Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Life skills training as HIV/AIDS preventive strategy in secondary schools: evaluation of a large-scale implementation process

A life skills and HIV/AIDS education programme was implemented in secondary schools as a strategy to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS among school-going young people in South Africa. As part of a joint effort of the Departments of Health and Education, two teachers per school were trained to implement life skills training and HIV/AIDS education in schools as part of the school curriculum. The implementation of the intervention was evaluated in 24 schools in two educational districts in Gauteng province using an action research approach. Data about the implementation were gathered through interviews and focus group discussions with school principals, teachers and learners. A repeated measurement research design was used to assess the impact of the intervention in terms of knowledge, attitudes and reported risk behaviour in a sample of 667 learners representing learners from grades 8 to 12 from different population groups. Results showed that the programme was not implemented as planned in schools due to organisational problems in the schools, lack of commitment of the teachers and the principal, non-trusting relationships between teachers and learners, lack of resources and conflicting goals in the educational system. In an outcome evaluation over the period of a year it was found that learners' knowledge of HIV/AIDS increased and their attitudes were more positive although the changes may not be attributed to the programme alone. In the post-test more learners were sexually active, although preventive behaviour did not increase. The programme as implemented in the area did not succeed in changing high-risk behaviour patterns among school-going young people. From the evaluation of the intervention a few valuable lessons were learned about the content and implementation of HIV/AIDS preventive interventions, which could be useful in the implementation of various other HIV/AIDS preventive interventions in the community.
Induction of Cyclooxygenase‐2 by Overexpression of the Human Catalase Gene in Cerebral Microvascular Endothelial Cells

Prostaglandin (PG) formation by the inducible (type 2) cyclooxygenase (COX‐2) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been proposed to play important roles in cerebrovascular pathological processes. To explore the relationship between ROS and COX‐2 expression, adenovirus (Ad) vectors containing cDNA for human antioxidant enzymes including catalase (AdCat), copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (AdCu/ZnSOD), and manganese superoxide dismutase (AdMnSOD) were transferred into murine cerebral microvascular endothelial cells. AdCat (100 multiplicity of infection) infection increased the content and enzymatic activity of cellular Cat threefold and decreased the intracellular peroxide level. The expression of COX‐2 mRNA and protein in cell lysates was up‐regulated, and the amount of PGE2 formed from exogenous arachidonic acid increased following AdCat infection in a dose‐dependent manner, paralleling the expression of COX‐2 protein. The AdCat‐induced increase in PGE2 formation was inhibited by NS‐398, a selective inhibitor of COX‐2 enzymatic activity. AdCat infection did not change the expression of the constitutive (type 1) COX protein. Although AdCu/ZnSOD and AdMnSOD infection increased the expression of superoxide dismutase proteins, COX‐2 expression was not induced. An in vitro nuclear transcription assay indicated that overexpression of the Cat gene increases the transcription of the COX‐2 gene. Furthermore, the stability of COX‐2 mRNA induced by lipopolysaccharide was increased after AdCat gene transfer. These results indicate that AdCat gene transfer induces the transcriptional activation of the COX‐2 gene and increases COX‐2 mRNA stability. Therefore, peroxide may have regulatory effect on COX‐2 function in the cerebral microcirculation.
Comparative Phosphoproteomics Reveals the Role of AmpC β-lactamase Phosphorylation in the Clinical Imipenem-resistant Strain Acinetobacter baumannii SK17*

Nosocomial infectious outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii have emerged as a serious threat to human health. Phosphoproteomics of pathogenic bacteria has been used to identify the mechanisms of bacterial virulence and antimicrobial resistance. In this study, we used a shotgun strategy combined with high-accuracy mass spectrometry to analyze the phosphoproteomics of the imipenem-susceptible strain SK17-S and -resistant strain SK17-R. We identified 410 phosphosites on 248 unique phosphoproteins in SK17-S and 285 phosphosites on 211 unique phosphoproteins in SK17-R. The distributions of the Ser/Thr/Tyr/Asp/His phosphosites in SK17-S and SK17-R were 47.0%/27.6%/12.4%/8.0%/4.9% versus 41.4%/29.5%/17.5%/6.7%/4.9%, respectively. The Ser-90 phosphosite, located on the catalytic motif S88VS90K of the AmpC β-lactamase, was first identified in SK17-S. Based on site-directed mutagenesis, the nonphosphorylatable mutant S90A was found to be more resistant to imipenem, whereas the phosphorylation-simulated mutant S90D was sensitive to imipenem. Additionally, the S90A mutant protein exhibited higher β-lactamase activity and conferred greater bacterial protection against imipenem in SK17-S compared with the wild-type. In sum, our results revealed that in A. baumannii, Ser-90 phosphorylation of AmpC negatively regulates both β-lactamase activity and the ability to counteract the antibiotic effects of imipenem. These findings highlight the impact of phosphorylation-mediated regulation in antibiotic-resistant bacteria on future drug design and new therapies.
Molecular mechanisms in proximal tubular and small intestinal phosphate reabsorption (Plenary Lecture)

Renal and small intestinal (re-)absorption contribute to overall phosphate(Pi)-homeostasis. In both epithelia, apical sodium (Na+)/Pi-cotransport across the luminal (brush border) memi brane is rate limiting and the target for physiological/pathophysiological alterations. Three different Na/Pi-cotransporters have been identified: (i) type I cotransporter(s) - present in the proximal tubule - also show anion channel function and may play a role in secretion of organic anions; in the brain, it may serve vesicular glutamate uptake functions; (ii) type II cotransporter(s) seem to serve rather specific epithelial functions; in the renal proximal tubule (type IIa)and in the small intestine (type IIb), isoform determines Na+-dependent transcellular Pi-movements; (iii) type III cotransporters are expressed in many different cells/tissues where they could serve housekeeping functions. In the small intestine, alterations in Pi-absorption and, thus, apical expression of IIb protein are mostly in response to longer term (days) situations (altered Pi-intake, levels of 1.25 (OH2) vitamin D3, growth, etc), whereas in renal proximal tubule, in addition, hormonal effects (e.g. Parathyroid Hormone, PTH) acutely control (minutes/hours) the expression of the IIa cotransporter. The type II Na/Pi-cotransporters operate (as functional monomers) in a 3 Na+:1 Pi stoichiometry, including transfer of negatively charged (-1) empty carriers and electroneutral transfers of partially loaded carriers (1 Na+, slippage)and of the fully loaded carriers (3 Na+, 1 Pi). By a chimera (IIa/IIb) approach, and by site-directed mutagenesis (including cysteine-scanning), specific sequences have been identified contributing to either apical expression, PTH-induced membrane retrieval, Na+-interaction or specific pH-dependence of the IIa and IIb cotransporters. For the COOH-terminal tail of the IIa Na/Pi -cotransporter, several interacting PDZ-domain proteins have been identified which may contribute to either its apical expression (NaPi-Cap1) or to its subapical/lysosomal traffic (NaPi-Cap2).
Involvement of afadin in barrier function and homeostasis of mouse intestinal epithelia

Afadin interacts with the cytoplasmic region of nectins, which are immunoglobulin-like cell adhesion molecules at adherens junctions, and links them to the actin cytoskeleton. Afadin regulates activities of cells in culture such as directional motility, proliferation and survival. We used Cre-loxP technology to generate mice conditionally lacking afadin specifically in the intestinal epithelia after birth. The loss of afadin caused increased paracellular permeability in the intestinal mucosa and enhanced susceptibility to the tissue destruction induced by dextran sulfate sodium. The junctional architecture of the intestinal epithelia appeared to be preserved, whereas the deficiency of afadin caused the mislocalization of nectin-2 and nectin-3 from adherens junctions to basolateral membrane domains but not that of other components of apical junctions. By contrast, such phenotypic changes were undetected in mice lacking nectin-2, nectin-3 or both. These findings suggest that afadin plays crucial roles, independently of the role as the nectin–afadin module, in barrier function and homeostasis of the intestinal epithelia once the epithelial structure has been established.
Occlusal changes following posterior tooth loss in adults. Part 1: a study of clinical parameters associated with the extent and type of supraeruption in unopposed posterior teeth.

PURPOSE One of the barriers to restoring an edentulous space may be the supraeruption of an unopposed tooth to occupy some or all of the space needed for prosthetic replacement. The aim of this study was to determine the extent and type of supraeruption associated with unopposed posterior teeth and to investigate the relationship between these and oral and patient factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS Diagnostic casts of 100 patients with an unopposed posterior tooth and of 100 control patients were scanned and analyzed to record the extent of supraeruption, together with other clinical parameters. The type of eruption present was defined for each subject as Periodontal Growth, Active Eruption, or Relative Wear. Generalized Linear Models were developed to examine associations between the extent and type of supraeruption and patient or dental factors. The extent of supraeruption for an individual was modeled to show association between the degree of supraeruption and clinical parameters. Three models were produced to show associations between each type of supraeruption and clinical parameters. RESULTS The mean supraeruption for subjects was 1.68 mm (SD 0.79, range 0 to 3.99 mm) and for controls, 0.24 mm (SD 0.39, range 0 to 1.46 mm). The extent of supraeruption was statistically greater in maxillary unopposed teeth than in mandibular unopposed teeth. Supraeruption was found in 92% of subjects' unopposed teeth. CONCLUSIONS A Generalized Linear Model could be produced to demonstrate that the clinical parameters associated with supraeruption are periodontal growth, attachment loss, and the lingual movement of the tooth distal to the extraction site. Three types of supraeruption, which may be present singly, or in combination, can be identified. Active eruption has an association with attachment loss. Periodontal growth has an inverse association with attachment loss, is more prevalent in younger patients, in the maxilla, in premolars, and in females. Relative wear has an association with increasing age and is more prevalent in unopposed mandibular teeth.
Voice activity detection system for smart earphones

This paper presents a real-time voice activity detection (VAD) algorithm implemented in a miniature Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for in-ear listening devices such as earphones or headphones. This system allows consumers to hear external speech signals such as public announcements or oral communication while listening to music without removing their listening devices. The proposed algorithm uses two normalized energy features that compare the energy in the frequency region containing speech information with the frequency regions typically containing noise. The extraction of the normalized features represents the key of the proposed VAD since it eliminates the need for a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimator. The VAD's decision is made using two threshold comparison rules computed from the normalized features and a hangover scheme triggered after a given number of observations. The algorithm parameters, namely the frequency regions' boundaries, number of observations, two decision thresholds and hangover's duration, have been optimized offline using a genetic algorithm. The performance of the proposed VAD is compared to a benchmark algorithm in four noise environments and three SNRs. Results show that the average false positive rate (FPR) of the proposed algorithm is 4.2% and the average true positive rate (TPR) is 91.4 % compared to the benchmark algorithm which has a FPR average of 29.9 % and a TPR average of 79.0 %. The proposed VAD is implemented in hardware to validate its reliability and complexity.
Three-Phase Converter Models for Unbalanced Radial Power Flow Studies

This paper presents a power converter model intended for both balanced and unbalanced radial power flow studies. A three-phase steady state model of a power converter (ac/dc-dc/ac) composed of a diode rectifier, a loss-less dc link, and a pulse-width-modulated inverter is presented. Both the three-phase rectifier and the three-phase inverter are modeled as three equivalent Y-connected single-phase rectifiers and single-phase inverters, respectively. The model is implemented within a three-phase power flow solver with phase representation. Simulation results on a balanced and an unbalanced 15-bus system are presented.
Soil aggregation and associated microbial communities modify the impact of agricultural management on carbon content

Soil carbon (C) stabilisation is known to depend in part on its distribution in structural aggregates, and upon soil microbial activity within the aggregates. However, the mechanisms and relative contributions of different microbial groups to C turnover in different aggregates under various management practices remain unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the role of soil aggregation and their associated microbial communities in driving the responses of soil organic matter (SOM) to multiple management practices. Our results demonstrate that higher amounts of C inputs coupled with greater soil aggregation in residue retention management practices has positive effects on soil C content. Our results provide evidence that different aggregate size classes support distinct microbial habitats which supports the colonisation of different microbial communities. Most importantly our results indicate that the effects of management practices on soil C is modulated by soil aggregate sizes and their associated microbial community and are more pronounced in macro-aggregate compared with micro-aggregate sizes. Based on our findings we recommend that differential response of management practices and microbial control on the C turnover in macro-aggregates and micro-aggregate should be explicitly considered when accounting for management impacts on soil C turnover.
Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel typing system for characterization of Neisseria meningitidis isolates

Thirty to fifty percent of group B and group C Neisseria meningitidis carrier isolates are not serotypable with existing outer membrane protein typing sera. A typing system based on differences in the outer membrane protein profiles after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was therefore developed as an adjunct to existing serotyping methods. Although most N. meningitidis strains contain several outer membrane proteins visible by SDS-PAGE, there are only one to three predominant proteins. The SDS-PAGE profiles of these major proteins were used to establish 10 different PAGE types. Greater than 95% of all meningococcal isolates, regardless of serogroup, fit into 1 of the 10 PAGE types. The outer membrane protein profile of individual strains after SDS-PAGE was constant when outer membrane fractions were prepared from the same strain on several different days. A comparison of gel profiles of meningococcal isolates obtained from different sites of the same patient revealed no significant differences among both major and minor proteins for isolate sets thus far examined. Characterization of strains by PAGE type can be a valuable epidemiological tool in addition to serotyping and in the absence of specific serotype antisera.
Dynamic pricing for railway tickets with demand-shifted passenger groups

Based on the division of passenger groups and those groups' certain probabilities of buying tickets, we researched the dynamic pricing model of railway tickets when loyal passenger groups may shift to book seats of ordinary passenger group. Firstly, according to the optimization theory, the author analyzed the condition that the optimal dynamic ticket price should be met when all of loyal groups' demands have been met within its booking limits. Secondly, based on the former condition and through the way of Decision Tree Analysis (DTA), we studied the condition that prices' further optimization should be met when loyal group's demands outside its booking limits and turn to ordinary group for some seats. Lastly, under different proportion of ordinary group, we compared the results of ticket price and expected revenue's, analyzed this model's effectiveness and proposed the further problems.
Metabolomics reveals that carnitine palmitoyltransferase‐1 is a novel target for oxidative inactivation in human cells

Oxidative dysfunction in the metabolism has long been implicated in diverse biological disorders. Although a substantial number of metabolic enzymes are targeted for inactivation by oxidative stress, identifying those targets remains difficult due to a lack of comprehensive observations of the metabolism acting through the stress response. We herein developed a metabolomics strategy using integrative liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (LC‐MS) and observing rapid metabolomic changes in response to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)‐induced oxidative stress in HeLa cells. Among the many metabolite changes detected, the most characteristic metabolites uniquely indicated carnitine palmitoyltransferase‐1 (CPT1), the critical enzyme for mitochondrial β‐oxidation of long‐chain fatty acids, to be a target for oxidative inactivation. We showed that the enzymatic activity of CPT1 significantly declined by H2O2 in several human cells. Interestingly, the inactivation was shown to be a direct effect of H2O2 in vitro, but substantially occurred when cells were cultured with some reagents that generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thus, our results suggest the generality of CPT1 inhibition under various stress conditions associated with ROS generation, providing an insight into a mechanism for oxidative dysfunction in mitochondrial metabolism. Our metabolome data additionally suggest that certain methyltransferase(s) may be targets of oxidative stress as well.
Bovine Bile Resistance Increases Leuconostoc oenos 44.40 Viability upon Lyophilization

A screening method based on the selection of strains of Leuconostoc oenos 44.40 resistant to bovine bile was developed to obtain strains of the organism more resistant to lyophilization damage. These strains could be used as starter cultures in the malolactic fermentation of wine. The strain resistant to bovine bile was 20% more viable after lyophilization than strains not resistant to bovine bile. This was confirmed in both laboratory-scale production (100 ml) and pilot-scale production (100 liters). Lyophilized cells of strains sensitive and resistant to bovine bile were inoculated into wine, and the malate metabolism by the organism was monitored in the wine. Resistance to bovine bile did not change the malate metabolism characteristic of the organism. A comparison was made of the fatty acid compositions of the two strains. There was a difference in the fatty acid distribution pattern for these two strains. The bovine bile-resistant strain contained more dodecanoic, hexadecanoic, and octadecanoic acid and less tetradecanoic and hexadecanoic acid than did the bovine bile-sensitive strain. Both strains contained high levels of C-19 cyclopropane fatty acid.
The prevalence and burden of pain and other symptoms among South Africans attending highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) clinics.

BACKGROUND Since the advent of antiretrovirals, HIV disease has largely come to be considered a chronic disease for those able to access treatment. As such, the concept of 'living well' with HIV is important. Increasing evidence suggests a high symptom burden in HIV that persists in the presence of treatment. OBJECTIVES Our study aimed to measure the prevalence and burden of pain and other physical and psychological symptoms among South African HIV-positive patients attending highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) clinics. METHODS The study design was a cross-sectional survey. Simple random sampling was used to recruit 385 adult participants. RESULTS The sample had a median age of 40 years (Q1 - Q3=33 - 46) and 98.4% were on HAART. The mean latest CD4 count for the participants was 355.06±219/mm³. The mean number of symptoms of the 32 symptoms on the MSAS-SF experienced by participants was 10.24±5.71 (range 1 - 28). All 4 psychological symptoms were in the top 10 most prevalent symptoms, with feeling sad being the most prevalent symptom overall. CONCLUSIONS The high prevalence of symptoms and the high symptom burden experienced by the participants in this survey suggest inadequate symptom control and highlight the palliative care needs of an ambulant patient population already on HAART. Extension of life without reasonable efforts to also address the patient's quality of life is not ethically justifiable. In addition, more research appears to be required to answer whether these findings are associated with sub-optimal HAART adherence.
Morphologic and functional evaluation of peripheral nerve fibers regenerated through polyimide sieve electrodes over long-term implantation.

We evaluated by morphologic and functional analysis the regeneration of peripheral nerve fibers through polyimide regenerative-type electrodes over long-term implantation. Polyimide sieve electrodes were placed in silicone chambers and implanted between the severed ends of the sciatic nerve in rats. The sieve part had 281 round via holes of 40 microm in diameter, with nine integrated recording-stimulating electrodes arranged around the via holes. The degree of axonal regeneration was examined at 2, 7, and 12 months postimplantation (mpi). Regeneration was successful in 12 of the 13 animals implanted. Reinnervation of distal muscle and nerves increased with time, reaching a plateau about 7 mpi. The number of myelinated fibers increased from 2 to 7 months, at which time it was similar to control values. With time the myelinated fibers matured, with significant increases in axon diameter and myelin thickness. Only 0.6% of the regenerated axons showed evidence of compression near the implanted electrode. The majority of the myelinated fibers that crossed the via holes and had been regenerated through the distal nerve had a normal appearance. Sieve electrodes were useful for nerve stimulation at postimplantation. Stimulation through different active electrodes excited nerve bundles, evoking compound muscle action potentials of varying shape and amplitude, indicative of selective axonal stimulation.