Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Risk factors associated with virologic failure in HIV- infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy at a public hospital in Peru].

OBJECTIVE To describe clinical and biological characteristics of subjects with virologic failure who participated in the sexually transmitted diseases HIV/AIDS National Program from a Peruvian public hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS An exploratory descriptive study was performed with data from subjects older than 18 who started high activity antiretroviral therapy (HAART) between May 2004 and December 2009 and who had a viral load control after 24 weeks of HAART. Virologic failure was defined as a viral load value above 1000 copies/mL on follow up after 24 weeks on HAART. RESULTS Of 1478 records of patients on HAART analyzed, the median age was 35 years [IQR, 29-41] and 69.6% were male. Also, virologic failure occurred in 24% and 3.7% died. Of subjects with virologic failure, 9.5% died. On multivariate analysis, age, history of antiretroviral use before starting HAART, change of antiretroviral therapy due to toxicity, opportunistic infections during HAART, level of CD4 + lymphocytes below 100 cells/ml at start of HAART, adherence and clinical stage were independently associated with virologic failure. In the group of patient with no history of antiretroviral use before starting HAART, age, opportunistic infections during HAART were associated with virologic failure. CONCLUSION This study identified factors associated with virologic failure. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether the use of these factors can help to identify prospectively patients at high risk of failure, and to design interventions aimed to reduce this risk.
A New Approach to Predicting Epileptic Seizures

In July 2006, after suffering from epilepsy for more than 30 years, 41-year-old Sonya Hearn arrived at an unusually comfortable corner room on the eighth floor of Columbia University Medical Center, in New York City. During her 20¿day stay there, she had several epileptic seizures while doctors recorded the electrical activity of her brain through electrodes leading out of an 8¿centimeter hole in her head.
Aurora B kinase controls the separation of centromeric and telomeric heterochromatin

ABSTRACT The segregation of chromosomes is coordinated at multiple levels to prevent chromosome loss, a phenotype frequently observed in cancers. We recently described an essential role for telomeres in the physical separation of chromosomes and identified Aurora B kinase as a double agent involved in the separation of centromeric and telomeric heterochromatin.
A cluster randomized controlled trial of visual, cytology and human papillomavirus screening for cancer of the cervix in rural India

The impact of screening by visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), cytology or HPV testing on cervical cancer incidence and mortality is investigated in a cluster randomized controlled trial in India. We report findings after the screening phase, when 52 clusters, with a total of 142,701 women aged 30–59 years in Osmanabad District, India, were randomized into 4 arms for a single round of screening by trained midwives with either VIA, cytology or HPV testing as well as a control group. All laboratory tests were done locally. Test‐positive women underwent investigations (colposcopy/biopsy) and treatment in the base hospital. Data on participation, test positivity, positive predictive value and detection rates of cervical neoplasia were analyzed using cluster design methodology. Of the eligible women, 72–74% were screened. Test positivity rates were 14.0% for VIA, 7.0% for cytology and 10.3% for HPV. The detection rate of high‐grade lesions was similar in all intervention arms (0.7% for VIA, 1.0% for cytology and 0.9% for HPV testing) (p = 0.06, Mann‐Whitney test). While the detection rate for VIA dropped to 0.5% with declining test positivity during the course of the study, it remained constant for cytology and HPV testing. Over 85% of women with high‐grade lesions received treatment. Our results show that a high level of participation and good‐quality cytology can be achieved in low‐resource settings. VIA is a useful alternative but requires careful monitoring. Detection rates obtained by HPV testing were similar to cytology, despite higher investments. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Role of Pericyte Detachment in Vascular Rarefaction

Background: Pericytes surround endothelial cells at the perivascular interface. Signaling between endothelial cells and pericytes is crucial for capillary homeostasis, as pericytes stabilize vessels and regulate many microvascular functions. Recently it has been shown that pericytes are able to detach from the vascular wall and contribute to fibrosis by becoming scar-forming myofibroblasts in many organs including the kidney. At the same time, the loss of pericytes within the perivascular compartment results in vulnerable capillaries which are prone to instability, pathological angiogenesis, and, ultimately, rarefaction. Aims: This review will give an overview of pericyte-endothelial cell interactions, summarize the signaling pathways that have been identified to be involved in pericyte detachment from the vascular wall, and present pathological endothelial responses in the context of disease of the kidney.
Tameness and stress physiology in a predator-naive island species confronted with novel predation threat

Tame behaviour, i.e. low wariness, in terrestrial island species is often attributed to low predation pressure. However, we know little about its physiological control and its flexibility in the face of predator introductions. Marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) on the Galápagos Islands are a good model to study the physiological correlates of low wariness. They have lived virtually without predation for 5–15 Myr until some populations were first confronted with feral cats and dogs some 150 years ago. We tested whether and to what extent marine iguanas can adjust their behaviour and endocrine stress response to novel predation threats. Here, we show that a corticosterone stress response to experimental chasing is absent in naive animals, but is quickly restored with experience. Initially, low wariness also increases with experience, but remains an order of magnitude too low to allow successful escape from introduced predators. Our data suggest that the ability of marine iguanas to cope with predator introductions is limited by narrow reaction norms for behavioural wariness rather than by constraints in the underlying physiological stress system. In general, we predict that island endemics show flexible physiological stress responses but are restricted by narrow behavioural plasticity.
Reliability of NAND Flash Memories: Planar Cells and Emerging Issues in 3D Devices

We review the state-of-the-art in the understanding of planar NAND Flash memory reliability and discuss how the recent move to three-dimensional (3D) devices has affected this field. Particular emphasis is placed on mechanisms developing along the lifetime of the memory array, as opposed to time-zero or technological issues, and the viewpoint is focused on the understanding of the root causes. The impressive amount of published work demonstrates that Flash reliability is a complex yet well-understood field, where nonetheless tighter and tighter constraints are set by device scaling. Three-dimensional NAND have offset the traditional scaling scenario, leading to an improvement in performance and reliability while raising new issues to be dealt with, determined by the newer and more complex cell and array architectures as well as operation modes. A thorough understanding of the complex phenomena involved in the operation and reliability of NAND cells remains vital for the development of future technology nodes.
Classification of Gastric Cancer Subtypes using ICA, MLR and Bayesian Network

The purpose of this study is to extract genes that could distinguish between two subtypes (diffuse and intestinal) of gastric cancer (GC) from their gene expression profile, to build a classifier based on the genes and to investigate the relationships among the selected genes, because there are big differences in the survival curve and the medical treatment between the subtypes. First, we applied Wilcoxon test, independent component analysis (ICA) and multiple logistic regression (MLR) to the profile, and conducted a classifier consisting of only three genes. We validated the classifier using test data with new 9 samples (blind test). The classifier yielded the accuracy of 100%. Finally, using the 18 genes selected by MLR and specific to each subtype, Bayesian Network was constructed, and compared with the network from GeneMANIA. Consequently, these networks were very similar each other.
Onset of topological constraints in polymer melts: A mode analysis by neutron spin echo spectroscopy.

By neutron spin echo spectroscopy we have investigated the dynamic structure factors for single chain relaxation in polymer melts varying the molecular weight through the transition from unrestricted Rouse motion to entanglement controlled behavior. From an 'analysis of the structure factors with respect to the different relaxation modes we found that, depending on their spatial extension in relation to the entanglement length, large-scale relaxations are successively suppressed with increasing molecular weight. A comparison with macroscopic diffusion and viscosity data yields excellent internal consistency
Production of Recombinant RNase Ba and Its Application in Downstream Processing of Plasmid DNA for Pharmaceutical Use

The demand for new strategies in downstream processing of biopharmaceutical plasmid DNA has increased in response to the importance of nucleic acids as active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) in gene therapy and genetic vaccination. Led by the problematic usage of animal‐derived proteins for producing reagents of clinical applications, we present an opportunity of removing RNA prior to chromatographic steps by using a recombinant RNase Ba (barnase of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens) as an alternative to bovine RNase A. An expression vector for RNase Ba production was constructed enabling periplasmic localization of the recombinant protein. Cultivation of the RNase‐producing clone showed stable activity (3.6 kU mL−1 during stationary phase) throughout the cultivation process. After purification the RNase activity was tested and compared to that of commercially available RNase A. RNase Ba showed no DNase activity even after prolonged incubation with plasmid DNA. Thus, it is a suitable substitute for bovine RNase A in pharmaceutical purification processes.
Functional conservation of the effector protein translocators PopB/YopB and PopD/YopD of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

Virulent Yersinia species cause systemic infections in rodents, and Y. pestis is highly pathogenic for humans. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, on the other hand, is an opportunistic pathogen, which normally infects only compromised individuals. Surprisingly, these pathogens both encode highly related contact‐dependent secretion systems for the targeting of toxins into eukaryotic cells. In Yersinia, YopB and YopD direct the translocation of the secreted Yop effectors across the target cell membrane. In this study, we have analysed the function of the YopB and YopD homologues, PopB and PopD, encoded by P. aeruginosa. Expression of the pcrGVHpopBD operon in defined translocation‐deficient mutants (yopB/yopD ) of Yersinia resulted in complete complementation of the cell contact‐dependent, YopE‐induced cytotoxicity of Y. pseudotuberculosis on HeLa cells. We demonstrated that the complementation fully restored the ability of Y. pseudotuberculosis to translocate the effector molecules YopE and YopH into the HeLa cells. Similar to YopB, PopB induced a lytic effect on infected erythrocytes. The lytic activity induced by PopB could be prevented if the erythrocytes were infected in the presence of sugars larger than 3 nm in diameter, indicating that PopB induced a pore of similar size compared with that induced by YopB. Our findings show that the contact‐dependent toxin‐targeting mechanisms of Y. pseudotuberculosis and P. aeruginosa are conserved at the molecular level and that the translocator proteins are functionally interchangeable. Based on these similarities, we suggest that the translocation of toxins such as ExoS, ExoT and ExoU by P. aeruginosa across the eukaryotic cell membrane occurs via a pore induced by PopB.
Structure elucidation and NMR assignments of two new triterpenoids from the stems of Paragonia pyramidata (Bignoniaceae)

Phytochemical investigation of dichloromethane (DCM) extract from the stems of Paragonia pyramidata var. pyramidata L. Rich. (Bur.) resulted in the isolation and characterization of two new triterpenoids 3β,19β‐dihydroxylup‐12, 20(29)‐diene‐28‐oic acid (1) and 3β,19β‐dihydroxylup‐12‐en‐28‐oic acid (2), three known triterpenoids lupeol (3), spinosic acid A (4) and oleanolic acid (5), together with four known steroids (20R)‐22E‐24‐ethylcholesta‐4,22‐dien‐3‐one (6), (20R)‐24‐ethylcholest‐4‐en‐3‐one (7), stigmasterol (8) and β‐sitosterol (9). HREIMS, GC–MS and NMR experiments including HSQC, HMBC, COSY and NOESY were used for the determination of the structures and NMR spectral assignments. This is the first report about the chemical constituents for this plant. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Childhood parental loss and risk for first-onset of major depression and alcohol dependence: the time-decay of risk and sex differences

Background. Whereas a number of studies have suggested that parental loss is associated with increased risk for major depression (MD), much less is known about possible gender differences, diagnostic specificity and the time course of the impact of loss. Method. First-onsets for MD and alcohol dependence (AD) were assessed at personal interviews in 5070 twins from same-sex (SS) and 2118 from opposite-sex (OS) twin pairs ascertained from a population-based registry. Cox Proportional Hazard (PH) and Non-Proportional Hazard (NPH) models, examining first onsets of MD and AD, were used with twins from SS pairs and conditional logistic regression for OS pairs. Parent–child separations prior to age 17 were divided into death and separation from other causes. Results. The PH assumptions of constant increased risk were rejected for the impact of loss on risk for MD but not for AD. NPH models found significantly increased risk for MD after both death and separation with the risk lasting much longer for separations. For AD, the PH model found significantly increased risk after parental separation but not death. In both SS and OS twin pairs, no sex differences were seen in the impact of parental loss on risk for MD whereas the association between separation and risk for AD was significantly stronger in females than in males. Conclusion. Consistent sex differences in the association with parental loss were seen for AD but not MD. The analysis of the time-course of increased risk after loss suggests three different patterns which may reflect different relationships: parental death and MD (return to baseline within ∼12 years), separation and MD (return to baseline within ∼30 years) and separation and AD (no change in risk over time).
Cell fixation in zinc salt solution is compatible with DNA damage response detection by phospho‐specific antibodies

By virtue of superior preservation of proteins and nucleic acids the zinc salt‐based fixatives (ZBF) has been proposed as an alternative to precipitants and cross‐linking fixatives in histopathology. It was recently reported that ZBF is compatible with analysis of cell surface immunophenotype and detection of intracellular epitopes by flow cytometry. The aim of this study was to explore whether ZBF is also compatible with the detection of DNA damage response assessed by phospho‐specific antibodies (Abs) detecting phosphorylation of the key proteins of that pathway. DNA damage in human pulmonary adenocarcinoma A549 cells was induced by treatment with the DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin and phosphorylation of histone H2AX on Ser139 (γH2AX) and of ATM on Ser1981 was detected with phospho‐specific Abs; cellular fluorescence was measured by laser scanning cytometry (LSC). The sensitivity and accuracy of detection of H2AX and ATM phosphorylation concurrent with the detection of DNA replication by EdU incorporation and “click chemistry” was found in ZBF fixed cells to be comparable to that of cell fixed in formaldehyde. The accuracy of DNA content measurement as evident from the resolution of DNA content frequency histograms of cells stained with DAPI was somewhat better in ZBF‐ than in formaldehyde‐fixed cells. The pattern of chromatin condensation revealed by the intensity of maximal pixel of DAPI that allows one to identify mitotic and immediately post‐mitotic cells by LSC was preserved after ZBF fixation. ZBF fixation was also compatible with the detection of γH2AX foci considered to be the hallmarks of induction of DNA double‐strand breaks. Analysis of cells by flow cytometry revealed that ZBF fixation of lymphoblastoid TK6 cells led to about 60 and 33% higher intensity of the side and forward light scatter, respectively, compared to formaldehyde fixed cells. © 2011 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
ANÁLISE DA EFICIÊNCIA FRACA DO MERCADO FUTURO DE SOJA DA BM&FBOVESPA E DO CME GROUP

Este artigo se propoe a verificar a eficiencia do mercado futuro de soja da BM&F-BOVESPA e da CME. A metodologia empregada foi, primeiramente, a analise descritiva das series de retorno e em nivel dos contratos futuros de soja da BM&F e da CME e posteriormente foram aplicados os testes de autocorrelacao e de razao de variância de Lo e MacKinlay (1997) conforme proposto por Kim (2006). O periodo de analise compreende os anos de 2011 a 2014. Os contratos futuros de soja negociados na BM&F-BOVESPA e na CME se mostraram fracamente eficientes no para os contratos com vencimento nos meses de marco, maio, julho, agosto, setembro e novembro entre os anos de 2011 e 2014. Isso significa dizer que nao e possivel prever os precos da soja nesses mercados, dado que estes seguem um passeio aleatorio e tambem que lucros acima da media do mercado nao sao possiveis.
Blind quantum source separation and process tomography systems for time-varying coupling

Classical, i.e. non-quantum, blind source separation (BSS) methods estimate unknown source signals by using only mixed signals obtained by transferring these source signals through a mixing transform, which typically has unknown parameter values. We developed quantum versions of BSS (called BQSS) and we extended them to the blind estimation of the unknown mixing/coupling parameters, thus achieving blind quantum process tomography (BQPT). In these investigations, the mixing parameter values remained fixed over time. We here analyze configurations where they vary. We show that the operation of our previous system may then be extended to handle BQPT and simple BQSS configurations. BQSS with rapidly evolving mixtures is more complex, because the fundamental quantum no-cloning theorem entails that each quantum state available at the output of our separating system cannot be copied so as to be used as the inputs of both (i) the subsequent quantum system which exploits it and (ii) the block of our separating system which continuously uses these states to update the separating system parameter values. We avoid this issue by introducing a quite different BQSS system, which is based on a master-slave structure and performs parallel adaptation and source state restoration. The proposed approach is thus based on spin electronics for implementing the considered quantum states, and on an original control loop in the proposed master-slave structure, which requires a specific measurement procedure, due to the quantum nature of the signals to be processed. This paper therefore bridges the gap between advanced information processing functions (especially self-learning algorithms) and the physical devices, defined at the atomic level, required for implementing such computations.
Vaccination During Pregnancy

Active immunization during pregnancy for maternal and neonatal benefit is a remarkably promising strategy to reduce infectious morbidity in both women and infants. The aim of this review is to present current clinical guidelines for vaccination during pregnancy and review evidence-based strategies for the implementation of maternal immunization recommendations. Observational studies, clinical trials, cost-effectiveness analyses, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses were evaluated to generate the evidence base for this review. In addition, recommendations from major national professional and public health organizations were examined. We present current clinical recommendations for vaccination during pregnancy and review medical and public health strategies to implement these guidelines. We also discuss a research agenda to advance the field of maternal immunization and achieve further improvements in maternal and child health. Target Audience Obstetricians, gynecologists, and family physicians Learning Objectives After completing this activity, the learner should be better able to discuss the importance of vaccination during pregnancy for both maternal and neonatal benefit; explain the physiologic basis for maternal vaccination; understand the most effective ways to enhance uptake of recommended vaccines during pregnancy; and appreciate the ongoing and future research in this area.
Mucormycosis (Mucor fungus ball) of the maxillary sinus.

A fungus ball is an extramucosal fungal proliferation that completely fills one or more paranasal sinuses and usually occurs as a unilateral infection. It is mainly caused by Aspergillus spp in an immunocompetent host, but some cases of paranasal fungal balls reportedly have been caused by Mucor spp. A Mucor fungus ball is usually found in the maxillary sinus and/or the sphenoid sinus and may be black in color. Patients with mucormycosis, or a Mucor fungal ball infection, usually present with facial pain or headache. On computed tomography, there are no pathognomonic findings that are conclusive for a diagnosis of mucormycosis. In this article we report a case of mucormycosis in a 56-year-old woman and provide a comprehensive review of the literature on the "Mucor fungus ball. " To the best of our knowledge, 5 case reports (8 patients) have been published in which the fungus ball was thought to be caused by Mucor spp.
Model predictive current control of voltage source converters with back-emf estimation via synchronous reference frame observer

This paper presents finite set model predictive current control of voltage source converter (VSC) without back-emf sensors. Proposed solution uses synchronous reference frame observers to estimate back-emf with zero phase and amplitude error and is robust against high frequency measurement noise on the current. Furthermore discrete time synchronous reference frame observers are able to predict future values of back-emf and therefore successfully compensate for delays. Presented solution is verified in simulati on and is compared wi th existing solution for back-emf estimation.
Operational semantics of a parallel object-oriented language

In this paper the semantics of the programming language POOL is described. It is a language that integrates the object-oriented structure of languages like Smalltalk-80 with facilities for concurrency and communication like the ones in Ada. The semantics is described in an operational way; it is based on transition systems. By using a way of representing parallel processes that is different from the traditional one, it is possible to overcome some difficulties pertaining to the latter. The resulting semantics shows a close resemblance with the informal language description and at the same time there are good prospects that it can serve as a secure guide for the implementation of the language. Also a variant is given in which more and maximal parallelism can be expressed in a very natural way.