Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proportion of new HIV infections attributable to herpes simplex 2 increases over time: simulations of the changing role of sexually transmitted infections in sub-Saharan African HIV epidemics

Objective: To understand the changing impact of herpes simplex 2 (HSV-2) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) on HIV incidence over time in four sub-Saharan African cities, using simulation models. Methods: An individual-based stochastic model was fitted to demographic, behavioural and epidemiological data from cross-sectional population-based surveys in four African cities (Kisumu, Kenya; Ndola, Zambia; Yaoundé, Cameroon; and Cotonou, Benin) in 1997. To estimate the proportion of new HIV infections attributable to HSV-2 and other STIs over time, HIV incidence in the fitted model was compared with that in model scenarios in which the cofactor effect of the STIs on HIV susceptibility and infectivity were removed 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years into the simulated HIV epidemics. Results: The proportion of incident HIV attributable to HSV-2 infection (the model estimated population attributable fraction (PAFM)) increased with maturity of the HIV epidemic. In the different cities, the PAFM was 8–31% 5 years into the epidemic, but rose to 35–48% 15 years after the introduction of HIV. In contrast, the proportion of incident HIV attributable to chancroid decreased over time with strongest effects five years after HIV introduction, falling to no effect 15 years after. Sensitivity analyses showed that, in the model, recurrent HSV-2 ulcers had more of an impact on HIV incidence than did primary HSV-2 ulcers, and that the effect of HSV-2 on HIV infectivity may be more important for HIV spread than the effect on HIV susceptibility, assuming that HSV-2 has similar cofactor effects on HIV susceptibility and infectivity. The overall impact of other curable STIs on HIV spread (syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia) remained relatively constant over time. Conclusions: Although HSV-2 appears to have a limited impact on HIV incidence in the early stages of sub-Saharan African HIV epidemics when the epidemic is concentrated in core groups, it has an increasingly large impact as the epidemic progresses. In generalised HIV epidemics where control programmes for curable STIs are already in place, interventions against HSV-2 may have a key role in HIV prevention.
Extension of Life-Span by Loss of CHICO, a Drosophila Insulin Receptor Substrate Protein

The Drosophila melanogaster gene chicoencodes an insulin receptor substrate that functions in an insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling pathway. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, insulin/IGF signaling regulates adult longevity. We found that mutation of chicoextends fruit fly median life-span by up to 48% in homozygotes and 36% in heterozygotes. Extension of life-span was not a result of impaired oogenesis in chico females, nor was it consistently correlated with increased stress resistance. The dwarf phenotype ofchico homozygotes was also unnecessary for extension of life-span. The role of insulin/IGF signaling in regulating animal aging is therefore evolutionarily conserved.
The Sendai virus P gene expresses both an essential protein and an inhibitor of RNA synthesis by shuffling modules via mRNA editing.

The P gene of Sendai virus expresses as many as eight proteins, two of which (V and W) are expressed only from edited mRNAs; only the P protein is known to be involved in RNA synthesis. To examine the functions of the other P gene proteins, we developed an in vivo system in which genome replication is driven by plasmid generated viral proteins. We found that P was essential for this process, whereas V and W were not only non‐essential, they were inhibitory. By using various P gene deletions and varying the amounts of plasmids transfected, we provide evidence that P is a modular protein. The N‐terminal domain (shared with V and W) binds the L or polymerase protein, whereas the C‐terminal domain binds the nucleoprotein NP. A model of paramyxovirus RNA synthesis is presented, and the implications of negative regulation during persistent infection are discussed.
[Cytological history of cases of invasive cervical cancer diagnosed in France in 2006].

OBJECTIVE After a significant decrease of the incidence of invasive cervical cancer with the practice of cytologic screening, the numbers remain the same nowadays. To explain the reasons for that, we performed a survey of the cases of invasive cervical cancer observed in France in 2006. MATERIAL AND METHOD A questionnaire about screening practice was sent to every member of the French Society of Colposcopy (SFCPCV) to fill out for every invasive cancer diagnosed in 2006. RESULTS Five hundred and twenty-four cases were collected: 2/3 of them never had a pap smear or were under screened. Indeed 27% had a labelled normal smear in the last three years. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION As many others, this study shows that the first risk factor remains the lack of screening. But, 27% are false negative pap smears and it is even 45% under 45 years. The first thing to do is an organized mass screening but the increasing number of false negatives raises the question of the quality control of the cytology, or else to turn to a new test.
Absence of Cultural Awareness Training in International Non-Governmental Organizations

Abstract Introduction: Cultural awareness can be defined as an understanding of the differences that exist between cultures. This understanding is a crucial first step towards the development of cultural sensitivity, a willingness to accept those differences as having equal merit, and becoming operationally effective when working within different cultures. The benefits of cultural awareness have become apparent in recent decades, including within governments, militaries, and corporations. Many organizations have developed cultural awareness training for their staffs to improve cross-cultural cooperation. However, there has not been a large movement toward cultural sensitivity training among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who provide aid globally, across a number of countries and cultures. Cultural awareness can be a useful tool which enables an NGO to better serve the populations with which they engage. Problem: The goal of this study was to evaluate the presence of cultural awareness training for employees and volunteers working within international NGOs. Methods: Ten of the largest international NGOs were identified. Their websites were evaluated for any mention of training in cultural awareness available to their employees and volunteers. All ten were then contacted via their public email addresses to find out if they provide any form of cultural awareness training. Results: Of the ten NGOs identified, none had any publicly available cultural awareness training on their websites. One NGO dealt with cultural awareness by only hiring local staff, who were already a part of the prevalent culture of the area. None of the others who responded provided any cultural awareness training. Conclusion: Cultural awareness is a vital tool when working internationally. Large NGOs, which operate in a wide-range of cultures, have an obligation to act in a culturally aware and accepting manner. Most large NGOs currently lack a systematic, robust cultural awareness training for their employees and volunteers.
Indoor 3D position estimation using low-cost inertial sensors and marker-based video-tracking

In this paper, a system for indoor 3D position tracking with an inertial measurement unit and a marker-based video tracking system utilizing external cameras is presented. Similar to an integrated navigation system, 3D position, velocity and attitude are calculated from IMU measurements and aided by using position corrections from the video tracking system. The measurements from both sensor sources are fused with an extended Kalman filter model, which incorporates the estimation of IMU biases for drift compensation during video outages. The performance of the filter approach has been tested with simulated data and the whole system has been evaluated with real data from a hand tracking scenario. By means of the combination of inertial sensors and vision-based position tracking, the proposed system is able to overcome video measurement outages over short periods of time as well as drift problems of the IMU.
A wide variety of diarrhea viruses circulating in pediatric patients in Thailand.

BACKGROUND Viral gastroenteritis has been recognized as one of the most common illnesses that affects infants and young children all over the world. A wide variety of viruses associated with the disease are continually being reported. To investigate the epidemiological situation of diarrhea virus infection in Chiang Mai, Thailand, surveillance was conducted during January to December 2007. METHODS A total of 160 fecal specimens collected from pediatric patients admitted to the hospital with acute gastroenteritis were tested for the presence of group A, B, and C rotaviruses, norovirus, sapovirus, astrovirus, adenovirus, Aichi virus, enterovirus, bocavirus, and human parechovirus by RT-multiplex PCR. RESULTS Of 160 fecal specimens tested, 85 (53.1%) were positive for diarrhea viruses. Of these, group A rotavirus was the predominant with a prevalence of 27.5%, followed by norovirus GII (11.9%), sapovirus (3.1%), enterovirus (2.5%), human parechovirus (1.9%), and norovirus GI, astrovirus, adenovirus (each 0.6%). Mixed-infections of 2 or 3 viruses were observed in 7 (4.4%) patients. However, none of groups B and C rotaviruses and Aichi virus were detected in this study. Monthly distribution analysis revealed that all those diarrhea viruses were detected continually throughout the year at a low level of infection except for group A rotavirus and norovirus infections which appeared to peak in a cool season in January-March and December, respectively. CONCLUSIONS This surveillance revealed a wide variety of diarrhea viruses currently circulating in pediatric patients with acute gastroenteritis in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Examination of Coalition Sustainability Factors in Texas Human Trafficking Coalitions Through the Lens of the Community Coalition Action Theory

The state of Texas ranks number two in the nation for the highest volume of human trafficking, at an estimated 313,000 victims in the state. As awareness of this issue in both Texas and the United States increases, efforts to educate communities, advocate for new policies, and provide services to survivors are on the rise. One strategy utilized by organizations, agencies, and individuals across Texas serving survivors of human trafficking is the use of coalitions. Limited research addresses coalition sustainability within the context of issues outside healthcare initiatives facing communities, including human trafficking. Due to the limited research surrounding community coalitions and their sustainability, this research study aims to examine coalition sustainability factors in Texas human trafficking coalitions through the lens of the Community Coalition Action Theory. The present study is a cross-sectional, exploratory study of coalition sustainability in Texas based human trafficking coalitions. The Coalition Effectiveness Inventory is a diagnostic tool emailed to the points of contact for the 17 human trafficking coalitions in Texas to evaluate coalition effectiveness. Descriptive statistics for each of the five coalition sustainability factors (lead agency effectiveness, staff and leadership effectiveness, membership engagement effectiveness, formalized coalition structures, and formalized coalition sustainability) were utilized to develop composite scores. Utilizing single and multiple linear regressions, four factors were statistically significant when the other factors were not taken into account. While significant limitations are present within this study, particularly the small sample size, implications for Texas based human trafficking coalitions were provided to address areas in need of improvement to increase overall sustainability.
Weekly cyclophosphamide and alternate-day prednisone: an effective, convenient, and well-tolerated oral treatment for relapsed multiple myeloma after autologous stem cell transplantation.

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy and tolerability of weekly oral cyclophosphamide in combination with alternate-day prednisone (CP) as salvage therapy for patients with relapsed multiple myeloma (MM) after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all patients identified in our clinical database as having received CP as treatment for relapsed MM after ASCT at Princess Margaret Hospital between July 1998 and May 2004. The CP regimen consisted of oral cyclophosphamide at 500 mg once weekly and oral prednisone at 100 mg on alternate days. RESULTS A total of 66 patients received the CP regimen, with a median of 2.0 prior therapies (range, 1.0-5.0) from time of diagnosis to initiation of CP. The median time from relapse after ASCT to start of CP therapy was 1.5 months (range, 0.0-23.5 months). Because of nonsecretory disease in 7 patients, only 59 patients were evaluable for response. The median duration of CP treatment was estimated at 5.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.6-7.8 months). With a median follow-up of 15.9 months (range, 1.4-67.2 months), 36 patients (61%) responded to treatment, 24 (41%) of whom had a partial response. The 1-year progression-free survival of all evaluable patients was estimated at 66% (95% CI, 54%-80%), with a median progression-free survival of 18.6 months (95% CI, 13.9-29.9 months). The median overall survival from time of initiation of CP was estimated at 28.6 months (95% CI, 22.1-not available months). CONCLUSION Our data show that CP is an effective, well-tolerated, and convenient regimen as salvage therapy for MM after ASCT.
Clinical experience with insulin detemir, biphasic insulin aspart and insulin aspart in people with type 2 diabetes: Results from the Chennai cohort of the A1chieve study

Background: The A1chieve, a multicentric (28 countries), 24-week, non-interventional study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of insulin detemir, biphasic insulin aspart and insulin aspart in people with T2DM (n = 66,726) in routine clinical care across four continents. Materials and Methods: Data was collected at baseline, at 12 weeks and at 24 weeks. This short communication presents the results for patients enrolled from Chennai, India. Results: A total of 1334 patients were enrolled in the study. Four different insulin analogue regimens were used in the study. Patients had started on or were switched to biphasic insulin aspart (n = 983), insulin detemir (n = 205), insulin aspart (n = 42), basal insulin plus insulin aspart (n = 41) and other insulin combinations (n = 63). At baseline glycaemic control was poor for both insulin naïve (mean HbA1c: 9.4%) and insulin users (mean HbA1c: 9.3%) groups. After 24 weeks of treatment, both groups showed improvement in HbA1c (insulin naïve: −2.1%, insulin users: −1.9%). SADRs including major hypoglycaemic events or episodes did not occur in any of the study patients. Conclusion: Starting or switching to insulin analogues was associated with improvement in glycaemic control with a low rate of hypoglycaemia.
Effect of Synthetic Lysine Vasopressin on Adrenocortical Secretion

By means of direct arterial perfusion of the adrenal glands in the dog it has been shown that synthetic lysine vasopressin stimulates the secretion of hydrocortisone. This effect is not mediated via the adenohypophysis or any other organ but is rather the result of direct stimulation of the adrenal cortex by vasopressin itself.
Origin of electroretinogram amplitude growth during light adaptation in pigmented rats

We assessed the growth of the rat photopic electroretinogram (ERG) during light adaptation and the mechanisms underlying this process. Full field ERG responses were recorded from anesthetized adult Brown–Norway rats at each minute for 20 min of light adaptation (backgrounds: 1.8, 2.1, 2.4 log scotopic cd m−2). The rat photopic b-wave amplitude increased with duration of light adaptation and its width at 33% maximal amplitude narrowed (by ∼ 40 ms). These effects peaked 12–15 min after background onset. The narrowing of the b-wave reflected steepening of the b-wave recovery phase, with little change in the rising phase. OP amplitudes grew in proportion to the b-wave. Inhibition of inner retinal responses using TTX resulted in a greater relative growth of b-wave and OP amplitude compared with fellow control eyes, and delayed the change in recovery phase by ∼ 5 min. Inhibition of all ionotropic glutamate receptors with CNQX/D-AP7 delayed both rising and recovery phases equally (∼ 12 ms) without altering b-wave width or the time course of adaptation changes. These outcomes suggest that inner retinal light responses are not directly responsible for b-wave amplitude growth, but may contribute to the change in its recovery phase during adaptation. A TTX-sensitive mechanism may help to hasten this process. The cone a-wave was isolated using PDA/L-AP4 or CNQX/L-AP4. A-wave amplitude (35 ms after stimulus onset) also increased with time during light adaptation and reached a maximum (130 ± 29% above baseline) 12–15 min after background onset. B-wave amplitude growth in fellow control eyes closely followed the course and relative magnitude of cone a-wave amplitude growth. Hence, the increase of the cone response during light adaptation is sufficient to explain b-wave amplitude growth.
Dynamic Spanning Forest with Worst-Case Update Time: Adaptive, Las Vegas, and $O(n^{1/2-\epsilon})$-Time

We present two algorithms for dynamically maintaining a spanning forest of a graph undergoing edge insertions and deletions. Our algorithms guarantee {\em worst-case update time} and work against an adaptive adversary, meaning that an edge update can depend on previous outputs of the algorithms. We provide the first polynomial improvement over the long-standing $O(\sqrt{n})$ bound of [Frederickson STOC'83, Eppstein, Galil, Italiano and Nissenzweig FOCS'92] for such type of algorithms. The previously best improvement was $O(\sqrt{n (\log\log n)^2/\log n})$ [Kejlberg-Rasmussen, Kopelowitz, Pettie and Thorup ESA'16]. We note however that these bounds were obtained by deterministic algorithms while our algorithms are randomized. Our first algorithm is Monte Carlo and guarantees an $O(n^{0.4+o(1)})$ worst-case update time, where the $o(1)$ term hides the $O(\sqrt{\log\log n/\log n})$ factor. Our second algorithm is Las Vegas and guarantees an $O(n^{0.49306})$ worst-case update time with high probability. Algorithms with better update time either needed to assume that the adversary is oblivious (e.g. [Kapron, King and Mountjoy SODA'13]) or can only guarantee an amortized update time. Our second result answers an open problem by Kapron et al. To the best of our knowledge, our algorithms are among a few non-trivial randomized dynamic algorithms that work against adaptive adversaries.
A six-switch three-level current source inverter

In several applications DC/AC converters are widely used; traditionally they can be classified in voltage source inverters (VSI) and current source inverters (CSI). Their use depends on the application. Other possibility for the DC/AC conversion is the multilevel configuration, and the most analyzed is the VSI. In this paper a multilevel current source inverter (MCSI) is proposed. The operation, analysis and implementation are presented; also simulation and experimental results are shown.
The basolateral complex of the amygdala is necessary for acquisition but not expression of CS motivational value in appetitive Pavlovian second‐order conditioning

The basolateral complex of the amygdala (ABL) is involved in processing information about stimulus motivational value. However, it is not clear whether the ABL is critical for acquisition, maintenance, or expression of this information. Our previous work has shown that ABL lesions made prior to training, block acquisition of an appetitive Pavlovian second‐order conditioning task, in which performance is thought to depend on the acquisition of motivational (conditioned reinforcement) value by the first‐order conditioned stimulus (CS). The present experiments examined the effects of ABL lesions made after first‐order conditioning, when the CS acquires motivational value, but before second‐order conditioning, the test for acquired value of that CS. Rats received pairings of a visual CS with a food reinforcer. They then received bilateral sham or excitotoxic lesions of the ABL. After recovery, they received pairings of a second‐order auditory CS with the previously conditioned visual CS. In two experiments, both sham and lesioned rats acquired normal second‐order conditioned behaviours. Some of the same rats were then given another round of second‐order conditioning with novel CSs. In this case, when first‐order training occurred after surgery, some second‐order conditioned behaviours were impaired in lesioned rats. Tests of the associative underpinnings of second‐order conditioned behaviours showed that those behaviours impaired by ABL lesions were based on stimulus–response associations. The results show that although the ABL is critical for second‐order conditioning, this role is limited to acquisition of information about the motivational value of the first‐order CS, and it is not critical for maintenance of this information or for its use in forming second‐order associations.
Nursing organizational climates in public and private hospitals

Background: Researchers study climate to gain an understanding of the psychological environment of organizations, especially in healthcare institutions. Climate is considered to be the set of recurring patterns of individual and group behaviour in an organization. There is evidence confirming a relationship between ethical climate within organizations and job satisfaction. Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe organizational climate for nursing personnel in public and private hospitals and to confirm the relationships among the climate variables of such hospitals. Materials and methods: A correlational study was carried out to measure the organizational climate of one public hospital and two private hospitals in Granada. The Work Environment Scale was used for data collection. The Work Environment Scale includes 10 scales, ranging from 0 to 9, which were used to evaluate social, demographic and organizational climate variables. In this study, 386 subjects were surveyed in three hospitals. Results: A total of 87% of the participants were female and 16% were male. Most participants were nurses (65.6%), followed by nursing aides (20%), and technicians (14.4%). The results obtained reflected different patterns of organizational climate formation, based on hospital type (i.e. public or private) within the Spanish context. Most of the dimensions were below the midpoint of the scale. Discussion and conclusions: In conclusion, in public hospitals, there is a greater specialization and the organizational climate is more salient than in the private hospitals. In addition, in the public hospitals, the characteristics of the human resources and their management can have a significant impact on the perception of the climate, which gives greater importance to the organizational climate as decisive of the ethical climate.