Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decentralisation of treatment for patients with tuberculosis in Malawi: moving from research to policy and practice.

SETTING Five districts in Malawi. OBJECTIVE A new oral anti-tuberculosis treatment regimen with different directly observed treatment (DOT) choices in the initial phase of treatment was introduced for new patients in the five districts. The objectives were to determine 1) the site of DOT during the initial phase of treatment, and 2) the effectiveness of the new regimen. DESIGN Prospective data collection on all tuberculosis (TB) patients registered in a phased approach between 1 July 1997 and 31 December 1998, including site of DOT option in initial phase of treatment, 2-month and 8-month treatment outcomes, 2-month sputum smear conversion in smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients and in-patient hospital bed days. RESULTS There were 6335 new patients: 2671 (42%) with smear-positive PTB, 2211 (35%) with smear-negative PTB and 1453 (23%) with extra-pulmonary TB. The site of the initial phase of treatment was determined in 5790 patients: 1759 (30%) received DOT from guardians, 1465 (25%) from a health centre, 753 (13%) as out-patients from the hospital TB ward and 1813 (32%) remained in hospital. Eight-month treatment completion was 67% for smear-positive PTB patients, 51% for smear-negative PTB patients and 56% for extra-pulmonary TB patients. Two-month outcomes and 8-month treatment outcomes for all out-patient sites of supervision were satisfactory, except that a higher proportion of smear-positive PTB patients under guardian DOT failed to smear convert at 2 months. Over two-thirds of patients received ambulatory treatment out of hospital during the initial phase. CONCLUSION The new treatment strategy, tested in five districts, was associated with a reduction in hospital bed days and satisfactory treatment outcomes. The results of these studies were vital in helping the National TB Control Programme make an informed decision about phased expansion of the strategy countrywide.
Prevalence, Enumeration, Serotypes, and Antimicrobial Resistance Phenotypes of Salmonella enterica Isolates from Carcasses at Two Large United States Pork Processing Plants

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to characterize Salmonella enterica contamination on carcasses in two large U.S. commercial pork processing plants. The carcasses were sampled at three points, before scalding (prescald), after dehairing/polishing but before evisceration (preevisceration), and after chilling (chilled final). The overall prevalences of Salmonella on carcasses at these three sampling points, prescald, preevisceration, and after chilling, were 91.2%, 19.1%, and 3.7%, respectively. At one of the two plants, the prevalence of Salmonella was significantly higher (P < 0.01) for each of the carcass sampling points. The prevalences of carcasses with enumerable Salmonella at prescald, preevisceration, and after chilling were 37.7%, 4.8%, and 0.6%, respectively. A total of 294 prescald carcasses had Salmonella loads of >1.9 log CFU/100 cm2, but these carcasses were not equally distributed between the two plants, as 234 occurred at the plant with higher Salmonella prevalences. Forty-one serotypes were identified on prescald carcasses with Salmonella enterica serotypes Derby, Typhimurium, and Anatum predominating. S. enterica serotypes Typhimurium and London were the most common of the 24 serotypes isolated from preevisceration carcasses. The Salmonella serotypes Johannesburg and Typhimurium were the most frequently isolated serotypes of the 9 serotypes identified from chilled final carcasses. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined for selected isolates from each carcass sampling point. Multiple drug resistance (MDR), defined as resistance to three or more classes of antimicrobial agents, was identified for 71.2%, 47.8%, and 77.5% of the tested isolates from prescald, preevisceration, and chilled final carcasses, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the interventions used by pork processing plants greatly reduce the prevalence of Salmonella on carcasses, but MDR Salmonella was isolated from 3.2% of the final carcasses sampled.
Radioresistance of Deinococcus radiodurans: functions necessary to survive ionizing radiation are also necessary to survive prolonged desiccation

Forty-one ionizing radiation-sensitive strains of Deinococcus radiodurans were evaluated for their ability to survive 6 weeks of desiccation. All exhibited a substantial loss of viability upon rehydration compared with wild-type D. radiodurans. Examination of chromosomal DNA from desiccated cultures revealed a time-dependent increase in DNA damage, as measured by an increase in DNA double-strand breaks. The evidence presented suggests that D. radiodurans' ionizing radiation resistance is incidental, a consequence of this organism's adaptation to a common physiological stress, dehydration.
Is Infant-Directed Speech Prosody a Result of the Vocal Expression of Emotion?

Many studies have found that infant-directed (ID) speech has higher pitch, has more exaggerated pitch contours, has a larger pitch range, has a slower tempo, and is more rhythmic than typical adult-directed (AD) speech. We show that the ID speech style reflects free vocal expression of emotion to infants, in comparison with more inhibited expression of emotion in typical AD speech. When AD speech does express emotion, the same acoustic features are used as in ID speech. We recorded ID and AD samples of speech expressing love-comfort, fear, and surprise. The emotions were equally discriminable in the ID and AD samples. Acoustic analyses showed few differences between the ID and AD samples, but robust differences across the emotions. We conclude that ID prosody itself is not special. What is special is the widespread expression of emotion to infants in comparison with the more inhibited expression of emotion in typical adult interactions.
Effect of fault dependency and debugging time lag on software error models

In this paper, we first show how several existing SRGMs based on NHPP models can be comprehensively derived by applying the time-dependent delay function. Moreover, for most conventional SRGMs, they assume that detected errors are immediately corrected. But this assumption may not be realistic in practice. Therefore, we incorporate the ideas of failure dependency and time-dependent delay function into software reliability growth modeling. New SRGMs are proposed and numerical illustrations based on real data set are presented. Evaluation results show that the proposed framework to incorporate both failure dependency and time-dependent delay function for SRGM has a fairly accurate prediction capability.
Sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-release channel and ATP-synthesis activities are early myocardial markers of heart failure produced by rapid ventricular pacing in dogs.

The contraction-relaxation cycle of the heart is dependent on a cycle of ATP production and utilization and a cycle of Ca uptake and Ca release by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Heart failure (HF) is associated with abnormalities of myocardial Ca and ATP cycling, but the time course of their development is unknown. This study tested the hypothesis that, compared with ATP-utilizing and Ca-uptake activities, decreases in ATP-synthesis and Ca-release activities occurred earlier in the development of HF and persisted longer during recovery from HF. HF was induced by right ventricular pacing of dogs at 250 beats/min. Dogs were studied after 1 week of pacing (n = 8, early HF), at HF (n = 11, severe HF), and 4 weeks after cessation of pacing (n = 9) and were compared with dogs not subjected to pacing. At early HF, there were decreased activities (p < 0.05) of the SR Ca-release channel (rate constant from 199 +/- 36 x 10(-4) to 90 +/- 16 x 10(-4) s-1), mitochondrial ATP synthesis (from 11.2 +/- 2.4 to 7.0 +/- 2.2 international units (IU)/g), and creatine kinase (CK) from 2028 +/- 266 to 1811 +/- 79 IU/g). The decreased Ca-channel activity was due to a 32% decrease in maximal activity (rate constant from 249 +/- 50 x 10(-4) to 170 +/- 29 x 10(-4) s-1) and to a 2-fold increase (from 19.1 +/- 12.4 to 42.0 +/- 14.2%) in inhibition of maximal channel activity (p < 0.05). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Heat conduction in two-dimensional disk models.

We study the heat conduction problem in two-dimensional (2D) lattice models of disk shape consisting of two circular heat baths with radius r1 and r2 (r1<r2) , located concentrically at the center and the edge of the disk. Compared with the lattice models of rectangle shape adopted in previous studies, the main advantage of the disk models is that they have an unambiguous 2D dimensionality. The Fermi-Pasta-Ulam interaction of β type and the ϕ4 system are considered, respectively, as momentum conserving and nonconserving prototypes. In the former we find that in the range of the system size investigated, the heat conductivity κ depends on the system size L=r2-r1 as κ∼(ln L)α with α being a function of r1/r2. In particular, in the limit of r1/r2→1 we have α→1 , i.e., a logarithmic dependence of κ on L , which is in agreement with the prediction of existing theories. In the momentum nonconserving ϕ4 system the heat conductivity converges to a finite value as the system size is increased.
Biological Properties of Norwalk Agent of Acute Infectious Nonbacterial Gastroenteritis

Summary Acute infectious nonbacterial gastroenteritis was induced in adult volunteers through three serial passages by oral administration of bacteria-free stool filtrates. This suggested that a replicating agent of subbacterial size was responsible for the observed disease. The biophysical properties of the agent, as assayed in volunteers, were consistent with those of a small virus, most closely related to the parvovirus group among known animal viruses. The agent appeared to have a diameter less than 66 nm and likely less than 36 nm. It appeared to lack a lipid containing envelope and was acid stable. It was stable to heating at 60° for 30 min. The agent appeared to be relatively host specific for man and conferred at least short-term immunity. Because of the high frequency of disease induced in unselected volunteers, widespread natural immunity to this agent may be absent or perhaps incomplete. Preliminary evidence suggested that the Norwalk agent replicated in an in vitro system, human fetal intestinal organ culture. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the volunteers and staff at the Maryland State House of Correction. We also thank Drs. David Fedson and Sheldon Wolff of the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for their help with the study, Dr. Samuel Formal of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Medical Research for performing enterotoxin assays and monkey inoculations, and Dr. Robert Purcell of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases for performing Australia antigen determinations.
Satellite Technologies for Broadband Internet Access Onboard High Speed Trains

This paper presents last years SNCF work concerning broadband Internet service delivery to passengers onboard high speed trains. First of all, the reasons to the deployment of this kind of services are presented. Then, the different candidate technologies are listed, before to focus on satellite solutions advantages and drawbacks. Finally, the different projects and experimentations carried out by SNCF onboard high speed trains (TGV) are introduced. The paper concludes with some brief conclusions and by giving some perspectives of future researches SNCF is willing to carry.
Effects of deferoxamine on tissue superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase levels in experimental head trauma.

BACKGROUND This study aims to evaluate the effects of deferoxamine on tissue superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) brain levels after head trauma. METHODS Thirty rabbits were divided equally into three groups: group 1 was the sham-operated group, group 2 suffered head trauma (no treatment was given), and group 3 received deferoxamine 50 mg/kg after the trauma. Head trauma was applied unilaterally. One hour after trauma, brain cortices were resected and SOD and GPx levels were determined. One-way analysis of variance and Tukey-HSD tests were used for analysis. Significance was defined as p < 0.05. RESULTS Baseline SOD levels are preserved in the traumatized side of the deferoxamine-treated group. Although GPx level of the traumatized side of the deferoxamine-treated group decreased significantly, the decrease was significantly less than the nontreated group. CONCLUSION Trauma leads to a decrease in brain tissue SOD and GPx levels. Deferoxamine suppresses this decrease completely in SOD level and partially in GPx level when given after trauma.
Résistances contre deux géants industriels en forêt tropicale: Populations locales versus plantations commerciales d’hévéas et de palmiers à huile dans le Sud-Cameroun

markdownabstractIntroduction Ce rapport1 examine les resistances des populations riveraines a deux des plus grandes plantations industrielles du Cameroun, la monoculture d’heveas Hevea-Cameroun (HEVECAM) et celle de palmiers a huile de la Societe Camerounaise de Palmeraies (SOCAPALM). Son but est de contribuer a combler un manque d’information sur la situation autour des plantations industrielles en Afrique Equatoriale. C’est dans le Departement de l’Ocean – dont Kribi est la capitale – que sont localisees les resistances qui nous interessent ici (voir carte p. 16). La region forme un vaste plateau a une altitude variant entre 20 et 300 metres. Il est sillonne par des affluents de la Lobe et de la Kienke, deux rivieres qui vont se jeter dans l’ocean Atlantique. Avant l’installation des deux monocultures commerciales, la region etait couverte d’une foret pluviale de type guineo-congolais exceptionnellement riche en biodiversite. Elle etait faiblement habitee2 par des populations de paysans-chasseurs bantous et de chasseurs-cueilleurs bagyeli (« pygmees »), toutes deux dependantes des ressources forestieres. Avec l’arrivee des plantations en 1975 pour HEVECAM et en 1978 pour SOCAPALM, ces populations ont ete deplacees et la foret a ete defrichee puis remplacee par les monocultures. Aujourd’hui, les plantations jouxtent une vingtaine de communautes bantoues et bagyeli qui sont entrees en conflits plus ou moins ouverts avec ces dernieres et dont nous allons rendre compte ici.
Monitoring of Putative Vectors of Bluetongue Virus Serotype 8, Germany

To identify the vectors of bluetongue virus (BTV) in Germany, we monitored Culicoides spp. biting midges during April 2007–May 2008. Molecular characterization of batches of midges that tested positive for BTV suggests C. obsoletus sensu stricto as a relevant vector of bluetongue disease in central Europe.
Techno-economic evaluation and conceptual design of a liquid biofertilizer plant

Biofertilizers have become an effective, eco-friendly and low cost alternative to chemical fertilizers. Process engineering and cost models for a biofertilizer plant with a production capacity of 44 tons of liquid biofertilizer per year (568 kg/batch) were developed. The models were obtained using process simulator (SuperPro Designer), version 8.5 (Intelligen, 2012), while the 3D conceptual design and layout of the biofertilizer plant was developed with (OptiPlant) software (ASD Global, 2015). The total capital investment required to erect the plant is $ 3 975 000, the unit production cost of one 1.5 L bottle of liquid biofertilizer is $ 24.009, while the economic indicators Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) had values of $ 716 000 and 2.55%, respectively. Also, the total revenues are $ 985 000/year, the Return on Investment (ROI) is 14.93 %, and the payback time is 6.70 years.
Revenue from the Extractive Industries and Copper Mining in Peru

In the framework of a weak approach to sustainability, this paper evaluates whether the revenues earned on copper mining have translated into better educational, health, and roadway infrastructure in Peru’s extractive zones, both at the districtand department-wide level, between 2004 and 2013. The results reveal that the infrastructure in places that are home to the extractive industries has indeed improved to a greater degree than in other locations, but only on a small order of magnitude. This weak effect is tied to the State’s shaky vision of sustainability and the fact that the regionalization process in Peru is still under way.
Peptide sequences in glutaraldehyde-linked proteodermatan sulphate: collagen fragments from rat tail tendon locate the proteoglycan binding sites.

Collagen fibrils associate noncovalently with proteodmman sulphates (PDSs) at specitic and regular sites in the gap zone, at the d or e band. We call these strudures 'shape modules' because they appear to organise the collagen fibril matrix [l]. A shape module is a quaternary structure, collagen fibril4DS protein core+ AGAG chaiwAGAG chairwPDS protein coreccollagen fibril. Inspection of collagen fibril aminoacid sequences in PDS binding regions implicated 1 l-residue stretches in a1 chains [2] vvhich marry wll to the structure of PDS in complementary binding sites [3]. Alternative wggastions [4] rely on much less specific data, especially in vitm models [5] that are capable of several interpetations [6]. The most relevant and valid approach is to investigate the tissue directly. Our aim WBS to prepare a fragment of collegen from tissue with PDS covalently attached that could be sequenced to determine the composition and position of this binding site within the collagen molecule. We used glutaraldehyde as the crosslinker since this fixes the proteoglycans at their specific binding sites [7]. Freeze dried rat tail tendon (RlT) was fixed in 0.2% glutaraldehyde solution at pH 6.5, reduced with 0.1M sodium borohydride, extracted with 2M MgC12 at 1OOOC and then digested with type VII clostridial collagenase at pH 7.4. The supernatant was precipitated with cetylpyridiniurn chloride (CPC) to recover PDS-rich species. Hydroxyproline and polyanion analyses, electrophoreses with Alcian blue [8] or Coomassie blue staining wre performed on deposits and extracts, before and after papain digestion. Aminoacid analyses and Edman sequencing w r e carried out on the PDS rich fractions. Controls were based on unfixed RlT. Fixed RTT remained >95% intact after hot MgC12 extraction compared with 40% of unfixed RTT. Over 90 % of the hydroxyproline from extracted fixed RTT was solubilised by collagenase digestion, the CPC product containing both polyanion and hydroxyproline. Edman sequencing of the CPC product revealed Gly as the only significant N terminal residue and further showed a sequence GAKGDRGET in a complex mixture which is characteristic of the a1 chain in the e band in the quarter stassered array. This finding is compatible with the model (31 in which PDS is associated at around residues 855-865 in the a1 chain. It is also compatible with one of four possible binding sites that are otherwise not convincingly differentiable, derived from in vitm models [5].
Relationships between character strengths and perception of social support

This study aimed to study the relations between character and social support, through the Characters Strengths Scale (EFC) and Social Support Scale EPSUS-IJ (Youth version). 293 adolescents, 14 to 17 years (M=14.95, SD= 3.038) participated, 67.8% female. Results showed that the factor 1 (Contributing to Problems) EPSUS-IJ contributed signifi cantly to explain 21 characters strengths. The second factor (Social Interaction) presented signifi cant coeffi cients in 14 strengths, and factor 3 (Aff ectivity) in 12 strengths. The fi ndings are discussed based on literature.
The Immunology of Basal Cell Carcinoma

B cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common malignancy in the US today, with nearly 400,000 new cases occurring per year. ^ Although this tumor is usually controlled by local means and is rarely metastatic, its prevalence accounts for a significant amount of morbidity. ^ For this reason, a better understanding of the factors that affect the development of BCC could have important health implications. A number of factors are known to contribute to the development of BCC, including both environmental and host factors. ^'^ Recently, attention has turned to the possible role of the immune system in this disorder. '*'''
Diffusion tensor imaging supports the cytotoxic origin of brain edema in a rat model of acute liver failure.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Brain edema is a severe complication of acute liver failure (ALF) that has been related to ammonia concentrations. Two mechanisms have been proposed in the pathogenesis: vasogenic edema that is secondary to the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and cytotoxic edema caused by ammonia metabolites in astrocytes. METHODS We applied magnetic resonance techniques to assess the intracellular or extracellular distribution of brain water and metabolites in a rat model of devascularized ALF. The brain water content was assessed by gravimetry and blood-brain barrier permeability was determined from the transfer constant of (14)C-labeled sucrose. RESULTS Rats with ALF had a progressive decrease in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in all brain regions. The average decrease in ADC was significant in precoma (-14%) and coma stages (-20%). These changes, which indicate an increase of the intracellular water compartment, were followed by a significant increase in total brain water (coma 82.4% +/- 0.3% vs sham 81.6% +/- 0.3%; P = .0001). Brain concentrations of glutamine (6 hours, 540%; precoma, 851%; coma, 1086%) and lactate (6 hours, 166%; precoma, 998%; coma, 3293%) showed a marked increase in ALF that paralleled the decrease in ADC and neurologic outcome. In contrast, the transfer constant of (14)C-sucrose was unaltered. CONCLUSIONS The pathogenesis of brain edema in an experimental model of ALF involves a cytotoxic mechanism: the metabolism of ammonia in astrocytes induces an increase of glutamine and lactate that appears to mediate cellular swelling. Therapeutic measures should focus on removing ammonia and improving brain energy metabolism.
[Effects of low-level helium-neon laser on induced wound healing in rats].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of low-level helium-neon (HeNe) laser on cutaneous wound healing in rats. METHODS Sixty Wistar rats were divided into control group and experimental group. A sutured longitudinal, dorsal-medial incision was made, with simple separate stitches. The experimental group was irradiated daily in three areas of the wound with HeNe laser (5mW maximum continuous power, 632.8 nm wavelength, 4 J/cm(2) energy density and 0.015 cm(2) laser beam area) for 36 seconds. The areas were evaluated on the third, seventh and fourteenth days postoperative. Histological sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin to determine the type of inflammatory reaction according to the protocol by Vizzotto et al. (2003)* and with Picrosirius to identify types I and III collagen and the collagen maturation index (CMI). Immunohistochemical detection was employed with anti-CD45-LCA to recognize the inflammatory cells. RESULTS Both groups had the same inflammatory pattern. The experimental group had fewer inflammatory cells at the three evaluation times (p<0.001) with faster reduction in the number of leukocytes. The experimental group had greater total collagen density on the third day (p=0.001), with more type III collagen (p=0.001) and more type I collagen (p=0.001). There was no significant difference in the CMI. CONCLUSION Low-level laser irradiation does not change the quality of the inflammatory response, but it does reduce its intensity; it increases collagen deposition in the early stages of the healing process and does not interfere with collagen maturation.