Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Socio-demographic inequalities in HIV testing behaviour and HIV prevalence among older adults in rural Tanzania, 2013

ABSTRACT Most HIV research in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) ignores persons aged 50 years and above, though a few studies have reported a high HIV prevalence among older people. This study aimed to estimate socio-demographic inequalities in HIV testing behaviour and HIV prevalence among adults aged 50+ years, living in Ifakara town, Tanzania. This cross-sectional study used data from the baseline measurement of the Ifakara MZIMA cohort study in 2012/13. Consenting participants were interviewed and tested for HIV. Associations between HIV testing behaviour and HIV prevalence with socio-demographic indicators were explored with multivariable logistic regression. Among the 1643 adults 50+ years included in the study, HIV prevalence and the HIV testing rate (ever tested) were 6% and 11.4% respectively. The HIV testing rate was lower for older people (aOR = 0.19 (95% CI 0.09–0.41 for 75+ versus 50–54 years); higher for those separated/divorced/widowed than those married (aOR = 1.46; 1.02–2.10); higher for “other Christians” than Muslims (aOR = 1.95; 1.06–3.58); and higher for primary (aOR = 1.54; 1.01–2.33) and secondary (aOR = 3.47; 2.11–5.70) school graduates than those without education. HIV prevalence was lower for older people (aOR = 0.27; 0.11–0.66 for 75+ versus 50–54); and for Catholics compared to Muslims (aOR = 0.54; 0.34–0.85). The high HIV prevalence among older adults and the low HIV testing behaviour call for more efforts on HIV prevention, treatment and care.
Inhibition of HIV infection by the cytokine midkine.

The growth factor midkine (MK) has been reported to bind heparan sulfate and nucleolin, two components of the cell surface implicated in the attachment of HIV-1 particles. Here we show that synthetic and recombinant preparations of MK inhibit in a dose-dependent manner infection of cells by T-lymphocyte- and macrophage-tropic HIV-1 isolates. The binding of labeled MK to cells is prevented by excess unlabeled MK or by the anti-HIV pseudopeptide HB-19 that blocks HIV entry by forming a stable complex with the cell-surface-expressed nucleolin. MK mRNA is systematically expressed in adult peripheral blood lymphocytes from healthy donors, while its expression becomes markedly but transiently increased upon in vitro treatment of lymphocytes with IL-2 or IFN-gamma and activation of T-lymphocytes by PHA or antibodies specific to CD3/CD28. In MK-producing lymphocytes, MK is detectable at the cell surface where it colocalizes with the surface-expressed nucleolin. Finally, by using MK-producing CD4(+) and CD4(-) cell clones we show that HIV infection in cell cultures could be inhibited in both an autocrine and a paracrine manner. The potent and distinct anti-HIV action of MK along with its enhanced expression in lymphocytes by various physiological stimuli suggests that MK is a cytokine that could be implicated in HIV-induced pathogenesis.
Randomized, Sham-Controlled, Feasibility Trial of Hyperbaric Oxygen for Service Members With Postconcussion Syndrome

Background. Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and residual postconcussion syndrome (PCS) are common among combatants of the recent military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) is a proposed treatment but has not been rigorously studied for this condition. Objectives. In a secondary analysis, examine for possible effects on psychomotor (balance and fine motor) and cognitive performance 1 week after an HBO2 intervention in service members with PCS after mTBI. Methods. A randomized, double-blind, sham control, feasibility trial comparing pretreatment and posttreatment was conducted in 60 male active-duty marines with combat-related mTBI and PCS persisting for 3 to 36 months. Participants were randomized to 1 of 3 preassigned oxygen fractions (10.5%, 75%, or 100%) at 2.0 atmospheres absolute (ATA), resulting in respective groups with an oxygen exposure equivalent to (1) breathing surface air (Sham Air), (2) 100% oxygen at 1.5 ATA (1.5 ATAO2), and (3) 100% oxygen at 2.0 ATA (2.0 ATAO2). Over a 10-week period, participants received 40 hyperbaric chamber sessions of 60 minutes each. Outcome measures, including computerized posturography (balance), grooved pegboard (fine motor speed/dexterity), and multiple neuropsychological tests of cognitive performance, were collected preintervention and 1-week postintervention. Results. Despite the multiple sensitive cognitive and psychomotor measures analyzed at an unadjusted 5% significance level, this study demonstrated no immediate postintervention beneficial effect of exposure to either 1.5 ATAO2 or 2.0 ATAO2 compared with the Sham Air intervention. Conclusions. These results do not support the use of HBO2 to treat cognitive, balance, or fine motor deficits associated with mTBI and PCS.
The landscape context of cereal aphid–parasitoid interactions

Analyses at multiple spatial scales may show how important ecosystem services such as biological control are determined by processes acting on the landscape scale. We examined cereal aphid–parasitoid interactions in wheat fields in agricultural landscapes differing in structural complexity (32–100% arable land). Complex landscapes were associated with increased aphid mortality resulting from parasitism, but also with higher aphid colonization, thereby counterbalancing possible biological control by parasitoids and lastly resulting in similar aphid densities across landscapes. Thus, undisturbed perennial habitats appeared to enhance both pests and natural enemies. Analyses at multiple spatial scales (landscape sectors of 0.5–6 km diameter) showed that correlations between parasitism and percentage of arable land were significant at scales of 0.5–2 km, whereas aphid densities responded to percentage of arable land at scales of 1–6 km diameter. Hence, the higher trophic level populations appeared to be determined by smaller landscape sectors owing to dispersal limitation, showing the ‘functional spatial scale’ for species–specific landscape management.
Assessing health impact assessment: multidisciplinary and international perspectives

Health impact assessment (HIA) seeks to expand evaluation of policy and programmes in all sectors, both private and public, to include their impact on population health. While the idea that the public’s health is affected by a broad array of social and economic policies is not new and dates back well over two centuries, what is new is the notion—increasingly adopted by major health institutions, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Kingdom National Health Services (NHS)—that health should be an explicit consideration when evaluating all public policies. In this article, it is argued that while HIA has the potential to enhance recognition of societal determinants of health and of intersectoral responsibility for health, its pitfalls warrant critical attention. Greater clarity is required regarding criteria for initiating, conducting, and completing HIA, including rules pertaining to decision making, enforcement, compliance, plus paying for their conduct. Critical debate over the promise, process, and pitfalls of HIA needs to be informed by multiple disciplines and perspectives from diverse people and regions of the world.
The CUSBEA program: Twenty years after

The CUSBEA (China–United States Biochemistry Examination and Application) program was implemented during the 8 years between 1982 and 1989, with a total of 422 Ph.D. students selected and placed in over more than 90 top universities in the United States (1–3). The original aim of this program was to train bright young Ph.D. scientists in the field of Biochemistry and molecular biology, with an expectation that they will eventually return to China to promote research and education in this and related areas. As a CUSBEA fellow of 1985 (Class IV), I put forth this article to express my great appreciation to those people involved, especially in remembrance of late Prof. Ray Wu, the initiator of the CUSBEA program who suddenly passed away on February 10, 2008.
A direct digital frequency synthesizer with fourth-order phase domain /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ noise shaper and 12-bit current-steering DAC

This paper presents a direct digital frequency synthesizer (DDFS) with a 16-bit accumulator, a fourth-order phase domain single-stage /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ interpolator, and a 300-MS/s 12-bit current-steering DAC based on the Q/sup 2/ Random Walk switching scheme. The /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ interpolator is used to reduce the phase truncation error and the ROM size. The implemented fourth-order single-stage /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ noise shaper reduces the effective phase bits by four and reduces the ROM size by 16 times. The DDFS prototype is fabricated in a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology with active area of 1.11mm/sup 2/ including a 12-bit DAC. The measured DDFS spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is greater than 78 dB using a reduced ROM with 8-bit phase, 12-bit amplitude resolution and a size of 0.09 mm/sup 2/. The total power consumption of the DDFS is 200mW with a 3.3-V power supply.
Application of lung segmentation algorithm to disease quantification from CT images

Lung segmentation is a powerful tool in medical imaging. It can be used in quantification of the lung disease progression, regression or stagnation, and change in the visual extent of disease over time is an important marker of response to therapy and a predictor of mortality. In this work we present a lung disease quantification method that we applied on the baseline and follow-up lung CT images. We proposed a new method for disease progression based on standard segmentation and registration techniques. The main scope of the work is to allow the radiologists to measure volumetric changes of the lungs and to calculate the proportion of the functional reduction of the healthy parenchyma area of the patients with the pleural disease, mesothelioma, and other lung diseases. The proposed method compares the segmented area that is not affected by the disease inside the parenchyma of the original and the registered follow-up exam of the same patient. By calculating the area of the healthy tissue in parenchyma, we can conclude that: if the area of healthy tissue is larger than on the follow-up scan, that the disease progressed, otherwise, the disease regressed. Preprocessing of the images was done by registration and transformation of the images by affine and non-rigid B-spline method. Region growing algorithm is used for segmentation and by comparison of segmented structures from those images resulted in determining the percentage of disease progression, which we compared to visual observers. Total number of 15 patients was taken for testing; total of 1584 CT slices. For the verification of the results, Dice similarity coefficient is used for segmentation accuracy, and in order to compare the results of quantification of the disease with the manual findings, 3D volume of the lungs is measured for each patient and compared with the clinical findings. Pearson correlation coefficient shows significant correlation of our method with visual observers and that our method has high diagnostic accuracy.
Patient-Centered Medical Homes in 2016

There is much information in the medical literature concerning the medical home concept. Each medical practice must utilize that literature to devise a system of care—a patient-centered medical home—that best meets the needs of patients, families, and practice staff. This article is Goldsboro Pediatrics' attempt to describe its system of care, its patient-centered medical home.
Adult Male Involvement in Reproductive Health: An Ethnographic Study in a Community of São Paulo City, Brazil

The purpose of this research was to explore the involvement in reproductive health of adult men in a low-income community in São Paulo City, Brazil. The ethnonursing research method was used and data were collected through interviews with seven key and eight general informants. Lack of common sex education was found and informants’ knowledge depended on their own families’ involvement and individual life experience with machismo. Informants’ behaviors and attitudes toward women were constructed by their own male-centered values. Leininger’s culture care modes were used to explain culturally meaningful nursing care actions and decisions.
Identification of a novel zinc finger gene, zf5‐3, as a potential mediator of neuroblastoma differentiation

We established a unique parental neuroblastoma cell line, NUB‐7, which mimics the bipotentiality of neuroblastoma in vivo along neuronal and Schwann cell lineages following dibutyryl cAMP and retinoic acid treatments, respectively. Differential display identified a putative novel zinc finger gene as a potential differentiation‐responsive gene coincident with retinoic acid treatment of NUB‐7. This cDNA clone, now designated zf5‐3, was mapped to chromosome 19 using somatic cell hybrids, and a larger cDNA clone further localized this gene to band 13.1–13.2 by fluorescent in situ hybridization. zf5‐3 possesses 4 characteristic zinc finger DNA‐binding motifs as determined by its nucleic acid and proposed amino acid sequence. Expression of zf5‐3 is restricted to fetal neuronal, hepatic and renal tissues and their tumor‐derived cell lines, including 8/9 neuroblastomas and 2/2 malignant rhabdoid tumors of kidney. The restricted expression in the kidney of zf5‐3 to collecting tubules and ureter epithelium is suggestive of an ectodermal histogenesis of malignant rhabdoid tumors of kidney. During development of the fetal human brain, high levels of zf5‐3 mRNA are restricted to the mitotically active, undifferentiated neuroblasts. Morphological evidence of overt differentiation was generally accompanied by a marked loss in zf5‐3 expression. Therefore, the neuronal tissue expression profile and the down‐regulation coincident with retinoic acid–induced neuroblastoma maturation implicate zf5‐3 as a potential mediator of their differentiation. Int. J. Cancer 81:970–978, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Reproducing Earth's kernel: Uncertainty of the shape of the core‐mantle boundary from PKP and PcP travel times

Within ray theory, travel times sample a finite set of points on the core-mantle boundary (CMB). Only if the CMB is smooth can we estimate its shape from travel times. The assumed degree of smoothness affects the uncertainty of the estimate. We find lower bounds on the uncertainty of the CMB shape by assuming (1) travel time errors are independent and identically distributed with zero mean and known variance, (2) linearization does not compromise accuracy, (3) event locations are exact, (4) radial velocity follows the IASP91 model, and (5) the only three-dimensional structure is a low-degree spherical harmonic perturbation to the CMB. We compute confidence intervals and simultaneous confidence envelopes for the CMB with a new technique based on reproducing kernels. Simultaneous confidence envelopes have a specified probability of containing the entire CMB, rather than just one point on the CMB, and thus allow inferences about the CMB shape. Suppose the standard deviation of travel time errors is 0.25 s (it is probably closer to 1.0 s), and that the CMB has a degree 4 spherical harmonic expansion. Then the width of a 95% confidence envelope around the least squares estimate of the CMB using 776,958 PKP phases and 84,947 PcP phases ranges from 0.32 km under Europe and Tonga to a maximum of 1.06 km under the mid-Pacific, with a median width of 0.58 km. If the CMB has structure up to degree 20, the envelope width ranges from 8.14 km to 245.0 km. It is wider than 40.5 km for 50% of the CMB, and wider than 67.3 km over 25% of the CMB. We construct a degree 20 CMB model extending almost 93 km into the lower mantle beneath the mid-Pacific that changes travel times by only 0.1 s rms.
Estrogen modulates intestinal mucus physiochemical properties and protects against oxidant injury

BACKGROUND The intestinal epithelial barrier and the intestinal mucus layer may be protective against trauma/hemorrhage shock–induced injury in females. This effect is related to estradiol (E2) concentrations and varies with the menstrual cycle. We examined the ability of E2 to impact the physiochemical properties of intestinal mucus and to protect against oxidant-related injury to the mucus and underlying intestinal epithelial barrier in an in vitro model. METHODS Non–mucus-producing (HT29) and mucus-producing (HT29-MTX) intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) were exposed to E2 or no E2 for 3 days and then grown to confluence on transwell plates. Nonadherent and adherent mucus content was indexed by analysis of mucin using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and mucus viscosity (cp) and elasticity (G’) were determined by rheometry. In additional experiments, IEC groups were exposed to hydrogen peroxide and IEC apoptosis as well as permeability (fluorescein isothiocyanate–dextran) and oxidative damage determined by measuring lipid hydroperoxide and protein carbonyl content. RESULTS There were nearly 50% increases in the mucin content of both the nonadherent and adherent mucus layer(s) in HT29-MTX cells exposed to estrogen. Estrogen treatment also resulted in a twofold and eightfold increase in mucus viscosity and elasticity versus HT29-MTX cells with no estrogen exposure, respectively. Oxygen radical damage to the mucus layer caused by H2O2 was significantly reduced by E2 compared with HT29-MTX + H2O2 without estrogen. Estrogen treatment resulted in significant reductions in both apoptosis and permeability seen after H2O2 challenge. CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest that sex differences in gut barrier function following trauma/hemorrhage shock may in part be related to differences in intestinal mucus content and the resultant physiochemical and oxidant-resistant properties of the mucus layer.
Characterization of superoxide dismutase in Streptococcus thermophilus

Streptococcus thermophilus AO54 possesses a single manganese-containing superoxide dismutase (MnSOD). The enzyme was found to be insensitive to cyanide or to a modified H2O2 treatment. The enzyme is expressed in a growth-phase-dependent fashion, increasing three- to fourfold upon entry into stationary phase. The specific activity for MnSOD was the same under anaerobic or aerobic conditions and was not induced by the presence of paraquat under aerobic conditions.
Cortical activity preceding self‐initiated and externally triggered voluntary movement

The cortical electromyogram (EMG) activity, preceding voluntary movemnts, was recorded in 12 normal subjects in two different situations: first, when movements, were self‐induced by the subjects by their own will; and second, in response to threshold electrical stimulation of the index finger, a brief flash of a light‐emitting diode (LED), and a click. Four types of movements were studied: (a) fast extension of the right wrist, (b) fast supination of the left wrist, (c) either movement depending on the subject's own decision or on which index finger was stimulated, and (d) fast sequential right and left wrist extension. In all subjects, self‐initiated movements were preceded by a typical Bereitschaftspotential (BP) starting 1, 290 ± 208 ms before the EMG discharge. When the same movements were triggered by an external clue, there was no BP. The BP was present, although with a shorter duration, when subjects were asked to wait for a brief period after index finger stimulation, before extending the right wrist. From these results, we conclude that the BP is closely associated with the timing of internally generated movements, and that different cortical areas are probably involved in the generation of self‐induced and externally referenced movements in humans.
A novel channel modeling technique for performance analysis of Bluetooth baseband packets

Short-range wireless links are susceptible to high bit error rate (BER) conditions due to physical layer impairments such as human body obstruction, multipath fading and clutter. The resulting network performance will depend on physical layer aspects such as the degree of forward error correction and packet size. This paper introduces a new novel discrete event simulation technique to model the performance of a Bluetooth piconet under variable loading and BER conditions. Critical points for proper packet types selection in Bluetooth were identified. The throughput and packet delay statistics were also simulated for a 2-slave Bluetooth piconet. Results show that, when the BER changes from 10/sup -6/ to 10/sup -4/, the one-way delay for 5-slot unprotected packet type increases dramatically, in this case from 53 ms to 373 ms for 90% of packets transmitted. However, the delay of 5-slot protected packet types remain constant for the same range of BER conditions (90% of packets with a delay of 77 ms or less).
Hybrid Indoor-Based WLAN-WSN Localization Scheme for Improving Accuracy Based on Artificial Neural Network

In indoor environments, WiFi (RSS) based localization is sensitive to various indoor fading effects and noise during transmission, which are the main causes of localization errors that affect its accuracy. Keeping in view those fading effects, positioning systems based on a single technology are ineffective in performing accurate localization. For this reason, the trend is toward the use of hybrid positioning systems (combination of two or more wireless technologies) in indoor/outdoor localization scenarios for getting better position accuracy. This paper presents a hybrid technique to implement indoor localization that adopts fingerprinting approaches in both WiFi and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). This model exploits machine learning, in particular Artificial Natural Network (ANN) techniques, for position calculation. The experimental results show that the proposed hybrid system improved the accuracy, reducing the average distance error to 1.05 m by using ANN. Applying Genetic Algorithm (GA) based optimization technique did not incur any further improvement to the accuracy. Compared to the performance of GA optimization, the nonoptimized ANN performed better in terms of accuracy, precision, stability, and computational time. The above results show that the proposed hybrid technique is promising for achieving better accuracy in real-world positioning applications.