Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrasonographic measures of cardiovascular disease risk in antiretroviral treatment-naive individuals with HIV infection

Objective:To evaluate associations between traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, inflammatory markers and markers of HIV disease activity with ultrasonographic measures of CVD risk in patients with HIV who are not receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Design:Cross-sectional, baseline evaluation of ART-naive HIV-infected individuals without known CVD or diabetes mellitus enrolled in a randomized ART treatment trial. Methods:Prior to ART initiation, carotid artery intima–media thickness (CIMT) and brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) were measured. Additional parameters included CD4 cell count, HIV viral load, body composition, lipoproteins and inflammatory markers. Associations with common CIMT, bifurcation CIMT, presence of carotid artery lesions and brachial artery FMD were evaluated. Results:The 331 enrolled individuals were a median (first–third quartile) of 36 (28–45) years old. Common and bifurcation CIMT values were higher and lesions more prevalent with older age (P < 0.001). FMD was lower with older age (P = 0.009). Those with a Framingham Risk Score of at least 6% per 10 years (N = 44) had higher common and bifurcation CIMT (P < 0.001), carotid lesion prevalence (P < 0.001) and lower FMD (P = 0.035). Independent associations with common CIMT were identified for increasing age, height, weight, small low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles and black race; these were similar for bifurcation CIMT. Presence of carotid artery lesions was associated with increasing age, presence of metabolic syndrome, interleukin-6 and lower HIV-1 RNA. Conclusion:In a contemporary cohort of ART-naive HIV-infected individuals, ultrasonographic measures of CVD risk were more strongly associated with traditional risk factors than CD4 cell counts, HIV replication or inflammatory markers.
Adenosine A2B Receptor Agonism Inhibits Neointimal Lesion Development After Arterial Injury in Apolipoprotein E–Deficient Mice

Objective—The A2B adenosine receptor (A2BR) is highly expressed in macrophages and vascular smooth muscle cells and has been established as an important regulator of inflammation and vascular adhesion. Recently, it has been demonstrated that A2BR deficiency enhances neointimal lesion formation after vascular injury. Therefore, we hypothesize that A2BR agonism protects against injury-induced intimal hyperplasia. Methods and Results—Apolipoprotein E–deficient mice were fed a Western-type diet for 1 week, after which the left common carotid artery was denuded. Mice were treated with the A2B receptor agonist BAY60-6583 or vehicle control for 18 days. Interestingly, lumen stenosis as defined by the neointima/lumen ratio was inhibited by treatment with the A2B receptor agonist, caused by reduced smooth muscle cell proliferation. Collagen content was significantly increased in the BAY60-6583–treated mice, whereas macrophage content remained unchanged. In vitro, vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation decreased dose dependently whereas collagen content of cultured smooth muscle cells was increased by BAY60-6583. Conclusion—Our data show that activation of the adenosine A2B receptor protects against vascular injury, while it also enhances plaque stability as indicated by increased collagen content. These outcomes thus point to A2B receptor agonism as a new therapeutic approach in the prevention of restenosis.
Proteins Identified From Care Solution Extractions of Silicone Hydrogels

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the quantity and identify the proteins extracted from two different types of silicone hydrogel contact lenses by several multipurpose care solutions after 1 day of wear. Methods. Ten subjects were recruited to wear galyfilcon A lenses (Acuvue Advance, Vistakon) followed by lotrafilcon B lenses (O2 Optix, CIBA Vision) each for four consecutive days. Each day, subjects inserted a new pair of lenses for 8 h of wear after which both lenses were removed using forceps (lenses were not rubbed or rinsed after removal). Lenses were pooled in one of four commercially available care solutions for a 24-h soak followed by precipitation, resuspension in water, and quantification by Bradford assay and identification by mass spectrometry. Results. Protein recovery from care solutions was as follows (quantities are in &mgr;g/lens): AQuify (galyfilcon A: 0.56, lotrafilcon B: 1.24), Complete MoisturePlus (galyfilcon A: 1.44, lotrafilcon B: 1.47), Opti-Free Express (galyfilcon A: 2.31, lotrafilcon B: 5.67), and ReNu MoistureLoc (galyfilcon A: 1.17, lotrafilcon B: 4.38). For each care solution, greater quantities of protein were removed from lotrafilcon B (3.19 ± 2.19 &mgr;g/lens) than from galyfilcon A (1.37 ± 0.72 &mgr;g/lens). Lactoferrin, lysozyme, and lipocalin were the most commonly identified, whereas various keratin compounds and other unique proteins were also detected. Conclusions. Opti-Free Express was consistently associated with the more efficient removal of proteins from these silicone hydrogels. More total protein was removed from lotrafilcon B than from galyfilcon A (∼2× more protein) for all four care solutions, and 12 total unique protein species were recovered from galyfilcon A, whereas only 10 were recovered from lotrafilcon B. The higher quantities of protein extracted from lotrafilcon B may be due to stronger protein binding with this material and/or to differences in solution efficacy.
What Biscuits to Put in the Basket? Features Prediction in Release Management for Android System

Android system has been the crucial platform for the mobile service ecosystem. As a typical open source project, the release of the android system is a challenging issue because many developers are working on the related projects and it will affect millions of mobile service running on the platform. Therefore, investigating the release process of Android system is important for the mobile service ecosystem. Particularly, in this paper, we will focus on the release features prediction issue of what features should be included in the new publishing version. The valid changes and release notes are transformed into low-dimensional vectors and then the automatic labelling methodology is developed to detect the features. Combing with the time series forecasting model, an approach to predict the published features in the new version is presenting. Based on the data collected from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), the experiments show that: comparing with the state-of-the-art, our approach achieves 13.83% to 17.69% precision improvement in releasing feature predictions and we can effectively detect the spike features for further compatibility management.
Monolithically Integrated Electrically Pumped Continuous-Wave III-V Quantum Dot Light Sources on Silicon

In this paper, we report monolithically integrated III-V quantum dot (QD) light-emitting sources on silicon substrates for silicon photonics. We describe the first practical InAs/GaAs QD lasers monolithically grown on an offcut silicon (001) substrate due to the realization of high quality III-V epilayers on silicon with low defect density, indicating that the large material dissimilarity between III-Vs and silicon is no longer a fundamental barrier limiting monolithic growth of III-V lasers on Si substrates. Although the use of offcut silicon substrates overcomes the antiphase boundary (APB) problem, it has the disadvantage of not being readily compatible with standard microelectronics fabrication, where wafers with on-axis silicon (001) substrates are used. We therefore report, to the best of our knowledge, the first electrically pumped continuous-wave (c.w.) InAs/GaAs QD lasers fabricated on on-axis GaAs/Si (001) substrates without any intermediate buffer layers. Based on the achievements described above, we move on to report the first study of post-fabrication and prototyping of various Si-based light emitting sources by utilizing the focused ion beam (FIB) technique, with the intention of expediting the progress toward large-scale and low-cost photonic integrated circuits monolithically integrated on a silicon platform. We compare two Si-based QD lasers with as-cleaved and FIB-made facets, and prove that FIB is a powerful tool to fabricate integrated lasers on silicon substrates. Using angled facet structures, which effectively reduce facet reflectivity, we demonstrate Si-based InAs/GaAs QD superluminescent light emitting diodes (SLDs) operating under c.w. conditions at room temperature for the first time. The work described represents significant advances towards the realization of a comprehensive silicon photonics technology.
Negotiation with Patriarchy in Women's Lives: A Case Study in a Malaysian Public University

"Objective – While women make up almost 65% of undergraduates in public universities in Malaysia, only in the last three years their labour force participation rates have gone beyond the 50% mark. In addition, women form less than 20% of the legislature and Cabinet of Ministers in Malaysia. What pushes women in their achievements in education and what factors pull them back in other areas? How do patriarchal gender norms underpin their ability and decisions in life’s choices and how have they understood and negotiated these norms? This paper aims to explore these questions through narratives of women in a public university. Methodology/Technique – The paper is based on Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with 12 women who are staff and postgraduate students of the university. The respondents were divided into two groups: one consisting of the university’s academic and administrative staff and the other postgraduate students. Separate discussions were conducted for each group. The discussions were transcribed and analysed. Findings – Findings show that women have confidence in their ability to contribute effectively and in the same manner as men in different spheres of their lives such as work, home and community. However, often they have had to negotiate their ways around various beliefs, practices and norms about the superiority of men in society. Novelty – The study researches factors that affects woman achievements in life. "
Part-Based Robust Tracking Using Online Latent Structured Learning

Despite many advances made in the area, deformable targets and partial occlusions continue to represent key problems in visual tracking. Structured learning has shown good results when applied to tracking whole targets, but applying this approach to a part-based target model is complicated by the need to model the relationships between parts and to avoid lengthy initialization processes. We thus propose a method that models the unknown parts by using latent variables. In doing so, we extend the online algorithm Pegasos to the structured prediction case (i.e., predicting the location of the bounding boxes) with latent part variables. We also incorporate the very recently proposed spatial constraints to preserve distances between parts. To better estimate the parts, and to avoid overfitting caused by the extra model complexity/capacity introduced by the parts, we propose a two-stage training process based on the primal rather than the dual form. We then show that the method outperforms the state of the arts in extensive experiments.
Transforming growth factor‐β enhances Rho‐kinase activity and contraction in airway smooth muscle via the nucleotide exchange factor ARHGEF1

Transforming growth‐factor‐β (TGF‐β) and RhoA/Rho‐kinase are independently implicated in the airway hyper‐responsiveness associated with asthma, but how these proteins interact is not fully understood. We examined the effects of pre‐treatment with TGF‐β on expression and activity of RhoA, Rho‐kinase and ARHGEF1, an activator of RhoA, as well as on bradykinin‐induced contraction, in airway smooth muscle. TGF‐β enhanced bradykinin‐induced RhoA translocation, Rho‐kinase‐dependent phosphorylation and contraction, but partially suppressed bradykinin‐induced RhoA activity (RhoA‐GTP content). TGF‐β enhanced the expression of ARHGEF1, while a small interfering RNA against ARHGEF1 and a RhoGEF inhibitor prevented the effects of TGF‐β on RhoA and Rho‐kinase activity and contraction, respectively. ARHGEF1 expression was also enhanced in airway smooth muscle from asthmatic patients and ovalbumin‐sensitized mice. ARHGEF1 is a key TGF‐β target gene, an important regulator of Rho‐kinase activity and therefore a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of asthmatic airway hyper‐responsiveness.
Government-led regional innovation: a case of ‘Pangyo’ IT cluster of South Korea

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the effective formulation and implementation of ‘Pangyo Techno Valley’ (PTV), a regional innovation cluster led by Gyeonggi province in Korea. It emphasizes the historical, institutional and regional contexts to understand the concept of regional innovation cluster by using the framework of indicators of regional innovation. Especially this paper investigates PTV in terms of open innovation in supply chains. The development of PTV is theoretically interesting since the local government played an active role in providing with various incentives including physical space next to Seoul. This paper investigates the success factors for establishing PTV in the context of RIS and how a local government-led RIS can overcome the existing limits shown in other development policies the Korean government had pursued so far. This paper argues that the strategic investment and administrative support by Gyeonggi province and the location of PTV have played a critical role for the success of PTV by attracting abundant numbers of IT companies and competent talents. The finding is expected to provide an ample policy reference for other developing countries as they are eager to emulate the success of ‘Silicon Valley’ but have kept failing.
Bacterial colonization of the vagina during pregnancy in four ethnic groups. Vaginal Infections and Prematurity Study Group.

OBJECTIVE Our purpose was determine whether there are ethnic differences in vaginal colonization with organisms reputed to be associated with preterm delivery. STUDY DESIGN In seven urban medical centers in the United States from 1984 to 1989, 13,747 predominantly low-socioeconomic-status women at 23 to 26 weeks' gestation were grouped according to ethnic origin. Each had a vaginal culture for multiple organisms and Gram's stain and pH test to diagnose bacterial vaginosis. Multivariate analyses with adjustment for maternal age, insurance status, marital status, smoking history, education level, age at first sexual intercourse, and number of male partners in the past year were also performed to determine the odds ratio for a black woman versus a white woman having a positive test result. RESULTS For nearly every organism studied, Asian-Pacific Islander and white women had the lowest percentages of positive test results whereas black women had the highest. When black and white women are compared, black women were more likely to be colonized with Chlamydia trachomatis, 16% versus 5%; Neisseria gonorrhoeae, 2.5% versus 0.4%; Bacteroides sp. , 25% versus 14%; bacterial vaginosis, 23% versus 9%; and the four other organisms evaluated. Adjustment for potential confounders including certain health behaviors did not markedly change the risk of a black woman having a positive test result, with the odds ratios for colonization with each organism ranging from 1.8 to 6.4. CONCLUSIONS Highly significant differences exist in vaginal colonization patterns among women of different ethnic groups, with the highest rates of potentially pathogenic organisms observed in black women and the lowest in Asian-Pacific Islander women. Differences in health behaviors do not explain the variation in colonization rates.
Effect of Acute Tryptophan Depletion on Emotions in Individuals with Personal and Family History of Depression following a Mood Induction

Background: Acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) has shown depletion-specific increases in depressed mood and overall depressive symptoms, especially in those with a family history and in remitted patients. However, its effect on a broad range of emotions beyond depressed mood has been inconsistent, and studies have rarely employed a negative mood induction. Method: The present double-blind study administered tryptophan-depleted and taste-matched placebo challenge drinks to individuals with a past diagnosis and family history of depression (i.e. depression-vulnerable subjects) and controls in order to investigate the effect of ATD on positive affect, anxiety, anger and depressed mood following a negative mood induction. Results: Certain aspects of positive affect decreased due to ATD in the depression vulnerables but not in the controls. No differential effects were found on depressed mood and anxiety. Conclusions: A stress-induced blunted hedonic capacity may increase vulnerability to ATD and may be a core emotional abnormality in depression. Additionally, serotonin may have a stronger influence on positive affect than on other depression-related emotions during periods of stress.
Mineral Density and Fluoride Content of in vitro Remineralized Lesions

This in vitro investigation studied the remineralization of experimental caries lesions in bovine enamel by use of three methods: (1) surface microhardness, (2) microradiography, and (3) abrasion biopsy for mineral density and fluoride content. The lesions were produced by a two-day exposure to 0.01 mol/L lactic acidlsodium hydroxide buffer partially saturated with 3.0 mmol/L Ca, 1.8 mmol/L P, in 1% CMC, at pH 4.0 and 37°C. The lesions were exposed to a remineralizing solution containing 3.0 mmol/L Ca, 1.8 mmol/L P, and 3 ppm F in 1% CMC at pH 7.0 and 37°C for two, six, and ten days, with solution changes every two days. The data derived from the three methods are presented in sequence from the baseline and at days two, six, and ten of the remineralizing treatment. Microhardness measurements showed hardness recoveries of 35.9, 78.9, and 87.5%, respectively. Microradiography suggested complete recovery with the ten-day remineralization. Abrasion biopsy of successive 10-μm layers to a depth of 100 μm indicated 15.2, 39.8, and 68.8% mineral density recoveries, with fluoride content of the surface layer increasing from a baseline of 300 ppm to 4600, 9000, and 9800 ppm F for the 2, 6, 10 days of remineralization, respectively. Subsequent acid-etching of thin sections from the ten-day-remineralized specimens showed that the fluoride-enriched remineralized area was more resistant to acid dissolution than was the underlying nonnal enamel.
The crystal structure of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (CD26) reveals its functional regulation and enzymatic mechanism

The membrane-bound glycoprotein dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DP IV, CD26) is a unique multifunctional protein, acting as receptor, binding and proteolytic molecule. We have determined the sequence and 1.8 Å crystal structure of native DP IV prepared from porcine kidney. The crystal structure reveals a 2-2-2 symmetric tetrameric assembly which depends on the natively glycosylated β-propeller blade IV. The crystal structure indicates that tetramerization of DP IV is a key mechanism to regulate its interaction with other components. Each subunit comprises two structural domains, the N-terminal eight-bladed β-propeller with open Velcro topology and the C-terminal α/β-hydrolase domain. Analogy with the structurally related POP and tricorn protease suggests that substrates access the buried active site through the β-propeller tunnel while products leave the active site through a separate side exit. A dipeptide mimicking inhibitor complexed to the active site discloses key determinants for substrate recognition, including a Glu–Glu motif that distinguishes DP IV as an aminopeptidase and an oxyanion trap that binds and activates the P2-carbonyl oxygen necessary for efficient postproline cleavage. We discuss active and nonactive site-directed inhibition strategies of this pharmaceutical target protein.
Relative Effects of Social Self-Control, Sensation Seeking, and Impulsivity on Future Cigarette Use in a Sample of High-Risk Adolescents

We used confirmatory factor analysis to compare convergence/divergence across self-report measures of social self-control, sensation seeking, and impulsivity in a sample of high-risk adolescents. In addition, we tested baseline social self-control as a predictor of cigarette use one year later, controlling for baseline cigarette use, impulsivity/sensation seeking, and demographic variables. Data were collected in 2004–2005 from 821 adolescents (M age = 16.3; SD = 1.36) enrolled in 14 continuation high schools in Southern California. Of the baseline sample, 566 students participated in a follow-up survey one year later. Results indicated that social self-control represents a unique dimension of self-control and is a salient predictor of future cigarette use.
Acquisition of alpha 1-Antitrypsin by a pathogenic strain of Trichomonas vaginalis

The interaction of alpha 1-Antitrypsin, the major serine protease inhibitor in plasma, with pathogenic Trichomonas vaginalis and the acquisition by trichomonads of this host protein from normal human plasma were investigated. alpha 1-Antitrypsin acquired by intact parasites could not be removed by repeated washings in phosphate-buffered saline. Saturation kinetics were observed after incubation of glutaraldehyde-fixed organisms with 125I-labeled alpha 1-antitrypsin. Evidence suggesting that specific parasite membrane sites were responsible for trichomonal acquisition of alpha 1-antitrypsin was obtained through competitive binding experiments using purified preparations of homologous versus heterologous plasma proteins. No evidence of degradation of bound antitrypsin by live parasites was observed. The avid binding of alpha 1-antitrypsin by pathogenic T. vaginalis after incubation in normal human plasma was demonstrated by using sensitive electrophoretic and immunodetection techniques. Radioimmunoprecipitation of intrinsically labeled, detergent-solubilized extracts of T. vaginalis incubated with monospecific antisera against alpha 1-antitrypsin and other human plasma proteins revealed the inability of parasites to biosynthesize any substance cross-reactive with host plasma proteins. Finally, T. vaginalis organisms pretreated with alpha 1-antitrypsin inhibited trypsin caseinase activity in an in vitro assay. The implications of these observations are discussed.
Will Be There New CO2 Emitters in the Future? Evidence of Long-Run Panel Co-Integration for N-11 Countries

This article tries to explore the long-run nexus between oil consumption, gross domestic product (GDP) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the next eleven (N-11) countries over the period 1980-2013, by using the panel c-ointegration, the panel dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and the panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) approaches.The empirical findings indicate that there is a bidirectional long-run linkage between oil consumption - GDP per capita and oil consumption - CO2 emissions. Moreover the inverted U-shaped linkage between the square of GDP per capita and CO2 emissions, supports the existence of environmental kuznets curve hypothesis. With estimations through the panel DOLS and FMOLS, the long-run elasticity of oil consumption per capita to CO2 emissions per capita is calculated about 0.96% and positive which is in contrast to the coefficient sign of its elasticity to GDP per capita (−0.48%). Moreover, the elasticity of GDP per capita and CO2 emissions per capita to oil consumption per capita are −0.32% and 0.94%, respectively. These findings prove the negative contribution of non-renewable energy (oil) consumption per capita to GDP per capita in the N-11 group. Furthermore, due to the bidirectional long-run relationships between oil consumption and CO2 emissions, these 11 countries should find the efficient energy policies which are in line with CO2 mitigation and reaching a higher GDP per capita growth.