Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimized Infectivity of the Cell-Free Single-Cycle Human Immunodeficiency Viruses Type 1 (HIV-1) and Its Restriction by Host Cells

The infectivity of retroviruses such as HIV-1 in plasma or cultured media is less than 0.1% in general, the mechanisms of which are not yet fully understood. One possible explanation among others is the potential presence of large numbers of defective virions in a virus pool, which limits the apparent infectivity of HIV virions. To test this hypothesis, we have varied the culture conditions used to generate single-cycle HIV-1 virions. Among these culture variables, virion harvest time, media change after transfection, and envelope plasmid input can all improve HIV-1 infectivity by reducing the number of defective virions. A harvest time of 18–24 hours post transfection as opposed to 48 hours, and a media change six hours post transfection both improve viral infectivity. An optimal quantity of envelope plasmid input during transfection was also found. Collectively, these conditions increased the infectivity of HIV-1 virions by sevenfold compared to normally reported values in TZM-bl indicator cell lines. These conditions also increased the infectivity of HIV-1 in CD4+ T cells, suggesting that these conditions work by increasing the intrinsic infectivity of a virus pool. Nevertheless, these improvements on virion infectivity were marginal compared to the impact of host cells on HIV infection, which can decrease the apparent infectivity by 19-fold even for the most optimized viruses. These results suggest that the infectivity of HIV-1 virions can be optimized by reducing the number of defective virions; however, viral-cell interactions may pose a major barrier for HIV-1 infectivity.
Making it on the Outside: Understanding Barriers to Women’s Post-Incarceration Reintegration

The increasing rate of imprisonment in the United States over the past few decades resulted in record numbers of individuals reentering society upon release. As men and women exit through prison gates, they encounter a range of obstacles that complicate their efforts to “make it” on the outside. Given the gendered impact of recent punitive prison policies, this essay focuses on women and traces their steps as they navigate the many complex, interrelated, and competing obstacles to successful reintegration post-incarceration. In particular, this essay describes how many barriers, and women’s reentry experience more broadly, are shaped by gender, race, and class. Further, drawing on the feminist pathways perspective, we examine women’s reentry in light of their pathways into offending focusing, in particular, on their victimization history.
Mycobacterium bovis BCG Urease Attenuates Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Trafficking to the Macrophage Cell Surface

ABSTRACT We have previously shown that Mycobacterium tuberculosis attenuates cell surface expression of major histocompatibility complex class II molecules in response to gamma interferon (IFN-γ) by a mechanism dependent on intracellular sequestration of α,β dimers. In this study we examined whether intracellular alkalinization due to mycobacterial urease could account for the defect in intracellular trafficking of class II molecules. Phagocytosis of wild-type Mycobacterium bovis BCG was associated with secretion of ammonia intracellularly, which increased substantially upon addition of exogenous urea to the culture medium. Increased intracellular ammonia, due to urea degradation by the bacterium, correlated with inhibition of class II surface expression. Conversely, no ammonia was detected in cells infected with a urease-negative mutant strain of M. bovis BCG, which also displayed a reduced effect on surface expression of class II molecules. A direct cause-effect relationship between urease and class II molecule trafficking was established with experiments where cells ingesting beads coated with purified urease showed an increased ammonia level and decreased surface expression of class II in response to IFN-γ. In contrast to BCG, infection of macrophages with Mycobacterium smegmatis, which expresses relatively greater urease activity in cell-free culture, had a marginal effect on both the intracellular level of ammonia and class II expression. The limited effect of M. smegmatis was consistent with a failure to resist intracellular killing, suggesting that urease alone is not sufficient to resist macrophage microbicidal mechanisms and that this is required for a more distal effect on cell regulation. Our results demonstrate that alkalinization of critical intracellular organelles by pathogenic mycobacteria expressing urease contributes significantly to the intracellular retention of class II dimers.
Review Article: Indigenous health in the Arctic: an overview of the circumpolar Inuit population

The health of the Inuit has undergone substantial changes over the past five centuries, as a result of social, cultural, and economic changes brought about by interactions with Europeans. This process was accelerated considerably in the second half of the twentieth century. The incidence of infectious diseases has declined considerably but is still high compared with Western societies. Chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are on the increase, while accidents, suicides, violence, and substance abuse are of major importance for the pattern of ill health in most Inuit communities. Lifestyle changes, social change, and changes in society and the environment are major determinants of health among the Inuit.
Parenting behaviour is highly heritable in male stickleback

Parental care is critical for fitness, yet little is known about its genetic basis. Here, we estimate the heritability of parenting behaviour in a species famous for its diversity and its behavioural repertoire: three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Male three-spined stickleback are the sole providers of parental care that is necessary for offspring survival; therefore, this system offers the opportunity to study the inheritance of parental behaviour when selection is primarily acting on males. Fanning behaviour is a conspicuous parental behaviour that is readily quantified in this species. We show that the heritability of fanning behaviour is ≥0.9 and significantly different from zero within a freshwater population. Moreover, there was abundant genetic variation for fanning behaviour, indicating that it could readily evolve. These results suggest that parenting behaviour is tractable for further genetic dissection in this system.
Efficacy of Adjuvant 10% Hypertonic Saline in Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection: A Retrospective Analysis.

BACKGROUND Chronic lower back pain with or without radiculopathy represents an important medical, social, and economic problem. Many treatment modalities and techniques, including surgery and epidural administration of steroids, have been used to manage this pain. Hypertonic saline, which has been used as an adjunct to percutaneous epidural adhesiolysis, can also be injected via a transforaminal approach in expectation of longer-lasting effects. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to determine the effect of adding hypertonic saline to conventional transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFEI) to provide pain relief for chronic radiculopathy patients. STUDY DESIGN A retrospective study. SETTING Pain clinic of a university hospital. METHODS Between January 2010 and December 2013, the medical records of 246 patients (94 in the hypertonic group, 153 in the control group) who received transforaminal epidural block were reviewed and analyzed. The hypertonic group received 10% sodium chloride solution added to lidocaine, triamcinolone, and hyaluronidase. Outcomes on pain reduction were measured using a numerical rating scale (NRS) and the responder rate at baseline, one, 3, and 6 months after procedure. RESULTS The estimated difference in NRS scores from baseline throughout a 6-month follow-up period in the hypertonic group were significantly higher (P = 0.0003). The proportion of substantial responders (41.9% vs. 34.6% at one month, 40.9% vs. 26.8% at 3 months, and 33.3% vs. 14.4% at 6 months, respectively, P = 0.0058) and substantial/moderate responders (71.0% vs. 58.8% at one month, 65.6% vs. 40.4% at 3 months, and 48.4% vs. 20.3% at 6 months, respectively, P < 0.0001) were significantly higher in the hypertonic group. The Oswestry disability index (ODI) was not different between the groups (P = 0.2697). LIMITATIONS Retrospective design without a control group. CONCLUSIONS Hypertonic saline provides more superior and longer lasting pain relieving effects when added to TFEIs.Key words: Back pain, epidural injections, epidural steroids, hypertonic saline, lumbar, radiculopathy, transforaminal.
Reorganization of visual processing is related to eccentric viewing in patients with macular degeneration.

PURPOSE Neural evidence exists for cortical reorganization in human visual cortex in response to retinal disease. Macular degeneration (MD) causes the progressive loss of central visual acuity. To cope with this, MD patients often adopt a preferred retinal location (PRL, i.e., a functional retinal area in their periphery used to fixate instead of the damaged fovea). The use of a PRL may foster cortical reorganization. METHODS We used fMRI to measure brain activity in calcarine sulcus while visually stimulating peripheral visual regions in MD patients and age-matched control participants. RESULTS We found that visual stimulation of the PRL in MD patients increased brain activity in cortex normally representing central vision relative to visual stimulation of a peripheral region outside the patients' PRL and relative to stimulation in the periphery of age-matched control participants. CONCLUSIONS These data directly link cortical reorganization in MD to behavioral adaptations adopted by MD patients. These results not only confirm that large-scale cortical reorganization of visual processing occurs in humans in response to retinal disease, but also relate this reorganization to functional changes in patient behavior.
Gender and managerial competence: support for theories of androgyny? (Гендерный подход к управленческой компетенции: поддержка теориям андрогении?)

Статья - заявка на исследование малоизученной темы влияния пола на стиль управления. Важность гендерного подхода в этой области обосновывается необходимостью преодоления бытующего в управленческой среде стереотипа, что думающий менеджер - это думающий мужчина. Этот стереотип поддерживается общей функциональной методологической установкой, при которой управление человеческими ресурсами рассматривается как функция работника. При этом не учитывается в полной мере человеческий фактор, и его гендерные компоненты в том числе. Планируется исследование практики управления женщин-предпринимателей в сфере малого и среднего бизнеса. Предполагается создание гендерных моделей управления на основе сравнительного анализа управленческой компетенции женщин и мужчин, находящихся в сходных условиях (по специально разработанным тестам).
Clustering complex time‐series databases by using periodic components

Clustering methods for time series have been widely studied and applied within a range of different fields. They are generally based on the choice of a relevant metric. The aim of this paper is to propose and discuss a clustering technique in the frequency domain for stationary time series. The idea of the new procedure consists in analyzing the discrete component of the spectrum, avoiding the introduction of any metric for the classification of the time series. The novel technique is suitable for time series that show strong periodic components and is based on an efficient algorithm requiring less computational and memory resources, making it appropriate for large and complex temporal databases. The problem of the selection of the optimal partition is also addressed along with a proposal that takes into account the stability of the clusters and the efficiency of the procedure in classifying the time series among the different groups. The results of a simulation study show the relative merits of the proposed procedure compared to other spectral‐based approaches. An application to a large time‐series database provided by a big electric company is also discussed. The application showed the good performance of the proposed technique, which was able to classify the time series in a few groups of customers with homogeneous electricity demand patterns.
Accessibility and Interactivity in Distance Education Programs for Health Professions

This article reports a two-year study of students’ experiences of accessibility and interactivity in distance education programs for health professions. Through surveys and focus groups with students, instructors, and administrative staff, we found that accessibility and interactivity are interconnected and are important determinants of students’ success in distance education programs for health professions. Women with full-time employment in urban areas who were studying part time—many as single parents—constituted most students in the five health professions studied: disability management, health services administration, nursing, occupational therapy, and social work. Undergraduate and graduate education courses were offered primarily through WebCT. Highlights of students’ experiences were that instructors are a useful resource; accessibility requires students’ confidence and technical skills, particularly in on-line library searches; and opportunities for required and voluntary interactivity reduce the loneliness and loss of community experienced in distance education. Research findings have both administrative and academic implications for improving distance education programs for health professions. Cet article rend compte d’une recherche de deux ans sur les experiences des etudiants avec l’accessibilite et l’interactivite dans des programmes de formation a distance pour des professions dans le domaine de la sante. Par le biais d’enquetes et de groupes de discussion (focus group) avec des etudiants, des professeurs et du personnel administratif, nous avons trouve que l’accessibilite et l’interactivite sont interconnectees et sont des facteurs importants du succes des etudiants dans des programmes de formation a distance pour des professionnels de la sante. Des femmes travaillant a temps plein dans des regions urbaines et qui etudiaient a temps partiel - plusieurs d’entre elles en tant que meres celibataires – constituaient la plupart des etudiants dans les cinq professions de la sante etudiees : la gestion de services aux personnes handicapees, l’administration des services de sante, la profession d’infirmiere, la sante au travail et le travail social. Les cours de premier cycle et de cycles superieurs etaient offerts principalement par le biais de WebCT. Les points les plus marquants des experiences des etudiants etaient : les profes- seurs sont une ressource utile; l’accessibilite necessite la confiance des etudiants et des habiletes techniques, particulierement dans les recherches en ligne en biblio- theque; et finalement les occasions d’interactivite exigee et volontaire reduisent la solitude et le manque d’un sentiment de communaute qui sont eprouves en forma- tion a distance. Les resultats de la recherche ont des implications a la fois adminis- tratives et pedagogiques pour l’amelioration des programmes de formation a distance pour des professions dans le domaine de la sante.
Design Principles of Pancreatic Islets: Glucose-Dependent Coordination of Hormone Pulses

Pancreatic islets are functional units involved in glucose homeostasis. The multicellular system comprises three main cell types; β and α cells reciprocally decrease and increase blood glucose by producing insulin and glucagon pulses, while the role of δ cells is less clear. Although their spatial organization and the paracrine/autocrine interactions between them have been extensively studied, the functional implications of the design principles are still lacking. In this study, we formulated a mathematical model that integrates the pulsatility of hormone secretion and the interactions and organization of islet cells and examined the effects of different cellular compositions and organizations in mouse and human islets. A common feature of both species was that islet cells produced synchronous hormone pulses under low- and high-glucose conditions, while they produced asynchronous hormone pulses under normal glucose conditions. However, the synchronous coordination of insulin and glucagon pulses at low glucose was more pronounced in human islets that had more α cells. When β cells were selectively removed to mimic diabetic conditions, the anti-synchronicity of insulin and glucagon pulses was deteriorated at high glucose, but it could be partially recovered when the re-aggregation of remaining cells was considered. Finally, the third cell type, δ cells, which introduced additional complexity in the multicellular system, prevented the excessive synchronization of hormone pulses. Our computational study suggests that controllable synchronization is a design principle of pancreatic islets.
Bilateral texture filtering

This paper presents a novel structure-preserving image decomposition operator called bilateral texture filter. As a simple modification of the original bilateral filter [Tomasi and Manduchi 1998], it performs local patch-based analysis of texture features and incorporates its results into the range filter kernel. The central idea to ensure proper texture/structure separation is based on patch shift that captures the texture information from the most representative texture patch clear of prominent structure edges. Our method outperforms the original bilateral filter in removing texture while preserving main image structures, at the cost of some added computation. It inherits well-known advantages of the bilateral filter, such as simplicity, local nature, ease of implementation, scalability, and adaptability to other application scenarios.
Ultrastructural changes in various organs of the fish Puntius gonionotus fed cadmium‐enriched cyanobacteria

The accumulation and toxicity of cadmium in Puntius gonionotus fish that consumed the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis contaminated with cadmium were studied. Fish were fed cadmium‐contaminated cells for 4 weeks, after which cadmium accumulation in various organs was determined. The highest cadmium content was found in the kidney (56.0 μg Cd/g wet weight). Cadmium was not detected in the gill during the entire 4 weeks of cadmium feeding. Histopathological alteration of cells was observed in the gill, kidney, and liver. The results showed that dietary cadmium caused hypertrophy and edema of gill filaments. Coagulative necrosis and karyolysis of the nucleus were observed in the kidney. Vacuoles and hyaline droplets had accumulated in the epithelial cells of the proximal tubule. In the liver vacuolation of the cytoplasm, infiltration of macrophages, and focal necrosis were found. The ultrastructural changes that occurred in the cells of different organs were similar. These included a proliferation of vacuoles and lysosomes, formation of myelin bodies, degranulation, vesiculation, and dilation of rough endoplasmic reticulum, as well as swelling of mitochondria with loss of cristae. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 19: 585–593, 2004.
Living in the Past? Change and Continuity in the Norwegian Central Civil Service

In this article, the authors describe the changes that have taken place in the Norwegian civil service over the past 30 years, focusing on demographic changes in education and gender and on changes in civil servants' tasks, attitudes, and contact patterns. The changes are analyzed using tenure, structural, and demographic perspectives. The unique empirical database is provided by surveys conducted every 10 years of civil servants in the ministries since 1976. The main empirical findings are that there has been a combination of robustness and change. The findings show little support for the generational version of a tenure perspective, meaning that civil servants are not living in the past. The structural perspective, illustrated by the importance of formal position, best explains the variations in civil servants' contact patterns and attitudes, followed by the career version of a tenure perspective. Demography, as represented by different educational backgrounds and gender, also has an effect.
Multiple Object Response Normalization in Monkey Inferotemporal Cortex

The highest stages of the visual ventral pathway are commonly assumed to provide robust representation of object identity by disregarding confounding factors such as object position, size, illumination, and the presence of other objects (clutter). However, whereas neuronal responses in monkey inferotemporal cortex (IT) can show robust tolerance to position and size changes, previous work shows that responses to preferred objects are usually reduced by the presence of nonpreferred objects. More broadly, we do not yet understand multiple object representation in IT. In this study, we systematically examined IT responses to pairs and triplets of objects in three passively viewing monkeys across a broad range of object effectiveness. We found that, at least under these limited clutter conditions, a large fraction of the response of each IT neuron to multiple objects is reliably predicted as the average of its responses to the constituent objects in isolation. That is, multiple object responses depend primarily on the relative effectiveness of the constituent objects, regardless of object identity. This average effect becomes virtually perfect when populations of IT neurons are pooled. Furthermore, the average effect cannot simply be explained by attentional shifts but behaves as a primarily feedforward response property. Together, our observations are most consistent with mechanistic models in which IT neuronal outputs are normalized by summed synaptic drive into IT or spiking activity within IT and suggest that normalization mechanisms previously revealed at earlier visual areas are operating throughout the ventral visual stream.
Comparison of Robotic versus Conventional Selective Neck Dissection and Total Thyroidectomy for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Objective To compare the surgical outcomes of robotic selective neck dissection (SND) with total thyroidectomy and conventional transcervical SND with total thyroidectomy. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting University tertiary care facility. Subject and Methods We retrospectively analyzed 66 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy with SND (≥3 levels of II-V) and bilateral central neck dissection for cN1b papillary thyroid carcinoma, of whom 41 underwent conventional SND and 25 of whom underwent robotic SND. Subjective pain, sensory change, and cosmetic satisfaction were evaluated regularly for 3 months with a questionnaire. Results Compared with the conventional group, patients in the robotic group were younger (mean, 36.7 vs 47.5 years; P = .003) and more female dominant (96.0% vs 73.2%; P = .023). Mean total operative time was longer in the robotic group than the conventional group (298 vs 236 minutes; P < .001). Anterior chest pain was higher in the robotic group at postoperative 1 day (pain score, 1.88 vs 0.62; P = .011), 1 week (1.30 vs 0.43; P = .036), and 1 month (0.90 vs 0.18; P = .029). Postoperative cosmetic satisfaction was significantly superior in the robotic group. Conclusion Compared with conventional transcervical SND with total thyroidectomy, robotic SND with total thyroidectomy yields superior outcomes for cosmetic satisfaction, longer operative time, and higher chest pain in the short term. Further study with a larger number of patients is mandatory.