Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intimate Partner Violence in Pakistan

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major social and public health problem affecting people in various cultures and societies. Though the issue of IPV in Pakistan has been researched since the 1990s, no attempt has been made systematically to review the available evidence on IPV in Pakistan. This article presents findings of a systematic review of available empirical literature related to IPV in Pakistan. Using various key words, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched to identify relevant studies. This resulted in the identification of 55 potential studies for inclusion. After application of exclusion criteria 23 studies were identified, 20 of which used quantitative research designs, two used qualitative designs and one adopted a mixed method case study approach. All studies reported men as the perpetrators of IPV and women as its victims. Findings are presented and discussed for IPV for its forms, predictors, effects and victims’ responses. Pakistani peoples’ perceived reasons for and their attitudes towards IPV are also presented and discussed.
A Scientific Answer to a Scientific Question

This article addresses Winstok’s critiques and comments on my review and analysis of the status of scientific information on intimate partner violence (IPV). I present some background on the development of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2), an analysis of issues related to the operationalization of gender symmetry in IPV, and an evaluation of the hypotheses put forth by Winstok and others to explain the multimethod divergence in estimates for IPV gender patterns. Happily, we know much more about IPV than we did at the time of the creation and publication of the CTS2 in the mid-1990s, and excellent data can be brought to bear on many of these hypotheses. A scientific evaluation indicates that these hypotheses do not explain all of the data showing multimethod divergence. In some cases, these hypotheses have been repeatedly disconfirmed. On the other hand, increasing amounts of data indicate that choices regarding the operationalization of IPV in surveys have a substantial impact on gender patterns. Fairly simply methodological modifications can improve multimethod convergence. Evidence-based suggestions for measures showing multimethod convergence are provided. The field needs to continue to invest in increasing the scientific precision of violence measures.
Simultaneous support recovery in high dimensions: Benefits and perils of block $\ell_1/\ell_\infty$-regularization

Consider the use of $\ell_{1}/\ell_{\infty}$-regularized regression for joint estimation of a $\pdim \times \numreg$ matrix of regression coefficients. We analyze the high-dimensional scaling of $\ell_1/\ell_\infty$-regularized quadratic programming, considering both consistency in $\ell_\infty$-norm, and variable selection. We begin by establishing bounds on the $\ell_\infty$-error as well sufficient conditions for exact variable selection for fixed and random designs. Our second set of results applies to $\numreg = 2$ linear regression problems with standard Gaussian designs whose supports overlap in a fraction $\alpha \in [0,1]$ of their entries: for this problem class, we prove that the $\ell_{1}/\ell_{\infty}$-regularized method undergoes a phase transition--that is, a sharp change from failure to success--characterized by the rescaled sample size $\theta_{1,\infty}(n, p, s, \alpha) = n/\{(4 - 3 \alpha) s \log(p-(2- \alpha) s)\}$. An implication of this threshold is that use of $\ell_1 / \ell_{\infty}$-regularization yields improved statistical efficiency if the overlap parameter is large enough ($\alpha > 2/3$), but has \emph{worse} statistical efficiency than a naive Lasso-based approach for moderate to small overlap ($\alpha < 2/3$). These results indicate that some caution needs to be exercised in the application of $\ell_1/\ell_\infty$ block regularization: if the data does not match its structure closely enough, it can impair statistical performance relative to computationally less expensive schemes.
Drug therapy and hyperprolactinaemia

Drug therapy is the commonest cause of hyperprolactinaemia in clinical practice. It may present with symptoms and signs, or be subclinical. Whilst the phenothiazine and butyrophenone antipsychotic drugs used to be the most common causes of drug-induced hyperprolactinaemia, it is now more often encountered in patients taking specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
An efficient incremental likelihood evaluation for polynomial trajectory model using with application to model training and recognition

The polynomial segment model (PSM), which was first proposed in Gish et al. (1993) and subsequently studied by other researchers, has opened up an alternative research direction for speech recognition. In PSM, speech frames within a segment are jointly modeled such that any change in the boundaries of a segment would require the re-computation of the likelihood of all the frames within the segment. While estimation of the best segment boundaries are possible, the computation consideration typically constrains the PSM model to limit the search to center around some pre-segmentation typically obtained by using another model such as an HMM, in effect limiting the possibility of using PSM itself. In this paper we introduce a new approach to evaluate the likelihood of a PSM segment by efficiently "accumulating" segment likelihood incrementally, i.e. one frame at a time. Based on this incremental likelihood evaluation, an efficient PSM search and training algorithm are also introduced. We show the effectiveness of the incremental likelihood evaluation by building a PSM-based TIMIT recognition system (both training and test) without the need of using another model for pre-segmentation.
Changing trends of sexually transmitted diseases at Kakinada.

Trends of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) vary from place to place depending on various epidemiological factors prevailing in that respective geographic area. To understand the pattern and trends of STDs, a study was conducted at the STD Dept., Govt. General Hospital, Kakinada, for a period of 6 years, i.e., from Jan. 2000 to Dec. 2005, which was further divided into two spells of 3 years each to understand the behavior of STDs. During the entire study period, a total of 12,071 patients were enrolled. All the patients were thoroughly examined and investigated. On analysis, it was found that 5,004 patients attended in the 1 st spell and 7,067 in the 2 nd spell. Majority of them were male, married and in the third decade of their life. At the same time, the number of female patients attending STD clinic increased significantly in the 2 nd spell. All the diseases were broadly categorized into four groups, viz., bacterial, viral, protozoal, parasitic and fungal (PPF) and miscellaneous. The trend of STDs was changing from bacterial to viral diseases during the period of 6 years, with a definite decline of bacterial STDs. Among the viral diseases, HIV stood first in both the spells. In the PPF group, majority of the cases were contributed by fungal diseases. Unlike other studies, miscellaneous diseases included in this study dominated the picture and significantly influenced the percentage of incidence of individual diseases, which made it uncomparable with other studies. Similar continuous ongoing studies at every level are essential to understand the pattern and behavior of STDs, which may influence the already existing strategies and interventions for control of STDs.
High capacity reversible data embedding and content authentication

We present a high capacity reversible data embedding algorithm. It serves the purpose of both self authentication and reversible data embedding. As the algorithm is reversible, the original digital content (before data embedding) can be completely restored after authentication. We employ two techniques, difference expansion and generalized least significant bit embedding, to achieve very high embedding capacity, while keeping the distortion (the quality degradation on the digital content after data embedding) low. A noticeable difference between our method and others is that we do not need to compress original values of the embedding area. We explore the redundancy in the digital content to achieve reversibility. The paper considers grayscale images only, but our method can be applied to color images and to digital audio and video as well.
Malaria Chemoprophylaxis: Strategies for Risk Groups

SUMMARY The risk of malaria for travelers varies from region to region and depends on the intensity of transmission, the duration of the stay in the area of endemicity, the style of travel, and the efficacy of preventive measures. The decision to recommend chemoprophylaxis to travelers to areas with a low risk of malarial infection is especially difficult because the risk of infection must be balanced with the risk of experiencing side effects. If the risk of side effects by far exceeds the risk of infection, the traveler needs information on measures against mosquito bites and advice on prompt diagnosis and self-treatment. The risk is difficult to quantify, and the absolute risk for travelers to most areas is not known, especially because the populations at risk are unknown. We propose here that the best approximation of the risk to the traveler to a specific area is to use the risk to the indigenous population as a guideline for the risk to the traveler, and we provide examples on how risk in the indigenous population can be used for the estimation of risk of malarial infection for travelers. Special groups are long-term visitors and residents, who often perceive risk differently, cease using chemoprophylaxis, and rely on self-diagnosis and treatment. For long-term visitors, the problem of fake drugs needs to be discussed. Strategies for chemoprophylaxis and self-treatment of pregnant women and small children are discussed. So far, malaria prophylaxis is recommended to prevent Plasmodium falciparum infections, and primaquine prophylaxis against persistent Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale infections in travelers is not recommended.
Enhancing Promotional Strategies Within Social Marketing Programs: Use of Web 2.0 Social Media

The second generation of Internet-based applications (i.e., Web 2.0), in which users control communication, holds promise to significantly enhance promotional efforts within social marketing campaigns. Web 2.0 applications can directly engage consumers in the creative process by both producing and distributing information through collaborative writing, content sharing, social networking, social bookmarking, and syndication. Web 2.0 can also enhance the power of viral marketing by increasing the speed at which consumers share experiences and opinions with progressively larger audiences. Because of the novelty and potential effectiveness of Web 2.0, social marketers may be enticed to prematurely incorporate related applications into promotional plans. However, as strategic issues such as priority audience preferences, selection of appropriate applications, tracking and evaluation, and related costs are carefully considered, Web 2.0 will expand to allow health promotion practitioners more direct access to consumers with less dependency on traditional communication channels.
Efficacy of methylprednisolone pulse therapy for acute relapse in Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica: A multicenter retrospective analysis – 1. Whole group analysis

There has been no large‐scale study of methylprednisolone pulse therapy in Asian patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) or neuromyelitis optica (NMO), despite it being widely used for acute relapse. We aimed to clarify treatment response of MS and NMO patients to methylprednisolone pulse therapy and post‐pulse oral corticosteroids in real clinical practice in a multicenter study in Japan.
$E_{ {\gamma }}$ -Resolvability

The conventional channel resolvability refers to the minimum rate needed for an input process to approximate the channel output distribution in total variation distance. In this paper, we study <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$E_{\gamma }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-resolvability, in which total variation is replaced by the more general <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$E_{\gamma }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> distance. A general one-shot achievability bound for the precision of such an approximation is developed. Let <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q_{\sf X|U}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> be a random transformation, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> be an integer, and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$E\in (0,+\infty )$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. We show that in the asymptotic setting where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\gamma =\exp (nE)$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, a (nonnegative) randomness rate above <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\inf _{Q_{\sf U}: D(Q_{\sf X}\|{\pi }_{\sf X})\le E} \{D(Q_{\sf X}\|{\pi }_{\sf X})+I(Q_{\sf U},Q_{\sf X|U})-E\}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is sufficient to approximate the output distribution <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\pi }_{\sf X}^{\otimes n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> using the channel <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q_{\sf X|U}^{\otimes n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q_{\sf U}\to Q_{\sf X|U}\to Q_{\sf X}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, and is also necessary in the case of finite <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {U}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {X}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. In particular, a randomness rate of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\inf _{Q_{\sf U}}I(Q_{\sf U},Q_{\sf X|U})-E$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is always sufficient. We also study the convergence of the approximation error under the high-probability criteria in the case of random codebooks. Moreover, by developing simple bounds relating <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$E_{\gamma }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and other distance measures, we are able to determine the exact linear growth rate of the approximation errors measured in relative entropy and smooth Rényi divergences for a fixed-input randomness rate. The new resolvability result is then used to derive: 1) a one-shot upper bound on the probability of excess distortion in lossy compression, which is exponentially tight in the i.i. d. setting; 2) a one-shot version of the mutual covering lemma; and 3) a lower bound on the size of the eavesdropper list to include the actual message and a lower bound on the eavesdropper false-alarm probability in the wiretap channel problem, which is (asymptotically) ensemble-tight.
The Role of Epidemic Resistance Plasmids and International High-Risk Clones in the Spread of Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae

SUMMARY Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) and Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 emerged in the 2000s as important human pathogens, have spread extensively throughout the world, and are responsible for the rapid increase in antimicrobial resistance among E. coli and K. pneumoniae strains, respectively. E. coli ST131 causes extraintestinal infections and is often fluoroquinolone resistant and associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamase production, especially CTX-M-15. K. pneumoniae ST258 causes urinary and respiratory tract infections and is associated with carbapenemases, most often KPC-2 and KPC-3. The most prevalent lineage within ST131 is named fimH30 because it contains the H30 variant of the type 1 fimbrial adhesin gene, and recent molecular studies have demonstrated that this lineage emerged in the early 2000s and was then followed by the rapid expansion of its sublineages H30-R and H30-Rx. K. pneumoniae ST258 comprises 2 distinct lineages, namely clade I and clade II. Moreover, it seems that ST258 is a hybrid clone that was created by a large recombination event between ST11 and ST442. Epidemic plasmids with bla CTX-M and bla KPC belonging to incompatibility group F have contributed significantly to the success of these clones. E. coli ST131 and K. pneumoniae ST258 are the quintessential examples of international multidrug-resistant high-risk clones.
Potassium Incorporation for Enhanced Performance and Stability of Fully Inorganic Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Solar Cells.

Thermally unstable nature of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites has been a major obstacle to fabricating the long-term operational device. A cesium lead halide perovskite has been suggested as an alternative light absorber, due to its superb thermal stability. However, the phase instability and poor performance are hindering the further progress. Here, cesium lead halide perovskite solar cells with enhanced performance and stability are demonstrated via incorporating potassium cations. Based on Cs0.925K0. 075PbI2Br, the planar-architecture device achieves a power conversion efficiency of 10.0%, which is a remarkable record in the field of inorganic perovskite solar cells. In addition, the device shows an extended operational lifetime against air. Our research will stimulate the development of cesium lead halide perovskite materials for next-generation photovoltaics.
Evaluation of the Combined Application of Ethanol-Fixed and Formaldehyde-Fixed Neutrophil Substrates for Identifying Atypical Perinuclear Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

ABSTRACT No clear guidelines for indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) detection and interpretation of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) have been proposed for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). We evaluated the reliability of the combined use of ethanol- and formalin-fixed neutrophil substrates to identify atypical perinuclear ANCA (P-ANCA) by IIF under routine laboratory circumstances. A total of 204 IBD patients were assessed with four different fluorescent substrates in two distinct laboratories. Antibodies against myeloperoxidase, proteinase-3, and other specific granule proteins (elastase, lactoferrin, cathepsin G, lysozyme, and bactericidal permeability-increasing protein) were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The combined application of ethanol- and formalin-fixed slides to detect atypical P-ANCA resulted in a lack of agreement between assays (κ, ≤0.39) in the interassay study and moderate agreement in the interobserver study (κ, 0.42). After atypical and typical P-ANCA patterns were combined, the consensus improved greatly. A total of 26.9% of patients were P-ANCA positive by at least two tests (44.3% of ulcerative colitis [UC] and 13.1% of Crohn's disease [CD] patients; P < 0.0001), while overall ANCA positivity was 22.5% to 34.8%. The combined application of ethanol-fixed and formaldehyde-fixed neutrophil substrates did not facilitate differentiation between P-ANCA and atypical P-ANCA, and the results were not consistent when substrates from different sources were used. Combining all P-ANCA ensures the highest sensitivity and specificity in differentiating UC from CD.
Opening Up Their Doors

In 1998, the U.S. government launched the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) to address growing ethnic and racial disparities in HIV/AIDS cases. The CDC performed an evaluation of its MAI-funded programs, including an assessment of community stakeholders’ perspective on the involvement of the faith community in HIV prevention. Individual interviews (N = 113) were conducted annually over 3 years in four communities. The majority of participants described a change in faith community’s attitudes toward HIV and a rise in HIV-related activities conducted by faith-based organizations. Participants attributed changes to faith-based funding, acknowledgment by African American community leadership that HIV is a serious health issue, and faith leaders’ desire to become more educated on HIV/AIDS. Participants reported conservative faith doctrine and stigma as barriers to faith community involvement. The findings suggest that although barriers remain, there is an increased willingness to address HIV/AIDS, and the faith community serves as a vital resource in HIV prevention.
Kinetics of a Tuberculosis-Specific Gamma Interferon Release Assay in Military Personnel with a Positive Tuberculin Skin Test

ABSTRACT Treatment of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection on the basis of the tuberculin skin test (TST) result is inaccurate due to the false-positive TST results that occur after Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccination or exposure to nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Gamma interferon release assays (IGRAs) are based on M. tuberculosis-specific antigens. In a previous study among BCG-naïve military employees, a positive TST result after deployment was mostly associated with a negative IGRA result, suggesting exposure to NTM. Data regarding the kinetics of IGRAs are limited and controversial. The present study aimed to reassess the rate of false-positive TST results and to evaluate the kinetics of the Quantiferon TB Gold In-Tube assay (QFT-Git) in military personnel with a positive TST result. QFT-Git was performed at the time of inclusion in the study and was repeated after 2, 6, 12, and 18 or 24 months. Of 192 participants, 17 were recruits and 175 were screened after deployment (n = 169) or because of travel or health care work. Baseline positive QFT-Git results were observed in 7/17 (41.2%) and 12/174 (6.9%) participants, respectively. During follow-up, a negative QFT-Git result remained negative in 163/165 (98.8%) participants. Of 18 subjects with an initial positive QFT-Git result, reversion to a negative result occurred in 1/6 (16%) recruits, whereas it occurred in 8/12 (66%) subjects after deployment or with other risk factors (P = 0.046). The quantitative result was significantly lower in subjects with reversion than in those with consistent positive results (P = 0.017). This study confirmed a low rate of positive QFT-Git results among military personnel with a positive TST result after deployment, supporting the hypothesis of exposure to NTM. Reversion of the majority of initially low-positive QFT-Git results indicates that QFT-Git may be useful for the diagnosis of later reinfections.
Immunogenicity and Safety of an Inactivated Trivalent Split Influenza Virus Vaccine in Young Children with Recurrent Wheezing

ABSTRACT Influenza virus vaccination is recommended for children, but so far, active vaccination has not been achieved because most parents lack knowledge of vaccine safety and many doctors are reluctant to administer vaccine due to concerns that steroids might alter immunogenicity. The aim of this study was to compare the immunogenicity and safety of inactivated trivalent split influenza virus vaccine between children with recurrent wheezing and healthy children of the same age group. Sixty-eight healthy children and 62 children with recurrent wheezing took part in this study. Seroconversion rates, seroprotection rates, geometric mean titers (GMTs), and geometric mean titer ratios (GMTRs) were measured by a hemagglutination inhibition assay for the assessment of immunogenicity. Solicited and unsolicited local and systemic adverse events were measured for the assessment of safety. Regarding immunogenicity, the seroconversion and seroprotection rates showed no difference overall between healthy children and children with recurrent wheezing. Also, no difference was observed between steroid-treated and nontreated groups with recurrent wheezing. Generally, the GMTs after vaccination were higher in the one-dose vaccination groups for healthy children and children with recurrent wheezing, but the GMTRs revealed different results according to strain in the two groups. Regarding safety, solicited local and systemic adverse events showed no differences between healthy children and children with recurrent wheezing. This study demonstrates that inactivated split influenza virus vaccine is able to induce protective immune responses in healthy children, as observed in previous studies, as well as in children with recurrent wheezing who require frequent steroid treatment.