Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Frequency of Cd4 Cell Count and HIV Rna Monitoring Prior to Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy in HIV-Infected Patients

Context Guidelines regarding the frequency of CD4 cell count and HIV RNA monitoring in HIV-infected patients vary, with recommended strategies ranging from every 2 to every 6 months. Objective To determine optimal CD4 cell count and HIV RNA monitoring frequency in HIV-infected patients prior to antiretroviral therapy initiation. Design: Cost-effectiveness (CE) analysis using an HIV simulation model incorporating CD4 cell count and HIV RNA as immunological and virological predictors of clinical outcomes. Setting Hypothetical clinical setting. Patients Simulated cohort based on initial clinical presentation of HIV-infected patients in the US. Intervention CD4 cell count and HIV RNA monitoring at frequencies ranging from every 2 to 24 months prior to antiretroviral initiation, as well as accelerated monitoring frequencies as CD4 cell counts approach a specified treatment threshold. Outcome measures Life expectancy, quality-adjusted life expectancy and costs. Results For patients presenting with median CD4 cell count 546/mm3 and median HIV RNA 4.8 log10 copies/ml, incremental CE ratios ranged from US$37800/quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained for a constant testing frequency of every 18 months compared with every 24 months, to US$303300/QALY gained for a constant testing frequency of every 2 months compared with every 4 months when starting treatment at a CD4 cell count of 350/mm3. Monitoring every 12 months until a warning CD4 cell count threshold of 450/mm3 followed by every 3 months until 350/mm3 had an incremental CE ratio of US$74700/QALY gained. When starting antiretroviral therapy at CD4 cell count 200/mm3, monitoring every 12 months until 300/mm3 followed by every 2 months until treatment initiation yielded an incremental CE ratio of US$52200/QALY gained compared with the next best strategy. Increasing monitoring frequency as CD4 cell counts approached a treatment threshold yielded greater incremental clinical benefit for less cost than strategies using a constant frequency. Conclusions Monitoring HIV-infected patients every 12 months until 100 CD4 cells/mm3 prior to a specified treatment threshold followed by more frequent monitoring every 2 or 3 months until antiretroviral therapy initiation is both more effective and cost-effective than the current standard of care.
Coeliac Disease The Presence in Wheat of a Factor Having a Deleterious Effect in Cases of Coeliac Disease

Attention is drawn to the different effects of different kinds of cereals and starches on patients with coeliac disease. The effect of wheat flour is unfavourable while that of wheat starch is harmless. The harmful effect is produced by a still unknown substance and not by starch. The substance in question is provisionally called the “wheat factor. ” The effect of this factor is judged according to its ability to produce or aggravate anorexia, vomiting, diarrhoea and steatorrhoea. Several conclusions as to the significance of this factor are presented.
Intravitreal injection of TGFbeta induces cataract in rats.

PURPOSE In a previous study, it was determined that TGFbeta induces cataractous changes in the rat lens in vitro. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the introduction of biologically active TGFbeta into the vitreous stimulates cataractous changes in the rat lens in situ. METHODS TGFbeta was injected into the vitreous of the left eye of anesthetized adult male Wistar rats. The right eye received sterile vehicle as a control. Three to four months after injection, animals were killed, and lenses were enucleated and examined for cataractous changes. RESULTS All lenses from control eyes remained transparent and maintained normal cellular architecture throughout. In contrast, lenses from TGFbeta-injected eyes displayed cloudiness in the cortex. In some lenses, distinct opacities were also apparent at the equator and extending some distance toward the anterior and posterior poles. Histologically, the opacities corresponded to subcapsular plaques containing aberrant cells and accumulations of extracellular matrix. In addition, cortical fibers in the anterior and posterior of all lenses displayed variable degrees of swelling, and many retained their nuclei. In some regions, the fiber cells appeared to have degenerated to form large homogeneous areas. The cellular architecture of the equator of these lenses was also disrupted and, in the most severe case, no bow zone was apparent with nucleated cells extending to the posterior pole. CONCLUSION The introduction of active TGFbeta into the vitreous induced lenses to undergo cataractous changes. In addition to the TGFbeta-induced changes in the epithelium that were reported previously, cataractous changes observed in this study also involved the lens fiber cells and resembled changes observed in human posterior subcapsular and cortical cataracts.
Inversion-independent phase variation of type 1 fimbriae in Escherichia coli

The roles of fimB and fimE in the phase-variable expression of type 1 fimbriae in Escherichia coli were examined. A method was developed to study the effects of fimB and fimE on both recombination of the fim invertible element and fimbrial expression. The method used an allelic exchange procedure consisting of two steps. The first step, construction of intermediate strains, deleted fimB and fimE. This step locked the invertible element in either the on or the off orientation. The second step of the exchange procedure introduced either wild-type or mutant alleles of fimB and/or fimE into the chromosome of the intermediate strains. Analysis of the resulting strains supported the current, plasmid-based model of recombination. Unexpectedly, strains in which the invertible element was locked in the on orientation (either by mutation of both fimB and fimE or, in a control strain, by mutation of the left inverted repeat sequence of the invertible element) continued to exhibit phase-variable expression of type 1 fimbriae. A strain in which fimA was transcribed from the tac promoter continued to exhibit phase-variable fimbrial expression, suggesting that inversion-independent phase variation cannot be explained by variable transcription initiation of fimA.
Criterion-Related Validity of the Arabic Obsessive–Compulsive Scale in Kuwaiti and American Students

The Arabic Obsessive–Compulsive Scale and the Maudsley Obsessional–Compulsive Inventory were administered to 159 Kuwaiti (Arabic version) and 72 American college students (English version). Pearson correlations for total score on the two scales were . 68 and . 64 for Kuwaiti and Americans, respectively, denoting a good convergent validity of the new Arabic Obsessive–Compulsive Scale against scores on the Maudsley Obsessional–Compulsive Inventory in the two different national groups.
Why do young women diet? The roles of body fat, body perception, and body ideal.

BACKGROUND To assess the relative roles of body fat, body perception, and body ideals as motivations for dieting in college women. METHOD We compared 45 college women who reported having dieted with 32 who had not, using a novel computerized test of body image called the somatomorphic matrix. RESULTS As expected, the difference in body fat between subjects' "perceived body" and "ideal body" was significantly greater in dieters than in nondieters (p < .001). Remarkably, however, this difference remained highly significant even after adjusting for the subjects' actual measured body fat (p = .002). Further analysis revealed that this difference persisted, not because dieters had unrealistic ideals of thinness, but because they had distorted perceptions of their fatness. CONCLUSION Distorted body image perception, a potentially treatable condition, may play an unexpectedly large role in motivating young women to diet.
Expanding the spectrum of impulse control disorders in Parkinson ' s disease : the phenomenology of sweet craving

Background: The recognized spectrum of impulse control disorders in Parkinson’s disease (PD) includes pathologic gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive buying, and binge eating, and is commonly related to exposure to dopamine agonist medications. Sweet craving in the general population is a phenomenon that is closely linked to several factors, including poor impulse control. Craving for sweets, though recognized to occur in PD, has not previously been studied. Methods: First, patients with idiopathic PD and normal controls who reported craving sweets completed craving questionnaires (CQ), taste threshold testing, assessment of mood symptoms and olfactory testing. CQ scores were correlated with these results and other demographic information. A pathologic craving score was identified as the 75th percentile of the mean CQ score for all PD patients. Second, patients with PD and controls completed a series of questionnaires addressing the presence of a variety of
Complete Genome Sequences of Four Escherichia coli ST95 Isolates from Bloodstream Infections

ABSTRACT Finished genome sequences are presented for four Escherichia coli strains isolated from bloodstream infections at San Francisco General Hospital. These strains provide reference sequences for four major fimH-identified sublineages within the multilocus sequence type (MLST) ST95 group, and provide insights into pathogenicity and differential antimicrobial susceptibility within this group.
Abstract metamodeling, I: How to reason about meta- and metamodels in a formal way

The paper suggests a formal framework to reason about metamodeling in a way independent of specifics of one or another metamodel and so encompassing such distinct metamodels as, say, relational, UML and XML. To this end, the notion of specification (schema, model) and its instances is described in an entirely abstract way like mathematical structures are described. The key novelty of the framework is that mappings between specifications are involved and, moreover, play the key role in formal explicating of metamodeling constructs. Also, the notion of metamodel morphism is defined, which formally explicates such well known transformations as mapping ER-diagrams into relational database schemas or UML-diagrams into code in some OO-programing language. Particularly, the notion makes it possible to describe the UML architecture by precise and formalizable yet comprehensible graphic diagrams.
Analysis on the characteristics and prognosis of pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors.

OBJECTIVE To retrospectively review the clinical characteristics and analyze the prognostic factors of Chinese patients with pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS The clinical data of 176 patients with pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors in Chinese PLA General Hospital from Mar., 2000 to Oct., 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. The parameters were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis, including the gender, age, smoking history, family history, TNM staging, localization (central or peripheral), tumor size, nodal status, histological subtype and treatment (operation or non-operation). RESULTS There were 23 patients with typical carcinoids (TC) (13.1%), 41 with atypical carcinoids (AC) (23.3%), 10 with large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) (5.7%) and 102 with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (57.9%). The median follow-up time was 64.5 months for AC, 38 months for LCNEC and 27 months for SCLC. The typical carcinoid censored data was 18 (more than 50% of the patients), so the median follow-up time was not obtained, and actuarial 5-year survivals for TC, AC, LCNEC and SCLC were 75.1%, 51.7%, 26.7% and 38.8%, respectively. COX univariate analysis revealed that the age (P=0.001), histological subtype (P=0.005), nodal status (P=0.000), treatment (P=0.000) and TNM staging (P=0.000) were the prognostic factors of the patients with pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors, whereas its multivariate analysis showed that only the age(P=0.001), TNM staging (P=0.002) and treatment (P=0.000) were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS Radical surgery remains the treatment of choice, and is the only curative option. The age, TNM staging and treatment are confirmed to be the independent prognostic factors in multivariable models for pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors.
An examination of daily information needs and sharing opportunities

A person often has highly context-sensitive information needs that require assistance from individuals in their social network. However, a person's social network is often not broad enough to include the right people in the right situations or circumstances who can satisfy the needs. The ability to satisfy context-sensitive information needs depends on a person's ability to seek the answers from appropriate individuals, who must then provide a response in a timely manner. To gain an understanding of how to better support the sharing of information, we conducted a four-week diary study examining 20 people's perceived daily information needs and sharing desires. We provide a structured framework for understanding the types of information people need and discuss when and how people are able to satisfy their needs. Using these findings, we discuss research and design opportunities for addressing the shortcomings of the existing information sources by connecting information altruists with an audience by leveraging weak ties through situation and circumstance, and providing a timely asynchronous connection to these sources.
Pullorum disease and fowl typhoid—new thoughts on old diseases: a review

Fowl typhoid and pullorum disease are two distinct septicaemic diseases largely specific to avian species and caused by Salmonella Gallinarum and Salmonella Pullorum, respectively. They were first described more than one century ago. Since their discovery, many efforts have been made to control and prevent their occurrence in commercial farming of birds. However, they remain a serious economic problem to livestock in countries where measures of control are not efficient or in those where the climatic conditions favour the environmental spread of these microorganisms. During the past 15 to 20 years there has been an explosion of genetic and immunological information on the biology of these two organisms, which is beginning to contribute to a better understanding of the organisms and their interaction with the host. However, it is not enough simply to understand the pathology in greater and greater detail. What is needed, in addition to this increase in basic knowledge, is creative thinking to challenge existing paradigms and to develop really novel approaches to infection control.
Is there an explicit learning bias? Students beliefs, behaviors and learning outcomes

Learning by doing refers to learning practices that involve completing activities as opposed to explicit learning (e.g., reading). Although the benefits of learning by doing have been described before, it is still relatively uncommon in instructional practice. We investigated how much students employ learning by doing in online courses, and whether it is associated with improved learning outcomes. Spending more time completing activities had a larger impact on learning outcomes than spending more time reading, even in the case of mostly declarative content, such as in a Psychology course. Moreover, learning by doing is more efficient: grade improvements of 1 standard-deviation require 10-20% less time in learning by doing than reading. Finally, we contrast this evidence with students’ a priori intuitions on best study strategies for their online course. Students overestimate the value of explicit learning through reading, and underestimate the value of active learning.
Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cells Foster Revascularization of Ischemic Limbs in Systemic Sclerosis

TO THE EDITOR: The case report by Guiducci and colleagues (1) presents the therapeutic potential of autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for patients with systemic sclerosis. The authors suggest that factors expressed from MSCs and the ability of MSCs to differentiate into endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells account for the observed revascularization. The potential immunosuppressive effect of MSCs also may have contributed to the positive outcome. It is well-documented that MSCs suppress inflammation through soluble factors and direct physical contact, affecting the innate as well as the adaptive immune system (2). Researchers report that patients with systemic sclerosis may retain this feature (3). Investigators know less about whether MSCs have intact function in terms of endothelial differentiation and promoting angiogenesis in systemic sclerosis. Because reports show defects of endothelial progenitors in patients with systemic sclerosis (4), it would be interesting to test the immunomodulatory function, as well as the endothelialdifferentiating capacity, of the MSCs derived from this patient to obtain further insight into the mechanism of treatment with MSCs.
Pupillary Response to Emotional Stimuli as a Risk Factor for Depressive Symptoms Following a Natural Disaster: The 2011 Binghamton Flood

Understanding pathways of risk following a natural disaster may help create next-generation targeted interventions. The current study examined if a biomarker of cognitive-affective response (pupil dilation) could identify which individuals are at greatest risk for depression following disaster-related stress. A total of 51 women completed a computer-based task assessing pupillary response to facial expressions of emotion and reported their depressive symptoms before the 2011 Binghamton flood. Following the flood, women were assessed for objective levels of flood-related stress and again reported their depressive symptoms. Supporting the proposed diathesis-stress model, decreased pupil dilation to emotional expressions predicted a significant increase in postflood depressive symptoms, but only among women who experienced higher levels of flood-related stress. Findings suggest that reduced cognitive-affective response to emotional stimuli (measured via pupillary response) can increase risk for depression in the context of high levels of objective life stress.
On long‐range interpolation operators for aggressive coarsening

Algebraic multigrid (AMG) is a very efficient scalable preconditioner for solving sparse linear systems on unstructured grids. Currently, AMG solvers with good numerical scalability can still have larger than desired complexities, whereas variants with very low complexities exhibit decreased numerical scalability, which presents a problem for future high‐performance computers with millions of cores and decreased memory per core. It is therefore necessary to design more sophisticated interpolation operators to improve numerical scalability while preserving low memory usage. Two new long‐range interpolation operators to be used in combination with aggressive coarsening are presented. Their convergence and performance are examined and compared with multipass interpolation, the interpolation currently most commonly used with aggressive coarsening, and a higher complexity AMG variant. While the new interpolation operators require a more complex setup, leading to larger setup times, they exhibit better convergence than multipass interpolation, often resulting in better solve times. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Four probable terms in Mycenaean Greek pertaining to water management, some possible references, and broader implications

Abstract 1. Given the latest archaeological evidence, one should expect terms pertaining to water management and hydraulic engineering in the Linear B corpus. Identification of such terms will aid in current and future interpretations. 2. Archaeological context. 3. Four terms: (1) a-de-te /*arde(s)tḗr/ ‘irrigator’; (2) e-re-e-u /heleheu̯s/ ‘he pertaining to marshland’ (probably land improvement functionary in reciprocal management relationship with e-sa-re-u); (3) *po-te-re-u /*bothreu̯s/ (/*phothreus/? ) ‘he pertaining to trenches’; (4) *u-do-no-o /(h)udr̥nohos/ ‘water-channeler’ (< IE *nei̯H-/*noi̯H- ‘channeling, directing, diverting, driving’, etc.). 4. Some possibilities: ko-ku-ro, pe-re-wa-ta, e-ko-me-no, and za-e-to-ro. 5. Discussion: water management and organization of labor recorded in the Linear B texts. 6. Conclusions.
Acetic Acid Bacteria, Newly Emerging Symbionts of Insects

ABSTRACT Recent research in microbe-insect symbiosis has shown that acetic acid bacteria (AAB) establish symbiotic relationships with several insects of the orders Diptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, all relying on sugar-based diets, such as nectars, fruit sugars, or phloem sap. To date, the fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster and Bactrocera oleae, mosquitoes of the genera Anopheles and Aedes, the honey bee Apis mellifera, the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus, and the mealybug Saccharicoccus sacchari have been found to be associated with the bacterial genera Acetobacter, Gluconacetobacter, Gluconobacter, Asaia, and Saccharibacter and the novel genus Commensalibacter. AAB establish symbiotic associations with the insect midgut, a niche characterized by the availability of diet-derived carbohydrates and oxygen and by an acidic pH, selective factors that support AAB growth. AAB have been shown to actively colonize different insect tissues and organs, such as the epithelia of male and female reproductive organs, the Malpighian tubules, and the salivary glands. This complex topology of the symbiosis indicates that AAB possess the keys for passing through body barriers, allowing them to migrate to different organs of the host. Recently, AAB involvement in the regulation of innate immune system homeostasis of Drosophila has been shown, indicating a functional role in host survival. All of these lines of evidence indicate that AAB can play different roles in insect biology, not being restricted to the feeding habit of the host. The close association of AAB and their insect hosts has been confirmed by the demonstration of multiple modes of transmission between individuals and to their progeny that include vertical and horizontal transmission routes, comprising a venereal one. Taken together, the data indicate that AAB represent novel secondary symbionts of insects.
A short low‐dose imatinib trial allows rapid identification of responsive patients in hypereosinophilic syndromes

Although imatinib may be effective in hypereosinophilic syndromes, the exact response kinetics are not known. Imatinib was administered at 100–400 mg/d each week in a 12‐week response‐oriented schedule, targeting a complete clinical and haematological remission (CR). CR was achieved in 11/23 patients (6/6 with FIP1L1‐PDGRFA rearrangement and 5/17 without, P = 0·006), most after 2 weeks of 100 mg/d imatinib. The maximum imatinib dose had no effect in early unresponsive patients. Low‐dose, short‐course imatinib may represent a rational choice for identifying responsive cases, both within and outside the pre‐defined FIP1L1 rearrangement subset.
FIB-Nanotomography of Particulate Systems—Part I: Particle Shape and Topology of Interfaces

A new 3D-microscopy method, focused ion beam-nanotomography (FIB-nt), has been applied to the statistical particle shape analysis and for topological characterization of granular textures in cement samples. Because of its high resolution (15 nm), FIB-nt reveals precise microstructural information at the submicrometer scale, which cannot be obtained with conventional tomography methods. It is demonstrated that even from complex granular textures with dense agglomerates, it is possible to identify the individual sub-grains. This is the basis for reliable statistical shape analysis. For this purpose, moments of inertia were determined for particles from five different grain size fractions of a given cement, which provides important input data for future modeling of rheology and hydration processes. In addition, FIB-nt was used for topological characterization of the particle–particle interfaces in the dense and fine-grained granular textures. The unique 3D-data obtained with FIB-nt thus open new possibilities for quantitative microstructure analysis and the data can be used as structural input for object-oriented modeling.