Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enrolment and programmatic trends and predictors of antiretroviral therapy initiation from President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)-supported public HIV care and treatment sites in rural Mozambique

Summary Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made antiretroviral therapy (ART) available in urban settings, but the progress of treatment expansion into rural Africa has been slower. We analysed routine data for patients enrolled in a rural HIV treatment programme in Zambézia Province, Mozambique (1 June 2006 through 30 March 2009). There were 12,218 patients who were ≥15 years old enrolled (69% women). Median age was 25 years for women and 31 years for men. Older age and higher level of education were strongly predictive of ART initiation (P < 0.001). Patients with a CD4+ count of 350 cells/μL versus 50 cells/μL were less likely to begin ART (odds ratio [OR]: 0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.16-0.23). In rural sub-Saharan Africa, HIV testing, linkage to care, logistics for ART initiation and fears among some patients to take ART require specialized planning to maximize successes. Sustainability will require improved health manpower, infrastructure, stable funding, continuous drug supplies, patient record systems and, most importantly, community engagement.
BROAD IRON EMISSION FROM GRAVITATIONALLY LENSED QUASARS OBSERVED BY CHANDRA

Recent work has demonstrated the potential of gravitationally lensed quasars to extend measurements of black hole spin out to high redshift with the current generation of X-ray observatories. Here we present an analysis of a large sample of 27 lensed quasars in the redshift range 1.0 ≲ z ≲ 4.5 ? > observed with Chandra, utilizing over 1.6 Ms of total observing time, focusing on the rest-frame iron K emission from these sources. Although the X-ray signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) currently available does not permit the detection of iron emission from the inner accretion disk in individual cases in our sample, we find significant structure in the stacked residuals. In addition to the narrow core, seen almost ubiquitously in local active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we find evidence for an additional underlying broad component from the inner accretion disk, with a clear red wing to the emission profile. Based on simulations, we find the detection of this broader component to be significant at greater than the 3σ level. This implies that iron emission from the inner disk is relatively common in the population of lensed quasars, and in turn further demonstrates that, with additional observations, this population represents an opportunity to significantly extend the sample of AGN spin measurements out to high redshift.
Differences in Body Composition and Resting Energy Expenditure in Childhood in Preterm Children Born with Very Low Birth Weight

Background: Rapid early ponderal growth is associated with adverse metabolic risks in young adults born at term. Aim: To determine whether there are differences in body composition, resting energy expenditure (REE) and metabolic variables between preterm children born with very low birth weight (VLBW) either appropriate (AGA) or small (SGA) for gestational age and whether these differences are related to an early period of weight gain. Methods: 67 VLBW preterm (40 AGA, 27 SGA). Body composition by DEXA, REE by indirect calorimetry and blood sampling at age 6.7 ± 0.5 years. Results: VLBW SGA children were lighter, shorter, had a lower waist and hip circumference, HDL cholesterol and lipid oxidation rates than their AGA counterparts (adjusted for age, sex and BMI). Birth weight correlated negatively with total body and trunk fat mass. In a multivariate linear regression analysis, we found a positive association between weight gain in the first 3 months of life and total and trunk fat at age 6 years and a reciprocal association with REE at age 6 years. In contrast, the weight gain rate at 6-9 months of life was associated with higher REE and lipid oxidation rates at 6 years. A higher weight gain rate at 9-12 months was associated with a higher lean mass at 6 years. Conclusion: An early fast-pace weight gain in VLBW infants may have detrimental consequences for metabolic health later on.
Active Disturbance Rejection Control Approach to Output-Feedback Stabilization of a Class of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems Subject to Stochastic Disturbance

The active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) is now considered as a powerful control strategy in dealing with large uncertainty covering unknown dynamics, external disturbance, and unknown part in coefficient of the control. However, all theoretical works up to present are limited to deterministic uncertainty. In this technical note, we generalize the ADRC to uncertain nonlinear systems subject to external bounded stochastic disturbance described by an uncertain stochastic differential equation driven by white noise. We first design an extended state observer (ESO) that is used to estimate both state, and total disturbance which includes the internal uncertain nonlinear part and the external uncertain stochastic disturbance. It is shown that the resulting closed-loop system is practically stable in the mean-square topology. The numerical experiments are carried out to illustrate effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Cache performance for multimedia applications

The caching behavior of multimedia applications has been described as having high instruction reference locality within small loops, very large working sets, and poor data cache performance due to non-locality of data references. Despite this, there is no published research deriving or measuring these qualities. Utilizing the previously developed Berkeley Multimedia Workload, we present the results of execution driven cache simulations with the goal of aiding future media processing architecture design. Our analysis examines the differences between multimedia and traditional applications in cache behavior. We find that multimedia applications actually exhibit lower instruction miss ratios and comparable data miss ratios when contrasted with other widely studied workloads. In addition, we find that longer data cache line sizes than are currently used would benefit multimedia processing.
Effects of supplemented diets with garlic organic extract and streptomycin sulphate on intestinal microflora and nutrients digestibility in broilers.

This experiment was carried out to study the effects of garlic organic extract and streptomycin sulphate on intestinal microflora and nutrients digestibility in broilers. Forty eight Hubbard line one day-old chicks with equal numbers of males and females were randomly allocated to eight treatment combinations to conduct a 4 x 2 factorial experiment in a completely randomised design. The diets were supplemented with: no supplement (control), garlic organic extract at 40 ppm/kg (GOE 40 ppm), garlic organic extract at 60 ppm/kg (GOE 60 ppm) and streptomycin sulphate at 30 ppm/kg (SS 30 ppm) administered by oral gavage from day 13 to day 47 of experiment. There were two birds (males or females) per experimental unit, replicated three times in twenty four deep litter pens. The colony forming units of Escherichia coli were significantly reduced (P 0.05) in nutrients absorption between male and female broilers. Treatment and sex interaction significantly (P<0.05) affected all the parameters studied indicating a synergistic effect of the two factors on nutrients absorption. It could be concluded that GOE even at 40 ppm/kg controlled pathogens and improved nutrients digestibility in birds.
In-situ Rb-Sr geochronology

This paper reports on the first rubidium-strontium (Rb-Sr) radiometric dates using a Laser Desorption Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry (LDRIMS) instrument capable of being miniaturized for flight to another planet. The LDRIMS instrument produces dates in under 24 hours, requires minimal sample preparation, and avoids the interference and mass resolution issues associated with other geochronology measurements. We have begun testing the bench-top prototype on the Boulder Creek Granite (BCG), from Colorado, comprised primarily of a gneissic quartz monzonite and granodiorite; whole rock Rb-Sr TIMS measurements result in dates of 1700±40 Ma [1]. Data reduction of the LDRIMS Rb-Sr measurements on calibrated repeat runs result in a date for the BCG of 1.727±0.087 Ga (n=288, MSWD=1). Most geochronology applications are willing to accept an MSWD up to ~2.7; at MSWD=2, the precision improves to ±0.062 Ga. This technology is moving from lab prototype to field deployable instrument, and provides an opportunity to directly address the science goals of Mars Sample Return (MSR) within the bounds posed by current scientific, fiscal, and political pressures on the Mars program. Additionally, LDRIMS could potentially be flown to the Moon under the Discovery or New Frontiers program. We posit that in-situ geochronology missions to Mars to triage and validate samples for Mars Sample Return (MSR) are technically feasible in the 2018-2022 time frame.
Automatic property identification via parametrized constraints

During teleoperation, the automatic identification of remote environment properties has the potential of improving performance by providing task-specific feedback to the operator. Similarly, virtual training systems can be calibrated using such an automatic identification procedure. For those properties which ran be described by parametrized constraint equations, this paper provides a method by which the active constraints can be determined during each portion of the remote manipulator's data stream. The parametrized properties can then be estimated from the appropriate data stream segments. The approach is validated for peg-in-hole insertion using a desktop teleoperator system. The proposed segmentation procedure is compared with manual segmentation to estimate the geometric properties of the peg and hole.
How well do anatomical-based injury severity scores predict health service use in the 12 months after injury?

There is an acknowledged need for valid and reliable injury scores, suitable for use at the population level, which can accurately predict the long-term outcome of injury. The objective was to quantify the extent to which the abbreviated injury severity score (AIS) and the functional capacity index score (FCI) predict use of health services in the 12 months following an injury event. A cohort of injured people (ICD-9-CM 800-995) aged 18–64 years was identified from Manitoba hospital discharge abstracts from January 1988 to December 1991. For each member of the cohort whose injuries could be mapped to an abbreviated injury scale unique identifier, a maximum AIS (maxAIS) and a maximum FCI (maxFCI) were obtained. The cohort was linked with hospital discharge abstracts, physicians' claims and deaths from the population registry for the 12 months following injury. Negative binomial regression was used to model the relationships between the severity scores and the three outcome measures, while controlling for potential confounding variables. In total, 20 677 (97%) eligible cases were identified, of which 16 834 (81%) could be assigned a maxAIS and 15 823 (77%) a maxFCI. MaxAIS and maxFCI were significantly associated with total days in hospital following injury, but explained little of the variation in any of the health service use outcome variables (maxAIS, partial pseudo r 2 ranging from < 0.001 to 0.041; and maxFCI, partial pseudo r 2 ranging from < 0.001 to 0.018). It was concluded that anatomical damage is only partly responsible for long-term injury outcome. Additional variables would need to be included in predictive models of health outcomes of injury before these models could be reliable.
Clinical outcome of renal transplantation in patients with positive pre‐transplant hepatitis B surface antigen

The clinical outcomes of 2,054 renal recipients were examined retrospectively based on pre‐transplant hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) status to investigate the efficacy of lamivudine treatment in HBsAg positive recipients. Pre‐transplant HBsAg positivity was documented in 66 recipients. The 10‐year patient and graft survival rates in Ag positive group were significantly lower than those of Ag negative group (64.4/36.6% vs. 88.2/70.5%, respectively, P < 0.0001). Since 1997, lamivudine was used when hepatitis B virus polymerase chain reaction (HBV PCR) was positive or when the level of post‐transplant viral load rose. Lamivudine given to 27 recipients markedly improved both 10‐year patient and graft survivals compared to Ag positive renal recipients who did not take lamivudine (85.3/59.2% vs. 49.9/22.7%, respectively, P < 0.0001). Overall, 13 viral breakthroughs among 24 lamivudine‐responsive patients were observed. The cumulative incidence of viral breakthrough at 60 months was 53.3%. Adefovir rescue in three viral breakthroughs patients induces virological response and restoration of liver function. In 10 patients who did not changed to adefovir, 6 patients are alive with elevated liver enzymes. In conclusion, in the era of lamivudine and adefovir, renal transplantation in HBsAg positive end‐stage renal disease patients should not be abandoned. J. Med. Virol. 79:1655–1663, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Value Alignment or Misalignment - What Will Keep Systems Accountable?

Machine learning’s advances have led to new ideas about the feasibility and importance of machine ethics keeping pace, with increasing emphasis on safety, containment, and align- ment. This paper addresses a recent suggestion that inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) could be a means to so-called “value alignment. ” We critically consider how such an approach can engage the social, norm-infused nature of ethical action and outline several features of ethical appraisal that go beyond simple models of behavior, including unavoidably temporal dimensions of norms and counterfactuals. We propose that a hybrid approach for computational architectures still offers the most promising avenue for machines acting in an ethical fashion.
MDSimAid : AN AUTOMATIC RECOMMENDER FOR OPTIMIZATION OF FAST ELECTROSTATIC ALGORITHMS FOR MOLECULAR SIMULATIONS

by Alice N. Ko Molecular dynamics (MD) for modeling the behavior of biological molecules is an important but difficult task. This thesis presents an approach that incorporates ideas from recommender systems and automatic empirical optimization of software to simplify the tasks of setting up a computer model for MD and for choosing the optimal algorithm and parameters. It is intended to act as a guide for beginners to perform molecular modeling and also to present a concrete example; a program written in Python called MDSimAid that helps users to prepare molecular systems for MD simulations. MDSimAid uses a MD package called CHARMM (Chemistry at HARvard Molecular Mechanics) and ProtoMol (a framework for molecular dynamics simulations developed in our laboratory) to prepare the molecular systems for simulations, allowing users to bypass the need to understand the specific format and terminology as well as the protocol required by the simulation software. The motivation is to let biologists do the biology and let computer scientists handle the programming and algorithms. MDSimAid interacts with ProtoMol to decide which is the best algorithm to handle electrostatics and the optimal parameters for the algorithm in order to attain the highest accuracy in the shortest time possible. MDSimAid provides real time analysis and has the parameter-tuning and datamining abilities to find the optimal values for the parameters.
The effects of different levels of L-carnitine and fat on performance and egg quality of laying hens

L-carnitine is used as feed additive in poultry diets to increase yield and to improve feed efficiency. The major role of L-carnitine appears to be the transport of long-chain fatty acids into mitochondria for A oxidation. This experiment was carried out to determine the effects of two levels of fat (10 and 30 g kg-1 DM) and two levels of L-carnitine (0 and 250 mg kg-1) on performance, egg quality, and blood parameters of laying hens in a factorial arrangement (2~2) with completely randomized design with six replicates and four laying hens in each replicate. During the experiment feed intake, egg weight, egg production, feed conversion ratio, and some blood parameters (triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL, HDL), egg quality (albumen height, egg shell thickness, egg shell breaking strength), and cholesterol content of eggs were measured. Results of this experiment indicated that supplementation of L-carnitine in laying hens diets had not significant effect on performance, cholesterol content of eggs, but decreased the levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL in blood serum and increased albumen height of eggs significantly (p<0.05). Supplementation of fat significantly increased feed intake and egg weight (p<0.05), but had not significant effect on blood parameters, egg quality and cholesterol content of eggs. ;
Interaction between Posaconazole and Amphotericin B in Concomitant Treatment against Candida albicans In Vivo

ABSTRACT The interaction of posaconazole and amphotericin B was evaluated in concomitant treatment of Candida albicans systemic infections in immunocompetent mice by using four strains of C. albicans with different susceptibilities to fluconazole. Posaconazole and amphotericin B were each tested at four dose levels alone and in all possible combinations against each C. albicans strain. Survival curves of mice treated with combinations of posaconazole and amphotericin B were statistically compared with those of mice treated with the component monotherapies. Of the 64 total combinations evaluated against the C. albicans strains (16 combinations per strain), 20.3% were more effective in prolonging mouse survival than both of the monotherapies, 45.3% were more effective than one of the monotherapies, and 32.8% were similar to both monotherapies. No evidence of antagonism was observed between posaconazole and amphotericin B in this mouse model, consistent with in vitro results against the same strains.
Role of autophagy in histone deacetylase inhibitor-induced apoptotic and nonapoptotic cell death

Autophagy is a cellular catabolic pathway by which long-lived proteins and damaged organelles are targeted for degradation. Activation of autophagy enhances cellular tolerance to various stresses. Recent studies indicate that a class of anticancer agents, histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, can induce autophagy. One of the HDAC inhibitors, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), is currently being used for treating cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and under clinical trials for multiple other cancer types, including glioblastoma. Here, we show that SAHA increases the expression of the autophagic factor LC3, and inhibits the nutrient-sensing kinase mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). The inactivation of mTOR results in the dephosphorylation, and thus activation, of the autophagic protein kinase ULK1, which is essential for autophagy activation during SAHA treatment. Furthermore, we show that the inhibition of autophagy by RNAi in glioblastoma cells results in an increase in SAHA-induced apoptosis. Importantly, when apoptosis is pharmacologically blocked, SAHA-induced nonapoptotic cell death can also be potentiated by autophagy inhibition. Overall, our findings indicate that SAHA activates autophagy via inhibiting mTOR and up-regulating LC3 expression; autophagy functions as a prosurvival mechanism to mitigate SAHA-induced apoptotic and nonapoptotic cell death, suggesting that targeting autophagy might improve the therapeutic effects of SAHA.
Experimental study of the compaction response of jute fabrics in liquid composite molding processes

The aim of this work is to characterize the compaction behavior of jute woven fabric preforms. The maximum compaction pressure, permanent deformation, and stress relaxation of the preforms were found to be dependent on the final fiber volume fraction and the compaction speed. Higher compaction speeds led to higher compaction pressures, stress relaxation, and permanent deformation. On the other hand, as the fiber content was raised, the maximum compaction pressure and the permanent deformation increased, while the stress relaxation decreased. In addition, it was found that the structure of natural fibers affected the compaction behavior of the preforms. Each fiber is composed of several hollow elementary fibers, which collapsed due to the compressive loading. Furthermore it was found that fluid absorption reduced the compaction pressure in natural fiber preforms due to fiber softening.
Antennal asymmetry and sexual selection in a cerambycid beetle

Cerambycid beetles have exaggerated antennae that are usually sexually size-dimorphic. We investigated the relationship between antenna morphology and sexual selection in the species Stenurella melanura (L.) in which males on average have antennae that are 13% longer than those of females. Males and females aggregate at flowers near oviposition sites for feeding during June-August. We sampled both copulating and single individuals at these sites. Fluctuating asymmetry (a measure of developmental instability) in antennae was considerably larger than in tibia and elytra and males had larger degrees of asymmetry in their antennae than females. Mated individuals did not differ from unmated individuals with respect to any of three size variables, but antennal asymmetry was smaller in mated individuals of both sexes. When two males were released with a female on a flower, males with symmetric antennae more often won the fight over the female than expected by chance. When two females and a male were released on a flower, the male more often preferred the female with more symmetric antennae than expected by chance. These results suggest that antennal symmetry, but not length, is currently under sexual selection.Copyright 1997 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
Formation of novel 2D polymer nanowebs via electrospinning

We have found a procedure for generating novel two-dimensional (2D) nanowebs in three-dimensional (3D) fibrous mats by optimization of various processing parameters during electrospinning. The electrospun fibres act as a support for the ‘fishnet-like’ nanowebs comprising interlinked one-dimensional (1D) nanowires. The average diameter of the nanowires contained in typical nanowebs is about one order of magnitude less than that of conventional electrospun fibres. The formation of the nanowebs of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and nylon-6 is considered to be due to the electrically forced fast phase separation of the charged droplets which move at high speed between the capillary tip and the collector. The formation, morphology and area density of the nanowebs in electrospun fibrous mats are strongly affected by the applied voltage, ambient relative humidity, kinds of solvents, solution concentration and distance between the capillary tip and the collector.
Higher retention after a new take-home computerised test

A new computerised testing system was used at home to promote learning and also to save classroom instruction time. The testing system combined the features of short-answer and multiple-choice formats. The questions of the multiple-choice problems were presented without the options so that students had to generate answers for themselves; they could click for the options when they were ready, and could choose one of the options within a brief, specified time period. One hundred thirty-eight Korean sixth-grade students (12-year olds) were divided into two groups: the experimental group took the intervening test on social studies using the new computerised testing method, and the control group used a computerised version of the traditional multiple-choice method. A few days after the intervening computerised test, a recall posttest was given in paper-and-pencil format. The mean posttest score was greater for the experimental group than for the control group. Implications of the result are discussed.