Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inequalities in health: definitions, concepts, and theories

Individuals from different backgrounds, social groups, and countries enjoy different levels of health. This article defines and distinguishes between unavoidable health inequalities and unjust and preventable health inequities. We describe the dimensions along which health inequalities are commonly examined, including across the global population, between countries or states, and within geographies, by socially relevant groupings such as race/ethnicity, gender, education, caste, income, occupation, and more. Different theories attempt to explain group-level differences in health, including psychosocial, material deprivation, health behavior, environmental, and selection explanations. Concepts of relative versus absolute; dose–response versus threshold; composition versus context; place versus space; the life course perspective on health; causal pathways to health; conditional health effects; and group-level versus individual differences are vital in understanding health inequalities. We close by reflecting on what conditions make health inequalities unjust, and to consider the merits of policies that prioritize the elimination of health disparities versus those that focus on raising the overall standard of health in a population.
Individual characterization of stably expanded T cell clones in ankylosing spondylitis patients

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is commonly characterized by clonal expansions of T cells. However, these clonal populations are poorly studied and their role in disease initiation and progression remains unclear. Here, we performed mass sequencing of TCR V beta libraries to search for the expanded T cell clones for two AS patients. A number of clones comprising more than 5% of the corresponding TCR V beta family were identified in both patients. For the first time, expanded clones were shown to be stably abundant in blood samples of AS patients for the prolonged period (1.5 and 2.5 years for two patients, correspondingly). These clones were individually characterized in respect to their differentiation status using fluorescent cell sorting with CD27, CD28, and CD45RA markers followed by quantitative identification of each clone within corresponding fraction using real time PCR analysis. Stable clones differed in phenotype and several were shown to belong to the proinflammatory CD27 − /CD28 − population. Their potentially cytotoxic status was confirmed by staining with perforin-specific antibodies. Search for the TCR V beta CRD3 sequences homologous to the identified clones revealed close matches with the previously reported T cell clones from AS and reactive arthritis patients, thus supporting their role in the disease and proposing consensus TCR V beta CDR3 motifs for AS. Interestingly, these motifs were also found to have homology with earlier reported virus-specific CDR3 variants, indicating that viral infections could play role in development of AS.
Regularization methods in iterative algorithms for variance reduction on compressed sinogram random coincidences

The Poisson model based image reconstruction algorithms in PET require the estimation of the mean value of random coincidences. The random data are often acquired with a delayed coincidence technique, and expected randoms are estimated through variance reduction (VR) of measured delayed coincidences. In the past we have developed iterative VR algorithms that estimate singles rates from random compressed sinograms. The final estimation of singles rates can be noisy in short scans. In the present work, we apply commonly used and specific regularization methods. A sequential coordinate ascent algorithm is used to maximize the penalized Poisson Likelihood objective function. Measured data from a Siemens TruePoint clinical scanner are used to validate the algorithm performance.
Turning-Based Treadmill Training Improves Turning Performance and Gait Symmetry After Stroke

Background. Turning is a challenging task for stroke patients. Programs that effectively target turning, however, have not been established. Objective. This study examined the effects of a novel turning-based treadmill training on turning performance, gait symmetry, balance, and muscle strength in patients with chronic stroke. Methods. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group that received 30 minutes of turning-based treadmill training or to the control group that received 30 minutes of regular treadmill training, followed by a 10-minute general exercise program for 12 sessions over 4 weeks. Primary outcomes (overground turning speed and temporal–spatial characteristics of straight walking) and secondary outcomes (balance and muscle strength) were assessed at baseline, after training, and at 1-month follow-up. Results. Fifteen participants per group were 54.2 ± 9.6 years old, poststroke 2.6 ± 1.9 years, and walked overground at 0.59 ± 0.28 m/s. Sixteen had an ischemic and 14 a hemorrhagic stroke. There were significant interaction effects between groups and time on turning speed regardless of turning direction, straight-walking performance (speed and temporal symmetry), strength of hip muscles and ankle dorsiflexors, and balance control (Berg Balance Scale, weight shifting in the forward direction and vestibular function). Compared with the control group, the experimental group showed greater improvements in these measures following training. These improvements persisted at the 1-month follow-up evaluation. Conclusions. Turning-based treadmill training may be a feasible and effective strategy to improve turning ability, gait symmetry, muscle strength, and balance control for individuals with chronic stroke.
A Framework of Agent-based Demand Response to Provide Reserves Necessary for High-level Wind Penetration

The increased penetration of wind turbine generators into the electric power grid affects the operational reserve requirements due to the high variability of this resource. With the development of wind prediction technologies, it is now possible to get accurate estimates for wind power output and, therefore, operational reserve requirements can be calculated for hours in advance. This paper focuses on using demand response as means to provide the necessary operational reserves. A framework of agent-based demand response is proposed to achieve the following target: making decisions on demand response to provide the necessary reserve requirements to match the load and wind power variations.
Prostate specific antigen predominantly forms a complex with alpha1‐antichymotrypsin in blood. Implications for procedures to measure prostate specific antigen in serum

Background. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a zymogen of a 33‐kilodalton (kD) serine proteinase with extensive similarity to glandular kallikreins. The mechanism responsible for converting the zymogen into active proteinase has not been defined, but active PSA may be irreversibly inactivated in vitro by two of the major proteinase inhibitors in blood: alpha1‐antichymotrypsin and alpha2‐macroglobulin.
Supply-Side Network Effects and the Development of Information Technology Standards

Standards are central to many information technology (IT) applications, and the development processes for these standards play a key role in the evolution of information systems (IS). We model the development of IT standards by technology suppliers as a coevolutionary technological search process under supply-side network effects, and we examine how the characteristics of the standards development process influence its outcomes. In line with common intuition and prior research, we find that perfect coordination among suppliers generally facilitates convergence on the best available standard. However, for complex IT standards, we make a novel contribution and find that this “best available” standard may be inferior to alternative, undiscovered solutions because coordination may lead to an overly narrow search. Consistent with prior research, we also find that either highly influential organizations or highly influential alliances and consortia can coordinate standard selection in order to prevent network effects from generating lock-in to an inferior option and to help set the best of the known alternatives as the standard. However, in contrast to the previous literature, we find that when coordination is imperfect and controlled by a moderately influential organization or consortium, it may lead to a technological lock-in dynamic in which suppliers adhere to an inferior solution and are subsequently unable to reverse this commitment, even when a technologically superior alternative emerges later in the search process. Further, we reveal the following paradox involving intellectual property rights (IPR) and related imitation costs: Although imitation costs can lead to the emergence of multiple standards, thereby reducing social welfare in the short term, this effect may have long-term benefits by broadening the search for future generations of a standard.
The identification of vaginal Lactobacillus species and the demographic and microbiologic characteristics of women colonized by these species.

Lactobacillus acidophilus has been reported to be the predominant vaginal species. Vaginal lactobacilli isolated from 215 sexually active women were identified using whole-chromosomal DNA probes to 20 American Type Culture Collection Lactobacillus strains. Most women were colonized by L. crispatus (32%), followed by L. jensenii (23%), a previously undescribed species designated L. 1086V (15%), L. gasseri (5%), L. fermentum (0.3%), L. oris (0.3%), L. reuteri (0.3%), L. ruminis (0.3%), and L. vaginalis (0.3%). H2O2 was produced by 95% of L. crispatus and 94% of L. jensenii isolates, compared with only 9% of L. 1086V. Colonization by L. crispatus or L. jensenii was positively associated with being white (P<.001), age >/=20 years (P=.05), barrier contraceptive usage (P=.008), and lower frequency of bacterial vaginosis (P<.001) and gonorrhea (P=.03). L. crispatus and L. jensenii, not L. acidophilus, are the most common species of vaginal lactobacilli.
Restriction of HIV-1 (subtype B) replication at the entry step in rhesus macaque cells.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is restricted for replication in rhesus macaque cells and does not establish infection in this species. The block to productive infection of macaque peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in culture was investigated. A chimeric virus SHIV containing HIV-1 tat, rev, and env and all other genes from a simian immunodeficiency virus clone pathogenic in macaques (i.e., SIVmec239) replicated efficiently in macaque PBMC. Thus, the attachment step, involving interaction of the HIV-1 env glycoprotein with the cell surface CD4 receptor, is not blocked. Analysis of uptake of HIV-1 particles in these cells revealed a small reduction in virion entry; however, viral DNA synthesis, measured by PCR amplification, was greatly reduced. Taken together, these results indicate that the block to HIV-1 (subtype B) replication in rhesus macaque cells involves release of the virion core into the cytoplasm and/or a step immediately prior to initiation of reverse transcription. Further studies are required to characterize this block through identification of species-specific cellular proteins that interact with HIV-1 proteins in the early phase of viral replication.
Virtualization: a key feature of cloud computing

Over the past few years, researchers have been striving for a Utility Computing Model. Cloud computing allows delivering information technology on demand. Cloud Computing service providers provides resources by means of virtualization. Applying these techniques however goes along with handling over ultimate control of data to a third party. This paper discusses several issues in virtualization security, summery of various solutions, risk prevention in VMM (virtual machine monitor). Here an attempt is made to perform the analysis of various issues pertaining to virtualization and security.
Behavioral Economics: Past, Present and Future

There has been growing interest in the field come to me known as “behavioral economics” which attempts to incorporate insights from other social sciences, especially psychology, in order to enrich the standard economic model. This interest the underlying psychology of human behavior returns economics to its earliest roots. Scholars such as Adam Smith talked about such key concepts as loss aversion, overconfidence, and self-control. Nevertheless, the modern version of behavioral economics introduced in the 1980s met with resistance by some economists, who preferred to retain the standard neo-classical model. They introduced several arguments for why psychology could safely be ignored. In this essay I show that these arguments have been rejected, both theoretically and empirically, so it is time to move on. The new approach to economics should include two different kinds of theories: normative models that characterize the optimal solution to specific problems and descriptive models that capture how humans actually behave. The latter theories will incorporate some variables I call supposedly irrelevant factors. By adding these factors such as framing or temptation we can improve the explanatory power of economic models. If everyone includes all the factors that do determine economic behavior, then the field of behavioral economics will no longer need to exist.
Norbin Stimulates the Catalytic Activity and Plasma Membrane Localization of the Guanine-Nucleotide Exchange Factor P-Rex1*

P-Rex1 is a guanine-nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) that activates the small G protein (GTPase) Rac1 to control Rac1-dependent cytoskeletal dynamics, and thus cell morphology. Three mechanisms of P-Rex1 regulation are currently known: (i) binding of the phosphoinositide second messenger PIP3, (ii) binding of the Gβγ subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins, and (iii) phosphorylation of various serine residues. Using recombinant P-Rex1 protein to search for new binding partners, we isolated the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-adaptor protein Norbin (Neurochondrin, NCDN) from mouse brain fractions. Coimmunoprecipitation confirmed the interaction between overexpressed P-Rex1 and Norbin in COS-7 cells, as well as between endogenous P-Rex1 and Norbin in HEK-293 cells. Binding assays with purified recombinant proteins showed that their interaction is direct, and mutational analysis revealed that the pleckstrin homology domain of P-Rex1 is required. Rac-GEF activity assays with purified recombinant proteins showed that direct interaction with Norbin increases the basal, PIP3- and Gβγ-stimulated Rac-GEF activity of P-Rex1. Pak-CRIB pulldown assays demonstrated that Norbin promotes the P-Rex1-mediated activation of endogenous Rac1 upon stimulation of HEK-293 cells with lysophosphatidic acid. Finally, immunofluorescence microscopy and subcellular fractionation showed that coexpression of P-Rex1 and Norbin induces a robust translocation of both proteins from the cytosol to the plasma membrane, as well as promoting cell spreading, lamellipodia formation, and membrane ruffling, cell morphologies generated by active Rac1. In summary, we have identified a novel mechanism of P-Rex1 regulation through the GPCR-adaptor protein Norbin, a direct P-Rex1 interacting protein that promotes the Rac-GEF activity and membrane localization of P-Rex1.
The antimicrobial peptide, lactoferricin B, is cytotoxic to neuroblastoma cells in vitro and inhibits xenograft growth in vivo

Antimicrobial peptides have been shown to exert cytotoxic activity towards cancer cells through their ability to interact with negatively charged cell membranes. In this study the cytotoxic effect of the antimicrobial peptide, LfcinB was tested in a panel of human neuroblastoma cell lines. LfcinB displayed a selective cytotoxic activity against both MYCN‐amplified and non‐MYCN‐amplified cell lines. Non‐transformed fibroblasts were not substantially affected by LfcinB. Treatment of neuroblastoma cells with LfcinB induced rapid destabilization of the cytoplasmic membrane and formation of membrane blebs. Depolarization of the mitochondria membranes and irreversible changes in the mitochondria morphology was also evident. Immuno‐ and fluorescence‐labeled LfcinB revealed that the peptide co‐localized with mitochondria. Furthermore, treatment of neuroblastoma cells with LfcinB induced cleavage of caspase‐6, ‐7 and ‐9 followed by cell death. However, neither addition of the pan‐caspase inhibitor, zVAD‐fmk, or specific caspase inhibitors could reverse the cytotoxic effect induced by LfcinB. Treatment of established SH‐SY‐5Y neuroblastoma xenografts with repeated injections of LfcinB resulted in significant tumor growth inhibition. These results revealed a selective destabilizing effect of LfcinB on two important targets in the neuroblastoma cells, the cytoplasmic‐ and the mitochondria membrane. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Safe management of laparoscopic endoscopic cooperative surgery for superficial non-ampullary duodenal epithelial tumors

Abstract Background and study aims Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for duodenal tumors results in a high delayed perforation rate due to the thinness of the duodenal wall. In most cases with perforation after duodenal ESD, additional surgery is needed due to severe peritonitis. A newly developed procedure, laparoscopic endoscopic cooperative surgery for duodenal tumors (D-LECS), may help to avoid perforation after ESD. In our institution, patients with superficial non-ampullary duodenal epithelial tumors (SNADET) smaller than 50 mm which could not have en-bloc resection by endoscopic mucosal resection were treated with D-LECS. After a laparoscopic exposure of anterior duodenal wall of second portion, ESD was performed. Laparoscopic suturing from the serosal side of ESD site was performed for reinforcement. There were neither postoperative leakage nor other complications. Therefore, D-LECS can be performed safely and prevent perforation after ESD for SNADET. D-LECS could be selected as a treatment for SNADET which can be cured by ESD.
SPACE STRUCTURE AND ITS EVOLUTION OF A-GRADE TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN BEIJING

Since Beijing recognized the first A-grade tourist attractions in 2001,A-grade tourist attractions have been developed rapidly and have shown a certain space structure and evolution of the distribution.In this paper,based on GIS spatial analysis,we can draw the following conclusions.Firstly,from the view of spatial structure of A-grade tourist attractions in Beijing currently,the spatial distribution of A-grade tourist attractions show a kind of "dumbbell structure",that is,dense in urban and suburban areas while sparse in suburban.This structure was dominated by two major factors of resources and market-driven.Secondly,through the changes in the distribution of A-grade tourist attractions in different stages of Beijing,we further reveal that the A-grade tourist attractions in Beijing have show three major distribution patterns and trends that A-grade tourist attractions evolved along the main roads,along the major river systems and public green space,and along tourist city center and town.These patterns and trends manifest that conditions of resources,water and public green space,transportation and infrastructure play a crucial role in the development of the A-grade tourist attractions.
Prevalence of Macrolide Resistance Genes in Clinical Isolates of the Streptococcus anginosus(“S. milleri”) Group

ABSTRACT Twenty-two unrelated erythromycin-resistant anginosus group strains (3.2% resistance rate) were assessed for mechanisms of resistance.Streptococcus anginosus accounted for 16 of the 22 isolates. Fifteen isolates harbored the erm(B) gene. Theerm(TR) and the mef(E) genes were carried by two isolates each. In three isolates, none of these resistance genes was detected by PCR.
Cannabis Use in Psychotic Patients

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the level of cannabis use in psychotic patients admitted to two acute admission wards in New Zealand. Symptomatology was investigated using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). Method: During a 1-month period, all acute admissions to Tokanui Hospital with psychosis were interviewed and symptoms rated on the BPRS (n = 35). Cannabis use was recorded with a questionnaire and urine test. Those positive for cannabis were compared to those negative. Results: Thirty patients (86%) had tried cannabis at least once and 11 (31%) were positive on urine screen. Those with positive urine tests were significantly more likely to use cannabis most days (p < 0.001). This positive urine test group was less likely to be thought disordered, suspicious or deluded (as measured by the BPRS). Conclusions: Cannabis use was widespread in this sample of patients with psychosis and may affect their symptomatology. Larger studies are needed to examine these associations in more detail.
Strategies to improve the performance of learners in a nursing college. Part II: Issues pertaining to management, attitudes and values.

UNLABELLED This article forms part two of a bigger study that was conducted in a nursing college to explore and describe the reasons for the poor performance of learners. Part one of the study dealt with the issues pertaining to education, while this article (part two) seeks to describe issues pertaining to management, attitudes and values that lead to the poor performance of learners in the nursing college under study. A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive design that was contextual in nature was employed, and three focus groups interviews were conducted. Seven tutors formed one group while other two groups were formed by fourth-year learners following a comprehensive diploma course. All participants voluntarily participated in the study. Data was analyzed using the descriptive method of open coding in accordance with Tesch's protocol (in Creswell, 1994:154-156). Trustworthiness was ensured using the following principles: credibility, conformability, transferability and dependability (Lincoln & Guba 1985:290-326). Findings were categorized into issues pertaining to management, attitudes and values that had an influence on the poor performance of learners as follows: MANAGEMENT Inadequate resources and study facilities; policies that change frequently; tutors' dissatisfaction with regard to staff development, the lack of involvement by management and lack of management support, staff shortage and maldistribution of staff members; ineffective selection process of learners; inconsistent regulations, and too many of them; policies and procedures resulting in confusion and poor discipline. Attitudes and values: Tutors' lack of motivation and interest, lack of respect by learners and no team work among tutors. Through a conceptualization process and the recommendations by participants, strategies to improve the learners' performance were described. It is recommended that these strategies be submitted to the staff development committee for implementation and future follow-up research be undertaken to determine the effectiveness of the strategies. It is also recommended that other nursing colleges replicate the study within their context.