Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of dual protection among female sex workers in Swaziland.

CONTEXT Female sex workers are at heightened risk of both HIV infection and unwanted pregnancy. Nonbarrier modern contraceptives are highly effective at preventing pregnancy, but offer no HIV protection. A better understanding of sex workers' use of condoms and nonbarrier methods is needed to help them meet their contraceptive and STI protection needs. METHODS A 2011 respondent-driven sampling survey collected reproductive health and contraceptive use data from 325 female sex workers in Swaziland. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to identify associations between selected characteristics and four outcomes of contraceptive use over the past month: consistent condom use alone; nonbarrier modern contraceptive use (either alone or with inconsistent condom use); dual method use; and inconsistent condom use, other method use or nonuse. Adjusted predicted probabilities were also calculated to determine patterns of association. RESULTS After adjustments were made for background and behavioral factors, 16% of female sex workers were found to be consistent users of condoms alone; 39% used nonbarrier modern methods (without consistent condom use); 8% were dual method users; and 38% were inconsistent condom users or used other methods or none. Women who reported recent condom failure were less likely than others to be consistent condom users (6% vs. 22%). Consistent use of condoms alone was more common among women who had had no noncommercial partners in the past month than among those who reported two or more such partners (39% vs. 3%). In addition, respondents who had children were more likely than their nulliparous counterparts to report use of nonbarrier methods alone (65% vs. 14%). CONCLUSIONS Inconsistent or no condom use among nonbarrier contraceptive users underscores the need to incorporate HIV prevention into family planning interventions, particularly among female sex workers who have children and noncommercial partners.
Transport element method for axisymmetric variable-density flow and its application to the spread and dispersion of a dense cloud

The Lagrangian transport element method for the solution of axisymmetric constant-density flow is extended to variable-density flow. In this method, thin vortex ring-elements of the Rankine type are used to discretize the vorticity field as well as the density gradient field. At the axi s, since the ring element concept does not apply, several Hill's spherical vortices are used. A simple algebraic expression for determining the density gradient is derived. Using this expression, the rate of baroclinic vorticity generation in the vorticity equation can be easily obtained. The transport element method, free of using Boussinesq approximation and turbulent closure modeling, is used to simulate variable-density flows such as the spread and dispersion of an axisymmetric dense gas cloud following its sudden release. The results show that multiple large scale concentric rings are generated at the cloud surface. Most of the cloud material is associated with the spreading front where the largest and strongest ring is located. The generation of these rings is explained using the baroclinic-vorticity generation mechanism. The entrainment of surrounding air into the dense cloud is shown to occur mainly at the cloud top through the large-scale engulfment by the vortex rings. The results on the cloud dispersion pattern and the rate of the horizontal spreading of the cloud compare well with experimental observations.
Productivity Spillover Effects of FDI in ASEAN Countries

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the effects of inward foreign direct investment on productivity in the ASEAN economies. The main novelty is the analysis of the spillover effects of inward FDI that may occur from the entry of multinational enterprises and the regional economic integration. In doing so, the causality between FDI and total factor productivity growth was taken into account. The causality analysis was made in five ASEAN economies using country-specific historical data from 1970 to 2004. We provided a variety of analytical testing, including unit root testing, cointegration testing, and Granger causality testing. The results from the Granger causality testing proposed by Toda-Yamamoto (1995) showed that there was strong evidence that FDI inflows caused the TFP growth in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. That means the change in FDI inflows induced the productivity spillovers to domestic firms.
On Experimentation and the Study of Corridors: Response to Beier and Noss

*Department of Zoology, Box 7617, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695–7617, U.S.A. , email nick haddad@ncsu.edu†Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97333, U.S.A. , email dan.rosenberg@orst.edu‡Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523–1474, U.S.A. ,email brnoon@cnr.colostate. edu
Importance of Salt in Determining Blood Pressure in Children: Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials

To assess the effect of reducing salt intake on blood pressure in children, we carried out a meta-analysis of controlled trials. Trials were included if participants were children (≤18 years), and duration of salt reduction must have been for ≥2 weeks. Mean effect size was calculated using a fixed-effect model, because there was no significant heterogeneity. Ten trials of children and adolescents with 966 participants were included (median age: 13 years; range: 8 to 16 years; median duration: 4 weeks; range: 2 weeks to 3 years). Salt intake was reduced by 42% (interquartile range [IQR]: 7% to 58%). There were significant reductions in blood pressure: systolic: −1.17 mm Hg (95% CI: −1.78 to −0.56 mm Hg; P<0.001); diastolic: −1.29 mm Hg (95% CI: −1.94 to −0.65 mm Hg; P<0.0001). Three trials of infants with 551 participants were included (median duration: 20 weeks; range: 8 weeks to 6 months). Salt intake was reduced by 54% (IQR: 51% to 79%). There was a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure: −2.47 mm Hg (95% CI: −4.00 to −0.94 mm Hg; P<0.01). This is the first meta-analysis of salt reduction in children, and it demonstrates that a modest reduction in salt intake causes immediate falls in blood pressure and, if continued, may well lessen the subsequent rise in blood pressure with age. This would result in major reductions in cardiovascular disease. These results in conjunction with other evidence provide strong support for a reduction in salt intake in children.
UKhigher education lecturers’ perspectives of dyslexia, dyslexic students and related disability provision

Dyslexia is currently a controversial concept. In UK universities the number of students possessing a dyslexia diagnosis continues to increase. Legislation requires that teaching staff proactively adapt their pedagogic practices to effectively include students so diagnosed. These actions depend on lecturers having up-to-date, accurate knowledge of what the dyslexia label currently means. This study explored the nature and extent of UK lecturers’ awareness of, and attitudes towards, dyslexia and dyslexic students. One hundred and sixty-four lecturers working within a range of disciplines in 12 UK universities were surveyed via an online questionnaire. The findings revealed a very high degree of positivity towards both dyslexic students and academic accommodations like reasonable adjustments. The positivity, though, was typically underpinned by inadequate awareness of current dyslexia research knowledge. Notable consequences included confusion and feelings of inadequacy around how best to meet the needs of dyslexic students, a resultant sole reliance on statutory generic reasonable adjustments, and a worrying disinclination to fully engage with related disability and equity issues. The study’s quantitative estimate of the extent of these findings amongst a large and diverse participant group, together with its analysis of cross and inter-institutional differences, add a new dimension to existing
Pain Control after Total Knee Arthroplasty: Comparing Intra-Articular Local Anesthetic Injection with Femoral Nerve Block

Background. Direct intra-articular injection of low doses of local anesthetic (IALA) after closure of the joint capsule remains controversial for pain control after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods. A retrospective study comparing patients receiving IALA with high doses (0.5% bupivacaine 60 mL) of local anesthetics or FNB in addition to intravenous patient-controlled analgesia with opioids for pain management after TKA was conducted. The primary end point was to compare the analgesic efficacy and early ambulation between the two groups. Results. No significant differences between the two groups in pain intensity, cumulative opioid consumption, incidences of opioid-related side effects, the time interval from the end of operation to the first time the patient could walk assisted with a walker postoperatively, and postoperative hospital stay were identified. Three patients in the IALA group but none in the FNB group walked within 12 hours after the end of operation. Summary. IALA with high doses of local anesthetics provides comparable analgesic efficacy as single-shot FNB after TKA and might be associated with earlier ambulation than FNB postoperatively.
From Comparison to Classification: A Cortical Tool for Boosting Perception

Humans are much better in relative than in absolute judgments. This common assertion is based on findings that discrimination thresholds are much lower when measured with methods that allow interstimuli comparisons than when measured with methods that require classification of one stimulus at a time and are hence sensitive to memory load. We now challenged this notion by measuring discrimination thresholds and evoked potentials while listeners performed a two-tone frequency discrimination task. We tested various protocols that differed in the pattern of cross-trial tone repetition. We found that best performance was achieved only when listeners effectively used cross-trial repetition to avoid interstimulus comparisons with the repeated reference tone. Instead, they classified one tone, the nonreference tone, as either high or low by comparing it with a recently formed internal reference. Listeners were not aware of the switch from interstimulus comparison to classification. Its successful use was revealed by the conjunction of improved behavioral performance and an event-related potential component (P3), indicating an implicit perceptual decision, which followed the nonreference tone in each trial. Interestingly, tone repetition itself did not suffice for the switch, implying that the bottleneck to discrimination does not reside at the lower, sensory stage. Rather, the temporal consistency of repetition was important, suggesting the involvement of higher-level mechanisms with longer time constants. These findings suggest that classification is based on more automatic and accurate mechanisms than interstimulus comparisons and that the ability to effectively use them depends on a dynamic interplay between higher- and lower-level cortical mechanisms.
Quantitative electroencephalography power analysis in subjective idiopathic tinnitus patients: a clinical paradigm shift in the understanding of tinnitus, an electrophysiological correlate.

UNLABELLED We report a descriptive analysis-interpretation of quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) data for the metric of power in patients with tinnitus of the severe disabling type (N = 61). The results are based on a statistical analysis of the data compared to a normative database as calculated in Z scores, controlling for the factors of age, gender, IQ, and the like. METHOD We analyzed the QEEG data for the metric of power to measure (1) the number of significant recordings, normal and abnormal; (2) the significant recordings by electrode recording sites; (3) distribution of the electroencephalographic (EEG) frequency bands; and (4) occurrence of the EEG frequency bands correlated with the electrode recording sites. In the analysis of the occurrence of the EEG frequency bands by electrode recording area, we corrected for the number of recording sites. RESULTS We recorded normal power recordings in 20 of 61 patients (32.8%) and abnormal power recordings in 41 of 61 patients (67.2%); power distribution by frequency band in 41 of 61 patients,revealing the number of significant recordings of delta (119), alpha (69), beta (91), and theta (17); and the power distribution by location for all frequencies, which were revealed as recording site activity in the frontal greater than in the temporal sites, which in turn was greater than in the parietal site, and equal activity in parietal, occipital, and central sites. The analysis of the occurrence of the EEG frequency bands by electrode recording area as corrected for the number of recording sites reinforced our initial results. CONCLUSIONS Z-score analyses of QEEG recordings--based on a large normative database--for the metric of power for patients having tinnitus of the severe disabling type (N = 61) revealed statistically significant abnormalities in frontal greater than temporal electrode recording sites. We reported no difference between male and female tinnitus patients in the number of abnormal power QEEG recordings. However, we observed significant differences in the average Z scores between males and females in the alpha and theta bands. The results suggest multiple central electrophysiological correlates for different clinical types of tinnitus identifiable with QEEG, for the metric of power, by frequencies of brain activity of delta greater than beta greater than alpha greater than theta bands of activity, reflecting physiologically the individuality of brain function and clinically the heterogeneity of the symptom of tinnitus for tinnitus patients. Clinical interpretation of the QEEG data in terms of brain function in a tinnitus patient, with a focus on theories of a neuroanatomical homeostatic system that regulates baseline levels of local synchrony in multiple neuronal assemblies and on theories of consciousness, introduces a paradigm switch in our clinical understanding of the symptom of tinnitus and an application for tinnitus diagnosis and treatment.
The Luminosity-Temperature Relation at z = 0.4 for Clusters of Galaxies

We have obtained the first large sample of accurate temperatures for clusters at z > 0.14 from ASCA. We compare the luminosity-temperature (L-T) distribution for these clusters with the low-redshift sample of David and coworkers and find that there is no evidence for evolution. We also find that the intrinsic variance in this relation is roughly constant with redshift. Additionally, there is no detectable change in the relationship of optical velocity dispersion to X-ray temperature with redshift. Most cosmological simulations driven primarily by gravity predict substantial changes in the L-T relation due to the recent rapid growth of clusters. Our results are consistent either with models in which the cluster core entropy is dominated by preheating, or with low-Ω models in which cluster structure does not evolve strongly with time. The intrinsic variance in the L-T relation at a fixed redshift can be due to variety of possible causes, e.g., a change in the baryonic fraction from cluster to cluster, variation in the fraction of the total energy in the system arising from shocks or supernova heating, or variations in the emission measure distributions in multiphase gas.
Precise VM Placement Algorithm Supported by Data Analytic Service

The popularity and commercial use of cloud computing has prompted an increased concern among cloud service providers for both energy efficiency and quality of service. One of the key techniques used for the efficient use of cloud server resources is virtual machine placement. This work introduces a precise VM placement algorithm for power conservation and SLA violation prevention. The mathematical model of the algorithm is supported by a sophisticated data analytic system implemented as a service. The precision of the algorithm is achieved by allowing each individual VM to build, on demand, its own data model over an appropriate time horizon. Thus the data model can reflect the characteristics of resource usage of the VM accurately. The algorithm can communicate synchronously or asynchronously with the data analytic service which is deployed as a cloud-based solution. In the experiments, several advanced data modelling and use forecasting techniques were evaluated. Results from simulation-based experiments show that the VM placement algorithm (supported by the data analytic service) can effectively reduce power consumption, the number of VM migrations, and prevent SLA violation; it also compares favourably with other heuristic
Coordinated Regulation of Virulence during Systemic Infection of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium

To cause a systemic infection, Salmonella must respond to many environmental cues during mouse infection and express specific subsets of genes in a temporal and spatial manner, but the regulatory pathways are poorly established. To unravel how micro-environmental signals are processed and integrated into coordinated action, we constructed in-frame non-polar deletions of 83 regulators inferred to play a role in Salmonella enteriditis Typhimurium (STM) virulence and tested them in three virulence assays (intraperitoneal [i.p.], and intragastric [i.g.] infection in BALB/c mice, and persistence in 129X1/SvJ mice). Overall, 35 regulators were identified whose absence attenuated virulence in at least one assay, and of those, 14 regulators were required for systemic mouse infection, the most stringent virulence assay. As a first step towards understanding the interplay between a pathogen and its host from a systems biology standpoint, we focused on these 14 genes. Transcriptional profiles were obtained for deletions of each of these 14 regulators grown under four different environmental conditions. These results, as well as publicly available transcriptional profiles, were analyzed using both network inference and cluster analysis algorithms. The analysis predicts a regulatory network in which all 14 regulators control the same set of genes necessary for Salmonella to cause systemic infection. We tested the regulatory model by expressing a subset of the regulators in trans and monitoring transcription of 7 known virulence factors located within Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2). These experiments validated the regulatory model and showed that the response regulator SsrB and the MarR type regulator, SlyA, are the terminal regulators in a cascade that integrates multiple signals. Furthermore, experiments to demonstrate epistatic relationships showed that SsrB can replace SlyA and, in some cases, SlyA can replace SsrB for expression of SPI-2 encoded virulence factors.
An exploration of women's experiences of cognitive-behaviour therapy for the treatment of bulimia nervosa

Background: The previous and current NICE guidelines consider cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) to be the best psychological intervention for the treatment of bulimia nervosa (BN). This is despite various issues with the studies contributing to this evidence-base. Overall, research has suggested that CBT is associated with the highest levels of symptom reduction, but little is known about what makes the therapy effective. Clients’ views regarding the topic have been especially neglected thus far. Aims: The study aimed to gain a detailed understanding of women’s experiences of CBT and its impact on their post-therapy lives. It also sought to provide clinicians and other professionals with helpful insights into how best support individuals with bulimic difficulties. Methodology: Semi-structured interviews were completed with four women who met the inclusion criteria for the study. The verbatim transcripts were analysed by using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings: Three master themes and nine subthemes were revealed through the analytical process. The master themes were: Loss of control; Staying on the surface; and Holding onto power. Conclusions: The findings indicated that the concept of ‘control’ and concerns regarding its loss and maintenance were central to all four women taking part in the study; these concerns were present in each master theme. Although all participants reported CBT to have helped them to address their disordered eating behaviours, parts of the women’s identities associated with these difficulties were left untouched. The implications of the findings to clinical practice, and suggestions for future research will be discussed.
Antibiotic Resistance and the Biology of History

Beginning in the 1940s, mass production of antibiotics involved the industrial-scale growth of microorganisms to harvest their metabolic products. Unfortunately, the use of antibiotics selects for resistance at answering scale. The turn to the study of antibiotic resistance in microbiology and medicine is examined, focusing on the realization that individual therapies targeted at single pathogens in individual bodies are environmental events affecting bacterial evolution far beyond bodies. In turning to biological manifestations of antibiotic use, sciences fathom material outcomes of their own previous concepts. Archival work with stored soil and clinical samples produces a record described here as ‘the biology of history’: the physical registration of human history in bacterial life. This account thus foregrounds the importance of understanding both the materiality of history and the historicity of matter in theories and concepts of life today.
UNIFORM PERSISTENCE AND PERIODIC COEXISTENCE STATES IN INFINITE-DIMENSIONAL PERIODIC SEMIFLOWS WITH APPLICATIONS

This paper is devoted to the study of uniform persistence and periodic coexistence states in infinite dimensional periodic eemiflows. Under a general abstract setting, we prove that the uniform persistence of a periodic semiflow is equivalent to that of its associated Poincarb map, and that the uniform persistence implies the existence of a periodic coexistence state, which generalizes and unifies some related earlier results. As an application, we discuss in detail the periodic Kolmogorov predator-prey reaction-diffusion system with spatial heterogeneity and obtain some sufficient conditions for the uniform persistence and global extinction of the system under consideration.