Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Male-female inequalities result in submission to high-risk sex in many societies. Special report: women and HIV.

The prevalence of HIV infection is increasing in women throughout the world, and the four basic prevention recommendations depend upon people having control over their sexual relations. In many societies, however, women have no control over their sexuality or over their partners' sex behavior. In areas which have been badly hurt by economic recession, many women and girls find economic refuge in "sexual networking," or exchanging sexual favors for money, gifts, and protection. Women with no economic independence also feel constrained to adopt whatever behavior is necessary to protect their marital status, including overlooking their partner's infidelities. The idealization of virginity in many cultures means that women and girls are deliberately kept in ignorance of basic reproductive and anatomical facts. Virgins are also prized by older men attempting to avoid contacting HIV infections (of course, these men may already be infected). Motherhood also has an elevated status, and no method of HIV prevention is available which also allows conception to occur. A cultural emphasis on male sexual pleasure also increases a woman's risk of infection as women adopt practices such as "dry sex" and anal intercourse and as women suffer from forced sex. The following policies and programs would reduce women's vulnerability to HIV infection: 1) improving women's status; 2) supporting the development of a female-controlled preventive technology; 3) increasing availability and accessibility of sexually transmitted disease services; 4) increasing women's knowledge of their bodies and of sexuality as well as their skills in negotiating safer sexual behaviors with their partners; and 5) promoting sexual and family responsibility among adolescent boys and men.
Phase II study of temsirolimus (CCI-779), a novel inhibitor of mTOR, in heavily pretreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

PURPOSE In this study, two doses of temsirolimus (CCI-779), a novel inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin, were evaluated for efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who had been heavily pretreated. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients (n = 109) were randomly assigned to receive 75 or 250 mg of temsirolimus weekly as a 30-minute intravenous infusion. Patients were evaluated for tumor response, time to tumor progression, adverse events, and pharmacokinetics of temsirolimus. RESULTS Temsirolimus produced an objective response rate of 9.2% (10 partial responses) in the intent-to-treat population. Median time to tumor progression was 12.0 weeks. Efficacy was similar for both dose levels but toxicity was more common with the higher dose level, especially grade 3 or 4 depression (10% of patients at the 250-mg dose level, 0% at the 75-mg dose level). The most common temsirolimus-related adverse events of all grades were mucositis (70%), maculopapular rash (51%), and nausea (43%). The most common, clinically important grade 3 or 4 adverse events were mucositis (9%), leukopenia (7%), hyperglycemia (7%), somnolence (6%), thrombocytopenia (5%), and depression (5%). CONCLUSION In heavily pretreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, 75 and 250 mg temsirolimus showed antitumor activity and 75 mg temsirolimus showed a generally tolerable safety profile.
Sequence analysis, expression, and binding activity of recombinant major outer sheath protein (Msp) of Treponema denticola

The gene encoding the major outer sheath protein (Msp) of the oral spirochete Treponema denticola ATCC 35405 was cloned, sequenced, and expressed in Escherichia coli. Preliminary sequence analysis showed that the 5' end of the msp gene was not present on the 5.5-kb cloned fragment described in a recent study (M. Haapasalo, K. H. Müller, V. J. Uitto, W. K. Leung, and B. C. McBride, Infect. Immun. 60:2058-2065,1992). The 5' end of msp was obtained by PCR amplification from a T. denticola genomic library, and an open reading frame of 1,629 bp was identified as the coding region for Msp by combining overlapping sequences. The deduced peptide consisted of 543 amino acids and had a molecular mass of 58,233 Da. The peptide had a typical prokaryotic signal sequence with a potential cleavage site for signal peptidase 1. Northern (RNA) blot analysis showing the msp transcript to be approximately 1.7 kb was consistent with the identification of a promoter consensus sequence located optimally upstream of msp and a transcription termination signal found downstream of the stop codon. The entire msp sequence was amplified from T. denticola genomic DNA and cloned in E. coli by using a tightly regulated T7 RNA polymerase vector system. Expression of Msp was toxic to E. coli when the entire msp gene was present. High levels of Msp were produced as inclusion bodies when the putative signal peptide sequence was deleted and replaced by a vector-encoded T7 peptide sequence. Recombinant Msp purified to homogeneity from a clone containing the full-length msp gene adhered to immobilized laminin and fibronectin but not to bovine serum albumin. Attachment of recombinant Msp was decreased in the presence of soluble substrate. Attachment of T. denticola to immobilized laminin and fibronectin was increased by pretreatment of the substrate with recombinant Msp. These studies lend further support to the hypothesis that Msp mediates the extracellular matrix binding activity of T. denticola.
Learning from Environmental Justice: A New Model for International Environmental Rights

This article proposes a model for engaging complex international environmental rights problems more systematically. Part II explores the characterization problem that stymies international law solutions to environmental harm to humans. Part III uses United States environmental justice litigation strategies as the basis for a model that assesses the human rights implications of environmental harm. Part IV examines the application of the model to sixteen case studies and suggests lessons for future advocacy efforts. The Article concludes in Part V with a call for greater coordination of environmental rights advocacy. The individual cases are catalogued in detail in the Appendix.
The Sociocultural Context of Breast Cancer Screening Among Korean Immigrant Women

Korean immigrant women, who compose 1 of 6 major subpopulations in Asian Americans in the United States, are reported to have far lower rates of breast cancer screening than do women in general. Despite the sporadically reported cognitive, affective, and environmental constraints to the screening practices, to date, no research has been conducted to investigate the sociocultural contexts within which women in this population seek help for breast health. The purpose of this study is to explore and interpret the sociocultural processes of breast cancer screening among Korean immigrant women using the grounded theory method. Twenty Korean immigrant women, aged between 20 and 81 years, participated in a set of 2 consecutive qualitative interviews conducted in the Korean language. The qualitative data were transcribed and analyzed using the constant comparison technique. "Balancing relationships within a discordant world" is the core concept of the process of breast cancer screening among Korean immigrant women. There are sociocultural discords in perceptions of breast cancer and screening procedures between Asian ways of thinking and Western biomedical premises. The elicited situation-specific theory sheds light on what Western healthcare professionals have missed and what they should consider in caring for culturally diverse populations.
Motivating Household Energy Conservation Using Feedback and Social Nudges: A Field Experiment

Motivating Household Energy Conservation Using Feedback and Social Nudges: A Field Experiment February 2016 Elizabeth Hunter, BA, University of Massachusetts Amherst M.S., University of Massachusetts Amherst Directed by: Christine Crago In the context of climate change and heightened concerns about our energy future, academics and policy makers have taken an interest in the different motivational factors influencing individuals’ energy-use behavior. One area of particular interest is the role of information and other non-financial motivators: When traditional financial incentives are not appropriate or inadequate, are there alternative means we can use to encourage energy conservation? Our research looks at the effect of two different types of information programs used to promote household energy conservation: feedback and social nudges. To do this we conducted a field experiment at a family housing complex where the cost of electricity is included in the rent. Sixty-four households participated in the study. After a pretreatment period, two-thirds of these households began to receive weekly Home Electricity Reports [HERs] in the mail with feedback on their electricity use. After four weeks, half of the households receiving HERs with feedback began to receive additional information about how their electricity consumption compared to their neighbors. This phase of the experiment lasted for another five weeks. We then monitored households’ electricity-use to see if we could detect any changes in energy-use behavior. Overall we estimated a 1.4 percent reduction in energy-use as a result of the feedback treatment. This figure increased to a 3.9 percent reduction when the sample was restricted to households that received low-user status during the pre-treatment period. Low-users also appeared to react to the social nudge, however, the reaction depended on whether the
French Oil Protectionism and the International Political Economy of Rent Seeking

Quantitative protectionism, more precisely import substituting industrialization through quantitative trade restrictions, has been one of the most popular development policies of the 20th century. The researches led around Anne Krueger, based on scarce data from Third World countries, concluded on its overall inefficiency, caused by rising macroeconomic costs and rent capture. One of the most ambitious implementations of import substitution, French oil protectionism created detailed archival data which allow to quantify its costs and gains for more than half of the 20th century. We show that the yearly macroeconomic cost of the policy, an average of 3% of GDP, remained under control and gradually decreased from the 1960s. Detailed biases of quota allocations show that rent seeking linked to big companies and dominant geographical places remained limited. We show how the shifts in trade protection linked to the weight of social-administrative groups in quota juries brought the biggest imbalances to the system. After the discovery of oil in Algeria, social-administrative rent seeking increased the political instability of the Fourth Republic and peaked as soon as the end of the 1950s. Hence, in the case of French oil, quantitative protectionism was macroeconomically efficient in the long run, but created medium term political instability.
Willful Ignorance? The Dropout Crisis and United States Public Education Policy.

This paper takes a critical conceptual look at education policy and practice from the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 to the present. The paper examines the roots of current United States educational policies, and shows that, in some cases, well-intentioned efforts have had a negative impact on vulnerable populations such as minorities, immigrants, and the economically disadvantaged. It begins with a review of the discourse and literature on the history of these polices and their effect on at-risk students, and concludes with a look at research and a brief look at current practices that could enhance education and improve student outcomes. The paper describes the role Texas has played in the crafting of recent education policies, and uses the state as an example of the effect of current education
The Controversial M Cell

The Controversial M Cell. A recent publication by us bas been interpreted by some as arguing against the existence and importance of M cells. We suppose this is the reason we have been asked to write this “controversy. ” Regrettably for the controversy, neither our work nor we deny the existence of M cells. Rather, we have confirmed, conceivably ad nauseum, that M cells do exist and contribute importantly to the expression of electrical activity in the intact myocardium. What controversy there is relates to (1) whether there is an inhomogeneous transmural gradient for ventricular repolarization in normal hearts, and (2) why the electrophysiologic properties of different myocardial sites differ so markedly at the level of the isolated tissue and single cell and yet become so much more homogenous in the intact ventricle. These issues are addressed on the following pages.
Elevated hyaluronan and hyaluronan‐mediated motility receptor are associated with biochemical failure in patients with intermediate‐grade prostate tumors

The clinical course of prostate cancer (PCa) measured by biochemical failure (BF) after prostatectomy remains unpredictable in many patients, particularly in intermediate Gleason score (GS) 7 tumors, suggesting that identification of molecular mechanisms associated with aggressive PCa biology may be exploited for improved prognostication or therapy. Hyaluronan (HA) is a high molecular weight polyanionic carbohydrate produced by synthases (HAS1 through HAS3) and fragmented by oxidative/nitrosative stress and hyaluronidases (HYAL1 through HYAL4, SPAM1) common in PCa microenvironments. HA and HA fragments interact with receptors CD44 and hyaluronan‐mediated motility receptor (HMMR), resulting in increased tumor aggressiveness in experimental PCa models. This study evaluated the association of HA‐related molecules with BF after prostatectomy in GS7 tumors.
Ca2+-dependent Potentiation of the Nonselective Cation Channel TRPV4 Is Mediated by a C-terminal Calmodulin Binding Site*

Most Ca2+-permeable ion channels are inhibited by increases in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), thus preventing potentially deleterious rises in [Ca2+]i. In this study, we demonstrate that currents through the osmo-, heat- and phorbol ester-sensitive, Ca2+-permeable nonselective cation channel TRPV4 are potentiated by intracellular Ca2+. Spontaneous TRPV4 currents and currents stimulated by hypotonic solutions or phorbol esters were reduced strongly at all potentials in the absence of extracellular Ca2+. The other permeant divalent cations Ba2+ and Sr2+ were less effective than Ca2+ in supporting channel activity. An intracellular site of Ca2+ action was supported by the parallel decrease in spontaneous currents and [Ca2+]i on removal of extracellular Ca2+ and the ability of Ca2+ release from intracellular stores to restore TRPV4 activity in the absence of extracellular Ca2+. During TRPV4 activation by hypotonic solutions or phorbol esters, Ca2+ entry through the channel increased the rate and extent of channel activation. Currents were also potentiated by ionomycin in the presence of extracellular Ca2+. Ca2+-dependent potentiation of TRPV4 was often followed by inhibition. By mutagenesis, we localized the structural determinant of Ca2+-dependent potentiation to an intracellular, C-terminal calmodulin binding domain. This domain binds calmodulin in a Ca2+-dependent manner. TRPV4 mutants that did not bind calmodulin lacked Ca2+-dependent potentiation. We conclude that TRPV4 activity is tightly controlled by intracellular Ca2+. Ca2+ entry increases both the rate and extent of channel activation by a calmodulin-dependent mechanism. Excessive increases in [Ca2+]i via TRPV4 are prevented by a Ca2+-dependent negative feedback mechanism.
Cohort Case—Control Design and Analysis for Clustered Failure‐Time Data

Summary. Cohort case‐control design is an efficient and economical design to study risk factors for disease incidence or mortality in a large cohort. In the last few decades, a variety of cohort case‐control designs have been developed and theoretically justified. These designs have been exclusively applied to the analysis of univariate failure‐time data. In this work, a cohort case‐control design adapted to multivariate failure‐time data is developed. A risk set sampling method is proposed to sample controls from nonfailures in a large cohort for each case matched by failure time. This method leads to a pseudolikelihood approach for the estimation of regression parameters in the marginal proportional hazards model (Cox, 1972, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B34, 187–220), where the correlation structure between individuals within a cluster is left unspecified. The performance of the proposed estimator is demonstrated by simulation studies. A bootstrap method is proposed for inferential purposes. This methodology is illustrated by a data example from a child vitamin A supplementation trial in Nepal (Nepal Nutrition Intervention Project‐Sarlahi, or NNIPS).
Increased Dispersion of Refractoriness in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation in the Early Postoperative Period after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Preoperative EP Characteristics of Post‐CABG AF. Introduction: Increased atrial effective refractory period (AERP) dispersion is well correlated with vulnerability to atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the preoperative electrophysiologic characteristics of atrial abnormalities that may play an important role in the development of AF postoperatively in patients with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) have not been investigated in detail.
Neonatal capsaicin treatment abolishes formalin‐induced spinal PGE2 release

WE investigated the effect of neonatal capsaicin treatment on formalin-evoked pain behavior and spinal levels of nociceptive neuromodulators using in vivo intrathecal microdialysis in conscious adult rats and age-matched controls. Capsaicin-treated rats displayed thermal hypoalgesia and a significant decrease in tissue content of calcitonin gene-related peptide. Paw swelling, flinching and release of spinal prostaglandin E2 induced by injection of formalin into the hindpaw were also reduced in capsaicin-treated rats compared with controls, whereas glutamate, aspartate and taurine release was unaffected. These data suggest that formalin-induced inflammation, pain behavior and spinal prostaglandin E2 release are mediated by mechanisms sensitive to neonatal capsaicin while the formalin-evoked release of amino acids in the spinal cord is not.
Angiotensin Receptor Blockade and Arterial Compliance in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Pilot Study

Background: Almost 20 million people in the US have chronic kidney disease (CKD). Cardiovascular disease and arterial wall abnormalities are common in this population. Because angiotensin II may have adverse effects on the arterial wall, we hypothesized that an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) would improve arterial compliance as compared with placebo in subjects with CKD. Methods: We performed a double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study in which 25 subjects with stages 2 or 3 CKD and proteinuria <1 g were randomized to either the ARB, eprosartan, or placebo and titrated to achieve a goal blood pressure (BP) <130/85 mm Hg. Arterial compliance was measured at baseline and at 8 weeks. Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups and included mean estimated glomerular filtration rate 63 ± 14 ml/min/1.73 m2, heart rate 76 ± 10 beats/min, BP 142 ± 12/81 ± 8 mm Hg, 64% diabetic, 44% male, and 40% white, though subjects in the eprosartan group were younger (60 ± 12 vs. 70 ± 6 years, p = 0.01). There were no significant differences between the groups in large or small artery compliance measurements either at baseline or at 8 weeks, but there was a statistically significant improvement from baseline in small artery compliance in the eprosartan group (from median 2.5 ml/mm Hg × 100 [90% CI (1.1, 4.7)] to 4.0 ml/mm Hg × 100 [90% CI (1.9, 6.7)] (p = 0.01)) not seen in the placebo group. Conclusion: Use of an ARB to achieve recommended BP is associated with improved small artery compliance in people with CKD, though larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.
A cooperation strategy for a group of object lifting robots

The ultimate goal of this research is to study information, cooperation strategies, and behaviors required by a group of behavior based mobile robots for lifting and transferring an object with unknown mass and center of gravity. This paper presents some of the investigation results of the first stage of the project, lifting the object. After discussing the problems facing a group of object lifting robots, a distributed cooperation strategy, sensory system, and required behaviors for multiple cooperative object lifting robots are introduced. In the proposed cooperation strategy, when the object's tilt angle passes a defined value, the robot(s) having the lowest contact point with the object moves upward faster while the others slow down and stop. The sensory system is designed so that each robot is able to measure the object's tilt angle and communicate with the other robots when required. Sufficient conditions for applicability of the proposed algorithm are provided and the validity of the studied approach is verified through computer simulations and experiments.
Synchronous Primary Carcinomas of Cervix and Ovary: A Case Report

Synchronous tumors occur rarely in female genital tract, though it is one among potential sites for synchronous malignancies. In our case report a 36 year old female is diagnosed with two primary malignancies simultaneously; squamous cell carcinoma cervix and bilateral papillary cystadenocarcinoma ovary. Their distinct histological features and sparing of uterine corpus and fallopian tube helped in establishing the diagnosis as two separate primaries rather as metastatic spread of one primary malignancy. The objective is to strengthen the suggestion of thorough evaluation of whole female genital tract in case of suspected tumor, as secondary Mullerian system theory explains the possibility of synchronous cancer in female genital tract.
Segmentation of Lecture Videos Based on Spontaneous Speech Recognition

In the past decade, the number of digital academic lecture videos has increased dramatically as recording technology has become more affordable. There are technical problems in the use of recorded lectures for learning: the problem of easy access to the multimedia lecture video content and the problem of finding the appropriate information. The first step to a solution is to segment the videos into smaller cohesive areas. In this paper, we present a study on segmenting recorded lecture videos based on their transcripts with standard linear text segmentation algorithm (LTSA). Our evaluation dataset is based on different languages and various speakers' recordings. Three different tests analyze the outcome of ten algorithms: 1) Whether LTSA is able to segment the transcript into the slide transitions. 2) The presentation slides are used as an additional resource for the segmenting procedure. 3) Analyzing the topic boundaries independently from the slide transitions.