO2 abundances is nearly identical to that obtained from orbital remote sensing of the moon (both UV‐Vis from Clementine, and gamma ray from Lunar Prospector). However, the distribution of TiO2 abundances is unlike those of the Apollo and Luna returned samples: we observe a paucity of high‐Ti basalts. The compositional types of basalt differs from meteorite to meteorite, which implies that all basalt subtypes are not randomly distributed on the Moon, i.e., the basalt fragments in each meteorite probably represent basalts in the neighborhood of the meteorite launch site. These differences in basalt chemistry and classifications may be useful in identifying the source regions of some feldspathic meteorites. Some of the basalt fragments probably originate from ancient cryptomaria, and so may hold clues to the petrogenesis of the Moon’s oldest volcanism.
Urban Indicators of China from Radiance-Calibrated Digital DMSP-OLS Nighttime Images

A composite of cloud-free radiance-calibrated Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)-Operational Linescan System (OLS) nighttime images of China acquired between March 1996 and January– February 1997 in 30-arc-second grids in byte format is evaluated for its usefulness in extracting urban indicators data of China. With the aid of image-processing and Environmental Systems Research Institute’s ArcView GIS software with 3-D Analysis extension, zonal variations of radiance were extracted and three-dimensional models created using Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) functionality for thirty-five cities. Two variables were extracted from the TIN model: surface area and volume. These were used separately as independent variables in the form of an allometric growth model to estimate the following urban indicators for individual Chinese cities: nonagricultural population, gross domestic product (GDP), built-up area, and electricity consumption. The estimates obtained were checked against data supplied by the Statistical Bureau of China for 1997, the same period during which the DMSP-OLS images were acquired. It was found that urban indicators of acceptable accuracy could be obtained, provided that cities designated as Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were excluded. Volume appeared to be slightly better than surface area in estimating these urban indicators. In all cases, total nonagricultural population for all the cities combined could be very accurately estimated, indicating the usefulness of the radiance-calibrated DMSP-OLS nighttime images to determine the level of urbanization in China. The three-dimensional TIN model portrays an illuminated urban area (IUA) dome, the shape of which is affected by the internal structure of the city. The core of the city invariably exhibits the highest level of light intensity in the DMSP-OLS nighttime image. However, only a very limited amount of land-use information could be extracted. The image was also found to be useful in detecting the special urban phenomenon in China known as the extended metropolitan region, in which rural and urban uses intermixed and small towns developed. In conclusion, despite the low spatial resolution, the radiance-calibrated DMSP-OLS nighttime images are capable of providing useful demographic and socioeconomic data for cities.
Understanding the continuous self-disclosure of bloggers from the cost-benefit perspective

This study aims to understand the factors that influence bloggers' continuous self-disclosure from the cost-benefit perspective and the self-disclosure theory. From the “benefits” aspect, it investigates the influence of self-disclosure on bloggers' self-esteem, social life, and positive affect. From the “cost” aspect, it discusses the influence of self-disclosure on bloggers' loss of face, privacy, and negative affect. The study then discusses the influence of these factors on bloggers' subjective well-being, along with the benefits and the costs resulting from blogging. Finally, it probes into how the individuals' intention to continuously blog and the perception of subjective well-being influence their continuous self-disclosure in blogs. As a whole, compared to “negative costs”, the “positive benefits” obtained by bloggers from self-disclosure have greater influence on their perception of subjective well-being and stimulate their intention and behavior toward continuous self-disclosure in blogs.
Source and transport of trace metals in the Hatea River catchment and estuary, Whangarei, New Zealand

Abstract A survey of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, and As concentrations in bed sediment, fresh waters, storm waters, and suspended particulate matter (SPM) has been undertaken in the Hatea River catchment, Whangarei, New Zealand. The most recently deposited sediment in the Hatea River estuary has elevated levels of Cu, Pb, and Zn, derived from tributaries draining the more densely‐populated western side of the catchment, city stormwater drains, and Cu‐bear‐ing antifoulants used in the marina. All trace metals were transported in both “dissolved” and particulate form in the freshwater tributaries. However, an estimated loading of metal transported by the lower Hatea River under different flow regimes indicated that trace metals were predominantly conveyed by coarse (>0.45 μm) SPM during the periods of highest river flow. Of the trace metals studied, Pb showed the strongest association with coarse SPM and the greatest potential for accumulation in estuarine sediment, demonstrating little tendency to be leached from sediment under simulated estuarine conditions.
Attitude tracking for flexible spacecraft from quaternion measurements

In this paper the attitude tracking problem is solved for a flexible spacecraft in the case of measurements of the variables describing the altitude error. Such a control could be applied in tolerance of the spacecraft control system and the success of the mission. The result is a dynamic controller capable of reconstructing the information regarding the spacecraft angular velocity and those regarding the modal variables, describing the dynamics of the flexible appendages present in the spacecraft.