Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Associated with Changes in HIV-Testing Uptake among Young Women (15-24 Years) in Tanzania: Analysis of 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2011-12 Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey

HIV counselling and testing (HTC) is an integral component of HIV preventive strategies. Despite an increase in the number of HTC sites, HIV testing uptake among young women in Tanzania is relatively low compared to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to explore the factors associated with changes in HIV testing uptake using Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Surveys of 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2011-12. This was a secondary data analysis using the 2003-04 Tanzanian HIV/AIDS Indicator Survey (THIS), and the 2007-08 and 2011-12 Tanzanian HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Surveys (THMIS). The study population consisted of young women 15 – 24 years old at the time of each survey. Using a pooled logistic regression we identified factors associated with HIV testing uptake during the study period. Multivariate decomposition analysis was used to assess factors associated with the changes in HIV testing uptake over the survey period. HIV testing uptake among this population was 6.6%, 30.8% and 39.8% for 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2011-12 surveys respectively. Independent of other covariates, the time period of the survey has an important effect on uptake of HIV testing. Women’s age (2024 years), education level (primary & secondary), ever married, number of life sex partners (1 or more),having STI or symptoms of STI and attendance to antenatal care were significantly associated with higher odds of HIV testing across both sets of pooled surveys. Changes in characteristics of the sub-populations (endowments) in 2003-04 vs 2007-08 surveys would have resulted in low HIV testing uptake (-5.26%) in the absence of the changes in effects of these characteristic which contributed most of the changes in HIV testing uptake; (105.26%). In 2007-08 vs 2011-12 surveys, the changes in endowments contributed to 21.1% of the changes in HIV testing uptake, while 77.9% of the changes were attributed to coefficients. Both endowments and coefficients were statistically significant in both of the multivariate decomposition models. HIV testing has been greater among women with high risk factors, and thus has become more targeted. Until testing is universal, an effective expansion strategy would be to prioritize those most likely to be infected.
DRPL: Deep Regression Pair Learning for Multi-Focus Image Fusion

In this paper, a novel deep network is proposed for multi-focus image fusion, named Deep Regression Pair Learning (DRPL). In contrast to existing deep fusion methods which divide the input image into small patches and apply a classifier to judge whether the patch is in focus or not, DRPL directly converts the whole image into a binary mask without any patch operation, subsequently tackling the difficulty of the blur level estimation around the focused/defocused boundary. Simultaneously, a pair learning strategy, which takes a pair of complementary source images as inputs and generates two corresponding binary masks, is introduced into the model, greatly imposing the complementary constraint on each pair and making a large contribution to the performance improvement. Furthermore, as the edge or gradient does exist in the focus part while there is no similar property for the defocus part, we also embed a gradient loss to ensure the generated image to be all-in-focus. Then the structural similarity index (SSIM) is utilized to make a trade-off between the reference and fused images. Experimental results conducted on the synthetic and real-world datasets substantiate the effectiveness and superiority of DRPL compared with other state-of-the-art approaches. The source code can be found in https://github.com/sasky1/DPRL.
A New Humanized Mouse Model Mimics Humans in Lacking α-Gal Epitopes and Secreting Anti-Gal Antibodies

Key Points The NSG/α-Galnull mouse model mimics the human tissues in lacking α-Gal epitopes. Humanized NSG/α-Galnull mice support the development of functional human B cells. Humanized NSG/α-Galnull mice secrete human Abs to α-Gal epitopes. Visual Abstract Mice have been used as accepted tools for investigating complex human diseases and new drug therapies because of their shared genetics and anatomical characteristics with humans. However, the tissues in mice are different from humans in that human cells have a natural mutation in the α1,3 galactosyltransferase (α1,3GT) gene and lack α-Gal epitopes on glycosylated proteins, whereas mice and other nonprimate mammals express this epitope. The lack of α-Gal epitopes in humans results in the loss of immune tolerance to this epitope and production of abundant natural anti-Gal Abs. These natural anti-Gal Abs can be used as an adjuvant to enhance processing of vaccine epitopes to APCs. However, wild-type mice and all existing humanized mouse models cannot be used to test the efficacy of vaccines expressing α-Gal epitopes because they express α-Gal epitopes and lack anti-Gal Abs. Therefore, in an effort to bridge the gap between the mouse models and humans, we developed a new humanized mouse model that mimics humans in that it lacks α-Gal epitopes and secretes human anti-Gal Abs. The new humanized mouse model (Hu-NSG/α-Galnull) is designed to be used for preclinical evaluations of viral and tumor vaccines based on α-Gal epitopes, human-specific immune responses, xenotransplantation studies, and in vivo biomaterials evaluation. To our knowledge, our new Hu-NSG/α-Galnull is the first available humanized mouse model with such features.
The Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine Derivative, SCO-201, Reverses Multidrug Resistance Mediated by ABCG2/BCRP

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, such as breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), are key players in resistance to multiple anti-cancer drugs, leading to cancer treatment failure and cancer-related death. Currently, there are no clinically approved drugs for reversal of cancer drug resistance caused by ABC transporters. This study investigated if a novel drug candidate, SCO-201, could inhibit BCRP and reverse BCRP-mediated drug resistance. We applied in vitro cell viability assays in SN-38 (7-Ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin)-resistant colon cancer cells and in non-cancer cells with ectopic expression of BCRP. SCO-201 reversed resistance to SN-38 (active metabolite of irinotecan) in both model systems. Dye efflux assays, bidirectional transport assays, and ATPase assays demonstrated that SCO-201 inhibits BCRP. In silico interaction analyses supported the ATPase assay data and suggest that SCO-201 competes with SN-38 for the BCRP drug-binding site. To analyze for inhibition of other transporters or cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, we performed enzyme and transporter assays by in vitro drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics studies, which demonstrated that SCO-201 selectively inhibited BCRP and neither inhibited nor induced CYPs. We conclude that SCO-201 is a specific, potent, and potentially non-toxic drug candidate for the reversal of BCRP-mediated resistance in cancer cells.
Phase I Study of a Liposomal Carrier (CPX-351) Containing an Optimized, Synergistic, Fixed Molar Ratio of Cytarabine (Ara-C) and Daunorubicin (DNR) in Advanced Leukemias and Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS).

Background: The molar ratio of Ara-C and DNR profoundly affects the antitumor activity of this doublet in vitro. CPX-351 is a liposomal formulation of Ara-C and DNR which fixes the 5:1 molar ratio found to produce optimal synergy and efficacy in both in vitro and in vivo preclinical leukemia models, superior to that observed with conventionally dosed, non-encapsulated drugs. CPX-351 overcomes the individual pharmacokinetics of each drug maintaining the 5:1 molar ratio for extended periods of time after IV administration and delivers this ratio to bone marrow. We initiated an escalating-dose phase 1 trial of CPX-351 in patients with advanced acute leukemias or MDS. Objectives: 1) to determine safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of a 3 day schedule (day 1, 3, 5) of CPX-351 in advanced leukemia and MDS, and 2) to seek preliminary evidence of antitumor activity. Methods: Patients with relapsed or refractory AML, ALL, or high-risk MDS were eligible for the study. 90 min. IV infusions of CPX-351 were administered on Days 1, 3, and 5 of each induction course. A second induction course was permitted if there was evidence of antileukemic effect and persistent leukemia in a day 14 bone marrow. Dose escalation began at 3 units/m2 (1 u = 1 mg Ara-C and 0.44 mg DNR) with single patient cohorts and doubling of doses with each cohort until evidence of antileukemic activity was observed. Thereafter, 3 patient cohorts and 33% dose increments were to be continued until DLTs signaled the end of further dose escalation. PK samples were collected after each dose. Results: Twenty-two subjects have received 31 courses of CPX-351: M/F = 15/7, median age = 62.5 years (range 24–78); 19 patients had AML and 3 patients had ALL; median number of prior regimens = 2 (1–7). At 24 u/m2 antileukemic effects were observed and future cohort size and escalation rate were adjusted (3 subjects/cohort, 33% dose increments). Non-hematologic toxicities observed to date have included transient grade 1–2 mucositis (5 patients), grade 2 skin rash (2 patients), grade 3 GI bleed (1 patient), and RSV pneumonia which resulted in death (1 patient). In addition, 6 subjects recovered from neutropenic fevers (5 grade 3) that were not considered study drug related. Except for a single patient treated at 24 u/m2, hair loss has not been observed. No DLT has been observed at doses up to 57 u/m2 (57 mg/m2 Ara-C/25 mg/m2 DNR). Clinical responses were observed beginning at 32 u/m2. At 32 u/m2 bone marrow aplasia occurred in 2 of 3 subjects with AML resulting in 1 CRp and 1 PR. At 43 u/m2 2 of 3 subjects achieved CR (1 AML, 1 ALL). Conclusions: CPX-351 administered on a 3x/week schedule in advanced leukemia appears to be well-tolerated, with preliminary and promising signs of clinical activity as measured by CR and decreases in bone marrow blasts. Accrual to this trial is ongoing, and updated clinical data will be presented.
Evaluation of Emotional Intelligence and its Dimensions among Residents and Physicians Working at Emergency Ward to Reduce Human Risks

Emotional intelligence has effect on behavioral risks of human resource. In this research, regarding to the capability of emotional intelligence and significance of human resources risk, the relationship between emotional intelligence and human resources risk was Evaluation in emergency ward of two Loghman Hakim and Imam Hossein Hospitals.108 personnel from two interest hospitals were selected randomly. They participated in present study and then completed the questionnaire. Its validity and reliability has been measured before. The software SPSS 22 was used in order to perform statistical tests on dada such as analysis of variance, Pearson and Spearman correlation and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. Equations were used to assess the conceptual model. Results indicated that there are almost all of risks in this research. Ranking of emotional intelligence dimensions represented that social skills such as sympathy, self-motivation, self-regulating, self-awareness have the highest to lowest mean among staffs, respectively. Also, there is a strongly positive correlation between all of variables of emotional intelligence and behavioral risk. Moreover, there are a significant relationship between self-awareness, selfregulating, social skills and health risk and occupational security. Furthermore, there has been a same trend between self-motivation and knowledge and skill risk, also, so is between sympathy and health risk, occupational security, knowledge risk and skill.
Trump claims public health warnings on covid-19 are a conspiracy against him

US public health officials are struggling to overcome conflicting messaging on covid-19 from the White House, as Donald Trump seems to want to downplay the threat, hoping to minimise economic disruption that could harm his chances of re-election in November. The virus seized Trump’s attention on his 26 February return from India, as he watched on the screens of Air Force One the first stock market plunge driven by pandemic fears. He took to Twitter to complain that “Low Ratings Fake News . are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus [sic] look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible. ” The president was particularly incensed about an infectious disease expert at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Nancy Messonnier, whom he blamed for triggering the market slide by announcing that community spread was ultimately inevitable in the US. That night, the talk radio host Rush Limbaugh denounced Messonnier on his show, noting that her brother was Rod Rosenstein, …
p53, cancer and the immune response

ABSTRACT The importance of cancer-cell-autonomous functions of the tumour suppressor p53 (encoded by TP53) has been established in many studies, but it is now clear that the p53 status of the cancer cell also has a profound impact on the immune response. Loss or mutation of p53 in cancers can affect the recruitment and activity of myeloid and T cells, allowing immune evasion and promoting cancer progression. p53 can also function in immune cells, resulting in various outcomes that can impede or support tumour development. Understanding the role of p53 in tumour and immune cells will help in the development of therapeutic approaches that can harness the differential p53 status of cancers compared with most normal tissue. Summary: This Review considers how p53 in tumour and stromal cells can function to regulate the immune response.
T‐cells expressing a chimeric‐PD1‐Dap10‐CD3zeta receptor reduce tumour burden in multiple murine syngeneic models of solid cancer

Adoptive transfer of T‐cells is a promising therapy for many cancers. To enhance tumour recognition by T‐cells, chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) consisting of signalling domains fused to receptors that recognize tumour‐associated antigens can be expressed in T‐cells. While CAR T‐cells have shown clinical success for treating haematopoietic malignancies, using CAR T‐cells to treat solid tumours remains a challenge. We developed a chimeric PD1 (chPD1) receptor that recognizes the ligands for the PD1 receptor that are expressed on many types of solid cancer. To determine if this novel CAR could target a wide variety of tumour types, the anti‐tumour efficacy of chPD1 T‐cells against syngeneic murine models of melanoma, renal, pancreatic, liver, colon, breast, prostate and bladder cancer was measured. Of the 14 cell lines tested, all expressed PD1 ligands on their cell surface, making them potential targets for chPD1 T‐cells. ChPD1 T‐cells lysed the tumour cells and secreted pro‐inflammatory cytokines [interferon (IFN)γ, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)α, interleukin (IL)‐2, granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF), IL‐17 and IL‐21], but did not secrete the anti‐inflammatory cytokine IL‐10. Furthermore, T‐cells expressing chPD1 receptors reduced an established tumour burden and led to long‐term tumour‐free survival in all types of solid tumours tested. ChPD1 T‐cells did not survive longer than 14 days in vivo; however, treatment with chPD1 T‐cells induced protective host anti‐tumour memory responses in tumour‐bearing mice. Therefore, adoptive transfer of chPD1 T‐cells could be a novel therapeutic strategy to treat multiple types of solid cancer.
The content and completeness of women-held maternity documents before admission for labour: A mixed methods study in Banjul, The Gambia

Background Women-held maternity documents are well established for enabling continuity of maternity care worldwide, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommending their use in effective decision-making. We aimed to assess the presence, content and completeness of women-held maternity documents at admission to hospitals in The Gambia, and investigate barriers and facilitators to their completion. Methods We interviewed 250 women on maternity wards of all 3 Banjul hospitals and conducted content analysis of documentation brought by women on admission for their completeness against WHO referrals criteria. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds of the minimum criteria being met. Two focus groups and 21 semi-structured interviews (8 doctors, 8 midwives and 5 nurses) were conducted with healthcare practitioners to explore barriers and facilitators to documented clinical information availability on admission. Findings Of the women admitted, all but 10/250 (4%) brought either a maternity card or a structured referral sheet. Of all forms of documentation, women most frequently brought the government-issued maternity card (235/250, 94%); 16% of cards had all 9 minimum criteria completed. Of the 79 referred women, 60% carried standardised referral forms. Only 30% of 97 high-risk women had risk-status recorded. Women were less likely to have documents complete if they were illiterate, had not attended three maternity appointments, or lived more than one hour from hospital. During qualitative interviews, three themes were identified: women as agents for transporting information and documents (e.g. remembering to bring maternity cards); role of individual healthcare professionals’ actions (e.g. legibility of handwriting); system and organisational culture (e.g. standardised referral guidelines). Conclusion Women rarely forgot their maternity card, but documents brought at admission were frequently incomplete. This is a missed opportunity to enhance handover and quality of care, especially for high-risk women. National guidelines were recognised by providers as needed for good document keeping and would enhance the women-held maternity documents’ contribution to improving both safety and continuity of care.
Characterization of Artifact Signals in Neck Photoplethysmography

Objective: The neck is a very attractive measurement location for multimodal physiological monitoring, since it offers the possibility of extracting clinically relevant parameters, which cannot be obtained from other body locations, such as lung volumes. It is for this reason that obtaining PPG from the neck would be of interest. PPG signals, however, are very susceptible to artifacts which greatly compromise their quality. But the extent of this is going to depend on, the nature of the artifacts and the strength of the sensed signal, both of which are location dependent. This paper presents for the first time the characterization of artifacts affecting neck PPG signals. Methods: Neck PPG data was recorded from 19 participants, who performed ten different activities to deliberately introduce common artifacts. 41 PPG features were extracted and statistically analyzed to investigate which ones showed the greatest ability to differentiate normal PPG from each artifact. A customized minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance (mRMR) feature selection approach was implemented, to select the top 10 features. Results: Artifacts caused by Swallowing, Yawning and Coughing exhibited larger Spectral Entropy, Average Power and smaller Spectral Kurtosis, than normal PPG. Head movement artifacts, also demonstrated highly disordered and noisy frequency spectra, and were characterized by having larger and irregular time domain features. In addition, the analysis showed that different respiratory states that could be of clinical interests, such as presence of apneas, were also distinguishable from sources of interference. Significance: These findings are important for the development of PPG denoising algorithms and subsequent obtention of biomarkers of interest, or alternatively for applications where the events of interest are the artifacts themselves.
Research Progress in Liver-Regenerating Microenvironment and DNA Methylation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Role of Traditional Chinese Medicine

The development, progression, recurrence, and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are closely associated with an abnormal liver-regenerating microenvironment (LRM). Therefore, preventing and reversing an abnormal LRM is a potential therapeutic strategy against HCC. Studies are increasingly focusing on the impact of regeneration, fibrosis, angiogenesis, inflammation, immunomodulation, and hepatic stem cells on HCC development and progression. As a key epigenetic mechanism, DNA methylation is extensively involved in regulating physiological and pathological pathways. In this review, we summarize recent findings on the role of DNA methylation in the fibrotic, angiogenic, inflammatory/immune, and stem cell microenvironments of HCC, and discuss new advances in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on influencing the abnormal LRM, so as to gain new insights into alleviating the abnormal LRM via regulating DNA methylation by TCM.
The Impact of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Functional Connectivity in Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder Evaluated by Directed Transfer Function and Indices Based on Graph Theory

The objective of this work was to study the impact of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) on the EEG connectivity evaluated by indices based on graph theory, derived from Directed Transfer Function (DTF), in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) or with bipolar disorder (BD). The results showed the importance of beta and gamma rhythms. The indices density, degree and clustering coefficient increased in MDD responders in beta and gamma bands after rTMS. Interestingly, the density and the degree changed in theta band in both groups of nonresponders (decreased in MDD nonresponders but increased in BD nonresponders). Moreover, both indices of integration (the characteristic path length and the global efficiency) as well as the clustering coefficient increased in BD nonresponders for gamma band. In BD responders, the activity increased in the frontal lobe, mainly in the left hemisphere, while in MDD responders in the central posterior part of brain. The fronto-posterior asymmetry decreased in both groups of responders in delta and beta bands. Changes in inter-hemispheric asymmetry were found only in BD nonresponders in all bands, except gamma band. Comparison between groups showed that the degree increased in delta band independently on disease (BD, MDD). These preliminary results showed that the DTF may be a useful marker allowing for evaluation of effectiveness of the rTMS therapy as well for group differentiation between MDD and BD considering separately groups of responders and nonresponders. However, further investigation should be performed over larger groups of patients to confirmed our findings.
From cytosol to mitochondria: the beginning of a protein journey

Abstract Mitochondrial protein import is one of the key processes during mitochondrial biogenesis that involves a series of events necessary for recognition and delivery of nucleus-encoded/cytosol-synthesized mitochondrial proteins into the organelle. The past research efforts have mainly unraveled how membrane translocases ensure the correct protein sorting within the different mitochondrial subcompartments. However, early steps of recognition and delivery remain relatively uncharacterized. In this review, we discuss our current understanding about the signals on mitochondrial proteins, as well as in the mRNAs encoding them, which with the help of cytosolic chaperones and membrane receptors support protein targeting to the organelle in order to avoid improper localization. In addition, we discuss recent findings that illustrate how mistargeting of mitochondrial proteins triggers stress responses, aiming to restore cellular homeostasis.