Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transmission of schistosomiasis in Kariba, Zimbabwe, and a cross-sectional comparison of schistosomiasis prevalences and intensities in the town with those in Siavonga in Zambia

Abstract Given that the two communities lie only 10 km apart, on the northern shore of Lake Kariba, it is surprising that human schistosomiasis now appears to be a much less important health problem in Kariba town (Zimbabwe) than in Siavonga town (Zambia). In an attempt to explain this difference, the level and sites of Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni transmission in Kariba, and the prevalences and intensities of human infection with these parasites in both communities, have now been investigated. In a longitudinal study, a cohort of 378 schoolchildren, 150 subsistence fishermen and 42 commercial fishermen from Kariba town was screened three times for schistosome infection, at 6-month intervals. Sixteen human-water contact sites in or near the town were surveyed for intermediate host snails every month for 1 year. Finally, the results of screening 660 Kariba schoolchildren (in January 2001) and 527 Siavonga schoolchildren (in July 2002) were compared. In the longitudinal study, 9.0% of the schoolchildren, 7.3% of the subsistence fishermen and 0% of the commercial fishermen were each found positive for S. haematobium at least once. The corresponding values for S. mansoni were 2.5%, 12.5% and 26.3%, respectively. The results indicated that, each year in Kariba, 2.4% and 2.0% of schoolchildren and 18.2% and 5.2% of fishermen were infected with S. haematobium and S. mansoni, respectively. Although both Bulinus globosus and Biomphalaria pfeifferi were found at 14 of the 16 water-contact sites, snails infected with schistosomes that could infect mammals were only found at three of the sites. The problem of schistosomiasis in Kariba town appears to be greater among fishermen than schoolchildren, all transmission probably occurring in Lake Kariba. As expected, the overall prevalences of S. haematobium and S. mansoni infection among Siavonga schoolchildren (19.4% and 33.5%, respectively) were far higher than the corresponding values for Kariba schoolchildren (7.1% and 2.1%, respectively). The marked differences in the prevalence of human schistosomiasis between Kariba and Siavonga appear to be attributable to the better water and sanitation facilities and a history of schistosomiasis-control activities in Kariba town.
Partitioning of the Matrix Fraction of the Golgi Apparatus During Mitosis in Animal Cells

The Golgi apparatus is partitioned during mitosis in animal cells by a process of fragmentation, dispersal, and reassembly in each daughter cell. We fractionated the Golgi apparatus in vivo using the drug brefeldin A or a dominant-negative mutant of the Sar1p protein. After these treatments, Golgi enzymes moved back to the endoplasmic reticulum, leaving behind a matrix of Golgi structural proteins. Under these conditions, cells still entered and exited mitosis normally, and their Golgi matrix partitioned in a manner very similar to that of the complete organelle. Thus, the matrix may be the partitioning unit of the Golgi apparatus and may carry the Golgi enzyme–containing membranes into the daughter cells.
A comparison of cephalosporins and penicillins in the treatment of Group A beta‐hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis: a meta‐analysis supporting the concept of microbial copathogenicity

Although penicillin has been the antibiotic of choice for therapy of Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis for more than four decades, reports of bacteriologic and clinical treatment failures with penicillin have increased in recent years. We conducted a meta-analysis of 19 studies to examine whether oral cephalosporins were associated with lower failure rates than oral penicillin in the treatment of Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis. The overall bacteriologic cure rate for penicillin was 84% (95% confidence interval (CI), 82%, 86%) compared with 92% (95% CI, 91%, 94%) among patients treated with cephalosporins (P < 0.0001). The overall clinical cure rate in the penicillin groups was 89% (95% CI, 87%, 91%) compared with 95% (95% CI, 94%, 96%) in the cephalosporin group (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the cephalosporins and the penicillins with respect to adverse events. There may be clinical circumstances in which treatment of Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis with cephalosporins is indicated.
Extended Clearance Classification System (ECCS) informed approach for evaluating investigational drugs as substrates of drug transporters

Drug transporters are recognized widely for their role in clinical pharmacokinetics and drug–drug interactions (DDIs). This has provided impetus to the inclusion of transporter substrate and inhibition studies in recent regulatory guidances. Here we discuss the scope and utility of the Extended Clearance Classification System (ECCS) as a tool to support the rational staging of transporter victim DDI studies, both in vitro and clinical, and as a framework to inform clinical decisions during drug development.
Selective effects of anti-macrophage serum, silica and anti-lymphocyte serum on pathogenesis of herpes virus infection of young adult mice.

Weanling mice were treated with relatively specific suppressants of macrophages or lymphocytes and infected intraperitoneally with herpes simplex virus. Ingestion of silica particles or anti-macrophage serum impaired macrophage function and allowed virus to spread to the liver parenchyma with resulting hepatitis and early death. Anti-lymphocytic serum allowed the development of persistent viremia with subsequent spread of virus into the brain and development of fatal meningitis and encephalitis. These results are discussed in relation to the role of macrophage-dependent and lymphocyte-dependent reactions in protection of the host against parenteral virus infections.
New Strange Attractors for Discrete Dynamical Systems

A discrete dynamical system in Euclidean m-space generated by the iterates of an asymptotically zero map f , satisfying |f(x)| → 0 as |x| → ∞, must have a compact global attracting set A. The question of what additional hypotheses are sufficient to guarantee that A has a minimal (invariant) subset A that is a chaotic strange attractor is answered in detail for a few types of asymptotically zero maps. These special cases happen to have many applications (especially as mathematical models for a variety of processes in ecological and population dynamics), some of which are presented as examples and analyzed in considerable detail.
Personality and the perception of health in the general population

Background. Several population-based studies have shown that self-perceived health is a powerful predictor of health outcomes. The extent to which self-perceived health is associated with personality characteristics is, however, largely unknown. We aimed to study the relationship between self-perceived health and personality among adults in the community. Method. Data were drawn from the Midlife Development in the United States Survey, a representative sample of adults age 25–74. MANOVA was used to determine the relationship between self-perception of health and personality using the five-factor model. Results. Personality factors were significantly associated with perception of poor health. Among those without self-reported medical problems (N = 834), openness to experience, extraversion and conscientiousness were associated with perception of good health, while neuroticism was associated with the perception of poor health. In subjects with self-reported medical problems (N = 2772), high scores on agreeableness, openness to experience, extraversion and conscientiousness, and low neuroticism scores were associated with perception of good health. These associations remained significant after adjustments for age, gender, race, marital status and education. Conclusions. Self-perceived health is strongly associated with personality characteristics, both in subjects with and without self-reported medical problems. It is suggested that personality characteristics could contribute to the previously reported associations between self-perceived health and health outcomes.
Ethnicity, Expressed Emotion, and Schizophrenia Patients' Perceptions of Their Family Members' Criticism

Expressed emotion is a widely researched construct. However, less is known about patients' own perceptions of their relatives' expressed emotion. Using a sample of 42 patient/family member dyads with schizophrenia, we examined the concordance between the number of criticisms expressed by relatives during the Camberwell Family Interview and patients' perceptions of how critical they perceived their relative to be. As predicted, white and Latino family members who expressed more criticism during the Camberwell Family Interview were indeed perceived as more critical by patients. Among blacks, however, no significant association was found between relatives' expressed criticism and patients' perceptions of their relatives' criticism. Findings from this study suggest that cultural/ethnic values may influence how criticism from relatives is perceived and experienced by patients.
Reduction of perchlorate in river sediment

The transformation of perchlorate was investigated in river sediment during laboratory batch and column studies to determine if reduction of perchlorate is a viable pathway in natural sediment without previous exposure to perchlorate. Perchlorate at an initial concentration of 10 μM was reduced quantitatively to chloride in 3 d after a lag phase of 2 d in sediment slurries amended with lactate. Raising the initial concentration of perchlorate to 1,000 μM increased the lag phase to 20 d before reduction occurred. At perchlorate concentrations greater than 1,000 μM, the reduction of perchlorate was not observed within 40 d. We speculate that the high concentration of perchlorate specifically was problematic to the microbes mediating the reduction of perchlorate. High levels of nitrate inhibited the reduction of perchlorate as well. In sediment slurries amended with 870 μM sodium nitrate, the reduction of perchlorate at an initial concentration of 100 μM did not occur before day 15 of the experiment, but complete removal of nitrate had occurred by day four. Sediment column studies further demonstrated the dependence of perchlorate reduction on endogenous nitrate levels.
Photoreactivity of Alkylsiloxane Self-Assembled Monolayers on Silicon Oxide Surfaces

We have combined contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate the UV photoreactivity of octadecylsiloxane (ODS) SAMs (self-assembled monolayers) in air. Contact angle measurements present evidence that ozone is not the active agent in alkylsiloxane SAM degradation under UV illumination in air. A combination of UV and oxygen is necessary for monolayer degradation to proceed. AFM measurements on submonolayer coverage SAMs provide direct evidence of the photodegradation of ODS SAMs and reveal the role of defects in the degradation process. FT-IR and AFM results suggest that the hydrocarbon chain is the reactive site of the monolayers. A microscopic mechanism of the photoreactivity involving hydrogen abstraction is suggested based on the mechanism of gas-phase oxidation of alkanes. Our results have implications in clarifying the contribution from the reactivity of alkyl chains during the photomodification of SAMs. This clarificat.
Interactions of the gaseous neuromodulators nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide in the salamander retina

The three gaseous neuromodulators nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are endogenously produced in vertebrate retinas. The NO/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and CO/cGMP pathways have been previously shown to interact synergistically in the turtle retina to increase cGMP levels. In this study, we examined H2S as a modulator of cGMP‐like immunoreactivity (‐LI) and its interactions with the NO/CO/cGMP signaling pathways in the tiger salamander retina. Stimulation with NO donor or CO significantly increased cGMP‐LI from basal levels in bipolar and amacrine cells and in stratified arborizations in the inner plexiform layer. Stimulation with a combination of NO donor and CO significantly increased cGMP‐LI above that seen with either stimulation alone. Nitric oxide synthase inhibitors reduced CO‐induced cGMP‐LI, suggesting that CO‐induced cGMP‐LI is not produced from direct activation of soluble guanylate cyclase. Exogenous H2S alone, from the donor NaHS, did not significantly modify cGMP‐LI in dosages ranging from 2 to 1,200 μM NaHS, but there was a significant decrease in NO‐induced cGMP‐LI in the presence of 200 μM NaHS. This reduction of NO‐induced cGMP‐LI was not significantly affected by the addition of CuCl2, suggesting that the decrease was not a result of H2S and NO sequestering to form a novel nitrosothiol. NaHS did not have any significant effect on CO‐induced cGMP‐LI levels. Our results concur with previous studies showing synergistic interactions between NO and CO/cGMP retinal signaling pathways. We now show that H2S inhibits NO‐induced cGMP‐LI but not CO‐induced cGMP‐LI. In conclusion, all three gaseous neuromodulators have interactive roles in modulating retinal cGMP signaling. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A POPULATION DYNAMICS MODEL OF THE HARD CLAM, MERCENARIA MERCENARIA: DEVELOPMENT OF THE AGE- AND LENGTH-FREQUENCY STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION

Abstract An individual-based model was developed to simulate growth of the hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, in response to temperature, salinity and food supply conditions. Unique characteristics of the model are that: (1) length and tissue weight are related only by condition index, so that weight, up to a point, can vary independently of length, and (2) age is decoupled from length. Tissue weight changes result from the difference in assimilation and respiration. Changes in hard clam condition are determined from a standard length-weight relationship for average hard clam growth. Changes in hard clam length (growth) occur only when condition index is greater than zero, which happens when excess weight for a given length is attained. No change in length occurs if condition index is zero (mean case) or negative (less weight than expected at a given length). This model structure resolves limitations that accompany models used to simulate the growth and development of shellfish populations. The length-frequency distribution for a cohort was developed from the individual-based model through simulation of a suite of genotypes with varying physiological capabilities. Hard clam populations were then formed by the yearly concatenation of cohorts with partially independent trajectories that are produced by cohort- and population-based processes. Development and verification of the hard clam model was done using long-term data sets from Great South Bay, New York that have been collected by the Town of Islip, New York. The ability to separately track length and age in the simulations allowed derivation of a general mathematical relationship for describing age-length relationships in hard clam populations. The mathematical relationship, which is based on a twisted bivariate Gaussian distribution, reproduces the features of age-length distributions observed for hard clam populations. The parameters obtained from fitting the twisted bivariate Gaussian to simulated hard clam length-frequency distributions obtained for varying conditions yield insight into the growth and mortality processes and population-dependent processes, compensatory and otherwise, that structured the population. This in turn provides a basis for development of theoretical models of population age-length compositions. The twisted bivariate Gaussian also offers the possibility of rapidly and inexpensively developing age-length keys, used to convert length-based data to age-based data, by permitting a relatively few known age-length pairs to be expanded into the full age- and length-frequency structure of the population.
The use of yoga in specialized VA PTSD treatment programs.

BACKGROUND Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic, debilitating anxiety disorder that is highly prevalent among U.S. military veterans. Yoga, defined to include physical postures (asana) and mindfulness and meditation, is being increasingly used as an adjunctive treatment for PTSD and other psychological disorders. No research or administrative data have detailed the use of these services in Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) 170 PTSD treatment programs. METHODS One hundred twenty-five program coordinators or designated staff completed an 81-item survey of their program's use of complementary and alternative medicine modalities in the past year. This report describes data from a subset of 30 questions used to assess the prevalence, nature, and context of the use of yoga, mindfulness, and meditation other than mindfulness practices. RESULTS Results revealed that these practices are widely offered in VA specialized PTSD treatment programs and that there is great variability in the context and nature of how they are delivered. CONCLUSIONS Understanding how yoga is used by these programs may inform ongoing efforts to define and distinguish yoga therapy as a respected therapeutic discipline and to create patient-centered care models that mindfully fulfill the unmet needs of individuals with mental health issues, including veterans with PTSD.
Factors affecting epirubicin pharmacokinetics and toxicity: evidence against using body-surface area for dose calculation.

PURPOSE An exploratory study to test whether body-surface area (BSA) should be used for the calculation of epirubicin dose. PATIENTS AND METHODS The relationship between pretreatment characteristics and the effects of epirubicin were investigated in 20 chemotherapy-naive patients. Measurements of body size, renal and hepatic function, and other factors were correlated with epirubicin pharmacokinetics (PK) and epirubicin-induced neutropenia. All patients received 150 mg of epirubicin infused continuously over 120 hours, regardless of body size. Factors were analyzed by univariate and multivariate linear regression. RESULTS There were no correlations between BSA or weight with any PK parameter or with the degree of neutropenia. In multivariate analysis, indicators of liver function were the only factors that correlated with neutropenia and epirubicin PK. Thus, correlations for neutropenia were seen with antipyrine clearance (P = .003), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) (P = .005) and serum transferrin (P = .01). Further, the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) for epirubicin correlated with prothrombin index (P < .01), antipyrine clearance (P < .01), and serum bile salt concentration (P = .03), and there were similar correlations for epirubicin steady-state concentration (CpSS). Epirubicin clearance correlated with antipyrine clearance (P = .02). PK parameters for dihydroepirubicin correlated with prothombin index, serum transferrin, and bile salt concentrations (P < .001 for all correlations). Because of the number of statistical examinations performed, some of these correlations may be spurious. However, some are likely to be real, since the same variables repeatedly correlated with different epirubicin-associated outcomes. There were no correlations between epirubicin PK indices or neutropenia and serum aminotransferase levels or other biochemical liver function tests, creatinine, or any of the clinical factors examined. CONCLUSION These results led us to question the use of BSA for epirubicin dose calculation. In contrast, quantitative liver function tests may give a better indication of drug handling and toxicity and may be useful to determine more accurate methods for dose calculation of epirubicin.
NEW DATA ON THE CLINICAL AND THERAPEUTICAL MANAGEMENT OF OCCLUSAL CARIES ( II )

Due to the multifactorial etiology of the carious process and also to the dynamic character of the disease, its clinicaltherapeutical management becomes increasingly complex. The strategies applied in the management of occlusal caries have had several stages, starting with the pre-restorative period, when only few empirical and simple restorative methods were available. The following so-called ”restorative” stage was dominated by the belief of specialists and researchers that the only efficient treatment of carious lesions, whichever their evolution stage, is reconstruction of the odontal functional morphology through obturations. In the last decades of the last century, the preventive principles, supported by a better understanding of the mechanisms of action of fluoride, gained more and more space, ”the preventive stage” being now in progress. The major challenge in the management of the carious process is the control of its advance especially through preventive/therapeutical non-operative measures. The scope of any pattern of caries management is first to maintain the dental tissues, and to restore them only when recommended: such a desiderate should be considered in all decisions taken during anamnesis, clinical examination, establishment of diagnostis, until the end of the treatment.
Mobile Retriever - Finding Document with a Snapshot

In this paper we describe a camera based document image retrieval system which is targeted toward camera phones. Our goal is to enable the device to identify which of a known set of documents it is “looking at”. This paper provides two key contributions 1) a local context descriptor that effectively rules out irrelevant documents using only a small patch of the document image and 2) a layout veriﬁ-cation approach that boosts the accuracy of retrieval even under severe degradation such as warping or crinkling. We have implemented the mobile retriever client on an iMate Jamin camera phone and tested it with a document database of 12742 pages. Experiments show that our veriﬁcation approach clearly separates successful retrievals from unsuccessful retrievals.
Post-stroke sexual dysfunction: an overlooked and under-addressed problem

Abstract Sexual disorders after stroke are thought to be due to multiple etiologies, including both organic and psychosocial causes. Sexual function in post-stroke patients is often disregarded by healthcare professionals although sexuality is a fundamental part of quality of life. Beside pharmacological treatment, one of the most important, but underestimated, success factors of SD therapy is undeniably a proper counseling, which is mandatory to provide correct information on post-stroke sexuality helping the patients and their partners to regain intimacy. Implications for Rehabilitation Sexuality is an integrant and essential part of QoL, and patient affected by stroke should be investigated and treated for sexual disorders. Stroke may alter sexual response by changing the process of sexual stimuli to preclude arousal, decreasing or increasing desire, and curtailing genital engorgement. There is a need for a better management of stroke-related problems, including SD, providing the patients and their partner information useful to achieve a better sexual health.
Vested Interest and Biased Price Estimates: Evidence from an Auction Market

This study employs a new data set from art auctions to examine the relationship between auctioneer presale price estimates and the long-term performance of artworks. We find that the price estimates for expensive paintings have a consistent upward bias over a long period of 30 years. High estimates at the time of purchase are associated with adverse subsequent abnormal returns. Moreover, the estimation error for individual paintings tends to persist over time. These results are consistent with the view that auction house price estimates are affected by agency problems and that some investors are credulous. Copyright 2005 by The American Finance Association.