Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Seroprevalence of HIV among pregnant women in the ten regions of the Ivory Coast].

UNLABELLED Ivory Coast, a sub-Saharan African country, has 14 million inhabitants. Two AIDS cases were reported to the WHO in 1985. By December 31st 1996, there were a total of 37,878 AIDS cases in Ivory Coast, 6,727 of which were new cases reported in 1996. Heterosexual transmission is the predominant means of HIV infection in Africa and women of childbearing age account for a substantial proportion of the individuals infected. The aim of this study was to follow the progression of infection in the various regions of the country by comparing data from two time periods: Period I: 1986 to 1989; Period II: 1994 to 1996. MATERIALS AND METHODS LOCATION Samples were taken in regional maternal and child protection centers. Recruitment method: Women were recruited anonymously, during their antenatal care. BIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: Period I (1986 to 1989), 2,604 pregnant women. Anti-HIV antibodies were detected with: Abbott HIV-1 EIA Recombinant (Chicago) used initially, for 1,200 sera; Abbott HIV-1/HIV-2 Recombinant (Chicago) used later for the remaining sera. There was no commercially available test for HIV-2 during this first period, so all samples with Rm0.8 (R = optical density/cut-off) were also tested by western blotting. Period II (1994 to 1996), 2,935 pregnant women. All sera were tested with Enzygnost HIV-1-2 and Enzygnost HIV-1-2 Plus, produced by Behring (Germany). All sera testing positive in EIA were also tested by western blotting. RESULTS The prevalence of HIV infection was 4.23% for Period I and 12.53% for Period II. No region of Ivory Coast was completely free of these 2 viruses after the mid-1980s. Women aged 20 to 29 years of age were the most likely to be infected, for both periods. The highest prevalence of HIV-2 was that for women aged between 20 and 29 years and HIV-2 infection occurred mostly in the South, Southwest and West regions. DISCUSSION The prevalence of HIV infection is now at least 10% in each region of the country. Abidjan is no longer the city with the highest levels of infection, as shown by the results for Period II. The East and West have the highest levels of HIV infection, and the prevalence of HIV in these areas is significantly higher than that for Abidjan (p = 0.007 for the East and p = 0.009 for the West).
A newly formed telomere in Ascaris suum does not exert a telomere position effect on a nearby gene

During the process of chromatin diminution in Ascaris suum (formerly named Ascaris lumbricoides var. suum), developmentally regulated chromosomal fragmentation and new telomere addition occur within specific chromosomal breakage regions (CBRs). The DNA sequences flanking one of these CBRs (CBR-1) were analyzed, and two protein-encoding genes were found on either side. The noneliminated gene, agp-1, whose AUG start codon is located within approximately 2 kb of the boundary of CBR-1, encodes a putative GTP-binding protein which is structurally related to eukaryotic and prokaryotic elongation factors. Northern (RNA) blot analyses revealed that transcripts of this gene are present at all developmental stages, suggesting that the massive chromosomal rearrangements associated with the process of chromatin diminution have no influence on agp-1 expression. This demonstrates that addition of new telomeres in CBR-1 does not result in a telomeric position effect, a phenomenon previously described in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Brain natriuretic peptide and endothelin-1 in the pathogenesis of polyhydramnios-oligohydramnios in monochorionic twins.

OBJECTIVE We investigated the association between amniotic fluid levels of human brain natriuretic peptide, endothelin-1, and abnormal amniotic fluid volume in monochorionic twins with and without chronic twin-twin transfusion syndrome. STUDY DESIGN Amniotic fluid and fetal blood samples were obtained in utero or at cesarean delivery from monochorionic twins with (n = 20) or without chronic twin-twin transfusion syndrome (n = 10). Concentrations of atrial natriuretic peptide, human brain natriuretic peptide, and endothelin-1 (in picograms per milliliters) were determined by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS The amniotic fluid concentrations of human brain natriuretic peptide (P <.001) and endothelin-1 (P <.001) in the recipient fetuses were higher than the donor twins but were similar in the twins with no twin-twin transfusion syndrome. In the donor twins, amniotic fluid concentrations of human brain natriuretic peptide (P <.001) and endothelin-1 (P <.001) were lower than the twin pairs with no twin-twin transfusion syndrome. In both chronic twin-twin transfusion syndrome fetuses (P <.01) and fetuses with no twin-twin transfusion syndrome (P <.001), the amniotic fluid concentrations of human brain natriuretic peptide were high, although the concentrations of the endothelin-1 were lower than the fetal plasma concentrations. A positive association was present between amniotic fluid levels of human brain natriuretic peptide and endothelin-1 (R (2) = 0.51, P <. 001, n = 60). Amniotic fluid human brain natriuretic peptide (r = 0.67, P <.001) and endothelin-1 (r = 0.57, P <.01) levels of the recipient twins correlated with the amniotic fluid index. CONCLUSION These data suggest that amniotic fluid concentrations of human brain natriuretic peptide and endothelin-1 were highest in the twins with polyhydramnios and lowest in the twins with oligohydramnios, which suggests the importance of these hormones in the regulation of amniotic fluid volume.
Branch and bound tree search for assigning cooperating UAVs to multiple tasks

This paper describes a branch and bound optimization algorithm for assigning cooperating homogeneous uninhabited aerial vehicles to multiple tasks. The combinatorial optimization problem is posed in the form of a decision tree, the structure of which enforces the required group coordination and precedence for cooperatively performing the multiple tasks. For path planning a Dubin's car model is used so that the vehicles' dynamic constraint, of minimum turning radius, is taken into account. The proposed optimization algorithm is initialized by a best-first search and candidate optimal solutions serve as a monotonically decreasing upper bound for the assignment cost. Euclidean distances are used for estimating the path length encoded in branches of the tree that have not yet been evaluated by the computationally intensive Dubin's optimization subroutine. This provides a lower bound for the cost of unevaluated assignments. We apply these upper and lower bounding procedures iteratively on active subsets within the feasible set, enabling efficient pruning of the solution tree. Using Monte Carlo simulations the performance of the search algorithm is analyzed for two different cost functions. It is shown that the algorithm's convergence rate is dependent on the optimized cost function of the cooperative mission
Urban-rural inequalities in ischemic heart disease in Scotland, 1981-1999.

OBJECTIVES We sought to describe the pattern and magnitude of urban-rural variation in ischemic heart disease (IHD) in Scotland and to examine the associations among IHD health indicators, level of rurality, and degree of socioeconomic deprivation. METHODS We used routine population and health data on the population aged 40-74 years between 1981 and 1999 and living in 826 small areas (average population=5600) in Scotland. Three IHD health indicators-mortality rates (deaths per 100,000 population), rates of continuous hospital stays (discharges per 100,000 population), and rates of mortality in the hospital or within 28 days of discharge (MH+) were analyzed with multilevel Poisson models. A 4-level rurality classification was used: urban areas, remote small towns, accessible rural areas, and remote rural areas. RESULTS Rates of mortality, continuous hospital stays, and MH+ increased with area socioeconomic deprivation. After adjustment for population age, gender, and deprivation, the relative risk of IHD mortality in remote rural areas was similar to that of urban areas in 1981; the relative risk of a continuous hospital stay was significantly lower (relative risk [RR] = 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.64, 0.76) and the relative risk of MH+ was higher (RR=1.18; 95% CI=1.04, 1.35) in remote rural areas. Mortality and MH+ declined for all ruralities over time. However, MH+ remains highest in remote rural areas and remote towns. CONCLUSIONS Low standardized ratios of IHD continuous hospital stays and mortality in remote rural areas mask health problems among rural populations. Although absolute and relative differences between urban and rural rates of MH+ have diminished, the relative risk of MH+ remains high in remote rural areas.
Regulation of Integrin Function by the Urokinase Receptor

Integrin function is central to inflammation, immunity, and tumor progression. The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) and integrins formed stable complexes that both inhibited native integrin adhesive function and promoted adhesion to vitronectin via a ligand binding site on uPAR. Interaction of soluble uPAR with the active conformer of integrins mimicked the inhibitory effects of membrane uPAR. Both uPAR-mediated adhesion and altered integrin function were blocked by a peptide that bound to uPAR and disrupted complexes. These data provide a paradigm for regulation of integrins in which a nonintegrin membrane receptor interacts with and modifies the function of activated integrins.
Wage Determination: Privatised, New Private and State Owned Companies. Empirical Evidence from Panel Data

This paper examines the determinants of wage pressure in large companies, including ownership characteristics and the impact of regional labour markets. By using a panel of 329 Polish largest firms during the period 1997- 2001, we find evidence of rent sharing activities, however there is also asymmetry in quasi rent elasticity of wages. The wage setting mechanism seems to differ between new private companies, privatised companies, state firms and mixed ownership. In particular, wages in state firms are highly responsive to regional labour market conditions, while firms in other sectors are not. Rent sharing is visible in both the state sector and new private companies, yet several specific characteristics differ. On the other hand, quasi rent elasticity appears to be suppressed in privatised companies.
Multi-population cooperative particle swarm cultural algorithms

In multi-population cooperative particle swarm algorithms, implicit knowledge is not fully utilized to improve algorithms' performance. A multi-population cooperative particle swarm cultural algorithms is proposed by adopting dual structure in cultural algorithm. The proportion of subpopulation influenced by each kind of knowledge is adaptively adjusted according to subpopulation's situation. Knowledge plays a role in guiding the evolution process so as to enhance the subpopulations' diversity. Simulation results indicate that the algorithms can effectively improve the convergence speed and overcome premature convergence.
Electromyographic analysis of goal-directed grasping behavior in the American lobster

Animals spontaneously initiate goal-directed behavior including foraging action based on their appetitive motivation. The American lobster Homarus americanus exhibits grasping behavior with its crusher claw as feeding behavior that can be initiated after appropriate operant conditioning. In order to quantitatively characterize the goal-directed grasping behavior with a time resolution fine enough for neurophysiological analysis of its initiation and control mechanisms, we made simultaneous electromyographic (EMG) recording from grasping- and reaching-related muscles of the crusher claw while animals initiated grasping behavior. We developed an in vivo extracellular recording chamber that allowed the animal under a semi-restrained condition to perform operant reward learning of claw grasping. Three muscles in the crusher claw (propodite-dactyl closer/opener and coxal protractor) were found to be closely associated with spontaneous grasping behavior. In spontaneous grasping, the activation of those muscles consistently preceded the grasping onset time and exhibited different activity patterns from the grasp induced by a mechanical stimulus. Furthermore, we found that the timing of coxal protractor activation was closer to the grasp onset and its activity was briefer for goal-directed grasping behavior in trained and hungry animals than for non-goal-directed spontaneous grasping behavior in naive or satiated animals. It is suggested that the goal-directed grasping behavior of lobster is characterized, at least partly, by experience-dependent briefer activity of specific muscles involved in reaching action.
Lipid peroxidation is an early event in the brain in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Multiple studies demonstrate that the brain in Alzheimer's disease (AD) contains extensive oxidative damage. Most of these studies used advanced‐stage AD patients raising the question of whether oxidative damage is a late effect of neurodegeneration or precedes and contributes to the pathogenesis of AD. Here we describe F2‐isoprostane (F2‐IsoP) and F4‐neuroprostane (F4‐NP) levels in longitudinally followed, well documented autopsied normal control subjects and patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and late‐stage AD. Gas chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization/mass spectrometry was used to determine F2‐IsoP and F4‐NP levels. Significant increases in F2‐IsoP levels were found in frontal, parietal and occipital lobes in MCI and late AD compared to controls but no significant differences were present between MCI and late AD. A significant increase in F4‐NPs was present in parietal and occipital lobes in MCI compared to controls and a significant increase was present in these regions and hippocampus in late AD compared to controls. The only difference betwen MCI and late AD was significantly increased F4‐NP in hippocampus in late AD. Our data indicate that lipid peroxidation is present in the brain of MCI patients and suggest that oxidative damage may play a role in the pathogenesis of AD. Ann Neurol 2005;58:730–735
Optimal design method for chip-area-efficient CMOS low-dropout regulator

This paper proposes a design method to minimize area of a CMOS low-dropout regulator (LDO) numerically. The new estimation technique for the value of the output voltage ripple under rapid load-current changes is derived, and thus the design procedure to minimize the chip area of the LDO is clarified. To verify the proposed method, the small-area LDO was designed by applying the proposed technique and fabricated in 65nm CMOS process. Measurement result shows the value of the output voltage ripple was suppressed less than 50mV when load current changes from 0 to 30mA in 1 μs at 1.2V output voltage with 1.8V power supply. And the LDO could be implemented with small chip area of 100μm × 100μm. The quiescent power consumption was 472μW.
Photonic Crystal Fiber-Based Interferometric Biosensor for Streptavidin and Biotin Detection

We report the fabrication of a highly sensitive refractometer based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) interferometry. Using fusion arc splicing technique, a short length of PCF (∼3 mm) was spliced to conventional single-mode fibers on both sides. The voids of the PCF were completely collapsed in the splice region, which acted as mode splitter and combiner on both sides. Microbubbles were formed in the splice region and acted as diverging lens for exciting cladding modes efficiently. The transmission spectrum exhibited detectable “dips” for refractive index (RI) sensing. The bulk liquid sensitivity can reach up to 320 nm/RIU (RI unit) based on the linear curve fit for RI ranging from 1.33 to 1.34. Biosensing experiment was carried out using streptavidin and biotin as respective analyte and receptor. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first time of reporting bioaffinity test on the external surface of PCF using modal interferometry.
Intestinal schistosomiasis: prevalence, knowledge, attitude and practices among school children in an endemic area of North Western Tanzania.

Objective: Knowledge, attitudes and preventative practices of risk groups for neglected tropical diseases such as intestinal schistosomiasis are important aspects for their control. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni, knowledge, perceptions and preventative practices of school children towards schistosomiasis in the Sengerema district, Tanzania. Methods: We conducted a crosssectional study using 400 randomly selected school children. Single faecal specimens were obtained from children and screened for S. mansoni using Kato Katz technique. Amongst those children who submitted faecal specimen, 200 randomly selected children responded to a structured questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni was 64.3% (257/400; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 59.3, 69.0). Less than 50% of the interviewed children demonstrated an understanding of control measures and transmission of schistosomiasis. About 87.5% (175/200; 95% CI = 82.1, 91.7) of the respondents reported to have heard of schistosomiasis and the main source of information were schools (34.5 %). 84% of the children reported going to the lake and 68% reported to participate in paddy cultivation. About 40.5% of the respondents associated schistosomiasis with water contact and 39.5% accurately quoted symptoms associated with schistosomiasis. Knowledge about transmission increased with age (p=0.005). The control measures mentioned by 34.5% of the respondents were in line with the World Health Organization’s control strategies against schistosomiasis. Most of respondents (96.5%) reported the use of toilets. A majority (82%) of the respondents reported that they had participated in previous mass drug administration. Conclusion: The prevalence of schistosomiasis was high despite repeated previous mass drug administration campaigns. There is a need to incorporate practical public health education in the school curriculum for the purpose of increasing knowledge and promoting behavioral changes in school children to improve disease control.
MOST SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES ARE MAJOR MERGERS

We analyze subarcsecond resolution interferometric CO line data for 12 submillimeter-luminous (S850 μm ⩾ 5 mJy) galaxies with redshifts between 1 and 3, presenting new data for 4 of them. Morphologically and kinematically, most of the 12 systems appear to be major mergers. Five of them are well-resolved binary systems, and seven are compact or poorly resolved. Of the four binary systems for which mass measurements for both separate components can be made, all have mass ratios of 1:3 or closer. Furthermore, comparison of the ratio of compact to binary systems with that observed in local ULIRGs indicates that at least a significant fraction of the compact submillimeter-luminous galaxies (SMGs) must also be late-stage mergers. In addition, the dynamical and gas masses we derive are most consistent with the lower end of the range of stellar masses published for these systems, favoring cosmological models in which SMGs result from mergers. These results all point to the same conclusion that most of the bright SMGs with LIR ≳ 5 × 1012 L☉ are likely major mergers.
Cardiac Imaging in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

Cardiovascular disease is highly prevalent and it is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The implementation of various imaging modalities may help to risk stratify these patients with a potential ease on the burden of complications and the rising costs of care. In this article we review some of the modern imaging techniques to diagnose cardiac disease in patients affected by CKD.
Outage Probability Due to PMD in Coherent PDM QPSK Systems With Electronic Equalization

Polarization-division-multiplexed (PDM) quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) coherent optical systems employ blind adaptive electronic equalizers for polarization-mode dispersion compensation. In this letter, we compare the performance of fractionally spaced, linear electronic equalizers, composed of four parallel finite impulse response (FIR) filters of various lengths, using the outage probability as a performance criterion. The constant modulus algorithm is applied for the adaptation of FIR filter coefficients. A parallel programming implementation of the multicanonical Monte Carlo method is adopted for the estimation of the tails of the outage probability distribution. It is shown that less than 20 complex, half-symbol-period-spaced taps per FIR filter suffice, in order to reduce the outage probability of PDM QPSK coherent optical systems to less than 10-5 , for a mean differential group delay up to twice the symbol period.
PFPS: Priority-First Packet Scheduler for IEEE 802.15.4 Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper presents priority-first packet scheduling approach for heterogeneous traffic flows in low data rate heterogeneous wireless sensor networks (HWSNs). A delay sensitive or emergency event occurrence demands the data delivery on the priority basis over regular monitoring sensing applications. In addition, handling sudden multi-event data and achieving their reliability requirements distinctly becomes the challenge and necessity in the critical situations. To address this problem, this paper presents distributed approach of managing data transmission for simultaneous traffic flows over multi-hop topology, which reduces the load of a sink node; and helps to make a life of the network prolong. For this reason, heterogeneous traffic flows algorithm (CHTF) algorithm classifies the each incoming packets either from source nodes or downstream hop node based on the packet priority and stores them into the respective queues. The PFPS-EDF and PFPS-FCFS algorithms present scheduling for each data packets using priority weight. Furthermore, reporting rate is timely updated based on the queue level considering their fairness index and processing rate. The reported work in this paper is validated in ns2 (ns2.32 allinone) simulator by putting the network into each distinct cases for validation of presented work and real time TestBed. The protocol evaluation presents that the distributed queue-based PFPS scheduling mechanism works efficiently using CSMA/CA MAC protocol of the IEEE 802.15. 4 sensor networks.
Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Coactivator Protein, NCoA-62, Involved in Vitamin D-mediated Transcription*

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) forms a heterodimeric complex with retinoid X receptor (RXR) and binds to vitamin D-responsive promoter elements to regulate the transcription of specific genes or gene networks. The precise mechanism of transcriptional regulation by the VDR·RXR heterodimer is not well understood, but it may involve interactions of VDR·RXR with transcriptional coactivator or corepressor proteins. Here, a yeast two-hybrid strategy was used to isolate proteins that selectively interacted with VDR and other nuclear receptors. One cDNA clone designated NCoA-62, encoded a 62,000-Da protein that is highly related to BX42, a Drosophila melanogaster nuclear protein involved in ecdysone-stimulated gene expression. Yeast two-hybrid studies andin vitro protein-protein interaction assays using glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins demonstrated that NCoA-62 formed a direct protein-protein contact with the ligand binding domain of VDR. Coexpression of NCoA-62 in a vitamin D-responsive transient gene expression system augmented 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-activated transcription, but it had little or no effect on basal transcription or gal4-VP16-activated transcription. NCoA-62 also interacted with retinoid receptors, and its expression enhanced retinoic acid-, estrogen-, and glucocorticoid-mediated gene expression. These data indicate that NCoA-62 may be classified into an emerging set of transcriptional coactivator proteins that function to facilitate vitamin D- and other nuclear receptor-mediated transcriptional pathways.