Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human papillomavirus genotypes in asymptomatic young women from public schools in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

INTRODUCTION The aim of this work was to survey HPV information from a random population of young women from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. METHODS This cross-sectional study included cervical samples from 241 female students. To determine human papillomavirus status, polymerase chain reaction amplification was performed. HPV typing was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Demographic data, life style, sexual and gynecological history were obtained through use of a structured questionnaire. RESULTS The average age of the women was 19.6 years-old (SD=3.4 years). HPV prevalence was 27.4%. Nineteen different HPV genotypes were detected, including 13 high risk types. HPV 16 was the most prevalent type (6.2%), followed by 31 (4.1 %) and 66 (3.7%). Most of the oncogenic types belonged to the A9 species (28/48). The frequency of women infected by at least one oncogenic type was significantly higher than those only infected by low risk types (18.7% versus 7.5%). Cervical changes were detected in 12.5% of the sample and were significantly linked to infection with HPV types of the A9 species. Demographic variables, sexual initiation, or number of sexual partners were not associated with HPV prevalence, variety of HPV genotypes or oncogenic types. CONCLUSIONS The relative frequency of HPV genotypes other than vaccine types in young females should be taken into account when evaluating vaccination strategies. Due to the high prevalence of HPV infection among the population studied, implementation of sex education in schools, promotion of condom use and an organized screening program to prevent cervical cancer must be encouraged for this age group.
Electromagnetic field of mobile phones affects visual event related potential in patients with narcolepsy

The effects of the mobile phone (MP) electromagnetic fields on electroencephalography (EEG) and event‐related potentials (ERP) were examined. With regard to the reported effects of MP on sleep, 22 patients with narcolepsy‐cataplexy were exposed or sham exposed for 45 min to the MP (900 MHz, specific absorption rate 0.06 W/kg) placed close to the right ear in a double blind study. There were no changes of the EEG recorded after the MP exposure. A subgroup of 17 patients was studied on visual ERP recorded during the MP exposure. Using an adapted “odd‐ball” paradigm, each patient was instructed to strike a key whenever rare target stimuli were presented. There were three variants of target stimuli (horizontal stripes in (i) left, (ii) right hemifields or (iii) whole field of the screen). The exposure enhanced the positivity of the ERP endogenous complex solely in response to target stimuli in the right hemifield of the screen (P < 0.01). The reaction time was shortened by 20 ms in response to all target stimuli (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the electromagnetic field of MP may suppress the excessive sleepiness and improve performance while solving a monotonous cognitive task requiring sustained attention and vigilance. Bioelectromagnetics 22:519–528, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Roles of climate and functional traits in controlling toothed vs. untoothed leaf margins.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Leaf-margin state (toothed vs. untoothed) forms the basis of several popular methods for reconstructing temperature. Some potential confounding factors have not been investigated with large data sets, limiting our understanding of the adaptive significance of leaf teeth and their reliability to reconstruct paleoclimate. Here we test the strength of correlations between leaf-margin state and deciduousness, leaf thickness, wood type (ring-porous vs. diffuse-porous), height within community, and several leaf economic variables. METHODS We assembled a trait database for 3549 species from six continents based on published and original data. The strength of associations between traits was quantified using correlational and principal axes approaches. KEY RESULTS Toothed species, independent of temperature, are more likely to be deciduous and to have thin leaves, a high leaf nitrogen concentration, a low leaf mass per area, and ring-porous wood. Canopy trees display the highest sensitivity between leaf-margin state and temperature; subcanopy plants, especially herbs, are less sensitive. CONCLUSIONS Our data support hypotheses linking the adaptive significance of teeth to leaf thickness and deciduousness (in addition to temperature). Toothed species associate with the "fast-return" end of the leaf economic spectrum, providing another functional link to thin leaves and the deciduous habit. Accounting for these confounding factors should improve climate estimates from tooth-based methods.
Therapeutic efficacy and safety of various botulinum toxin A doses and concentrations in spastic foot after stroke: a randomized controlled trial

No recommended guidelines currently exist for the therapeutic concentration or dose of botulinum toxin type A (BTXA) injected into the muscle to treat limb spasticity. Therefore, in this randomized controlled trial, we explored the safety and efficacy of two concentrations and two doses of BTXA in the treatment of spastic foot after stroke to optimize this treatment in these patients. Eligible patients (n = 104) were randomized into four groups. The triceps surae and tibialis posterior on the affected side were injected with BTXA at one of two doses (200 U or 400 U) and two concentrations (50 U/mL or 100 U/mL). The following assessments were conducted before as well as 4 days and 1, 2, 4, and 12 weeks after treatment: spasticity, assessed using the modified Ashworth scale; basic functional mobility, assessed using a timed up and go test; pace, assessed using a 10-meter timed walking test; and the ability to walk, assessed using Holden's graded scale and a visual analog scale. The reported results are based on the 89 patients that completed the study. We found significant differences for the two doses and concentrations of BTXA to improve the ability of patients to walk independently, with the high-dose/low-concentration combination providing the best effect. Onset and duration of the ameliorating effects of BTXA were 4–7 days and 12 weeks, respectively. Thus, BTXA effectively treated foot spasms after stroke at an optimal dose of 400 U and concentration of 50 U/mL.
Tumor-specific in vivo transfection with HSV-1 thymidine kinase gene using a Sindbis viral vector as a basis for prodrug ganciclovir activation and PET.

UNLABELLED One type of gene therapy of tumors, gene-directed enzyme-prodrug therapy (GDEPT), holds considerable promise, although practical considerations limit its clinical applicability. These include the lack of acceptable noninvasive methods that are adaptable to humans for selective tumor targeting of the therapeutic genetic material. Sindbis virus is an oncolytic, alpha-virus that selectively targets tumors through the 67-kDa laminin receptor (LAMR). In this report we describe a novel approach that permits tumor-selective tumor targeting and quantitative in vivo monitoring using PET of a commonly applied GDEPT, based on herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase type 1 (HSVtk) and ganciclovir (GCV). METHODS Sindbis/tk vectors were harvested from the supernatant of in vitro cultures of a packaging cell produced by electroporation of both replicon RNA (SinRep5/tk) and helper RNA (DH-BB) into baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells. The therapeutic effect of GCV was determined by incubation of transfected tumor cells with increasing concentrations of GCV. BHK tumors growing as xenografts in severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID) mice were transfected by parenteral administration of the vector. Imaging was performed using small-animal PET at 2 h after injection of 18F fluoro-ethyl-arabinosyluridine (18F-FEAU) and 24 h after the final parenteral injection of Sindbis/tk viral vector. RESULTS The vector efficiently expresses the HSVtk enzyme in infected tumor cells, both in vitro and in vivo. High levels of HSVtk expression ensure sufficient prodrug GCV conversion and activation for bystander effects that kill the surrounding untransduced tumor cells. Tumor localization of intravenously administered 18F-FEAU after 2 and 3 parenteral vector treatments of Sindbis/tk demonstrated uptake of 1.7 and 3.1 %ID/g (percentage injected dose per gram), respectively. CONCLUSION The vector efficiently targets the HSVtk enzyme gene into Sindbis-infected tumor cells. High levels of HSVtk expression ensure sufficient prodrug GCV conversion and activation for bystander effects that killed many surrounding untransduced tumor cells. In addition, the HSVtk activities in tumors can be noninvasively monitored using PET after systemic Sindbis/tk treatments as a basis for determining the levels and tissue distribution of vector, noninvasively in living animals, and for optimizing in vivo transfection rates of tumor.
Prostate cancer screening; is this a teachable moment?

In this issue of the Journal, Welch and Albertsen ( 1 ) presented information that every man considering prostate cancer screening and treatment should know and understand. Prostate cancer screening has resulted in substantial overdiagnosis and in unnecessary treatment. It may have saved relatively few lives. Results from this article and recent results from prostate cancer screening and prevention trials demand reflection about what we as a society have done and are doing. Lessons to be learned have ethical and economic implications and involve our lack of respect for the scientific process and scientific evidence. As I sat down to write this editorial, I heard a radio commercial that brings perspective to the issue. A local celebrity was promoting prostate cancer awareness. He said, “Prostate cancer is 100% curable when caught early. ” He encouraged all men to get screened and announced that a van was touring the area offering screening in supermarket parking lots. This was a community service project sponsored by the radio station, the supermarket chain, and a radiation oncology practice. A commercial like this plays to our fears and prejudices. All of us have been taught from an early age that the best way to deal with cancer is to fi nd it early. With the development of the prostate-specifi c antigen test, prostate cancer screening and early detection efforts surged in the United States in the late 1980s and
No Child Left Behind Comes to Preschool

In this article I examine recent policy initiatives related to early childhood education that can be traced either directly to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) or to the emphasis on standards and accountability that produced NCLB, including the development of standards and assessments and moving the birth date for kindergarten eligibility to require children to be older when they enter school. I also discuss instructional and assessment issues that need to be considered if new pressures to teach academic skills in preschool benefit rather than do harm to young children.
Traditional foods and physical activity patterns and associations with cultural factors in a diverse Alaska Native population

Objectives. To determine the prevalence of traditional food and physical activity use and associations with cultural factors among 3,830 Alaska Native and American Indian (AN/AI) people enrolled in the Education and Research Towards Health (EARTH) Study in 3 regions of Alaska. Study design. Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a cohort study. Methods Participants (2,323 women and 1,507 men) completed a computer-assisted self-administered questionnaire that included information on diet, physical activity, life-style and cultural factors. Results Over 92% of participants reported eating at least 1 traditional food in the past year. The top 3 traditional foods reported were fish, moose and agutaq (a mixture of berries and fat). The percentage of people who consumed traditional foods varied by region and age but not by sex (p>0.01). Almost 70% of participants engaged in at least one traditional harvesting physical activity. Picking berries or greens, cutting/smoking fish or meat and fishing were the most common activities. Participation in traditional physical activity was highest in south-west Alaska and was higher among men than women, but did not differ by age (p>0.01). Both traditional food and physical activity were associated with greater tribal self-identification, speaking a Native language at home, using traditional remedies and participating in or attending traditional events (p>0.05). Conclusions The EARTH Study found relationships between traditional food use, physical activities, cultural activities and behaviours. Consumption of a variety of traditional foods and participation in traditional physical activities remain an important part of the contemporary Alaska Native life-style. Efforts to promote and sustain these foods and activities in AN/AI populations may lead to improved health outcomes.
Warnings for children.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this paper is to provide information to the reader on warnings and the use of warnings with children, to prevent accidental injuries. METHODS A literature review was used to present research findings related to child warnings. RESULTS This paper provides a basic introduction to accidental injuries, susceptibility of children, warnings, the effectiveness of warnings, and guidelines for designing effective warnings. CONCLUSION While most warnings concerning children focus on adult caregivers, there are warnings for children that appear effective, especially when combined with other methods of hazard control and injury prevention. Additional research on warnings geared toward children is needed.
Alternative Activation Is an Innate Response to Injury That Requires CD4+ T Cells to be Sustained during Chronic Infection1

Alternatively activated macrophages (AAMΦ) are found in abundance during chronic Th2 inflammatory responses to metazoan parasites. Important roles for these macrophages are being defined, particularly in the context of Th2-mediated pathology and fibrosis. However, a full understanding of the requirements for alternative activation, particularly at the innate level, is lacking. We present evidence that alternative activation by the Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 is an innate and rapid response to tissue injury that takes place even in the absence of an infectious agent. This early response does not require CD4+ Th2 cells because it occurred in RAG-deficient mice. However, class II-restricted CD4+ T cell help is essential to maintain AAMΦ in response to infection, because AAMΦ were absent in RAG-deficient and MHC class II-deficient, but not B cell-deficient mice after chronic exposure to the nematode parasite, Brugia malayi. The absence of AAMΦ was associated with increased neutrophilia and reduced eosinophilia, suggesting that AAMΦ are involved in the clearance of neutrophils as well as the recruitment of eosinophils. Consistent with this hypothesis, AAMΦ show enhanced phagocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils, but not latex beads. Our data demonstrate that alternative activation by type 2 cytokines is an innate response to injury that can occur in the absence of an adaptive response. However, analogous to classical activation by microbial pathogens, Th2 cells are required for maintenance and full activation during the ongoing response to metazoan parasites.
Grid Homology for Knots and Links

* Introduction* Knots and links in $S^3$* Grid diagrams* Grid homology* The invariance of grid homology* The unknotting number and $\tau$* Basic properties of grid homology* The slice genus and $\tau$* The oriented skein exact sequence* Grid homologies of alternating knots* Grid homology for links* Invariants of Legendrian and transverse knots* The filtered grid complex* More on the filtered chain complex* Grid homology over the integers* The holomorphic theory* Open problems* Homological algebra* Basic theorems in knot theory* Bibliography* Index
Prognostic Value of Histopathological Grading in Canine Extramedullary Plasmacytomas

The canine extramedullary plasmacytoma (cEMP) has recently been the subject of numerous investigations, indicating that the histomorphologic diagnosis is often difficult because of the variety of morphologic features. Therefore, the objective of this study was to establish a subclassification scheme for cEMPs and to evaluate correlations between the types and malignancy. Retrospectively, 117 cEMPs, all immunohistochemically characterized by a monoclonal immunoglobulin light-chain expression, were collected and assigned to morphologic types. These types were compared using data from a follow-up study on metastasis and tumor recurrence, then compared by proliferation rate, determined by immunohistochemical detection of the antigen Ki-67. Histopathologic typing revealed five different types of cEMPs, ranging from the mature type with typical plasma cells to the polymorphous-blastic type. Between these two forms, three additional types were established: hyaline, cleaved, and asynchronous. Most of the cEMPs were of the cleaved and asynchronous types. In all cEMPs, mononuclear and multinuclear giant cells were present to varying degrees. Although the results of cell proliferation and the follow-up study indicated less benign behavior by the polymorphous-blastic type, the proliferation rate revealed no statistically significant differences among the cEMP types. The clinical data therefore confirmed previous findings that the risk of tumor recurrence and metastasis in general can be classed as low. The established cEMP typing system is probably a very helpful diagnostic tool, although the types cannot be used for a tumor grading system.
Unique Subpopulations of CD56+ NK and NK-T Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes Identified by Chemokine Receptor Expression Repertoire1

CD56, an adhesion molecule closely related to neual cell adhesion molecule, is an immunophenotypic marker for several unique populations of PBLs. Although CD56+ cells derive from multiple lymphocyte lineages, they share a role in immunosurveillance and antitumor responses. We have studied the chemokine receptor expression patterns and functional migratory responses of three distinct CD56+ populations from human peripheral blood. NK-T cells were found to differ greatly from NK cells, and CD16+ NK cells from CD16− NK cells. CD16+ NK cells were the predominant population responding to IL-8 and fractalkine, whereas NK-T cells were the predominant population responding to the CCR5 ligand macrophage-inflammatory protein-1β. CD16− NK cells were the only CD56+ population that uniformly expressed trafficking molecules necessary for homing into secondary lymphoid organs through high endothelial venule. These findings describe a diverse population of cells that may have trafficking patterns entirely different from each other, and from other lymphocyte types.
Haemophilus ducreyi Requires the flp Gene Cluster for Microcolony Formation In Vitro

ABSTRACT Haemophilus ducreyi, the etiologic agent of chancroid, has been shown to form microcolonies when cultured in the presence of human foreskin fibroblasts. We identified a 15-gene cluster in H. ducreyi that encoded predicted protein products with significant homology to those encoded by the tad (for tight adhesion) locus in Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans that is involved in the production of fimbriae by this periodontal pathogen. The first three open reading frames in this H. ducreyi gene cluster encoded predicted proteins with a high degree of identity to the Flp (fimbria-like protein) encoded by the first open reading frame of the tad locus; this 15-gene cluster in H. ducreyi was designated flp. RT-PCR analysis indicated that the H. ducreyi flp gene cluster was likely to be a polycistronic operon. Mutations within the flp gene cluster resulted in an inability to form microcolonies in the presence of human foreskin fibroblasts. In addition, the same mutants were defective in the ability to attach to both plastic and human foreskin fibroblasts in vitro. An H. ducreyi mutant with an inactivated tadA gene exhibited a small decrease in virulence in the temperature-dependent rabbit model for experimental chancroid, whereas another H. ducreyi mutant with inactivated flp-1 and flp-2 genes was as virulent as the wild-type parent strain. These results indicate that the flp gene cluster is essential for microcolony formation by H. ducreyi, whereas this phenotypic trait is not linked to the virulence potential of the pathogen, at least in this animal model of infection.
Association of virulent genotypes and phylogenetic origins of Helicobacter pylori with gastric cancer

Objective To investigate the association between the genotypes, sequence variations and phylogenetic origins of strains of Helicobacter pylori with gastric cancer in Chinese patients. Methods Strains of H. pylori were isolated from patients with chronic gastritis and gastric cancer. Genotypes of the cagA and vacA genes were determined using polymerase chain reaction. Sequence analysis was used to detect variations in the 3′ and 5′ regions of cagA, and to detect known polymorphisms in cagE. A phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the analysis of seven housekeeping genes. Results A total of 67 strains of H. pylori were analysed. Nearly all strains of H. pylori carried cagA (65/67; 97.0%), an East Asia type of the cagA 3′ region (63/65; 96.9%) and the vacA intermediate (i)1 genotype (65/67; 97.0%). None of the H. pylori strains examined had sequence variations in the 5′ region of cagA or cagE. Phylogenetic analyses, however, revealed that strains of H. pylori from gastric cancer tended to cluster together. Conclusions Virulent strains of H. pylori were highly prevalent, but virulent genotypes of H. pylori associated with gastric cancer were not detected in this geographical region.
Child Immunization in Pakistan: Socio-Institutional and Regional Aspects

This paper attempted to examine the socioeconomic determinants of preventive measures of child health, i.e. child immunization, particularly focusing on the factors of social institutions and regional diversity in Pakistan economy. For the purpose micro data having 8731 observations from Pakistan Demographic Health Survey (PDHS) 2006-2007 has been utilized. Binary logistic regression is employed to determine the association between complete immunization of children (in the age group of 12 months to 5 years) and explanatory variables. The ethnicity of the households has been taken as proxy of social institution and provinces of Pakistan as regional diversity. Complete immunization of children is captured by basic vaccinations, i.e. BCG, Measles, DPT and Polio. A child is assumed as completely immunized if he/she has received all the twelve vaccinations. The results have shown that social institution represented by ethnicity of household has significant impact on the probability of immunization of children. The children of Urdu, Sindhi, Pashtu and Barohi speaking families are less likely to be immunized as compared to those of Punjabi speaking families. The children from Pashto speaking families are least likely to be immunized as compared to children from Punjabi speaking families. The children living in Sindh and Balochistan are least likely to have complete immunization as compared to those living in Punjab. The results have further shown that male children and children born in hospitals are more likely to be immunized. The probability of complete immunization of children increases with increase in educational level of mother. The children of working mothers are less likely to be completely immunized as compared to their counterparts of mothers who are not working.