Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictors of Visceral Leishmaniasis Relapse in HIV-Infected Patients: A Systematic Review

Background and Objectives Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a common complication in AIDS patients living in Leishmania-endemic areas. Although antiretroviral therapy has changed the clinical course of HIV infection and its associated illnesses, the prevention of VL relapses remains a challenge for the care of HIV and Leishmania co-infected patients. This work is a systematic review of previous studies that have described predictors of VL relapse in HIV-infected patients. Review Methods We searched the electronic databases of MEDLINE, LILACS, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Studies were selected if they included HIV-infected individuals with a VL diagnosis and patient follow-up after the leishmaniasis treatment with an analysis of the clearly defined outcome of prediction of relapse. Results Eighteen out 178 studies satisfied the specified inclusion criteria. Most patients were males between 30 and 40 years of age, and HIV transmission was primarily via intravenous drug use. Previous VL episodes were identified as risk factors for relapse in 3 studies. Two studies found that baseline CD4+ T cell count above 100 cells/mL was associated with a decreased relapse rate. The observation of an increase in CD4+ T cells at patient follow-up was associated with protection from relapse in 5 of 7 studies. Meta-analysis of all studies assessing secondary prophylaxis showed significant reduction of VL relapse rate following prophylaxis. None of the five observational studies evaluating the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy use found a reduction in the risk of VL relapse upon patient follow-up. Conclusion Some predictors of VL relapse could be identified: a) the absence of an increase in CD4+ cells at follow-up; b) lack of secondary prophylaxis; and c) previous history of VL relapse. CD4+ counts below 100 cells/mL at the time of primary VL diagnosis may also be a predictive factor for VL relapse.
Insulin resistance and adipokine levels correlate with early atherosclerosis – a study in prediabetic patients

Abstract Cardiovascular risk of prediabetes is still subject to controversies. We analyzed the associations between insulin resistance, adipokines and incipient atherosclerosis estimated by intima-media thickness (IMT) in a cross-sectional study on 122 prediabetic subjects without clinical signs of atherosclerotic disease. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR, calculated as fasting insulin × fasting plasma glucose / 22.5), adiponectin, leptin, leptin-to-adiponectin ratio, carotid and femoral IMT were evaluated. We also assessed other parameters related to insulin resistance and adipokines (HbA1c, anthropometric and lipid parameters), as they may also influence atherosclerosis. Carotid IMT was correlated to adiponectin and leptin-to-adiponectin ratio (all p < 0.05), but not with HOMA-IR or leptin, while femoral IMT showed no relationship with these factors. After adjusting for leptin, leptin-to-adiponectin ratio, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, cholesterol-to-HDL ratio, triglycerides-to-HDL ratio and HbA1c, IMT values became correlated with HOMA-IR. Adjustment for HOMA-IR induced the appearance of new correlations between adipokines and both IMT values. In conclusion, insulin resistance and adipokines seem related to IMT in prediabetic subjects without clinical signs of arterial obstruction.
Reduction of Brochothrix thermosphacta on beef surfaces following immobilization of nisin in calcium alginate gels

Lean and adipose beef carcass tissues inoculated with Brochothrix thermosphacta (BT) (approx. 4.50 log10 cfu cm−2) were left untreated (U) or treated with 100 μg ml−1 nisin (N), calcium alginate (A) or 100 μg ml−1 nisin immobilized in a calcium alginate gel (AN). Tissue samples were refrigerated after treatments and bacterial populations and nisin activity were determined at 0, 1, 2 and 7 d. U, A and N treatments of lean and adipose tissues did not suppress bacterial growth (>6 log10 cfu cm−2 by day 7) while treatments of lean and adipose tissues with AN suppressed bacteria (>2.42 log10 cfu cm−2 by day 7). Bacteriocin titres from both tissues were higher in AN vs N samples after the 7 d incubation. This study demonstrates that immobilization of nisin in a gel may be a more effective delivery system of a bacteriocin to the carcass surface than direct application.
Plant-Generated Artificial Small RNAs Mediated Aphid Resistance

Background RNA silencing is an important mechanism for regulation of endogenous gene expression and defense against genomic intruders in plants. This natural defense system was adopted to generate virus-resistant plants even before the mechanism of RNA silencing was unveiled. With the clarification of that mechanism, transgenic antiviral plants were developed that expressed artificial virus-specific hairpin RNAs (hpRNAs) or microRNAs (amiRNAs) in host plants. Previous works also showed that plant-mediated RNA silencing technology could be a practical method for constructing insect-resistant plants by expressing hpRNAs targeting essential genes of insects. Methodology/Principal findings In this study, we chose aphid Myzus persicae of order Hemiptera as a target insect. To screen for aphid genes vulnerable to attack by plant-mediated RNA silencing to establish plant aphid resistance, we selected nine genes of M. persicae as silencing targets, and constructed their hpRNA-expressing vectors. For the acetylcholinesterase 2 coding gene (MpAChE2), two amiRNA-expressing vectors were also constructed. The vectors were transformed into tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanti). Insect challenge assays showed that most of the transgenic plants gained aphid resistance, among which those expressing hpRNAs targeting V-type proton ATPase subunit E-like (V-ATPaseE) or tubulin folding cofactor D (TBCD) genes displayed stronger aphicidal activity. The transgenic plants expressing amiRNAs targeting two different sites in the MpAChE2 gene exhibited better aphid resistance than the plants expressing MpAChE2-specific hpRNA. Conclusions/Significance Our results indicated that plant-mediated insect-RNA silencing might be an effective way to develop plants resistant to insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts, and both the selection of vulnerable target genes and the biogenetic type of the small RNAs were crucial for the effectiveness of aphid control. The expression of insect-specific amiRNA is a promising and preferable approach to engineer plants resistant to aphids and, possibly, to other plant-infesting insects.
The problems program directors inherit: medical student distress at the time of graduation

Background: Distress is prevalent among residents and often attributed to rigors of training. Aims: To explore the prevalence of burnout and depression and measured mental quality of life (QOL) among graduating medical students shortly before they began residency. Method: Pooled analysis of data from 1428 fourth year medical students who responded to 1 of 3 multi-institutional studies. Students completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory, PRIME MD, and SF-8 to measure burnout, depression, and low mental QOL (defined as mean mental SF-8 scores ½ a standard deviation below the population norm) and answered demographic items. Results: Shortly before beginning residency, 49% of responding medical students had burnout, 38% endorsed depressive symptoms, and 34% had low mental QOL. While no differences in the prevalence of distress was observed by residency specialty area, there were subtle differences in the manifestation of burnout by specialty. Medical students entering surgical fields had lower mean emotional scores, students entering primary care fields had lower mean depersonalization scores, and students entering non-primary care/non-surgical fields reported the lowest mean personal accomplishment scores (all p ≤ 0.03). Conclusion: Our results indicate a high prevalence of distress among graduating medical students across all specialty disciplines before they even begin residency training.
Research Paper Series Globalisation and Labour Markets Programme Blessing or Curse? Domestic Plants' Survival and Employment Prospects after Foreign Acquisition the Authors Blessing or Curse? Domestic Plants' Survival and Employment Prospects after Foreign Acquisition

Acknowledgements We are grateful to Eric Strobl and participants at a CEPR workshop in Dublin, July 2001, for helpful comments. Thanks are also due to the ONS Business Data Linking Project for providing access to the ARD database. Financial support from the Leverhulme Trust Stockholm School of Economics; he wishes to thank the Institute for their hospitality. Abstract This paper investigates whether the acquisition of a domestic establishment by a foreign owner has any effects, positive or negative, on the survival prospects and employment growth of that plant. The empirical analysis uses data from the Annual Respondents Database (ARD) for the UK electronics industry for the period 1980 to 1993. Estimating a standard hazard model including a dummy variable for the incidence of acquisition yields the result that foreign takeover reduces the lifetime of the acquired plant. Estimations of the determinants of employment growth in domestic plants provide some evidence that the incidence of takeover reduces employment growth, in particular for unskilled labour. Both survival and employment growth estimations do not appear to be subject to endogeneity problems.
On removable series classes in connected matroids

A series class P of a connected matroid M is removable if M \ P is connected. In this paper, we prove that a connected matroid M with r(M) ≥ 2 has at least r(M) + 1 removable series classes. Further, we obtain certain results from which the following result of Oxley and its graph theoretic version follow: If C is a circuit of a connected matroid M with C 6= M such that M \ x is not connected for all x ∈ C, then C contains at least two nontrivial series classes of M.
Identifying a core set of outcome domains to measure in clinical trials for shoulder disorders: a modified Delphi study

Objective To achieve consensus on the most important outcome domains to measure across all clinical trials for shoulder disorders. Methods We performed an online modified Delphi study with an international, multidisciplinary and multistakeholder panel. A literature review and the OMERACT Filter 2.0 framework was used to generate a list of potential core domains, which were presented to patients, clinicians and researchers in two Delphi rounds. Participants were asked to judge the importance of each potential core domain and provide a rationale for their response. A core domain was defined a priori as a domain that at least 67% of participants considered core. Results In both rounds, 335 individuals were invited to participate (268 clinicians/researchers and 67 patients); response rates were 27% (n=91) and 29% (n=96), respectively. From a list of 41 potential core domains, four domains met our criteria for inclusion: ‘pain’, ‘physical functioning’, ‘global assessment of treatment success’ and ‘health-related quality of life’. Two additional domains, ‘sleep functioning’ and ‘psychological functioning’, met the criteria for inclusion by some, but not all stakeholder groups. There was consensus that ‘number of deaths’ was not a core domain, but insufficient agreement on whether or not several other domains, including ‘range of motion’ and ‘muscle strength’, were core domains. Conclusions Based on international consensus from patients, clinicians and researchers, ‘pain’, ‘physical functioning’, ‘global assessment of treatment success’ and ‘health-related quality of life’ were considered core outcome domains for shoulder disorder trials. The value of several other domains needs further consideration.
Exposure to brake dust and malignant mesothelioma: a study of 10 cases with mineral fiber analyses.

OBJECTIVES A large number of workers in the USA are exposed to chrysotile asbestos through brake repair, yet only a few cases of malignant mesothelioma (MM) have been described in this population. Epidemiologic and industrial hygiene studies have failed to demonstrate an increased risk of MM in brake workers. We present our experience of MM in individuals whose only known asbestos exposure was to brake dust and correlate these findings with lung asbestos fiber burdens. METHODS Consultation files of one of the authors were reviewed for cases of MM in which brake dust was the only known asbestos exposure. Lung fiber analyses were performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in all cases for which formalin-fixed or paraffin-embedded lung tissue was available. RESULTS Ten cases of MM in brake dust-exposed individuals were males aged 51-73 yr. Nine cases arose in the pleura and one in the peritoneum. Although the median lung asbestos body count (19 AB/g) is at our upper limit of normal (range 0-20 AB/g), half of the cases had levels within our normal range. In every case with elevated asbestos fiber levels by SEM, excess commercial amphibole fibers were also detected. Elevated levels of chrysotile and non-commercial amphibole fibers were detected only in cases that also had increased commercial amphibole fibers. CONCLUSIONS Brake dust contains exceedingly low levels of respirable chrysotile, much of which consists of short fibers subject to rapid pulmonary clearance. Elevated lung levels of commercial amphiboles in some brake workers suggest that unrecognized exposure to these fibers plays a critical role in the development of MM.
Focal adhesion size controls tension-dependent recruitment of α-smooth muscle actin to stress fibers

Expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) renders fibroblasts highly contractile and hallmarks myofibroblast differentiation. We identify α-SMA as a mechanosensitive protein that is recruited to stress fibers under high tension. Generation of this threshold tension requires the anchoring of stress fibers at sites of 8–30-μm-long “supermature” focal adhesions (suFAs), which exert a stress approximately fourfold higher (∼12 nN/μm2) on micropatterned deformable substrates than 2–6-μm-long classical FAs. Inhibition of suFA formation by growing myofibroblasts on substrates with a compliance of ≤11 kPa and on rigid micropatterns of 6-μm-long classical FA islets confines α-SMA to the cytosol. Reincorporation of α-SMA into stress fibers is established by stretching 6-μm-long classical FAs to 8.1-μm-long suFA islets on extendable membranes; the same stretch producing 5.4-μm-long classical FAs from initially 4-μm-long islets is without effect. We propose that the different molecular composition and higher phosphorylation of FAs on supermature islets, compared with FAs on classical islets, accounts for higher stress resistance.
Continued advancement of laser damage resistant optically functional microstructures

Micro- and nano-structured optically functional surface textures continue to exhibit higher performance and longer term survivability than thin-film coatings for an increasing number of materials used within high energy laser (HEL) systems. Anti-reflection (AR) microstructures (ARMs) produce a graded refractive index yielding high transmission over wide spectral ranges along with a chemical, mechanical and laser damage resistance inherited from the bulk optic material. In this study, ARMs were fabricated in the relevant HEL materials sapphire, neodymium-doped YAG, fused silica, BK7 glass, and the magnesium aluminate known as SPINEL. Standardized pulsed laser induced damage threshold (LiDT) measurements were made using commercial testing services to directly compare the damage resistance of ARMs-treated optics to uncoated and thin-film-AR-coated (TFARC) optics at wavelengths of 532nm, 694nm, 800nm, 1064nm, and 1538nm. As found with prior work, the LiDT of ARMs etched in fused silica was typically in the range of 35 J/cm2 at a wavelength of 1064nm and a pulse width of 10ns, a level that is comparable to uncoated samples and 3.5 times greater than the level specified by six prominent TFARC providers. The Army Research Laboratory measured the pulsed LiDT at 532nm (10ns) of ARMs in fused silica to be up to 5 times the level of the ion beam sputtered TFARC previously employed in their HEL system, and 2 times higher than a low performance single layer MgF2 TFARC. This result was repeated and expanded using a commercial LiDT testing service for ARMs in two types of fused silica and for Schott N-BK7 glass. An average damage threshold of 26.5 J/cm2 was recorded for the ARMs-treated glass materials, a level 4 times higher than the commercial IBS TFARCs tested.
Independent association of left atrial function with exercise capacity in patients with preserved ejection fraction

Objective Left atrial (LA) function is an important contributor to cardiac function in a variety of disease states and especially with exercise. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of LA function in the left ventricular (LV) filling pressure (E/e') response to exercise and exercise tolerance in patients with preserved LV ejection fraction (LVEF). Methods LA contractile function (LA strain peak negative), conduit function (LA strain peak positive), and reservoir function (LA strain total) were measured from speckle tracking in 486 patients with preserved LVEF and negative exercise echocardiography for ischaemia. Maximal exercise tolerance was expressed as the estimated metabolic equivalents (METs). Per cent predicted METs was calculated in accordance with described nomograms. Features associated with exercise capacity were sought in a multiple linear regression, and compared using standardised β. Results Patients with increased stress E/e' had significantly lower LA strain profiles and larger LA volume than the remainder. LA strain total was strongly associated with exercise capacity in multivariate analysis (ß=0.21, p<0.001). E/e' rest was also associated with exercise capacity (ß=−0.11, p=0.001). Other independent correlates of exercise capacity were age (ß=−0.36, p<0.001), male gender (ß=0.34, p<0.001) and body mass index (ß=−0.23, p<0.001). The best predictor of per cent predicted METs was total LA strain in multivariate analysis. Conclusions The association of reduced LA function with impaired exercise capacity was similar to that of elevated LVE/e', emphasising the role of ventriculo-atrial coupling to cardiac dysfunction with preserved LVEF.
SPATA 2 promotes CYLD activity and regulates TNF-induced NF-j B signaling and cell death

K63and Met1-linked ubiquitylation are crucial posttranslational modifications for TNF receptor signaling. These non-degradative ubiquitylations are counteracted by deubiquitinases (DUBs), such as the enzyme CYLD, resulting in an appropriate signal strength, but the regulation of this process remains incompletely understood. Here, we describe an interaction partner of CYLD, SPATA2, which we identified by a mass spectrometry screen. We find that SPATA2 interacts via its PUB domain with CYLD, while a PUB interaction motif (PIM) of SPATA2 interacts with the PUB domain of the LUBAC component HOIP. SPATA2 is required for the recruitment of CYLD to the TNF receptor signaling complex upon TNFR stimulation. Moreover, SPATA2 acts as an allosteric activator for the K63and M1-deubiquitinase activity of CYLD. In consequence, SPATA2 substantially attenuates TNF-induced NF-jB and MAPK signaling. Conversely, SPATA2 is required for TNF-induced complex II formation, caspase activation, and apoptosis. Thus, this study identifies SPATA2 as an important factor in the TNF signaling pathway with a substantial role for the effects mediated by the cytokine.
The A-chain of Human Relaxin Family Peptides Has Distinct Roles in the Binding and Activation of the Different Relaxin Family Peptide Receptors*

The relaxin peptides are a family of hormones that share a structural fold characterized by two chains, A and B, that are cross-braced by three disulfide bonds. Relaxins signal through two different classes of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), leucine-rich repeat-containing GPCRs LGR7 and LGR8 together with GPCR135 and GPCR142, now referred to as the relaxin family peptide (RXFP) receptors 1–4, respectively. Although key binding residues have been identified in the B-chain of the relaxin peptides, the role of the A-chain in their activity is currently unknown. A recent study showed that INSL3 can be truncated at the N terminus of its A-chain by up to 9 residues without affecting the binding affinity to its receptor RXFP2 while becoming a high affinity antagonist. This suggests that the N terminus of the INSL3 A-chain contains residues essential for RXFP2 activation. In this study, we have synthesized A-chain truncated human relaxin-2 and -3 (H2 and H3) relaxin peptides, characterized their structure by both CD and NMR spectroscopy, and tested their binding and cAMP activities on RXFP1, RXFP2, and RXFP3. In stark contrast to INSL3, A-chain-truncated H2 relaxin peptides lost RXFP1 and RXFP2 binding affinity and concurrently cAMP-stimulatory activity. H3 relaxin A-chain-truncated peptides displayed similar properties on RXFP1, highlighting a similar binding mechanism for H2 and H3 relaxin. In contrast, A-chain-truncated H3 relaxin peptides showed identical activity on RXFP3, highlighting that the B-chain is the sole determinant of the H3 relaxin-RXFP3 interaction. Our results provide new insights into the action of relaxins and demonstrate that the role of the A-chain for relaxin activity is both peptide- and receptor-dependent.
The impact of a new light rail system on single-family property values in Charlotte, North Carolina

This paper examines the impact of a new light rail system on single-family housing values in Charlotte, North Carolina, from 1997 to 2008. We use a Hedonic Price Analysis (HPA) to estimate how proximity to light rail, housing characteristics, and spatial components (at a block group level) affect single-family housing values. The same method is applied to each of the four time periods (t1, t2, t3, t4) that coincide with the pre-planning, planning, construction, and operation phase of the light rail system. We observe a trend that suggests a greater desirability to live closer to a light rail station as the transit system becomes operational.
Low Power Implantable Spike Sorting Scheme Based on Neuromorphic Classifier with Supervised Training Engine

An ultra-low power neural spike sorting technique for implantable, multi-channel neural implant is proposed. It involves spiking neural network (SNN) with binary weights as an energy and area efficient classifier, along with a suitable frontend for spike encoding of the recorded neuro-potential. The proposed scheme employs two step training to implement supervised learning for the classifier, in order to achieve appreciable classification accuracy, along with low power dissipation. During the 1st phase a k-mean clustering module is trained with the real-time input data. In the 2nd phase, the trained means are used to perform supervised learning for the SNN classifier. After the training process, the low power SNN module is used for the classification task. In the proposed scheme, the K-means training module can be shared among large number of channels for training the dedicated SNN modules, which are relatively compact and can operate with ±4x lower power (as compared to the K-means sorter), while preserving the classification accuracy. Algorithm and architecture level optimizations for the proposed system are presented.