Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attitudes Toward Sexual Violence Survivors: Differences Across Professional Sectors in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Sexual violence survivors who decide to report their assault interact with health care, law enforcement, and legal and judicial professionals. Professionals’ attitudes about sexual violence and survivors play an important role in caring for survivors and in the pursuit of justice. Despite evidence showing the relationship between service provider beliefs and survivor outcomes, relatively little is known about professionals’ beliefs about sexual violence or their attitudes toward sexual violence survivors. Between June 2012 and December 2014, our study examined the beliefs and attitudes of 181 professionals from the health care, legal, and law enforcement sectors in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Rift Valley region of Kenya, areas with a high prevalence of sexual violence. To determine correlates of beliefs and attitudes about sexual violence and sexual violence survivors, multiple logistic regression models were adjusted for demographic and occupational characteristics. Respondents who agreed that survivors got what they deserved (7%) or that survivors should feel ashamed (9%) were the minority, while those who would be willing to care for a family member with a history of sexual violence (94%) were the majority. Profession was significantly associated with beliefs and attitudes about sexual violence and survivors. Law enforcement professionals were more likely than health professionals and lawyers to indicate that survivors should feel ashamed. Our findings suggest a need for interventions that adequately address potentially harmful beliefs and attitudes of some professionals serving sexual violence survivors.
Divergent investment strategies of Acacia myrmecophytes and the coexistence of mutualists and exploiters

Ant-plant interactions represent a diversity of strategies, from exploitative to mutualistic, and how these strategies evolve is poorly understood. Here, we link physiological, ecological, and phylogenetic approaches to study the evolution and coexistence of strategies in the Acacia–Pseudomyrmex system. Host plant species represented 2 different strategies. High-reward hosts produced significantly more extrafloral nectar (EFN), food bodies, and nesting space than low-reward hosts, even when being inhabited by the same species of ant mutualist. High-reward hosts were more effectively defended against herbivores and exploited to a lower extent by nondefending ants than low-reward hosts. At the phenotypic level, secretion of EFN and ant activity were positively correlated and a mutualistic ant species induced nectar secretion, whereas a nondefending exploiter did not. All of these mechanisms contribute to the stable association of high-reward hosts with defending ant species. However, exploiter ants are less dependent on the host-derived rewards and can colonize considerable proportions of the low-reward hosts. Mapping these strategies onto phylogenetic trees demonstrated that the low-reward hosts represent the derived clade within a monophyletic group of obligate ant plants and that the observed exploiter ant species evolved their strategy without having a mutualistic ancestor. We conclude that both types of host strategies coexist because of variable net outcomes of different investment–payoff regimes and that the effects of exploiters on the outcome of mutualisms can, thus, increase the diversity within the taxa involved.
DNA sequence information resolves taxonomic ambiguity of the common mud crab species (Genus Scylla) in Indian waters

Abstract For several years, mud crabs of genus Scylla have been misidentified owing to their high morphological plasticity and the absence of distinct morphological diagnostic characters. The taxonomic confusion of genus Scylla de Haan is considered to be a primary constraint to the development of aquaculture. Although genus Scylla was revised using morphological and genetic characteristics, taxonomy of Scylla species occurring in India is still not clear. In this study, partial sequences of two mitochondrial genes, 16S rRNA and CO1 (Cytochrome C oxidase subunit I) in populations of Scylla spp. obtained from eleven locations along the Indian coast were used to differentiate and resolve taxonomical ambiguity of the mud crab species in India. The sequences were compared with previously published sequences of Scylla spp. Both trees generated based on 16S rRNA and CO1 indicated that all S. tranquebarica morphotypes obtained during this study and S. tranquebarica sequences submitted previously from Indian waters reciprocally monophyletic with reference sequence of S. serrata. Both sequence data and morphological characters revealed that the species S. serrata (Forskal) is the most abundant followed by S. olivacea. Further, the 16S rRNA and COI haplotypes of Indian S. tranquebarica obtained in the study significantly differed with the known S. tranquebarica by 6.7% and 10.6% respectively whereas it differed with known S. serrata by 0.0–0.7% only, a difference that was not statistically significant. From these studies it is clear that “S. tranquebarica” commonly reported from India should be S. serrata (Forskal).
Evidence for the Presence of “Metabolic Sterols” in Pneumocystis: Identification and Initial Characterization of Pneumocystis carinii Sterols

Mixed life cycle stages of rat‐derived Pneumocystis carinii were isolated from host lungs and their sterols were compared with those present in lungs from normal and immunosuppressed uninfected rats. Gas‐liquid chromatography consistently detected, resolved, and quantified 9, 10, and 20 sterol components in the total nonsaponifiable neutral lipid fraction of lungs from normal rats, lungs from immunosuppressed uninfected rats, and P. carinii preparations, respectively. In all samples, cholesterol was the most abundant sterol present, comprising 97%, 93%, and 78% of total sterols in lungs from normal rats, lungs from immunosuppressed uninfected rats, and P. carinii, respectively. Tentative identifications of several rat lung and P. carinii minor sterols were made based on gas‐liquid chromatogram retention times and fragmentation patterns from mass spectral analyses. Campesterol (ergost‐5‐en‐3‐ol), cholest‐5‐en‐3‐one, and β‐sitosterol (stigmast‐5‐en‐3‐ol) were among the minor components present in both types of lung controls, and were also components of P. carinii sterols. In contrast to lung controls, the sterols of P. carinii were enriched in C28 and C29 sterols with one or two double bonds, and a hydroxyl group at C‐3 (ergost‐5‐en‐3‐ol, ergost‐7‐en‐3‐ol, ergosta‐dien‐3‐ol, stigmast‐5‐en‐3‐ol, stigmast‐7‐en‐3‐ol and stigmasta‐dien‐3‐ol). Steryl esters of P. carinii, probably stored in cytoplasmic lipid droplets, were dominated by those present in the host lung. In separate studies. 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A activity, a key enzyme in the regulation of sterol biosynthesis, was detected in purified P. carinii preparations and incorporation of radiolabeled squalene and mevalonate was observed. Together, these results suggest that the parasite readily takes up and incorporates host sterols, and that the organism synthesizes some of its own “metabolic sterols”
Proposed Screening Criteria for β-Thalassemia Trait During Early Pregnancy in Southern China

This study was carried out to evaluate whether it is effective to use mean corpuscular volume (MCV) <80 fL as a screening test in the first step of screening for β-thalassemia (β-thal) trait in southern China. The data of hematological testing in the first or early second trimester of gestation of 449 pregnant women who underwent prenatal diagnosis for β-thal were retrospectively reviewed. Of these, six (1.3%) had an MCV value >80 fL, ranging from 80.3 to 83.4 fL. This meant that six at-risk pregnancies would have been missed if only an MCV cut-off value of <80 fL had been used for screening. All subjects having a normal MCV value carried the same −28 (A>G) mutation, accounting for 9.8% (6/61) of the total number of mother with this mutation. If screening had been based on the mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) <27 pg, all 449 pregnant women with β-thal trait would have been detected. We suggest that all pregnant women presenting at an antenatal clinic with an MCH of <27 pg rather than an MCV of <80 fL should be investigated further to confirm or exclude a diagnosis of β-thal trait in our region.
MDS and secondary AML display unique patterns and abundance of aberrant DNA methylation.

Increasing evidence shows aberrant hypermethylation of genes occurring in and potentially contributing to pathogenesis of myeloid malignancies. Several of these diseases, such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs), are responsive to DNA methyltransferase inhibitors. To determine the extent of promoter hypermethylation in such tumors, we compared the distribution of DNA methylation of 14 000 promoters in MDS and secondary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients enrolled in a phase 1 trial of 5-azacytidine and the histone deacetylase inhibitor entinostat against de novo AML patients and normal CD34(+) bone marrow cells. The MDS and secondary AML patients displayed more extensive aberrant DNA methylation involving thousands of genes than did the normal CD34(+) bone marrow cells or de novo AML blasts. Aberrant methylation in MDS and secondary AML tended to affect particular chromosomal regions, occurred more frequently in Alu-poor genes, and included prominent involvement of genes involved in the WNT and MAPK signaling pathways. DNA methylation was also measured at days 15 and 29 after the first treatment cycle. DNA methylation was reversed at day 15 in a uniform manner throughout the genome, and this effect persisted through day 29, even without continuous administration of the study drugs. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as J0443.
Efficient Content Delivery in the Presence of Impatient Jobs

We consider a content delivery problem in which jobs are processed in batches and may abandon before their service has been initiated. We model the problem as a Markovian single-server queue and analyze two different settings: (1) the system is cleared as soon as the server is activated, i.e., service rate μ = ∞, and (2) the service speed is exponentially distributed with rate μ <; ∞. The objective is to determine the optimal clearing strategy that minimizes the average cost incurred by holding jobs in the queue, having jobs renege, and performing setups. This last cost is incurred upon activation of the server in the case μ = ∞, and per unit of time the server is active otherwise. Our first contribution is to prove that policies of threshold type are optimal in both frameworks. In order to do so we have used the Smoothed Rate Truncation method which overcomes the problem arising from unbounded transition rates. For our second contribution, we derive the steady-state job-length distribution under threshold policies. The latter yields a characterization of the optimal threshold strategy, which can be easily implemented. Finally, we present numerical results for our solution across a wide range of parameters. We show that the performance of nonoptimal threshold policies can be very poor, which highlights the importance of computing the optimal threshold.
Survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for resectable esophageal carcinoma: A meta‐analysis

The efficacy of surgery alone for patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer (EC) is still unsatisfactory. Presently, induction therapy followed by surgery is the standard treatment. Preoperative chemotherapy (CT) and chemoradiation (CRT) are proven effective induction therapies; however, few sample studies have addressed these treatments, thus, their superiority remains uncertain. We performed a systemic review and meta analysis to test the hypothesis that induction CRT prior to surgery could improve survival compared with induction CT alone.
Circulating Current Analysis and Suppression for Configured Three-Limb Inductors in Paralleled Three-Level T-Type Converters With Space-Vector Modulation

In high-power applications, paralleling three-level T-type converters (3LT2Cs) with common ac and dc sides represents a modular solution for overcoming limitations of active switches. However, when independent space-vector pulse-width modulation (SVPWM) is employed, zero-sequence circulating currents (ZSCCs) will emerge. Especially, the use of three-phase three-limb inductors (3P3LIs) without additional passive components to reduce cost and improve density of overall parallel system, will worsen ZSCC problem. In this paper, detailed analysis of ZSCCs generated by SVPWM based on a derived average model taking into account magnetic circuit characteristics of 3P3LIs is proposed. Furthermore, four inter-related methods are sequentially proposed: 1) synchronizing sector numbers based on modified vector diagram partition for eliminating periodical ZSCC jumps caused by asynchronous change of starting small vector; 2) feeding forward grid voltages for eliminating starting current jumps due to computation delay; 3) connecting neural points to eliminating constant dc ZSCC caused by neural-point voltage deviation; and 4) adjusting relative duration of negative and positive small vectors in pairs to suppress remaining low-frequency ZSCCs. Consequently, 3LT2Cs operated in parallel can separately regulate output powers with a good circulating current suppression performance. The validity of theoretical analysis and proposed methods is verified by experiment with three-parallel 175-kw 3LT2Cs.
Targeted Reinnervation in the Transfemoral Amputee: A Preliminary Study of Surgical Technique

Background: Lower limb amputation is a common and growing problem in the United States. Current prosthetic technology is insufficient for transfemoral amputees to safely control their prostheses for demanding exercise such as stair climbing. Using a technique called targeted reinnervation, intuitive control of prosthetic devices has been achieved for upper limb amputees. To bring this technique to transfemoral amputees, a comprehensive understanding of the location of motor and sensory nerves is required. Methods: Five lower limbs were dissected and the locations of motor points for 13 muscles of the thigh were documented, as was the location of the posterior femoral cutaneous nerve of the thigh. A transfemoral amputation was performed on one limb to demonstrate the targeted reinnervation procedure. The tibial and common peroneal divisions of the sciatic nerve were coapted to the motor points of the semimembranosus and biceps femoris, respectively. The posterior femoral cutaneous nerve was coapted in end-to-side fashion to the tibial nerve. Results: The average number of motor points per muscle were as follows: sartorius, 4.75; rectus femoris, 3.25; vastus lateralis, 4.5; vastus intermedius, 4.5; vastus medialis, 4; adductor brevis, 2.3; adductor longus, 3; adductor magnus, 2.7; gracilis, 3; semitendinosus, 1.5; semimembranosus, 2.5; biceps femoris long head, 2.75; and biceps femoris short head, 1. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that targeted reinnervation is technically feasible in a transfemoral amputee.
Migration of sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the spinal cord of a C3G‐deficient mouse suggests that C3G acts in the reelin signaling pathway

Proper positioning of sympathetic preganglionic neurons (SPNs) in the spinal cord is regulated by reelin signaling. SPNs in reeler (which lacks reelin), and in mice deficient in components of the reelin signaling pathway (reelin receptors VldlR and ApoER2, the cytoplasmic adaptor protein Dab1, Src and Fyn of the Src‐family of non‐receptor protein tyrosine kinases, and CrkL) are located adjacent to the central canal instead of in the intermediolateral column (IML) of the spinal cord. Events downstream of CrkL in control of SPN migration are unclear. The present study asks whether Rap guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) 1 (C3G/Rapgef1), a Ras family GEF that binds CrkL, could act downstream in the reelin signaling pathway in control of SPN migration. SPN migration was examined in a hypopmorphic C3G mutant mouse (C3Ggt/gt) by using retrograde DiI labeling and NOS immunostaining. The results showed that SPN in the C3Ggt/gt mutant migrate abnormally toward the central canal as in reeler. However, unlike reeler, levels of reelin in the C3Ggt/gt spinal cord are normal, and Dab1 immunostaining is undetectable. These results provide genetic evidence that C3G regulates SPN migration, and suggest that C3G acts downstream in the reelin signaling pathway in control of SPN migration. J. Comp. Neurol. , 520:3194–3202, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Inflammation and cutaneous nervous system involvement in hypertrophic scarring

This study aimed to use a mouse model of hypertrophic scarring by mechanical loading on the dorsum of mice to determine whether the nervous system of the skin and inflammation participates in hypertrophic scarring. Results of hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemical staining demonstrated that inflammation contributed to the formation of a hypertrophic scar and increased the nerve density in scar tissue.Western blot assay verified that interleukin-13 expression was increased in scar tissue. These findings suggest that inflammation and the cutaneous nervous system play a role in hypertrophic scar formation.
Estrogen and extracellular matrix influence human gingival fibroblast proliferation and protein production.

BACKGROUND A paucity of information exists concerning how estrogen affects cellular function in the gingiva of women. In this study, the behavior of human gingival fibroblasts was examined in the presence of a potent estrogen, estradiol. METHODS Quiescent, premenopausal gingival fibroblasts were incubated in the presence and absence of estradiol (1 nM) and/or raloxifene (100 nM). Cell number was determined and cell cycle analyzed using a flow cytometer. Collagen and non-collagen production in cell cultures grown on various extracellular matrices were determined using a radioactive microassay which measures collagenase-digestible and collagenase-resistant radiolabeled proteins. To ascertain if the gingiva contained specific estrogen-sensitive cell populations, a fluorescence-activated cell sorter was used to detect, sort, and enrich fibroblast populations responsive to estrogen. RESULTS Cellular proliferation and the number of cells entering the S-phase of the cell cycle were significantly increased in mass cultures of fibroblasts stimulated by estradiol. Raloxifene did not antagonize the action of estradiol on cell proliferation. In regard to protein production, estradiol significantly reduced collagen production on plastic and collagen IV matrices; whereas non-collagen protein production on plastic and collagen I matrices was significantly reduced. Cell sorting of mass fibroblast populations revealed that, on average, 45% of the cells from the resident population selectively accumulated the estrogen probe. These sorted and estrogen-sensitive enriched cell populations proliferated in the presence of 1 nM estradiol, whereas the sorted, estrogen-deficient enriched fibroblast populations did not proliferate when incubated with 1 nM estradiol. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that estradiol can induce cellular proliferation while depressing protein production in cultures of human, premenopausal gingival fibroblasts. This cellular proliferation appears to be the result of a specific population of cells within the parent culture that responds to physiologic concentrations of estradiol.
Congenital heart defects and genetic variants in the methylenetetrahydroflate reductase gene

Background: Most non-syndromic congenital heart defects (CHD) are caused by a complex interaction between maternal lifestyle factors, environmental exposures, and maternal and fetal genetic variants. Maternal periconceptional intake of folic acid containing vitamin supplements is reported to decrease the risk of CHD. The 677C→T and 1298A→C polymorphisms in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene decrease enzyme activity. Objective: To examine the relation between CHD and maternal and fetal MTHFR polymorphisms Methods: 375 nuclear families were studied. The transmission/disequilibrium test was used to test for transmission distortion in complete triads. A log-linear approach was used to test for associations between CHD and maternal and offspring polymorphisms, and to estimate independently the contributions of maternal and fetal variants to relative risks. Haplotype frequencies were estimated and a haplotype transmission disequilibrium test carried out. Results: The 1298C allele was transmitted less often than expected (p = 0.0013). There was no distortion in the transmission of the 677T allele, neither was there evidence of a parent of origin effect in the transmission of either of the single nucleotide polymorphisms. The 677C–1298C haplotype was also transmitted less often than expected (p = 0.0020). The relative risk associated with inheriting one copy of the 1298C allele was 0.64 (95% confidence interval, 0.48 to 0.87) and the that associated with inheriting two copies of the 1298C allele, 0.38 (0.21 to 0.70). Conclusions: The apparent protective effect of the MTHFR 1298C allele against CHD could have several explanations and further study is needed.
Destruction of the Capsid and Genome of GII.4 Human Norovirus Occurs during Exposure to Metal Alloys Containing Copper

ABSTRACT Human norovirus (HuNoV) represents a significant public health burden worldwide and can be environmentally transmitted. Copper surfaces have been shown to inactivate the cultivable surrogate murine norovirus, but no such data exist for HuNoV. The purpose of this study was to characterize the destruction of GII.4 HuNoV and virus-like particles (VLPs) during exposure to copper alloy surfaces. Fecal suspensions positive for a GII.4 HuNoV outbreak strain or GII.4 VLPs were exposed to copper alloys or stainless steel for 0 to 240 min and recovered by elution. HuNoV genome integrity was assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) (without RNase treatment), and capsid integrity was assessed by RT-qPCR (with RNase treatment), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), SDS-PAGE/Western blot analysis, and a histo-blood group antigen (HBGA) binding assay. Exposure of fecal suspensions to pure copper for 60 min reduced the GII.4 HuNoV RNA copy number by ∼3 log10 units when analyzed by RT-qPCR without RNase treatment and by 4 log10 units when a prior RNase treatment was used. The rate of reduction of the HuNoV RNA copy number was approximately proportional to the percentage of copper in each alloy. Exposure of GII.4 HuNoV VLPs to pure-copper surfaces resulted in noticeable aggregation and destruction within 240 min, an 80% reduction in the VP1 major capsid protein band intensity in 15 min, and a near-complete loss of HBGA receptor binding within 8 min. In all experiments, HuNoV remained stable on stainless steel. These results suggest that copper surfaces destroy HuNoV and may be useful in preventing environmental transmission of the virus in at-risk settings.