Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comprehensive review of the barriers and promoters health workers experience in delivering prevention of vertical transmission of HIV services in sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT Despite significant biomedical and policy advances, 199,000 infants and young children in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) became infected with HIV in 2013, indicating challenges to implementation of these advances. To understand the nature of these challenges, we sought to (1) characterize the barriers and facilitators that health workers encountered delivering prevention of vertical transmission of HIV (PVT) services in SSA and (2) evaluate the use of theory to guide PVT service delivery. The PubMed and CINAHL databases were searched using keywords barriers, facilitators, HIV, prevention of vertical transmission of HIV, health workers, and their synonyms to identify relevant studies. Barriers and facilitators were coded at ecological levels according to the Determinants of Performance framework. Factors in this framework were then classified as affecting motivation, opportunity, or ability, per the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) framework in order to evaluate domains of health worker performance within each ecological level. We found that the most frequently reported challenges occurred within the health facility level and spanned all three MOA domains. Barriers reported in 30% or more of studies from most proximal to distal included those affecting health worker motivation (stress, burnout, depression), patient opportunity (stigma), work opportunity (poor referral systems), health facility opportunity (overburdened workload, lack of supplies), and health facility ability (inadequate PVT training, inconsistent breastfeeding messages). Facilitators were reported in lower frequencies than barriers and tended to be resolutions to challenges (e.g., quality supervision, consistent supplies) or responses to an intervention (e.g., record systems and infrastructure improvements). The majority of studies did not use theory to guide study design or implementation. Interventions addressing health workers’ multiple ecological levels of interactions, particularly the health facility, hold promise for far-reaching impact as distal factors influence more proximal factors. Incorporating theory that considers factors beyond the health worker will strengthen endeavors to mitigate barriers to PVT service delivery.
On the Transient behavior of various drain extended MOS devices under the ESD stress condition

This paper presents ESD evaluation of various nanoscale drain extended MOS devices. Current and time evolution of current filaments formed under the ESD stress conditions are investigated. A complete picture of device's behavior at the onset of space charge modulation and the evolution of current filamentation is discussed based on Transient Interferometric mapping studies.
Techniques to simplify the analysis of execution traces for program comprehension

Understanding a large execution trace is not easy task due to the size and complexity of typical traces. In this thesis, we present various techniques that tackle this problem. Firstly, we present a set of metrics for measuring various properties of an execution trace in order to assess the work required for understanding its content. We show the result of applying these metrics to thirty traces generated from three different software systems. We discuss how these metrics can be supported by tools to facilitate the exploration of traces based on their complexity. Secondly, we present a novel technique for manipulating traces called trace summarization, which consists of taking a trace as input and return a summary of its main content as output. Traces summaries can be used to enable top-down analysis of traces as well as the recovery of the system behavioural models. In this thesis, we present a trace summarization algorithm that is based on successive filtering of implementation details from traces. An analysis of the concept of implementation details such as utilities is also presented. Thirdly, we have developed a scalable exchange format called the Compact Trace Format (CTF) in order to enable sharing and reusing of traces. The design of CTF satisfies well-known requirements for a standard exchange format. Finally, this thesis includes a survey of eight trace analysis tools. A study of the advantages and limitations of the techniques supported by these tools is provided. The approaches presented in this thesis have been applied to real software systems. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness and usefulness of our techniques.
Evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity and potency of herbal formulation consists of different proportions of Curcuma longa and Boswellia serrata by using Cotton pellet granuloma and xylene induced mice ear edema model.

Inflammation is one of the pathological healing processes of human body, but the sign and symptoms which are produced during healing process can’t be tolerable. In order to get relive mostly the allopathic drugs like NSAIDS (Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs) are prescribed. But these allopathic drugs produce different side effects and toxicity like gastric up set, peptic ulcer and gastric bleeding. Hence in order to avoid the unwanted effects while preventing the inflammatory process the current preclinical practice has been carried out by taking alcoholic extract of Curcuma longa and Boswellia serrata in different proportions (1:1, 1:2 and 2:1) respectively. The study has been carried out by using cotton pellets granuloma, one of the sub-acute model and xylene induced mice ear edema one of the acute model. The herbal formulation has significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decrease in wet weight and dry weight of cotton pellets and suppressed the development of ear edema induced by xylene in mice as compared to the vehicle control group.
Molecular cloning and expression of glycogen synthase kinase‐3/factor A.

Glycogen synthase kinase‐3 (GSK‐3) is a protein‐serine kinase implicated in the hormonal control of several regulatory proteins including glycogen synthase and the transcription factor c‐jun. Two classes of rat brain cDNA for this enzyme have been isolated termed GSK‐3 alpha and GSK‐3 beta. The alpha‐type encodes a 51 kd polypeptide, the sequence of which includes all of the tryptic peptides determined by protein sequence analysis of purified skeletal muscle GSK‐3. The novel beta‐type cDNA has the potential to encode a 47 kd protein with 85% amino acid identity to GSK‐3 alpha. The two types of cDNA are the products of distinct genes as determined by genomic organization and nucleic acid sequence analysis. Both alpha and beta clones exhibit kinase activity when expressed in COS‐1 cells and type‐specific antibodies to GSK‐3 alpha and beta detect proteins of 51 and 47 kd, respectively, in a variety of rat tissue extracts, with highest levels of both in brain. Partial purification of GSK‐3 activity from bovine brain results in the isolation of active alpha and beta proteins. The physiological importance of these two proteins in cellular signal transduction is discussed.
Changes in Gene Expression Induced by Carbamazepine and Phenytoin: Testing the Danger Hypothesis

The aromatic anticonvulsants carbamazepine (CBZ) and phenytoin (PHN) are associated with a relatively high incidence of idiosyncratic drug reactions (IDRs). If biomarkers could be found that would predict the risk that a drug candidate would cause IDRs it would significantly decrease the risks associated with drug development. The IDRs associated with CBZ and PHN appear to be immune-mediated. The Danger Hypothesis posits that for something to induce an immune response, it must cause some type of cell damage that ultimately causes up-regulation of co-stimulatory molecules on antigen-presenting cells; without this, the response will be immune tolerance. If the Danger Hypothesis is correct, the ability of a drug or its reactive metabolite to induce cell damage or stress may be related to its risk of causing IDRs. In a parallel study reported elsewhere, we found that major metabolites of these two drugs: 3-OH-CBZ and 4-OH-PHN can be oxidized by peroxidases to phenoxyl free radicals, which could cause oxidative stress by redox cycling. In this study using mRNA microarrays, we found that CBZ and PHN treatment induced changes in mRNA expression in mice. Many of the changes were in genes related to Keap1-Nrf2-ARE signaling pathways and enzymes involved in responding to oxidant stressors and reactive metabolites such as glutathione transferase and heat shock proteins. The similar patterns of genes induced by these two drugs are consistent with the clinical observation that those two drugs exhibit cross-sensitivity. These findings are consistent with the induction of cell stress by CBZ and PHN, most likely due to reactive metabolites. Such changes may represent a danger signal and represent a biomarker of the potential that a drug will cause IDRs; however, different drugs likely cause cell stress by different mechanisms and, therefore, the biomarkers for other drugs would likely be different.
The expression of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-2 and IGF-II genes in the tissues of the developing ovine fetus.

Insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) regulates the growth and differentiation of tissues during fetal life and is bound to a significant extent to IGF-binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) in blood and tissue fluids during this period of development. We have compared the expression of IGFBP-2 and IGF-II genes during development by determining the levels of stable mRNAs in various tissues of fetal [50 days gestational age to term (145-147 days)] and postnatal sheep [lambs (2 days, 4 weeks and 9 weeks) and adults; n = 3-4 in each age group]. Both IGFBP-2 and IGF-II mRNAs were observed from day 50 of gestation onward. The level of IGF-II mRNAs was high in fetal tissues from early gestational ages and decreased with maturation. Seven IGF-II mRNA transcripts [1.2-6 kilobases (kb)] were expressed by most tissues except the adult liver, which expressed only a single 5.1-kb transcript, and the choroid plexus, which expressed only six transcripts. A single IGFBP-2 transcript of approximately 1.5 kb was observed. Expression of the IGFBP-2 gene was ubiquitous in tissues from fetuses younger than 80 days gestational age, but from 120 days, it was restricted mainly to the liver, kidney, and choroid plexus. In general, the IGFBP-2 mRNA level in tissues was high in early gestation and decreased with maturation, thus following the same pattern of expression as IGF-II. However, this pattern was reversed in the liver. The concurrent expression of both IGFBP-2 and IGF-II mRNAs in the same tissues in early pregnancy suggests that both proteins are synthesized together in these tissues and act by autocrine and/or paracrine mechanisms. In later gestational ages and early postnatal life, when IGF-II mRNAs were expressed in decreasing levels, IGFBP-2 mRNA was present only in selected tissues. Liver was the only tissue that continued to express abundant IGFBP-2 mRNA levels, indicating that it was the major source of this BP at later gestational ages and postnatal life, when the protein functions as an endocrine factor. Plasma IGFBP-2 levels were relatively low in fetuses of early gestational ages (< 0.5 gestation) when most tissues were expressing this gene. Instead, plasma IGFBP-2 levels appeared to mirror the level of IGFBP-2 mRNA in the liver, further supporting the hypothesis that liver IGFBP-2 gene expression is the principal determinant of plasma IGFBP-2 levels. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Representing any-time and program-iteration by infinitary conjunction

Abstract Two new infinitary modal logics are simply obtained from a Gentzen-type sequent calculus for infinitary logic by adding a next-time operator, and a program operator, respectively. It is shown that an any-time operator and a program-iteration operator can respectively be expressed using infinitary conjunction in these logics. The cut-elimination and completeness theorems for these logics are proved using some theorems for embedding these logics into (classical) infinitary logic.
A MEASUREMENT OF THE DAMPING TAIL OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND POWER SPECTRUM WITH THE SOUTH POLE TELESCOPE

We present a measurement of the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT). The data consist of 790 deg2 of sky observed at 150 GHz during 2008 and 2009. Here we present the power spectrum over the multipole range 650 < ℓ < 3000, where it is dominated by primary CMB anisotropy. We combine this power spectrum with the power spectra from the seven-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data release to constrain cosmological models. We find that the SPT and WMAP data are consistent with each other and, when combined, are well fit by a spatially flat, ΛCDM cosmological model. The SPT+WMAP constraint on the spectral index of scalar fluctuations is ns = 0.9663 ± 0.0112. We detect, at ∼5σ significance, the effect of gravitational lensing on the CMB power spectrum, and find its amplitude to be consistent with the ΛCDM cosmological model. We explore a number of extensions beyond the ΛCDM model. Each extension is tested independently, although there are degeneracies between some of the extension parameters. We constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio to be r < 0.21 (95% CL) and constrain the running of the scalar spectral index to be dns/dln k = −0.024 ± 0.013. We strongly detect the effects of primordial helium and neutrinos on the CMB; a model without helium is rejected at 7. 7σ, while a model without neutrinos is rejected at 7. 5σ. The primordial helium abundance is measured to be Yp = 0.296 ± 0.030, and the effective number of relativistic species is measured to be Neff = 3.85 ± 0.62. The constraints on these models are strengthened when the CMB data are combined with measurements of the Hubble constant and the baryon acoustic oscillation feature. Notable improvements include ns = 0.9668 ± 0.0093, r < 0.17 (95% CL), and Neff = 3.86 ± 0.42. The SPT+WMAP data show a mild preference for low power in the CMB damping tail, and while this preference may be accommodated by models that have a negative spectral running, a high primordial helium abundance, or a high effective number of relativistic species, such models are disfavored by the abundance of low-redshift galaxy clusters.
Martian Climate Change

1 Geological evidence indicates that low-latitude polygonally-patterned grounds on Mars, 2 generally thought to be the product of flood volcanism, are periglacial in nature and record a 3 complex signal of changing climate. By studying the martian surface stratigraphically (in terms 4 of the geometrical relations between surface landforms and the substrate) rather than geneti5 cally (by form analogy with Earth), we have identified dynamic surfaces across one fifth of mar6 tian longitude. New stratigraphical observations in the Elysium-Amazonis plains have revealed a 7 progressive surface polygonisation that is destructive of impact craters across the region. This 8 activity is comparable to the climatically-driven degradation of periglacial landscapes on Earth, 9 but because it affects impact craters – the martian chronometer – it can be dated. Here we show 10 that it is possible to directly date this activity based on the fraction of impact craters affected by 11 polygon formation. Nearly 100% of craters (of all diameters) are superposed by polygonal sculp12 ture: considering the few-100 Ma age of the substrate, this suggests that the process of polygon 13 formation was active within the last few million years. Surface polygonisation in this region, of14 ten considered to be one of the signs of young, 'plains-forming' volcanism on Mars, is instead 15 shown to postdate the majority of impact craters seen. We therefore conclude that it is post16 depositional in origin and an artifact of thermal cycling of near-surface ground ice. Stratigraphi17 cally-controlled crater counts present the first way of dating climate change on a planet other 18 than Earth: a record that may tell us something about climate change on our own planet. Paral19 lel climate change on these two worlds – an ice age Mars coincident with Earth’s glacial Quater20 nary period – might suggest a coupled system linking both. We have previously been unable to 21 generalise about the causes of long-term climate change based on a single terrestrial example – 22 with the beginnings of a chronology for climate change on our nearest planetary neighbour, we 23 can. 24
The critical phase for visual control of human walking over complex terrain

Significance The physical dynamics of the body are central to the generation and maintenance of the human gait cycle. The ability to exploit the force of gravity and bodily inertia increases the energetic efficiency of locomotion by minimizing the need for internally generated muscular forces and simplifies control by obviating the need to actively guide each body segment. Here we explore how these principles generalize to situations in which foot placement is constrained, as when walking over a rocky trail. Walkers can exploit external forces to efficiently traverse extended stretches of complex terrain provided that visual information about the upcoming ground surface is available during a particular (critical) phase of the gait cycle between midstance of the preceding step and toe-off. To walk efficiently over complex terrain, humans must use vision to tailor their gait to the upcoming ground surface without interfering with the exploitation of passive mechanical forces. We propose that walkers use visual information to initialize the mechanical state of the body before the beginning of each step so the resulting ballistic trajectory of the walker’s center-of-mass will facilitate stepping on target footholds. Using a precision stepping task and synchronizing target visibility to the gait cycle, we empirically validated two predictions derived from this strategy: (1) Walkers must have information about upcoming footholds during the second half of the preceding step, and (2) foot placement is guided by information about the position of the target foothold relative to the preceding base of support. We conclude that active and passive modes of control work synergistically to allow walkers to negotiate complex terrain with efficiency, stability, and precision.
Role of the Small GTPase RAB7 in the Late Endocytic Pathway*

Rab7 is a small GTPase localized to the late endosomal compartment. Its function was investigated by overexpressing dominant negative or constitutively active mutants in BHK-21 cells. The effects of such overexpression on the internalization and/or degradation of different endocytic markers and on the morphology of the late endosomal compartment were analyzed. We observed a marked inhibition of the degradation of 125I-low density lipoproteins in cells transfected with the Rab7 dominant negative mutants while the rate of internalization was not affected. Moreover in these cells there was an accumulation of many small vesicles scattered throughout the cytoplasm. In contrast, overexpression of the activating mutants led to the appearance of atypically large endocytic structures and caused a dramatic change in the distribution of the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor. Our data indicate that the Rab7 protein in mammalian cells is present on a late endosomal compartment much larger than the compartment labeled by the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor. Rab7 also appears to play a fundamental role in controlling late endocytic membrane traffic.
Stochastic Monitoring of Distribution Networks Including Correlated Input Variables

The evolving complexity of distribution networks with higher levels of uncertainties is a new challenge faced by system operators. This paper introduces the use of Gaussian mixtures models as input variables in stochastic power flow studies and state estimation of distribution networks. These studies are relevant for the efficient exploitation of renewable energy sources and the secure operation of network assets.
The Use of Radial Vessel Stump in Free Radial Forearm Flap as Flap Monitor in Head and Neck Reconstruction

The versatile use of the free radial forearm flap for the reconstruction of pharyngoesophageal defects has been proven ideal in previous studies. However, the monitoring of flap viability when buried underneath the skin in head and neck surgery still posed technical difficulties. An innovative monitoring method for the buried free radial forearm flap by using distal radial vessel stump elevated over the skin is to be presented here. Eighteen patients received free radial forearm flap reconstruction for their pharyngoesophageal defects after tumor ablation during June 2003 to March 2005. All patients were males; ages ranged from 36 to 71 years, averaging 53.2 years old. Fourteen skin tubing and patches were designed for the defects. The pharyngoesophageal defects ranged from 6 to 12 cm in length, averaging 8.5 cm. The free radial forearm flap was designed to allow a distal radial vessel stump about 3 cm long, which was then elevated above the skin in the neck region after insetting to act as a monitor for the viability of the buried flap. The flap viability can be easily demonstrated simply by observing continuous pulsation coming from the distal radial vessel stump with naked eyes. The monitoring stump was then ligated and resected at bedside after the viability of the buried flap was insured 2 weeks postoperatively. All free flap transfers were successful. One case was found with kinking of artery during the operation and it was corrected immediately. One case with venous insufficiency was detected 13 hours after the operation and the flap was salvaged successfully by thrombectomy and venous reanastomosis. Three patients developed temporary fistula and healed spontaneously after conservative treatment. Deep neck infections were found in patients, and recovered after aggressive antibiotic treatment. Two patients had esophagocutaneous fistula and needed secondary surgical intervention. The use of distal radial vessel stump as a monitor for the buried flap is a reliable method in head and neck surgery. It not only allows easy monitoring, no further donor site morbidity, but it also eliminates the need for special monitoring device.