Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Abacavir Plasma Pharmacokinetics in the Absence and Presence of Atazanavir/Ritonavir or Lopinavir/Ritonavir and Vice Versa in HIV-Infected Patients

Background Significant interactions between abacavir and other antiretrovirals have not been reported. This study investigated the steady-state plasma pharmacokinetics of abacavir when co-administered with atazanavir/ritonavir or lopinavir/ritonavir in HIV-infected individuals. Methods HIV-infected subjects on abacavir (600 mg once daily) plus two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) (excluding tenofovir) underwent a 24 h pharmacokinetic assessment for plasma abacavir concentrations. Atazanavir/ritonavir (300/100 mg once daily; arm 1) or lopinavir/ritonavir (400/100 mg twice daily; arm 2) were then added and the 24 h pharmacokinetic assessment repeated. Arm 3 included subjects stable on atazanavir/ritonavir or lopinavir/ritonavir and two NRTIs (excluding tenofovir or abacavir). These patients underwent a pharmacokinetic assessment for atazanavir/ritonavir or lopinavir/ritonavir concentrations on day 1, abacavir (600 mg once daily) was then added to the regimen and the pharmacokinetic assessment repeated. Within-subject changes in drug exposure were evaluated by geometric mean (GM) ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Twenty-four patients completed the study. GM (95% CI) abacavir area under the curve (AUC) was 18,621 (15,900–21,807) and 15,136 (13,339–17,174) ng.h/ml without and with atazanavir/ritonavir and 15,136 (12,298–18,628) and 10,471 (9,270–11,828) ng.h/ml without and with lopinavir/ritonavir. GM (95% CI) atazanavir AUC without and with abacavir was 26,915 (13,252–54,666) and 28,840 (19,213–43,291) ng.h/ml; lopinavir AUC without and with abacavir was 60,253 (48,084–75,509) and 63,096 (48,128–82,718) ng.h/ml. Conclusions No changes in atazanavir or lopinavir exposures were observed following the addition of abacavir; however, decreases in abacavir plasma exposure of 17% and 32% were observed following the addition of atazanavir/ritonavir or lopinavir/ritonavir, respectively.
Out of the Closet or Under the Rug: An Analysis of Same-Sex Domestic Violence in Idaho

In February 2011, First Lady Michelle Obama revealed her plan to end the childhood obesity epidemic in America. With childhood obesity considered a health crisis, it is crucial to begin serious prevention efforts. Shaping healthy eating habits and the physical activity of children at the preschool age is a great step toward life-long prevention. The U.S. populations most affected by and at-risk for childhood obesity are African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Overweight and obesity rates are also particularly on the rise among preschool children. The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between parents’ perception of their child’s weight status, parent feeding style and child body mass index (BMI). A total of 82 primary caregivers of preschool-age children participated in the study. Participants were low-income and primarily African American. Primary caregivers completed surveys that included a demographic questionnaire, caregiver feeding style questionnaire and a parent perception measure. The children’s BMI information was gathered from Head Start’s nutrition coordinator. Results showed that 35% of children in the current sample had a BMI at or above the 85 percentile, which is considered overweight. Results suggest that parents perceive their child’s weight status to be at a healthier level than objective BMI estimates suggest. Parent feeding style was not significantly related to child BMI in the current study. 1 Taylor: Parent Perception of Child Weight Published by DigitalCommons@EMU, 2012
Multimodality CT/SPECT Evaluation of Micelle Drug Carriers for Treatment of Breast Tumors

Abstract : Polymer micelles are nanoscale drug delivery systems that have the potential to improve breast tumor treatment. Micelles can increase the half-life and solubility of drugs, as is the case with beta-lapachone (beta-lap), a novel anticancer agent which is bioactivated by the enzyme NQO1, found overexpressed in tumors. They can also be fitted with tumor-specific ligands, and can be tracked in vivo through incorporation of an imaging moiety. The ultimate goal of the study was to develop beta-lap PEG-PLA micelles as novel nanotherapeutics for the treatment of breast tumors. Quantum dots (QD) were incorporated into micelles for purposes of image trackability. Micelles were characterized using 1H-NMR, TEM, and DLS. The in vitro and in vivo antitumor efficacy of the micelles was also examined. Beta-lap micelles were found to be small in size, and showed adequate cell-killing potential in vitro. In vivo studies showed that the micelles suppressed tumor growth for ~2 months, with minimal toxicity. QDs were successfully incorporated into micelles, yielding micelles of small size that retained fluorescence. Cell lines treated in vitro with the QD-micelles demonstrated slow and continuous uptake of micelles, found accumulated in the cytoplasm. Future studies involve the addition of a cRGD ligand to the surface of micelles to increase cellular uptake and yield multifunctional micelles.
Differentiation Potential of FDCPmix Cells following Injection into Blastocysts

Factor-dependent cell Paterson mixed potential (FDCPmix) cells are murine, multipotent, interleukin-3 (IL-3)-dependent progenitor cells, established from long-term bone marrow cultures. They show multilineage myeloid/erythroid and osteoclast differentiation capacity in vitro. FDCPmix cells are neither immortalised, leukaemic nor transformed and have no detectable karyotypic abnormalities. To investigate the broader differentiation potential of FDCPmix cells in vivo, they were injected into murine blastocysts, and the engraftment of donor cells in developing chimaeric embryos was analysed. FDCPmix cell progeny was detected predominantly in haematopoietic tissues, and immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the majority of donor-derived cells expressed the pan-haematopoietic marker CD45. Albumin expression indicative of hepatocytes was not detectable in FDCPmix-derived cells in chimaeric foetal livers. However, analysis of foetal brains of developing embryos revealed a low frequency of neural cell adhesion molecule-positive donor cells. These results suggest that the majority of FDCPmix cells injected into blastocysts follow haematopoietic differentiation programs, but that a small number of cells can assume the expression of neural markers.
Conversing with a devil’s advocate: Interpersonal coordination in deception and disagreement

This study investigates the presence of dynamical patterns of interpersonal coordination in extended deceptive conversations across multimodal channels of behavior. Using a novel "devil’s advocate" paradigm, we experimentally elicited deception and truth across topics in which conversational partners either agreed or disagreed, and where one partner was surreptitiously asked to argue an opinion opposite of what he or she really believed. We focus on interpersonal coordination as an emergent behavioral signal that captures interdependencies between conversational partners, both as the coupling of head movements over the span of milliseconds, measured via a windowed lagged cross correlation (WLCC) technique, and more global temporal dependencies across speech rate, using cross recurrence quantification analysis (CRQA). Moreover, we considered how interpersonal coordination might be shaped by strategic, adaptive conversational goals associated with deception. We found that deceptive conversations displayed more structured speech rate and higher head movement coordination, the latter with a peak in deceptive disagreement conversations. Together the results allow us to posit an adaptive account, whereby interpersonal coordination is not beholden to any single functional explanation, but can strategically adapt to diverse conversational demands.
Signal Transduction by CD28 Costimulatory Receptor on T Cells

This study compares the biochemical responses in T cells activated with the CD28 ligands B7-1 and B7-2. The patterns of tyrosine phosphorylation induced in T cells by these two CD28 ligands are identical, but clearly different from the tyrosine phosphorylation induced by the T cell receptor (TCR). The TCR regulates protein complexes mediated by the adapter Grb2 both in vivo and in vitro. In contrast, there is no apparent regulation of in vivo Grb2 complexes in response to B7-1 or B7-2. Rather, B7-1 and B7-2 both induce tyrosine phosphorylation of a different adapter protein, p62. The regulation of p62 is a unique CD28 response that is not shared with the TCR. These data indicate that B7-1 and B7-2 induce identical tyrosine kinase signal transduction pathways. The data show also that the TCR and CD28 couple to different adapter proteins, which could explain the divergence of TCR and CD28 signal transduction pathways during T cell activation.
Treatment of Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome with Levamisole

Thirty children with frequently relapsing idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) were treated with levamisole (2.5 mg/kg BW) twice a week for a mean period of 9.9 months. A beneficial effect was observed in 16 children in whom corticosteroids could be significantly decreased without relapse. Levamisole was ineffective in 14 patients. There was no difference between the two groups in the duration of INS, the number of relapses and the duration of treatment with levamisole. The mean age at onset of INS was higher in the group of patients where levamisole was effective (5.8 years versus 2.8 years). In 7 patients who responded to levamisole neutrophils decreased below 4×109/l. Transient granulocytopenia was observed in 3. It is concluded that levamisole may be effective in frequently relapsing INS with minimal side effects
Clopidogrel use and cancer‐specific mortality: a population‐based cohort study of colorectal, breast and prostate cancer patients

Concerns were raised about the safety of antiplatelet thienopyridine derivatives after a randomized control trial reported increased risks of cancer and cancer deaths in prasugrel users. We investigate whether clopidogrel, a widely used thienopyridine derivative, was associated with increased risk of cancer‐specific or all‐cause mortality in cancer patients.
Variation in the Measurement of Cranial Volume and Surface Area Using 3D Laser Scanning Technology

Abstract: Three‐dimensional (3D) laser scanner models of human crania can be used for forensic facial reconstruction, and for obtaining craniometric data useful for estimating age, sex, and population affinity of unidentified human remains. However, the use of computer‐generated measurements in a casework setting requires the measurement precision to be known. Here, we assess the repeatability and precision of cranial volume and surface area measurements using 3D laser scanner models created by different operators using different protocols for collecting and processing data. We report intraobserver measurement errors of 0.2% and interobserver errors of 2% of the total area and volume values, suggesting that observer‐related errors do not pose major obstacles for sharing, combining, or comparing such measurements. Nevertheless, as no standardized procedure exists for area or volume measurements from 3D models, it is imperative to report the scanning and postscanning protocols employed when such measurements are conducted in a forensic setting.
Design of the RevascularizationWith Open Bypass vs Angioplasty and Stenting of the Lower Extremity Trial ( ROBUST ) A Randomized Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVES To report the design of the ROBUST trial. The primary aim of the trial is to compare (1) the patency rate (primary, primary assisted, and secondary patency at 6 and 12 months), (2) improvement of quality of life, (3) clinical improvement (at least 1 Rutherford category), and (4) wound healing and limb salvage in patients presenting with critical limb ischemia; secondary aims include (1) cost-effectiveness by factoring procedure and hospital admission costs including rehabilitation, readmission, and reintervention costs, (2) amputation-free survival, (3) reintervention rate, and (4) 30-day operative mortality, morbidity, and wound and access complications.
Acquirement of class relations for ontology based on language expression and knowledge structure

Ontology plays an important role in information retrieval and organization, but it requires huge human labor in artificial construction, in particular it is even more labor-intensive and time intensive when determining concept class relation. The paper have put forward three methods to acquire class relations by machines, the first is based on terms co-occurrence, the second is based on term truncation, and the third is based on the meaning of terms. With these three methods, it is essential to acquire equivalent relations, sub-classes relations, and relevant relations by machine. Via artificial interference, these relations can be found in ontology or thesaurus. This work is of realistic significance in the construction of ontology and thesaurus and can save large quantities of labor and time.
Corrupção política: mecanismos de combate e fatores estruturantesno sistema jurídico brasileiro

O presente trabalho pretende fornecer um panorama geral do sistema brasileiro anticorrupcao com o escopo de aferir em que medida os atuais mecanismos de controle da probidade publica sao eficazes, bem como, ao reves, se existem instrumentos legais que, a despeito de aparentarem tutelar a probidade, na verdade militam contra ela. O estudo busca, ainda, investigar os vinculos da corrupcao politica com o atual estagio da representacao democratica no estado contemporâneo. No bojo do trabalho sao levantadas tres hipoteses de questoes politicas que guardam relacao com a probidade. A primeira trata dos vinculos partidarios-eleitorais e seus reflexos, abrangendo o financiamento privado de campanhas eleitorais, a reeleicao, a necessidade de criar mecanismos que obriguem os governantes a cumprirem as promessas de campanha e a possibilidade de realizar a reforma politica por meio de assembleia constituinte especifica. A segunda e a nomeacao de altas autoridades de Estado, inclusive das Cortes Superiores, em que se questiona a necessidade da existencia de nomeacoes de natureza politica para cargos que demandam conhecimento de natureza tecnica. A hipotese final toca o crescimento desarrazoado dos cargos em comissao. Por fim, a pesquisa indica alguns elementos que teriam o condao de fortalecer a protecao da probidade, ainda que de forma indireta, como o crescimento da transparencia na administracao publica, a articulacao das instituicoes ligadas a tutela da probidade, a universalizacao de servicos publicos, a valorizacao dos servidores de carreira, a protecao de denunciantes (whistleblowers) e a educacao para a cidadania.
Long-term effect of two preventive programs on the incidence of plaque and gingivitis in adolescents.

The efficacy of two oral hygiene training programs on the control of plaque and the prevention of gingival inflammation in adolescents was evaluated during a 3-year period. A population of 227 Brazilian schoolchildren were divided into 3 groups. The first group received a comprehensive program based on individual needs and included information sessions pertaining to the etiology and prevention of dental diseases together with extensive training in self-diagnosis and oral hygiene. In addition, an information session was arranged for parents and teachers of these children. The second group received a less comprehensive program consisting of conventional oral hygiene training. The third group (control) received no preventive program. The programs were presented through frequent initial training sessions ensued by infrequent follow-up visits. During the experimental period, the two oral hygiene training programs involved 3.5 and 1.5 hours per child, respectively. The children were examined clinically at baseline and annually over the next 3 years to assess plaque and gingival bleeding and the data were analyzed by a multi-level variance component analysis. All children showed a perpetual improvement in their oral hygiene and gingival state during the course of the study. However, the improvements observed in the comprehensive group were significantly better than that of the control group. Results from the less comprehensive group were not significantly different from the control group. Longer exposure to the programs appeared to produce more improvement; children with higher plaque and gingivitis scores prior to the program showed less favorable results; girls exhibited better results than boys. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Converting Discrete Images to Partitioning Trees

The discrete space representation of most scientific datasets, generated through instruments or by sampling continuously defined fields, while being simple, is also verbose and structureless. We propose the use of a particular spatial structure, the binary space partitioning tree as a new representation to perform efficient geometric computation in discretely defined domains. The ease of performing affine transformations, set operations between objects, and correct implementation of transparency makes the partitioning tree a good candidate for probing and analyzing medical reconstructions, in such applications as surgery planning and prostheses design. The multiresolution characteristics of the representation can be exploited to perform such operations at interactive rates by smooth variation of the amount of geometry. Application to ultrasound data segmentation and visualization is proposed. The paper describes methods for constructing partitioning trees from a discrete image/volume data set. Discrete space operators developed for edge detection are used to locate discontinuities in the image from which lines/planes containing the discontinuities are fitted by using either the Hough transform or a hyperplane sort. A multiresolution representation can be generated by ordering the choice of hyperplanes by the magnitude of the discontinuities. Various approximations can be obtained by pruning the tree according to an error metric. The segmentation of the image into edgeless regions can yield significant data compression. A hierarchical encoding schema for both lossless and lossy encodings is described.
PAD 4 is essential for antibacterial innate immunity mediated by neutrophil extracellular traps

Peripheral blood neutrophils are the first line of defense after bacterial infection (Segal, 2005; Nathan, 2006). Neutrophils can migrate to sites of infection in response to inflammatory signals, where they engulf and kill bacteria by phagocytosis. Recently, a novel mechanism of extracellular bacterial killing mediated by highly decondensed chromatin structures, termed neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), was identified (Brinkmann et al., 2004). NET formation is induced by PMA, LPS, and bacteria (Brinkmann et al., 2004). NETs trap and kill pathogenic bacteria, such as Shigella flexneri (Brinkmann et al., 2004) and group A Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS; Buchanan et al., 2006). The role of NETs in innate immunity has kindled much attention due to its involvement in human health and diseases and its therapeutic implications (Brinkmann and Zychlinsky, 2007; Nizet, 2007; Wartha and HenriquesNormark, 2008; von Köckritz-Blickwede and Nizet, 2009). For example, impaired NET formation predisposes newborn infants to bacterial infection (Yost et al., 2009). Further, in chronic granulomatous disease patients with impaired nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, neutrophils cannot generate NETs and possess poor antimicrobial activity (Fuchs et al., 2007; Bianchi et al., 2009). Conversely, gene therapy with the NADPH oxidase gene in a chronic granulomatous disease patient to restore both NET formation and antimicrobial functions has provided an effective treatment for this disease (Bianchi et al., 2009). In the eukaryotic nucleus, 147 bp of DNA is wrapped around a core histone octamer, which includes two of each histone H3, H2B, H2A, and H4, to form a nucleosome. Nucleosomes are 11 nm in diameter and are the basic structural units of chromatin (Richmond and Davey, 2003). The association of linker histone H1 with linker DNA further organizes nucleosomes to form higher-order chromatin structures (Brown CORRESPONDENCE Yanming Wang: yuw12@psu.edu
Real-time implementation of depth map post-processing for 3D-TV in dedicated hardware

Automatically generated depth maps from video are usually not aligned with the objects in the original image and produced at lower resolutions. We propose to apply a joint-bilateral filter to smoothen the depth map within the objects and upsample it to the original image resolution, while keeping the object edges in the depth map aligned with the original image. We performed algorithmic and ASIC specific optimizations to achieve a real-time implementation in dedicated hardware, while preserving high quality results. Upsampling depth maps from 240×135@60Hz to 1920×1080@60Hz, requires 0.35 mm2, at 200 MHz, for a dedicated hardware implementation in CMOS 45 nm technology.
Terahertz generation in the carbon nanotube antenna

A new carbon nanotube antenna for terahertz application is proposed. The antenna properties such as electrical field distributions, scattering parameters, standing wave ratio and two dimension directivity patterns are discussed. The proposed antenna arrays operate from 9.3 THz to 10.2 THz range, and main resonant frequency is 9.7 THz. The simulation results could be useful for the generation of THz wave.
Der fruchtbare Dissens um den Beutelsbacher Konsens

Zusammenfassung In diesem Aufsatz wird die These vertreten, dass die Fruchtbarkeit des Beutelsbacher Konsenses, der sich letztlich in nichts mehr denn drei fast schon trivial zu nennenden Gemeinplatzen erschopft, nicht im Konsensuellen liegt, sondern im Wesentlichen sich aus dem Dissens uber seine jeweilige Lesart ergibt. Gerade aber in dieser Umstrittenheit wird sein wahrer didaktischer Mehr- und Nahrwert gesehen. Dies wird exemplarisch am Beispiel des Streits um die Auslegung und Umsetzung des Indoktrinationsgebots und des Kontroversitatsgebots entwickelt. Schlagworter: Politische Bildung, Beutelsbacher Konsens ----- Bibliographie: Dauble, Helmut: Der fruchtbare Dissens um den Beutelsbacher Konsens, GWP, 4-2016, S. 449-458. https://doi.org/10.3224/gwp.v65i4. 05
Improving the azimuth resolution of stripmap SAR image using Adaptive Weighted Norm Extrapolation

The content — This paper describes the procedure of application Adaptive Weighted Norm Extrapolation (AWNE) method on stripmap SAR image which was formed using Doppler Beam Sharpening (DBS) algorithm, in order to improve resolution in the azimuth axis. The characteristics of stripmap SAR recording are listed, as well as the causes of poor resolution in the azimuth axis of the DBS algorithm. Before using the AWNE method, the SAR data were modified in the azimuth axis. The result is that the resolution of the signal in the frequency domain is improved, which represents resolution improvement in the azimuth axis of stripmap SAR image.