Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased Prevalence of Controlled Viremia and Decreased Rates of HIV Drug Resistance Among HIV-Positive People Who Use Illicit Drugs During a Community-wide Treatment-as-Prevention Initiative.

BACKGROUND Although treatment-as prevention (TasP) is a new cornerstone of global human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-AIDS strategies, its effect among HIV-positive people who use illicit drugs (PWUD) has yet to be evaluated. We sought to describe longitudinal trends in exposure to antiretroviral therapy (ART), plasma HIV-1 RNA viral load (VL) and HIV drug resistance during a community-wide TasP intervention. METHODS We used data from the AIDS Care Cohort to Evaluate Exposure to Survival Services study, a prospective cohort of HIV-positive PWUD linked to HIV clinical monitoring records. We estimated longitudinal changes in the proportion of individuals with VL <50 copies/mL and rates of HIV drug resistance using generalized estimating equations (GEE) and extended Cox models. RESULTS Between 1 January 2006 and 30 June 2014, 819 individuals were recruited and contributed 1 or more VL observation. During that time, the proportion of individuals with nondetectable VL increased from 28% to 63% (P < .001). In a multivariable GEE model, later year of observation was independently and positively associated with greater likelihood of nondetectable VL (adjusted odds ratio = 1.20 per year; P < .001). Although the proportion of individuals on ART increased, the incidence of HIV drug resistance declined (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.78 per year; P = .011). CONCLUSIONS We observed significant improvements in several measures of exposure to ART and virologic status, including declines in HIV drug resistance, in this large long-running community-recruited cohort of HIV-seropositive illicit drug users during a community-wide ART expansion intervention. Our findings support continued efforts to scale up ART coverage among HIV-positive PWUD.
Specific Antisera Against Human Blood Cells Applicable in the Indirect Immunofluorescence Technique

The preparation of antisera against various cells of the human peripheral blood applicable in the indirect immunofluorescence technique (IIFT) is described. Such antisera will be of great interest for the study of cell‐specific membrane antigens, for example during haematopoiesis. Purified erythrocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, and thrombocytes from healthy donors were injected into rabbits. The antisera thus produced were not spontaneously specific. Only by extensive absorption of the crude antisera with purified cells from healthy donors was it possible to obtain antisera that were specific for erythrocytes, lymphocytes, and thrombocytes. By injection of small doses of leukocyte lysate and by absorption of the resulting antiserum with mononuclear cells a specific antineutrophil serum was produced. So far it has not been possible to prepare a specific anti‐monocyte antiserum. The specific antisera were applicable in the IIFT on paraformaldehyde‐fixed cells in suspension and on cells on slides.
Antimicrobial Susceptibility Survey of Streptococcus pyogenes Isolated in Japan from Patients with Severe Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infections

ABSTRACT We assessed antimicrobial susceptibility against 211 Streptococcus pyogenes strains isolated from patients with severe invasive group A streptococcal infections. Overall, 3.8, 1.4, 1.4, and 0.5% of the isolates were resistant to erythromycin, clindamycin, telithromycin, and ciprofloxacin, respectively, and 10.4% had intermediate resistance to ciprofloxacin. All isolates were susceptible to ampicillin and cefotaxime.
Leading complex decision-making in technology integration investment: A descriptive case study over time of the leadership roles in the decision-making process of a New England school district

Organizations that will experience change due to the integration of new technology must have a process in place to make decisions that reflect the needs of the stakeholders. This thesis examined the leadership roles in a school district's decision-making process concerning technology selection, adoption, and integration for a New England high school. Specifically, the study explored the involvement of various stakeholders at different stages of the process (initial development of the plan; selection and integration of the tool; and rollout and adoption of the technology) to ascertain the leadership functions they assumed over time related to the Complexity Leadership Theory in order to facilitate the decision-making process associated with a technology investment for a high school. This descriptive case study utilized one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with participants to collect data, and sought to address a gap in the literature concerning research related to school technology integration leadership. Eleven themes emerged from the analysis of the data revealing that there was a process in place in the subject school district, guided by the overarching presence of shared leadership as demonstrated by the actions of the stakeholders during the course of the selection decision. Furthermore, while the district did not make a knowing choice to follow the Complexity Leadership Theory, it provided an environment that was conducive to allow similar practices to develop. Recommendations for effectively using a technology selection decision-making process that allows for the participation of the key stakeholders are also offered.
Enabling application‐aware flexible graph partition mechanism for parallel graph processing systems

With the emerging of the large‐scale graph data, Pregel‐like graph parallel processing systems have been an essential tool to efficiently process the graph data. The first step to use the Pregel‐like systems is to partition the graph into multiple blocks and distribute them on multiple machines. The partition strategy plays a significant role in determining the performance because a good partition could both ensure load balance and optimize network communication overhead, and vice versa. However, existing partition strategies fail to meet the requirements because they suffer from the following drawbacks: (1) they ignore the application features and (2) they ignore the multi‐application feature in productive environment. To overcome those drawbacks, we proposed the superblock partition strategy, which utilizes the atomic blocks generated by pre‐processing of the original graph and could be constructed and re‐constructed dynamically according to the submitted applications in real time. The hash‐based and clustering‐based pre‐partition methods are covered in details. The application feature extraction method and heuristic superblock partition algorithm are proposed to construct the superblocks. Experimental results show that the superblock partition strategy could boost the graph processing performance and its partition efficiency also outperforms the hash‐based and topology optimal partition strategy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Virtual-Communities, Virtual Settlements & Cyber-Archaeology: A Theoretical Outline

If useful explanations are to be provided about the relationship between computer mediated communication (CMC) technologies and online behavior, then a longer-term perspective needs to be taken than the current focus of CMC researchers. This paper provides such a perspective by outlining in theoretical terms how a cyber-archaeology of virtual communities can be conducted. In archaeology, researchers focus on cultural artifacts. A similar focus on the cultural artifacts of virtual communities should be a focus for CMC researchers as these artifacts can provide an integrative framework for a community's life, be it virtual or real. It is proposed that CMC researchers pursue cyber-archaeology by systematically examining and modeling the framework for virtual community life provided by their cultural artifacts. The systematic exploration of cyber-space via cyber-archaeology cannot proceed without adequate linguistic tools that allow for taxonomy. The first step in the creation of such a taxonomy is to distinguish between virtual communities and their cyber-place, the virtual settlement. The second, is to define and operationalize the term virtual settlement so that they can be systematically characterized and modeled. With this new terminology, it is possible to detail a cyber-archaeology where technological determinism is replaced with the notion of bounded hierarchies and material behavior. The theoretical outline will show how cultural artifacts can play a role in constraining the forms virtual settlements can sustain. The modeling of the boundaries of virtual settlements via cyber-archaeology should dramatically increase our understanding of communication in general.
Anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-mycobacterial activity of the methanolic extract of Dendrophthoe falcata leaves

Emergence of virulent multidrug resistant strains of the tubercle bacilli has led to a serious search for new molecules for developing a new drug. Plants serve as resources for developing new scaffold of drugs. Dendropthoe falcata (DF), an arboreal, hemiparasitic plant is being used by indigenous medical practitioners for healing diseases such as asthma, psychic disorders, & tuberculosis. Here in this study we aim to determine the antioxidant, antimicrobial and antimycobacterial activity of Dendrophthoe falcata leaf extract. DPPH free radical scavenging activity of the extract through the absorbance measurements at 515 nm was done in a spectrophotometer. Disc diffusion method in the bacterial culture plates with discs of various concentrations ranging from 40mg/100μl, 60mg/100μl, and 80mg/100μl was used to assess the antibacterial activity. Antimycobacterial activity was assessed against H37RV, all sensitive MTB and MDR-TB. Luciferase reporter page (LRP) assay was done with concentrations 100 & 500 μg/ml of the plant extract with Rifampicin as assay control. IC50 of the DF extract and the control Quercetin determined were of 37.75 μg/ml and 7.79 μg/ml respectively. Antimicrobial activity was significantly greater in against the Bacillus subtilis, and E. coli. Test drug showed inhibition of H37RV and all sensitive M.tuberculosis and no inhibition with MDR tuberculosis. Dendropthoe falcata leaf extracts showed antioxidant, antibacterial and antimycobacterial activity. However further studies are required to elucidate the antimycobacterial compound present in the extract.
Country Size, Economic Structure and Transaction Efficiency: An Asymmetric Spatial General Equilibrium Model of Income Differences across Nations

Income differences across countries are jointly determined by many factors. Population size and per capita resource endowments are two important natural characteristics of countries. A large population size means that the country can produce more product varieties, achieve a higher degree of division of labor and enjoy relatively more local knowledge spillover. Another significant source of the large country advantage is savings in international transaction costs. When international transaction costs are high, a large country still has a large domestic market, and therefore can have a higher per capita income than a small country. However, many factors can conspire to erode the large country advantage and as a result, a large country may not have a higher per capital income than a small country. These compromising factors include: trade openness, excessive population density and its resultant falling per capita resources, underdeveloped domestic market and high domestic transaction costs, an economic structure that excessively relies on land and natural resources, and low technology levels.
Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection is more severe in Th2 responding BALB/c mice compared to Th1 responding C3H/HeN mice

The chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection in cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by a pronounced antibody response and microcolonies surrounded by numerous polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN). Poor prognosis is correlated with a high antibody response to P. aeruginosa antigens. An animal model of this infection was established in two strains of mice: C3H/HeN and BALB/c, generally known as Th1 and Th2 responders, respectively, which were challenged with alginate‐embedded P. aeruginosa. Mortality was significantly lower in C3H/HeN compared to BALB/c mice (p<0.025). P. aeruginosa was cleared more efficiently in C3H/HeN mice and significantly more C3H/HeN mice showed normal lung histopathology (p<0.02), and we found significantly fewer microabscesses in C3H/HeN mice than in BALB/c mice (p<0.005). In supernatants from P. aeruginosa antigen and concanavalin A‐stimulated spleen cells from the two strains of mice, the interferon‐ (IFN‐) γ levels were higher, whereas IL‐4 levels were lower in C3H/HeN mice than in BALB/c mice. The implications of these findings for CF patients with chronic P. aeruginosa lung infection are discussed.
Why doesn’t downsizing deliver? A multi-level model integrating downsizing, social capital, dynamic capabilities, and firm performance

Abstract Firms downsize to improve their bottom line results often in reactive response to negative external shocks, such as economic downturns, but even in proactive efforts to enhance organizational performance when they are financially ‘healthy’, such as restructuring. Research reveals, however, that not only does downsizing generally fail to improve a firm’s financial performance, but that it may even lead to reduced financial performance. To investigate this puzzling outcome, we build on previous research and integrate the concepts of downsizing, social capital, dynamic capabilities and performance in a multi-level model as well as discuss how social capital mediates the relationship between downsizing and dynamic capabilities. Thereafter, we develop (a) four propositions to elucidate how changes to the structural dimension of social capital due to downsizing, i.e. the removal of three key social network positions and changes to the firm’s network structure, negatively mediate the relationship between downsizing and a firm’s dynamic capabilities, and (b) two propositions incorporating internal (knowledge intensity) and external (institutional pressures) contextual variables in our model. We conclude by discussing how our research contributes to the downsizing and SHRM literature as well as the resource-based view and social capital literature before providing suggestions for future research and practitioners.
On the performance of pulsed frequency modulated UWB local positioning systems

Recently, a novel ultra-wideband (UWB) local positioning concept based on pulsed frequency modulated (PFM) signals was introduced by the research groups of the authors of this paper. The current paper presents a detailed analysis of the performance - i.e. range and accuracy - of the proposed PFM-UWB approach. It is shown that with PFM-UWB an excellent coverage / range can be achieved. It is also shown that for high precision ranging a VCO with good phase-noise performance is needed. Based on simulations and measurement results the theoretical findings are verified. The results confirm that PFM-UWB allows for accuracy in the mm-range and a maximum range of more than 100 m with a measuring time of only 1 ms.
The swapping binary-window DAC switching technique for SAR ADCs

The binary-window capacitor switching algorithm is proposed for a binary-weighted capacitor array successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC). It eliminates the middle-code transition glitch to improve ADC linearity. The swapping binary-window (SBW) DAC switching technique, which combines the capacitor swapping and the binary-window switching, further improves both linearity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). It can effectively reduce the total capacitance to approach a noise-limited design criterion, achieving better energy-efficiency. The static linearity improvements are shown with the integral non-linearity (INL) reducing by a factor of two due to the utilization of the SBW technique.
Massive parallel sequencing in sarcoma pathobiology: state of the art and perspectives

Sarcomas are an aggressive and highly heterogeneous group of mesenchymal malignancies with different morphologies and clinical behavior. Current therapeutic strategies remain unsatisfactory. Cytogenetic and molecular characterization of these tumors is resulting in the breakdown of the classical histopathological categories into molecular subgroups that better define sarcoma pathobiology and pave the way to more precise diagnostic criteria and novel therapeutic opportunities. The purpose of this short review is to summarize the state-of-the-art on the exploitation of massive parallel sequencing technologies, also known as next generation sequencing, in the elucidation of sarcoma pathobiology and to discuss how these applications may impact on diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of these tumors.
Optimal design and experiment validation of switching inductor based tri-state CSI

The output voltage range of renewable energy generations such as wind and photovoltaic can be influenced by the parameters of environment at a wide range, which can not satisfy the requirements of system for grid-connected operation. Therefore high-gain voltage inverter is important to integrate the renewable energy into the utility. For high-gain voltage and standard load voltage at low input DC voltage, in this paper the proposed switching inductor based tri-state three-phase current source inverter (CSI) is optimally designed in parameters of the DC inductors network. And the theoretical analysis is performed on the performance of the proposed CSI. The simulation and experiment results highlight its characteristics of high gain and wide range input DC voltage compared to the traditional tri-state CSI.
Particle swarm based airfoil optimization for sUAV's operating in a low range of Reynold's number

The paper focuses on Particle Swarm Optimization of an airfoil model for small unmanned aerial vehicles operating in low Reynolds number. The objective function to be maximized is the lift-to-drag ratio subject to different penalty constraints. The airfoil parameterization is done using Class/Shape function Transformation. Blade Element Momentum Theory is used to develop an optimum hovering propeller with the optimized airfoil and the Clark Y airfoil. The results of the numerical simulation are discussed in the paper.
Deficient IFN Signaling by Myeloid Cells Leads to MAVS-Dependent Virus-Induced Sepsis

The type I interferon (IFN) signaling response limits infection of many RNA and DNA viruses. To define key cell types that require type I IFN signaling to orchestrate immunity against West Nile virus (WNV), we infected mice with conditional deletions of the type I IFN receptor (IFNAR) gene. Deletion of the Ifnar gene in subsets of myeloid cells resulted in uncontrolled WNV replication, vasoactive cytokine production, sepsis, organ damage, and death that were remarkably similar to infection of Ifnar −/− mice completely lacking type I IFN signaling. In Mavs−/−×Ifnar−/− myeloid cells and mice lacking both Ifnar and the RIG-I-like receptor adaptor gene Mavs, cytokine production was muted despite high levels of WNV infection. Thus, in myeloid cells, viral infection triggers signaling through MAVS to induce proinflammatory cytokines that can result in sepsis and organ damage. Viral pathogenesis was caused in part by massive complement activation, as liver damage was minimized in animals lacking complement components C3 or factor B or treated with neutralizing anti-C5 antibodies. Disease in Ifnar −/− and CD11c Cre+ Ifnar f/f mice also was facilitated by the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α, as blocking antibodies diminished complement activation and prolonged survival without altering viral burden. Collectively, our findings establish the dominant role of type I IFN signaling in myeloid cells in restricting virus infection and controlling pathological inflammation and tissue injury.
Toward Blocks-Text Parity

The use of blocks programming languages has skyrocketed in recent years, thanks largely to freely available blocks environments like Scratch, Snap! , and Blockly. These platforms have lowered the barrier to computer science and algorithmic thinking, allowing even very young children to compose programs. Compared to text interfaces, blocks alleviate much of the burden of learning a language's syntax. However, we do not believe the debate between blocks and text is entirely legitimate, as blocks languages tend to be smaller and domain-specific. Would the claims made in this debate still be valid if we compared text and blocks interfaces for the same language? Without a control for the language framing our positions in this debate, blocks interfaces are probably given a lot of credit that is due to the smallness of the language they support. Blocks languages and conventional text languages have fundamental semantic differences that must be aligned before we can fully understand the advantages of blocks over text. In this paper, we identify a number of these differences, with the hope that our analysis will ultimately be used to create languages that support both blocks and text interfaces and maintain syntactic and semantic parity between the two forms.
Direct localization by cryo-electron microscopy of secondary structural elements in Escherichia coli 23 S rRNA which differ from the corresponding regions in Haloarcula marismortui.

Insertions were introduced by a two-step mutagenesis procedure into each of five double-helical regions of Escherichia coli 23 S rRNA, so as to extend the helix concerned by 17 bp. The helices chosen were at sites within the 23 S molecule (h9, h25, h45, h63 and h98) where significant length variations between different species are known to occur. At each of these positions, with the exception of h45, there are also significant differences between the 23 S rRNAs of E. coli and Haloarcula marismortui. Plasmids carrying the insertions were introduced into an E. coli strain lacking all seven rrn operons. In four of the five cases the cells were viable and 50 S subunits could be isolated; only the insertion in h63 was lethal. The modified subunits were examined by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), with a view to locating extra electron density corresponding to the insertion elements. The results were compared both with the recently determined atomic structure of H. marismortui 23 S rRNA in the 50 S subunit, and with previous 23 S rRNA modelling studies based on cryo-EM reconstructions of E. coli ribosomes. The insertion element in h45 was located by cryo-EM at a position corresponding precisely to that of the equivalent helix in H. marismortui. The insertion in h98 (which is entirely absent in H. marismortui) was similarly located at a position corresponding precisely to that predicted from the E. coli modelling studies. In the region of h9, the difference between the E. coli and H. marismortui secondary structures is ambiguous, and the extra electron density corresponding to the insertion was seen at a location intermediate between the position of the nearest helix in the atomic structure and that in the modelled structure. In the case of h25 (which is about 50 nucleotides longer in H. marismortui), no clear extra cryo-EM density corresponding to the insertion could be observed.