Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of age and parity on the distribution of cells expressing major histocompatibility complex class II, CD4, or CD8 molecules in the endometrium of mares during estrus.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate effect of age and parity on distribution and number of cells expressing major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II, CD4, or CD8 molecules in the endometrium of mares during estrus. ANIMALS 32 gynecologically healthy mares, categorized as young (3 to 8 years; n = 17) or old (9 to 16 years; 15) and nulliparous (n = 6), nulliparous embryo donors (16), or parous (10). PROCEDURES Endometrial specimens collected from the uterine body and horns during estrus were stained by use of the avidin-biotin-peroxidase method, using monoclonal antibodies against equine MHC class II, CD4, and CD8 molecules. Labeled cells in the stratum compactum within 5 randomly selected fields at 400x magnification (total area = 0.31 mm2) were counted, and numbers were compared among groups and between locations. RESULTS Age did not affect cell numbers within the 3 cell subsets examined. Numbers in each subset were higher in the uterine body than in the horns, although the difference was not significant for cells expressing MHC class II. Significantly more cells expressing MHC class II molecules were detected in the uterine body of nulliparous and parous mares than in embryo donors, whereas in the horns, these cells were significantly higher in number only in parous mares. Parity did not affect number of CD4+ or CD8+ cells. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE The increased likelihood for endometritis to develop in mares as they age cannot be explained by a decrease in number of cells expressing MHC class II, CD4, or CD8 molecules within the endometrium. However, greater number of cells within these 3 subsets detected in the uterine body, compared with the horns, during estrus suggests a local readiness to act against microorganisms or semen introduced during mating or insemination.
Gyrase‐dependent stabilization of pSC101 plasmid inheritance by transcriptionally active promoters.

The pSC101 plasmid encodes a cis‐acting genetic locus termed par that ensures the stable inheritance of plasmids in a population of dividing cells. In the absence of selection, par‐defective plasmids are lost rapidly from the bacterial population. We report here that the stability of par‐deleted pSC101 derivatives is restored by introducing certain adventitious bacterial promoters onto the plasmid. Stabilization requires active transcription from the inserted promoter and is affected by the site and orientation of the insertion, the length of the nascent transcript and DNA gyrase activity. While a promotor‐associated overall increase in negative superhelicity of plasmid DNA was observed, stabilized inheritance appeared to be dependent on localized rather than generalized supercoiling. Our demonstration that promoter‐induced DNA supercoiling can mimic the effects of the pSC101 par locus provides evidence that the previously reported superhelicity‐generating effects of par are intrinsic to its function.
Prevalence and predictors of squamous cell abnormalities in Papanicolaou smears from women infected with HIV-1. Women's Interagency HIV Study Group.

BACKGROUND Cervical neoplasia occurs with increased frequency among women infected with HIV-1. OBJECTIVE To characterize prevalence of and risk factors for abnormal cervical cytology among women with HIV and to compare them to uninfected women. METHODS Baseline cervical cytology was obtained from 1713 women seropositive for HIV and 482 at-risk control women who were enrolled in the Women's Interagency HIV Study, a multicenter prospective cohort study conducted in six U.S. cities. Associations with sociodemographic, medical, and sexual variables were assessed by Fisher's exact test, Mantel extension test, and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS Cervical cytology was abnormal in 38.3% of HIV-infected women (atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance [ASCUS] 20.9%, low-grade squamous cells of uncertain significance [LSIL] 14.9%, high-grade squamous cells of uncertain significance [HSIL] 2.3%, cancer 0.2%) and 16.2% of HIV-uninfected women (ASCUS 12.7%, LSIL 2.3%, HSIL 1.2%, cancer 0.0%). Risk factors for any abnormal cytology in multivariate analysis included HIV infection, CD4 cell count, HIV RNA level, detection of human papillomavirus (HPV), a prior history of abnormal cytology, employment, and number of male sex partners within 6 months of enrollment. Prior abortion was associated with a decreased risk of cytologic abnormality. CONCLUSIONS Cervical cytologic abnormalities were frequent among women infected with HIV, although high-grade changes were found in only 2.5%. Factors linked to sexual and reproductive history, HPV infection, and HIV disease all influenced risk.
Monitoring for HHV-6 Infection After Renal Transplantation: Evaluation of Risk Factors for Sustained Viral Replication

Background Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) is known to reactivate after renal transplantation and has been associated with several clinical manifestations. Risk factors for sustained viral replication, however, remain unclear. Methods Thirty consecutive kidney transplant patients were prospectively followed for HHV-6 replication between February 2007 and February 2008. Plasma samples for DNA detection were collected from the donor and the recipient before transplantation and from the recipient weekly for the first 2 months after transplantation and then every 2 weeks for 2 additional months. HHV-6 active infection was defined as detection of viral DNA in plasma, by polymerase chain reaction, in at least two consecutive samples over an interval of at least 1 week. Results Active viral infection was detected in 25% of the recipients before transplantation and 27% (8 of 30) of the patients after transplantation. The mean time to onset of viral replication was 28.1 days after transplantation and 7 of 8 (87.5%) were asymptomatic. Risk factors associated with active HHV-6 infection were receiving an organ from a living donor (P=0.028), recipients with IgM antibodies detected before transplantation (P=0.005), and pretransplantation recipient HHV-6 viral load more than 10,000 copies/mL plasma (P=0.034). Conclusions Active HHV-6 infection occurs early after renal transplantation and is mostly asymptomatic. Donor or recipient infection may occur at the time of transplantation and are related to higher rates of posttransplantation infections.
Intertemporal Pricing under Minimax Regret

We consider the pricing problem faced by a monopolist who sells a product to a population of consumers over a finite time horizon. Customers are heterogeneous along two dimensions: (i) willingness-to-pay for the product and (ii) arrival time during the selling season. We assume that the seller knows only the support of the customers' valuations and do not make any other distributional assumptions about customers' willingness-to-pay or arrival times. We consider a robust formulation of the seller's pricing problem which is based on the minimization of her worst-case regret, a framework first proposed by Bergemann and Schlag (2008) in the context of static pricing. We consider two distinct cases of customers' purchasing behavior: myopic and strategic customers. For both of these cases, we characterize optimal price paths. For myopic customers, the regret is determined by the price at a critical time. Depending on the problem parameters, this critical time will be either the end of the selling season or it will be a time that equalizes the worst-case regret generated by undercharging customers and the worst-case regret generated by customers waiting for the price to fall. The optimal pricing strategy is not unique except at the critical time. For strategic consumers, we develop a robust mechanism design approach to compute an optimal policy. Depending on the problem parameters, the optimal policy might lead some consumers to wait until the end of the selling season and might price others out of the market. Under strategic customers, the optimal price equalizes the regrets generated by different customer types that arrive at the beginning of the selling season. We show that a seller that does not know if the customers are myopic should price as if they are strategic. We also show there is no benefit under myopic consumers to having a selling season longer than a certain uniform bound, but that the same is not true with strategic consumers.
How Important is the Final Outcome to Interpret Match Analysis Data

In a recent study, Lago-Penas and Gomez-Lopez (2014) demonstrated that during elite English soccer matches, the percentages of ball possession, entries into the final one-third of the pitch, and shots on goal were lower for the teams with a 1 goal up game status compared to those with 1 goal down condition. In addition, clubs with higher budgets preferred to control the match by dictating the play, primarily through ball possession. Elite soccer coaches may benefit from considering training protocols coherent with the financial budget of their clubs, but these considerations may be valuable also for non-elite soccer clubs. In this comment, studies of various team sports are reviewed, to indicate the need to consider different training drills in relation to competition level, playing positions, and match status of a specific sport discipline.
SCUBA sub-millimeter observations of gamma-ray bursts IV. GRB 021004, 021211, 030115, 030226, 041006

We discuss our ongoing program of Target of Opportunity (ToO) sub-millimeter observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) using the Sub-millimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). In this paper, we present the ToO observations of GRBs 021004, 021211, 030115, 030226, and 041006. The observa- tions of GRBs 021004, 021211, 030226, and 041006 all started within ∼1 day of the burst, but did not detect any significant sub-millimeter emission from the reverse shock and/or afterglow. These observations put some constraints on the models for the early emission, although the generally poor observing conditions and/or the faintness of these afterglows at other wavelengths limit the inferences that can be drawn from these lack of detections. However, these observations demonstrate that SCUBA can perform rapid observations of GRBs, and provide encouragement for future observations in the Swift era. None of these GRBs had significant sub-millimeter emission from their host galaxies. This adds to the indication that GRBs are not closely linked to the most luminous dusty star-forming galaxies.
A novel forward AC/DC converter with input current shaping and fast output voltage regulation via reset winding

This work presents a novel simple forward AC/DC converter with harmonic current correction and fast output voltage regulation. In the proposed AC/DC converter, a transformer incorporating reset winding provides two main advantages. First, the bulk inductor used in the conventional boost-based power-factor-correction cell is omitted in the proposed converter, allowing significant volume and weight of magnetic material to be saved. Second, the voltage across the bulk capacitor can be held under 450 V by adjusting the transformer winding ratio, despite the converter operating in a wide range of input voltages (90/spl sim/265 V/AC). This new converter complies with IEC 61000-3-2 under a load range of 200 W and has fast output voltage regulation.
Acute Toxicity of Paraquat Dichloride on Blood Plasma Indices of Clarias gariepinus

A comparative study of the acute toxicity of paraquat dichloride on blood plasma indices of Clarias gariepinus was carried out using thirty eight (38) adult fishes of Clarias gariepinus (mean weight 166±54.13g; length 36.25±2.90cm) which were exposed to acute levels of paraquat dichloride (an organophosphate pesticide). The fishes were carefully netted to minimize stress and the area was wiped dry to avoid contamination. Blood was drawn from the heart with a 2cm3 heparnized plastic syringed fitted with 23G needle. The blood thus collected was preserved in EDTA bottles. The changes observed in haemoglobin. PCV, WBC and platelets showed a direct relationship with the exposed concentrations. Values increased with increasing concentration of the toxicant. The results clearly show profound effect of paraquat dichloride on energy metabolism, hence negative effect on blood plasma activities of Clarias gariepinus.
The Getty End-User Online Searching Project in the Humanities: Report No. 6: Overview and Conclusions

Over a two-year period, the Getty Information Institute (formerly the Getty Art History Information Program) sponsored and carried out a major study of end-user online searching by humanities scholars. Complete logs of the searches and output were captured, and the twenty-seven scholars involved were interviewed in depth. An overview of the study and its results is presented, with particular emphasis on matters of interest to academic librarians. Implications are drawn for academic library reference service and collection development, as well as for cataloging in the online and digital environment.
A fast Bayesian reconstruction algorithm for emission tomography with entropy prior converging to feasible images.

The development and tests of an iterative reconstruction algorithm for emission tomography based on Bayesian statistical concepts are described. The algorithm uses the entropy of the generated image as a prior distribution, can be accelerated by the choice of an exponent, and converges uniformly to feasible images by the choice of one adjustable parameter. A feasible image has been defined as one that is consistent with the initial data (i.e. it is an image that, if truly a source of radiation in a patient, could have generated the initial data by the Poisson process that governs radioactive disintegration). The fundamental ideas of Bayesian reconstruction are discussed, along with the use of an entropy prior with an adjustable contrast parameter, the use of likelihood with data increment parameters as conditional probability, and the development of the new fast maximum a posteriori with entropy (FMAPE) Algorithm by the successive substitution method. It is shown that in the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and FMAPE algorithms, the only correct choice of initial image for the iterative procedure in the absence of a priori knowledge about the image configuration is a uniform field.
Variations in health behaviours among inner city 12-year-olds from four ethnic groups.

OBJECTIVES To describe factors that contribute to variations in health-related behaviours and attitudes among inner city 12-year-olds. To see if there was an identifiable patterning by ethnic group. DESIGN Semi-structured interviews with a stratified sample of 12-year-old students and their parents from four ethnic groups, attending state secondary schools in two inner London boroughs. RESULTS Bangladeshi young people were significantly more likely to receive school meals. There was no variation in reported snacking between the groups. Girls and Bangladeshi students were less likely to report exercising outside school (33% of Bangladeshi boys reported not exercising outside school compared to 5% of boys from all other groups). Bangladeshi boys and their parents were more likely to report that bullying or worries about racial violence prevented them from going out after school. White young people were more likely to report experimenting with and the regular use of cigarettes and alcohol. Use of alcohol and cigarettes was also associated with gender, religion and strength of religious observance. White parents were the least likely to report restricting their child's social activities as a way of influencing behaviour and expressed more concerns about their child's potential for health-damaging behaviour than parents in all other groups. CONCLUSION This study shows that ethnicity alone is insufficient and inadequate in explaining variations in health behaviours among inner city teenagers. A complex mix of personal, cultural and social factors including ethnicity shape the behaviours and attitudes of these young people.
Functional Mapping of the Primate Auditory System

Cerebral auditory areas were delineated in the awake, passively listening, rhesus monkey by comparing the rates of glucose utilization in an intact hemisphere and in an acoustically isolated contralateral hemisphere of the same animal. The auditory system defined in this way occupied large portions of cerebral tissue, an extent probably second only to that of the visual system. Cortically, the activated areas included the entire superior temporal gyrus and large portions of the parietal, prefrontal, and limbic lobes. Several auditory areas overlapped with previously identified visual areas, suggesting that the auditory system, like the visual system, contains separate pathways for processing stimulus quality, location, and motion.
CLINICAL EFFECTS OF PHARMACOLOGIC AGENTS ON PREGNANCY, THE FETUS, AND THE NEONATE

Pharmacologic agents administered during pregnancy may have an adverse effect on the developing fetus and neonate. Although data concerning the effects of pharmacologic agents have been available for a long time, the seriousness of their significance in the obstetrical patient is not totally appreciated. Despite recent advances in the area of fetal and neonatal pharmacology, many physicians continue to prescribe drugs to the pregnant woman without considering the untoward effects upon the fetus. Moreover, during the past decade, narcotic addiction in the United States has reached epidemic proportions, and the ratio of addiction in women of child-bearing age has been steadily increasing, with the resultant birth of a large number of infants who have been exposed to the prenatal stress of illicit drug usage. In addition to physician-prescribed drugs and those utilized by the drugdependent individual, the vast majority of pharmacologic agents used in pregnancy are those that are self-prescribed by the obstetrical patient. The United States has become a chemically oriented country, and recent observations have revealed that an enormous number of drugs are used by pregnant women. The thalidomide tragedy drew attention to the induction of congenital malformations even with a drug generally accepted as innocuous for man. The result was a marked decrease in the use of drugs during pregnancy in those countries in Western Europe where thalidomide had been used. Unfortunately, there has not been an apparent change in maternal drug consumption in this country, where thalidomide was never approved for marketing. One recent study of 67 private patients in the last trimester of pregnancy revealed that each mother took an average of 4.5 drug preparations (including combinations) for a total of 8.7 different drug entities during the period of study. Eighty percent of the drugs were taken without a doctor’s supervision or knowledge; the remaining 20% were prescribed by a physician. The drugs included vitamin preparations (86% of the patients), aspirin ( 6 9 % ) , antacids ( 6 0 % ) , diuretics ( 3 0 % ) , cathartics (26%), antibiotics ( 1 6 % ) , antihistamines (14%), and barbiturates
Investigation by the Method of INNO-LiPA of Primary Resistance to Lamivudine in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Who Have Not Used Antiviral Therapy.

Aim Two billion people around the world are exposed to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and about 350 million are infected with chronic HBV. The infection can be acquired early (neonatal) and becomes chronic in 90%; this rate reduces to 30% between ages one and five years. There is a 25% risk of chronicity in adults. Nowadays, immunomodulatory and antiviral pegylated-interferons or oral antiviral agents are used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Lamivudine is an effective oral antiviral agent which inhibits the replication of HVB by blocking reverse transcriptase enzyme. The study aims to detect the resistance of HBV to lamivudine in the community and evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of early treatment with lamivudine. Subjects and Methods One hundred patients who presented to our Faculty of Medicine Hospital Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Department and had not received any antiviral treatment were recruited. The INNO-LiPA method was applied to investigate primary lamivudine resistance in patients. Results Seventy-eight patients were HBeAg-negative and 22 patients were HBeAg-positive. A statistically significant correlation was found between HBeAg positivity, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation and HBV DNA (p < 0.05). The rtM204V and L180M mutation motif was found in one patient with HBeAg positivity. Conclusions Hepatitis B virus in our region is not a lamivudine-resistant strain and early treatment with lamivudine is an effective and convenient method.
Digital health information provision and health outcomes

An online questionnaire survey of more than 1,000 users of a consumer health website, SurgeryDoor, was conducted, which sought to discover why the site was consulted and whether the information obtained from it had any health outcome. The majority of respondents were women and middle aged. Doctors were the first port of call for information, but 50% of respondents cited the Internet as one of their top three information sources. Most people did not come to the site with a particular illness or medical condition. Two-thirds of users said that the information found had ‘helped a lot’ in being better informed. Just under half felt that the information they found had helped in their dealings with the doctor, while just over half felt that information found had changed the way they felt about their condition. More importantly, over one-third of respondents said that their condition had improved after having visited the site and more than one in four said that Web information had resulted in a deferred visit or had actually replaced a visit to the doctor.
The effect of Helicobacter pylori on gastric acid secretion by isolated parietal cells from a guinea pig. Association with production of vacuolating toxin by H. pylori.

BACKGROUND One of the features of Helicobacter pylori infection in the human stomach seems to be disordered gastric acid secretion. The effect of vacuolating toxin (VT) produced by H. pylori on gastric acid secretion was examined. METHODS VT(+)(toxigenic) and VT(-)(nontoxigenic) strains of H. pylori were cultured in brucella broth. The culture supernatant was added to isolated parietal cells, and acid secretion and intracellular adenosine 3'5'-cyclic phosphate (cAMP) and Ca2+ levels were measured with the 14C-aminopyrine (14C-AP) method, with 125I radioimmunoassay (RIA), and with the fura-2 fluorescence method, respectively. RESULTS In the VT(+) strain a considerable inhibitory effect on 14C-AP accumulation was observed. However, the VT(-) strain had no significant effect on intracellular c-AMP and Ca2+. CONCLUSIONS The VT(+) strain of H. pylori has an inhibitory effect on gastric acid secretion, whereas the VT(-) strain does not. This inhibitory effect was not associated with the response of second messengers. It is speculated that VT produced by H. pylori has a direct action on H(+)-K+ adenosine triphosphatase in parietal cells.