Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Stigma: Results From Young Women in Ghana

Young women’s experiences with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) stigma may contribute to unintended pregnancy. Thus, stigma interventions and rigorous measures to assess their impact are needed. Based on formative work, we generated a pool of 51 items on perceived stigma around different dimensions of adolescent SRH and family planning (sex, contraception, pregnancy, childbearing, abortion). We tested items in a survey study of 1,080 women ages 15 to 24 recruited from schools, health facilities, and universities in Ghana. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) identified the most conceptually and statistically relevant scale, and multivariable regression established construct validity via associations between stigma and contraceptive use. CFA provided strong support for our hypothesized Adolescent SRH Stigma Scale (chi-square p value < 0.001; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.07; standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = 0.06). The final 20-item scale included three subscales: internalized stigma (six items), enacted stigma (seven items), and stigmatizing lay attitudes (seven items). The scale demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.74) and strong subscale correlations (α = 0.82 to 0.93). Higher SRH stigma scores were inversely associated with ever having used modern contraception (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.96, confidence interval [CI] = 0.94 to 0.99, p value = 0.006). A valid, reliable instrument for assessing SRH stigma and its impact on family planning, the Adolescent SRH Stigma Scale can inform and evaluate interventions to reduce/manage stigma and foster resilience among young women in Africa and beyond.
Learning Convolutional Text Representations for Visual Question Answering

Visual question answering is a recently proposed artificial intelligence task that requires a deep understanding of both images and texts. In deep learning, images are typically modeled through convolutional neural networks, and texts are typically modeled through recurrent neural networks. While the requirement for modeling images is similar to traditional computer vision tasks, such as object recognition and image classification, visual question answering raises a different need for textual representation as compared to other natural language processing tasks. In this work, we perform a detailed analysis on natural language questions in visual question answering. Based on the analysis, we propose to rely on convolutional neural networks for learning textual representations. By exploring the various properties of convolutional neural networks specialized for text data, such as width and depth, we present our "CNN Inception + Gate" model. We show that our model improves question representations and thus the overall accuracy of visual question answering models. We also show that the text representation requirement in visual question answering is more complicated and comprehensive than that in conventional natural language processing tasks, making it a better task to evaluate textual representation methods. Shallow models like fastText, which can obtain comparable results with deep learning models in tasks like text classification, are not suitable in visual question answering.
Generating Value Through Open Source: Software Service Market Regulation and Licensing Policy

In the software industry, commercial open-source software vendors have recognized that providing services to help businesses derive greater value in the implementation of open source–based systems can be a profitable business model. Moreover, society may greatly benefit when software originators choose an open-source development strategy as their products become widely available, readily customizable, and open to community contributions. In this study, we present an economic model to study how software licensing attributes affect a software originator’s decisions, aiming to provide policy makers with insights into how welfare-improving, open-source outcomes can be incentivized. We show that when a competing contributor is apt at reaping the benefits of software development investment, a less restrictive open source license (e.g., Berkeley Software Distribution, or BSD style) can improve welfare. On the other hand, when the originator is better at leveraging investment and service costs are high, a more re.
Forefront engineering of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond for quantum technologies

The revolution being led by the next generation of quantum technologies. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the rise of quantum physics has revolutionized the human comprehension of the universe. At that time, several experimental observations pushed physicists to think outside the classical Newtonian mechanics and electromagnetism theories. For instance, the pioneer study of the electromagnetic radiation of a blackbody by several scientists such as Max Planck and Lord Rayleigh is considered by many the first gearing event that challenged the so-called classical physical concepts of light and matter. The following breakthrough works involving the wave-particle duality concept to explain the particle-like behavior of electromagnetic waves and the photoelectric effect have then led to the foundations of quantum mechanics. Although very controversial at that time, quantum mechanics began to expand and gain further grounds after the mathematical formulation developed by Ervin Schrödinger in 1926 [1] and subsequent studies. Yet, since that time, a question has intrigued scientists from many different research fields: can the concepts of quantum mechanics be somehow implemented in something feasible (i.e. a device) for the long benefit of the society? The answer came quickly by the development of a ground-breaking first-generation of quantum technologies such as the laser and the global positioning system (GPS), which are devices based primarily on the quantum principle of coherence. These events resulted in quantum physics to be evolved from essentially a conceptual framework, to provide new inspirations for realistic technological applications. A particular field that has always been of broad interest is the capability of store, transmit and process information. With the rise of the industrial applications of semiconductor technology, especially the development of silicon-based micro-electronic devices in the late 1950s [2], the digitally-encoded type of information became popular and widely-spread within many different areas. Recent advances in microand nano-structuring, and a rapid progress in the material synthesis and development of new platforms led to a continuous increase of transmission speed and storage capacity of information in modern devices. Since the invention of integrated circuits, Moore’s law [3] has reasonably predicted the time evolution related to the density of electronic components that can be packed on a
Cardiac Sarcoidosis

Sarcoidosis can affect most organs in the body, and the heart is no exception. The general recognition of this has been slow, although it has been more than 40 years since excellent reports and reviews of the subject were published. For a long time, further reports were chiefly of small numbers of cases, usually in blacks from the southern states of the United States. As late as 1978 reports from reputable centers still suggested that cardiac sarcoidosis was largely confined to this group of people. The large series reported by Roberts and coworkers also had this emphasis, but reports by Matsui and associates showed that the disease is common in Japan, and Fleming and Fleming and Bailey have recorded its frequency in whites in the United Kingdom. Fleming suggested that the condition is underdiagnosed even at necropsy in cases of sudden death. There should be a more general awareness of this diagnosis so that treatment and prognosis may be as effective as possible.
HTLV-1 Integration into Transcriptionally Active Genomic Regions Is Associated with Proviral Expression and with HAM/TSP

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes leukaemia or chronic inflammatory disease in ∼5% of infected hosts. The level of proviral expression of HTLV-1 differs significantly among infected people, even at the same proviral load (proportion of infected mononuclear cells in the circulation). A high level of expression of the HTLV-1 provirus is associated with a high proviral load and a high risk of the inflammatory disease of the central nervous system known as HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). But the factors that control the rate of HTLV-1 proviral expression remain unknown. Here we show that proviral integration sites of HTLV-1 in vivo are not randomly distributed within the human genome but are associated with transcriptionally active regions. Comparison of proviral integration sites between individuals with high and low levels of proviral expression, and between provirus-expressing and provirus non-expressing cells from within an individual, demonstrated that frequent integration into transcription units was associated with an increased rate of proviral expression. An increased frequency of integration sites in transcription units in individuals with high proviral expression was also associated with the inflammatory disease HAM/TSP. By comparing the distribution of integration sites in human lymphocytes infected in short-term cell culture with those from persistent infection in vivo, we infer the action of two selective forces that shape the distribution of integration sites in vivo: positive selection for cells containing proviral integration sites in transcriptionally active regions of the genome, and negative selection against cells with proviral integration sites within transcription units.
Output-Feedback Adaptive Neural Control for Stochastic Nonlinear Time-Varying Delay Systems With Unknown Control Directions

This paper presents an adaptive output-feedback neural network (NN) control scheme for a class of stochastic nonlinear time-varying delay systems with unknown control directions. To make the controller design feasible, the unknown control coefficients are grouped together and the original system is transformed into a new system using a linear state transformation technique. Then, the Nussbaum function technique is incorporated into the backstepping recursive design technique to solve the problem of unknown control directions. Furthermore, under the assumption that the time-varying delays exist in the system output, only one NN is employed to compensate for all unknown nonlinear terms depending on the delayed output. Moreover, by estimating the maximum of NN parameters instead of the parameters themselves, the NN parameters to be estimated are greatly decreased and the online learning time is also dramatically decreased. It is shown that all the signals of the closed-loop system are bounded in probability. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by the simulation results.
Neuronal and Peripheral Pentraxins Modify Glutamate Release and may Interact in Blood–Brain Barrier Failure

Neuronal pentraxin 1 (NPTX1) has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease, being present in and around dystrophic neurons in plaques, affecting glutamatergic transmission postsynaptically and mediating effects of amyloidβ. Here, we confirm the presence of NPTX1 around plaques in postmortem Alzheimer's disease brain and report that acutely applied human NPTX1 increases paired-pulse ratio at mouse CA3-CA1 hippocampal synapses, indicating a decrease in glutamate release. In contrast, chronic exposure to NPTX1, NPTX2, or NPTX receptor decreases paired-pulse ratio, mimicking some of the earliest changes in mice expressing familial Alzheimer's disease genes. The peripheral pentraxin, serum amyloid P component (SAP), causes similar synaptic effects to NPTX1. The presence of SAP on amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease confirms that it can enter the brain. We show that SAP and neuronal pentraxins can interact and that SAP can enter the brain if the blood-brain barrier is compromised, suggesting that peripheral pentraxins could affect central synaptic transmission via this interaction, especially in the event of blood-brain barrier breakdown.
Increased incidence of liver cancer after successful DAA treatment of chronic hepatitis C: Fact or fiction?

Therapy of hepatitis C has been revolutionized by Direct Antiviral Agents. These drugs are safe and efficacious in all infected patients, including those with advanced, or decompensated cirrhosis, and are currently largely used in such cases in clinical practice worldwide. It was therefore cause of great concern the publication of two reports suggesting that treatment with DAAs could increase the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients, particularly in those receiving antiviral therapy after having been cured for an HCC. These reports have generated a great and controversial debate and have been followed by a series of other publications not confirming such increased risk. This article summarizes published studies assessing the relation between DAA therapy and HCC in two different clinical setting: HCC recurrence in patients with an history of cured HCC and “de novo” HCC occurrence in patients without previous HCC. Rates of HCC recurrence after DAAs were extremely variable in different studies, reflecting great heterogeneity of this clinical setting. Data on “de novo” HCC incidence were more homogeneous and suggest that treatment with DAAs is not modifying the risk of developing HCC in the first 6‐12 months. The possibility that treatment with DAAs may favour tumour growth and spread in individual patients with active HCC foci is suggested by some observations but remains unproven. There is clearly a need for prospective studies designed to better define these issues.
In Vitro and In Vivo Antifungal Profile of a Novel and Long-Acting Inhaled Azole, PC945, on Aspergillus fumigatus Infection

ABSTRACT The profile of PC945, a novel triazole antifungal designed for administration via inhalation, was assessed in a range of in vitro and in vivo studies. PC945 was characterized as a potent, tightly binding inhibitor of Aspergillus fumigatus sterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51A and CYP51B) activity (50% inhibitory concentrations [IC50s], 0.23 μM and 0.22 μM, respectively) with characteristic type II azole binding spectra. Against 96 clinically isolated A. fumigatus strains, the MIC values of PC945 ranged from 0.032 to >8 μg/ml, while those of voriconazole ranged from 0.064 to 4 μg/ml. Spectrophotometric analysis of the effects of PC945 against itraconazole-susceptible and -resistant A. fumigatus growth yielded IC50 (determined based on optical density [OD]) values of 0.0012 to 0.034 μg/ml, whereas voriconazole (0.019 to >1 μg/ml) was less effective than PC945. PC945 was effective against a broad spectrum of pathogenic fungi (with MICs ranging from 0.0078 to 2 μg/ml), including Aspergillus terreus, Trichophyton rubrum, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida krusei, Cryptococcus gattii, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Rhizopus oryzae (1 or 2 isolates each). In addition, when A. fumigatus hyphae or human bronchial cells were treated with PC945 and then washed, PC945 was found to be absorbed quickly into both target and nontarget cells and to produce persistent antifungal effects. Among temporarily neutropenic immunocompromised mice infected with A. fumigatus intranasally, 50% of the animals survived until day 7 when treated intranasally with PC945 at 0.56 μg/mouse, while posaconazole showed similar effects (44%) at 14 μg/mouse. This profile affirms that topical treatment with PC945 should provide potent antifungal activity in the lung.
Advances in the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System: Relevance to Diabetic Nephropathy

Hypertension is now recognized as a key contributory factor to the development and progression of kidney disease in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The renin angiotensin system (RAS) and its effector molecule angiotensin II, in particular, have a range of hemodynamic and nonhemodynamic effects that contribute not only to the development of hypertension, but also to renal disease. As a result, therapeutic inhibition of the RAS with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and/or selective angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers has been proposed as a key strategy for reducing kidney damage beyond the expected effects one would observe with blood pressure reduction per se. Although the relationship between the RAS and the progression of diabetic renal disease has been known for many decades, recent advances have revealed a more complex paradigm with the discovery of a number of new components. Thus, further understanding of these new components of the renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS), such as the angiotensin type 2 receptor subtype, angiotensin converting enzyme 2, and the recently cloned renin receptor, is likely to have therapeutic implications for disorders such as diabetic nephropathy, where interruption of the RAAS is widely used.
Solitary Fibrous Tumors of the Orbit and Central Nervous System: A Case Series Analysis

Introduction: Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is rarely diagnosed in clinical practice. Since its initial descriptions in the central nervous system (CNS) and the orbits, very few case reports and small case series have expanded their clinical and pathological characterization. We sought to describe a cases series of SFT from a single laboratory of neuropathology belonging to a tertiary university hospital. Methods: Retrospective clinical and histopathological description of eight cases of CNS and orbital SFT diagnosed over a 21-year period of time. Results: Median age was 47.3 years and four were males. Clinical presentation was related to local mass effect in all. Tumors occurred in the orbits (5/62.5%), intracranial dura attached (2), and the spinal medulla (1). The neuropathology showed the presence of hemangiopericytoma type (2), classic type (3), and mixed type (3). Histological anaplasia was present in two cases. Widespread/total immunoreactivity for vimentin, CD34, and Bcl-2 was present in all. Gross total removal was conducted in the majority (6/75%) and subtotal removal in 2 (25%). Three patients were submitted to adjuvant treatment (radiosurgery and radiotherapy). Recurrence occurred in four patients, 13–120 months after surgical intervention. Anaplasia was present in one case of recurrence. Conclusion: Our case series confirms the clinical and neuropathological diversity of CNS and orbital SFTs. Studies with longer follow-up periods are necessary to better understand the clinical behavior and prognosis of the SFT in the CNS and orbits.
High‐resolution investigation of memory‐specific reinstatement in the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex

Episodic memory involves remembering the details that characterize a prior experience. Successful memory recovery has been associated with the reinstatement of brain activity patterns in a number of sensory regions across the cortex. However, how the hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal lobe (MTL) cortex contribute to this process is less clear. Models of episodic memory posit that hippocampal pattern reinstatement, also referred to as pattern completion, may mediate cortical reinstatement during retrieval. Empirical evidence of this process, however, remains elusive. Here, we use high‐resolution fMRI and encoding‐retrieval multi‐voxel pattern similarity analyses to demonstrate for the first time that the hippocampus, particularly right hippocampal subfield CA1, shows evidence of reinstating individual episodic memories. Furthermore, reinstatement in perirhinal cortex (PrC) is also evident. Critically, we identify distinct factors that may mediate the cortical reinstatement in PrC. First, we find that encoding activation in PrC is related to later reinstatement in this region, consistent with the theory that encoding strength in the regions that process the memoranda is important for later reinstatement. Conversely, retrieval activation in right CA1 was correlated with reinstatement in PrC, consistent with models of pattern completion. This dissociation is discussed in the context of the flow of information into and out of the hippocampus during encoding and retrieval, respectively. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Combining mutations at genes encoding key enzymes involved in starch synthesis affects the amylose content, carbohydrate allocation and hardness in the wheat grain

Summary Modifications to the composition of starch, the major component of wheat flour, can have a profound effect on the nutritional and technological characteristics of the flour's end products. The starch synthesized in the grain of conventional wheats (Triticum aestivum) is a 3:1 mixture of the two polysaccharides amylopectin and amylose. Altering the activity of certain key starch synthesis enzymes (GBSSI, SSIIa and SBEIIa) has succeeded in generating starches containing a different polysaccharide ratio. Here, mutagenesis, followed by a conventional marker‐assisted breeding exercise, has been used to generate three mutant lines that produce starch with an amylose contents of 0%, 46% and 79%. The direct and pleiotropic effects of the multiple mutation lines were identified at both the biochemical and molecular levels. Both the structure and composition of the starch were materially altered, changes which affected the functionality of the starch. An analysis of sugar and nonstarch polysaccharide content in the endosperm suggested an impact of the mutations on the carbon allocation process, suggesting the existence of cross‐talk between the starch and carbohydrate synthesis pathways.
Megaflora of the Australian Triassic–Jurassic: a taxonomic revision

Abstract Umkomasiaceans are the most commonly recorded components of Gondwanan Triassic floras but they are not represented subsequently in that region. Their diversity appears to have substantially declined prior to the Rhaetian. Lower and Middle Jurassic floras in Australia and elsewhere in Gondwana are strikingly different from those of the Triassic, comprising ferns, lycopods, conifers, cycads, and bennettitaleans. The fern Cladophlebis Brongniart 1849 emend. Seward 1894 dominated coal-forming paludal environments during the Middle Jurassic in Queensland and it is one of the most commonly preserved plants in the Eastern Gondwanan Jurassic. Ginkgoaleans were present in Eastern Gondwana until near the end-Triassic but were absent below ca 60°S palaeolatitude during the Early and Middle Jurassic. The type specimen of Dicroidium superbum (Shirley 1898) Townrow 1957 emend. nov. has been inaccurately represented in the published record. Consequently, many specimens belonging to the species have been incorrectly assigned to other umkomasiacean species. Misidentifications and considerably enlarged circumscriptions of some species have resulted in an erroneous and simplistic morpho-continuum concept supposedly linking umkomasiacean fronds. Several commonly occurring umkomasiacean species are re-assessed with particular attention to their type specimens, two of which are accurately figured here for the first time. This re-assessment, together with evidence from allied fructifications and wood, supports the view that umkomasiacean fronds belong to several genera. Most umkomasiacean lineages probably terminated prior to the Rhaetian; however, Zuberia Frenguelli 1943 emend. Artabe 1990 persisted to near the close of the Triassic.