Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacterial translocation and clinical progression of HCV‐related cirrhosis in HIV‐infected patients

The aim of the study was to evaluate whether bacterial translocation (BT) predicts the clinical outcome in HIV/HCV‐coinfected patients with compensated cirrhosis. A cohort of 282 HIV/HCV‐coinfected patients with cirrhosis and no previous liver decompensation (LD) was recruited. Serum levels of the DNA sequences encoding the well‐conserved 16S rRNA subunit (16S rDNA), the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and soluble CD14 (sCD14) at diagnosis of cirrhosis were measured. Primary endpoint was the emergence of the first LD and/or death of any cause. Secondary endpoints were LD, liver‐related death (LRD) and death of any cause. After a median (Q1‐Q3) follow‐up of 51 (27‐72) months, 67 patients (24%; 95% CI: 19‐29) developed their first LD or died during follow‐up. Baseline levels of 16S rDNA, LPS and sCD14 were not associated with the probability of developing the primary endpoint of the study. The mean (SD) survival time free of LD and/or death according to levels of 16S rDNA (<83, 83‐196, 197‐355, >355 [copies/μL]) was 78 (5), 72 (5), 81 (4) and 82 (4) months, respectively (P = .5). The corresponding figures for LPS (<0.1, 0.1‐0.6, 0.6‐1.5, > 1.5 [IU/mL]) were 76 (5), 71 (5), 77 (5) and 81 (4) months, respectively (P = .4). Baseline levels of BT serum markers were not associated with any of the secondary endpoints analysed in the study. Thus, BT does not seem to be a relevant predictor of clinical outcome in HIV/HCV‐coinfected patients with compensated cirrhosis.
THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED SOFTWARE ASSISTANT

In 1983, Rome Air Development Center (RADC) published "Report on a Knowledge-Based Software Assistant" [Green, et a1 831. This document brought together key ideas on how artificial intelligence (AI) could be used in the software development process. Since then RADC has embarked on the first of three contract iterations to develop both a Knowledge-Based Software Assistant (KBSA) and the enabling supporting technologies which are necessary. KBSA is a formalized computer-assisted paradigm for the development, evolution, and long-term maintenance of computer software. KBSA captures the history of system evolution. It provides a corporate memory of: how parts interact, what assumptions were made and why, the rationale behind choices, how requirements are satisfied, and explanation of the development process. KBSA accomplishes this through a collection of integrated dedicated facets. Their areas of expertise are: project management, requirements, specifications, implementation, performance, testing, and documentation. RADC is currently in the midst of the first iteration. Facets which are now under contract include: Requirements Assistant with Sanders Associates, Specifications Assistant with Information Sciences Institute (IS11 at USC, Performance Assistant and Project Management Assistant with Kestrel Institute, and the KBSA Framework with Honeywell. This paper will first describe where the KBSA program is now, four years after the initial report; secondly, describe what RADC expects at the end of the first contract iteration; and finally, characterize what the second and third contract iterations will look like.
Cloning and expression of portions of the 34-kilodalton-protein gene of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis: its application to serological analysis of Johne's disease

Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease), an endemic mycobacteriosis of cattle that is caused by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, is characterized by incoercible diarrhea and fecal shedding of bacteria. The present work aimed at developing a specific serological test for this disease. We have recently shown that a 34-kDa protein belonging to the major antigen complex A36 of M. paratuberculosis is immunodominant and contains epitopes specific with respect to all mycobacteria tested, including Mycobacterium bovis and the closely related species Mycobacterium avium. From a lambda gt11 genomic library of M. paratuberculosis, three portions of the gene coding for this 34-kDa protein have been isolated. Two of them expressed cross-reacting mycobacterial epitopes. One portion (in clone a362) expressed a polypeptide which cross-reacted with all tested M. paratuberculosis strains but not with 20 other bacteria tested, including many strains of the M. avium-Mycobacterium intracellulare-Mycobacterium scrofulaceum group. The occurrence at the M. paratuberculosis surface of epitopes corresponding to the a362 polypeptide was shown by immune electron microscopy. The recombinant a362 polypeptide was used as reagent for an enzyme-linked immunoassay for paratuberculosis. This assay correctly diagnosed all the tested blood samples from infected cattle at all stages of the disease.
Exospores and cysts formed by methane-utilizing bacteria.

SUMMARY Three varieties of resting stage, an exospore and two types of cyst, were formed by methane-utilizing bacteria. Exospores were budded off by two types of organism, both of which underwent a change in morphology prior to spore formation. Exospores possessed some properties in common with endospores: staining properties, some structural features, mode of germination, desiccation and heat resistance, but contained no detectable dipicolinic acid. Some organisms formed desiccation-resistant cysts similar in morphology, staining properties and fine structure to cysts formed by Azotobacter species. Other strains formed non-desiccation-resistant bodies considered to be similar to immature azotobacter-type cysts. A desiccation-resistant cyst formed by one strain differed in structure and appearance from Azotobacter-type cysts and was referred to as a ‘lipid’ cyst.
Promoting Resilience and Recovery in a Buddhist Mental Health Support Group

Communities of faith are important arenas for psychiatric mental health nurses to promote emotional well-being and support recovery for persons with mental health problems. This article describes an innovative faith-based mental health group, based on Buddhist philosophy and practice and established by an advanced practice psychiatric nurse, that uses psychoeducation, peer support, and faith encouragement to help participants find hope and meaning in the experience of mental health problems. A brief overview of Buddhism and selected concepts relevant to the philosophical framework of the Buddhist mental health support group is followed by a review of the common themes of the group discussions. These include: finding value in the illness experience; differentiating the proper role of treatment from that of Buddhist practice in optimizing mental health; and experiencing a deeper sense of joy, despite current suffering.
A standard measure for exercise prescription for aqua running

Aqua running has been promoted as a method for cardiovascular conditioning for the injured athlete as well as for others who desire a low impact aerobic workout. Recent studies have suggested the need for an environment-specific measure of exercise intensity. Twenty healthy subjects, 10 men and 10 women, underwent a graded exercise test of aqua running to investigate the relationship between cadence and heart rate. This was done to determine the utility of cadence as a measure for exercise prescription. The graded exercise test followed a standard protocol for exercise testing in aqua running. Results demonstrated a high correlation between cadence and heart rate, both as a group as well as individually. We conclude that cadence may be used as a measure for exercise prescription for aqua running.
Statins and postoperative delirium

Delirium (acute confusional state) may be the most common postoperative complication in elderly people. It is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality and cost. [1][1] Two decades ago, the prevalent belief was that it was normal for older patients to be a “bit confused” after surgery. Now
Energy metabolism and methane production in llamas, sheep and goats fed high- and low-quality grass-based diets

This study aimed to test whether the digestive and metabolic characteristics of pseudo ruminants provide superior ability to utilise low-quality diets compared to true ruminants. A total of 18 mature, non-pregnant, non-lactating female animals, including six llamas (Lama glama), six Danish Landrace goats and six Shropshire sheep, were used in a crossover design study. The experiment lasted for two periods of three weeks. Half of the animals were fed either high-quality grass hay (HP) or low-quality grass seed straw (LP) during each period. Animals were placed in metabolic cages during the last 5 d, and gaseous exchange was measured by open-circuit indirect calorimetry for 22 h. Metabolisable energy for maintenance (MEm) and fasting energy expenditure (FEExp) were estimated by regression approach. Dry matter (DM) intake per kg0.75 was substantially reduced in llamas and sheep, but not in goats, on the LP compared to HP diet. Llamas had lower daily energy expenditure (324 kJ · kg−0.75) than sheep (416 kJ · kg−0.75) and goats (404 kJ · kg−0.75) on the LP diet. Llamas in comparison with sheep and goats had lower methane emission (0.83 vs 1.34 and 1.24 l · d−1 · kg−0.75, p < 0.05), lower MEm (328 vs 438 and 394 kJ · d−1 · kg−0.75, p < 0.05) and lower FEExp (246 vs 333 and 414 kJ · d−1 · kg−0.75, p < 0.05), respectively. In conclusion, llamas had lower basal metabolic rate and hence maintenance requirements for energy.
Computational approaches in chemogenomics and chemical biology: current and future impact on drug discovery

Background: Chemical biology and chemogenomics are rapidly evolving disciplines at interfaces between chemistry and the life sciences and are highly interdisciplinary in nature. Chemogenomics has a strong conceptional link to modern drug discovery research, whereas chemical biology focuses more on the use of small molecules as probes for exploring biological functions, rather than drug candidates. However, the boundaries between these areas are fluid, as they should be, given their strong interdisciplinary orientation. Objective: Recently, computational approaches have been introduced for the analysis of research topics that are of considerable relevance for these disciplines including, for example, the systematic study of ligand–target interactions or mapping of pharmacologically relevant chemical space. This contribution introduces key investigations in computational chemical biology and chemogenomics and critically evaluates their current and future potential to impact drug discovery. Conclusions: Computational methods of high relevance for chemogenomics and chemical biology either derive knowledge from large-scale analysis of available drug and target data or interface experimental programs with predictive methods. Approaches for drug target prediction and the systematic analysis of polypharmacology substantially impact research in this area.
The Outcome of Adolescent School Phobia

Summary A hundred-and-twenty-five school phobic youngsters had been treated in a psychiatric in-patient unit for young adolescents of secondary school age over a seven-year period; a hundred of them were reviewed on average three years after discharge. About a third of cases were found to have improved little; they had persistent severe symptoms of emotional disturbance and continuing social impairment. Another third had improved appreciably and were affected by neurotic symptoms rather than social impairment. The remaining third had improved substantially or completely. School attendance difficulties had remained in about half of all cases. Subsequent difficulties in going to work were less pronounced. The best predictor of outcome was clinical state on discharge. High intelligence also emerged as a significant predictor of poor outcome. Five girls and a boy had already developed severe and persistent agoraphobic difficulties when reviewed. It was found that severe school phobia in early adolescence resembled adult affective disorders in some clinical features and in outcome.
Analysis and heading control of continuum planar snake robot based on kinematics and a general solution thereof

This paper presents a kinematic calculation and control method for an inextensible continuum planar snake robot. The snake robot is assumed to move without side slipping; this constraint makes it easy to construct its kinematic model based on which we can analyze the movement of the robot. The kinematic model is expressed as a semi-linear partial differential equation (PDE). We discuss the general solution of the PDE and a calculation method based on it. However, the constraint also raises the problem of singular posture. The problem of singularities has been addressed for a snake robot with a serial link structure; however, for a continuum snake robot, much less research has been carried out. In this paper, we propose a method for controlling the direction of movement while avoiding singularities. The validity of our method is tested through simulations and experiments. Graphical Abstract
Comparing the perception of community members towards leprosy and tuberculosis stigmatization.

BACKGROUND Health professionals at all levels gradually recognise the impact of stigma on case detection and treatment of various health conditions such as leprosy and tuberculosis. These diseases are identified as chronic diseases which are prone to stigmatisation. PURPOSE To assess the perception of community members towards stigma related to leprosy and tuberculosis, in order to verify and compare the existence of stigma towards these two diseases in the community, and to provide baseline data for the evaluation of future de-stigmatising interventions. METHODS This study was done in four sub-districts of Chaiyaphum province. Community members were interviewed using the EMIC stigma scale. Frequency was used to identify the percentage of community members who perceived stigma. A T-test was applied to compare the mean EMIC scores of community members between leprosy and tuberculosis. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered indicative of a statistically significant difference or association. RESULTS It was found that community members perceived that people affected by leprosy or tuberculosis were stigmatised by the community. However, community members perceived more stigma towards leprosy than towards tuberculosis, particularly in terms of shame, embarrassment, and problems in getting married. The difference was highly significant (P = 0.001, paired t-test). CONCLUSION The community's perceived stigma against people affected by either leprosy or tuberculosis may affect many aspects of their lives. The authors recommend use of strategically targeted de-stigmatising interventions that take local attitudes and perceptions into consideration.
N,N′-Bis(pyridin-3-yl)terephthalamide–terephthalic acid (1/1)

In the title compound, C18H14N4O2·C8H6O4, both types of molecule lie on inversion centers. In the N,N′-bis(pyridin-3-yl)terephthalamide molecule, the pyridine ring forms a dihedral angle of 11.33 (9)° with the central benzene ring. In the crystal, N—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds connect the components into a three-dimensional network.
Molecular approaches for a better understanding of the epidemiology and population genetics of Leishmania

SUMMARY Molecular approaches are being used increasingly for epidemiological studies of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniases. Several molecular markers resolving genetic differences between Leishmania parasites at species and strain levels have been developed to address key epidemiological and population genetic questions. The current gold standard, multilocus enzyme typing (MLEE), needs cultured parasites and lacks discriminatory power. PCR assays identifying species directly with clinical samples have proven useful in numerous field studies. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is potentially the most powerful phylogenetic approach and will, most probably, replace MLEE in the future. Multilocus microsatellite typing (MLMT) is able to discriminate below the zymodeme level and seems to be the best candidate for becoming the gold standard for distinction of strains. Population genetic studies by MLMT revealed geographical and hierarchic population structure in L. tropica, L. major and the L. donovani complex. The existence of hybrids and gene flow between Leishmania populations suggests that sexual recombination is more frequent than previously thought. However, typing and analytical tools need to be further improved. Accessible databases should be created and sustained for integrating data obtained by different researchers. This would allow for global analyses and help to avoid biases in analyses due to small sample sizes.
Modeling and Analyzing Per-flow Throughput in IEEE 802.11 Multi-hop Ad Hoc Networks

In this paper, we focus on the per-flow throughput analysis of IEEE 802.11 multi-hop ad hoc networks. The importance of an accurate saturation throughput model lies in establishing the theoretical foundation for effective protocol performance improvements. We argue that the challenge in modeling the per-flow throughput in IEEE 802.11 multi-hop ad hoc networks lies in the analysis of the freezing process and probability of collisions. We first classify collisions occurring in the whole transmission process into instantaneous collisions and persistent collisions. Then we present a four-dimensional Markov chain model based on the notion of the fixed length channel slot to model the Binary Exponential Backoff (BEB) algorithm performed by a tagged node. We further adopt a continuous time Markov model to analyze the freezing process. Through an iterative way, we derive the per-flow throughput of the network. Finally, we validate the accuracy of our model by comparing the analytical results with that obtained by simulations.
Measurement and Analysis of the 60 GHz In-Vehicular Broadband Radio Channel

In this paper, we present the results of a measurement campaign regarding the 60 GHz in-vehicular wireless channel. The measurements have been performed inside an aircraft passenger cabin by the use of a modular setup covering a bandwidth of 1 GHz. We consider path loss aspects and investigate the time-dispersive nature of the channel. Additionally the influence of an obstructed line-of-sight is analyzed.
Toward the prevention of acute lung injury: Protocol-guided limitation of large tidal volume ventilation and inappropriate transfusion*

Objective:We evaluated the effect of two quality improvement interventions (low tidal volume ventilation and restrictive transfusion) on the development of acute lung injury in mechanically ventilated patients. Design:Observational cohort study. Setting:Three intensive care units in a tertiary academic center. Patients:We included patients who were mechanically ventilated for ≥48 hrs excluding those who refused research authorization or had preexisting acute lung injury or pneumonectomy. Interventions:Multifaceted interdisciplinary intervention consisting of Web-based teaching, respiratory therapy protocol, and decision support within computerized order entry. Measurements and Main Results:Of 375 patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 212 were ventilated before and 163 after the interventions. Baseline characteristics were similar between the two groups except for a lower frequency of sepsis (27% vs. 17%, p = .030), trend toward lower median glucose level (140 mg/dL, interquartile range 118–168 vs. 132 mg/dL, interquartile range 113–156, p = .096), and lower frequency of pneumonia (27% vs. 20%, p = .130) during the second period. We observed a large decrease in tidal volume (10.6–7.7 mL/kg predicted body weight, p < .001), in peak airway pressure (31–25 cm H2O, p < .001), and in the percentage of transfused patients (63% to 38%, p < .001) after the intervention. The frequency of acute lung injury decreased from 28% to 10% (p < .001). The duration of mechanical ventilation decreased from a median of 5 (interquartile range 4–9) to 4 (interquartile range 4–8) days (p = .030). When adjusted for baseline characteristics in a multivariate logistic regression analysis, protocol intervention was associated with a reduction in the frequency of new acute lung injury (odds ratio 0.21, 95% confidence interval 0.10–0.40). Conclusions:Interdisciplinary intervention effectively decreased large tidal volumes and unnecessary transfusion in mechanically ventilated patients and was associated with a decreased frequency of new acute lung injury.
Viability of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts: correlation of in vitro excystation with inclusion or exclusion of fluorogenic vital dyes

A viability assay for oocysts of Cryptosporidium parvum based on the inclusion or exclusion of two fluorogenic vital dyes, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and propidium iodide, was developed by using several different isolates of oocysts. Correlation of this assay with viability measured by in vitro excystation was highly statistically significant, with a calculated correlation coefficient of 0.997. In this research, two similar excystation protocols were utilized, and no significant difference between excystation protocols was detected. Percent excystation of oocyst suspensions could be increased or reduced by inclusion of a preincubation treatment in either excystation protocol, and this alteration was also demonstrated in the viability assay. Oocysts which excluded both dyes would not excyst in vitro unless a further trigger was provided and were more resistant to acid or alkali treatment. The results of this research provide a reproducible, user-friendly assay which is applicable to individual oocysts and also provides a useful adjunct for identification of oocysts in water and environmental samples.
Seed mass, shape, and persistence in the soil seed bank of Israeli coastal sand dune flora

Question: Are seed mass and shape related to persistence in the soil seed bank among 54 species of the Israeli flora? Search method: Persistence was determined by soil seed bank investigations in which the fraction of non-germinated viable seeds was regarded as the persistent soil seed bank. When seedling emergence had ceased but before new seeds were shed, all soil from the upper 5 cm of 120 quadrats was removed to the laboratory. At that time, the seeds sampled were those from previous seed rains. Data description: Plant species with persistent and transient seeds were widely scattered across the range of seed mass or dimension and variances. A significant relationship was found between seed mass (or dimension) and seed persistence with persistent seeds tending to have larger mass. However, no significant relationship was found between seed shape and seed persistence. Species with persistent seeds had significantly higher seed mass than those with transient seeds (one-tailed t-test = 1.68, n = 48, P = 0.007), but there was no significant difference in shape between them (one-tailed t-test = 1.68, n = 48, P = 0.076; t-test = 1.68, n = 45, P = 0.124). Species with persistent seeds yielded significantly higher seed dimensions than those with transient seeds (one-tailed t-test = 1.95, n = 48, P = 0.029). In this study, there was no threshold in seed mass (or dimension) and shape that distinguished transient from persistent seeds. Conclusions: Species with persistent seeds have significantly larger seeds than species with transient seeds. However, species with small and/or round persistent seeds were relatively common. The underlying mechanism proposed for the observed pattern is a high proportion of large-seeded, persistent species with hard seed coat dormancy and abundant litter on the surface of the soil. Data from all eight floras studied to date suggest that significant differences in climate may determine diverse patterns in the relationships between seed mass and shape and persistence. Small and compact seeds are likely to occur in soil seed banks in humid climates,