Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender Inequities in Quality of Care among HIV-Positive Individuals Initiating Antiretroviral Treatment in British Columbia, Canada (2000–2010)

Objectives We measured gender differences in “Quality of Care” (QOC) during the first year after initiation of antiretroviral therapy and investigated factors associated with poorer QOC among women. Design QOC was estimated using the Programmatic Compliance Score (PCS), a validated metric associated with all-cause mortality, among all patients (≥19 years) who initiated ART in British Columbia, Canada (2000–2010). Methods PCS includes six indicators of non-compliance with treatment initiation guidelines at baseline (not having drug resistance testing before treatment; starting on a non-recommended regimen; starting therapy at CD4<200 cells/mm3) and during first-year follow-up (receiving <3 CD4 tests; receiving <3 viral load tests; not achieving viral suppression within six months). Summary scores range from 0–6; higher scores indicate poorer QOC. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression was used to measure if female gender was an independent predictor of poorer QOC and factors associated with poorer QOC among women. Results QOC was determined for 3,642 patients (20% women). At baseline: 42% of women (34% men) did not have resistance testing before treatment; 17% of women (9% men) started on a non-recommended regimen (all p<0.001). At follow-up: 17% of women (11% men) received <3 CD4; 17% of women (11% men) received <3 VL; 50% of women (41% men) did not achieve viral suppression (all p<0.001). Overall, QOC was better among men (mean PSC = 1.54 (SD = 1.30)) compared with women (mean = 1.89 (SD = 1.37); p<0.001). In the multivariable model, female gender (AOR = 1.16 [95% CI: 0.99–1.35]; p = 0.062) remained associated with poorer QOC after covariate adjustment. Among women, those with injection drug use history, of Aboriginal ancestry, from Vancouver Island, and who initiated ART in earlier years were more likely to have poorer QOC. Conclusions Poorer QOC among women, especially from marginalized communities, demands that barriers undermining women's access to high-quality care be addressed to improve treatment and health for women with HIV.
Experiences with HyperBase: a hypertext database supporting collaborative work

This paper describes the architecture and experiences with a hyperbase (hypertext database). HyperBase is based on the client-server model and has been designed especially to support collaboration. HyperBase has been used in a number of (hypertext) applications in our lab and is currently being used in research projects around the world to provide database support to all kinds of applications. One application from our lab is a multiuser hypertext system for collaboration which deals with three fundamental issues in simultaneous sharing: access contention, real-time monitoring and real-time communication. Major experiences with HyperBase (collaboration support, data modeling and performance) gained from use both in our lab and in different projects at other research sites are reported. One major lesson learned is that HyperBase can provide powerful support for data sharing among multiple users simultaneously sharing the same environment.
Germinal Centers without T Cells

Germinal centers are critical for affinity maturation of antibody (Ab) responses. This process allows the production of high-efficiency neutralizing Ab that protects against virus infection and bacterial exotoxins. In germinal centers, responding B cells selectively mutate the genes that encode their receptors for antigen. This process can change Ab affinity and specificity. The mutated cells that produce high-affinity Ab are selected to become Ab-forming or memory B cells, whereas cells that have lost affinity or acquired autoreactivity are eliminated. Normally, T cells are critical for germinal center formation and subsequent B cell selection. Both processes involve engagement of CD40 on B cells by T cells. This report describes how high-affinity B cells can be induced to form large germinal centers in response to (4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl) acetyl (NP)-Ficoll in the absence of T cells or signaling through CD40 or CD28. This requires extensive cross-linking of the B cell receptors, and a frequency of antigen-specific B cells of at least 1 in 1,000. These germinal centers abort dramatically at the time when mutated high-affinity B cells are normally selected by T cells. Thus, there is a fail-safe mechanism against autoreactivity, even in the event of thymus-independent germinal center formation.
Noise-Resistant Boolean-Functions are Juntas

We consider Boolean functions over n binary variables, and the p-biased product measure over the inputs. We show that if f is of low-degree, that is, if its weight on Walsh products of size larger than k is small, then f is close to a junta, namely to a function which depends only on very small number of variables, independent of n. We conclude that any highly noise-resistant Boolean function must be a junta. Furthermore, we utilize our results to prove a switching lemma, one which may prove useful in the study of computational-complexity lower-bounds for AC0 or related classes.
An elastic thin-film microlens array with a pneumatic actuator

We propose a pneumatically actuated microlens array on a transparent and elastic thin film made of cured PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane). The lenses are 120 /spl square/m in diameter and are arranged on the top surface of 200 /spl square/m-thick base film. The lenses can be moved by pneumatic actuators implemented in the bottom side of the film. Since the lens array and the base film are made of an elastic material PDMS this array could be applied to the surfaces of curved or flexible devices. Properties of PDMS as a material for optical elements, are investigated through the evaluation of the system. We also propose a simulation technique to analyze mechanical and optical properties of deformable optical elements by combining finite element method and ray tracing technique. The optical properties of the fabricated lens array were analyzed using the simulator. This research is a first approach to construct a thin and elastic scanning lens array which can be applied for sensing or imaging applications.
Potential Effect of Physical Activity Calorie Equivalent (PACE) Labeling on Adult Fast Food Ordering and Exercise

Introduction Numeric calorie content labels show limited efficacy in reducing the number of calories ordered from fast food meals. Physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) labels are an alternative that may reduce the number of calories ordered in fast food meals while encouraging patrons to exercise. Methods A total of 1000 adults from 47 US states were randomly assigned via internet survey to one of four generic fast food menus: no label, calories only, calories + minutes, or calories + miles necessary to walk to burn off the calories. After completing hypothetical orders participants were asked to rate the likelihood of calorie-only and PACE labels to influence (1) food choice and (2) physical activity. Results Respondents (n = 823) ordered a median of 1580 calories from the no-label menu, 1200 from the calories-only menu, 1140 from the calories + minutes menu, and 1210 from the calories + miles menu (p = 0.0001). 40% of respondents reported that PACE labels were “very likely” to influence food item choice vs. 28% for calorie-only labels (p<0.0001). 64% of participants reported that PACE labels were “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to influence their level of physical activity vs. 49% for calorie-only labels (p<0.0001). Conclusions PACE labels may be helpful in reducing the number of calories ordered in fast food meals and may have the added benefit of encouraging exercise.
The role of lung dendritic cell subsets in immunity to respiratory viruses

Viral infections are a common cause of acute respiratory disease. The clinical course of infection and symptoms depend on the viral strain, the health status of the host, and the immunological status of the host. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a crucial role in recognizing and presenting viral antigens and in inducing adaptive immune responses that clear the virus. Because the lung is continuously exposed to the air, the lung is equipped with an elaborate network of DCs to sense incoming foreign pathogens. Increasing knowledge on DC biology has informed us that DCs are not a single cell type. In the steady state lung, three DC subsets can be defined: CD11b+ or CD103+ conventional DCs and plasmacytoid DCs. Upon inflammation, inflammatory monocyte‐derived DCs are recruited to the lung. It is only recently that tools became available to allow DC subsets to be clearly studied. This review focuses on the activation of DCs and the function of lung DCs in the context of respiratory virus infection and highlights some cautionary points for interpreting older experiments.
Representation of Reward Feedback in Primate Auditory Cortex

It is well established that auditory cortex is plastic on different time scales and that this plasticity is driven by the reinforcement that is used to motivate subjects to learn or to perform an auditory task. Motivated by these findings, we study in detail properties of neuronal firing in auditory cortex that is related to reward feedback. We recorded from the auditory cortex of two monkeys while they were performing an auditory categorization task. Monkeys listened to a sequence of tones and had to signal when the frequency of adjacent tones stepped in downward direction, irrespective of the tone frequency and step size. Correct identifications were rewarded with either a large or a small amount of water. The size of reward depended on the monkeys’ performance in the previous trial: it was large after a correct trial and small after an incorrect trial. The rewards served to maintain task performance. During task performance we found three successive periods of neuronal firing in auditory cortex that reflected (1) the reward expectancy for each trial, (2) the reward-size received, and (3) the mismatch between the expected and delivered reward. These results, together with control experiments suggest that auditory cortex receives reward feedback that could be used to adapt auditory cortex to task requirements. Additionally, the results presented here extend previous observations of non-auditory roles of auditory cortex and shows that auditory cortex is even more cognitively influenced than lately recognized.
Cardiovascular Disease Mortality and Its Association With Socioeconomic Status: Findings From a Population-based Cohort Study in Rural Vietnam, 1999–2003

Introduction Cardiovascular disease is an emerging epidemic in Vietnam, but because cause of death and other routine data are not widely available, it is difficult to characterize community-based disease patterns. Using 5-year data from an ongoing cause-specific mortality study conducted within a demographic surveillance system in Vietnam's Bavi district, this article estimates the rates of adult cardiovascular disease mortality in relation to the mortality rates of other noncommunicable diseases in rural northern Vietnam and examines the association of cardiovascular disease with certain demographic and socioeconomic factors. Methods All causes of death of adults aged 20 and older occurring from 1999 through 2003 (n = 1067) were determined by using an established demographic surveillance system and data collected by trained interviewers who asked caretakers or relatives of the deceased individuals about signs and symptoms of disease during quarterly household visits. Deaths were classified as cardiovascular disease, cancer, or other noncommunicable diseases. These records were linked to demographic and socioeconomic data. Results Of the 1067 adult deaths that were recorded, there was an overall noncommunicable disease mortality rate of 7.8 per 1000 person-years. Cardiovascular disease accounted for 33% of male and 31% of female deaths. Compared with cancer and other noncommunicable causes of death in a Cox proportional hazards model, higher cardiovascular disease mortality rates were observed among men, older age groups, and those without formal education. Conclusion To date, cohort studies and population-based mortality data in Vietnam have been scarce; this study provides insights into the public health aspects of cardiovascular disease in transitional Vietnam. The rates of cardiovascular disease mortality in this rural Vietnamese community were high, suggesting the need for both primary prevention and secondary treatment initiatives. The demographic surveillance system is an important tool for characterizing such an epidemic.
Anytime Computation of Cautious Consequences in Answer Set Programming

Abstract Query answering in Answer Set Programming (ASP) is usually solved by computing (a subset of) the cautious consequences of a logic program. This task is computationally very hard, and there are programs for which computing cautious consequences is not viable in reasonable time. However, current ASP solvers produce the (whole) set of cautious consequences only at the end of their computation. This paper reports on strategies for computing cautious consequences, also introducing anytime algorithms able to produce sound answers during the computation.
Life cycle of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

as a starting point for learning about S. cerevisiae and its cell types. This review is intended for people who are being exposed to the study of S. cerevisiae for the first time and also for specialists who work on other organisms such as filamentous fungi. There will be no attempt to be comprehensive, but considerable efforts to be comprehensible! The life cycle of S. cerevisiae and, in particular, its cell types have provided rich ground for studying molecular mechanisms governing gene expression and programmed genetic rearrangement and for addressing numerous problems in cell biology, including the workings of a receptor-signalling system. Several reviews that focus on these aspects have been written (48, 49, 51, 52, 76, 105, 139). The main characters of this review are the cell types of S. cerevisiae, with a focus on the life cycle and an accent on biological aspects of the subject. By "life cycle," I refer to two broad aspects of the life of S. cerevisiae. The first is cell proliferation, the process by which a cell of one type gives rise to two cells that are essentially identical (discussed briefly in the next section). The second aspect has to do with changes in the ploidy of the organism, i.e., transitions in the life cycle. Both haploid and diploid forms exist: haploids mate to form diploids, and diploids undergo meiosis to form haploids (discussed in the section, "Transitions: Mating and Sporulation"). These processes, mating (which involves cell fusion) and meiosis, are fundamental biological processes and also occur in multicellular organisms. The life cycle of S. cerevisiae has an additional aspect beyond proliferation, mating, and meiosis: haploid yeast cells can change their cellular type by a programmed deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) rearrangement. This allows some S. cerevisiae strains to exhibit a homothallic life cycle (a life cycle in which a single haploid cell can give rise to diploid cells capable of meiosis and spore formation). Other strains of S. cerevisiae exhibit a heterothallic life cycle (a life cycle in which a single haploid cell is unable to produce diploid cells) (discussed in the section, "Homothallism and Heterothallism: Mating-Type Interconversion"). Understanding the homothallic and heterothallic life cycles is important for understanding many organisms (including filamentous fungi) and raises issues concerning how cellular diversity can be generated (discussed in sections, "Variations on the S. cerevisiae Life Cycle" and "A Theoretical Discussion of Homothallism"). To put S. cerevisiae into context and to call attention to interesting features of other organisms, I briefly review aspects of the life cycles of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and some other organisms. Throughout this article, I shall sometimes refer to S. cerevisiae as "yeast," realizing, of course, that other yeasts such as Schizosaccharomyces pombe do
Efficacy of the Botanical Repellents Geraniol, Linalool, and Citronella Against Mosquitoes

ABSTRACT: We determined the degree of personal protection provided by citronella, linalool, and geraniol in the form of commercially available candles or diffusers, both indoors and outdoors. Under the uniform conditions of the experiments, all substances repelled significantly more mosquitoes than the unprotected control. Furthermore, the repellents tested were more active when in the form of a continuous release diffuser than in candle form. All candles were 88g containing 5% of the active ingredient and all diffusers contained 20g of 100% active ingredient. Indoors, the repellency rate of citronella candles was only 14% while the repellency rate of citronella diffusers was 68%. The repellency of geraniol candles was 50% while the diffusers provided a repellency rate of 97%. No linalool candles were available for study but linalool diffusers repelled mosquitoes by 93%. Outdoors, citronella diffusers placed 6 m from mosquito traps repelled female mosquitoes by 22%, linalool repelled females by 58%, and geraniol repelled females by 75%. Trap catches were significantly reduced again when diffusers were placed 3 m from the traps. We concluded that geraniol had significantly more repellent activity than citronella or linalool in both indoor and outdoor settings.
Autonomous Capabilities for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Conducting Radiological Response: Findings from a High‐fidelity Discovery Experiment

This article presents a preliminary work domain theory and identifies autonomous vehicle, navigational, and mission capabilities and challenges for small unmanned aerial systems (SUASs) responding to a radiological disaster. Radiological events are representative of applications that involve flying at low altitudes and close proximities to structures. To more formally understand the guidance and control demands, the environment in which the SUAS has to function, and the expected missions, tasks, and strategies to respond to an incident, a discovery experiment was performed in 2013. The experiment placed a radiological source emitting at 10 times background radiation in the simulated collapse of a multistory hospital. Two SUASs, an AirRobot 100B and a Leptron Avenger, were inserted with subject matter experts into the response, providing high operational fidelity. The SUASs were expected by the responders to fly at altitudes between 0.3 and 30 m, and hover at 1.5 m from urban structures. The proximity to a building introduced a decrease in GPS satellite coverage, challenging existing vehicle autonomy. Five new navigational capabilities were identified: scan, obstacle avoidance, contour following, environment‐aware return to home, and return to highest reading. Furthermore, the data‐to‐decision process could be improved with autonomous data digestion and visualization capabilities. This article is expected to contribute to a better understanding of autonomy in a SUAS, serve as a requirement document for advanced autonomy, and illustrate how discovery experimentation serves as a design tool for autonomous vehicles.
Influence of the synthesis method on electrical storage capacity of graphene-related materials

ABSTRACT The electrochemical properties and their relationship with the physico-chemical properties of graphene-based materials have been studied. Graphite was used as the raw material and it was oxidised and then reduced by two alternative approaches, namely thermal and multi-step reduction using ascorbic acid. It was demonstrated that the physico-chemical characteristics of the material are directly related to the synthesis method and greatly influence the major capacitance of the material. It was observed that the materials with lower levels of functional oxygen groups and with a more ordered structure, i.e. similar to graphene powder, are the ideal candidates for use in electrochemical applications as these materials have better capacitance and specific capacitances.
The use of equine influenza pseudotypes for serological screening

Standard assays used for influenza serology present certain practical issues, such as inter-laboratory variability, complex protocols and the necessity for handling certain virus strains in high biological containment facilities. In an attempt to address this, avian and human influenza HA pseudotyped retroviruses have been successfully employed in antibody neutralization assays. In this study we generated an equine influenza pseudotyped lentivirus for serological screening. This was achieved by co-transfection of HEK293T cells with plasmids expressing the haemagglutinin (HA) protein of an H3N8 subtype equine influenza virus strain, HIV gag-pol and firefly luciferase reporter genes and harvesting virus from supernatant. In order to produce infective pseudotype particles it was necessary to additionally co-transfect a plasmid encoding the TMPRSS2 endoprotease to cleave the HA. High titre pseudotype virus (PV) was then used in PV antibody neutralization assays (PVNAs) to successfully distinguish between vaccinated and non-vaccinated equines. The sera were also screened by single radial haemolysis (SRH) assay. There was a 65% correlation between the results of the two assays, with the PVNA assay appearing slightly more sensitive. Future work will extend the testing of the PVNA with a larger number of serum samples to assess sensitivity/specificity, inter/intra-laboratory variability and to define a protective titre.
Functional Properties of Channels Formed by the Neuronal Gap Junction Protein Connexin36

The expression and functional properties of connexin36 (Cx36) were examined in two communication-deficient cell lines (N2A-neuroblastoma and PC-12 cells) transfected with Cx36 and in hippocampal neurons that express the connexin endogenously. Transfected cells expressed the expected 2.9 kb Cx36 transcript and Cx36 immunoreactivity, whereas nontransfected cells were devoid of Cx36. The relationship between steady-state junctional conductance (gj) and transjunctional voltage was well described by a two-state Boltzmann equation. The half-inactivation voltage (V0), the ratio of minimal to maximal gj(gmin/gmax), and the equivalent gating charge were ± 75 mV, 0.55, and 1.75, respectively, indicating that Cx36 exhibits very low voltage sensitivity. Conductance of single Cx36 channels measured with patch pipettes containing 130 mm CsCl was 10–15 pS (n = 15 cell pairs); despite this low unitary conductance, Cx36 channels were permeable to the dye Lucifer yellow. Hippocampal neurons expressed Cx36 both in vivo and in culture. The electrophysiological properties of channels in cultured hippocampal neurons were similar to those of the channels expressed by the transfected cell lines, and the neuronal channels were similarly permeable to Lucifer yellow. The unique combination of weak voltage sensitivity, small unitary conductance, and permeation by anions as large as second messenger molecules endows Cx36 gap junction channels with properties well suited for mediating flexible electrical and biochemical interactions between neurons.
Effect of Beacon Sounds on Navigation Performance in a Virtual Reality Environment

Navigating without vision can be quite a daunting task. This study details an auditory interface to deal with this situation and then describes initial validation experiments. Ss were assigned to conditions with differing auditory beacons and assessed on how quickly and efficiently they were able t o navigate through a series of virtual environments. The effect of beacon type was explored as well as practice effects due t o multiple trials with the interface. The two experiments differed on the size of the beacon capture radius. Results show a main effect of beacon type on performance in the first study and a trend towards significance in the second study. A strong practice effect was also found across all conditions.