Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interpreting sexual behaviour data: validity issues in the multicentre study on factors determining the differential spread of HIV in four African cities

Background: The main conclusion of the multicentre study on factors determining the differential spread of HIV in four African cities was that differences in sexual behaviour could not, by themselves, explain the differences in HIV prevalence between the four cities. The present paper examines three potential sources of bias that could invalidate this conclusion: (1) changes in sexual behaviour since the start of the HIV epidemics; (2) bias due to the low response rates of men; and (3) bias in reported sexual behaviour. Methods: To assess whether there have been any changes in sexual behaviour over time, selected parameters of sexual behaviour were compared between different age groups in the four cities. The maximum likely extent of bias due to non-participation of men in Yaoundé, Kisumu and Ndola was assessed with a simulation exercise, in which records of non-participants were replaced with records of 'low activity men' in Yaoundé and 'high activity men' in Kisumu and Ndola. To assess the validity of the sexual behaviour data, internal validity checks were carried out: comparing biological data on sexually transmitted infections with reports; comparing reports of spouses; and comparing numbers of sex partners reported by men and women. A fourth method consisted of comparing the findings of the multicentre study with an external source, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Results: There were differences in sexual behaviour between the younger and the older age groups in all four cities but there was no evidence of a shift towards safer sexual behaviour in the high HIV prevalence cities. After simulating results for male non-participants in Yaoundé, Kisumu and Ndola, the median lifetime number of sex partners was similar in Yaoundé, Kisumu and Ndola. By testing for various sexually transmitted infections among men and women aged 15-24 years who reported that they had never had sexual intercourse, we could establish that, in all four cities, at least 1-9% of men and 6-18% of women had misreported their sexual activity. The number of non-spousal partners in the past 12 months reported by men was two to three times higher than the number reported by women, as has been found in other studies. The most consistent differences between our survey and the DHS were found in the numbers of non-spousal partners in the past 12 months reported by never-married men and women. In all four cities, participants reported more non-spousal partners in the DHS than in our survey. Conclusions: In all four cities, we found evidence that men as well as women misreported their sexual behaviour, but overall it seems that under-reporting of sexual activity was not more common or more serious in the two high HIV prevalence cities than in the two low HIV prevalence cities. We believe that the main conclusions of the multicentre study still hold.
NOTAS HISTÓRICAS SOBRE O EPIFENOMENALISMO

No artigo que se segue, tencionamos discutir a plausibilidade ou nao do epifenomenalismo dosestados mentais, tanto em sua dimensao forte, que nao admite que qualquer tipo de estadomental cause alteracoes no plano fisico, e um fraco, que admite que apenas os qualia poderiamcausar alteracoes no plano fisico. Investigaremos a ideia de que, a rigor, nenhum evento mentalpode provocar efeitos fisicos. Alem disso, proporemos que para se avaliar a perspectivaepifenomenalista, experimentos cientificos seriam bem-vindos.
The effect of amifostine on bacterial translocation after radiation ınduced acute enteritis.

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of amifostine on bacterial translocation and overgrowth in colonic flora after acute radiation enteritis in a rat model. METHODS Thirty-two female Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups: Group-1 (n=8): only normal saline was administered intraperitoneally. Group-2 (n=8): first serum saline was administered intraperitoneally and 30 minutes later 20 Gy radiation was applied to abdominopelvic region. Group-3 (n=8): only amifostine 200 ml/kg was administered intraperitoneally and radiation was not applied. Group-4 (n=8): first amifostine 200 ml/kg was administered intraperitoneally and 30 minutes later 20 Gy radiation was applied to abdominopelvic region. On the 5th day after radiation, samples of mesenteric lymph tissues and cecal contents were taken by laparotomy for microbiological culture. RESULTS Intraperitoneal amifostine administration significantly decreased the bacterial overgrowth related to radiation in colon but did not significantly decrease the bacterial translocation. CONCLUSİON: Although not providing a full protection on the damaged mucosal barrier, amifostine significantly decreased the bacterial overgrowth in the cecal content after high dose radiation. There is a need to find out appropriate amifostine dose under different radiation applications avoiding bacterial translocation in gastrointestinal system.
A Scalable N-Color LED Driver Using Single Inductor Multiple Current Output Topology

Constant current sources are required to drive multiple color LED strings and the LED drivers that drive these LED lighting systems should provide multiple constant currents from a single dc source. In this paper, a single inductor multiple current output (SIMCO) converter that can provide N- independently controllable constant current outputs is reported. The average current in each color LED string is controlled independently by using hybrid average current mode control (HACMC). The HACMC combines the advantage of both average current mode control and charge control method. Traditional dimming approaches such as pulse width modulation and analog dimming can be incorporated in the proposed topology for color tunability and correlated color temperature control. The proposed approach uses a simple control logic, which is modular and can be scalable to N color LED lighting systems. The operation of the SIMCO converter with the HACMC is explained in detail. Simulation and experimental results with 48 V input and 12 W for N = 3 (RGB) color systems are presented.
Programs as Data in an Extended Prolog

The ability to deal with programs as data is a valuable feature of a programming language which can be advantageously exploited in a number of different applications, particularly in the artificial intelligence field and in the construction of programming environment tools. In this paper we describe the facilities for dealing with programs as data supplied by an extended PROLOG, called EnvProlog. Such facilities are considered from a meta-programming viewpoint and are based on the capability of the language to designate (object level) programs via structural descriptive names (i.e. program names and program structures)
Are Physicians and Medical Students Prepared to Educate Patients About Alcohol Consumption?

Abstract Given the tremendous financial and human costs of alcohol abuse and dependence, physician competency in alcohol related issues must be increased. Alcohol competency is essential to evaluate the risks and to detect alcohol problems early in the course of alcohol abuse and dependence. But, are medical students and physicians adequately trained in alcoholrelated issue to give appropriate advice about alcohol? Are they trained to use an office visit to promote health, identify early abuse and dependence, intervene, and make recommendations? Several studies suggest that they are not. We have recent data that provide further evidence that future and current physicians may not be sufficiently competent in alcohol issues to counsel their patients about alcohol. Medical school curriculum and Continuing Medical Education on alcohol abuse and addiction should be required of all students and physicians so they can be best prepared to prevent problems and identify and treat those for whom prevention has failed.
Differential Regulation of Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β by Insulin and Wnt Signaling*

Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) is a key component in many biological processes including insulin and Wnt signaling. Since the activation of each signaling pathway results in a decrease in GSK3β activity, we examined the specificity of their downstream effects in the same cell type. Insulin induces an increased activity of glycogen synthase but has no influence on the protein level of β-catenin. In contrast, Wnt increases the cytosolic pool of β-catenin but not glycogen synthase activity. We found that, unlike insulin, neither the phosphorylation status of the serine9 residue of GSK3β nor the activity of protein kinase B is regulated by Wnt. Although the decrease in GSK3β activity is required, GSK3β may not be the limiting component for Wnt signaling in the cells that we examined. Our results suggest that the axin-conductin complexed GSK3β may be dedicated to Wnt rather than insulin signaling. Insulin and Wnt pathways regulate GSK3β through different mechanisms, and therefore lead to distinct downstream events.
An FPGA control application: Self-control of current and linear control of DC link of PFC

This paper presents an application control strategy for controlling the input current and DC link voltage of a single-phase voltage-doubler boost PFC (power factor corrector) implemented by FPGA. A sample of the input voltage, or any other current reference, is not necessary, since it is naturally used as reference for the current loop, through the power circuit. The model is more accurate, presenting fewer simplifications and taking better advantage of the natural characteristics of the converter, when compared to classic control, with better results, and many advantages, by simply using a proportional compensator. Some of the advantages of this strategy include greater robustness and simplicity, less susceptibility to noise and a smoother turn-on characteristic. For the voltage loop, although it presents a hyperbolic characteristic, a linearized model was applied, using similar compensator and obtaining even better results than for the classical control strategy. It presents also a natural feedback for the total output voltage and even for the voltage balancing. The FPGA used in the project is an ALTERAreg Cyclone II EP2C35F672C6, presented on the kit DE2, which is a low-cost FPGA with low-consumption at a great speed.
Effect of Taurine Pre-treatment on Hematological Parameters in Isoproterenol Induced Myocardial Infarction in Albino Rats

Cardiovascular diseases form the major health concern in recent years, causing severe illness and death throughout the world. About 16.7 million people around the globe die of myocardial infarction every year (WHO 2004) which forms one third of global deaths. Clinically, taurine has been widely used in variety of conditions including cardiovasculardiseases, hypercholesterolemia, macular degeneration, Alzheimer ' s disease, hepatic disorders, alcoholism and in cystic fibrosis. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of taurine pre treatment on hematological parameters in isoproterenol induced myocardial infarction in albino rats by demonstrating the hematological changes. Wistar male rats were randomly divided into four groups namely Control (G1), taurine (G2), isoproterenol (G3) and Isoproterenol + taurine (G4). Taurine treated group-received taurine (100mg/kg body wt) orally for 30 days. Myocardial infarction was induced in rats by isoproterenol administration (100mg/kg) subcutaneously (sc) at an interval of 24 hrs on 31 st and 32 nd day. Hematological changes were assessed from 24 hrs after the last dose of isoproterenol. There was decrease in RBC count, WBC count, Platelet count, Hb%, Lymphocyte count, Eosinophil count and increase in Neutrophil count in G4 rats as compared to G3 rats. Taurine pretreatment preserved the changes to near normal. Taurine may provide cardioprotection under conditions of ischemia-reperfusion due to its antioxidant properties. It may prevent oxidant-mediated damage of the cardiomyocyte membrane and subsequent intracellular Ca 2+ overload.
Estimación de canal y selección adaptativa de código espacio-tiempo en sistemas de diversidad en transmisión

Las tecnicas de estimacion de canal y de adaptacion de la transmision a las condiciones del entorno son temas de interes actual al estudiar la aplicacion de tecnicas de diversidad en transmision en la tercera y cuarta generacion de sistemas inalambricos. En esta tesis se realiza un analisis del impacto del error de estimacion de canal y la correlacion en sistemas OFDM con diversidad en transmision basados en codificacion espacio-tiempo por bloques (STBC), se proponen tecnicas de estimacion de canal para estos sistemas y se propone una tecnica de adaptacion de la transmision mediante la seleccion de codigo espacio-tiempo. En primer lugar, una tecnica sencilla de minimos cuadrados en el dominio de la frecuencia permite la estimacion de canal en sistemas con dos antenas y constelaciones complejas, y con tres o cuatro antenas y constelaciones reales o complejas, utilizando STBCs ortogonales como bloques de entrenamiento. En segundo lugar, una representacion "sobre-completa" permite hacer una estimacion diferencial de canal para un sistema con tres antenas transmisoras mediante la seleccion a partir de un banco de posibles estimadores, basandose en la redundancia provista por la matriz de transmision no cuadrada del codigo ortogonal esporadico de tasa 3/4 para tres antenas transmisoras. En el contexto de sistemas con adaptacion del transmisor, la tecnica propuesta de diversidad por seleccion adaptativa de codigo espacio-tiempo se basa en el estado instantaneo del vector de canal y en un conjunto de niveles umbrales hallados fuera de linea en funcion del periodo de realimentacion. Los resultados indican que esta tecnica proporciona buenas prestaciones en canales correlados e incorrelados. Su aplicacion a sistemas OFDM ha sido estudiada, superando a tecnicas de seleccion de antena y a otras tecnicas de transmision adaptativa.
Channel Estimation for Relay-Based M2M Two-Way Communications Using Expectation-Maximization

The growing popularity of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications in wireless networks is driving the need to update the corresponding receiver technology based on the characteristics of M2M. In this paper, an expectation-maximization-based maximum likelihood cascaded channel estimation method is developed for relay-based M2M two-way communications. As the closed-form solution of maximum likelihood channel estimation does not exist, and the superimposed signal structure at the receiver is conducive to the expectation-maximization application, the expectation-maximization algorithm is utilized to provide the maximum likelihood solution in the presence of unobserved data through stable iterations. Even in the absence of the training sequence, the cascaded channel estimates are obtained through the expectation-maximization iterations. The Bayesian Cramér-Rao lower bounds are derived under random parameters for the channel estimation, and the simulation demonstrates the validity of the proposed studies.
Evidence of Donor Corneal Endothelial Cell Migration From Immune Reactions Occurring After Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty

Purpose: The migratory capacity of donor corneal endothelial cells after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) is not fully understood. We report 2 patients who developed immune reactions after DMEK with endothelial precipitates detectable not only on the grafts but also on host corneal areas stripped off the host Descemet membrane during surgery and initially not covered by the donor Descemet membrane and endothelium (“naked stroma”), strongly suggesting that migration of donor-derived endothelial cells had occurred. Methods: Observational case series of 2 patients. Results: A 71-year-old man (case 1) and an 84-year-old man (case 2) with Fuchs endothelial dystrophy underwent successful DMEK surgery. Postoperatively, the peripheral corneal stroma showed a denuded area that was not covered by the DMEK graft or by the patients' residual Descemet membrane (because of large descemetorhexis and slight graft decentration). After 18 (case 1) and 6 (case 2) months, a diffuse endothelial immune reaction with precipitates on the graft and, surprisingly, also on peripheral corneal areas that were initially denuded of the host Descemet membrane and not covered by the donor Descemet membrane was observed. The outermost corneal parts covered by the patients' own residual Descemet membrane showed no precipitates. Under treatment with topical corticosteroids, the precipitates rapidly disappeared. Visual acuity, central corneal thickness, and endothelial cell counts were not significantly affected. Conclusions: The immune reaction episodes in our patients with endothelial precipitates detectable on adjacent host areas initially stripped off and not covered by donor Descemet membrane provide direct in vivo evidence of donor corneal endothelial cell migration after DMEK, filling areas of “naked stroma. ”
The IL1-like cytokine IL33 and its receptor ST2 are abnormally expressed in the affected skin and visceral organs of patients with systemic sclerosis

Background Early endothelial cell (EC) activation/damage and profibrotic Th2-associated cytokines play a pivotal role in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Interleukin 33 (IL33) is a novel member of the IL1 family that promotes Th2 responses and inflammation through the ST2 receptor. IL33 is also a chromatin-associated transcriptional regulator in ECs. Objective To investigate the role of the IL33/ST2 axis in SSc. Methods Skin biopsies were obtained from 30 patients with SSc (15 early/15 late stage) and 10 healthy subjects. Lung, kidney, heart, oesophagus, stomach, placenta biopsies and bronchoalveolar lavage cells from patients with SSc and controls were also analysed. IL33/ST2 expression was investigated by immunohistology, confocal immunofluorescence microscopy, western blotting and RT-PCR. Results In skin biopsies from control subjects, constitutive nuclear IL33 protein expression was found in dermal ECs and keratinocytes, while ST2 was weakly expressed in ECs and fibroblasts. In skin biopsies from patients with early SSc, IL33 protein was downregulated or absent in ECs and epidermis while IL33 mRNA was normally expressed or even upregulated. Moreover, ECs, perivascular infiltrating mast cells, CD68-positive macrophages, CD3-positive T cells, CD20-positive B cells and activated fibroblasts/myofibroblasts exhibited strong ST2 expression. In skin biopsies from patients with late SSc, IL33 was constitutively found in most ECs while ST2 immunostaining was weaker. In early SSc, the loss of endothelial IL33 protein and the overexpression of ST2 involved all affected organs. Dermal and pulmonary fibroblasts showed IL33 expression in SSc. Conclusion IL33 and ST2 are abnormally expressed in SSc. In early SSc, upon EC activation/damage IL33 may be mobilised from ECs to signal through ST2 in key profibrotic players such as inflammatory/immune cells and fibroblasts/myofibroblasts.
Automating control and evaluation of FPGA testing using SJ BIST®

SJ BISTreg is a method to detect intermittent faults in ball grid array (BGA) packages of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Failure of monitored I/O pins on operational, fully-programmed FPGAs is detected and reported by SJ BIST to provide positive indication of damage to one or more I/O solder-joint networks of an FPGA on an electronic digital board. The board can then be replaced before accumulated fatigue damage results in intermittent or long-lasting operational faults. This paper presents the test procedures to provide a lap-top-based test bed for controlling SJ BIST in the FPGAs on those evaluation boards. The procedures include using a Spartan 3trade development kit, a verilog-based test program, and a MATLABreg program for collecting, saving and displaying test data, all of which reside on a lap-top PC with a serial data port. The FPGA on a HALT evaluation board is programmed with SJ BIST (patent pending).
Studies in the Linguistic Structure of Classical Arabic

In 1997 Naphtali Kinberg died, one of the best specialists in Classical Arabic and the Arabic grammatical tradition. His main work, the index on Farra''s Ma'ani l-Qur'an, which appeared in the Brill series Handbook of Oriental Studies (1996) will remain one of the most important reference tools for future research in this field. In this volume the editors have collected a number of articles in which Kinberg demonstrates his ability to combine modern linguistic insights with the theories of the Arab grammarians. The result is a series of detailed studies on such aspects of the structure of Arabic as conditional sentences, adverbial clauses, and the particles lakin and qad. These articles have been published before, sometimes in relatively inaccessible journals. They are now made available in a collective volume, and made accessible by an index that will facilitate using them in research on Arabic linguistics. This volume also contains an important study that was part of Kinberg's legacy, the edition and translation of a treatise on the pronunciation of the d ad by the grammarian 'Ali al-Mansuri (12th/18th century). This treatise is an important document on a hitherto neglected aspect of Arabic phonetic studies. It discusses the phonetic status of the sound that was regarded by the Arabs themselves as the most characteristic sound of their language.
A Structure Theorem for Claw-Free Perfect Graphs

We give a full description of the class of claw-free perfect graphs. Building on earlier work by Maffray and Reed [7] we prove that a connected graph is claw-free and perfect if and only if it can be built by double clique-sums (which are a special case of clique-sums) starting from graphs that belong to a few basic types.
Effects of Relaxing Music on Salivary Cortisol Level after Psychological Stress

Abstract: The goal of the present study was to determine whether relaxing music (as compared to silence) might facilitate recovery from a psychologically stressful task. To this aim, changes in salivary cortisol levels were regularly monitored in 24 students before and after the Trier Social Stress Test. The data show that in the presence of music, the salivary cortisol level ceased to increase after the stressor, whereas in silence it continued to increase for 30 minutes.
Successful conservative management of placenta percreta with rectal involvement in a primigravida

Three types of invasive placenta have been categorized as placenta accreta, increta and percreta, depending on the degree of abnormal invasion by chorionic villi (1). Placenta percreta is defined when the chorionic villi penetrate the myometrium to, or through, the uterine serosa; hence, it is the most rare, with a reported incidence of about 3 in 100,000 to 1 in 90,000 deliveries (2, 3). Placenta percreta is the most disastrous, as it invariably causes spontaneous uterine rupture and results in pernicious hemorrhage and a high rate of perinatal mortality, up to 96% (4). Almost all reported cases have preceding risk factors. An even more rare condition, placenta percreta invading adjacent organs, has been reported sporadically, but is usually limited to bladder involvement. The case of placenta percreta presented is of invasion of the rectum; it occurred in a young primigravida without preceding risk factors. Warning signs and optimal treatment are also discussed.