Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictors of adherence to antiretroviral treatment and therapeutic success among children in South Africa

Abstract The recent years have shown an up-scaling of treatment programs for HIV-infected children in resource-limited settings, with an increased focus on adherence. Little is known, however, about the influence of socioeconomic as well as caregivers' health beliefs on both adherence and virologic outcome of pediatric antiretroviral treatment in these settings. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 57 caregiver–child dyads at a public hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Adherence was electronically monitored over three months, viral loads were available pre- and post-study. Caregivers answered questionnaires on their socioeconomic situation, attitudes toward and knowledge about treatment, and quality of life. Young children with a mean age of 51 months (SD 25.6) were investigated, and all were cared for by female caregivers. Mean adherence was 81%, and 67% of children achieved virologic suppression (VS). Household income, educational status, and child characteristics were not significantly correlated with adherence. Disclosure of both the child's and the caregiver's HIV status was linked to achieving VS and was a significant predictor for VS. A model including child's health status, caregiver's language skills, caregiver's disclosure, and perceived stigmatization could explain 95% of the variance in VS. Adherence and VS were not associated with socioeconomic factors in this population. Social factors such as stigmatization, fear of disclosure, and caregivers' attitudes toward the health-care system influenced VS but not adherence.
β-catenin is selectively required for the expansion and regeneration of mature pancreatic acinar cells in mice

SUMMARY The size of the pancreas is determined by intrinsic factors, such as the number of progenitor cells, and by extrinsic signals that control the fate and proliferation of those progenitors. Both the exocrine and endocrine compartments of the pancreas undergo dramatic expansion after birth and are capable of at least partial regeneration following injury. Whether the expansion of these lineages relies on similar mechanisms is unknown. Although we have shown that the Wnt signaling component β-catenin is selectively required in mouse embryos for the generation of exocrine acinar cells, this protein has been ascribed various functions in the postnatal pancreas, including proliferation and regeneration of islet as well as acinar cells. To address whether β-catenin remains important for the maintenance and expansion of mature acinar cells, we have established a system to follow the behavior and fate of β-catenin-deficient cells during postnatal growth and regeneration in mice. We find that β-catenin is continuously required for the establishment and maintenance of acinar cell mass, extending from embryonic specification through juvenile and adult self-renewal and regeneration. This requirement is not shared with islet cells, which proliferate and function normally in the absence of β-catenin. These results make distinct predictions for the relative role of Wnt–β-catenin signaling in the etiology of human endocrine and exocrine disease. We suggest that loss of Wnt–β-catenin activity is unlikely to drive islet dysfunction, as occurs in type 2 diabetes, but that β-catenin is likely to promote human acinar cell proliferation following injury, and might therefore contribute to the resolution of acute or chronic pancreatitis.
Pathology of low- and intermediate-grade gliomas.

Under the current World Health Organization (WHO) classification, gliomas can be divided into diffuse variants such as astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma, and mixed oligo-astrocytoma versus more discrete subtypes such as pilocytic astrocytoma and other less common entities. These tumors have been assigned histologic grades ranging from I to IV to reflect expected biological behavior. The ever-growing body of literature on genetic alterations of glial neoplasms promises to augment therapeutic and prognostic information in the future. An important example is the 1p and 19q deletions in oligodendrogliomas that recently have been associated with chemosensitivity and prolonged patient survival. This article reviews the pathology of low- and intermediate-grade gliomas, highlighting practical diagnostic and prognostic issues.
Generating Prevalence Estimates of Sensitive Behaviors through List Randomization: Survey Experiment among Indian Males

Survey respondents may underreport or misreport sensitive behaviors due to social desirability bias. List randomization is an indirect way of asking questions which allows respondents to answer sensitive questions without the surveyor knowing their actual response. This has emerged as a new technique to ask sensitive questions as it reduces respondent’s discomfort while reporting sensitive behaviors. In this study, we apply list randomization to generate prevalence estimates of sensitive behaviors and perception related to homosexuality, molestation of women and notion of partner purity in the sample of young, college educated Indian males. Our findings are consistent with the literature on social desirability bias, suggesting that list randomization uncovers under reporting of socially undesirable issues pertaining to homosexual identity and homosexual experience in our sample of young Indian college students. I thank, Akshay Dixit, Shrihari Indurkar for outstanding help with the implementation of focus group, experiments and data collection along with Aditya Jamkhindikar Pratik Muley, Ira Indurkar, Sarala Indurkar for help with the questionnaire design, all the focus group, survey participants for their time, my classmates for suggestions and encouragement. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Yaniv Stopnitzky and Professor Jesse Anttila Hughes for their great inputs and support throughout this research.
Experiences of diabetes self-management: a focus group study among Australians with type 2 diabetes.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and concerns of individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus, in a predominantly low socio-economic setting. BACKGROUND Currently, approximately 1 million Australians have diabetes and rates have more than doubled since 1989. Type 2 diabetes mellitus accounts for approximately 85% of diabetes cases. Risk factors include obesity, older age, low socio-economic status, sedentary lifestyle and ethnicity. Older individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds are particularly at risk of both developing and of mismanaging their condition. DESIGN Exploratory qualitative design. METHODS Focus groups were used to collect data from 22 individuals, aged 40 to more than 70 years, with type 2 diabetes mellitus, who were attending local health services for their diabetes care. Focus groups ranged in size from four to eight individuals and all were recorded, transcribed and analysed. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. RESULTS Participants described their experiences of managing their diabetes as emotionally, physically and socially challenging. Data analysis revealed four main themes including: (1) diabetes the silent disease; (2) a personal journey (3) the work of managing diabetes; and (4) access to resources and services. Throughout, participants highlighted the impact of diabetes on the family, and the importance of family members in providing support and encouragement to assist their self-management efforts. CONCLUSIONS Participants in this study were generally satisfied with their diabetes care but identified a need for clear simple instruction immediately post-diagnosis, followed by a need for additional informal information when they had gained some understanding of their condition. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Findings reveal a number of unmet information and support needs for individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus. In particular, it is important for healthcare professionals and family members to recognise the significant emotional burden that diabetes imposes, and the type and quantity of information individuals with diabetes prefer. It is also important to consider levels of health literacy in the community when developing diabetes-related information or programmes.
Genomic Copy Number Analysis of HER2-Equivocal Breast Cancers.

OBJECTIVES Guidelines for HER2 testing define an equivocal range for HER2 using two approved testing methods, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH). We investigated genome-wide copy number alterations in this subgroup. METHODS Ten breast cancers with equivocal HER2 status by both IHC and ISH were analyzed by single-nucleotide polymorphism cytogenomic microarray (SNP array). DNA ploidy analysis by flow cytometry was performed on nine cases with sufficient material remaining. RESULTS SNP array analysis showed uniform gain of chromosome 17 (polysomy) in one case and segmental copy number gains encompassing HER2 and the centromere in five other cases. Flow cytometry revealed hyperdiploidy in six cases, all but one of which also had HER2 gains on SNP array. Although there was no evidence of HER2 amplification by SNP array, six cases showed amplification of other genomic regions, including known oncogenes in four cases. CONCLUSIONS A combination of hyperdiploidy and segmental copy number gains contributes to HER2 ISH-equivocal results in most breast cancers. Cases in which HER2 copy number gain is not corroborated by genomic analysis suggest the presence of other contributing variables influencing ISH results. Genomic copy number analysis also implicates non-HER2 oncogenic drivers in many cases that are HER2 equivocal.
Decrease in saccadic performance after many visually guided saccadic eye movements in monkeys.

PURPOSE To investigate the influence of repeated saccades and of background illumination on the metrics and dynamics of visually guided targeting saccades. METHODS Eye movements were measured by magnetic search coil technique in seven trained monkeys (Macaca mulatta) while they performed many visually guided saccades in the dark or in dim background light. RESULTS After 2000 to 7000 saccades in the dark, peak eye velocity on the average decreased by 20%, saccadic gain decreased slightly by 4.5%, and saccadic latency increased by 15%. All parameters also showed increased variability. In contrast, when testing was done in dim light, there was little to no change in average saccadic metrics and latency. CONCLUSIONS The changes in saccadic metrics and dynamics in the dark do not reflect a change of the ocular plant but may reflect a change in the cortical or cerebellar influences on the brain stem burst generator linked to the monkeys attentional state. Background light mostly prevents this change.
Non‐human primate fetal kidney transcriptome analysis indicates mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a central nutrient‐responsive pathway

Developmental programming is defined as the process by which gene–environment interaction in the developing organism leads to permanent changes in phenotype and function. Numerous reports of maternal nutrient restriction during pregnancy demonstrate altered renal development. Typically this alteration manifests as a reduction in the total number of glomeruli in the mature kidney of the offspring, and suggests that predisposition to develop chronic renal disease may include an in utero origin. In a previous study, we defined the transcriptome in the kidney from fetuses of control (CON, fed ad libitum) and nutrient‐restricted (NR, fed 70% of CON starting at 0.16 gestation (G)) pregnancies at half‐way through gestation (0.5G), and established transcriptome and morphological changes in NR kidneys compared to CON. One goal of the present study was to use transcriptome data from fetal kidneys of CON and NR mothers at 0.5G with histological data to identify the molecular mechanisms that may regulate renal development. A second goal was to identify mechanisms by which NR elicits its affect on fetal baboon kidney. We have used an end‐of‐pathway gene expression analysis to prioritize and identify key pathways regulating the 0.5G kidney phenotype in response NR. From these data we have determined that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway is central to this phenotype.
Combined application of methods to taxonomic identification of Saccharomyces strains in fermenting botrytized grape must

Aims: Although numerous physiological and molecular methods have been proposed for yeast taxonomy, the unambiguous separation of Saccharomyces sensu stricto species in natural samples is still an incompletely resolved issue. In this study the power of various methods was compared in the identification of strains isolated from fermenting botrytized grape musts.
DITRANS - A Multi-agent System for Integrated Diagnosis of Power Transformers

This paper describes the development and the implementation of a multi-agent system for integrated diagnosis of power transformers. The system is divided in layers which contain a number of agents performing different functions. The social ability and cooperation between the agents lead to the final diagnosis and to other relevant conclusions through integrating various monitoring technologies, diagnostic methods and data sources, such as the dissolved gas analysis.
In Vivo Estimates of the Position of Advanced Bionics Electrode Arrays in the Human Cochlea

Objectives: A new technique for determining the position of each electrode in the cochlea is described and applied to spiral computed tomography data from 15 patients implanted with Advanced Bionics HiFocus I, Ij, or Helix arrays. Methods: ANALYZE imaging software was used to register 3-dimensional image volumes from patients' preoperative and postoperative scans and from a single body donor whose unimplanted ears were scanned clinically, with micro computed tomography and with orthogonal-plane fluorescence optical sectioning (OPFOS) microscopy. By use of this registration, we compared the atlas of OPFOS images of soft tissue within the body donor's cochlea with the bone and fluid/ tissue boundary available in patient scan data to choose the midmodiolar axis position and judge the electrode position in the scala tympani or scala vestibuli, including the distance to the medial and lateral scalar walls. The angular rotation 0° start point is a line joining the midmodiolar axis and the middle of the cochlear canal entry from the vestibule. Results: The group mean array insertion depth was 477° (range, 286° to 655°). The word scores were negatively correlated (r = −0.59; p = .028) with the number of electrodes in the scala vestibuli. Conclusions: Although the individual variability in all measures was large, repeated patterns of suboptimal electrode placement were observed across subjects, underscoring the applicability of this technique.
Sodium Pentobarbital Reduces Transmural Dispersion of Repolarization and Prevents Torsades de Pointes in Models of Acquired and Congenital Long QT Syndrome

Electrophysiologic Effects of Pentobarbital. Introduction: Sodium pentobarbital is widely used for anesthesia in experimental studies as well as in clinics, and it is known to prevent the development of torsades dc pointes (TdP) in in vivo models of the long QT syndrome (LQTS).
The effect of foreign direct investment on human capital development in East Asia

ABSTRACT East Asia has experienced fast economic growth along with large inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) and accumulated human capital since the 1960s. Economic literature suggests a link between FDI and human capital development via technology transfer. This study employs a panel of sample data from 16 East Asian countries from 1985 to 2010 to examine the effect of inward FDI on human capital accumulation. The results show that an increase in foreign presence is associated with an increase in secondary schooling, yet has a negative impact on tertiary schooling. FDI from OECD countries presents positive effects on both secondary and tertiary schooling in East Asian countries. The findings are robust to different measures of educational attainment and different specifications.
Film Tourism Town and Its Local Community

Abstract This study was designed to identify the relationships between place attachment, residents’ perceptions of tourism effects, and their attitudes toward tourism developments in the context of film tourism destination. A main survey was conducted at seven representative TV drama/film production towns in Korea. Among various findings, both the local communities’ beliefs about local development through the construction of TV drama/film production towns and their attachment to the communities had a significant positive effect on support for the development of film tourism. In addition, beliefs about local development significantly contributed to explaining the level of local community support for the development of a film tourism destination. Local communities’ beliefs also positively and significantly affected attachment to these communities. Interestingly, perceived negative social and environmental effects of film tourism did not indicate statistical causal relationships with the local residents’ beliefs about local development because residents may not tend to consider negative social or environmental effects seriously.
Visual search for singleton feature targets across dimensions: Stimulus- and expectancy-driven effects in dimensional weighting.

Four pop-out search experiments investigated whether dimension-based visual attention is top-down modulable. Observers searched for singleton feature targets defined, variably across trials, by a color or an orientation difference to nontargets. Observers were precued to the most probable target-defining dimension (e.g., by the word color) or feature (red) on a given trial. Results revealed expedited reaction times (RTs) for valid-dimension targets relative to neutral-cue conditions, and slowed RTs for invalid-dimension targets. Cue information as to precise target feature yielded some extra effect only for color targets. The dimensional cuing significantly reduced, but did not abolish, the dimension-specific influence of the previous target on detection of the current target (same-dimension RT < different-dimension RT). These findings confirm that top-down dimensional set modulates stimulus-driven dimension processes in the detection of pop-out signals. ((c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved)
A Novel Capillary Collection Method for Obtaining Current Glycosylated Haemoglobin Levels in Diabetic Children

A simple method for collecting capillary blood for measurement of glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was developed that allows samples to be obtained at home and then mailed to the laboratory 2 weeks before a hospital visit. A single drop of blood is collected into a 2 ml plastic tube and sent for HbA1c assay on the Diamat HPLC system which has inter‐and intra‐assay coefficients of variation < 2.6 and < 1.2%, respectively. Results of simultaneously obtained venous and capillary samples in 32 diabetic children agreed well with each other. A separate study of 25 patients was performed to determine whether transport conditions affected the samples. Posted samples were compared with venous samples; again the values were in good agreement. This method is now used routinely in the diabetic clinic. Its value was determined by questionnaire in 40 children with age range 4–17 years. No family experienced difficulty collecting samples and all samples received were suitable for analysis. Children preferred this method to blood collection in the clinic as they felt it was less traumatic and more convenient. Seventy‐nine percent of them understood its value in the long‐term control of diabetes. In 40.5% of visits changes to management were made at the clinic due to the availability of the results.
Colon-specific delivery and enhanced colonic absorption of [Asu1,7]-eel calcitonin using chitosan capsules containing various additives in rats

The objective of this study was to estimate the colon-specific delivery of [Asu1,7]-eel calcitonin (ECT) using chitosan capsules in rats. The intestinal absorption of ECT was evaluated by measuring the plasma calcium levels after oral administration of the chitosan capsules containing ECT and different combinations of additives. The same combinations were investigated by an in situ absorption experiment prior to in vivo administration of capsules. A marked decrease in plasma calcium levels was observed following the oral administration of chitosan capsules containing ECT, S-nitroso-N-acetyl-dl-penicillamine (SNAP), sodium glycocholate, bacitracin and aprotinin (pharmacological availability (PA)% = 6.344%), as compared with capsules containing only ECT (PA% = 0.551%) or capsules containing ECT with SNAP only (PA% = 1.651%). The hypocalcemic effect started 6–8 h after oral administration of capsules and sustained for 24 h. These findings suggest that colon-specific delivery of ECT can be achieved using chitosan capsules and these additives may be useful for improving the colonic absorption of ECT in rats.
Collaborative Topic Regression Based on the Social Network and Sequential Behaviors

Social Network has become a very useful platform for users to share information and make friends with each other. In our daily life, we would like to take friends' advice when we choose products through the Internet. The sequential behaviors also play an important role in making recommendation, we can make use of the sequential factors to mine the relation between users. In order to take advantage of different factors when predicting ratings and enhancing the recommendation accuracy, we propose a novel hierarchical Bayesian model called N-CTR which combines topic model with probabilistic matrix factorization. Our model incorporates not only topic model to mine the latent topic between items and their tags, but also matrix factorization which handles ratings, social network and sequential behaviors. We have conducted experiments on data set hetcrec-2011-Lastfm. Compare with other recommendation algorithms, our method can effectively enhance the recommendation accuracy.
Vasodilator action of the S-nitrosothiol, SNAP, in rat isolated perfused lung.

The pulmonary vasodilator action of an S-nitrosothiol, S-nitroso acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), was investigated in the rat pulmonary vasculature. The influence of its nitric oxide donator property was studied by comparison with the effect of acetylpenicillamine (AP), SNAP minus the nitroso group, and the blockade of nitric oxide release by the L-arginine analogue, L-NAME. In the isolated rat lung perfused with autologous blood at a constant flow rate (IPL), changes in pulmonary artery pressure (Ppa) reflect changes in pulmonary vascular resistance. Dose-response relationships to both SNAP and AP (0.1, 1, 10 and 100 micrograms) were established both during normoxic ventilation (air + 5% CO2; low Ppa) and when Ppa was raised by alveolar hypoxic vasoconstriction (2% O2 + 5% CO2). SNAP caused small dose-dependent fall in normoxic Ppa (mean +/- S.D. 17.4 +/- 3.0 mm Hg). In 11 rat IPL % fall of Ppa was 1, 3 and 4% for 1, 10 and 100 micrograms, respectively (p < 0.01). This fall was more obvious when Ppa was raised by hypoxia (mean Ppa rise (HPV) 11.5 +/- 3.8 mm Hg); there was a 22, 55 and 79% fall in HPV for 1, 10 and 100 micrograms in 11 rat IPL. The dilatation after 10 micrograms SNAP was not consistently affected by 100 micrograms L-NAME (% fall in HPV pre L-NAME 45 +/- 22% vs 42 +/- 23% post L-NAME). AP had no significant effect on Ppa, causing only small falls in Ppa, equivalent to solvent (saline). There was occasionally a small rise in Ppa with 10 and 100 micrograms AP. Thus, the dilator action of SNAP is most likely due to its NO donator property, and is not consistently affected by blockade of endogenous NO release.