Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and risk factors for efavirenz-based antiretroviral treatment–associated severe vitamin D deficiency

AbstractInitiation of efavirenz-based combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is associated with Vitamin D deficiency, but the risk factors including efavirenz pharmacokinetics for cART-induced severe vitamin D deficiency (SVDD) and the impact of anti-tuberculosis (TB) cotreatment are not explored. We investigated the prevalence of SVDD in HIV and TB-HIV coinfected patients and associated risk factors for treatment-induced SVDD.Treatment-naïve Ethiopian HIV patients with (n = 102) or without (n = 89) TB co-infection were enrolled prospectively and received efavirenz-based cART. In TB-HIV coinfected patients, rifampicin-based anti-TB treatment was initiated 4 or 8 weeks before starting cART. Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 [OH]D), cholesterol and 4-beta hydroxycholesterol concentrations were measured at baseline, 4th, 16th, and 48th week of cART. Plasma efavirenz concentrations were determined at 4th and 16th weeks of cART.TB-HIV patients had significantly lower plasma 25 (OH)D3 levels than HIV-only patients at baseline. TB co-infection, low Karnofsky score, high viral load, and high CYP3A activity as measured by plasma 4&bgr;-hydroxycholesterol/cholesterol ratios were significant predictors of low 25 (OH)D3 levels at baseline. In HIV-only patients, initiation of efavirenz-based cART increased the prevalence of SVVD from 27% at baseline to 76%, 79%, and 43% at 4th, 16th, and 48th weeks of cART, respectively. The median 25 (OH)D3 levels declined from baseline by −40%, −50%, and −14% at 4th, 16th, and 48th weeks of cART, respectively.In TB-HIV patients, previous anti-TB therapy had no influence on 25 (OH)D3 levels, but the initiation of efavirenz-based cART increased the prevalence of SVDD from 57% at baseline to 70% and 72% at the 4th and 16th weeks of cART, respectively. Median plasma 25 (OH)D3 declined from baseline by −17% and −21% at week 4 and 16 of cART, respectively.Our results indicate low plasma cholesterol, high CYP3A activity, and high plasma efavirenz concentrations as significant predictors of early efavirenz-based cART-induced vitamin D deficiency. Low plasma 25 (OH)D3 level at baseline is associated with TB co-infection and HIV diseases progression. Initiation of efavirenz-based cART is associated with high incidence of SVDD, whereas rifampicin based anti-TB therapy co-treatment has no significant effect. Supplementary vitamin D during cART initiation may be beneficial for HIV patients regardless of TB coinfection.
The Gap between Intention and Action: Altered Connectivity and GABA-mediated Synchrony in Autism

While significant and observable challenges in these core domains may be assigned the specific diagnosis of autism, it does not follow that the diagnosis of autism reflects a specific neurobiological mechanism. Large-scale population studies indicate that the majority of autism risk is rooted in genetic factors, but there is significant heterogeneity across individuals, with common, rare, inherited, and de-novo variants in hundreds of individual genes contributing to liability for autism2. Similarly, functional MRI studies have demonstrated significant differences in cortical activation patterns in autism, compared with neurotypical controls, but these patterns are also characterized by greater “noise” – a tendency toward individualized variations in functional connectivity that may not be shared across individuals3.
Management and Treatment of Human Lice

Of the three lice (head, body, and pubic louse) that infest humans, the body louse is the species involved in epidemics of louse-borne typhus, trench fever, and relapsing fever, but all the three cause pediculosis. Their infestations occur today in many countries despite great efforts to maintain high standards of public health. In this review, literature searches were performed through PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar, and EBSCOhost, with key search words of “Pediculus humanus”, “lice infestation”, “pediculosis”, and “treatment”; and controlled clinical trials were viewed with great interest. Removing lice by hand or with a lice comb, heating infested clothing, and shaving the scalp were some of the oldest methods of controlling human lice. Despite the introduction of other resources including cresol, naphthalene, sulfur, mercury, vinegar, petroleum, and insecticides, the numbers of lice infestation cases and resistance have increased. To date, viable alternative treatments to replace insecticides have been developed experimentally in vitro. Today, the development of new treatment strategies such as symbiotic treatment and synergistic treatment (antibiotics + ivermectin) in vitro has proved effective and is promising. Here, we present an overview on managing and treating human lice and highlight new strategies to more effectively fight pediculosis and prevent resistance.
Use of Constant or Increasing Levels of Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) in Broiler Diets 1

A study was conducted to evaluate the use of constant or increasing levels of Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) in diets for broilers. Diets were formulated for starter (0-14 d), grower (14 to 35 d) and finisher (35 to 42 d) periods to contain 0, 15, or 30% DDGS. Diets were formulated on digestible amino acid basis to meet current U.S. poultry industry nutrient levels and were maintained isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Varying levels of DDGS were fed during the study; with some birds receiving a constant level while others received increasing amounts as the bird aged. The DDGS levels used in the study were as follows (starter-grower-finisher, %): 1) 0-0-0; 2) 0-15-15; 3) 0-15-30; 4) 0-30-30; 5) 15-15-15; 6) 15-15-30; 7) 15-30-30; 8) 30-30-30. Starter diets were crumbled, while grower and finisher diets were pelleted. Each of the dietary treatments was fed to four replicate pens of 25 birds each. Body weights and feed consumption were determined at 14, 35 and 42 d of age. At the conclusion of the study five representative birds per pen were processed for dressing percentage and parts yield. The results indicated that increasing DDGS levels had a trend to reduce the weight:volume ratio and visually decreased pellet quality. Diets containing 15% DDGS could be fed throughout the entire feeding period of 1 to 42 d of age with no adverse effects on live performance or carcass composition when diets were formulated on a digestible amino acid basis. Inclusion of 30% DDGS in the diet reduced the weight:volume ratio and markedly reduced pellet quality. Birds fed diets with 30% DDGS during the starter or grower periods had reduced body weight, elevated feed conversion and typically had reduced breast meat yield, compared to birds fed diets with 15% DDGS or birds fed the control diet with no DDGS. Feeding DDGS for the last seven days prior to slaughter after being fed diets with 15% during starter or grower period might possibly be acceptable in terms of body weight gain and feed conversion but still resulted in a significant reduction in breast meat yield. It is possible that some of the essential amino acids that were not considered in the formulation of the diets may become marginal or deficient in diets with 30% DDGS. Further studies are suggested to evaluate needs for these amino acids in diets with high levels of DDGS.
Stochastic NANOG fluctuations allow mouse embryonic stem cells to explore pluripotency

Heterogeneous expression of the transcription factor NANOG has been linked to the existence of various functional states in pluripotent stem cells. This heterogeneity seems to arise from fluctuations of Nanog expression in individual cells, but a thorough characterization of these fluctuations and their impact on the pluripotent state is still lacking. Here, we have used a novel fluorescent reporter to investigate the temporal dynamics of NANOG expression in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), and to dissect the lineage potential of mESCs at different NANOG states. Our results show that stochastic NANOG fluctuations are widespread in mESCs, with essentially all expressing cells showing fluctuations in NANOG levels, even when cultured in ground-state conditions (2i media). We further show that fluctuations have similar kinetics when mESCs are cultured in standard conditions (serum plus leukemia inhibitory factor) or ground-state conditions, implying that NANOG fluctuations are inherent to the pluripotent state. We have then compared the developmental potential of low-NANOG and high-NANOG mESCs, grown in different conditions, and confirm that mESCs are more susceptible to enter differentiation at the low-NANOG state. Further analysis by gene expression profiling reveals that low-NANOG cells have marked expression of lineage-affiliated genes, with variable profiles according to the signalling environment. By contrast, high-NANOG cells show a more stable expression profile in different environments, with minimal expression of lineage markers. Altogether, our data support a model in which stochastic NANOG fluctuations provide opportunities for mESCs to explore multiple lineage options, modulating their probability to change functional state.
George N. Clements and Samuel Jay Keyser. CV Phonology: A Generative Theory of the Syllable . Linguistic Inquiry Monograph No. 9. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 1983. Pp. xii + 191. $18.85.

time of that of the main verb, Cree uses £• + *f-", and then *kicipoints to something yet to take place". It would have been advisable to remind the reader that these forms appear only in certain clause types. A. rather surprising omission also appears on p.450, during the discussion of WH-word questions. It is explained that the first vowel of a verb form undergoes initial change in present general questions but not in questions denoting present action in progress. How, then, are verbs marked (as they must be in some way) in the latter case? It is noted that in who/what questions, the rest of the sentence can be phrased as a relative clause with appropriate relative clause marking; however, we are not told what happens in questions introduced with "where", "when", "how", etc. (In Moose Cree, they most typically take the preverb *>; this can, however, also be deleted.) As another note, a generalization which it might have been useful to make in the discussion of simple conjunct forms (pp. 567-0, 587, 613) is that whether indicative or subjunctive, these share the feature that they always denote a hypothetical event or state (James 1983: 348-353). However, apart from occasional points such as these, the descriptions of Cree structure are generally thorough and excellent. As well as being an invaluable teaching text, SC is a very useful and informative reference work for anyone interested in the grammar of Cree.
A Mix Inexact-Quadratic Fuzzy Water Resources Management Model of Floodplain (IQT-WMMF) for Regional Sustainable Development of Dahuangbaowa, China

In this study, a mix inexact-quadratic fuzzy water resources management model of floodplain (IQT-WMMF) has developed, through incorporating techniques of credibility-constrained programming (CP), two-stage programming (TP), interval-parameter programming (IPP) and quadratic programming (QP) within a general framework for limited data availability. The IQT-WMMF can provide an effective linkage between system benefit and the associated economic penalty attributed to the violation of the pre-regulated water target under limited data availabilities expressed probabilistic distributions and interval values; meanwhile, imprecise and no-linear economic data would be resolved. The developed method is applied to a real case of planning water resources in the Dahuangbaowa floodplain, China, with the aim to develop a sustainable water resources management in the study region. A number of scenarios with wet land expansion strategies under various credibility levels are analyzed, implying that different policies can lead to varied water-allocation patterns, system benefits, and system-failure risks. The results discover that water deficits and flood damages have brought negative effects on economic development synchronously, which need to effective plans to reduce losses of shortages and floods for achieving higher system benefits. Tradeoffs between economic benefit and system-failure risk can support generating an increased robustness in risk control for water resources allocation under uncertainties, which is beneficial to adjust the current water-allocation sustainably.
Dynamics of anti-VAR2CSA immunoglobulin G response in a cohort of senegalese pregnant women.

BACKGROUND Pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) is precipitated by the accumulation of parasites in the placental intervillous spaces and causes maternal anemia and low birth weight. In PAM, placental parasites adhere to chondroitin sulfate A (CSA) through a unique set of variant surface antigens (VSAPAM). Several studies have shown that 1 var gene, var2csa, is transcribed at high levels and expressed in CSA-binding Plasmodium falciparum parasites. METHODS Plasma levels of anti-VAR2CSA immunoglobulin G (IgG) in Senegalese women were measured during pregnancy by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using 3 recombinant proteins representing 3 domains of the var2csa gene product. RESULTS The 3 recombinant proteins were specifically recognized by plasma from pregnant women but not by control plasma. A parity-dependent recognition pattern was observed with 2 of the 3 VAR2CSA antigens. A kinetic study demonstrated that a single P. falciparum infection was able to trigger a VAR2CSA-specific antibody response. Among women with infected placentas, women with high anti-VAR2CSA IgG levels at enrollment were more likely to present with a past infection than with an acute/chronic infection. CONCLUSIONS Anti-VAR2CSA IgGs are involved in clinical protection against pregnancy-associated malaria and strengthens the hope for making a VAR2CSA-based vaccine.
A relation-based language interpreter for a content addressable file store

The combination of the Content Addressable File Store (CAFS®; CAFS is a registered trademark of International Computers Limited) and an extension of relational analysis is described. This combination allows a simple and compact implementation of a database query and update language (FIDL). The language has one of the important properties of a “natural” language interface by using a “world model” derived from the relational analysis. The interpreter (FLIN) takes full advantage of the CAFS by employing a unique database storage technique which results in a fast response to both queries and updates.
A low-glycemic index diet in the treatment of pediatric obesity.

CONTEXT Conventional dietary approaches for the treatment of obesity have generally yielded disappointing results. OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of a low-glycemic index (GI) diet compared with a standard reduced-fat diet in the management of pediatric obesity. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study of children attending an outpatient pediatric obesity program from September 1997 to December 1998. SETTING Academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS One hundred seven obese but otherwise healthy children. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Changes in body mass index (BMI [calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters]) and body weight from first to last clinic visit. RESULTS A total of 64 patients received the low glycemic index diet and 43 received the reduced-fat diet for 4.3 vs 4.2 months' mean duration of follow-up, with 3.3 vs 3.3 mean number of visits, respectively. Body mass index (-1.53 kg/m(2) [95% confidence interval, -1.94 to -1.12] vs -0.06 kg/m(2) [-0.56 to + 0. 44], P<. 001) and body weight (-2.03 kg [95% confidence interval -3. 19 to -0.88] vs +1.31 kg [ -0.11 to + 2.72], P<.001) decreased more in the low-GI group compared with the reduced-fat group. In multivariate models, these differences remained significant (P<.01) after adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, BMI or baseline weight, participation in behavioral modification sessions, and treatment duration. Significantly more patients in the low-GI group experienced a decrease in BMI of at least 3 kg/m(2) (11 kg/m(2) [17. 2%] vs. 1 kg/m(2) [2.3%], P =. 03). CONCLUSIONS A low-GI diet seems to be a promising alternative to standard dietary treatment for obesity in children. Long-term randomized controlled trials of a low-GI diet in the prevention and treatment of obesity are needed.
Drosophila Myt1 Is the Major Cdk1 Inhibitory Kinase for Wing Imaginal Disc Development

Mitosis is triggered by activation of Cdk1, a cyclin-dependent kinase. Conserved checkpoint mechanisms normally inhibit Cdk1 by inhibitory phosphorylation during interphase, ensuring that DNA replication and repair is completed before cells begin mitosis. In metazoans, this regulatory mechanism is also used to coordinate cell division with critical developmental processes, such as cell invagination. Two types of Cdk1 inhibitory kinases have been found in metazoans. They differ in subcellular localization and Cdk1 target-site specificity: one (Wee1) being nuclear and the other (Myt1), membrane-associated and cytoplasmic. Drosophila has one representative of each: dMyt1 and dWee1. Although dWee1 and dMyt1 are not essential for zygotic viability, loss of both resulted in synthetic lethality, indicating that they are partially functionally redundant. Bristle defects in myt1 mutant adult flies prompted a phenotypic analysis that revealed cell-cycle defects, ectopic apoptosis, and abnormal responses to ionizing radiation in the myt1 mutant imaginal wing discs that give rise to these mechanosensory organs. Cdk1 inhibitory phosphorylation was also aberrant in these myt1 mutant imaginal wing discs, indicating that dMyt1 serves Cdk1 regulatory functions that are important both for normal cell-cycle progression and for coordinating mitosis with critical developmental processes.
Lynx: Using OS and Hardware Support for Fast Fine-Grained Inter-Core Communication

Designing high-performance software queues for fast intercore communication is challenging, but critical for maximising software parallelism. State-of-the-art single-producer / single-consumer queues for streaming applications contain multiple sections, requiring the producer and consumer to operate independently on different sections from each other. While these queues perform well for coarse-grained data transfers, they perform poorly in the fine-grained case. This paper proposes Lynx, a novel SP/SC queue, specifically tuned for fine-grained communication. Lynx is built from the ground up, reducing the generated code on the critical-path to just two operations per enqueue and dequeue. To achieve this it relies on existing commodity processor hardware and operating system exception handling support to deal with infrequent queue maintenance operations. Lynx outperforms the state-of-the art by up to 1.57x in total 64-bit throughput reaching a peak throughput of 15.7GB/s on a common desktop system. Real applications using Lynx get a performance improvement of up to 1.4x.
Robust flatness based control of an electromagnetic linear actuator using adaptive PID controller

The paper presents the controller design for a high-force short-stroke linear actuator using permanent magnets as excitation. For the desired application a very high dynamic is required despite the presence of large disturbances. After the model description, a flatness based control is presented to force the system following a reference trajectory. Additionally, an adaptive feedback control, based on the PID structure and state observer, is used to stabilize the tracking against model uncertainties and external disturbance signals. A heuristic algorithm in receding horizon by using wavelets for online tuning of the controller parameters is proposed. Simulations using real data have been carried out to validate the proposed technique.
Mirage of police reform, for special issue of Police Practice and Research

Monahan, K. , Steinberg, L. D. , & Piquero, A. R. (2015). Juvenile justice policy and practice: A developmental perspective. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and Justice: A Review of Research (Vol. 44, pp. 577–619). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Nagin, D. S. , Piquero, A. R. , Scott, E. S. , & Steinberg, L. (2006). Public preferences for rehabilitation versus incarceration of juvenile offenders: Evidence from a contingent valuation survey. Criminology & Public Policy, 5, 627–651. Sherman, L. W. (1993). Defiance, deterrence, and irrelevance: A theory of the criminal sanction. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 445–473.
Design broad-band power amplifier and chip antenna with human body at intelligent computer and communications applications

A RFIC-on-chip antenna and broad-band power amplifier in 0.18 um CMOS is presented. The HFSS 3-D EM simulator is employed for design simulation. 2.4GHz antenna has been realized. The measured VSWR is less than 2 from 2.4 GHz. This propose super quadric wireless antenna in free space, electromagnetic coupling between super quadric antenna and human body and rectangular antenna for intelligent computer and communications applications. The measured phase distribution of the input impedance is quite linear and the H-plane patterns are almost omnidirectional and microwave amplifier embedded with low-pass filter integration. RFIC-on-chip antenna and merger T/R-switch design on single chip solution for 2.4GHz CMOS transceiver RF front-end. A least square scheme is used to obtain characteristic impedances of transmission line elements that form the amplifier having flat gain in the pass-band and sharp rejection in the stop-band. Measured results are employed to verify the novel design method.
Searching Ground States of Ising Spin Glasses with a Tree Bond-Based Representation

Ising spin glasses are a rich source of challenging highly multimodal optimization problems. The Ising model is one of the most widely used models for disordered systems in statistical physics. Finding the ground state of an Ising spin glass can be expressed as the problem of determining the minimum weighted cut in a graph. The classical approach when dealing with a spin glasses system is to encode the state of the system based on the states of spins. This paper presents a new representation for the states of Ising spin glasses based on the bonds between spins. This encoding is used with a specially designed genetic algorithm to search for low energy states of such systems, with the goal of finding ground states. To this end, special genetic operators are also defined and presented in detail in the paper. The results of preliminary experiments are very promising for this class of problems.
Effect of IL 12 A and IL 12 B polymorphisms on the risk of Chlamydia trachomatis-induced tubal factor infertility and disease severity

H. Öhman1, R. Bailey2, A. Natividad2, J. Ragoussis3, L. -L. Johnson3, A. Tiitinen4, M. Halttunen4, J. Paavonen4, and H. -M. Surcel1,* National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, Finland London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland