Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incidence and Risk Factors for Genital Chlamydia trachomatis Infection: A 4-Year Prospective Cohort Study

Background: Few long-term studies reporting incidence and behavioral data for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection in the general population have been published. Such studies are important to understand risk factors associated with infection and to develop screening recommendations. Methods: A fixed prospective 4-year cohort study of 898 sexually active Norwegian women, aged 16 to 23 years at study start, was conducted to assess incidence, repeat infection, and risk factors associated with genital CT infection. Participants were interviewed at study start and at 6-month intervals thereafter for behavioral characteristics. The women were tested for CT infection at 12-month intervals beginning at study start. Risk factors were assessed using Fisher exact test and conditional logistic regression. Person-time was estimated in survival analyses and incidence of CT infection was reported as events per 100 woman-years. Results: Median duration of observation was 48.0 months (range 10–74) whereas 4.4 specimens were collected per woman (range 2–5). Of the 836 women eligible for the analysis, 19 (2.2%) had a prevalent infection at baseline. The 4-year cumulative incidence of CT infection was 7.7 (95% CI: 6.7–8.7) with annual incidences ranging from 1.2 to 2.9 per 100 woman-years. The 2-year cumulative incidence of repeat CT infection was 11.2 (95% CI: 9.3–13.1) per 100 woman-years. In multivariate analyses, factors associated with incident CT infection were young age (≤24 years) and number of new partners over the last 12 months prior being tested. Conclusion: The annual incidences observed for women 24 years or younger with 1 or more new partners over the last 12 months support recommendations for annual testing for CT in this age group in Norway.
Safety and pharmacokinetics of an intramuscular humanized monoclonal antibody to respiratory syncytial virus in premature infants and infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The MEDI-493 Study Group.

BACKGROUND Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of lower respiratory disease in infants and children. MEDI-493 (palivizumab, Synagis) is a humanized monoclonal IgG1 antibody to the fusion protein of RSV, and it is highly active in vitro against RSV A and B strains. OBJECTIVE To describe the safety, tolerance, immunogenicity and pharmacokinetics of monthly intramuscular injections of MEDI-493 among premature infants and children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia and to compare these data with information previously obtained with intravenous dosing. DESIGN A Phase I/II multicenter, open label, escalating dose clinical trial. PATIENT POPULATION AND DOSING REGIMEN: Children (n=65) born prematurely at < or =35 weeks of gestation who were < or =6 months of age (n=41) and children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia who were < or =24 months of age (n=24) were enrolled. From 1 to 5 monthly injections were given at doses of 5 mg/kg (n=11), 10 mg/kg (n=6) and 15 mg/kg (n=48). Serum was collected before administration of each dose, 30 days after the last dose, and 2, 7 and 14 days after the first and second doses for measurement of MEDI-493 concentrations by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS The pharmacokinetics of MEDI-493 were similar to those of other human IgG1 antibodies. Mean serum MEDI-493 concentrations were 91.1 microg/ml (range, 52.3 to 174.0) 2 days after the initial dose of 15 mg/kg and 49.2 microg/ml (range, 13.5 to 132.0) at 30 days. Monthly dosing of 15 mg/kg maintained mean trough concentrations of approximately 70 microg/ml. These concentrations were similar to previously published trough concentrations after i.v. administration. MEDI-493 injections were well-tolerated. Only three children had adverse events judged to be possibly related to MEDI-493. Ten children had transient, low titer anti-MEDI-493 binding titers (1:10 to 1:40) which were not associated with a pattern of specific adverse events or alterations of MEDI-493 concentrations. Two patients in the 5-mg/kg dose group were hospitalized for RSV; no RSV hospitalizations were found in the higher dose groups. CONCLUSIONS MEDI-493 was safe and well-tolerated. Monthly intramuscular doses of 15 mg/kg maintained mean trough serum concentrations that were above 40 microg/ml (the value associated with 99% reduction of pulmonary RSV in the cotton rat model). These concentrations were similar to those previously reported with i.v. administration of MEDI-493.
NOD2-Deficient Mice Have Impaired Resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection through Defective Innate and Adaptive Immunity1

NOD2/CARD15 mediates innate immune responses to mycobacterial infection. However, its role in the regulation of adaptive immunity has remained unknown. In this study, we examined host defense, T cell responses, and tissue pathology in two models of pulmonary mycobacterial infection, using wild-type and Nod2-deficient mice. During the early phase of aerosol infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Nod2−/− mice had similar bacterial counts but reduced inflammatory response on histopathology at 4 and 8 wk postchallenge compared with wild-type animals. These findings were confirmed upon intratracheal infection of mice with attenuated Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin. Analysis of the lungs 4 wk after bacillus Calmette-Guérin infection demonstrated that Nod2−/− mice had decreased production of type 1 cytokines and reduced recruitment of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. Ag-specific T cell responses in both the spleens and thoracic lymph nodes were diminished in Nod2−/− mice, indicating impaired adaptive antimycobacterial immunity. The immune regulatory role of NOD2 was not restricted to the lung since Nod2 disruption also led to reduced type 1 T cell activation following i.m. bacillus Calmette-Guérin infection. To determine the importance of diminished innate and adaptive immunity, we measured bacterial burden 6 mo after aerosol infection with M. tuberculosis and followed a second infected group for assessment of survival. Nod2−/− mice had a higher bacterial burden in the lungs 6 mo after infection and succumbed sooner than did wild-type controls. Taken together, these data indicate that NOD2 mediates resistance to mycobacterial infection via both innate and adaptive immunity.
Aquaporin Adipose, a Putative Glycerol Channel in Adipocytes*

Adipose tissue is a major site of glycerol production in response to energy balance. However, molecular basis of glycerol release from adipocytes has not yet been elucidated. We recently cloned a novel member of the aquaporin family, aquaporin adipose (AQPap), which has glycerol permeability. The current study was designed to examine the hypothesis that AQPap serves as a glycerol channel in adipocytes. Adipose tissue expressed AQPap mRNA in high abundance, but not the mRNAs for the other aquaglyceroporins, AQP3 and AQP9, indicating that AQPap is the only known aquaglyceroporin expressed in adipose tissue. Glycerol release from 3T3-L1 cells was increased during differentiation in parallel with AQPap mRNA levels and suppressed by mercury ion, which inhibits the function of AQPs, supporting AQPap functions as a glycerol channel in adipocytes. Fasting increased and refeeding suppressed adipose AQPap mRNA levels in accordance with plasma glycerol levels and oppositely to plasma insulin levels in mice. Insulin dose-dependently suppressed AQPap mRNA expression in 3T3-L1 cells. AQPap mRNA levels and adipose glycerol concentrations measured by the microdialysis technique were increased in obese mice with insulin resistance. Accordingly, negative regulation of AQPap expression by insulin was impaired in the insulin-resistant state. Exposure of epinephrine translocated AQPap protein from perinuclear cytoplasm to the plasma membrane in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. These results strongly suggest that AQPap plays an important role in glycerol release from adipocytes.
Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy in women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.

BACKGROUND Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy is often considered by carriers of BRCA mutations who have completed childbearing. However, there are limited data supporting the efficacy of this approach. We prospectively compared the effect of risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy with that of surveillance for ovarian cancer on the incidence of subsequent breast cancer and BRCA-related gynecologic cancers in women with BRCA mutations. METHODS All women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations identified during a six-year period were offered enrollment in a prospective follow-up study. A total of 170 women 35 years of age or older who had not undergone bilateral oophorectomy chose to undergo either surveillance for ovarian cancer or risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy. Follow-up involved an annual questionnaire, telephone contact, and reviews of medical records. The time to cancer in the two groups was compared by Kaplan-Meier analysis and a Cox proportional-hazards model. RESULTS During a mean follow-up of 24.2 months, breast cancer was diagnosed in 3 of the 98 women who chose risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy and peritoneal cancer was diagnosed in 1 woman in this group. Among the 72 women who chose surveillance, breast cancer was diagnosed in 8, ovarian cancer in 4, and peritoneal cancer in 1. The time to breast cancer or BRCA-related gynecologic cancer was longer in the salpingo-oophorectomy group, with a hazard ratio for subsequent breast cancer or BRCA-related gynecologic cancer of 0.25 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.08 to 0.74). CONCLUSIONS Salpingo-oophorectomy in carriers of BRCA mutations can decrease the risk of breast cancer and BRCA-related gynecologic cancer.
'Agrarwende' : cognitive-normative approaches to policy change in German agro-biotechnology

In the year 2000, Germany's biggest post-war food crisis, BSE, changed the terms of the public debate on agro-biotech significantly. Before the BSE-crisis, Germany's policy had been predominantly driven by a neo-liberal framing of biotechnology as a central tool for innovation and international competitiveness. After BSE, biotechnology policy became caught up in a broader reform effort to change agricultural and food policies - the ''Agrarwende''. This thesis concerns the question of the policy shift in agricultural biotechnology as it developed in Germany between the years 2000 and 2004 as a result of the Agrarwende. It analyzes why the BSE crisis had an effect on the German agrobiotech subsystem, how it affected regulation and to what extent it led to the . institutionalization of new types of socio-political practices and relationships. To fulfill this purpose the thesis uses cognitive-normative frameworks, in particular Maarten Hajer's discourse analytical framework and Paul Sabatier's advocacy coalition framework. By looking at the German case of agro-biotech regulation the thesis asks, how can policy change be explained and illuminated by the use of these two theories? What are their relative or different contributions to the study of policy change? Are these approaches contradictory or complementary? It can be concluded that, over the years, a great deal has changed in German agricultural biotechnology policy with regard to legislation, the political institutions and the actors involved in the subsystem. The cognitive normative frameworks applied both contributed to a better understanding of the policy process and policy change. In the analysis, Hajer's concepts were found to have more strengths and fewer weaknesses than Sabatier's. Being rooted in different theory traditions, the two approaches showed contradictory as well as complementary features. There was, in any case, much to be gained from looking at the interaction between discourse and belief dynamics.
Productivity and profitability of manual and mechanized conservation agriculture (CA) systems in Eastern Zambia

Abstract Climate variability and declining soil fertility pose a major threat to sustainable agronomic and economic growth in Zambia. The objective of this study was to assess crop yield, land and labor productivity of conservation agriculture (CA) technologies in Eastern Zambia. On-farm trials were run from 2012–2015 and farmers were replicates of a randomized complete block design. The trials compared three CA systems against a conventional practice. Yield and net return ha−1 were determined for maize and legume yield (kg ha−1) produced by ridge and furrow tillage, CA dibble stick planting, CA animal traction ripping and direct seeding. The dibble stick, ripline and direct seeding CA systems had 6–18, 12–28 and 8–9% greater maize yield relative to the conventional tillage system, respectively. Rotation of maize with cowpea and soybean significantly increased maize yields in all CA systems. Intercropping maize with cowpea increased land productivity (e.g., the land equivalent ratio for four seasons was 2.01) compared with full rotations under CA. Maize/cowpea intercropping in dibble stick CA produced the greatest net returns (US$312-767 ha−1) compared with dibble stick maize-cowpea rotation (US$204-657), dibble stick maize monoculture (US$108-584) and the conventional practice (US$64-516). The net-return for the animal traction CA systems showed that maize-soybean rotations using the ripper were more profitable than the direct seeder or conventional ridge and furrow systems. Agronomic and economic benefits of CA-based cropping systems highlight the good potential for improved food security and agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers.
Forced Migration and Attitudes Towards Domestic Violence

This chapter explores the long-term effects of internal displacement caused by the Kurdish-Turkish conflict on women’s attitudes towards domestic violence. Using the Turkish Demographic and Health Survey, we show that Kurdish women who migrated from their homes during the conflict are more likely to believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife; and the spouses of migrant women were more likely to have tried to control their wives by limiting their movements or social interactions. In a novel dataset of applicants to a women’s shelter, we find that forced migrant women have endured violence for longer and of greater intensity before deciding to seek assistance. We discuss possible mechanisms through which forced migration may affect migrants’ attitudes towards domestic violence.
The Timing of Exemptions from Welfare Work Requirements and its Effects on Mothers' Work and Welfare Receipt Around Childbirth

I quantify the effects of welfare work exemptions on women's labor force participation and welfare receipt. This study, which also examines the age of youngest child (AYC) exemption, is the first to investigate the pregnancy exemption. Between‐state and within‐state variations in exemption length allow me to estimate the heterogeneous effects of each exemption by its timing and strictness. I find that the effects on labor force participation are driven by employment for the pregnancy exemption, inducing relatively stable welfare receipts. In contrast, the effects are driven by unemployment for the AYC exemption, which triggers more reliance on welfare after birth. (JEL I38)
Ureidosuccinic Acid Uptake in Yeast and Some Aspects of Its Regulation

Ureidosuccinic acid (USA) is an intermediary product in pyrimidine biosynthesis. When proline was the sole nitrogen source, USA uptake occurred; however, when ammonium sulfate or glutamic acid was the nitrogen source, uptake was inhibited. Thus, a ura2 strain which does not synthesize USA would not grow when this substance was supplied on an ammonium sulfate or glutamic acid medium. Mutants are described in which uptake was constitutive on such a medium. Permeaseless mutants for USA have been found, and evidence is presented for permease specificity. It is shown that all constitutive mutants use the same transport system that is missing in the permeaseless mutant. These mutants are constitutive for two permeases: the specific USA permease and the general amino acid permease. The transport system studied here, like the general amino acid transport system, is regulated by nitrogen metabolism. These facts and others suggest that our permease constitutive mutants are impaired in nitrogen metabolism.
Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs and Anastomotic Dehiscence in Bowel Surgery: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are a key component of contemporary perioperative analgesia. Recent experimental and observational clinical data suggest an associated increased incidence of anastomotic dehiscence in bowel surgery. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of anastomotic dehiscence in randomized, controlled trials of perioperative nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. DATA SOURCES: Published and unpublished trials in any language reported 1990 or later were identified by searching electronic databases, bibliographies, and relevant conference proceedings. STUDY SELECTION: Trials of adults undergoing bowel surgery randomly assigned to perioperative nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or control were included. The number of patients with a bowel anastomosis and the incidence of anastomotic dehiscence had to be reported or be available from authors for the study to be included. INTERVENTION: At least 1 dose of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug was given perioperatively within 48 hours of surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measured was 30-day incidence of anastomotic dehiscence as defined by authors. RESULTS: Six trials comprising 480 patients having a bowel anastomosis met inclusion criteria. In 4 studies, anastomotic dehiscence rates were higher in the intervention groups. Overall rates were 14/272 participants (5.1%) in intervention arms vs 5/208 (2.4%) in control arms. Peto OR was 2.16 (95% CI 0.85, 5.53; p = 0.11), and there was no heterogeneity between studies (I2 statistic 0%). LIMITATIONS: Sizes of available trials were small, preventing firm conclusions and subset analysis of drugs of different cyclooxygenase specificity. A precise and consistent definition of anastomotic dehiscence was not used across trials. CONCLUSIONS: A statistically significant difference in incidence of anastomotic dehiscence was not demonstrated. However, the Peto OR of 2.16 (0.85, 5.53) and lack of heterogeneity between trials suggest that this finding may be due to a lack of power of the available data rather than a lack of effect.
A Silicon Thermal Accelerometer Without Solid Proof Mass Using Porous Silicon Thermal Isolation

A Si thermal accelerometer without solid proof mass, based on porous silicon (PS) technology has been developed and characterized. The device is compatible with silicon technology and it consists of a polysilicon heater and two thermopiles, situated symmetrically on each side of a heater. A thick PS layer provides thermal isolation from the Si substrate. The operation principle is based on the movement induced thermal convection variations between the heater and the hot thermopile contacts, which are caused by the movement of the hot fluid medium on top of the heater with respect to the sensor die. A detailed simulation by the FEA package Ansys was carried out in order to find the optimum geometrical parameters and the theoretical device behavior. The porous silicon thermal accelerometer (PSTA) was tested in a specially designed vibration system for various frequencies and accelerations. Different packaging configurations were also evaluated for both air and oil surrounding environments. The dependence of the PSTA response on applied power was studied for each surrounding environment. In each case, the response was compared with a commercial reference accelerometer and the corresponding sensitivities were extracted.
The Practice of Respect in the ICU

Abstract Although “respect” and “dignity” are intuitive concepts, little formal work has addressed their systematic application in the ICU setting. After convening a multidisciplinary group of relevant experts, we undertook a review of relevant literature and collaborative discussions focused on the practice of respect in the ICU. We report the output of this process, including a summary of current knowledge, a conceptual framework, and a research program for understanding and improving the practice of respect and dignity in the ICU. We separate our report into findings and proposals. Findings include the following: 1) dignity and respect are interrelated; 2) ICU patients and families are vulnerable to disrespect; 3) violations of respect and dignity appear to be common in the ICU and overlap substantially with dehumanization; 4) disrespect may be associated with both primary and secondary harms; and 5) systemic barriers complicate understanding and the reliable practice of respect in the ICU. Proposals include: 1) initiating and/or expanding a field of research on the practice of respect in the ICU; 2) treating “failures of respect” as analogous to patient safety events and using existing quality and safety mechanisms for improvement; and 3) identifying both benefits and potential unintended consequences of efforts to improve the practice of respect. Respect and dignity are important considerations in the ICU, even as substantial additional research remains to be done.
The Search for Neural Correlates of Consciousness

The science of consciousness begins with the search for the neural correlates of consciousness. I explain this notion and give examples of research in the field. I then discuss how different conceptions of consciousness may influence the search for the neural correlates. This includes the distinctions between access and phenomenal consciousness, and between conscious states and unified conscious fields, as well as phenomenological conceptions. Finally, I discuss what finding the neural correlates may imply for the metaphysics of consciousness, in particular for the theory that conscious states are identical to brain states.
Booms, Crises, and Recoveries: A New Paradigm of the Business Cycle and its Policy Implications

All types of recessions, on average, not just those associated with financial and political crises (as in Cerra and Saxena, AER 2008), lead to permanent output losses. These findings have far-reaching conceptual and policy implications. A new paradigm of the business cycle needs to account for shifts in trend output and the puzzling inconsistency of output dynamics with other cyclical components of production. The ‘output gap’ can be ill-conceived, poorly measured, and inconsistent over time. Persistent losses require more buffers and crisis-avoidance policies, affecting tradeoffs in prudential, macroeconomic, and reserve management policies. The frequency and depth of crises are key determinants of long-term growth and drive a new stylized model of economic development.