Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiovascular disease risk factors in HIV patients – association with antiretroviral therapy. Results from the DAD study

Objective: To determine the prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among HIV-infected persons, and to investigate any association between such risk factors, stage of HIV disease, and use of antiretroviral therapies. Design: Baseline data from 17 852 subjects enrolled in DAD, a prospective multinational cohort study initiated in 1999. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of CVD risk factors at baseline. The data collected includes data on demographic variables, cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, body mass index, stage of HIV infection, antiretroviral therapy. Results: Almost 25% of the study population were at an age where there is an appreciable risk of CVD, with those receiving a protease inhibitor (PI) and/or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) tending to be older. 1.4% had a previous history of CVD and 51.5% were cigarette smokers. Increased prevalence of elevated total cholesterol (⩾ 6.2 mmol/l) was observed among subjects receiving an NNRTI but no PI [odds ratio (OR), 1.79; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.45–2.22], PI but no NNRTI (OR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.92–2.87), or NNRTI + PI (OR, 5.48; 95% CI, 4.34–6.91) compared to the prevalence among antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive subjects. Subjects who have discontinued ART as well as subjects receiving nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors had similar cholesterol levels to treatment-naive subjects. Higher CD4 cell count, lower plasma HIV RNA levels, clinical signs of lipodystrophy, longer exposure times to NNRTI and PI, and older age were all also associated with elevated total cholesterol level. Conclusion: HIV-infected persons exhibit multiple known risk factors for CVD. Of specific concern is the fact that use of the NNRTI and PI drug classes (alone and especially in combination), particularly among older subjects with normalized CD4 cell counts and suppressed HIV replication, was associated with a lipid profile known to increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
Low-frequency heart rate variability is related to the breath-to-breath variability in the respiratory pattern.

Changes in heart rate variability (HRV) at "respiratory" frequencies (0.15-0.5 Hz) may result from changes in respiration rather than autonomic control. We now investigate if the differences in HRV power in the low-frequency (LF) band (0.05-0.15 Hz, HRV(LF)) can also be predicted by respiration variability, quantified by the fraction of tidal volume power in the LF (V(LF,n)). Three experimental protocols were considered: paced breathing, mental effort tasks, and a repeated attentional task. Significant intra- and interindividual correlations were found between changes in HRV(LF) and V(LF,n) despite all subjects having a respiratory frequency above the LF band. Respiratory parameters (respiratory period, tidal volume, and V(LF,n)) could predict up to 79% of HRV(LF) differences in some cases. This suggests that respiratory variability is another mechanism of HRV(LF) generation, which should be always monitored, assessed, and considered in the interpretation of HRV changes.
Towards truthful auction mechanisms for task assignment in mobile device clouds

Despite the increased capabilities of mobile devices, resource-demanded mobile applications still transcend what can be accomplished on a single device. As such, mobile device cloud (MDC), an environment that enables computation-intensive tasks to be performed among a set of nearby mobile devices, offers a promising architecture to support real-time mobile applications. To stimulate mobile devices to execute tasks for others, it is essential to design an incentive mechanism that appropriately charges the owners of the tasks, acted as the buyers, and rewards the mobile devices, acted as the sellers. In this paper, we propose two truthful auction mechanisms for two different task models, heterogeneous and homogeneous task models, which assume the different and the same resource requirements of the tasks, respectively. Specifically, for heterogeneous task model, we propose an efficient heuristic winning bids determination algorithm to allocate the tasks, and decide the payment of each seller for its winning bids. For homogeneous task model, we design an optimal winning bid determination algorithm, and propose a Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) based auction mechanism to determine the payment of each bid. Both theoretical analysis and simulations show that the proposed auction mechanisms achieve several desirable properties such as individual rationality, truthfulness and computational efficiency.
The conversion of corticosterone to aldosterone is the site of the oxygen sensitivity of the bovine adrenal zona glomerulosa.

The dissociation of renin and aldosterone observed during hypoxia in vivo has been attributed to a direct inhibition of low oxygen on adrenal zona glomerulosa function. We have demonstrated that the adrenal zona glomerulosa production of aldosterone in vitro is directly proportional to a wide range of oxygen concentrations in the physiological range but that cortisol production from coincubated fasciculata cells is not oxygen sensitive. The present study examined the hypothesis that the sensitivity to O2 is limited to the aldosteronogenic late pathway. In order to localize the site of oxygen sensitivity, we measured endogenous pregnenolone production (early pathway) and the conversion of exogenous corticosterone to aldosterone (ALDO) (i.e. 18-hydroxylase activity) in adrenal cells treated with cyanoketone (3-beta-hydroxy-steroid dehydrogenase inhibitor). Acutely dispersed bovine adrenal glomerulosa cells (four experiments in pentuplicate) were incubated under low (5%) vs. normal (21%) O2 in the presence of cyanoketone (CK; 1 microM) and/or the following: corticosterone (500 ng/ml), angiotensin II (ANG II; 10 nM), or dibutyryl cAMP (1 mM). Conversion of exogenous corticosterone to ALDO in the presence of CK was inhibited by 41 +/- 1% under low O2. This was similar to the inhibitory effect of low O2 on ANG II-stimulated aldosterone production from endogenous precursors in the absence of CK (52 +/- 11% inhibition). Basal, ANG II-, and cAMP-stimulated endogenous pregnenolone production was not significantly reduced by low O2. In another experiment, glomerulosa cells were incubated under 5, 13, or 50% vs. 21% O2 in the presence of CK (1 microM) and different concentrations of corticosterone (10-1000 ng/ml). ALDO production was significantly inhibited by low O2 when corticosterone was greater than or equal to 500 ng/ml and ALDO was significantly augmented by high O2 when added corticosterone was 1000 ng/ml. We conclude that the conversion of corticosterone to ALDO (i.e. 18-hydroxylase) appears to be the primary site of oxygen sensitivity since 1) pregnenolone production was unaffected and 2) the magnitude of the inhibition of the conversion of corticosterone to ALDO by low O2 in the presence of CK was similar to the inhibition of ALDO production from endogenous precursors in the absence of CK. These studies demonstrate that oxygen sensitivity of the steroidogenic pathway is a unique, constitutive property of 18-hydroxylase, the enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of corticosterone to ALDO. We propose that the sensitivity of 18-hydroxylase to oxygen accounts for the dissociation of renin and aldosterone during hypoxia in vivo.
Activities of Daily Living, Chronic Medical Conditions, and Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults

This study investigated associations between chronic medical conditions, activities of daily living (ADL), and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Our findings suggest that the number of ADL limitations reported by older adults is associated with their HRQOL. Findings from our analyses also suggest that the association between having multiple comorbid conditions and HRQOL is stronger for those with no ADL limitations than those with at least some limitations. These data will aid practitioners in determining the relative importance of chronic medical conditions and ADL limitations on HRQOL and demonstrate how ADL limitations and comorbid conditions may differentially impact HRQOL.
An unusual case of the complete Currarino triad: case report, discussion of the literature and the embryogenic implications.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE We present and illustrate an unusual case of the complete familial Currarino triad (an association between a bony sacral defect, a presacral mass, and an anorectal malformation) in which the teratoma arose from the conus medullaris and contained mature neurons, glia, and branching ependymal canals that were in communication with a terminal syrinx. The embryogenic implications are discussed. CLINICAL PRESENTATION The patient was a term neonate when discovered to have imperforate anus. Further workup revealed lumbosacral dysraphism with a presacral mass, a rectovaginal fistula, and a single pelvic kidney. The family pedigree revealed a familial transmission pattern; the patient had a second cousin with anal atresia and a first cousin with similar sacral anomalies. The motor level was L4 with trace L5, and there was absent sensation in the sacral dermatomes. INTERVENTION A diverting colostomy was performed on Day 14, and the infant returned at 3 months of age to undergo near-total resection through the previous abdominal approach. Only a subtotal resection was possible because the mass arose from the low-lying conus and was firmly adherent to the sacral nerve roots and iliac vessel. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging performed 18 months after surgery revealed that the residual tumor had not progressed. CONCLUSION Complete Currarino triad is rare and is familial in half of the cases. The special features of the tumor in our case were the presence of mature neurons with ependymal canals and its origin from the conus. The possible embryogenesis may provide evidence that the caudal notochord is important for organized secondary neurulation.
Association of body mass index with heartburn, regurgitation and esophagitis: Results of the Progression of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease study

Background: Overweight and obesity are believed to be risk factors for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The aim of the present study was to analyze the impact of body mass index (BMI) on the severity and frequency of reflux symptoms and esophagitis in a large cohort of reflux patients.
Effects of milk fever, ketosis, and lameness on milk yield in dairy cows.

The effects of milk fever, ketosis, and lameness were studied using data from 23,416 Finnish Ayrshire cows that calved in 1993 and were followed for one lactation (i.e., until culling or the next calving). Monthly test day milk yields were treated as repeated measurements within a cow in a mixed model analysis. Disease index variables were created to relate the timing of a disease to the measures of test day milk. Statistical models for each parity and disease included fixed effects of calving season, stage of lactation, and disease index. An autoregressive correlation structure was used to model the association among the repeated measurements. The milk yield of cows contracting milk fever was affected for a period of 4 to 6 wk after calving; the loss ranged from 1.1 to 2.9 kg/d, depending on parity and the time elapsed after milk fever diagnosis. Despite the loss, cows with milk fever produced 1.1 to 1.7 kg more milk/d than did healthy cows. Milk yield started to decline 2 to 4 wk before the diagnosis of ketosis and continued to decline for a varying time period after it. The daily milk loss was greatest within the 2 wk after the diagnosis, varying from 3.0 to 5.3 kg/d, depending on parity. Cows in parity 4 or higher were most severely affected by ketosis; the average total loss per cow was 353.4 kg. Lameness also affected milk yield; milk loss of cows diagnosed with foot and leg disorders varied between 1.5 and 2.8 kg/d during the first 2 wk after the diagnosis.
Language Lateralization in Children with Benign Partial Epilepsy

Summary: To investigate the relationship between epilepsy and hemispheric asymmetries for language, a dual‐task procedure was used to assess language lateralization in children with benign rolandic childhood epilepsy. In the sample selection, care was taken to include factors believed to influence both the mental capabilities of epileptic patients and the individual functional cerebral organization. Results suggest that the interhemispheric prevalence pattern is related to the focus site. Controls as well as epileptic patients with a right hemispheric focus showed the expected left language lateralization; conversely, children with a left unilateral focus showed a different pattern of functional representation, suggesting an involvement of the right hemisphere in language mechanisms. It is emphasized that this atypical cerebral organization is found in subjects with no structural lesion and no therapy. It seems likely that the presence of a focal epileptic activity itself can alter the cerebral mechanisms underlying cognitive functions. A relationship between this modified hemispheric specialization and subtle neuropsychological dysfunctions observed in the children with focal epilepsy is suggested.
Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study of perfusion and diffusion in stroke: Evolution of lesion volume and correlation with clinical outcome

A prospective longitudinal diffusion‐weighted and perfusion‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI/PWI) study of stroke patients (n = 21) at five distinct time points was performed to evaluate lesion evolution and to assess whether DWI and PWI can accurately and objectively demonstrate the degree of ischemia‐induced deficits within hours after stroke onset. Patients were scanned first within 7 hours of symptom onset and then subsequently at 3 to 6 hours, 24 to 36 hours, 5 to 7 days, and 30 days after the initial scan. Lesion evolution was dynamic during the first month after stroke. Most patients (18 of 19, 95%) showed increased lesion volume over the first week and then decreased at 1 month relative to 1 week (12 of 14, 86%). Overall, lesion growth appeared to depend on the degree of mismatch between diffusion and perfusion at the initial scan. Abnormal volumes on the acute DWI and PWI (<7 hours) correlated well with initial National Institutes of Health (NIH) stroke scale scores, outcome NIH stroke scale scores, and final lesion volume. DWI and PWI can provide an early measure of metabolic and hemodynamic insufficiency, and thus can improve our understanding of the evolution and outcome after acute ischemic stroke.
Cost–effectiveness of raltegravir in HIV/AIDS

Raltegravir is a first-in-class HIV-1 integrase inhibitor with established antiviral efficacy in treatment-naive and treatment-experienced patients with multidrug-resistant HIV-1 infection. In this article, we summarize pharmacoeconomic evaluations of raltegravir-based treatment regimens, compared with alternative therapies, in the treatment of patients with HIV infection and/or AIDS. Cost–effectiveness evaluations of raltegravir in treatment-experienced patients conducted using a continuous-time, state-transition Markov cohort model suggest that raltegravir, combined with optimized background therapy, falls within the range that would generally be considered cost effective compared with optimized therapy alone in Spanish, Swiss and UK health systems. In treatment-naive populations, raltegravir was evaluated using a three-stage continuous-time state-transition cohort model. Raltegravir-based initiation treatment strategies (first-line raltegravir) were compared with protease inhibitor and non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor initiation strategies, in which raltegravir was retained for salvage therapy. First-line raltegravir was cost-effective versus retaining raltegravir for salvage therapy in several European populations. A separate economic model was used to evaluate first-line raltegravir against two alternative initiation regimens representing standard clinical practice in Australia; raltegravir proved to be cost effective in both scenarios. In all studies examined, results were sensitive to factors including treatment duration, mortality rate, analytic time horizon, health utility weights, cost of raltegravir and optimized therapy, incidence of opportunistic infection and discount rates. Nonetheless, raltegravir remained cost effective under most scenarios.
Diketopiperazines from Marine Organisms

Diketopiperazines (DKPs), which are cyclic dipeptides, have been detected in a variety of natural resources. Recently, the interest in these compounds increased significantly because of their remarkable bioactivity. This review deals with the chemical structures, biosynthetic pathways, and biological activities of DKPs from marine microorganisms, sponges, sea stars, tunicates (ascidians), and red algae. The literature has been covered up to December 2008, and a total 124 DKPs from 104 publications have been discussed and reviewed. Some of these compounds have been found to possess various bioactivities including cytotoxicity, and antibacterial, antifungal, antifouling, plant‐growth regulatory, and other activities.
A comparative study of crestal bone loss and implant stability between osteotome and conventional implant insertion techniques: a randomized controlled clinical trial study.

PURPOSE The aim of this prospective randomized controlled clinical study was to assess the crestal bone loss and the implant stability in implants that were placed by the osteotome technique compared with the conventional drilling technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty-six screw type Straumann SLA® oral implants (Straumann AG, Waldenburg, Switzerland) were inserted in the anterior segment of maxilla of 30 patients. The implant site was prepared randomly using either osteotome technique (test group) or the conventional drilling technique (control group). Radio frequency analysis (RFA) values at implant placement and after 3 months were recorded. The crestal bone loss was measured using digital subtraction radiography technique after 3, 6, and 12 months. RESULTS RFA demonstrated a statistically significant higher primary stability for implants in the osteotome group than that of the conventional group (p=.026) at the time of implant insertion. However, there was no statistically significant difference between both groups 3 months after the surgery (p=.06). At month 3, the osteotome group caused significantly more crestal bone loss than the conventional group (p=.04). At months 6 and 12, both groups had comparable bone levels (p=.29). CONCLUSION Osteotome technique yielded higher primary stability than conventional drilling technique. However, this technique was not superior to conventional technique after 3 months.
Disability and Domestic Violence: Protecting Survivors

Survivors with disabilities experience domestic violence both more often and differently to those who do not have a disability. The presence of impairment substantially transforms the medical, psychological, environmental, economic, legal and political factors which contribute to the occurrence of violence. Survivors of domestic violence are often highly dependent on their abuser, fear disclosing abuse and lack economic independence, and these issues may be heightened for a person who also has a disability. Domestic violence is amplified by the existence of impairment when law enforcement and medical bodies construct the survivor and their relationship with the perpetrator through an oppressive disability model. Advances in theory and international disability human rights laws may provide new and powerful avenues to critique how law and practice in Australia responds to disability domestic violence. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the first human rights convention to specifically protect survivors with disabilities from domestic violence. In this article, we use critical disability studies and the CRPD to identify limitations with Australia's responses to disability domestic violence.
Translocal celebrity activism: shark-protection campaigns in mainland China

ABSTRACT Shanghai-born Yao Ming, a retired star player with the American National Basketball Association, is the celebrity face of translocal conservation campaigns to stop the consumption of shark-fin soup in Chinese restaurants worldwide. The standard justification for such communication practices is that they will generate media publicity and save shark populations, by encouraging increasingly affluent Chinese consumers to stop eating a luxury food item based on cruel and unsustainable practices. To date, there has been limited research on the nature of shark-protection campaigns in mainland China, the proclaimed major future market for shark fin. This paper fills that gap. It contends that these campaigns have missed their target, being heavily influenced by communication strategies used in international campaigns and providing incoherent local framing. Declining demand for shark fin demonstrates instead that government austerity measures have had a greater impact on luxury consumption practices, inadvertently highlighting the potential of “authoritarian environmentalism. ”
Casting, taping or stretching after botulinum toxin type A for spastic equinus foot: a single-blind randomized trial on adult stroke patients

Objective: To investigate the effect of different adjunctive treatments after botulinum toxin type A. Design: Single-blind, randomized trial, with three-month follow-up. Setting: Secondary rehabilitative care. Subjects: Convenience sample of 69 chronic hemiplegic adult patients with spastic equinus foot. Interventions: Following botulinum toxin type A injection at the plantar flexors, patients were randomly assigned to three groups and treated with either taping, casting or stretching for one week, and with stretching and gait training for the next week. Outcome measures: Modified Ashworth Scale at plantar flexors, passive range of motion at the ankle, six-minute walking test, 10-metre walking test, Functional Ambulation Categories, ankle dorsiflexor strength were evaluated before treatment (t0) at 20 days (t1) and 90 days (t2) after treatment. Results: At t1 only the taping and casting groups showed significant improvements in Modified Ashworth Scale, six-minute walking test, 10-metre walking test and passive range of motion (P < 0.02). At t2, while the results were maintained in the casting group, only six-minute walking test and Modified Ashworth Scale were still significantly improved in the taping group. Ankle dorsiflexor strength and Functional Ambulation Categories did not change in any of the groups at any time. At t2 the casting group performed better than the taping and stretching groups at Modified Ashworth Scale and passive range of motion, and better than the stretching group at six-minute walking test (P < 0.02). Conclusions: Combining botulinum toxin type A to the ankle plantar flexors with casting or taping gives better and longer lasting results than with stretching alone.