Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Partner Type and Risk Status on the Sexual Behavior of Young Men Who Have Sex With Men Living With HIV/AIDS

Objectives: The influence of partner type and risk status on the unprotected sexual behavior of young men living with HIV (YMLH) who have sex with men is examined. Methods: Sexual behavior and sexual partner characteristics of 217 YMLH recruited from adolescent care clinics in 4 AIDS epicenters (Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Miami) were assessed. YMLH were categorized by sexual behavior pattern, and sexual partners were classified by type and risk status. Generalized linear modeling employing overdispersed Poisson distribution was used to analyze the effect of partner type and partner risk status on unprotected sex acts. Results: Most YMLH (62%) reported multiple partners, 26% reported 1 sexual partner, and 12% reported abstinence in the past 3 months. Approximately 34% of polygamous and 28% of monogamous youth engaged in unprotected sex. Monogamous youth were most likely to have unprotected sex with HIV-positive partners. Polygamous youth were most likely to have unprotected sex with HIV-positive partners, irrespective of whether the partner was regular or casual. For polygamous YMLH, unprotected sex did not differ among single-time/new partners with different risk levels. Conclusions: Partner characteristics influence the condom use behavior of YMLH. YMLH make decisions regarding condom use based on perception of their partner's risk. Preventive interventions must include skills for acquiring accurate information about partner risk status and education regarding the health risks of unprotected sex with HIV seroconcordant partners.
Design and experiments of ALV longitudinal speed controllers based on a disturbance observer

This paper develops a longitudinal speed controller for both on-road and off-road driving of autonomous land vehicles (ALVs) by introducing a disturbance observer. The disturbance observer is designed to estimate the disturbances of the environment and the model errors through using the difference between the outputs of the reference model and the ALV. After being filtered, the disturbances are compensated by the inverse of the model. The stability and robustness of the controller have also been discussed theoretically and validated experimentally. The controller's performance in the urban traffic environment and the experimental results on the off-road terrain show that the presented controller is effective for both on-road and off-road autonomous driving.
Mycobacterium phlei cell wall-nucleic acid complex in the treatment of nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer unresponsive to bacillus Calmette-Guerin

ABSTRACT Introduction Current guidelines recommend cystectomy in patients with high risk NMIBC who fail to respond to BCG. However due to the significant morbidity and mortality of the procedure, many are not candidates or refuse it. No new treatments for this indication have been approved by the US FDA since 1998. Areas covered A cell wall-nucleic acid complex (MCNA) from M. phlei has been investigated for possible application in patients with BCG refractory NMIBC. The development of this biological from the original studies is reviewed, together with the clinical trials leading to a submission to the FDA. Its efficacy and safety are presented together with comparative analysis of alternative treatments, most of which are used off-label. In addition, new combinations of standard therapies are described as well as single agents exhibiting activity against these tumors. Expert opinion MCNA has shown activity against high risk BCG refractory bladder cancer and offers an alternative to current treatments. The clinical experience remains limited and the optimal therapeutic regimen (dose, frequency) have not been firmly established. Patients and clinicians would welcome the introduction of a compound that may delay or prevent the risks and negative impact in quality of life of cystectomy and urinary diversion.
Conjugation Inhibitors and Their Potential Use to Prevent Dissemination of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Bacteria

Antibiotic resistance has become one of the most challenging problems in health care. Bacteria conjugation is one of the main mechanisms whereby bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. Therefore, the search for specific conjugation inhibitors (COINs) is of interest in the fight against the spread of antibiotic resistances in a variety of laboratory and natural environments. Several compounds, discovered as COINs, are promising candidates in the fight against plasmid dissemination. In this review, we survey the effectiveness and toxicity of the most relevant compounds. Particular emphasis has been placed on unsaturated fatty acid derivatives, as they have been shown to be efficient in preventing plasmid invasiveness in bacterial populations. Biochemical and structural studies have provided insights concerning their potential molecular targets and inhibitory mechanisms. These findings open a new avenue in the search of new and more effective synthetic inhibitors. In this pursuit, the use of structure-based drug design methods will be of great importance for the screening of ligands and binding sites of putative targets.
Learning and teaching in clinical practice Assessing competence in undergraduate nursing students : The Amalgamated Students Assessment in Practice model

Assessment of competence is characterised by ambiguity and inconsistency despite its critical role in assessing readiness for entry to the nursing profession. In 2012 the Amalgamated Student Assessment in Practice (ASAP) model and tool were developed and trialled within an Australian University. Developed in response to the inadequacies of existing tools to assess competence, the ASAP model offers an integrated multilayered assessment that is designed to enable focussed diagnosis of practice deficits and implementation of targeted support. The ASAP model was evaluated by gathering clinical facilitator and student feedback over two 13-week semesters during practice and formal meetings, as well as review of student performance data. The ASAP model functioned effectively as an assessment tool, focussed diagnostic tool, removal from Professional Experience Placement (PEP) support tool and a framework for documenting evidence. Student failure rates decreased and the number of complaints and successful appeals was reduced. The ASAP model offers comprehensive focussed assessment of nursing students' performance in practice. It supports both formative and summative feedback and can be used to accurately identify specific areas of practice deficiency requiring redirection and support. It is transferable across settings
Effects of Acamprosate on Cognition in a Treatment Study of Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and Comorbid Alcohol Dependence

Problems with memory and attention are common to both schizophrenia and alcohol dependence. The objectives of this study were to examine the effect of acamprosate treatment on cognition and to assess whether the changes in drinking patterns or psychotic symptoms were related to changes in cognitive functioning. Outpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and alcohol dependence (n = 23) were randomized (double-blind) to either acamprosate or placebo treatment for 12 weeks. Assessments (baseline and week 12) included alcohol use, symptoms of psychosis, memory, and attention. The results showed that acamprosate had no effect on cognitive functioning and that there was no relationship between change in alcohol consumption or psychotic symptoms and change in cognitive functioning in this sample of patients. The finding that acamprosate had no negative effects on cognition is clinically relevant and reinforces previous reports that acamprosate can be used safely for alcohol reduction in this group of patients.
Socio-economic Determinants of Housing Satisfaction Among Middle-Income Households in Owerri, Nigeria

Housing provision in Nigeria has not only been plagued by insufficiency in numbers, but also by inadequacies in quality. Housing quality is a predictor of housing adequacy. Adequate housing is housing that is in congruence with a family’s needs and social status. Achieving this balance creates the possibility of residents experiencing satisfaction with their housing. Housing satisfaction must therefore be viewed as a critical element in housing provision, as it can substantially impact on the overall well-being of housing residents. This study addresses housing satisfaction among the middle-income in Nigeria, and the roles if any, socio-economic factors play in housing satisfaction among this income group. A total of 344 middle income households drawn from multi-stage sampling, were studied. Data collection was through administration of a structured questionnaire, and physical appraisal of housing formation in the study area. The socio-economic variables tested in the study are Income, Family size, Family structure, Level of education, Nature of employment, and Socialisation habits. Logistic regression test, with the logit dichotomous model was used for the analysis. The results of the study show that the socio-economic characteristics which significantly affect housing satisfaction among the middle-income group in Nigeria are Income, Nature of employment, and Socialisation habits. The other socio-economic variables could be accommodated by residents in their housing, if these three were adequately considered from inception. It is the conclusion of this study that housing design for this income group must place emphasis on affordable, cost-effective, and space-efficient housing, which will truly reflect good quality environments, and increase residents’ satisfaction with their housing. Keywords: Housing satisfaction, Mass housing, Middle-income, Nigeria, Socio-economic
Consumer priorities: what would people sacrifice in order to fly on holidays?

ABSTRACT Holidaying is an important leisure pursuit and, for a growing minority, air travel is the default mode for holiday mobility. However, the current trend of increasing demand for air travel runs contrary to climate-related sustainability goals. Efforts to motivate reductions in consumption of holiday air travel must contend with the embeddedness of flying as a social practice and should be informed by an understanding of how people prioritize air travel for holidays relative to other forms of consumption. Using data drawn from a survey of 2066 British adults, this exploratory study uses a novel method to assess the willingness of individuals to sacrifice holiday air travel relative to their willingness to make changes to their daily consumption patterns. We find a greater readiness to undertake additional expense (of time, effort, or money) than to retrench incumbent consumption patterns in order to fly for holidays. Reluctance to sacrifice for the sake of flying was greatest with regards to those items that are most associated with the basic infrastructure of modern life (e.g. mobile phones). Examining product-specific pro-environmental sacrifice in relative terms, our findings suggest that voluntary reductions in flying are more plausible than other modes of pro-environmental sacrifice.
Asymmetric Correlation as an Explanation for the Effect of Asset Skewness on Equity Returns

Assets with asymmetric correlation tend to cause portfolios to have negative skewness. We develop measures of asymmetric correlation based on portfolio skewness. We find that asymmetric correlation is better measured with the skewness of smaller portfolios. The skewness of individual-stock returns has the most significant and consistent explanatory power for stock returns, indicating that asymmetric correlation is generated at the asset level of individual firms.
E.U. VERSUS O.E.C.D. - MIGRATION FLOW UNDER THE LABOUR TAXATION IMPACT

In a world governed by the freedom of movement, production factors – capital, labour and consumption – can “run” from on territory to another bringing along positive and negative effects, just as well. Labour, the second in line of “run away” production factors, has a great impact upon a state economy generating sustainable growth or increasing budgetary revenues This paper presents for a period of 7 years, for both European (UE-28) and international (OECD) level, the migration flow under the labour taxation impact (it is well known that more than 75% of the migration flow is work force related). The authors found that even if both areas are attracting labour force the reasons for doing that are completely different – while for the OECD member states and non-EU member states there will always be the “occident fascination” in the Europeans are “voting with their feet”.
Cardiorespiratory fitness in urban adolescent girls: associations with race and pubertal status

ABSTRACT Cardiorespiratory fitness affords health benefits to youth. Among females, weight-relative fitness declines during puberty and is lower among African American (AA) than Caucasian girls. Data indicate racial differences in pubertal timing and tempo, yet the interactive influence of puberty and race on fitness, and the role of physical activity (PA) in these associations have not been examined. Thus, independent and interactive associations of race and pubertal development with fitness in adolescent girls, controlling for PA were examined. Girls in grades 5–8 (n = 1011; Caucasian = 25.2%, AA = 52.3%, Other Race group = 22.5%) completed the Pubertal Development Scale (pubertal stage assessment) and Fitnessgram® Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test (cardiorespiratory fitness assessment). PA was assessed by accelerometry. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine associations among race, pubertal stage and fitness, controlling for vigorous PA, AA, and pubertally advanced girls demonstrated lower fitness than Caucasian and less mature counterparts. Puberty and race remained significantly associated with fitness after controlling for vigorous PA. The interaction effect of race and puberty on fitness was non-significant. The pubertal influence on fitness is observed among AA adolescents. Associations between fitness and race/puberty appear to be independent of each other and vigorous PA. Pubertally advanced AA girls represent a priority group for fitness interventions.
The Drosophila melanogaster cinnabar Gene Is a Cell Autonomous Genetic Marker in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract The cinnabar gene of Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) encodes for kynurenine hydroxylase, an enzyme involved in ommochrome biosynthesis. This gene is commonly included as a visible genetic marker in gene vectors used to create transgenic Aedes aegypti (L.) that are homozygous for the khw allele, the mosquito homolog of cinnabar. Unexpectedly, the phenotype of cells expressing kynurenine hydroxylase in transgenic Ae. aegypti is cell autonomous as demonstrated by the recovery of insects heterozygous for the kynurenine hydroxylase transgene with mosaic eye color patterns. In addition, a transgenic gynandromorph was recovered in which one-half of the insect was expressing the kynurenine hydroxylase transgene, including one eye with red pigmentation, whereas the other half of the insect was homozygous khw and included a white eye. The cell autonomous behavior of cinnabar in transgenic Ae. aegypti is unexpected and increases the utility of this genetic marker.
Improving Laboratory Results Turnaround Time By Reducing Pre Analytical Phase

Laboratory turnaround time is considered one of the most important indicators of work efficiency in hospitals, physicians always need timely results to take effective clinical decisions especially in the emergency department where these results can guide physicians whether to admit patients to the hospital, discharge them home or do further investigations. A retrospective data analysis study was performed to identify the effects of ER and Lab staff training on new routines for sample collection and transportation on the pre-analytical phase of turnaround time. Renal profile tests requested by the ER and performed in 2013 has been selected as a sample, and data about 7,519 tests were retrieved and analyzed to compare turnaround time intervals before and after implementing new routines. Results showed significant time reduction on "Request to Sample Collection" and "Collection to In Lab Delivery" time intervals with less significant improvement on the analytical phase of the turnaround time.
Molecular Cloning of a Gene Encoding a New Type of Metalloproteinase-disintegrin Family Protein with Thrombospondin Motifs as an Inflammation Associated Gene*

A cellular disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) is a new family of genes with structural homology to the snake venom metalloproteinases and disintegrins. We screened genes which were selectively expressed in the cachexigenic colon 26 adenocarcinoma subline in vivo. It was found that one novel cDNA clone, identified as a cachexigenic tumor selective gene, encodes a cysteine-rich protein which shows a sequence similarity to that of both the snake venom metalloproteinases and thrombospondins. We named this cDNA clone isintegrin nd etalloproteinase with hrombopondin motifs (ADAMTS-1). ADAMTS1 consists of six domains, 1) a pro- and 2) a metalloproteinase, 3) a disintegrin-like, 4) a thrombospondin (TSP) homologous domain containing TSP type I motif, 5) a spacer region, and 6) COOH-terminal TSP submotifs. Unlike other ADAMs, ADAMTS-1 does not possess a transmembrane domain and is a putative secretory protein. Therefore, ADAMTS-1 is a new type of ADAM family protein with TSP type I motifs. We demonstrated that the TSP homologous domain containing the TSP type I motif of ADAMTS-1 is functional for binding to heparin. ADAMTS-1 mRNA could be induced by stimulating colon 26 cells with an inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1, in vitro. Moreover, intravenous administration of lipopolysaccharide in mice selectively induced ADAMTS-1 mRNA in kidney and heart. These data suggest that ADAM-TS-1 may be a gene whose expression is associated with various inflammatory processes as well as development of cancer cachexia.
Saturated Fatty Acids, but Not Unsaturated Fatty Acids, Induce the Expression of Cyclooxygenase-2 Mediated through Toll-like Receptor 4*

Results from our previous studies demonstrated that activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr4), the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) receptor, is sufficient to induce nuclear factor κB activation and expression of inducible cyclooxygenase (COX-2) in macrophages. Saturated fatty acids (SFAs) acylated in lipid A moiety of LPS are essential for biological activities of LPS. Thus, we determined whether these fatty acids modulate LPS-induced signaling pathways and COX-2 expression in monocyte/macrophage cells (RAW 264.7). Results show that SFAs, but not unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), induce nuclear factor κB activation and expression of COX-2 and other inflammatory markers. This induction is inhibited by a dominant-negative Tlr4. UFAs inhibit COX-2 expression induced by SFAs, constitutively active Tlr4, or LPS. However, UFAs fail to inhibit COX-2 expression induced by activation of signaling components downstream of Tlr4. Together, these results suggest that both SFA-induced COX-2 expression and its inhibition by UFAs are mediated through a common signaling pathway derived from Tlr4. These results represent a novel mechanism by which fatty acids modulate signaling pathways and target gene expression. Furthermore, these results suggest a possibility that propensity of monocyte/macrophage activation is modulated through Tlr4 by different types of free fatty acids, which in turn can be altered by kinds of dietary fat consumed.
Disentangling the Relationship Between Gender and Work–Family Conflict: An Integration of Theoretical Perspectives Using Meta-Analytic Methods

Implicit in many discussions of work–family issues is the idea that managing the work–family interface is more challenging for women than men. We address whether this intuition is supported by the empirical data via a meta-analysis of gender differences in work–family conflict (WFC) based on more than 350 independent samples (N > 250,000 workers). Challenging lay perceptions, our results demonstrate that men and women generally do not differ on their reports of WFC, though there were some modest moderating effects of dual-earner status, parental status, type of WFC (i.e., time-, strain-, vs. behavior-based), and when limiting samples to men and women who held the same job. To better understand the relationship between gender and WFC, we engaged in theory-testing of mediating mechanisms based on commonly invoked theoretical perspectives. We found evidence in support of the rational view, no support for the sensitization and male segmentation perspectives, and partial support for the asymmetrical domain permeability model. Finally, we build theory by seeking to identify omitted mediators that explain the relationship between gender and work-interference-with-family, given evidence that existing theoretically specified mechanisms are insufficient to explain this relationship. Overall, we find more evidence for similarity rather than difference in the degree of WFC experienced by men and women.
A k-subspace based tensor factorization approach for under-determined blind identi??cation

In the paper, a novel k-subspaces based tensor factorization method is developed to tackle the underdetermined blind source separation (UBSS) and specially underdetermined blind identification (UBI) problems where k sources are active in each signal segment. This approach improves the general upper bound for maximum possible number of sources both in UBI and UBSS problems. The method is applied to mixtures of synthetic and real signals and the results are illustrated. Compared with other well-established approaches, the proposed method is able to identify the channels and separate the sources for more number of source signals.
Comparative Study of Emojis and Filters for Enhancing Presence on Social Media

: Social media provides online way of communication that allow users to participate, offer feedback, receive information and share ideas. Most of the young generation prefer to express their emotions online rather than face-to-face. There is change in communication style and language. Instead of plain text, many people prefer to use emoticons, emojis and filter applied self-images for expressing themselves. The objective of this study is to find out trending social media applications and to make a comparative study of effectiveness of emojis and filters for expressing effectively on social media which in turn results in growth of users. In this study, using survey-based research method, an attempt is made to find satisfaction level of the users who are using photo editing based mobile applications to edit and share their photographs.
The Economy of Motion

The economy of motion is a term we may not relate with Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The Oxford English Dictionary defines economy as “Sparing or careful use of something” [1] and motion as “The action or process of moving or being moved” [1]. Whereas RSI is a general term used to describe the pain felt in muscles, nerves, and tendons caused by repetitive movement and overuse [2]. One can quickly see the two terms possess the words ‘movement’ and ‘motion’ in their definitions, which are synonymous. On the other hand, the words ‘economy’ and ‘repetitive,’ which are respectively incorporated into both definitions, are not interchangeable. Closer introspection leads one to see that economy denotes sparing and repetitive indicates often. This is where the two terms differ: in their frequency. Yet, economy can also refer to careful, which does not connote frequency.