Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depression symptoms, social support and overall health among HIV-positive individuals in Kenya

Summary In Kenya, there was a reported decline in HIV incidence and prevalence among those aged 15 to 64 years and children. Despite the decline, closer assessment of psychosocial issues like depression, contextual factors (family and community), and social support is necessary given the likely impact on overall health and HIV prevention. This paper examines an association between symptoms of depression and social support on overall health among HIV-positive participants recruited from an HIV clinic in Kenya. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were utilized. Findings reveal that compared to those with minimal depression (referent category) participants with mild, moderate, moderately severe/severe depression had higher odds of having poor health. For social support, compared with participants with no social support (referent category), participants with high social support had lower odds of having poor overall health in both unadjusted and multivariable-adjusted models. In conclusion, this study suggests that HIV clinics and interventions need to focus more on the psychological and/or mental health status of HIV-infected individuals while providing avenues such as social support groups that can be a buffer against the negative impact of HIV infection and depression on overall health outcomes.
Ingestion and Chronic Effects of Car Tire Tread Particles on Freshwater Benthic Macroinvertebrates

Micronized particles released from car tires have been found to contribute substantially to microplastic pollution, triggering the need to evaluate their effects on biota. In the present study, four freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates were exposed for 28 days to tread particles (TP; 10–586 μm) made from used car tires at concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, and 10% sediment dry weight. No adverse effects were found on the survival, growth, and feeding rate of Gammarus pulex and Asellus aquaticus, the survival and growth of Tubifex spp. , and the number of worms and growth of Lumbriculus variegatus. A method to quantify TP numbers inside biota was developed and here applied to G. pulex. In bodies and faces of G. pulex exposed to 10% car tire TP, averages of 2.5 and 4 tread particles per organism were found, respectively. Chemical analysis showed that, although car tire TP had a high intrinsic zinc content, only small fractions of the heavy metals present were bioavailable. PAHs in the TP-sediment mixtures also remained below existing toxicity thresholds. This combination of results suggests that real in situ effects of TP and TP-associated contaminants when dispersed in sediments are probably lower than those reported after forced leaching of contaminants from car tire particles.
Catecholamine‐induced myocardial fibrosis and oxidative stress is attenuated by Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.)

Objectives Myocardial fibrosis and oxidative stress accompany a number of cardiac disorders such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hypertensive heart disease and cardiac failure. Stem bark of Terminalia arjuna has been advocated for cardiac ailments. The present study evaluated the effects of T. arjuna bark extract on myocardial fibrosis and oxidative stress induced by chronic beta‐adrenoceptor stimulation.
Comparison of People With Schizophrenia From Liverpool, England and Sakalwara-Bangalore, India

The finding of better outcome of schizophrenia in developing countries offers challenges to the understanding of schizophrenia and opportunities for the devel opment of care programmes in the developed world. This study aims to compare socio-demographic and clinical variables of people with schizophrenia in two cultures. Seventy-eight patients from Liverpool and 60 patients from Bangalore diagnosed as having schizophrenia were evaluated using a questionnaire designed to obtain socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Patients from Liverpool compared to Bangalore, comprised of more men, of younger age group, fewer patients ever-married, more patients living alone and more patients unemployed. In-patient treatment was common in Liverpool and rare in Bangalore. Bangalore patients were more socially integrated than the Liverpool patients, who appeared socially marginalised. These findings have implications on developing future strategies of care in the community for patients with schizo phrenic illness in terms of emphasising the life history of ill persons and developing interventions to minimise marginalisation and stigma.
The Evolution of Cellular Backhaul Technologies: Current Issues and Future Trends

The rapid increase of the number of mobile subscribers as well as the deployment of 3G technologies are putting strain on mobile backhaul operational expenditures (OPEX) which amount to 20-40% of total mobile operator's OPEX due to their reliance on T1/E1 copper lines. For these reasons, the current backhaul systems, a term commonly used to describe connectivity between base stations and radio controllers, are increasingly integrating more cost-effective, packet switched technologies, especially Ethernet/Internet technologies. In addition, Wi-Fi and WiMAX are emerging as promising backhaul solutions and initial findings have demonstrated their feasibility. However, the notion of network migration unavoidably raises new technical challenges relevant to aspects of TDM and packet network timing synchronization, QoS, and packet efficiency. This survey aims to provide a comprehensive study of state-of-the-art circuit switched and emerging packet switched backhaul technologies based on research articles and standard documents. For packet switched backhaul, we focus on the practically important Pseudowire approaches which are used to transport TDM services over packet switched networks. We also discuss the features and research findings on the use of Wi-Fi and WiMAX technologies which illustrate their potential for rapid and cost-efficient backhaul deployment. Finally, we highlight some open issues relevant to timing synchronization in wireless mesh backhaul and femtocells deployments, which offer a rich ground for further research.
A Survey on Selective Routing Topology Inference Through Active Probing

Although there are surveys summarizing the efforts toward discovering the Internet routing topology, no work has addressed how to infer the routing topology among a particular group of hosts scattered across the Internet. These two issues differ in scale, objective and solutions currently available. How to infer the routing topology among a group of hosts is non-trivial due to the complexity, size and decentralized nature of the Internet. Nevertheless, a cost-effective means of inferring topology would be of considerable benefit to many mechanisms, such as network monitoring, overlay topology construction and failure diagnosis. Since external information, such as routing table entries, is not publicly available to hosts, most of the methodologies employ an active probing mechanism to address this issue. For this reason our focus is on active probing based solutions, too. A comparison between generic Internet topology discovery and that between a specific group of hosts is elaborated in order to distinguish these two problems. Furthermore, we discuss the motivation that underlines the significance of various techniques addressing routing topology discovery among a group of hosts. We then classify the strategies into two types: Router-Assisted (RA) and Non-Router-Assisted (NRA), and analyze in detail their state-of-the-art position, merits and challenges, respectively. Conclusions and future directions are also presented.
Comparison of effects of preoperative piroxicam and ibuprofen on pain after separator placement: A randomized controlled trial

Introduction: Orthodontic therapy causes significant pain for a large percentage of patients. It is one of the main reasons that discourage patients from seeking orthodontic treatment. Pain during orthodontic treatment may have a negative influence on cooperation and can also reduce the compliance. This study assessed the effectiveness of a single dose of preoperative Piroxicam in reducing the incidence and severity of pain after orthodontic separator placement when compared to ibuprofen. Materials and Methods: The study was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-arm study. Sixty eight patients were recruited for this study and were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental groups: 1. 20 mg of Piroxicam followed by two doses of multivitamin placebo ( n = 30); 2. 400 mg of Ibuprofen in three doses ( n = 20) and 3. A multivitamin placebo ( n = 18). All the three groups were administered the first dose of the respective medication one hour prior to separator placement, the successive two doses were given at 3 hours and 7 hours after separator placement. The pain experienced by the patient was assessed at the time intervals 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, bedtime, on awakening the following day and 24 hours after administration using a visual analogue scale. Results: A comparison of pain perception between all three groups with the repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a comparison of pain perception between the first and second group using the Student t test revealed that preemptive Piroxicam therapy significantly lower pain levels experienced at all-time intervals starting from 2 hours after separator placement till 24 hours after placement. Conclusion: A single dose of Piroxicam taken 60 minutes before separator placement reduces pain due to separator placement experienced in the first 24 hours following separator placement.
Security and privacy in cloud computing

Cloud computing is a technology based on internet, where a pool of shared resources, called the cloud, and data centers maintain and store the client data. Cloud providers like Google, Microsoft and Amazon enables users to use these resources without acquiring them explicitly or physically. This research paper outlines what cloud computing is, services it provides, it's various types, principles of security and highlights green data centers. Also, it analyses the key security issues that envelopes its market today with safety measures, to serve server providers and enterprises in the best way possible.
Developing interprofessional assessment

Undergraduate medical and nursing education should enable the development of communication and teamworking skills and of reflective practice, which should be assessed and continued into professional practice. This study aimed to examine appropriate methods for the assessment of interprofessional learning of clinical, teamwork and communication skills for undergraduate students in Paediatrics and Children’s Nursing and to involve Senior House Officers (SHOs) in this process. During the 2002/3 academic year, 31 students, four nurse educators, two medical educators and six SHOs were involved in the development and implementation of a programme of interprofessional learning and assessment. Objective structured clinical skills examination (OSCE) and role-play assessment methods were used to explore the potential to develop common activities and standards for both professions. This study found that common learning activities and assessment methods acceptable to both professions could be developed and common standards set. It also concluded that development and delivery by an interprofessional team is particularly important and that formative feedback has a vital role to play in the process. Involving SHOs in the planning and implementation of interprofessional education (IPE) has the potential to allow its extension into different clinical areas and to meet training requirements at the postgraduate level.
Pharmacokinetics of fixed-dose combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine, and efavirenz: results of a randomized, crossover, bioequivalence study

The objective of this study was to assess the bioequivalence between a fixed-dose combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/lamivudine/efavirenz 300/300/600 mg and the individual innovator products. A randomized, balanced, open-label, two-sequence, two-treatment, two-period, single dose, crossover study in 48 healthy adults was conducted. Dosing was separated by a washout period of 32 days. Twenty-seven blood samples were collected in each period from pre-dose to 72 h post-dose. The data of 45 subjects were analyzed for pharmacokinetics and safety. Ninety percent CIs of geometric mean ratio on Cmax, AUC0–t, and AUC0-inf for tenofovir and lamivudine and on Cmax and AUC0-72 for efavirenz were within the acceptance criteria (80–125%). For tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, the Tmax, Kel, and t1/2 values for the test and reference products were 1.02 versus 0.91 h, 0.04 versus 0.04/h, 18.67 versus 18.46 h, respectively. For lamivudine, the Tmax, Kel, and t1/2 values were: 1.38 versus 1.30 h, 0.21 versus 0.19/h, 3.44 versus 3.91 h, respectively. For efavirenz, the Tmax values for the test and reference products were 3.71 and 3.65 h, respectively. Both the treatments were well tolerated. Our findings suggest that the tested formulation is bioequivalent to the innovators’ formulations, and both treatments were well tolerated.
Community-based, nurse-led post-exposure prophylaxis: results and implications

HIV medications can be used as post-exposure prophylaxis to efficaciously prevent an HIV-negative person who has come into contact with HIV from becoming HIV-positive. Traditionally, these medications have been available in emergency departments, which have constituted a barrier for the members of many minority groups who are greatly affected by HIV transmission (i.e. gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, and persons who use injection drugs). From 5 September 2013 through 4 September 2015, we sought to increase the use of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis by having registered nurses provide these medications, when indicated, in community clinics in Ottawa, Canada. We undertook a chart review of patients who accessed services for HIV post-exposure prophylaxis in this period. Over the two years of data collection, 112 persons requested HIV post-exposure prophylaxis and 64% (n = 72) initiated these medications. Most (93%, or n = 67, of the 72 initiations) were among men, with 88% (n = 59) of these men reporting same sex sexual partners. Among these 58 men, 31% (n = 18) had sexual contact with other men known to be HIV-positive. Among women (n = 8), five initiated post-exposure prophylaxis: three after needle-sharing contact or sexual contact with a male partner who reportedly shared needles, and two after unprotected vaginal sex with a male partner known to be HIV-positive. Overall, no one was diagnosed with HIV at the four-month HIV testing follow-up, although six persons were diagnosed with HIV from the baseline HIV testing, and an additional four were diagnosed with HIV during routine HIV testing one year after completing post-exposure prophylaxis. In total, nine persons in our sample were thus diagnosed with HIV during the study period, which accounted for 9.4% (n = 10 of 106) of all reported HIV diagnoses in Ottawa during this time. We conclude that nurse-initiated HIV post-exposure prophylaxis can be an effective way to provide HIV prevention services to persons who are at high-risk for HIV.
Lost opportunity to save newborn lives: variable national antenatal screening policies for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis

Unfavorable pregnancy outcomes caused by Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection are well known. The first step in addressing antenatal C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae infection is a national policy to screen all pregnant women for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae, regardless of symptoms. The aim of this study was to inform policy makers on the presence of antenatal screening recommendations for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae infection. We conducted a three-part study from June 2015 to February 2016. We analyzed English and French language information online on Ministry of Health websites regarding C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae antenatal screening. We referenced both primary official country and regional policy documents. We contacted the Ministry of Health directly if the information on the national antenatal screening was outdated or unavailable. In parallel, we sent a survey to the regional representative from the World Health Organization to help collect country-level data. Fourteen countries have current policies for antenatal screening of C. trachomatis and/or N. gonorrhoeae infection: Australia, the Bahamas, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Japan, Germany, Latvia, New Zealand, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Romania, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Australia, New Zealand, and Latvia and the United States restricted antenatal screening to women ≤25 years old and those of higher risk. Several countries responded that they had policies to treat pregnant women with symptoms. This is the currently recommended WHO guideline but is not the same as universal screening. North Korea had policies in place which were not implemented due to lack of personnel and/or supplies. National level policies to support routine screening for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae infection to prevent adverse pregnancy and newborn outcomes are uncommon.
Modeling the Propagation of Worms in Networks: A Survey

There are the two common means for propagating worms: scanning vulnerable computers in the network and spreading through topological neighbors. Modeling the propagation of worms can help us understand how worms spread and devise effective defense strategies. However, most previous researches either focus on their proposed work or pay attention to exploring detection and defense system. Few of them gives a comprehensive analysis in modeling the propagation of worms which is helpful for developing defense mechanism against worms' spreading. This paper presents a survey and comparison of worms' propagation models according to two different spreading methods of worms. We first identify worms characteristics through their spreading behavior, and then classify various target discover techniques employed by them. Furthermore, we investigate different topologies for modeling the spreading of worms, analyze various worms' propagation models and emphasize the performance of each model. Based on the analysis of worms' spreading and the existing research, an open filed and future direction with modeling the propagation of worms is provided.
Risk behaviours and prevalences of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in various venues in Changzhou, China

Female sex workers (FSWs) play an important role in the heterosexual transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in China. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 609 FSWs from various venues in Changzhou to investigate risk behaviours and prevalences of HIV and STIs among FSW subgroups. Structured questionnaires were used in face-to-face interviews to collect information. Blood and cervical specimens were collected to test for HIV, syphilis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infections. The overall prevalences of syphilis, NG and CT were 5.6, 2.3 and 17.0%, respectively. The highest prevalence of syphilis (13.8%, P < 0.001) was observed among FSWs in low-class (LC) venues. No case of HIV infection was found. Less than half of all FSWs (40.7%) reported consistent condom use with clients during the last month. A multivariate analysis revealed a 13-fold increased risk for FSWs with NG infection to be infected with syphilis and a four-fold increased risk for FSWs aged 30–39 years to have a CT infection relative to FSWs aged 15–20 years. The prevalences of STIs were high, and risky sexual behaviours were common, especially among FSWs in LC venues. More tailored and comprehensive prevention programmes should be developed for specific FSW subgroups.
Dietary factors in the aetiology of postnatal depression

Summary Prevalence of postnatal depression (PND) occurs in approximately 13–20% of women after birth and has detrimental consequences for both the mother and the offspring. The causes of PND remain unclear, with research suggesting a multifactorial aetiology. It is believed that some dietary constituents may, in part, be related to the onset of PND. The possible protective roles of folate, riboflavin, calcium, magnesium and zinc intake have been investigated, as well as the role of a high glycaemic index diet, with conflicting results. Most of the literature appears to have focused on the symptoms of PND in relation to patterns of fish consumption and intake of n-3(omega-3) fatty acids. A review of studies published through MEDLINE indicated that riboflavin, calcium and zinc may play a role in alleviating symptoms of PND. Although a greater number of published papers have studied associations between n-3 intake and PND incidence, findings are somewhat contradictory. Further research is now required to develop these preliminary research findings with an aim to reducing the health costs of PND through the application of nutritional interventions.
Reasons for switching ART: Comparison of data collected in 2012–2013 and 2014–2015 in Florence, Italy

Persons living with HIV should remain on antiretroviral therapy (ART) indefinitely; however, a switch in the drug regimen is often necessary. In order to investigate if reasons for switching ART changed over time, we retrospectively analyzed reasons for switching and characteristics of switches among patients at Santa Maria Annunziata Hospital (OSMA), Florence area, Tuscany, Italy, over two periods (November 2012–October 2013 and November 2014–October 2015). The reasons for switching were classified as: simplification; virologic failure; occurrence of co-morbidities; and drug tolerability/toxicity issues. In period 1 (2012–2013), 18% patients changed their regimen vs. 13.5% in period 2 (2014–2015) (p = 0.019). Among reasons for switching, switches for simplification significantly increased from 41% in period 1 to 53% in period 2 (p = 0.004), with an increasing use of single tablet regimens (p = 0.002); no other statistically significant differences were found in other reasons for switching in periods 1 and 2. Characteristics of patients and of switches were analyzed and described. According to our data, the main reason for switching is now simplification, reflecting the recent changes in recommendations aimed to enhance adherence and quality of life, and to minimize, at the same time, drug toxicity and side effects.
Cenário do atendimento aos agravos provocados por acidentes e violência contra idosos na rede SUS de Manaus (AM, Brasil)

The aim of this article is to describe the public service of Manaus to elderly, either victims of accidents or violence, on three levels of service (32 pre-hospital, 5 hospital and 5 rehabilitation). It is a descriptive study with a quantitative and qualitative approach, where 42 health units were investigated. The results reveal that the emergency services department presents a better physical structure. The organization concerning these matters is still incipient in Manaus. It was detected scarcity in the number of hospital beds and vacancies in the intensive care unit to offer the continuity of the treatment. There's a need for professional qualifications and medical specialties to attend elderly admitted due to injury. Very little has been done in the prevention area. Data entry and notification appear as one of the weakest points on the three levels of attention. The most critical point is related to hospitalization, being this level of attention largely mentioned by managers and health professionals as in great need for re-structuring.