Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microbiologic Response to Treatment of Bacterial Vaginosis with Topical Clindamycin or Metronidazole

ABSTRACT To compare the frequencies, concentrations, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of vaginal microbes isolated from women with bacterial vaginosis (BV) before and after therapy, 119 nonpregnant women aged 18 to 45 with clinical and Gram stain evidence of BV were randomized to receive intravaginal clindamycin or metronidazole. Vaginal swabs were collected at baseline and 7 to 12 days, 35 to 45 days, and 70 to 90 days following therapy for quantitative vaginal culture. For the 99 women completing all four visits, statistical analyses were performed comparing differences in vaginal microflora between the two treatment arms and between visits in the same treatment group. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the agar dilution method was performed for anaerobic gram-negative rods. Although both therapies resulted in decreased colonization by Gardnerella vaginalis and Mycoplasma hominis, only metronidazole treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the frequency and concentration of Prevotella bivia and black-pigmented Prevotella species. Of the 865 anaerobic gram-negative rods evaluated for susceptibility, only 3 (0.3%) were resistant to metronidazole, whereas clindamycin resistance increased significantly for P. bivia and black-pigmented anaerobic gram-negative rods persisting following clindamycin therapy. Clindamycin-resistant subpopulations of P. bivia and black-pigmented Prevotella species emerged 7 to 12 days after therapy even among women colonized initially by clindamycin-susceptible strains. These resistant subpopulations persisted at high frequencies (42 to 50%) 70 to 90 days following therapy. The two topical agents for treatment of BV have differing microbiologic effects on the vaginal microflora. The emergence of clindamycin-resistant anaerobic gram-negative rods following therapy is of concern.
STAR: Semiring Trust Inference for Trust-Aware Social Recommenders

Social recommendation takes advantage of the influence of social relationships in decision making and the ready availability of social data through social networking systems. Trust relationships in particular can be exploited in such systems for rating prediction and recommendation, which has been shown to have the potential for improving the quality of the recommender and alleviating the issue of data sparsity, cold start, and adversarial attacks. An appropriate trust inference mechanism is necessary in extending the knowledge base of trust opinions and tackling the issue of limited trust information due to connection sparsity of social networks. In this work, we offer a new solution to trust inference in social networks to provide a better knowledge base for trust-aware recommender systems. We propose using a semiring framework as a nonlinear way to combine trust evidences for inferring trust, where trust relationship is model as 2-D vector containing both trust and certainty information. The trust propagation and aggregation rules, as the building blocks of our trust inference scheme, are based upon the properties of trust relationships. In our approach, both trust and distrust (i.e., positive and negative trust) are considered, and opinion conflict resolution is supported. We evaluate the proposed approach on real-world datasets, and show that our trust inference framework has high accuracy, and is capable of handling trust relationship in large networks. The inferred trust relationships can enlarge the knowledge base for trust information and improve the quality of trust-aware recommendation.
Participatory development of a strategic product portfolio in a telecommunication company

The development of a product portfolio is a strategic decision which is often complicated by the large number of competing products, product interactions and high uncertainties about how successful the products will be in the marketplace. These decisions are commonly supported either by financially oriented approaches (e.g., net present value) or more qualitative approaches (e.g., scoring models) which, however, tend to suffer from shortcomings in capturing uncertainties and portfolio effects. Motivated by these, we report a real-life case study where a recently developed preference programming method - called Robust Portfolio Modelling (RPM) - was used to support the management group of a telecommunication company in the development of a strategic product portfolio in view of a 2-3 years time horizon. The positive experiences from this case study suggest that RPM may be useful even in other related settings where the presence of multiple objectives, uncertainties about product outcomes and possible variations in budgetary constraints must be accounted for.
Fat and female fecundity: prospective study of effect of body fat distribution on conception rates.

OBJECTIVES--To study the effect of body fat distribution in women of reproductive age on fecundity. DESIGN--Prospective cohort study of all women who had entered a donor insemination programme. SETTING--One fertility clinic serving a large part of the midwest of the Netherlands. SUBJECTS--Of 542 women attending the clinic for artificial insemination for the first time, 500 women were eligible for study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Probability of conception per cycle and number of insemination cycles before pregnancy or stopping treatment. RESULTS--A 0.1 unit increase in waist-hip ratio led to a 30% decrease in probability of conception per cycle (hazard ratio 0.706; 95% confidence interval 0.562 to 0.887) after adjustment for age, fatness, reasons for artificial insemination, cycle length and regularity, smoking, and parity. Increasing age was significantly related to lower fecundity (p < 0.05); very lean and obese women were less likely to conceive (p < 0.10) as were women with subfertile partners (p < 0.10). All other exposure variables were not significantly related to fecundity. CONCLUSIONS--Increasing waist-hip ratio is negatively associated with the probability of conception per cycle, before and after adjustment for confounding factors. Body fat distribution in women of reproductive age seems to have more impact on fertility than age or obesity.
Smad4 restricts differentiation to promote expansion of satellite cell derived progenitors during skeletal muscle regeneration

Skeletal muscle regenerative potential declines with age, in part due to deficiencies in resident stem cells (satellite cells, SCs) and derived myogenic progenitors (MPs); however, the factors responsible for this decline remain obscure. TGFβ superfamily signaling is an inhibitor of myogenic differentiation, with elevated activity in aged skeletal muscle. Surprisingly, we find reduced expression of Smad4, the downstream cofactor for canonical TGFβ superfamily signaling, and the target Id1 in aged SCs and MPs during regeneration. Specific deletion of Smad4 in adult mouse SCs led to increased propensity for terminal myogenic commitment connected to impaired proliferative potential. Furthermore, SC-specific Smad4 disruption compromised adult skeletal muscle regeneration. Finally, loss of Smad4 in aged SCs did not promote aged skeletal muscle regeneration. Therefore, SC-specific reduction of Smad4 is a feature of aged regenerating skeletal muscle and Smad4 is a critical regulator of SC and MP amplification during skeletal muscle regeneration. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.19484. 001
Wear rate leveling: Lifetime enhancement of PRAM with endurance variation

The limited write endurance of phase change random access memory (PRAM) is one of the major obstacles for PRAM-based main memory. Wear leveling techniques were proposed to extend its lifetime by balancing writes traffic. Another important concern that need to be considered is endurance variation in PRAM chips. When different PRAM cells have distinct endurance, balanced writes will result in lifetime degradation due to the weakest cells. Instead of balancing writes traffic, in this paper we propose wear rate leveling (WRL), a variant of wear leveling, to balance wear rates (i.e., writes traffic/edudrance) of cells across the PRAM chip. After investigating writing behavior of applications and endurance variation, we propose an architecture-level WRL mechanism. Moreover, there is an important tradeoff between endurance improvement and swapping data volume. To co-optimize endurance and swapping, a novel algorithm, Max Hyper-weight Rematching, is proposed to maximize PRAM lifetime and minimize performance degradation. Experimental results show 19x endurance improvement to prior Wear Leveling
Development of a methodology to measure the effect of ergot alkaloids on forestomach motility using real-time wireless telemetry

The objectives of these experiments were to characterize rumen motility patterns of cattle fed once daily using a real-time wireless telemetry system, determine when to measure rumen motility with this system, and determine the effect of ruminal dosing of ergot alkaloids on rumen motility. Ruminally cannulated Holstein steers (n = 8) were fed a basal diet of alfalfa cubes once daily. Rumen motility was measured by monitoring real-time pressure changes within the rumen using wireless telemetry and pressure transducers. Experiment 1 consisted of three 24-h rumen pressure collections beginning immediately after feeding. Data were recorded, stored, and analyzed using iox2 software and the rhythmic analyzer. All motility variables differed (P < 0.01) between hours and thirds (8-h periods) of the day. There were no differences between days for most variables. The variance of the second 8-h period of the day was less than (P < 0.01) the first for area and less than the third for amplitude, frequency, duration, and area (P < 0.05). These data demonstrated that the second 8-h period of the day was the least variable for many measures of motility and would provide the best opportunity for testing differences in motility due to treatments. In Experiment 2, the steers (n = 8) were pair-fed the basal diet of Experiment 1 and dosed with endophyte-free (E−) or endophyte-infected (E+; 0 or 10 μg ergovaline + ergovalinine/kg BW; respectively) tall fescue seed before feeding for 15 d. Rumen motility was measured for 8 h beginning 8 h after feeding for the first 14 d of seed dosing. Blood samples were taken on d 1, 7, and 15, and rumen content samples were taken on d 15. Baseline (P = 0.06) and peak (P = 0.04) pressure were lower for E+ steers. Water intake tended (P = 0.10) to be less for E+ steers the first 8 h period after feeding. The E+ seed treatment at this dosage under thermoneutral conditions did not significantly affect rumen motility, ruminal fill, or dry matter of rumen contents.
Study of the influence of oxygen on structural perfection of silicon single crystals by high-resolution X-ray diffraction and infrared absorption measurements

High-resolution X-ray diffractometry, absolute integrated intensity (ρ) measurements, diffuse X-ray scattering (DXS) and infrared (IR) absorption techniques were used to investigate the influence of oxygen on the structural perfection of high purity (resistivity of the order of 4 kΩ cm) float zone (FZ) grown (111) silicon single crystals. A multicrystal diffractometer set in (+,-,-,+) geometry, with Mo Kα1 radiation, was employed. From the infrared measurements, the oxygen concentration in the sample was determined to be 1.3 × 1017 atoms cm^{-3}. High-resolution X-ray diffraction curves of the as-grown crystal had half-widths of ∼11 arcsec; the ρ value was 3.5 × 10^{-5} rad. To incorporate oxygen in a controlled manner into the specimens, they were annealed under dry oxygen ambient for 8 h in the temperature range 573–1373 K (in eight steps). Up to 723 K there was no appreciable change in oxygen content or in the degree of perfection. Annealing at temperatures (AT) > 873 K resulted in considerable increases in the oxygen content, as well as significant improvements in the degree of perfection. For example, as the level of oxygen increased from 1.3 × 1017 to 3.6 × 1017 atoms cm^{-3} for A_T=873 K, the values of half-widths and ρ decreased to ∼7 arcsec and 2.4 × 10^{-5} rad, respectively. However, annealing above 1273 K produced deterioration in lattice perfection. DXS measurements showed remarkable changes in the nature of point defects and their clusters with change in AT. Up to A_T=973 K, the defects were predominantly vacancy clusters. However, with AT in the range 1073–1273 K, the predominent defects were isolated interstitials. Further increase in AT led to interstitial cluster formation, which deteriorated the lattice perfection. This study clearly demonstrates that oxygen concentration in the range ∼3 × 1017 to 13 × 1017 atoms cm^{-3} leads to significant improvement in structural perfection of silicon single crystals.
Adenosine Activates a Vascular Renin‐Angiotensin System in Hypertensive Subjects

In vitro data indicate that the activation of A2 adenosine receptors increases renin release by the accumulation of cyclic AMP. Because in human forearm vessels β-adrenergic receptor stimulation causes the local release of renin and angiotensin II through the increase of cyclic AMP, we evaluated in six essential hypertensive subjects whether adenosine can release vascular angiotensin II. Adenosine was infused into the brachial artery at cumulatively increasing doses (0.5,1.5, and 5 μg/100 ml forearm tissue per minute for 5 minutes each) during saline infusion and in the presence of the adenosine antagonist theophylline (100 μg/100 ml forearm tissue per minute for 15 minutes), while venous (ipsilateral deep forearm vein) and arterial (brachial artery) angiotensin II (picograms per milliliter) were measured at the end of each infusion period, and forearm angiotensin II net balance (picograms per minute) was calculated by venous-arterial differences corrected for forearm blood flow (strain-gauge venous plethysmography) and hematocrit. In control conditions, adenosine, at higher doses, caused a dose-dependent vasodilation and increased venous angiotensin II without affecting arterial values; therefore, the calculated angiotensin II net balance showed an adenosine-mediated dose-dependent release. Theophylline pretreatment blunted adenosine-mediated forearm blood flow increments and angiotensin II release. The local origin of angiotensin II was further confirmed in another group of six hypertensive subjects in whom the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor captopril, locally infused at the rate of 2.5 μg/100 ml forearm tissue per minute for 15 minutes, abolished the adenosine-mediated venous angiotensin II increments. Our data indicate that exogenous adenosine can stimulate the production of angiotensin II in the forearm vessels of hypertensive patients.
Fast Browsing of Archived Web Contents

The web is becoming the preferred medium for communicating and storing information pertaining to almost any human activity. However it is an ephemeral medium whose contents are constantly changing, resulting in a permanent loss of part of our cultural and scientific heritage on a regular basis. Archiving important web contents is a very challenging technical problem due to its tremendous scale and complex structure, extremely dynamic nature, and its rich heterogeneous and deep contents. In this paper, we consider the problem of archiving a linked set of web objects into web containers in such a way as to minimize the number of containers accessed during a browsing session. We develop a method that makes use of link analysis and optimized graph partitioning to enable faster browsing of archived web contents. Our overall methodology is very general and can be used to optimize different browsing patterns. We include simulation results that illustrate the performance of our scheme and compare it to the common scheme currently used to organize web objects into web containers.
Identification of IgF, a hinge-region-containing Ig class, and IgD in Xenopus tropicalis

Only three Ig isotypes, IgM, IgX, and IgY, were previously known in amphibians. Here, we describe a heavy-chain isotype in Xenopus tropicalis, IgF (encoded by Cφ), with only two constant region domains. IgF is similar to amphibian IgY in sequence, but the gene contains a hinge exon, making it the earliest example, in evolution, of an Ig isotype with a separately encoded genetic hinge. We also characterized a gene for the heavy chain of IgD, located immediately 3′ of Cμ, that shares features with the Cδ gene in fish and mammals. The latter gene contains eight constant-region-encoding exons and, unlike the chimeric splicing of μCH1 onto the IgD heavy chain in teleost fish, it is expressed as a unique IgD heavy chain. The IgH locus of X. tropicalis shows a 5′ VH-DH-JH-Cμ-Cδ-Cχ-Cυ-Cφ 3′ organization, suggesting that the mammalian and amphibian Ig heavy-chain loci share a common ancestor.
Altered Immune Responses in Interleukin 10 Transgenic Mice

Interleukin (IL)-10 is a pleiotropic cytokine which inhibits a broad array of immune parameters including T helper cell type 1 (Th1) cytokine production, antigen presentation, and antigenspecific T cell proliferation. To understand the consequences of altered expression of IL-10 in immune models of autoimmune disease, the response to infectious agents, and the response to tumors, we developed transgenic mice expressing IL-10 under the control of the IL-2 promoter. Upon in vitro stimulation, spleen cells from unimmunized transgenic mice secrete higher levels of IL-10 and lower amounts of IFN-γ than do controls, although no gross abnormalities were detected in lymphocyte populations or serum Ig levels. Transfer of normally pathogenic CD4+ CD45RBhigh splenic T cells from IL-10 transgenic mice did not cause colitis in recipient severe combined immunodeficiency mice. Furthermore, co-transfer of these transgenic cells with CD4+ CD45RBhigh T cells from control mice prevented disease. Transgenic mice retained their resistance to Leishmania major infection, indicating that their cell-mediated immune responses were not globally suppressed. Lastly, in comparison to controls, IL-10 transgenic mice were unable to limit the growth of immunogenic tumors. Administration of blocking IL-10 mAbs restored in vivo antitumor responses in the transgenic mice. These results demonstrate that a single alteration in the T cell cytokine profile can lead to dramatic changes in immune responses in a manner that is stimulus dependent. These mice will be useful in defining differences in inflammatory conditions and cellular immunity mediated by IL-10.
Student faculty rounds: a peer-mediated learning activity for internal medicine clerkships

Peer-mediated learning is an effective educational strategy that is rarely used during clinical training for medical students. We developed a peer-mediated learning conference, Student-Faculty Rounds (SFR), for the ambulatory component of a medicine clerkship. Designed to broaden students’ exposure to common medical problems and provide practice in small-group teaching, the 30-minute conference is conducted by each student once during their clerkship. Students choose their topics and instructional formats, but they are advised to supply written learning objectives and employ interactive, problem solving opportunities. We analysed evaluations written by 280 students and 17 faculty supervisors during 1998–2001. Students presented over 150 topics. The most common were hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, headache, smoking cessation, hypertension management, and cancer screening (each presented in 3–4% of rounds). On a scale of 10 (outstanding) to 0 (lost cause), students gave SFR a score of 9.2 (95% confidence interval 9.0–9.3). In written comments, students indicated that topics were relevant and that peers provided instruction at an appropriate level of complexity, but that quality was variable. Faculty supervisors reported that 35% of students did not provide written learning objectives and 35% chose topics too broad for a 30-minute conference. SFR is a popular conference that accomplishes its educational objectives. It recognizes students’ ability to educate themselves, and introduces variability and challenge into the classroom curriculum. Adequate faculty guidance is needed to assure students design conferences for maximum educational effectiveness.
Effects of ozone and other pollutants on the pulmonary function of adult hikers.

This study evaluated the acute effects of ambient ozone (O3), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and strong aerosol acidity on the pulmonary function of exercising adults. During the summers of 1991 and 1992, volunteers (18-64 years of age) were solicited from hikers on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. Volunteer nonsmokers with complete covariates (n = 530) had pulmonary function measured before and after their hikes. We calculated each hiker's posthike percentage change in forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), the ratio of these two (FEV1/FVC), forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of FVC(FEF25-75%), and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). Average O3 exposures ranged from 21 to 74 ppb. After adjustment for age,sex, smoking status (former versus never), history of asthma or wheeze, hours hiked, ambient temperature, and other covariates, there was a 2.6% decline in FEV1 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.4-4.7; p = 0.02] and a 2.2% decline in FVC (CI, 0.8-3.5; p =0.003) for each 50 ppb increment in mean O3. There were consistent associations of decrements in both FVC (0.4% decline; CI,0.2-0.6, p = 0.001) and PEFR (0.8% decline; CI, 0.01-1.6; p = 0.05) with PM2.5 and of decrements in PEFR (0.4% decline; CI, 0.1-0.7; p = 0.02) with strong aerosol acidity across the interquartile range of these exposures. Hikers with asthma or a history of wheeze (n = 40) had fourfold greater responsiveness to ozone than others. With prolonged outdoor exercise, low-level exposures to O3, PM2.5, and strong aerosol acidity were associated with significant effects on pulmonary function among adults. Hikers with a history of asthma or wheeze had significantly greater air pollution-related changes in pulmonary function. ImagesFigure 1Figure 2