Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevention of mother‐to‐child transmission of HIV in Africa: successes and challenges in scaling‐up a nevirapine‐based program in Lusaka, Zambia

Background: Nearly half of perinatal HIV infection is preventable with nevirapine (NVP), which has transformed the ability to confront this transmission route in resource‐limited settings. Methods: A NVP‐based perinatal HIV prevention program initiated in Lusaka, Zambia in November 2001. Results: The first 12 months cost US$221 000 and enabled 178 district health employees to be trained in voluntary counseling and testing: 17 263 pregnant women were counseled for HIV, 12 438 (72%) were tested, and 2924 (24%) were found to be infected with HIV. NVP has been taken by 1654 (57%) mothers and 1157 (40%) babies. It is estimated that at least 190 infants have been spared HIV infection (11 per 1000 counseled women or 65 per 1000 identified HIV‐infected women). Conclusions: Prevention of mother‐to‐child HIV transmission is feasible and cost effective in resource‐limited settings. In Lusaka, thousands of women have received voluntary counseling and testing and NVP therapy under the present scheme. Patient attrition and non‐adherence represented a major source of program inefficiency, which requires to be systematically addressed.
Protocols with NGOs: The Need to Know

Among a number of competing concepts of democracy, two stand out for the purposes of this paper: democracy as a body of active citizens working together for public and private purposes; and democracy as a set of constitutional arrangements designed to disperse and balance power. Where, in practice, these are in balance, democracy is healthy. In those societies where constitutional arrangements are weak, for example, where governments may be unaccountable to the people, corporations unaccountable to owners and customers, and corporate‐government relations corrupt, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), consisting of active citizens, may be an important force for democracy, an opposition where none exists. They may restore the constitutional deficit with an activist surplus. In democratic societies with accountable government, strong regulation of the corporate sector and an absence of endemic corruption in business‐ government dealings, the role of NGOs is problematic. NGOs compete with other people for access to government and other centres of power. Democracy as an institutional concept needs to balance the interests of the organized and the unorganized. An organized and active citizenry on some issues may be good for the activists; but it may be bad for everyone else. In the interests of an open and informed policy arena, and as a contribution to balance the two concepts of democracy, this Backgrounder proposes the use of protocols for the management of relations between NGOs and democratic governments, and between NGOs and corporations (and charitable foundations). The purpose of a protocol is to ensure that provider organizations—government, corporations, foundations—assess the standing of an NGO before granting the NGO access to resources. The providers should insist on this NGO information on behalf of the primary ‘owners’ of the organization—citizens, shareholders, trustees—and make it available so that those owners may assess the use made of their resources. In this way, unorganized interests may reclaim some of the power that government and corporations sometimes cede to organized interests.
Oxytocin attenuates the cocaine-induced exploratory hyperactivity in mice.

The effects of pimozide, a dopamine-receptor blocker and oxytocin, a neurohypophyseal neuropeptide were investigated in mice on the cocaine-induced exploratory hyperactivity. The action of oxytocin on changes of dopaminergic neurotransmission induced by cocaine was also measured. Cocaine-induced exploratory hyperactivity could be blocked by pimozide (1 mg kg-1, s.c.). Oxytocin (0.05-1.0 micrograms) inhibited the cocaine-induced hyperactivity in an U-shaped dose-response manner. In the nucleus accumbens, oxytocin antagonized the increased dopamine disappearance, elicited by cocaine, but not in the nucleus caudatus. The data suggest that oxytocin may influence the behavioural effect of cocaine by modulating dopaminergic neurotransmission in mesolimbic dopaminergic terminal region of the brain.
Predictors of AIDS Knowledge, Condom use and High-Risk Sexual Behaviour among Women in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania

Reducing the number of sex partners and using condoms are the major means for individuals to protect themselves from STDs and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. To identify predictors of having only one sex partner in the last year and to assess knowledge and use of condoms among women of reproductive age in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, we interviewed 2285 women at 3 representative family planning clinics between February 1991 and June 1992. After interview, blood and genital specimens were collected for laboratory diagnosis of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Although knowledge of sexual transmission of AIDS was very high, less than a half of the respondents (42.8%) mentioned use of condoms as an AIDS preventive measure. Younger and more educated women were more likely to mention use of condoms for AIDS prevention, however only 4.6% of women interviewed were regular users of condoms, while 19.8% were occasional users. The majority of women who had never used a condom (57.5%) reported not using condoms because ‘men did not like them’. Condom use was positively associated with increasing level of education and increasing number of sexual partners. 14.8% of women reported having more than one sex partner in the last year; this behaviour was more likely among cohabiting women (increased by 210%); HIV-positives (increased by 120%); and among women with STDs (increased by 50%). The fact that condom use was positively associated with factors previously shown to be risk factors for HIV in this population suggests that AIDS prevention activities have been partially successful in reaching women at risk. However, condoms were still only used by a minority of women in the high-risk strata of these risk factors. Men's negative attitude about condoms was identified as the major reason for low condom usage; interventions aiming at increased condom use need to target male attitudes.
Persistent escalation of alcohol drinking in C57BL/6J mice with intermittent access to 20% ethanol.

BACKGROUND Intermittent access (IA) to drugs of abuse, as opposed to continuous access, is hypothesized to induce a kindling-type transition from moderate to escalated use, leading to dependence. Intermittent 24-hour cycles of ethanol access and deprivation can generate high levels of voluntary ethanol drinking in rats. METHODS The current study uses C57BL/6J mice (B6) in an IA to 20% ethanol protocol to escalate ethanol drinking levels. Adult male and female B6 mice were given IA to 20% ethanol on alternating days of the week with water available ad libitum. Ethanol consumption during the initial 2 hours of access was compared with a short-term, limited access "binge" drinking procedure, similar to drinking-in-the-dark (DID). B6 mice were also assessed for ethanol dependence with handling-induced convulsion, a reliable measure of withdrawal severity. RESULTS After 3 weeks, male mice given IA to ethanol achieved high stable levels of ethanol drinking in excess of 20 g/kg/24 h, reaching above 100 mg/dl blood ethanol concentrations, and showed a significantly higher ethanol preference than mice given continuous access to ethanol. Also, mice given IA drank about twice as much as DID mice in the initial 2-hour access period. B6 mice that underwent the IA protocol for longer periods of time displayed more severe signs of alcohol withdrawal. Additionally, female B6 mice were given IA to ethanol and drank significantly more than males (ca. 30 g/kg/24 h). DISCUSSION The IA method in B6 mice is advantageous because it induces escalated, voluntary, and preferential per os ethanol intake, behavior that may mimic a cardinal feature of human alcohol dependence, though the exact nature and site of ethanol acting in the brain and blood as a result of IA has yet to be determined.
Effects of Different Magnitudes of Tension-force on Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Periodontal Ligament Cells

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity is involved in the process of calcification in various mineralizing tissues, and it is found at much higher levels in the periodontal ligament (PDL) than in other connective tissues. Since the PDL lies between hard tissues and functions as a cushion mitigating mechanical stress, such as occlusal and orthodontic forces, this stress may modulate ALP activity in PDL cells, which themselves may affect adjacent alveolar bone metabolism. The objective of this study was to determine the level of ALP activity and the gene expression of liver/bone/kidney (L/B/K) ALP in human PDL fibroblasts in response to cyclic tension-forces. Human PDL cells were cultured on flexible-bottomed plates and placed on a Flexercell Strain Unit. Cells were flexed at 6 cycles/min (5 sec strain, 5 sec relaxation) at 6 levels of tension-force (9%, 12%, 15%, 18%, 21%, and 24% increase in surface area) for 5 days. There was no significant difference in cell proliferation between the cells subjected to the tension-force and the controls. There was a 10% and 42% decrease, respectively, in the ALP activity in PDL cells exposed to low (9%) and high (24%) tension-forces, and these decreases were dependent on the magnitude of the tension-force. The finding of inhibited ALP activity in response to tension-force was consistent with the observation that L/B/K ALP mRNA levels were decreased in response to cyclic tension-force. These results suggest that tension-force may affect PDL metabolism, depending on the functional role of ALP.
Caution in the use of a 100 mg dose of racemic mephenytoin for phenotyping southeastern Oriental subjects.

The reappraisal of elderly pharmacokinetics reported by Thompson & Tucker (1992) questioned whether it is ethical to include elderly fit volunteers in new drug development studies when there is little likelihood of obtaining data different from the predictions available from younger subjects. Naturally, I endorse their comments and the reasons for asking the question but I believe that it poses another which seems to deserve discussion in your pages. It is that if there is no peculiar risk to the fit elderly as they describe them, it appears more logical to recruit them to the exploratory studies on new compounds than the more conventional, younger age group represented by students. The logic extends beyond the simplistic idea that it is more justifiable to expose those who have already had an average life span to unnecessary risk, no matter how small, than the young. The retired elderly may have less acute needs of money so they are under less coercion by the honoraria which are now commonplace. They may have more mature judgement and, specifically, they may be seen to be less inclined to take risks of any kind. In a practical sense, I find that elderly volunteers are less likely to default on conditions of studies. They appear less likely to consume excessive amounts of alcohol or tobacco. Their retired status makes them available for the repeat dose pharmacokinetic studies which require their residence under constant supervision in the trial premises. They consistently report that they value the camaraderie of trials, which provides them with a positive social benefit from participating. I would endorse Thompson and Tucker's comment that trials in this group should be included in the development programme ofnew drugs destined mainly for use in the elderly. Indeed, to protect the young I feel obliged to consider whether such a programme for such a drug should include a majority of volunteers who are fit and between the ages of 60 and 75 years. Accordingly, I would welcome any clarification of the relative risks to these two age groups which your pages might provide. I believe it would focus upon the differences, if any, in response to drugs of vital organs in the two age groups; particularly myocardial function and circulatory responses to pharmacologically induced changes such as hypotension.
Training parents to use the natural language paradigm to increase their autistic children's speech.

Parents of four nonverbal and four echolalic autistic children were trained to increase their children's speech by using the Natural Language Paradigm (NLP), a loosely structured procedure conducted in a play environment with a variety of toys. Parents were initially trained to use the NLP in a clinic setting, with subsequent parent-child speech sessions occurring at home. The results indicated that following training, parents increased the frequency with which they required their children to speak (i.e., modeled words and phrases, prompted answers to questions). Correspondingly, all children increased the frequency of their verbalizations in three nontraining settings. Thus, the NLP appears to be an efficacious program for parents to learn and use in the home to increase their children's speech.
Monetary Policy Uncertainty and the Market Reaction to Macroeconomic News

We examine whether monetary policy uncertainty, related to tapering of the Federal Reserve’s asset purchase program, influences the reaction of the equity, Treasury security, foreign exchange and crude oil markets, as well as medium-term interest rates, to U.S macroeconomic announcements. Using intraday futures data, we show that in the presence of higher policy uncertainty the response to macroeconomic news weakens in the stock and crude oil markets and strengthens in the Treasury, interest rate and foreign exchange markets. These results provide direct evidence that conditioning monetary policy on incoming economic data influences the market reaction to macroeconomic news.
Mechanisms of CO2 transport in rectal salt gland of aedes. I. Ionic requirements of CO2 secretion.

Rectal salt glands of Aedes dorsalis can be successfully isolated and microperfused in vitro. Microperfused salt glands maintain a large, stable transepithelial potential (-40 to -50 mV, lumen negative) and secrete total CO2 at high and stable rates [CO2 net flux ( JCO2net ) = 799 +/- 57 pmol . min-1 . mm-1]. Bilateral Na+ and K+ or serosal Cl- substitutions and serosal addition of 1.0 mM ouabain, 2.0 mM amiloride, or 0.5 mM 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid had no effect on JCO2net . Removal of luminal Cl- inhibited JCO2net by 80%, whereas serosal addition of 1.0 mM acetazolamide or 0.5 mM 4,4'-diisothiocyano-2,2'-disulfonic acid inhibited JCO2net by 80 and 40%, respectively. Net Cl- reabsorption ( JClnet = -888 +/- 57 pmol . min-1 . mm-1) was equivalent to total CO2 secretion, suggesting that CO2 transport was mediated by a 1:1 exchange of luminal Cl- for serosal HCO-3.
The correlation of ULF waves and auroral intensity before, during and after substorm expansion phase onset

[1] We present case studies of the evolution of Ultra-Low Frequency (ULF) magnetic wave amplitudes and auroral intensity through the late growth phase and the expansion phase of the substorm cycle. We present strong evidence that substorm-related auroral enhancements are clearly and demonstrably linked to ULF wave amplitudes observed at the same location. In all three case studies presented, the correlation analysis shows that the ULF wave activity and auroral intensities are highly correlated at close to zero lag. We discuss four possible explanations that may be able to explain both the timing and the high correlations between these two phenomena, including a simple coincidence, an artifact of instrumental effects, the response of the ionosphere to magnetic waves and auroral particle precipitation, and finally, that ULF waves and auroral particle precipitation are physically linked at their source. We discount coincidence and instrumental effects since we present multiple events where instrumental effects have a negligible contribution, and we find that the ionospheric response to waves and precipitation can explain some, but not all, of the results contained within this paper. Specifically, the ionospheric response to substorm waves and auroral precipitation cannot explain the result backed up by previous studies that the onset of ULF wave activity and the onset of auroral particle precipitation occur at the same time and in the same location. This leaves the possibility that ULF waves and auroral particles are physically linked at their source. We therefore re-emphasize the importance of ULF wave observations in fully understanding the mechanism or mechanisms responsible for rapid auroral brightenings.
Collagen Dissolution by Keratinocytes Requires Cell Surface Plasminogen Activation and Matrix Metalloproteinase Activity*

Matrix metalloproteinase-14 is required for degradation of fibrillar collagen by mesenchymal cells. Here we show that keratinocytes use an alternative plasminogen and matrix metalloproteinase-13-dependent pathway for dissolution of collagen fibrils. Primary keratinocytes displayed an absolute requirement for serum to dissolve collagen. Dissolution of collagen was abolished in plasminogen-depleted serum and could be restored by the exogenous addition of plasminogen. Both plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase blocked collagen dissolution, demonstrating the requirement of both plasminogen activation and matrix metalloproteinase activity for degradation. Cell surface plasmin activity was critical for the degradation process as aprotinin, but not α2-antiplasmin, prevented collagen dissolution. Keratinocytes with single deficiencies in either urokinase or tissue plasminogen activator retained the ability to dissolve collagen. However, collagen fibril dissolution was abolished in keratinocytes with a combined deficiency in both urokinase and tissue plasminogen activator. Combined, but not single, urokinase and tissue plasminogen activator deficiency also completely blocked the activation of the fibrillar collagenase, matrix metalloproteinase-13, by keratinocytes. The activation of matrix metalloproteinase-13 in normal keratinocytes was prevented by plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and aprotinin but not by tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 and -2, suggesting that plasmin activates matrix metalloproteinase-13 directly. We propose that plasminogen activation facilitates keratinocyte-mediated collagen breakdown via the direct activation of matrix metalloproteinase-13 and possibly other fibrillar collagenases.
Neurocognitive and Symptom Predictors of Recovery in High School Athletes

Objectives:The purpose of this study was to identify specific symptom and neuropsychological test patterns that might serve as prognostic indicators of recovery in concussed high school football players. The recently proposed simple versus complex concussion classification was examined and specific symptom clusters were identified. Design:Case-control study. Setting:High school football. Participants:Subjects were 108 recently concussed male high school football athletes between the ages of 13 and 19 (mean, 16.01) years. Assessment of Risk Factors:Participants were evaluated by utilizing the Immediate Postconcussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing computer-based neurocognitive test battery at before injury and within an average of 2.23 days of injury. All athletes were followed until they met criteria for clinical recovery. Main Outcome Measures:Symptom ratings and neurocognitive test performance. Results:Both neurocognitive test results and self-reported symptom data had prognostic value in determining time to clinical recovery. Self-reported cognitive decline, Immediate Postconcussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing reaction time, and migraine headache symptoms were associated with longer time to clinical recovery. Overall, these difficulties were predictive of concussions that were retrospectively classified as complex. Conclusions:Specific symptom clusters and neurocognitive test results may have predictive value to classifying and managing concussions.
Glycosylation by Chinese hamster ovary cells in dolichol phosphate‐supplemented cultures

N‐linked glycosylation often imparts important properties to protein therapeutics. An essential step in this intracellular process is the transfer of oligosaccharide from dolichol monophosphate (Dol‐P) to a potential glycosylation site. Variability in the success rate of this reaction affects the extent of protein glycosylation. The critical role of Dol‐P suggests that its availability may influence the extent of glycosylation by limiting the pool of lipid‐linked oligosaccharides (LLOs), the glycosyl donor. To test this hypothesis, the impact of Dol‐P supplementation on protein glycosylation in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells was investigated. Although exogenous Dol‐P was incorporated by CHO cells and processed into LLOs in a dose‐dependent manner, Dol‐P supplementation had no marked effects on LLO or overall cellular glycosylation levels. While concentrations of exogenous Dol‐P exceeding 100 μg/ml were detrimental to CHO cell viability, maximum non‐toxic supplemental doses of Dol‐P had no significant impact on the glycosylation of recombinant interferon‐γ produced by batch cultures of CHO cells. These results show that glycosylation in CHO cells cannot be readily enhanced by Dol‐P feeding under normal culture conditions.
Lipopolysaccharide and hypoxia-induced HIF-1 activation in human gingival fibroblasts.

BACKGROUND We previously reported that chronic periodontal inflammation causes the accumulation of the transcriptional activator hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) in vivo. Here, evidence is provided that bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and cellular hypoxia, both associated with periodontitis, can individually, or in combination, lead to the accumulation and activation of HIF-1 in HGF in vitro. METHODS Primary gingival fibroblasts were cultured from human gingival biopsies. HIF-1α peptide from HGFs treated with Escherichia coli LPS under normoxia or hypoxia was detected by nuclear protein extraction, immunoprecipitation, immunoblotting, and immunocytofluorescence. HIF-1α transcripts were detected using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The transcript expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), a downstream gene of HIF-1α, were assessed by quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS Two HIF-1α splicing transcription variants were found to be constitutively expressed in HGFs. E. coli LPS induced a dose- and time-dependent nuclear accumulation of HIF-1α peptide in HGFs. This accumulation could be attenuated by treatment with a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-neutralizing antibody. Under hypoxia, LPS further increased HIF-1α accumulation in HGFs. VEGF-A transcript expression was upregulated by LPS under both normoxia and hypoxia but was downregulated by pretreatment with TLR4-neutralizing antibody or the specific HIF-1α inhibitor 3-(5'-hydroxymethyl-2'-furyl)-1-benzyl indazole. CONCLUSION LPS induces the nuclear accumulation of HIF-1α in HGFs and induces HIF-1 biologic activity under normoxia or hypoxia possibly through TLR4.