Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of cervical and anal intraepithelial neoplasia in women attending a sexually transmitted infection clinic

Background: The incidence of anal and cervical cancers and their precursors have increased in the past decades. Women with HIV and sexually transmitted infections are at a higher risk. Cervical human papilloma virus infection may serve as a reservoir and source of anal infection or vice versa. A higher incidence of anal cytological abnormality has been observed in patients with abnormal cervical cytology. Objectives: This cross sectional study was designed to estimate the prevalence and associations of anal and cervical cytological abnormalities in a cohort of sexually active women using Papanicolaou smears. Methods: We conducted a single centre study of 35 consecutive HIV positive and 40 HIV negative women attending the sexually transmitted infection clinic. Cervical and anal specimens were obtained for cytology after a detailed history and examination. Chi square test and coefficient of correlation were used for comparison. Results: Cervical dysplasia was observed in 22.6% (17.3% low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and 5.3% high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion) and anal dysplasia in 8% study subjects (6.7% low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and 1.3% high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion); no association was observed with HIV infection. A higher number of patients with cervical dysplasia (29.4%) were found to have concomitant anal dysplasia (P = 0.002). History of anal intercourse was reported in all patients with anal dysplasia and was higher (P < 0.037) in patients with cervical dysplasia. Limitations: The limitations included a small sample size, lack of correlation with histological findings and bias due to STI clinic-based recruitment of the study population. Conclusion: Cytology may be used to screen for cervical and anal dysplasia in women irrespective of HIV status. Women with cervical dysplasia may be preferentially screened for anal dysplasia and vice versa. Anal intercourse may be a risk factor for anal and cervical dysplasia.
Differential Juvenile Hormone Variations in Scale Insect Extreme Sexual Dimorphism

Scale insects have evolved extreme sexual dimorphism, as demonstrated by sedentary juvenile-like females and ephemeral winged males. This dimorphism is established during the post-embryonic development; however, the underlying regulatory mechanisms have not yet been examined. We herein assessed the role of juvenile hormone (JH) on the diverging developmental pathways occurring in the male and female Japanese mealybug Planococcus kraunhiae (Kuwana). We provide, for the first time, detailed gene expression profiles related to JH signaling in scale insects. Prior to adult emergence, the transcript levels of JH acid O-methyltransferase, encoding a rate-limiting enzyme in JH biosynthesis, were higher in males than in females, suggesting that JH levels are higher in males. Furthermore, male quiescent pupal-like stages were associated with higher transcript levels of the JH receptor gene, Methoprene-tolerant and its co-activator taiman, as well as the JH early-response genes, Krüppel homolog 1 and broad. The exposure of male juveniles to an ectopic JH mimic prolonged the expression of Krüppel homolog 1 and broad, and delayed adult emergence by producing a supernumeral pupal stage. We propose that male wing development is first induced by up-regulated JH signaling compared to female expression pattern, but a decrease at the end of the prepupal stage is necessary for adult emergence, as evidenced by the JH mimic treatments. Furthermore, wing development seems linked to JH titers as JHM treatments on the pupal stage led to wing deformation. The female pedomorphic appearance was not reflected by the maintenance of high levels of JH. The results in this study suggest that differential variations in JH signaling may be responsible for sex-specific and radically different modes of metamorphosis.
Operational Space Control: A Theoretical and Empirical Comparison

Dexterous manipulation with a highly redundant movement system is one of the hallmarks of human motor skills. From numerous behavioral studies, there is strong evidence that humans employ compliant task space control, i.e. they focus control only on task variables while keeping redundant degrees-of-freedom as compliant as possible. This strategy is robust towards unknown disturbances and simultaneously safe for the operator and the environment. The theory of operational space control in robotics aims to achieve similar performance properties. However, despite various compelling theoretical lines of research, advanced operational space control is hardly found in actual robotics implementations, in particular new kinds of robots like humanoids and service robots, which would strongly profit from compliant dexterous manipulation. To analyze the pros and cons of different approaches to operational space control, this paper focuses on a theoretical and empirical evaluation of different methods that have been suggested in the literature, but also some new variants of operational space controllers. We address formulations at the velocity, acceleration, and force levels. First, we formulate all controllers in a common notational framework, including quaternion-based orientation control, and discuss some of their theoretical properties. Second, we present experimental comparisons of these approaches on a seven-degree-of-freedom anthropomorphic robot arm with several benchmark tasks. As an aside, we also introduce a novel parameter estimation algorithm for rigid body dynamics, which ensures physical consistency, as this issue was crucial for our successful robot implementations. Our extensive empirical results demonstrate that one of the simplified acceleration-based approaches can be advantageous in terms of task performance, ease of parameter tuning, and general robustness and compliance in the face of inevitable modeling errors.
Phagocytosis of Cholesteryl Ester Is Amplified in Diabetic Mouse Macrophages and Is Largely Mediated by CD36 and SR-A

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with accelerated atherosclerosis, which accounts for approximately 75% of all diabetes-related deaths. Here we investigate the link between diabetes and macrophage cholesteryl ester accumulation. When diabetic (db/db) mice are given cholesteryl ester intraperitoneally (IP), peritoneal macrophages (PerMΦs) recovered from these animals showed a 58% increase in intracellular cholesteryl ester accumulation over PerMΦs from heterozygote control (db/+) mice. Notably, PerMΦ fluid-phase endocytosis and large particle phagocytosis was equivalent in db/+and db/db mice. However, IP administration of CD36 and SR-A blocking antibodies led to 37% and 25% reductions in cholesteryl ester accumulation in PerMΦ. Finally, in order to determine if these scavenger receptors (SRs) were part of the mechanism responsible for the increased accumulation of cholesteryl esters observed in the diabetic mouse macrophages, receptor expression was quantified by flow cytometry. Importantly, db/db PerMΦs showed a 43% increase in CD36 expression and an 80% increase in SR-A expression. Taken together, these data indicate that direct cholesteryl ester accumulation in mouse macrophages is mediated by CD36 and SR-A, and the magnitude of accumulation is increased in db/db macrophages due to increased scavenger receptor expression.
Assessing the Quality of Rural Hazard Mitigation Plans in the Southeastern United States

High-quality hazard mitigation plans may improve postdisaster outcomes in many ways, including establishing a community fact base and providing rationales for protective policies and actions. Hazard mitigation plans in eighty-four rural counties in the Southeastern United States were scored using an established protocol. To supplement quantitative data, twenty-one key informant interviews were conducted in a subsample of seven counties. While overall plan quality was poor, informants identified areas for improvement. Understanding potential shortcomings of rural hazard mitigation plans can help communities identify areas to direct limited resources to improve plans, particularly in communities that self-identify as highly vulnerable to disasters.
A Novel Closed-Chest Porcine Model of Chronic Ischemic Heart Failure Suitable for Experimental Research in Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiac pathologies are among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in industrialized countries, with myocardial infarction (MI) representing one of the major conditions leading to heart failure (HF). Hitherto, the development of consistent, stable, and reproducible models of closed-chest MI in large animals, meeting the clinical realism of a patient with HF subsequent to chronic ischemic necrosis, has not been successful. We hereby report the design and ensuing application of a novel porcine experimental model of closed-chest chronic ischemia suitable for biomedical research, mimicking post-MI HF. We also emphasize the key procedural steps involved in replicating this unprecedented model, from femoral artery and vein catheterization to MI induction by permanent occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery through superselective deployment of platinum-nylon coils, as well as endomyocardial biopsy sampling for histologic analysis and cell harvesting. Our model could indeed represent a valuable contribution and tool for translational research, providing precious insights to understand and overcome the many hurdles concerning, and currently quenching, the preclinical steps mandatory for the clinical translation of new cardiovascular technologies for personalized HF treatments.
Biomarker expression and risk of subsequent tumors after initial ductal carcinoma in situ diagnosis.

BACKGROUND Studies have failed to identify characteristics of women who have been diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and have a high or low risk of subsequent invasive cancer. METHODS We conducted a nested case-control study in a population-based cohort of 1162 women who were diagnosed with DCIS and treated by lumpectomy alone from 1983 to 1994. We collected clinical characteristics and information on subsequent tumors, defined as invasive breast cancer or DCIS diagnosed in the ipsilateral breast containing the initial DCIS lesion or at a regional or distant site greater than 6 months after initial treatment of DCIS (N = 324). We also conducted standardized pathology reviews and immunohistochemical staining for the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor, Ki67 antigen, p53, p16, epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (ERBB2, HER2/neu oncoprotein), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) on the initial paraffin-embedded DCIS tissue. Competing risk models were used to determine factors associated with risk of subsequent invasive cancer vs DCIS, and cumulative incidence survival functions were used to estimate 8-year risk. RESULTS Factors associated with subsequent invasive cancer differed from those associated with subsequent DCIS. Eight-year risk of subsequent invasive cancer was statistically significantly (P = .018) higher for women with initial DCIS lesions that were detected by palpation or that were p16, COX-2, and Ki67 triple positive (p16(+)COX-2(+)Ki67(+)) (19.6%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 18.0% to 21.3%) than for women with initial lesions that were detected by mammography and were p16, COX-2, and Ki67 triple negative (p16(-)COX-2(-)Ki67(-)) (4.1%, 95% CI = 3.4% to 5.0%). In a multivariable model, DCIS lesions that were p16(+)COX-2(+)Ki67(+) or those detected by palpation were statistically significantly associated with subsequent invasive cancer, but nuclear grade was not. Eight-year risk of subsequent DCIS was highest for women with DCIS lesions that had disease-free margins of 1 mm or greater combined with either ER(-)ERBB2(+)Ki67(+) or p16(+)COX-2(-)Ki67(+) status (23.6%, 95% CI = 18.1% to 34.0%). CONCLUSION Biomarkers can identify which women who were initially diagnosed with DCIS are at high or low risk of subsequent invasive cancer, whereas histopathology information cannot.
Fine-grained user-space security through virtualization

This paper presents an approach to the safe execution of applications based on software-based fault isolation and policy-based system call authorization. A running application is encapsulated in an additional layer of protection using dynamic binary translation in user-space. This virtualization layer dynamically recompiles the machine code and adds multiple dynamic security guards that verify the running code to protect and contain the application. The binary translation system redirects all system calls to a policy-based system call authorization framework. This interposition framework validates every system call based on the given arguments and the location of the system call. Depending on the user-loadable policy and an extensible handler mechanism the framework decides whether a system call is allowed, rejected, or redirect to a specific user-space handler in the virtualization layer. This paper offers an in-depth analysis of the different security guarantees and a performance analysis of libdetox, a prototype of the full protection platform. The combination of software-based fault isolation and policy-based system call authorization imposes only low overhead and is therefore an attractive option to encapsulate and sandbox applications to improve host security.
EXPERIMENTAL DISSEMINATED ENCEPHALOMYELITIS IN WHITE MICE

Disseminated encephalomyelitis was readily induced in mice of the Swiss strain by means of repeated intramuscular and subcutaneous injections of apparently normal mouse brain mixed with an adjuvant. The latter consisted of autoclaved virulent tubercle bacilli and heavy liquid petrolatum, a modification of the Freund adjuvant. The syndrome and the histopathological picture of the induced malady were essentially similar to those in monkeys, rabbits, and guinea pigs, previously reported by others. Certain exceptional characteristics of the affection, as occurring in mice, suggest that they may be the animals of choice for its study as well as for that of other encephalitides. Not only were the signs indicative of marked involvement of the central nervous system but also of the respiratory mechanism, and only a few injections of mouse brain-adjuvant mixture were required to evoke the neurological symptom complex in almost every animal.
Do Not Respond! Doing the Think/No-Think and Go/No-Go Tasks Concurrently Leads to Memory Impairment of Unpleasant Items during Later Recall

Previous research using neuroimaging methods proposed a link between mechanisms controlling motor response inhibition and suppression of unwanted memories. The present study investigated this hypothesis behaviorally by combining the think/no-think paradigm (TNT) with a go/no-go motor inhibition task. Participants first learned unpleasant cue-target pairs. Cue words were then presented as go or no-go items in the TNT. Participants’ task was to respond to the cues and think of the target word aloud or to inhibit their response to the cue and the target word from coming to mind. Cued recall assessed immediately after the TNT revealed reduced recall performance for no-go targets compared to go targets or baseline cues not presented in the TNT. The results demonstrate that doing the no-think and no-go task concurrently leads to memory suppression of unpleasant items during later recall. Results are discussed in line with recent empirical research and theoretical positions.
In vitro analysis of the effect of supplementation with activated charcoal on the equine hindgut

ABSTRACT The present study uses in vitro analytical techniques to investigate the effect of activated charcoal on the microbial community of the equine hindgut and the metabolites they produce. Incubations were performed in Wheaton bottles using a 50 ml incubation of a high-energy feed or a low-energy feed, plus bottles with no added food source, together with five levels of activated charcoal (0, 10, 25, 50 or 100 mg per bottle) and fecal samples as a bacterial inoculum. Using this method the rate of gas production, volatile fatty acid and ammonia concentrations, and pH values were analyzed and found to vary depending on the addition of feed, but the activated charcoal had no effect (P>0.05) on any of these. It is already believed that the effect of activated charcoal as a control for toxic substances is at its highest in the foregut or midgut of animals, and therefore should have little impact on the hindgut. The data presented here suggest that if any of the activated charcoal does reach the hindgut, then it has no significant impact on the microbial community present, nor on the major metabolites produced, and so should not have a detrimental effect on the principal site of fermentation in the horse.
Dicarboxylic acids and water‐soluble organic carbon in aerosols in New Delhi, India, in winter: Characteristics and formation processes

[1] Day- and nighttime aerosol samples were collected at an urban site in New Delhi, India, in winter 2006–2007. They were studied for low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids and related compounds, as well as total water-soluble organic carbon (TWSOC). High concentrations of diacids (up to 6.03 μg m−3), TWSOC, and OC were obtained, which are substantially higher than those previously observed at other urban sites in Asia. Daytime TWSOC/OC ratio (37%) was on average higher than that in nighttime (25%). In particular, more water-soluble OC (M-WSOC) to TWSOC ratio in daytime (50%) was twice higher than in nighttime (27%), suggesting that aerosols in New Delhi are photochemically more processed in daytime to result in more water-soluble organic compounds. Oxalic acid (C2) was found as the most abundant dicarboxylic acid, followed by succinic (C4) and malonic (C3) acids. Contributions of C2 to M-WSOC were greater (av. 8%) in nighttime than daytime (av. 3%). Positive correlations of C2 with malic acid (hC4), glyoxylic acid (ωC2), and relative humidity suggest that secondary production of C2 probably in aqueous phase is important in nighttime via the oxidation of both longer-chain diacids and ωC2. C2 also showed a positive correlation with potassium (K+) in nighttime, suggesting that the enhanced C2 concentrations are associated with biomass/biofuel burning. More tight, positive correlation between less water-soluble OC (L-WSOC) and K+ was found in both day- and nighttime, suggesting that L-WSOC, characterized by longer chain and/or higher molecular weight compounds, is significantly influenced by primary emissions from biomass/biofuel burning.
Individual attitudes and social influences on college students’ intent to participate in study abroad programs

ABSTRACT Participation in study abroad programs (SAPs) is widely viewed as offering important professional and personal benefits for college students. This study applies the Theory of Reasoned Action [Ajzen, I. , & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. ] as a theoretical framework to better understand how undergraduate students’ individual attitudes and subjective norms from three social groups (family, friends and professors) impact their intent to participate in SAPs. Surveys were conducted at three public and private universities in the USA and Taiwan. The results suggest that both individual attitudes and subjective norms are influential factors for college students, and the effects are dependent on the type of SAPs. The current research offers several additions to the SAPs literature. Also, the results offer new insights for higher education and other institutional managers for increasing student participation in SAPs.
Maternal cell phone use and behavioral problems in children.

To the Editor: Divan et al found an association between behavioral difficulties in children and prenatal and postnatal mobile phone usage. They caution against assuming a causal relationship from exposure to electromagnetic fields from phones. Although this may be sensible regarding the weak fields to which the fetus would be directly exposed during maternal use of a mobile phone there are alternative mechanisms that warrant consideration. Melatonin is a hormone that affects circadian rhythms and reproduction. Secretion of melatonin by the pineal gland is determined by exposure of the retina to light, but the neurologic pathway whereby this signal reaches the pineal gland is anatomically remarkable and potentially relevant to mobile phone exposures (Fig. 1 in Ref. 2). Nerve fibers leave the retina along the retinohypothalamic tract and reach the suprachiasmic nucleus. This nucleus does not send fibers directly to the pineal gland within the brain but stimulates the sympathetic nervous system via a pathway down the spinal cord and then to the superior cervical ganglion in the neck. Post ganglionic fibers ascend back into the brain by forming a plexus along the surface of the internal carotid artery, eventually to reach the pineal gland. The carotid artery is superficially placed near the angle of the jaw (where the pulse from it may be readily felt) and hence the sympathetic nerve fibers on it are also close to the skin. Mobile phones are commonly positioned so that the body of the phone is close to the angle of the jaw and hence to the nerve plexus. It is plausible that radiofrequency or extremely low-frequency fields from a mobile phone held close to the jaw may affect signaling in the unmyelinated nerves and in turn influence melatonin secretion. Melatonin may affect reproduction and healthy fetal development in various ways. Secretion of melatonin is intrinsic to regulating normal circadian rhythms for temperature and metabolism. In addition, melatonin inhibits the secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone and may directly affect steroid metabolism within the ovaries and progesterone synthesis. Diverse changes in maternal metabolism or the sex hormone environment may affect development of the fetal brain leading to behavioral problems. Melatonin is also closely related to changes in puberty, possibly because of its tonic inhibition of secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone during childhood. Interference with this normal restraining control pathway might also lead to altered behaviors in childhood and adolescence in children who use cell phones.
Quantitative PET with positron emitters that emit prompt gamma rays

The purpose of this work was to determine the feasibility of using positron emitting isotopes that emit prompt gammas to acquire quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) data using standard PET instrumentation. Prompt gammas can contaminate PET data by increasing dead time, converting singles into invalid coincidences, and producing multiple coincidences which can lead to the replacement of valid coincidences by invalid coincidences. The measurements in this work were made by scanning point sources containing F-18, Na-22, and Co-60 and studying the effects of the prompt gammas on the PET data, We found that for the Na-22 point source, the annihilation photon coincidence rate was about 25 times the prompt gamma-annihilation photon coincidence rate in the entire active volume of the scanner. With scatter, the Na-22 prompt gamma-annihilation photon coincidence rate was 1.3 times higher than the F-18 scatter coincidence rate. The most significant effect of the prompt gamma was to increase dead time; the dead time correction factor for Cu-60 was 2.4 times higher than the correction factor for N-13 for the same source activity. We conclude that, in many cases, quantitative PET data can be readily obtained with isotopes that emit prompt gammas, using standard PET 2-D instrumentation. However there are some cases, such as 3-D PET, where prompt gammas could significantly contaminate the PET data.