Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sexually transmitted infections and HIV in the era of antiretroviral treatment and prevention: the biologic basis for epidemiologic synergy

HIV is a unique sexually transmitted infection (STI) that is greatly affected by other concomitant “classical” bacterial and viral STIs that cause genital ulcers and/or mucosal inflammation. STIs also serve as a marker for risky sexual behaviours. STIs increase infectiousness of people living with HIV by increasing the viral concentration in the genital tract, and by increasing the potential for HIV acquisition in people at risk for HIV. In addition, some STIs can increase blood HIV concentration and promote progression of disease. This review is designed to investigate the complex relationship between HIV and classical STIs.
QoE-Driven Adaptive K-Push for HTTP/2 Live Streaming

Dynamic adaptive streaming (DAS) over HTTP has been widely deployed over the Internet. However, due to the <italic>pull-based</italic> nature of HTTP/1.1, there exists intolerable streaming latency and high request overhead in the current DAS systems. With dynamic <italic>k-push</italic>, HTTP/2 live streaming promises to achieve low live latency with less overhead and small segment duration. In this paper, we propose a quality of experience (QoE) driven adaptive <italic>k-push</italic> mechanism (QK-Push) for HTTP/2 live streaming. The client just sends one request to set push length (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) and bitrate (<bold>v</bold>) parameters and the server would push back <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$ </tex-math></inline-formula> segments in a batch. To determine <italic>k-push</italic> parameters, a probabilistic buffer model is first designed to avoid buffer underflow/overflow. Also, three QoE objective functions are designed to ensure the high streaming quality (bitrate), playback continuity, and smoothness. QK-Push casts this multi-objective optimization problem as a <italic>Pareto optimal problem</italic>. To solve it, a <italic>Nash bargaining solution</italic> is designed to balance the needs for video quality, bitrate smoothness, and request overhead. Finally, the segments in each push cycle are selected by solving the <italic>Nash problem</italic> with a <italic>discrete space Lagrangian</italic> method. We implement an HTTP/2 live streaming prototype system, with the QK-Push algorithm over modified <italic>dash.js</italic> and media presentation description. To evaluate the performances, the extensive live streaming experiments are carried out over a controllable network test bed and real Internet trace. The results demonstrate that the proposed QK-Push algorithm is able to improve the average bitrate up to 13%, reduce the bitrate oscillations up to 81%, decrease the startup delay up to 58%, and increase the estimate the mean opinion score up to 12% compared to the current HTTP/1.1 system.
Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption, Personality, and Cybervictimization among Adolescents

Cyberbullying has emerged as a public health problem. Personality may play an important role in substance use and cybervictimization. The aim of this study was to examine whether tobacco and alcohol consumption and personality traits are associated with cybervictimization in Spanish adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 765 secondary students (aged 14–16) from 16 secondary schools in Spain. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics; tobacco and alcohol consumption; cybervictimization (Garaigordobil Scale); and personality traits (Big Five Questionnaire). A logistic regression model controlling for sex, age, parental education and personality traits was used to determine the independent associations and interactions between tobacco and alcohol consumption and cybervictimization. The results indicate that a total of 305 adolescents (39.9%) reported that they were cyberbullied in the past year. Girls were more likely to be cyberbullied than boys. Cybervictims had a significantly greater monthly alcohol consumption (OR = 1.51; 95% CI = 1.05–2.15), higher scores for extraversion (OR = 1.31; 95% CI = 1.06–1.63) and emotional instability (OR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.27–1.83); as well as lower scores for conscientiousness (OR = 0.78; 95% CI = 0.63–0.95). These results suggest that personality traits and alcohol consumption are independently associated with cybervictimization. Our study suggests the existence of underlying common personality factors for cybervictimization and alcohol and tobacco use.
Differences in swimming smoothness between elite and non-elite swimmers

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to investigate whether jerk cost (JC) can discriminate between swimming levels. Nine elite and nine non-elite swimmers swam a 50-m front-crawl sprint wearing a 3D accelerometer on their back between the inferior angles of the scapulae. Lap times and JC were calculated from the acceleration signal and compared between groups and between swimmers within a group. The elite swimmers swam significantly faster lap times than the non-elite swimmers (p < 0.001). They did so with significantly lower levels of JC compared to the non-elite swimmers (p = 0.005). Furthermore, a stepwise multiple linear regression showed JC accounted for 32.9% of the variation in lap time of the elite swimmers. These results indicate that it is possible to discriminate elite from non-elite swimmers using JC: elite swimmers swim with lower JCs than non-elite swimmers. Additionally, swimming at higher speed is associated with more accelerations and decelerations in both elite and non-elite swimmers, which is reflected by higher JCs and lower smoothness. In sum, JC provides an index of swimming technique that is easy to use in training practice.
TIP30 counteracts cardiac hypertrophy and failure by inhibiting translational elongation

Pathological cardiac overload induces myocardial protein synthesis and hypertrophy, which predisposes to heart failure. To inhibit hypertrophy therapeutically, the identification of negative regulators of cardiomyocyte protein synthesis is needed. Here, we identified the tumor suppressor protein TIP30 as novel inhibitor of cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction. Reduced TIP30 levels in mice entailed exaggerated cardiac growth during experimental pressure overload, which was associated with cardiomyocyte cellular hypertrophy, increased myocardial protein synthesis, reduced capillary density, and left ventricular dysfunction. Pharmacological inhibition of protein synthesis improved these defects. Our results are relevant for human disease, since we found diminished cardiac TIP30 levels in samples from patients suffering from end‐stage heart failure or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Importantly, therapeutic overexpression of TIP30 in mouse hearts inhibited cardiac hypertrophy and improved left ventricular function during pressure overload and in cardiomyopathic mdx mice. Mechanistically, we identified a previously unknown anti‐hypertrophic mechanism, whereby TIP30 binds the eukaryotic elongation factor 1A (eEF1A) to prevent the interaction with its essential co‐factor eEF1B2 and translational elongation. Therefore, TIP30 could be a therapeutic target to counteract cardiac hypertrophy.
Self-Adjusting Activity Induced by Intrinsic Reaction Intermediate in Fe-N-C Single-Atom Catalysts.

Fe-N-C single-atom catalysts (SACs) exhibit high activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, it remains con-troversial how the active center mediates catalysis, and the predicted potential deviates from experimental results, hin-dering development of ideal SACs. Here, using first-principles calculations, we present a microkinetic model for ORR on Fe-N-C SACs, disclosing a self-adjusting mechanism induced by its intrinsic intermediate. The modelling results show that the single-atom Fe site of the FeN4 center of Fe-N-C is covered with an intermediate OH* from 0.28 to 1.00 V. Remarkably, such OH* becomes part of the active moiety, Fe(OH)N4, and can optimize intermediate bindings on the Fe site, exhibiting a theoretical half-wave potential of ~0.88 V. Partial current density analysis reveals the dominating associative path over the dissociative ones. In addition, ORR on Mn-N-C and Co-N-C SACs is unveiled. This work demonstrates the necessity of assessing the effect of intrinsic intermediates in single-atom catalysis and provides practical guidance for rational design of high-performance SACs.
Associations between infant and toddler regulatory problems, childhood co-developing internalising and externalising trajectories, and adolescent depression, psychotic and borderline personality disorder symptoms.

BACKGROUND Early regulatory problems (RPs) are associated with childhood internalising and externalising symptoms. Internalising and externalising symptoms, in turn, are associated with adolescent psychopathology (e.g. personality disorders, depression). We examined whether RPs are directly associated with adolescent psychopathology, or whether associations are indirect via childhood internalising and externalising symptoms. METHODS We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Mothers reported on their child's RPs at 6, 15-18 and 24-30 months, and internalising and externalising symptoms at 4, 7, 8 and 9.5 years. Adolescent psychotic, depression and BPD symptoms were assessed at 11-12 years. Children were grouped by their patterns of co-developing internalising and externalising symptoms using parallel process latent class growth analysis (PP-LCGA). Path analysis was used to examine direct and indirect associations from RPs to the three adolescent outcomes. RESULTS There were four groups of children with distinct patterns of co-developing internalising and externalising (INT/EXT) symptoms. Most children (53%) demonstrated low-moderate and stable levels of INT/EXT symptoms. A small proportion (7.7%) evidenced moderate and increasing INT and high stable EXT symptoms: this pattern was strongly predictive of adolescent psychopathology (e.g. depression at 11 years: unadjusted odds ratio = 5.62; 95% confidence intervals = 3.82, 8.27). The other two groups were differentially associated with adolescent outcomes (i.e. moderate-high increasing INT/moderate decreasing EXT predicted mother-reported depression at 12, while low stable INT/moderate-high stable EXT predicted child-reported depression at 11). In path analysis, RPs at each time-point were significantly indirectly associated with symptoms of BPD and child- and mother-reported depression symptoms via the most severe class of INT/EXT symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with a cascade model of development, RPs are predictive of higher levels of co-developing INT/EXT symptoms, which in turn increase risk of adolescent psychopathology. Clinicians should be aware of, and treat, early RPs to prevent chronic psychopathology.
ARHGEF12 regulates erythropoiesis and is involved in erythroid regeneration after chemotherapy in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients

Hematopoiesis is a finely regulated process in vertebrates under both homeostatic and stress conditions. By whole exome sequencing, we studied the genomics of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients who needed multiple red blood cell (RBC) transfusions after intensive chemotherapy treatment. ARHGEF12, encoding a RhoA guanine nucleotide exchange factor, was found to be associated with chemotherapy-induced anemia by genome-wide association study analyses. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of ARHGEF12 located in an intron predicted to be a GATA1 binding site, rs10892563, is significantly associated with patients who need RBC transfusion (P=3.469E-03, odds ratio 5.864). A luciferase reporter assay revealed that this SNP impairs GATA1-mediated trans-regulation of ARHGEF12, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction studies confirmed that the homozygotes status is associated with an approximately 61% reduction in ARHGEF12 expression (P=0.0088). Consequently, erythropoiesis was affected at the pro-erythroblast phases. The role of ARHGEF12 and its homologs in erythroid differentiation was confirmed in human K562 cells, mouse 32D cells and primary murine bone marrow cells. We further demonstrated in zebrafish by morpholino-mediated knockdown and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of arhgef12 that its reduction resulted in erythropoiesis defects. The p38 kinase pathway was affected by the ARHGEF12-RhoA signaling in K562 cells, and consistently, the Arhgef12-RhoA-p38 pathway was also shown to be important for erythroid differentiation in zebrafish as active RhoA or p38 readily rescued the impaired erythropoiesis caused by arhgef12 knockdown. Finally, ARHGEF12-mediated p38 activity also appeared to be involved in phenotypes of patients of the rs10892563 homozygous genotype. Our findings present a novel SNP of ARHGEF12 that may involve ARHGEF12-RhoA-p38 signaling in erythroid regeneration in ALL patients after chemotherapy.
Lactate infusion increases brain energy content during euglycemia but not hypoglycemia in healthy men

A special characteristic of the brain is the usage of lactate as alternative fuel instead of glucose to preserve its energy homeostasis. This physiological function is valid for sufficient cerebral glucose supply, as well as presumably during hypoglycemia, given that exogenous lactate infusion suppresses hormonal counterregulation. However, it is not yet clarified whether this effect is mediated by the use of lactate as an alternative cerebral energy substrate or any other mechanism. We hypothesized that under conditions of limited access to glucose (ie, during experimental hypoglycemia) lactate infusion would prevent hypoglycemia‐induced neuroenergetic deficits in a neuroprotective way. In a randomized, double‐blind, crossover study, lactate vs placebo infusion was compared during hyperinsulinemic‐hypoglycemic clamps in 16 healthy young men. We measured the cerebral high‐energy phosphate content — ie, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), phosphocreatine (PCr) and inorganic phosphate (Pi) levels — by 31P‐magnetic resonance spectroscopy as well as the neuroendocrine stress response. During euglycemia, lactate infusion increased ATP/Pi as well as PCr/Pi ratios compared with baseline values and placebo infusion. During hypoglycemia, there were no differences between the lactate and the placebo condition in both ratios. Hormonal counterregulation was significantly diminished upon lactate infusion. Our data demonstrate an elevated cerebral high‐energy phosphate content upon lactate infusion during euglycemia, whereas there was no such effect during experimental hypoglycemia. Nevertheless, lactate infusion suppressed hypoglycemic hormonal counterregulation. Lactate thus adds to cerebral energy provision during euglycemia and may contribute to an increase in ATP reserves, which in turn protects the brain against neuroglucopenia under recurrent hypopglycemic conditions, eg, in diabetic patients.
Childhood‐onset cerebellar ataxia in Japan: A questionnaire‐based survey

The diagnosis of childhood‐onset cerebellar ataxia (CA) is often challenging due to variations in symptoms and etiologies. Despite the known regional differences in the prevalence of etiologies underlying CA, the frequency and characteristics of CA in Japan remain unclear. We conducted a questionnaire‐based survey to identify the clinical characteristics of childhood‐onset CA in the Japanese population.
Wearable Device for Malaysian Ringgit Banknotes Recognition Based on Embedded Decision Tree Classifier

The purpose of this project is to develop a wearable Malaysian Ringgit banknotes recognition device for assisting the visually impaired people to recognize the value of Malaysian banknotes. In this project, the RGB values in six different classes of the banknotes (MYR 1, MYR 5, MYR 10, MYR 20, MYR 50 and MYR 100) were taken at 12 different points (6 upside, 6 downside) using colour sensor (TCS 34725) before three features called RB, RG, and GB were extracted from the RGB values. After that, these features are used to model the embedded Decision Tree Classifier (DTC) in Matlab for recognizing each classes of banknote. Cross validation with 10- fold was used to select the optimize DTC which is based on the smallest cross validation loss. The performance of optimize DTC model is presented in confusion matrix and compared with Naive Bayesian and k-Nearest Neighbour classifier before this model is implemented in Lilypad Arduino. The performance of the device in term of accuracy is evaluated by asking 10 subjects to use the device. Result shows that the proposed embedded optimize DTC model managed to achieve 84.7% accuracy which outperforms other classifier. In conclusion, proposed device is successfully developed and it should be possible, therefore, to integrate other features (instead of colour) in recognizing the ringgit banknote.
COUNT VARIATION OF OVARIAN FOLLICLES AFTER IMMOBILIZATION

Objective: To observe the effects of immobilization stress on the ovarian follicle count. Study Design: It was laboratory based randomized control trial. Place and Duration of Study: Anatomy Department, Army Medical College Rawalpindi, in collaboration with National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, from April to May 2014. Material and Method: Study comprised of 20 adult female mice (BALBc strain) weighing 25-27 gms on first day of estrous cycle. They were divided into two equal groups of 10 mice each. Group A, taken as control, was kept in normal environment of animal house for one month. Group B was given immobilization stress by keeping them in wire mesh restrainers locally fabricated consisting of 10 compartments. Animals were dissected after one month. Size, shape, color and weight of the right ovary were observed. Ovary was processed, embedded and stained for histological study. Primary, secondary and tertiary follicles were counted. SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis. Independent sampleâ€™s t test and chi square test was applied. Results: The primary, secondary and tertiary follicular count was significantly decreased in the ovary of experimental Group B. Conclusion: Immobilization stress reduces the number of ovarian follicles.
Rule-based Procedural Generation of Item in Role-playing Game

This paper demonstrates the significance of rule-based procedural generation of item in role-playing game. The main aims of this project are to: implement rule-based randomized algorithm and totally randomized algorithm in generating item procedurally in Role-Playing Game (RPG), and compare the advantage of rule-based randomized algorithm against totally randomized algorithm in item drop mechanism. Experimental results demonstrate success with all aims: rule-based randomized algorithm is proven to be a better game changing factor in procedural generation of item as it can control the prolific generation of strong items in the early stage of the game. This helps to balance the game and prevents any snow-balling effect as the game progresses.
OPTIMISATION OF TRADING STRATEGY IN FUTURES MARKET USING NONLINEAR VOLATILITY MODELS

Backtesting and optimisation of trading strategies has been widely discussed topic in practically oriented econometric analysis for many years. In this paper, we focus on application of forecasting univariate volatility models when optimizing trading strategy in futures market. This paper is focused on backtesting and optimisation of trading strategy in futures market that are based on volatility estimation using nonlinear conditional volatility models. In fact, one of the most challenging practical problems of recent years was to understand and model a behavior of volatility of financial markets. In order to illustrate an application of this approach, we consider daily returns of American e-mini market future index in the period from September 2013 to December 2014. Backtesting of trading strategy was provided by management of normalized risk and amount of contracts per trade assuming unvarying other parameters of trading strategy. When optimizing initial trading strategy using conditional volatility models a profitability has increased significantly while maintaining reasonable values of other characteristics compared to its initial values.
DP Network formation with myopic and farsighted players

We study the formation of networks where myopic and farsighted individuals decide with whom they want to form a link, according to a distance-based utility function that weighs the costs and benefits of each connection. We propose the notion of myopic-farsighted stable set to determine the networks that emerge when some individuals are myopic while others are farsighted. A myopic-farsighted stable set is the set of networks satisfying internal and external stability with respect to the notion of myopic-farsighted improving path. In the case of a homogeneous population (either all myopic or all farsighted), a conflict between stability and effi ciency is likely to arise. But, once the population becomes mixed, the conflict vanishes if there are enough farsighted individuals. In addition, we characterize the myopic-farsighted stable set for any utility function when all individuals are myopic.
’ s repository of research publications and other research outputs Modelling and Querying Lists in RDF . A Pragmatic Study Conference or Workshop Item

Many Linked Data datasets model elements in their domains in the form of lists: a countable number of ordered resources. When publishing these lists in RDF, an important concern is making them easy to consume. Therefore, a well-known recommendation is to find an existing list modelling solution, and reuse it. However, a specific domain model can be implemented in different ways and vocabularies may provide alternative solutions. In this paper, we argue that a wrong decision could have a significant impact in terms of performance and, ultimately, the availability of the data. We take the case of RDF Lists and make the hypothesis that the efficiency of retrieving sequential linked data depends primarily on how they are modelled (triple-store invariance hypothesis). To demonstrate this, we survey different solutions for modelling sequences in RDF, and propose a pragmatic approach for assessing their impact on data availability. Finally, we derive good (and bad) practices on how to publish lists as linked open data. By doing this, we sketch the foundations of an empirical, task-oriented methodology for benchmarking linked data modelling solutions.
Transport investment , agglomeration and urban productivity

This paper is concerned with the links between city size, productivity and infrastructure provision. The role of transport infrastructure in sustaining productivity is notoriously hard to isolate empirically due to the inter-dependent nature of the relationship which create problems of simultaneity bias. In this paper we show that transport investment can have an important influence on productivity by increasing the effective density of people and jobs within a given distance. We estimate elasticities of productivity with respect to city size for different industrial sectors. Empirical work is based on the estimation of translog production functions for detailed sectors of the UK economy using data on UK firms.