Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased prevalence of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis detected by coronary computed tomography angiography in HIV-infected men

Objective: The degree of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in HIV-infected patients is unknown. We investigated the degree of subclinical atherosclerosis and the relationship of traditional and nontraditional risk factors to early atherosclerotic disease using coronary computed tomography angiography. Design and methods: Seventy-eight HIV-infected men (age 46.5 ± 6.5 years and duration of HIV 13.5 ± 6.1 years, CD4 T lymphocytes 523 ± 282; 81% undetectable viral load), and 32 HIV-negative men (age 45.4 ± 7.2 years) with similar demographic and coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors, without history or symptoms of CAD, were prospectively recruited. 64-slice multidetector row computed tomography coronary angiography was performed to determine prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis, coronary stenosis, and quantitative plaque burden. Results: HIV-infected men demonstrated higher prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis than non-HIV-infected men (59 vs. 34%; P = 0.02), higher coronary plaque volume [55.9 (0–207.7); median (IQR) vs. 0 (0–80.5) μl; P = 0.02], greater number of coronary segments with plaque [1 (0–3) vs. 0 (0–1) segments; P = 0.03], and higher prevalence of Agatston calcium score more than 0 (46 vs. 25%, P = 0.04), despite similar Framingham 10-year risk for myocardial infarction, family history of CAD, and smoking status. Among HIV-infected patients, Framingham score, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, CD4/CD8 ratio, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 were significantly associated with plaque burden. Duration of HIV infection was significantly associated with plaque volume (P = 0.002) and segments with plaque (P = 0.0009) and these relationships remained significant after adjustment for age, traditional risk factors, or duration of antiretroviral therapy. A total of 6.5% (95% confidence interval 2–15%) of our study population demonstrated angiographic evidence of obstructive CAD (>70% luminal narrowing) as compared with 0% in controls. Conclusion: Young, asymptomatic, HIV-infected men with long-standing HIV disease demonstrate an increased prevalence and degree of coronary atherosclerosis compared with non-HIV-infected patients. Both traditional and nontraditional risk factors contribute to atherosclerotic disease in HIV-infected patients.
Potential Overuse of Screening Mammography and Its Association With Access to Primary Care

Background:Cancer screening in individuals with limited life expectancy increases the risk of diagnosis and treatment of cancer that otherwise would not have become clinically apparent. Objective:To estimate screening mammography use in women with limited life expectancy, its geographic variation, and association with access to primary care and mammographic resources. Methods:We assessed screening mammography use in 2008–2009 in 106,737 women aged 66 years or older with an estimated life expectancy of <7 years using a 5% national sample of Medicare beneficiaries. Descriptive statistics were used to estimate the screening mammography utilization, by access to primary care. Results:Among women with a life expectancy of <7 years, 28.5% received screening mammography during 2008–2009. The screening rates were 34.6% versus 20.5% for women with and without an identifiable primary care physician, respectively. The screening rates were higher among women who saw >1 generalist physician and who had more visits to generalist physicians. There was substantial geographic variation across the United States, with an average rate of 39.5% in the hospital referral regions (HRRs) in the top decile of screening versus 19.5% in the HRRs in the bottom decile. The screening rates were higher among HRRs with more primary care physicians (r=0.14, P=0.02), mammography facilities (r=0.12, P=0.04), and radiologists (r=0.22, P<0.001). Conclusions:Substantial proportions of women with limited life expectancy receive screening mammography. Results presented sound a cautionary note that greater access to primary care and mammographic resources is also associated with higher overuse.
Genetic diversity in 'ex-situ' conserved sorghum accessions of Botswana as estimated by microsatellite markers

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to characterize genetic diversity in 30 sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] accessions conserved in the national gene bank of Botswana. This collection represents the three sorghum-growing agro-ecological zones in the country. Ten microsatellite primer pairs were used, and these generated a total of 53 alleles with three to seventeen alleles per locus across the 30 accessions. A high level of genetic variation was observed among the accessions (70% of the variation), and 30% of the total genetic variation was observed within accessions. The analysis of molecular variance on sorghum accessions grouped based on agro-ecological region, ethnicity, and sorghum race revealed a non-significant variation, indicating that the alleles are distributed all over the country. Cluster analysis also did not group the accessions according to agro-ecological region, race or ethnicity. The results of this study have indicated that substantial genetic diversity exists among sorghum accessions conserved in Botswana, but that agro-ecological region, ethnicity and race did not influence the distribution of this diversity.
Document image matching using a maximal grid approach

A new approach for form document representation using the maximal grid of its frameset is presented. Using image processing techniques, a scanned form is transformed into a frameset composed of a number of cells. The maximal grid is the grid that encompasses all the horizontal and vertical lines in the form and can be easily generated from the cell coordinates. The number of cells from the original frameset, included in each of the cells created by the maximal grid, is then calculated. Those numbers are added for each row and column generating an array representation for the frameset. A novel algorithm for similarity matching of document framesets based on their maximal grid representations is introduced. The algorithm is robust to image noise and to line breaks, which makes it applicable to poor quality scanned documents. The matching algorithm renders the similarity between two forms as a value between 0 and 1. Thus, it may be used to rank the forms in a database according to their similarity to a query form. Several experiments were performed in order to demonstrate the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed approach.
Feature diversity for emotion, language and speaker verification

In this paper we describe the utilisation of the diversity of different feature representations for speaker, emotion and language verification. The underlying principle behind the method is that some features are better at discriminating some classes and other features for other classes. Studies are done on four features and their combinations. An information theoretic procedure is described which can be used to determine the feature most suitable for a given class. Based on this, we propose the method of feature-switching, which uses different features for verifying different classes. Experiments show that feature-switching improves the accuracy for all three tasks.
Mandibular reconstruction: meta‐analysis of iliac‐ versus fibula‐free flaps

Free vascularized bone flaps are widely recognized as the optimal reconstruction for patients who undergo mandibular resection. The fibula‐free flap is currently considered the gold standard, workhorse flap for mandibular reconstruction. Although previous studies have analysed individual success of each flap type, few have compared iliac‐ and fibula‐free flaps.
An autoradiographic study of the organization of intrahippocampal association pathways in the rat

The longer associational connections of the hippocampal formation have been studied autoradiographically in a series of adult rats after small injections of 3H‐amino acids into each of its various cytoarchitectonic fields. The major findings can be summarized as follows. The dentate gyrus projects in a topographically ordered manner upon the pyramidal cells of the regio inferior by way of the supra‐ and infrapyramidal bundles of mossy fibers. Certain cells in the hilar region of the dentate gyrus (which operationally may be defined as constituting field CA4 of Ammon's horn) give rise to a hippocampodentate projection to the inner one‐quarter of the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus. Either the same or closely related cells give rise to fibers which join the Schaffer collateral system from field CA3 to the stratum radiatum and stratum oriens of the regio superior. The regio inferior is also characterized by a longitudinally directed associational bundle which runs throughout the septo‐temporal extent of the hippocampus and is centered in the region of subfield CA3a. The regio superior has no reciprocal projection to the regio inferior but sends a substantial projection back to the subiculum and to the entorhinal area. There is also a projection to the subiculum from the regio inferior, and the subiculum itself probably contributes significantly to the projection to the entorhinal and perirhinal cortices.
Structural Investigation of Disordered Stress Proteins. Comparison of Full-Length Dehydrins with Isolated Peptides of Their Conserved Segments1

Dehydrins constitute a class of intrinsically disordered proteins that are expressed under conditions of water-related stress. Characteristic of the dehydrins are some highly conserved stretches of seven to 17 residues that are repetitively scattered in their sequences, the K-, S-, Y-, and Lys-rich segments. In this study, we investigate the putative role of these segments in promoting structure. The analysis is based on comparative analysis of four full-length dehydrins from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana; Cor47, Lti29, Lti30, and Rab18) and isolated peptide mimics of the K-, Y-, and Lys-rich segments. In physiological buffer, the circular dichroism spectra of the full-length dehydrins reveal overall disordered structures with a variable content of poly-Pro helices, a type of elongated secondary structure relying on bridging water molecules. Similar disordered structures are observed for the isolated peptides of the conserved segments. Interestingly, neither the full-length dehydrins nor their conserved segments are able to adopt specific structure in response to altered temperature, one of the factors that regulate their expression in vivo. There is also no structural response to the addition of metal ions, increased protein concentration, or the protein-stabilizing salt Na2SO4. Taken together, these observations indicate that the dehydrins are not in equilibrium with high-energy folded structures. The result suggests that the dehydrins are highly evolved proteins, selected to maintain high configurational flexibility and to resist unspecific collapse and aggregation. The role of the conserved segments is thus not to promote tertiary structure, but to exert their biological function more locally upon interaction with specific biological targets, for example, by acting as beads on a string for specific recognition, interaction with membranes, or intermolecular scaffolding. In this perspective, it is notable that the Lys-rich segment in Cor47 and Lti29 shows sequence similarity with the animal chaperone HSP90.
Comparison of the API 20S Streptococcus identification system with an immunorheophoresis procedure and two commercial latex agglutination tests for identifying beta-hemolytic streptococci

The API 20S Streptococcus identification system and a new immunorheophoresis procedure were evaluated as means for determining the Lancefield serogroup of beta-hemolytic streptococci recovered from human clinical specimens. The serogroup of 96 strains was determined by these methods and by two commercially available latex agglutination tests. Streptex and SeroSTAT. The results of all four procedures were compared with the results of a classical precipitin test. The API 20S system correctly categorized 92.7% of the isolates; 94.8% were correctly identified by the immunorheophoresis procedure. The latex agglutination procedures were of comparable accuracy, yielding correct identifications with approximately 92% of the strains tested.
Optimal failure detection with low sporadic overhead and communication locality

A system for spraying fluidized powder circumferentially around a pipe comprising a powder applicator ring engageable with a pipe and having a pair of powder dispensers mounted thereon, a powder fluidization chamber containing a quantity of powder therein, a hose for introducing a stream of air into the chamber to fluidize the powder therein, a powder recovery canister having a pair of axially opposed powder blowers mounted thereon which have their intakes in communication with the interior of the recovery canister, each powder blower having an outlet from which a stream of air is allowed to pass, a pair of tangential inlet pipes circumferentially spaced and connecting with the interior of the canister, a pair of powder control valves connected to the chamber and in communication with the fluidized powder therein, a rod for actuating the powder control valves wherein a quantity of fluidized powder is exhausted into an orifice in each powder control valve, a hose for introducing the fluidized powder from each powder control valve into the sides of each powder blower outlet, a conduit connecting each powder blower outlet with a portion of each powder dispenser for supplying a stream of fluidized powder, a return conduit connecting each tangential inlet pipe to another portion of each dispenser for returning excess powder to the canister, and a fluidization blower mounted on the cylinder from which a stream of fluidizing air is allowed to pass.
Perindopril reverses myocyte remodeling in the hypertensive heart.

Studies have shown that the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays an important role in cardiac remodeling induced by hypertension. However, the role of this system on myocyte remodeling remains unclear. In the present study, we have assessed the effect of perindopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) as a means to evaluate the role of RAS in myocyte remodeling. We also investigated the effect of beta blockade on myocyte remodeling. We used female SHRs at 12 weeks of age. They were divided into four experimental groups: a control group, group C; low dose perindopril group (0.3 mg/kg/day, p.o.), group PL; high dose perindopril group (3 mg/kg/day, p.o.), group PH; and bisoprolol group (60 mg/kg/day, p.o.), group B. We isolated myocytes from these rats after 4 weeks. LV myocyte volume and cross-sectional area decreased in groups PL and PH compared to group C. LV myocyte length decreased in group PH compared to group C. However, there was no morphological change in LV myocytes in group B compared to group C. In summary, ACE inhibitors reversed cardiac hypertrophy mainly by a reduction in LV myocyte volume; however, beta blockade did not reverse myocyte remodeling. These results suggest that RAS plays an important role in myocyte remodeling in the hypertensive heart.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE EVOLVABILITY PROPERTIES OF THE YEAST PRION [PSI+]

Abstract Saccharomyces cerevisiae's ability to form the prion [PSI+] may increase the rate of evolvability, defined as the rate of appearance of heritable and potentially adaptive phenotypic variants. The increase in evolvability occurs when the appearance of the prion causes read-through translation and reveals hidden variation in untranslated regions. Eventually the portion of the phenotypic variation that is adaptive loses its dependence on the revealing mechanism. The mechanism is reversible, so the restoration of normal translation termination conceals the revealed deleterious variation, leaving the yeast without a permanent handicap. Given that the ability to form [PSI+] is known to be fixed and conserved in yeast, we construct a mathematical model to calculate whether this ability is more likely to have become fixed due to chance alone or due to its evolvability characteristics. We find that evolvability is a more likely explanation, as long as environmental change makes partial read-through of stop codons adaptive at a frequency of at least once every million years.
Medicinal plants in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infections

Abstract Context: Helicobacter pylori is a small, spiral, Gram-negative bacillus that plays a role in the pathogenesis of a number of diseases ranging from asymptomatic gastritis to gastric cancer. Schedule compliance, antibiotic drug resistance, and side-effects of triple or quadruple therapy have led to research for novel candidates from plants. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to review the most potent medicinal plants of recently published literature with anti-H. pylori activity. For centuries, herbals have been used by traditional healers around the world to treat various gastrointestinal tract disorders such as dyspepsia, gastritis, and peptic ulcer disease. The mechanism of action by which these botanicals exert their therapeutic properties has not been completely and clearly elucidated. Anti-H. pylori properties may be one of the possible mechanisms by which gastroprotective herbs treat gastrointestinal tract disorders. Materials and methods: Electronic databases such as PubMed, Google scholar, EBSCO, and local databases were explored for medicinal plants with anti-H. pylori properties between 1984 and 2013 using key words “medicinal plants” and “Helicobacter pylori” or “anti-Helicobacter pylori”. Results: A total of 43 medicinal plant species belonging to 27 families including Amaryllidaceae, Anacardiaceae, Apiaceae, Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae, Asteraceae, Bignoniaceae, Clusiaceae, Chancapiedra, Combretaceae, Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Geraniaceae, Lamiaceae, Lauraceae, Lythraceae, Menispermaceae, Myristicaceae, Myrtaceae, Oleaceae, Papaveraceae, Plumbaginaceae, Poaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, and Theaceae were studied as herbs with potent anti-H. pylori effects. Conclusion: Traditional folk medicinal use of some of these plants to treat gastric infections is substantiated by the antibacterial activity of their extracts against H. pylori.
Role of angiotensin receptor blockers in chronic heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction : a meta-analysis

To identify the role of angiotensin receptor blockers in the treatment of chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, we performed a meta-analysis of a total of 23 clinical trials involving 13,532 patients. A systematic search was conducted on MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library. The pooled outcomes were all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and hospitalizations for heart failure. ARBs reduce all-cause mortality (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.96), cardiovascular mortality (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74-0.99) and hospitalizations for heart failure (RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.59-0.78) compared with placebo without background ACEIs therapy. ARBs did not differ from ACEIs in reducing all-cause mortality (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.54-1.41), cardiovascular mortality (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.42-1.47), hospitalizations for heart failure (RR 1.09, 95% CI 0.74-1.60) but lowered withdrawals due to adverse effects versus ACEIs (RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.53-0.77). Combination of ARBs and ACEIs reduced cardiovascular mortality (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.94). However, this combination failed to reduce total mortality (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.62-1.20) or hospitalizations for heart failure compared with ACEIs alone (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.59-1.16), and it increased the risk of withdrawals due to adverse effects (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.15-1.53). This meta-analysis suggests the superiority of ARBs over placebo in reducing mortality and morbidity in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. ARBs are better tolerated than ACEIs. Close monitoring for adverse effects may be warranted in the combination therapy of ARBs and ACEIs.
Renal Toxicity Associated with Salsalate in Elderly Adults with Anemia

Conflict of Interest: The editor in chief has reviewed the conflict of interest checklist provided by the authors and has determined that the authors have no financial or any other kind of personal conflicts with this paper. Author Contributions: Shoji, Tighe, Imel: analysis and interpretation of data, drafting manuscript, revising manuscript, final approval of version to be published. Dautovich, McCrae: concept and design, acquisition of data, revising manuscript, final approval of version to be published. Sponsor’s Role: None.
Factors Impacting Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge sharing is the deliberate act in which knowledge is made reusable through its transfer from one party to another. It is considered one of the main pillars of knowledge management. For a knowledge management initiative to succeed, a knowledge-sharing culture needs to be created and nurtured within the organisation. Since knowledge is power and no one is willing to give it away freely, there is a need to create a knowledge-sharing environment which takes into account the social and economic factors that influence knowledge sharing. In this paper, we look at the existing knowledge-sharing frameworks and propose a new one that takes into consideration the social and economic issues that might affect knowledge sharing within the organisation. The framework attributes the impact to five factors: the actors participating in the knowledge-sharing activity, the knowledge being shared, the channel used, the organisation concerned and the broader environmental factors. Specific barriers for each of the five sources are suggested.
Antipsychotic Polypharmacy in Outpatients at Birch Hill Hospital: Incidence and Adherence to Guidelines

The purpose of this article is to determine prescribing rates and adherence to guidelines with regard to antipsychotic polypharmacy, high‐dose prescribing, and sedative use in an outpatient population. A prospective case‐note audit involving 250 consecutive attendees of an outpatient clinic was carried out. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. Differences between the groups were estimated using t test and Λ2 where applicable. Results showed that the rate of polypharmacy was 17.4%. Reasons for polypharmacy were documented in 53% of cases. High‐dose antipsychotics were used in 2.5% of the monotherapy group and in 38% of the polypharmacy group. An ECG was done in 35% of patients on high‐dose antipsychotic therapy. In the monotherapy group, 6.2% versus 26.5% in the polypharmacy group of patients were on at least 1 sedative or hypnotic (odds ratio [OR], 5.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.02–14.82; P < .001). Forty‐two percent of patients prescribed sedatives had schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and none of the patients were diagnosed with anxiety disorders. The current study confirms that despite repeated recommendations against the practice, polypharmacy rates remain consistent at the 20% level. Thorough documentation, calculating the total antipsychotic dose, and obtaining an ECG would constitute good practice.
Improved DOA estimation based on first-order differential of pseudo-spectrum for MUSIC

MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) is well known for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation techniques due to its super-resolution property. However, it often fails to find DOA in severe environments like low SNR of incident waves form closely-spaced angles. To resolve this problem, we propose a new DOA estimation algorithm by the first-order differential of pseudo-spectrum from the fact that the differential of the spectrum has each local max-min values around the original DOAs. The simulation results show that reliability of the proposed algorithm in detecting DOA is better than that of the previous algorithms.