Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incident Chlamydia trachomatis infections among inner-city adolescent females.

CONTEXT Adolescents are at highest risk for infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, an important preventable cause of pelvic inflammatory disease and subsequent tubal factor infertility in US women. Current guidelines for delivery of adolescent primary care services recommend yearly chlamydia screening for those adolescent females considered to be at risk. OBJECTIVES To describe the epidemiology of prevalent and incident chlamydia infection among adolescent females to assess the appropriate interval for chlamydia screening and to define risk factors that would identify adolescent females to target for screening. DESIGN Prospective longitudinal study. PATIENTS A consecutive sample of 3202 sexually active females 12 through 19 years old making 5360 patient visits over a 33-month period, January 1994 through September 1996. SETTING Baltimore, Md, family planning, sexually transmitted disease, and school-based clinics. INTERVENTION Testing for C trachomatis by polymerase chain reaction. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prevalence and incidence of C trachomatis infections; predictors of positive test result for C trachomatis. RESULTS Chlamydia infection was found in 771 first visits (24.1%) and 299 repeat visits (13.9%); 933 adolescent females (29.1%) had at least 1 positive test result. Females who were 14 years old had the highest age-specific chlamydia prevalence rate (63 [27.5%] of 229 cases; P=.01). The chlamydia incidence rate was 28.0 cases per 1000 person-months (95% confidence interval, 24.9-31.5 cases). The median time was 7.2 months to a first positive chlamydia test result and 6.3 months to a repeat positive test result among those with repeat visits. Independent predictors of chlamydia infection--reason for clinic visit, clinic type, prior sexually transmitted diseases, multiple or new partners, or inconsistent condom use-failed to identify a subset of adolescent females with the majority of infections. CONCLUSIONS A high prevalence and incidence of C trachomatis infection were found among adolescent females. We, therefore, recommend screening all sexually active adolescent females for chlamydia infection every 6 months, regardless of symptoms, prior infections, condom use, or multiple partner risks.
Is Personal Vote‐Seeking Behavior Effective?

Does representatives' legislative activity have any effect on their electoral performance? A broad theoretical literature suggests so, but real-world evidence is scarce as empirically, personal and party votes are hard to separate. In this article, we examine whether bill initiation actually helps MPs to attract preference votes under flexible list electoral systems. In these systems, voters can accept the party-provided rank order or vote for specific candidates, which allows a clear distinction between personal and party votes. The empirical analysis uses data on bill initiation by Belgian MPs in the period 2003–2007 to explain their personal vote in the 2007 elections. We find that particularly single-authored proposals initiated shortly before the upcoming elections are associated with a larger personal vote.
Quantitative analysis of association between herpesviruses and bacterial pathogens in periodontitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The development of human periodontitis may depend upon cooperative interactions among herpesviruses, specific pathogenic bacteria and tissue-destructive inflammatory mediators. This study sought to identify associations among human cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and six putative periodontopathic bacteria in periodontitis lesions. MATERIAL AND METHODS Fifteen periodontitis patients (nine with aggressive periodontitis and six with chronic periodontitis) and 15 periodontally normal subjects were included in the study. In each study subject, a microbiological sample was collected, using a curette, from the deepest periodontal probing depth of the dentition. A real-time TaqMan polymerase chain reaction assay was employed to determine the subgingival counts of human cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Prevotella intermedia, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Campylobacter rectus. Statistical analysis was performed using the Student's t-test, the Pearson correlation coefficient test and the single variable logistic regression test for odds ratio-based risk calculation. RESULTS Human cytomegalovirus was detected in eight periodontitis lesions and in one normal periodontal site, Epstein-Barr virus was detected in nine periodontitis lesions and in two normal periodontal sites, and the study bacteria were detected in 6-15 periodontitis lesions and in 1-11 normal periodontal sites. Correlations were found between counts of human cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus, between counts of human cytomegalovirus and P. gingivalis, T. forsythia and C. rectus, and between counts of Epstein-Barr virus and P. gingivalis and T. forsythia. Human cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus counts were also positively associated with the level of periodontal attachment loss, probing pocket depth and gingival bleeding on probing. CONCLUSION This study confirmed that periodontal human cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus are associated with major periodontopathic bacteria and with the severity of periodontal disease. The finding of abundant herpesviruses in periodontitis lesions redefines the pathogenic paradigm of the disease. Understanding the interplay between herpesviruses and specific bacterial species in the pathogenesis of periodontitis may form the basis for new approaches to preventing, reducing or delaying tissue breakdown from periodontal infections.
Evaluation of sexual function in Brazilian women with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis and localized provoked vulvodynia.

INTRODUCTION Recurrent vulvovaginitis is an important trigger for inflammatory processes that in many cases may result in vulvovaginal pain. Vulvodynia, a vulvar disorder, can also cause a lot of pain in the female genitals. The sexual function in women with vulvodynia or recurrent vulvovaginitis will possibly be negatively affected and therefore should be evaluated. AIM To assess sexual function in women with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC) and localized provoked vulvodynia (LPV) in comparison with women without lower genital tract dysfunction. METHODS A 1-year cross-sectional study evaluated sexual function in 58 women (11 with RVVC, 18 with LPV, and 29 controls) seen at a university outpatient clinic. Sexual function was assessed by taking into account the results obtained from the application of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire. Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, chi-square, and Fisher's tests were used for statistical analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE FSFI, a validated questionnaire in Portuguese. RESULTS There were no significant differences in the three groups with respect to age, marital status, schooling, race, body mass index, contraceptive method, and parity. The FSFI questionnaire total score found was 25.51 (±5.12), 21.17 (±5.15), and 29.56 (±3.87) for the RVVC, LPV, and control groups, respectively. The scores were significantly statistically lower in the study groups compared with the control group (P<0.05). Women with RVVC and LPV also had lower total scores compared with 26.55 values, considered a cutoff score for sexual dysfunction in literature. The LPV group showed a significant difference and scored worse in the domains of arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain but not in the domain of sexual desire. The same occurred with the RVVC group but only for the domains of orgasm and satisfaction. CONCLUSION Women with RVVC and LPV had significantly more symptoms of sexual dysfunction than women without lower genital tract diseases.
What Enables Effective International Climate Finance in the Context of Development Co-operation?

In response to on-going discussions on the relationship between international climate finance and development finance, this paper explores what enables effective international climate finance in the context of development co-operation. Through interviews, views were elicited from selected international climate finance stakeholders representing climate finance recipient and provider countries, as well as experts from international organisations and research institutions. Identified enabling conditions reveal common grounds and differences across stakeholder groups. This offers a possible starting point for further dialogue aiming to advance the international climate and development finance agendas in a harmonised manner.
Polarized MIMO Slotted ALOHA Random Access Scheme in Satellite Network

The massive number of the machine type communication terminals accessing the satellite network brings a new challenge for the random access (RA) system. To meet the challenge, by using the polarization transmission structure in the satellite uplink, we propose a new RA scheme dubbed polarized multiple input multiple output slotted ALOHA (PMSA). In PMSA, in one slot, one packet and two overlapped packets can be decoded successfully with the polarized MIMO detection algorithms, and some of three overlapped packets may be decoded successfully in consideration of the capture effect at the satellite node. For the new features of the proposed scheme in physical layer, the protocol of medium access control (MAC) is modified based on the slotted ALOHA (SA). Simulation results show that the normalized throughput of the PMSA can reach 0.84 and is consistent with the theoretical throughput. Moreover, it is also shown that the throughput of PMSA is about 2.3 times as large as that of the SA and 1.5 times as large as that of the contention resolution diversity slotted ALOHA (CRDSA), without the need for additional transmitted power and time slots to transmit the replicas of the packets. The received packets in the proposed PMSA are processed slot by slot, not as that processed frame by frame in the CRDSA with a large additional frame delay.
Immune-Response Patterns and Next Generation Sequencing Diagnostics for the Detection of Mycoses in Patients with Septic Shock—Results of a Combined Clinical and Experimental Investigation

Fungi are of increasing importance in sepsis. However, culture-based diagnostic procedures are associated with relevant weaknesses. Therefore, culture- and next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based fungal findings as well as corresponding plasma levels of β-d-glucan, interferon gamma (INF-γ), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-2, -4, -6, -10, -17A, and mid-regional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM) were evaluated in 50 septic patients at six consecutive time points within 28 days after sepsis onset. Furthermore, immune-response patterns during infections with Candida spp. were studied in a reconstituted human epithelium model. In total, 22% (n = 11) of patients suffered from a fungal infection. An NGS-based diagnostic approach appeared to be suitable for the identification of fungal pathogens in patients suffering from fungemia as well as in patients with negative blood cultures. Moreover, MR-proADM and IL-17A in plasma proved suitable for the identification of patients with a fungal infection. Using RNA-seq. , adrenomedullin (ADM) was shown to be a target gene which is upregulated early after an epithelial infection with Candida spp. In summary, an NGS-based diagnostic approach was able to close the diagnostic gap of routinely used culture-based diagnostic procedures, which can be further facilitated by plasmatic measurements of MR-proADM and IL-17A. In addition, ADM was identified as an early target gene in response to epithelial infections with Candida spp.
Cost comparison of re‐usable and single‐use fibrescopes in a large English teaching hospital

A number of studies in the USA and mainland Europe have described the costs of fibreoptic tracheal intubation. However, no such data from the UK appear available. We performed a cost assessment of fibreoptic intubation, using re‐usable (various devices from Olympus, Acutronic and Karl Storz) and single‐use (Ambu® aScope™) fibrescopes, at the Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK, between 1 January 2009 and 31 March 2014. The total annual cost of fibreoptic intubation with re‐usable fibrescopes was £46 385. Based on 141 fibreoptic intubations per year, this equated to £329 per use, an average dominated by repair/maintenance costs (43%) and capital depreciation costs (42%). In comparison, the total annual cost of using single‐use fibrescopes for the same work would have been around £200 per use. The analysis enabled us to develop a generic model, wherein we were able to describe the relationship between total cost of use vs number of uses for a fibrescope. An ‘isopleth’ was identified for this relationship: a line that joined all the points where the cost of re‐usable vs single‐use fibrescopes was equal. It appears cheaper to use single‐use fibrescopes at up to 200 fibreoptic intubations per year (a range commensurate with normal practice) even when the repair rate for re‐usable fibrescopes is low. Any centre, knowing its fibrescope use and repair rate, can plot its data similarly to help ascertain which of the re‐usable or single‐use fibrescope represents better value.
Estimation of quality of life in Cypriot patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

AIM To investigate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients suffering with idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS The Greek validated version of the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire was used for evaluating the quality of life of IBD patients. The questionnaire was distributed to 100 consecutive patients suffering from IBD and presenting for a clinic appointment at the endoscopy unit of Larnaca General Hospital during the period from October to November 2012. The criteria for participating in this study were constituted by the documented diagnosis of either ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD) after endoscopy and histologic examination at least 6 months before the study, adult patients (18 years old or older), the capability of verbal communication and the patient's written consent for attending this study. The majority of the questionnaires were completed by a nurse practitioner who specializes in IBD patient care. RESULTS Regarding the physical dimension in patients with UC, males scored significantly higher than females (4.2 vs 3.4, P = 0.023). Higher scores were also observed in UC patients younger than 35 or older than 50 years (4.0 and 4.2 vs 3.2, respectively, P = 0.021). The psychological dimension revealed similar results in patients with UC, with males, and older ages scoring higher (5.0 vs 3.0, P = 0.01 and 4.7 vs 2.7, P < 0.5, respectively), whereas regarding CD higher scores were observed in married compared to unmarried (3.83 vs 2.33, P = 0.042). No statistical differences in any parameters in the social dimension were observed. Regarding the treatment of, patients with CD, overall higher scores were observed when treated with biological factors compared to standard therapy in all dimensions but with statistical significant difference in the social dimension (5.00 vs 3.25, P = 0.045). CONCLUSION The study reveals a negative impact of IBD on HRQoL. Increased risks are age and gender in patients with UC and family status in patients with CD.
Broverman's Methodology Reversed: Assessing University Students' Perceptions of the Gender-Role Characteristics of Counselors

This study examined university students' perceptions of which gender-role characteristics described helpful counselors for 137 nonmajors from an introduction to counseling class. Using a modification of the Broverman, et al. method (1970) and a modified version of their Stereotype Questionnaire, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Participants indicated the characteristics of a helpful counselor, a helpful female counselor, or a helpful male counselor using 20 bipolar items of gender-role characteristics. t tests were applied to whether agreement of the pole considered most frequently was greater than chance (50%). Analysis indicated agreement on characteristics were most helpful in a counselor, and the direction of this agreement did not differ across the three conditions or as a function of participants' sex. Agreement was high for the individual gender-role characteristic items across conditions as two of 20 items showed significant differences. There was significantly more agreement that male counselors should not have their feelings easily hurt than female counselors and significantly less agreement that male counselors should be able to express tender feelings easily relative to a counselor of unspecified sex.
An Ontology-Based Architecture for Tracking Information across Interactive Electronic Environments

This paper presents technical foundation, roadmap and initial results of the IDIOM project (Information Diffusion across Interactive Online Media). Information spreads rapidly across Web sites, Web logs and online forums. IDIOM tracks this process and compares it to direct communication through electronic mail and instant messaging. Linguists define "idiom" as an expression whose meaning is different from the literal meanings of its component words. Similarly, the study of information diffusion promises insights that cannot be inferred from individual network elements. Similar projects often focus on particular media, or neglect important aspects of the human language. IDIOM addresses these gaps to reveal fundamental mechanisms of information diffusion across media with distinct interactive characteristics.
Effect of physical workload and modality of information presentation on pattern recognition and navigation task performance by high-fit young males

Abstract Many occupations require both physical exertion and cognitive task performance. Knowledge of any interaction between physical demands and modalities of cognitive task information presentation can provide a basis for optimising performance. This study examined the effect of physical exertion and modality of information presentation on pattern recognition and navigation-related information processing. Results indicated males of equivalent high fitness, between the ages of 18 and 34, rely more on visual cues vs auditory or haptic for pattern recognition when exertion level is high. We found that navigation response time was shorter under low and medium exertion levels as compared to high intensity. Navigation accuracy was lower under high level exertion compared to medium and low levels. In general, findings indicated that use of the haptic modality for cognitive task cueing decreased accuracy in pattern recognition responses. Practitioner Summary: An examination was conducted on the effect of physical exertion and information presentation modality in pattern recognition and navigation. In occupations requiring information presentation to workers, who are simultaneously performing a physical task, the visual modality appears most effective under high level exertion while haptic cueing degrades performance.
Transgender and Gender Nonconforming in Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Report of Patient Experiences

Abstract Background: Individuals who have a transgender or gender nonconforming (TGGNC) experience belong to a marginalized segment of the U.S. population, and healthcare can be difficult for them to navigate. Although emergency departments (EDs) traditionally serve as healthcare “safety nets” for vulnerable populations, quantitative studies outside the United States have found that TGGNC-experienced persons tend to avoid EDs and/or have negative experiences. This qualitative study primarily describes the ED experiences of people with a TGGNC history; furthermore, the study explores reasons why this population avoids U.S. EDs and their recommendations for improvements to ED care. Methods: This qualitative study used data about TGGNC-historied persons' experiences in U.S. EDs from retrospective, anonymous, written surveys (paper or web based). National data collection took place from June 2012 through December 2014. Participant responses (n=240) were examined using thematic analysis. Results: Using a framework that recognized positive and negative responses, the themes of Self-Efficacy and Power Inequity surfaced. These themes exposed the tension between patients with TGGNC experiences and clinicians who were perceived to lack training in this area, resulting in negative patient experiences. When practitioners had specific training about this population, participants reported positive care experiences. Conclusions: This study indicates that many TGGNC-historied persons who use U.S. EDs have negative experiences, largely due to lack of provider sensitivity toward and training about this patient population. Data from this investigation suggest that training of U.S. ED providers and institutional support would help improve care for this marginalized group.
Estimation of the energy costs of locomotion in the Iberian pig(Sus mediterraneus)

The energy cost of locomotion of four Iberian pigs was measured in two experiments conducted when the animals averaged 41·3 (se 0·1) kg (first experiment) and 84·1 (se 0·1) kg (second experiment). The heat production of the pigs was determined when standing or walking at a speed of 0·555 m/s on a treadmill enclosed in a confinement-type respiration chamber, on different slopes (-10·5, 0, and +10·5 % in the first experiment, and -5·25, 0 and +10·5 % in the second experiment). The energy costs of locomotion, estimated from the coefficients of linear regressions of heat production per kg body weight (BW) on distance travelled, were in the first experiment 2·99, 3·31 and 5·88 J/kg BW per m for -10·5, 0, and +10·5 % inclines respectively, and 2·56, 2·84 and 7·13 J/kg BW per m for -5·25, 0 and +10·5 % inclines respectively, in the second experiment. The net energy cost of locomotion on the level appeared to be independent of live weight, attaining a value of 2·98 J/kg BW per m. Also, it was found that within experiments the net energy cost of walking on negative slopes was similar to that for locomotion on the level, indicating that no energy was recovered on vertical descent. Mean values were 3·11 and 2·72 kJ/kg BW per m for the light and heavy pigs respectively. The energy cost of raising 1 kg BW one vertical metre was found to be 27·1 J/kg BW per m in the first experiment and 40·0 J/kg BW per m in the second experiment. Correspondingly, the calculated efficiency for upslope locomotion appeared to decline with increasing BW, resulting in average values of 36·2 and 24·5 %.
Topological Methods for Design and Control of Adaptive Stochastic Complex Systems - to Meet the Challenges of Resilient Urban Infrastructure

Abstract : This report describes a brief research project on foundartional aspects of systems-of-systems design and operation. The overarching goal of the research was a design approach for composing structures and behaviors with that the resulting systems will be able to function and adapt using an available but a priori unknown of sensing and communication modalities.