Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High Coverage of ART Associated with Decline in Risk of HIV Acquisition in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Cost-Benefit of ART In the battle to control HIV, mass antiretroviral treatment (ART) costs $500 to $900 per person per year. Bor et al. (p. 961) calculated the impact of intensifying ART on the life expectancy of people living in rural KwaZulu Natal. The dates of death were collected from a population of about 100,000 people during 2000–2011: Four years before and 8 years after the scaling up of ART. Life expectancy of adults increased by more than 11 years after ART was expanded, and the economic value of the lifetimes gained were calculated to far exceed the cost of treatment. Tanser et al. (p. 966) followed nearly 17,000 HIV-uninfected individuals in KwaZulu-Natal over an 8-year period. Holding other HIV risk factors constant, individual HIV acquisition risk declined significantly with increasing ART coverage of HIV-infected people. The risk of acquiring HIV is reduced in rural communities via large-scale delivery of antiretroviral therapy. The landmark HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 trial in HIV-discordant couples demonstrated unequivocally that treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART) substantially lowers the probability of HIV transmission to the HIV-uninfected partner. However, it has been vigorously debated whether substantial population-level reductions in the rate of new HIV infections could be achieved in "real-world" sub-Saharan African settings where stable, cohabiting couples are often not the norm and where considerable operational challenges exist to the successful and sustainable delivery of treatment and care to large numbers of patients. We used data from one of Africa's largest population-based prospective cohort studies (in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) to follow up a total of 16,667 individuals who were HIV-uninfected at baseline, observing individual HIV seroconversions over the period 2004 to 2011. Holding other key HIV risk factors constant, individual HIV acquisition risk declined significantly with increasing ART coverage in the surrounding local community. For example, an HIV-uninfected individual living in a community with high ART coverage (30 to 40% of all HIV-infected individuals on ART) was 38% less likely to acquire HIV than someone living in a community where ART coverage was low (<10% of all HIV-infected individuals on ART).
Measuring the instability in continuous-time linear systems with polytopic uncertainty

Measuring the instability of dynamical systems is an important problem for control synthesis. This paper considers continuous-time linear systems affected by structured uncertainty, and addresses the computation of the robust instability measure defined as the largest sum of the real parts of the unstable eigenvalues over all admissible uncertainties. In particular, it is supposed that the coefficients of the system are affine linear functions of an uncertain vector constrained into a polytope. First, an equivalent reformulation of this robust instability measure into a suitable robust stability margin of a finite family of systems is proposed. Second, a linear matrix inequality (LMI) condition is provided to establish upper bounds of the robust instability measure through the use of homogeneous Lyapunov functions. Third, a sufficient and necessary condition for establishing the optimality of a computed upper bound is proposed. Some numerical examples illustrate the proposed results.
Evaluation of genotoxicity in workers exposed to low levels of formaldehyde in a furniture manufacturing facility

Formaldehyde (FA) is a chemical widely used in the furniture industry and has been classified as a potential human carcinogen. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the occupational exposure of workers to FA at a furniture manufacturing facility and the relationship between environmental concentrations of FA, formic acid concentration in urine, and DNA damage. The sample consisted of 46 workers exposed to FA and a control group of 45 individuals with no history of occupational exposure. Environmental concentrations of FA were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Urinary formic acid concentrations were determined by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. DNA damage was evaluated by the micronucleus (MN) test performed in exfoliated buccal cells and comet assay with venous blood. The 8-h time-weighted average of FA environmental concentration ranged from 0.03 ppm to 0.09 ppm at the plant, and the control group was exposed to a mean concentration of 0.012 ppm. Workers exposed to higher environmental FA concentrations had urinary formic acid concentrations significantly different from those of controls (31.85 mg L−1 vs. 19.35 mg L−, p ≤ 0.01 Mann–Whitney test). Significant differences were found between control and exposed groups for the following parameters: damage frequency and damage index in the comet assay, frequency of binucleated cells in the MN test, and formic acid concentration in urine. The frequency of micronuclei, nuclear buds, and karyorrhexis did not differ between groups. There was a positive correlation between environmental concentrations of FA and damage frequency (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient [r s] = 0.24), damage index (r s = 0.21), binucleated cells (r s = 0.34), and urinary formic acid concentration (r s = 0.63). The results indicate that, although workers in the furniture manufacturing facility were exposed to low environmental levels of FA, this agent contributes to the observed increase in cytogenetic damage. In addition, urinary formic acid concentrations correlated strongly with occupational exposure to FA.
Influência da massa corporal sobre a aptidão física em adolescentes: estudo a partir de escolares do ensino fundamental e médio de Sorocaba/SP

Reconhecendo a exposicao a riscos a saude a que adolescentes obesos estao submetidos e a necessidade da producao de estudos, os quais relacionem excesso de peso corporal e capacidade fisica durante a puberdade, configura-se como objetivo da presente comunicacao explorar as relacoes entre o sobrepeso e a aptidao fisica dos alunos de ensino fundamental e medio de escola particular paulista. Trata-se de estudo de coorte, considerando como variavel independente o indice de massa corporal (IMC) e como dependentes a resistencia muscular localizada (RML) abdominal, forca de membros inferiores (MMII), flexibilidade e agilidade. Os dados de interesse foram colhidos em duas oportunidades (no inicio de dois anos letivos subsequentes), segundo testes especificos. Foi realizada analise multivariada dos perfis medios, complementada com a construcao dos intervalos de confianca simultâneos, ao nivel de 5% de significância. Constatou-se prevalencia de 21,42% de sobrepeso e associacao deste com: i) em meninos, menores RML abdominal e forca de MMII e nao evolucao nas medias de agilidade; ii) em meninas, menor RML abdominal e agilidade, no inicio do periodo considerado. Ao se compararem os resultados entre os dois momentos de avaliacao, notou-se que: i) a agilidade, das meninas com peso corporal adequado diminuiu significantemente; ii) a RML abdominal, mesmo do grupo masculino com sobrepeso, aumentou; e iii) a agilidade, somente em meninos com IMC inferior, melhorou. Verificaram-se, tambem entre o sexo masculino, medias de RML abdominal, forca de MMII e agilidade significantemente maiores que as do grupo feminino. Nesse sentido, revela-se que a prescricao da atividade fisica para adolescentes deve realmente ser especifica segundo composicao corporal e sexo.
Integrative Structural Biology

Integrative approaches using data from a wide variety of methods are yielding model structures of complex biological assemblies. Biological assemblies and machines often elude structural characterization, hampering our understanding of how they function, how they evolved, and how they can be modulated. A number of macromolecular assemblies have been reconstructed over the years by piecemeal efforts, such as fitting high-resolution crystal structures of individual components into lower-resolution electron microscopy (EM) reconstructions of the entire complex (1). Although notable successes have been achieved in this way, ambiguous or conflicting models can still arise (2–4). Thus, structural and computational biologists have been looking for new ways to put all of the pieces back together. Sophisticated integrative approaches are being developed (5, 6) that combine information from different types of experiments, physical theories, and statistical analyses to compute structural models of multicomponent assemblies and complex biological systems.
Mass or total surface area with aerosol size distribution as exposure metrics for inflammatory, cytotoxic and oxidative lung responses in rats exposed to titanium dioxide nanoparticles

There is currently no consensus on the best exposure metric(s) for expressing nanoparticle (NP) dose. Although surface area has been extensively studied for inflammatory responses, it has not been as thoroughly validated for cytotoxicity or oxidative stress effects. Since inhaled NPs deposit and interact with lung cells based on agglomerate size, we hypothesize that mass concentration combined with aerosol size distribution is suitable for NP risk assessment. The objective of this study was to evaluate different exposure metrics for inhaled 5 nm titanium dioxide aerosols composed of small (SA < 100 nm) or large (LA > 100 nm) agglomerates at 2, 7, and 20 mg/m3 on rat lung inflammatory, cytotoxicity, and oxidative stress responses. We found a significant positive correlation (r = 0.98, p < 0.01) with the inflammatory reaction, measured by the number of neutrophils and the mass concentration when considering all six (SA + LA) aerosols. This correlation was similar (r = 0.87) for total surface area. Regarding cytotoxicity and oxidative stress responses, measured by lactate dehydrogenase and 8-isoprostane, respectively, and mass or total surface area as an exposure metric, we observed significant positive correlations only with SA aerosols for both the mass concentration and size distribution (r > 0.91, p < 0.01), as well as for the total surface area (r > 0.97, p < 0.01). These data show that mass or total surface area concentrations alone are insufficient to adequately predict oxidant and cytotoxic pulmonary effects. Overall, our study indicates that considering NP size distribution along with mass or total surface area concentrations contributes to a more mechanistic discrimination of pulmonary responses to NP exposure.
Structure of Histone mRNA Stem-Loop, Human Stem-Loop Binding Protein, and 3′hExo Ternary Complex

Recognizing a Stem-Loop Structure Metazoan histone messenger RNAs (mRNAs) have a conserved stem-loop (SL) structure at their 3′-end. The stem-loop is bound by the stem-loop binding protein (SLBP), which is required for histone mRNA 3′-end processing, export, stability, and translation. The 3′-5′ exonuclease 3′hExo also binds the SL and trims off three nucleotides. Tan et al. (p. 318) determined the high-resolution structure of the SL bound by the RNA-binding domain (RBD) of human SLBP together with human 3′hExo. The conformation of the loop differed substantially from other RNA tetraloops and the SLBP RBD may function as a ruler that can measure the length of the stem. Although the SLBP directly recognizes the guanine base of the second nucleotide of the stem, it appears that SLBP and 3′hExo recognize the unique shape of the SL. Two RNA binding proteins recognize their target RNA through shape, rather than sequence. Metazoan replication-dependent histone messenger RNAs (mRNAs) have a conserved stem-loop (SL) at their 3′-end. The stem-loop binding protein (SLBP) specifically recognizes the SL to regulate histone mRNA metabolism, and the 3′-5′ exonuclease 3′hExo trims its 3′-end after processing. We report the crystal structure of a ternary complex of human SLBP RNA binding domain, human 3′hExo, and a 26-nucleotide SL RNA. Only one base of the SL is recognized specifically by SLBP, and the two proteins primarily recognize the shape of the RNA. SLBP and 3′hExo have no direct contact with each other, and induced structural changes in the loop of the SL mediate their cooperative binding. The 3′ flanking sequence is positioned in the 3′hExo active site, but the ternary complex limits the extent of trimming.
The 6/spl times/6 stiffness formulation and transformation of serial manipulators via the CCT theory

This paper presents systematic methods to approach the conservative congruence transformation, CCT, via the geometrical analysis for the stiffness control transformation of serial manipulators. Through the strategy of changing basis, the 6/spl times/6 Cartesian stiffness of manipulators is shown to be basis dependent. The generalized formulation and symmetric property of the 6/spl times/6 Cartesian stiffness matrix are presented via the CCT theory in the presence of external loads. Examples of the serial manipulators are conducted to verify the conservative stiffness mapping.
Minimum-variance fault isolation observers for discrete-time linear systems

In this paper, we provide two methods for the observer based fault isolation of discrete-time linear systems. Both rely on designing a single, specifically parametrized fault isolation observer (FIO). In contrast to classical bank of observers approaches, this leads to a low implementation effort. Arising degrees of freedom in systems with redundant measurements are characterized and exploited to optimize robustness of the generated residuals if the system is subject to noise. The first method is based on adding structural constraints to the classical Kalman filter, and the second approach provides a solution based on linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A comparison is given and the results are applied to an example system.
Reflectance confocal microscopy for melanoma and melanocytic lesion assessment

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is an emerging noninvasive diagnostic tool that provides in vivo tissue images at nearly cellular histological resolution. Peculiar confocal findings of melanocytic lesions have been evaluated and applied in real clinical settings to elucidate the impact of RCM in improving diagnostic accuracy. This review aims to clearly update the relevant confocal findings and to critically analyze their role in the clinical scenario.
A community‐based initiative to reduce children's exposure to toxics in household products

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the efficacy of a community‐based outreach initiative, piloted in Worcester, Massachusetts, to reduce children's exposure to toxic chemicals in common household products by changing parental behavior regarding product purchase and use.Design/methodology/approach – The program model was based on the premise that community health workers have the potential to deliver health education messages with particular effectiveness. Community health workers in Worcester received customized training to learn about the impact of toxic chemicals on children's health and strategies to reduce children's exposure to toxics in household products. The health workers then delivered this information to low‐income parents in English or Spanish. Through follow‐up interviews, the health workers used short surveys to collect data regarding the effect, if any, of the outreach on parental behavior regarding household product purchase and use.Findings – Parents were receptive to recei.
Physiologically Inspired Robot Control: A Challenge to Bernstein&#8217;s Degrees-of-Freedom Problem

This paper explores what are the fundamentals of physiologically inspired robot control through investigating two interesting but difficult problems of robot control: 1) robotic hand-writing and 2) human-like multi-joints reaching with surplus DOFs (Degrees-of-Freedom). Noteworthy characteristics in control of these systems are a) redundancy in DOF, b) dexterity in execution of a target task, and c) indispensability of sensory motor coordination, though d) their dynamics are nonlinear and governed by geometric constraints in the former system. Due to these inherent characteristics, both the conventional control-theoretic approaches originated from the linear system theory and Lyapunov’s direct method are likely to fail. By gaining physical insights into these nonlinear dynamics with redundancy in DOFs and physical descriptions of target tasks, this article claims that a symbiosis of “robotics” and “neuro-physiology” is quite effective in finding a simpler sensory-motor coordination principle in each case that leads to accomplishment of each imposed task regardless of annoying characteristics of its motion dynamics with nonlinearity and DOF-redundancy.
The Dual-Use Conundrum

Scientists are increasingly able to create genetically modified microorganisms whose properties are perceived as being beneficial as well as potentially useful for malevolent purposes. In 2004, a committee of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences adopted the term “dual use” for instances in which genetic or biosynthetic manipulations create new microorganisms, which, although valuable scientifically, are susceptible to misuse. * The premise was that the prospects for malevolent outcomes derive from deliberate actions to inflict specific or widespread harm. But in those and subsequent discussions, too little attention was given to the likelihood of an accidental laboratory release of modified agents that would allow them to spread in susceptible human populations. Recent research with a highly pathogenic influenza virus has highlighted the importance of this issue. Reviews of the influenza research concluded that given “the risk of accidental or malicious release,” the benefits of such studies must be well justified. † Thus, specific guidelines must be enforced to thwart not only intentionally harmful outcomes but accidental releases as well.
Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide Entrains Circadian Rhythms in Astrocytes

Many mammalian cell types show daily rhythms in gene expression driven by a circadian pacemaker. For example, cultured astrocytes display circadian rhythms in Period1 and Period2 expression. It is not known, however, how or which intercellular factors synchronize and sustain rhythmicity in astrocytes. Because astrocytes are highly sensitive to vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), a neuropeptide released by neurons and important for the coordination of daily cycling, the authors hypothesized that VIP entrains circadian rhythms in astrocytes. They used astrocyte cultures derived from knock-in mice containing a bioluminescent reporter of PERIOD2 (PER2) protein, to assess the effects of VIP on the rhythmic properties of astrocytes. VIP induced a dose-dependent increase in the peak-to-trough amplitude of the ensemble rhythms of PER2 expression with maximal effects near 100 nM VIP and threshold values between 0.1 and 1 nM. VIP also induced dose- and phase-dependent shifts in PER2 rhythms and daily VIP administration entrained bioluminescence rhythms of astrocytes to a predicted phase angle. This is the first demonstration that a neuropeptide can entrain glial cells to a phase predicted by a phase-response curve. The authors conclude that VIP potently entrains astrocytes in vitro and is a candidate for coordinating daily rhythms among glia in the brain.
The Anatomy of Judgment.

Words, ideas, and things, and the sometimes incredibly complicated interactions of these aspects of intellectual activity, or for that matter, of any old activity, present complexities which certainly do not diminish with our growing understanding. From the very beginning of extrauterine life, not only the incessant bombardment with innumerable stimuli but sorting them and reacting to them pose problems of vast scope and complexity. But perhaps it is even worse not to have certain stimuli, for bad effects of some forms of deprivation in the early months of life may be permanent. Though it is interpreted differently by Pavlovians and Freudians it remains an important fact and one which all parents should keep in mind. Further light on what makes people behave as they do has come from the "coffin experiments" at McGill, by Bexton and others, who demonstrated that normally intelligent performance requires a constant input of sensory data
Legal Trade of Africa's Rhino Horns

A trade ban limits supply, therefore raising prices and driving black market poaching. Africa's western black rhino Diceros bicornis longipes was declared extinct by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2011. Africa's other rhino populations are also under siege. South Africa is home to more than 90% of the world's 20,000 white rhino Ceratotherium simum, and 40% (more than 80% together with its neighbor Namibia), of the 5000 remaining black rhino (1–3). Yet, poaching in South Africa has, on average, more than doubled each year over the past 5 years (see the chart). If poaching continues to accelerate, Africa's remaining rhino populations may become extinct in the wild within 20 years (4, 5).
Novel Wheel Running Blocks the Preovulatory Luteinizing Hormone Surge and Advances the Hamster Circadian Pacemaker

In rodents, the preovulatory luteinizing hormone (LH) surge is timed by a circadian rhythm. We recently reported that a phenobarbital-induced delay of the estrous cycle in Syrian hamsters is associated with an approximately 2-h phase advance in both the circadian locomotor activity rhythm and the timing of the LH surge. The following study tests the hypothesis that a >2-h nonpharmacological phase advance in the circadian pacemaker that delays the estrous cycle by a day will also phase advance the LH surge by approximately 2 h. Activity rhythms were continuously monitored in regularly cycling hamsters using running wheels or infrared detectors for about 10 days prior to jugular cannulation. The next day, on proestrus, hamsters were transferred to the laboratory for 1 of 3 treatments: transfer to a “new cage” (and wheel) from zeitgeber time (ZT) 4 to 8 (with ZT12 defined as time of lights-off), or exposure to a “novel wheel” at ZT5 or ZT1. All animals were then placed in constant dark (DD). Blood samples were obtained just before onset of DD and hourly for the next 6 h, on that day and the next day for determination of plasma LH concentrations. Running activity was monitored in DD for about 10 more days. Transfer to a novel wheel at either ZT5 or ZT1 delayed the LH surge to day 2 in most hamsters, whereas exposure to a new cage did not. Only the delayed LH surges were phase advanced at least 2.5 h on average in all 3 groups. However, wheel-running activity was similarly phase advanced in all 3 groups regardless of the timing of the LH surge; thus, the phase advances in circadian activity rhythms were not associated with the 1-day delay of the LH surge. Interestingly, the number of wheel revolutions was closely associated with the 1-day delay of LH surges following exposure to a novel wheel at either ZT1 or ZT5. These results suggest that the intensity of wheel running (or an associated stimulus) plays an important role in the circadian timing mechanism for the LH surge.
Injection and cutting methods of animal cells using a microfluidic chip

We have developed a novel technique for cutting animal cells for an automatic cloning system. Animal cells that have been chemically softened are aspirated into a narrow Teflon tube, which is then inserted into a microfluidic chip containing two orthogonal channels. One of the microchannels aspirates and fixes a cell, while the other cuts the cell with a high velocity fluid flow. The thickness of the aspiration channel is adjustable. Half the volume of the cell is aspirated into the narrow microchannel and high-speed flow is then generated to cut the cell in two. In this report, we describe the cutting and injection methods.