Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ritonavir-Based Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Infected Infants Younger Than 24 Months of Age

Background: Few data are available regarding clinical outcomes or dosing requirements for the protease inhibitor ritonavir in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children younger than under 24 months of age. Methods: This prospective, multicenter phase I/II open label treatment trial used ritonavir, zidovudine and lamivudine to treat protease inhibitor-naive, HIV-infected infants between the ages of 4 weeks and 24 months. Two sequential dosing cohorts were treated with 350 or 450 mg/m2 ritonavir every 12 hours; this report includes results of pharmacokinetics, safety, tolerability and efficacy through 104 weeks of follow-up of all subjects. Results: Fifty HIV-infected children were treated. By week 16, 36 had achieved HIV-1 RNA <400 copies/mL (72% intent-to-treat, 84% as-treated analysis); by week 104, 18 maintained durable viral suppression (36% intent-to-treat, 46% as-treated). Poor medication adherence by caregiver report contributed to virologic failure. Few subjects experienced treatment-limiting toxicity: emesis or ritonavir refusal in 6 (12%); and severe but reversible anemia or elevated serum hepatic transaminases in 1 (4%) each. Apparent oral clearance was higher and the median predose concentrations were substantially lower than those found in adults. Median z scores for weight and height for age/gender were below normal at baseline but improved by week 104. Conclusions: A combination regimen of ritonavir, zidovudine and lamivudine was generally safe and produced sustained viral suppression in more than one-third of infants who initiated therapy before 2 years of age. Improved palatability of liquid preparations of protease inhibitors, supporting infrastructure and behavioral approaches to improve medication adherence with antiretrovirals will likely be necessary to further improve efficacy.
Perceptions of service user and carer involvement in healthcare education and impact on students’ knowledge and practice: A literature review

Background: The involvement of service users in healthcare education has followed an increasing focus on patient-centred services. CETL4HealthNE, regional healthcare education collaboration, undertook a literature review to inform involvement strategies. Objectives: To identify–approaches used to involve service users in healthcare education curricula; perceptions of key stakeholders; impact of involvement on students’ knowledge and skills, and the quality of care delivered. Method: A structured search of the literature on service user involvement in Higher Education healthcare curricular activity was undertaken (July 2006–February 2007). Papers were screened and data extracted and synthesized according to the aspect of the curriculum enhanced by involvement and level of impact evaluation. Results: Thirty papers addressed interventions in pre- and 11 in post-registration education. Thirty studies reported on evaluation. Students and service users both benefited from service user involvement in health care programmes. There was limited evidence that involvement changed behaviour in practice or significantly benefited the recipient of care. Conclusions: Service user involvement in curricular developments for healthcare professionals is a policy imperative aimed at improving their experience of services. Despite a limited and weak traditional evidence base for impact on students’ knowledge and practice, both students and service users identify benefits from engagement. Further development of evaluation methodologies is required.
Stability of Osseointegrated Bone Conduction Systems in Children: A Pilot Study

Objectives To obtain objective data of bone conduction implant stability and osseointegration in children; to compare in pediatric subjects the stability and osseointegration of the novel TiOblast-coated implant system (BI300) to the previous generation, as-machined model. Study Design Multicenter, controlled, nonrandomized, longitudinal, prospective study. Setting Tertiary referral center. Level of Evidence IIIb Patients Ten subjects were enrolled, aged younger than 16 years and without comorbidities that negatively affect osseointegration. All patients were implanted “single stage”: 5 received the previous generation, pure titanium fixture (control group), and 5 were implanted the BI300, TiOblast-coated fixture (test group). Interventions Measurement of implant stability and osseointegration. Main Outcome Measure(s) Implant stability and osseointegration as measured by means of resonance frequency analysis intraoperatively, at 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, and every month till processor loading 6 months after surgery. Results BI300 is, on average, more stable than the control fixture, both intraoperatively and over time till processor loading. Over the 6 months’ follow-up, a stability increase was observed with both models, although it resulted statistically not significant. Conclusion The BI300 implant system has a greater primary stability as compared with the previous generation model, but its faster osseointegration could not be definitely verified. It is reasonable to assume that the BI300 fixture will enable surgeons to perform single-stage surgery more safely and with a lower failure rate. The possibility of an earlier processor loading remains to be confirmed in a greater sample.
Working memory and mental imagery in Cerebral Palsy: A single case investigation

In this study we describe visuospatial working memory and visual mental imagery of a child with Cerebral Palsy. Beyond a moderate impairment of visuomotor integration skills, cognitive level and memory span, poor performance emerged in figures reconstruction, in memorizing matrix patterns and movements along a path. No such deficits were observed in recalling figures and their positions on a grid and learning groups of words using a visual imagery strategy. This case highlights that impaired action execution impairs performance in imagery tasks as well, but not when alternative strategies (e.g., verbal encoding) can be adopted. Results are discussed considering recent evidence on working memory and visual imagery links, and their role in motor rehabilitation training.
Constitutive impaired TCR/CD3-mediated activation of T cells in IDDM patients co-exist with normal co-stimulation pathways.

IDDM is a T cell-mediated autoimmune disease which is paradoxically associated with T cell functional deficiencies. The proliferative response of PBMC under CD3-, Vbeta2-, Vbeta8- and Vbeta7-stimulation was investigated in IDDM and NIDDM patients, non-diabetic first-degree relatives and control subjects. Despite normal surface expression of the TCR/CD3 complex, the TCR/CD3-mediated proliferation of PBMC from IDDM patients was significantly impaired compared to control subjects (P<0.05). This defect was specific for the autoimmune disease, constitutive and not linked to the class II MHC genotype, to metabolic disturbances or to presence of specific autoantibodies. Inefficient activation of T cells was not related to a lower capacity of CD28 to transduce co-stimulative signals because proliferative responses under CD2/CD28 stimulations were similar in IDDM and control groups. The IL-2/IL-2 receptor system was functional because unstimulated PBMC proliferated in response to increasing amounts of IL-2. Nevertheless, despite normal expression of CD25, addition of IL-2 did not normalize the proliferative defect linked to IDDM. In conclusion, excluding a faulty co-stimulation pathway, these results are in favour of a constitutive defect in the CD3/TCR transduction machinery, increasing sensitivity to apoptosis or anergy in T cells from IDDM patients.
Stock liquidity and enterprise innovation: new evidence from China

ABSTRACT We employ data of 6194 firm-year observations for 1058 listed companies in the period 2006–2013 to investigate the interaction between stock liquidity and enterprise innovation in China and confirm that an increase in stock liquidity raises the number of patents granted, R&D investment, and the innovation efficiency of state-owned enterprises, while it decreases innovation significantly in private firms. These findings are also supported by quasi-natural experiments under the split-share structure policy reform and the adjustment of the stamp duty rate using propensity score matching and difference-in-difference methods. We then identify two possible mechanisms through which liquidity increases innovation: the entry of long-term and strategic institutional investors and the gradual privatization of SOEs. Several policy implications are provided in accordance with our findings.
Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Credit Spreads

Abstract We find a significant positive relation between changes in policy uncertainty and changes in credit spreads. Macroeconomic conditions, including general uncertainty, do not explain this result, which also holds when we use instrumental variables to address endogeneity issues. The impact of policy uncertainty is greater for firms that operate in regulation-intensive industries, face high tax rates, or are dependent on government spending. It is also stronger for firms that engage in political activities or rely on external financing. We conclude that policy uncertainty has a significant effect on firms’ borrowing costs, with exposure to government policies representing an important channel.
Pharmacological enhancement of fear reduction: preclinical models

Anxiety disorders have a high prevalence, and despite the substantial advances in the psychological treatment of anxiety, relapse is still a common problem. One approach to improving existing psychological treatments for anxiety has been to develop pharmacological agents that can be used to enhance the processes underlying exposure therapy, which is the most commonly used and empirically validated psychological treatment for anxiety during which individuals are taught to appropriately inhibit fear. Animal models of exposure therapy, particularly fear extinction, have proved to be a very useful way of examining the neural and molecular correlates of fear inhibition, which has in turn led to the identification of numerous drugs that enhance these processes in rats. Several of these drugs have subsequently been tested as novel pharmacological adjuncts to exposure therapy in humans with a range of anxiety disorders. The purpose of this review is to outline the key animal models of exposure therapy and to describe how these have been used to develop potential pharmacological adjuncts for anxiety disorders. Drugs that are currently in clinical use, as well as those currently in the preclinical stages of investigation, are described.
Thiotepa and melphalan based single, tandem, and triple high dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation for high risk neuroblastoma

Outcome of high risk neuroblastoma (NBL) remains unsatisfactory in spite of intensive treatment efforts. Consolidation with high‐dose (HD) chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has been intensified with tandem and triple cycles with promising results. Our purpose was to improve the outcome with two or three HD‐consolidations.
Timing of infection and development of wheeze, eczema, and atopic sensitization during the first 2 yr of life: The KOALA Birth Cohort Study

Mommers M, Thijs C, Stelma F, Penders J, Reimerink J, van Ree R, Koopmans M. Timing of infection and development of wheeze, eczema, and atopic sensitization during the first 2 yr of life: The KOALA Birth Cohort Study. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2010: 21: 983–989. © 2010 The John Wiley & Sons A/S
Treatment of Young Rams with an Agonist of GnRH Delays Reproductive Development

The objective of this study was to determine if the continuous treatment of young rams with an agonist of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in the period immediately prior to puberty would delay the onset of adult sexual behavior and retard testicular development. In the first experiment the GnRH agonist was shown to be effective in suppressing the plasma concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in adult wethers (neonatally castrated rams) when administered by either a biocompatible slow release implant (implant) or a mini osmotic pump (minipump) that released the agonist for 4 weeks. The minipumps were more effective than the implants in suppressing the secretion of LH and FSH. In a second experiment, administration of the GnRH agonist by implant or minipump to prepubertal rams for 16 weeks immediately prior to puberty inhibited the development of sexual behavior, reduced the plasma concentrations of testosterone, retarded testicular and epididymal development, and inhibited growth rates. The effects on sexual behavior were clearly reversible but testicular and epididymal weights were still reduced in treated rams 8 weeks after the end of treatment. These results indicate that the reproductive function of rams is sensitive to gonadotropins and testicular hormones immediately prior to puberty. The agonist of GnRH was successfully delivered to the rams in a biocompatible implant which may offer a practical means of manipulating reproductive function in young rams.
Analysing the Relevance of the MIP Scoreboard's Indicators

The EU established an early warning system by introducing the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP) in the wake of the recent recession. Nevertheless, it has been found by some authors to be rather vague when launching the Excessive Imbalances Procedure. Performed analysis reflects on such views and treats the MIP indicators as a system while assessing the significance of all particular variables separately. This assessment was accomplished by applying a multivariate unbalanced logit model, utilising all 14 MIP headline indicators, using time horizons ranging from one to three years before crisis, which was represented by periods with output gap lower than negative 2 per cent. The approach was confronted with the estimates of a linear probability model to provide an idea about the robustness of the results. In the short term, activity rates, youth unemployment rates and private sector debt are the best performing indicators, complemented by current account balances in the long term.
Strained Germanium Gate-All-Around pMOS Device Demonstration Using Selective Wire Release Etch Prior to Replacement Metal Gate Deposition

Strained Ge p-channel gate-all-around (GAA) devices with Si-passivation are demonstrated on high-density 45-nm active pitch starting from 300-mm SiGe strain relaxed buffer wafers. While single horizontal Ge nanowire (NW) devices are demonstrated, the process flow described in this paper can be adjusted to make vertically stacked horizontal Ge NWs to increase the drive per footprint. The demonstrated short-channel devices have round Ge NWs with 9-nm diameter and are the Ge GAA devices with the smallest channel and gate dimensions (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$L_{G}= 40$ </tex-math></inline-formula> nm) published to date. Electrostatics and off-state leakage are maintained down to the shortest gate lengths studied, showing drain-induced barrier lowering of 30 mV/V and sub-20 nA/<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}~I_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle off}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{\mathrm {{\text {DD}}}}= -0.5$ </tex-math></inline-formula> V and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$L_{G}= 40$ </tex-math></inline-formula> nm. The short-channel device subthreshold slope SS and performance can be further improved by use of high-pressure annealing in hydrogen, yielding the best SS<sub>LIN</sub> and SS<sub>SAT</sub> of 71 and 76 mV/dec reported so far for any <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$L_{G}= 40$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-nm Ge pMOS channel device.
The lived experience of the wound care nurse in caring for patients with pressure ulcers

The aim of the study was to report the lived experience of the wound care nurse (WCN) in caring for patients with pressure ulcers (PU). WCN play an important role in caring for patients with PU, but the effect on caring for individuals with such wounds is poorly understood. A descriptive and interpretative study on the life worlds of spatiality, temporality, relationality and corporeality was carried out. Utilising the hermeneutic Heideggerian phenomenology, data were collected over a 3‐month period in 2012 using in‐depth interviews with five WCN. The interviews revealed eight themes: ‘challenge’, ‘making sense of it all’, ‘coping and self‐care’, ‘advocate of mine/making a difference’, ‘knowledge and technology’, ‘we have seen what can happen’, ‘holistic caring’ and ‘frustration’. Twenty‐five sub‐themes were also identified. WCN experienced a demanding and rewarding role of caring, influenced by the environment and the challenges with individuals living with PU. This study demonstrated an enriching yet challenging role. Recommendations for WCN, health care authorities and education providers include raising awareness of the importance of self‐care, greater recognition of the effect of this role on patients with PU and changing education to include reflective practice and resilience strategies.
The Soft‐tissue Components of the Vomeronasal Organ in Pigs, Cows and Horses

The soft‐tissue components of the vomeronasal organ of the pig, the cow and the horse were studied with the aid of dissection, microdissection, and light microscopy and immunohistochemistry of series of transverse sections. In horses, the rostral end of the incisive duct was blind: thus, unlike in pigs and cows, there was no communication between the vomeronasal organ and the oral cavity. In all three species, the central part of the vomeronasal duct bore the ‘typical’ respiratory/ receptor epithelium lining on its lateral and medial walls. The rostral part of the duct was characterized by stratified columnar epithelium, while more caudal parts bore simple columnar type. The patterns of distribution of glands, blood vessels and nerves were closely associated with the patterns of distribution of duct linings. The distribution of soft‐tissue components in pigs was less clearly defined than in cows and horses. Of the three species, nerves were detected in the rostral half of the vomeronasal parenchyma only in the horse.
High‐resolution photography of clouds from the surface: Retrieval of optical depth of thin clouds down to centimeter scales

This paper describes the approach and presents initial results, for a period of several minutes in north central Oklahoma, of an examination of clouds by high‐resolution digital photography from the surface looking vertically upward. A commercially available camera having 35 mm equivalent focal length up to 1200 mm (nominal resolution as fine as 6 µrad, which corresponds to 9 mm for cloud height 1.5 km) is used to obtain a measure of zenith radiance of a 30 m × 30 m domain as a two‐dimensional image consisting of 3456 × 3456 pixels (12 million pixels). Downwelling zenith radiance varies substantially within single images and between successive images obtained at 4 s intervals. Variation in zenith radiance found on scales down to about 10 cm is attributed to variation in cloud optical depth (COD). Attention here is directed primarily to optically thin clouds; COD less than about 2. A radiation transfer model used to relate downwelling zenith radiance to COD and to relate the counts in the camera image to zenith radiance permits determination of COD on a pixel‐by‐pixel basis. COD for thin clouds determined in this way exhibits considerable variation, for example, an order of magnitude within 15 m, a factor of 2 within 4 m, and 25% (0.12 to 0.15) over 14 cm. This approach, which examines cloud structure on scales 3 to 5 orders of magnitude finer than satellite products, opens new avenues for examination of cloud structure and evolution.
A 3.3 V 15-bit delta-sigma ADC with a signal bandwidth of 1.1 MHz for ADSL-applications

The design of a high-resolution high-speed delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter that operates from a single 3.3V supply is presented. This supply voltage presents several design problems, such as the reduced signal swing and the non-zero switch-resistance in the switched-capacitor circuits. These problems are tackled in this design without the use of special circuit techniques, such as clock-boosters. The converter uses a 2-1-1 cascade topology with optimised coefficients. For an oversampling-ratio of only 24, the converter achieves a SNR of 87 dB, a SNDR of 82 dB and an input dynamic range of 15 bits after comb-filtering. The converter is sampled at 52.8 MHz, which results in the required signal bandwidth for ADSL-applications of 1.1 MHz. It is implemented in a 0.5 µm CMOS technology, in a 5 mm2die-area and it consumes 200 mW from a 3.3 V power supply.
Succeeded where others have failed? Has Rojiroti’s model of microfinance led to a reduction in domestic violence?

Rojiroti is a small organization delivering microfinance to the poorest women in Bihar. This article explores Rojiroti’s panel data which shows a decline in domestic violence among its members, acknowledging that this result contradicts much of the existing literature on this topic. Detailed analysis of relevant literature and extensive fieldwork involving qualitative interviews with 16 Rojiroti Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in July 2015 inform the outcomes of this inquiry. While evidence from other microfinance organizations is less positive, there are indications that the specific approach to microfinance initiatives by Rojiroti in this context is successful in reducing rates of domestic violence.
Anti-MHC Class I Antibody Activation of Proliferation and Survival Signaling in Murine Cardiac Allografts1

Anti-MHC class I alloantibodies have been implicated in the process of acute and chronic rejection because these Abs can bind to endothelial cells and transduce signals leading to the activation of cell survival and proliferation pathways. To characterize the role of the MHC class I-signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of Ab-mediated rejection, we developed a mouse vascularized heterotopic cardiac allograft model in which B6.RAG1 KO hosts (H-2Kb/Db) received a fully MHC-incompatible BALB/c (H-2Kd/Dd) heart transplant and were passively transfused with anti-donor MHC class I Ab. We demonstrate that cardiac allografts of mice treated with anti-MHC class I Abs show characteristic features of Ab-mediated rejection including microvascular changes accompanied by C4d deposition. Phosphoproteomic analysis of signaling molecules involved in the MHC class I cell proliferation and survival pathways were elevated in anti-class I-treated mice compared with the isotype control-treated group. Pairwise correlations, hierarchical clustering, and multidimensional scaling algorithms were used to dissect the class I-signaling pathway in vivo. Treatment with anti-H-2Kd Ab was highly correlated with the activation of Akt and p70S6Kinase (S6K). When measuring distance as a marker of interrelatedness, multidimensional scaling analysis revealed a close association between members of the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway including mammalian target of rapamycin, S6K, and S6 ribosomal protein. These results provide the first analysis of the interrelationships between these signaling molecules in vivo that reflects our knowledge of the signaling pathway derived from in vitro experiments.
Gold-free growth of GaAs nanowires on silicon: arrays and polytypism

We report growth by molecular beam epitaxy and structural characterization of gallium-nucleated GaAs nanowires on silicon. The influences of growth temperature and V/III ratio are investigated and compared in the case of oxide-covered and oxide-free substrates. We demonstrate a precise positioning process for Ga-nucleated GaAs nanowires using a hole array in a dielectric layer thermally grown on silicon. Crystal quality is analyzed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Crystal structure evolves from pure zinc blende to pure wurtzite along a single nanowire, with a transition region.