Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy for Injection Drug Users: Physician-Recommended Strategies for Enhanced Adherence

We commend Dr Delgado and colleagues [1] for their effort to identify patient and physician characteristics that could play a role in patient adherence to prescription refill or triple combination antiretroviral therapy. We would like to suggest, however, that although the authors found that adherence was negatively associated with history of injection drug use, there are practical means for enhancing drug users’ commitment to antiretroviral regimens that could optimize treatment outcomes. We believe, as Delgado et al. also reveal, that HIV-experienced physicians are likely to have greater success in achieving adherence to antiretroviral combination therapy. This belief led us to survey infectious disease physicians providing medical care to HIV-infected patients in the New York City area in order to elicit clinician-recommended strategies for improving drug users’ adherence to HAART. The survey was supported by the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research at the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. in New York. We mailed a structured questionnaire to 220 HIV physicians who were listed in the Yellow Pages Citysearch directory. Although the 28% response rate did not warrant quantitative analyses, the recommendations for improving drug users’ adherence to HAART given by 40 experienced (with over 10 years of practice) physicians merit attention. The most commonly suggested strategy was to provide HIV/AIDS and HAART-related education to patients. Almost all of the clinicians (92%) recommended establishing trust with the patient, and most concurred that referral to mental or drug abuse services in periods of low adherence could be beneficial for maintaining an optimal antiretroviral regimen. Since the treatment of HIV/AIDS is an evolving area in clinical practice, it is our hope that future research will continue to explore ways for improving both physicians’ beliefs as well as their practices regarding the use of HAART regimen for the treatment of HIV-positive drug users.
DeLiA: A New Redundant Partially Decoupled Robot

This paper addresses the description and kinematic analysis of a new redundant robot named DeLiA. The primary feature of the new robot is to have a topology consisting of three distinct parallel manipulators possessing six actuators to realize 5 d.o. f. The computation of the pose, position and orientation between the output and fixed platforms is achieved by solving sequentially two distinct groups of kinematic constraint equations. On the other hand, the velocity and acceleration analyses of the robot are carried out by means of the theory of screws. Furthermore, based on the velocity formulation, the redundancy of the robot is also investigated.
Choice of Morphometric Methods and Consequences in the Regulatory Environment

In certain cases, quantitative tissue structural data derived from tissue sections may be required to make critical decisions in the drug development or risk assessment process. Most frequently, these questions center on test article–related effects on cell number. In this opinion article, the limitations of estimating cell number by standard cell or nuclear profile counts from sections/blocks collected for routine histopathology are discussed from both a scientific and regulatory perspective and contrasted with the robust, sensitive, statistically based methods of design-based stereology. Specific existing industry practices are reviewed. Recent advances in stereological theory, software, hardware, and automated immunohistochemical staining now make it feasible to implement unbiased stereological methods to assess test article–related effects on cell number in a regulatory toxicology setting. These design-based stereological methods for counting cells are recommended when the quantification of small changes in cell number is critical to the risk assessment or decision-making process. These methods provide levels of sensitivity and statistical guarantees of accuracy that no other currently available tissue section–based methodology can provide.
Effect of Environmental Enrichment on Stress Related Systems in Rats

The aim of this study was to test whether environmental enrichment alters the status and responsiveness of pituitary‐adrenocortical and sympathetic‐adrenomedullary hormones in rats. Previous studies have shown that rats kept in an enriched environment differ from those kept in standard cages in dendritic branching, synaptogenesis, memory function, emotionality and behaviour. In male Wistar rats kept in an enriched environment for 40 days, we studied basal concentrations of hormones, endocrine responses to 5‐HT1A challenge and responsiveness and adaptation to repeated handling. Environmental enrichment consisted of large plexiglass cages with 10 rats per cage, which contained variety of objects exchanged three times a week. Rats kept in this enriched environment had higher resting plasma concentrations of corticosterone, larger adrenals and increased corticosterone release to buspirone challenge compared to controls. Lower adrenocorticotropic hormone, corticosterone and adrenaline responses to handling were noticed in rats kept in an enriched environment. Exposure to repeated handling led to a more rapid extinction of corticosterone responses in rats kept in an enriched environment. Thus, environmental enrichment leads to pronounced changes in neuroendocrine regulation, including larger adrenals and increased adrenocortical function, which are so far considered to be indication of chronic stress.
US scientists discuss early detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

The US president, Barack Obama, has announced an increase in funding for Alzheimer’s disease next year of $106m (£67m; €80m), a 24% rise over the current $450m a year. The announcement came shortly after scientists gathered at a meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences in New York to try to determine how best to spot Alzheimer’s disease in the “silent years” before the disease is apparent. Reisa Sperling, director of the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, said, “The pathophysiology begins more than a decade before dementia . We are trying to define the earliest markers for the ‘iceberg’ silent years when preclinical changes are …
Efficient Online Feature Selection based on ℓ1-Regularized Logistic Regression

Finding features for classifiers is one of the most important concerns in various fields, such as information retrieval, speech recognition, bio-informatics and natural language processing, for improving classifier prediction performance. Online grafting is one solution for finding useful features from an extremely large feature set. Given a sequence of features, online grafting selects or discards each feature in the sequence of features one at a time. Online grafting is preferable in that it incrementally selects features, and it is defined as an optimization problem based on l1-regularized logistic regression. However, its learning is inefficient due to frequent parameter optimization. We propose two improved methods, in terms of efficiency, for online grafting that approximate original online grafting by testing multiple features simultaneously. The experiments have shown that our methods significantly improved efficiency of online grafting. Though our methods are approximation techniques, deterioration of prediction performance was negligibly small.
CD4+ Depletion Selectively Inhibits Eosinophil Recruitment to the Cornea and Abrogates Onchocerca volvulus Keratitis (River Blindness)

ABSTRACT Previous studies demonstrated that in the murine model ofOnchocerca volvulus keratitis, neutrophils and eosinophils are recruited into the cornea in a biphasic manner in response to intrastromal injection. To determine if CD4+ T cells regulate migration of neutrophils and eosinophils into the cornea, CD4+ cells were depleted using monoclonal antibody GK1.5 before intrastromal injection of parasite antigens. Depletion of CD4+ cells abrogated corneal opacification at later but not early stages of disease. Consistent with this observation, CD4 depletion significantly impaired recruitment of eosinophils to the cornea but had no effect on neutrophils. These data indicate that CD4+ T cells mediate sustained O. volvuluskeratitis by regulating eosinophil recruitment to the cornea.
InSb-based HEMT with over 300 GHz-fT using evaporated SiOx film

Summary form only given. We fabricated nanoscale-gate Al<sub>0.25</sub>In<sub>0.75</sub>Sb/InSb high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown on a (100) GaAs structure by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and measured their DC and RF performances at room temperature. The epitaxial structure had an electron mobility (μ) of 17,700 cm<sup>2</sup>/Vs with a sheet carrier concentration (N<sub>s</sub>) of 1.06×10<sup>12</sup> cm<sup>-2</sup>. We also introduced an evaporated SiO<sub>x</sub> passivation film instead of SiO<sub>x</sub> and SiN deposited by CVD method to prevent plasma damage in the passivation deposition process. As the result, we obtained a maximum transconductance (g<sub>m_max</sub>) of 0.88 S/mm and a cutoff frequency (f<sub>T</sub>) of 302 GHz for the 50-nm-gate HEMT when biased at a drain-source voltage (V<sub>ds</sub>) of 0.5 V, which was because the evaporated SiO<sub>x</sub> passivation film could prevent electrical degradation of the HEMT structure caused by not only plasma damage but also thermal damage in whole HEMT fabrication process.
Microsatellite analysis of genetic variation among and within Alpine marmot populations in the French Alps

The genetic structure of the Alpine marmot, Marmota marmota, was studied by an analysis of five polymorphic microsatellite loci. Eight locations were sampled in the French Alps, one from Les Ecrins valley (n = 160), another from La Sassière valley (n = 289) and the six others from the Maurienne valley (n = 139). Information on social group structure was available for both Les Ecrins and La Sassière but not for the other samples. The high levels of genetic diversity observed are at odds with the results obtained using microsatellites, minisatellites and allozymes on Alpine marmots from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Strong deficits in heterozygotes were found in Les Ecrins and La Sassière. They are caused by a Wahlund effect due to the family structure (i.e. differentiation between the family groups). The family groups exhibit excess of heterozygotes rather than deficits. This may be caused by outbreeding and this is compatible with recent results from the genetics of related social species when information on the social structure is taken into account. The observed outbreeding could be the result of females mating with transient males or males coming from neighbouring colonies. Both indicate that the species may not be as monogamous as is usually believed. The results are also compatible with a male‐biased dispersal but do not allow us to exclude some female migration. We also found a significant correlation between geographical and genetic distance indicating that isolation by distance could be an issue in marmots. This study is the first that analysed populations of marmots taking into account the social structure within populations and assessing inbreeding at different levels (region, valley, population, and family groups). Our study clearly demonstrated that the sampling strategy and behavioural information can have dramatic effects on both the results and interpretation of the genetic data.
Sex-based differences in premature first myocardial infarction caused by smoking: twice as many years lost by women as by men

Background It has been debated whether smoking increases the risk of heart disease relatively more in women than in men. It is not known whether there are sex differences with regard to how many years prematurely smoking causes acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to occur. We aimed to determine how smoking affects the age of onset of first myocardial infarction in both the sexes. Design Clinical data were consecutively entered into a database and were analysed with a multivariate regression technique. Methods In the years 1998-2005, data on 1784 consecutive patients (38.3% women) who were discharged from or died in a district general hospital with a diagnosis of first myocardial infarction were included in the study. Age at first AMI was analysed. Results Unadjusted mean ages were 76.2 years for women and 69.8 years for men, a difference of 6.4 years (P < 0.001). Mean age within the various groups was: women nonsmokers 80.7 years, women smokers 66.2 years, difference 14.4 years (P < 0.001); men nonsmokers 72.2 years, men smokers 63.9 years, difference 8.3 years (P < 0.001). After adjustment for risk factors (hypertension, cholesterol levels, diabetes) and patient characteristics (history of angina, history of stroke) 13.7 years of the age difference in women were attributed to smoking; the corresponding figure in men was 6.2 years (P < 0.001). Conclusion First AMI occurred significantly more prematurely in women than in men smokers, implying that twice as many years were lost by women as by men smokers. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil 16:174-179 © 2009 The European Society of Cardiology
Study on Business Performance Correlation of Sporting Goods Manufacturing Enterprise Based on SEM

China is one of the greatest sporting goods consumption and manufacturing country in the world. The sporting goods manufacturing enterprises are palying importantant roles in meetting the growing demand for sports consumption. Restricted by many factors, the business performance (BP) of sports goods manufacturing enterprises are significant differences. This paper studies performance correlation of sporting goods manufacturing enterprise based on SEM. To begin with, it puts forward a conceptual model based on some assumptions. Next, it constructs some latent variables and their observation index system. Then, a case study is given. The results show that: Capital Operation (CO), Debt Level (DL) and Marketing Capability (MC) have significant covariation and that they all have significant positive influence to the business performance of sports goods manufacturing enterprises. The reslut provides a theoretical support to enhance the performance of sports goods manufacturing enterprise.
Does preoperative night pulse oximetry provide a reliable baseline?

Background: Postoperative hypoxaemia may be detected by pulse oximetry monitoring of the arterial haemoglobin saturation (SpO2). The SpO2‐values obtained on the preoperative night are presumed to represent baseline values for the patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible difference between nocturnal SpO2‐values in the patient’s home and in the hospital before operation.
Changes in glycosaminoglycan concentration and synovial permeability at raised intra‐articular pressure in rabbit knees.

1. When intra‐articular pressure is raised to pathological values (> 9 cmH2O) by saline, the hydraulic conductance of the synovial lining increases manyfold. The increase at 25 cmH2O is only partially accounted for by stretching of the tissue and has been ascribed to washout and/or dilution of interstitial matrix biopolymers. This suggestion was tested in this study by sampling synovium from control joints (rabbit knees) and from joints perfused with saline to 25 cmH2O, and analysing them quantitatively for collagen, chondroitin sulphate, heparan sulphate and hyaluronan. 2. Pressure and trans‐synovial flow measurements showed that in samples taken at 25 cmH2O the conductance of the synovial lining had increased by a factor of 5.23 +/‐ 1.5 (mean +/‐ S.E.M.) over the conductance at low pressures (just above atmospheric pressure). 3. The tissue concentrations of collagen and the sulphated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) were reduced by similar amounts after perfusion to 25 cmH2O, namely to 62.8‐70.4% of control. The hyaluronan concentration by contrast was not significantly reduced (106% of control). 4. The reduction in collagen concentration (fixed material) indicated increased interstitial hydration. The closely similar reduction in sulphated GAGs indicated that dilution rather than washout of these components was occurring. The hyaluronan results could be explained by synthesis in vivo at a rate of > or = 91 micrograms h‐1 (ml synovium)‐1 (possibly a non‐basal rate under the conditions of the experiment, i.e. raised pressure and a stretched hydrated membrane). 5. Because interstitial hydraulic drag is related to biopolymer concentration by a power function, the overall matrix dilution observed here was more than sufficient to explain the rise in synovial lining hydraulic conductance at 25 cmH2O when taken in conjunction with stretching of the synovial lining (increased area, reduced thickness).
EFFECTS OF ELEVATED [K+]0 ON THE RELEASE OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS FROM CORTICAL SYNAPTOSOMES: EFFLUX OR SECRETION?

Abstract— Elevated K+0 elicited a substantial Ca‐independent efflux of accumulated GABA from cortical synaptosomal fractions. Efflux from tissue labelled with either NE or choline was affected considerably less by elevated K+ pulses in the absence of calcium. K‐facilitated Ca‐dependent efflux was large for all three of the accumulated substances. K‐dependent (Ca‐independent) efflux of accumulated GABA was associated with all subcellular fractions exhibiting GABA accumulation whereas K‐facilitated Ca‐dependent efflux was restricted to fractions containing synaptosomes. Eighty per cent of both GABA accumulation and K‐dependent efflux was, however, recovered in a purified synaptosomal fraction. Alanine slightly decreased GABA accumulation, but % K‐dependent efflux was not affected.
Influence of dietary lysine on growth and carcass composition of high-lean-growth gilts fed from 34 to 72 kilograms.

One hundred eight high-lean-growth gilts (34.4 kg BW) were used to determine the dietary lysine requirement to maximize growth, carcass characteristics, and protein accretion from 34 to 72.5 kg BW. The experiment was a randomized complete block design; initial BW served as the blocking factor. Six dietary treatments were included, ranging from . 54 to 1.04% (.10% increments) digestible lysine (.69 to 1.25% total lysine). Pigs were housed in pens of three, with six replicate pens per treatment. Pig weights and feed consumption were collected weekly to calculate ADG, ADFI, and gain:feed (G/F). Initially, five pigs were slaughtered to determine baseline carcass composition. When the mean weight for pigs in a pen reached 55 and 72.5 kg, one pig per pen was randomly selected and slaughtered for carcass measurements. The right side of each carcass was ground twice and sampled to determine carcass composition and tissue accretion rates. Average daily gain was increased by dietary lysine from 34 to 55 kg (linear, P < .01), from 55 to 72.5 kg (linear, P < .10), and from 34 to 72.5 kg (linear, P < .01). Although ADFI from 34 to 55 and from 55 to 72.5 kg was not influenced by dietary lysine, ADFI for the entire experiment tended to decrease (quadratic, P < .10) as digestible lysine increased. Increased dietary lysine resulted in improved G/F from 34 to 55 kg (linear, P < .01) and from 55 to 72.5 and 34 to 72.5 kg (quadratic, P < .01). Average backfat thickness was not influenced by dietary lysine at 55 kg but decreased (linear, P < .05) as dietary lysine increased at 72.5 kg. At 55 kg, longissimus muscle area was larger (linear, P < .05) for gilts fed increased digestible lysine. However, longissimus muscle area was similar for all treatments at 72.5 kg. Gilts fed increased digestible lysine had greater CP accretion from 34 to 55 kg (linear, P < .01), 55 to 72.5 kg (linear, P < .05; quadratic, P < .10), and from 34 to 72.5 kg (quadratic, P < .05). Based on the feed intake observed in this study, the high-lean-growth gilt requires at least 22 g/d total lysine intake from 34 to 72.5 kg to maximize CP accretion.
The genetic modifier Rpe65Leu(450): effect on light damage susceptibility in c-Fos-deficient mice.

PURPOSE To test whether introduction of the Rpe65Leu(450) variant can overcome protection against light-induced photoreceptor apoptosis in mice without the activator protein (AP)-1 constituent c-Fos. METHODS c-Fos-deficient mice (c-fos(-/-)) carrying the Leu(450) variant of RPE65 were compared with c-fos(-/-) mice with Rpe65Met(450). Expression of RPE65 was analyzed by Western blot analysis. Rhodopsin regeneration was determined by measuring rhodopsin after different times in darkness after bleaching. Susceptibility to light-induced damage was tested by exposure to white light and subsequent morphologic analysis. Activation of AP-1 and its complex composition was analyzed by electromobility shift assay (EMSA) and antibody interference. The contribution of AP-1 to apoptosis was tested by pharmacological inhibition of AP-1, using dexamethasone. RESULTS Compared with RPE65Met(450), introduction of the RPE65Leu(450) variant led to increased levels of RPE65 protein, accelerated rhodopsin regeneration, loss of protection against light-induced damage, and AP-1 responsiveness to toxic light doses, despite the absence of c-Fos. c-Fos was mainly replaced by Fra-2. Application of dexamethasone restored resistance to light-induced damage. CONCLUSIONS Increasing retinal photon catch capacity by introducing the Rpe65Leu(450) variant overcomes light damage resistance provided by c-fos deficiency. Thus, a variation of RPE65 at position 450 is a strong genetic modifier of susceptibility to light-induced damage in mice. Under conditions of high rhodopsin availability during exposure to light, Fra-2 and, to a minor degree, FosB substitute for c-Fos and enable light-induced AP-1 activity and thus photoreceptor apoptosis. Regardless of the AP-1 complex's composition, glucocorticoid receptor activation inhibits AP-1 and prevents apoptosis. Thus, not the absence of c-Fos per se, but rather impairment of AP-1 DNA binding is protective against light-induced damage. This impairment may result from the absence of c-Fos or glucocorticoid receptor-mediated transrepression.
Carotid intima-media thickness and paraoxonase activity in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

PURPOSE The risk of atherosclerosis is increased in several rheumatological disorders, but any such risk remains unproven for ankylosing spondylitis. Since carotid intima-media thickness is an indicator of early atherosclerosis, and the paraoxonase (PON1) enzyme has antioxidant activity to prevent LDL oxidation, we aimed to identify: 1) the relationship between carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and serum paraoxonase (PON1) activity in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients; and 2) the possible differences in CIMT in AS patients versus age-matched, healthy controls. METHODS Forty-five AS patients (36.8±9.8 years, 36 males, 9 females) and 30 controls (35.9±10.2 years, 23 males, 7 females) were recruited consecutively. Serum PON1 activity and CIMT were measured. The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Radiologic Index (BASRI) and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) were used to identify relationships between these clinical indices and levels of CIMT and PON1. RESULTS Mean CIMT was significantly increased in AS patients relative to controls (0.49±0.06 mm vs. 0.59±0.07 mm; p < 0.0001). Conversely, serum PON1 activity was decreased (199.1±60.3 U/L vs. 96.7±29 U/L; p < 0.0001). PON1 activity was negatively correlated with CIMT (r = -0.557, p = 0.0001). Disease duration was positively correlated with CIMT (r = 0.542, p = 0.0001) and negatively correlated with PON1 (r = -0.649, p = 0.0001). On multivariate analysis, disease duration and serum PON1 activity were found to be independent predictors of CIMT (R2 = 0.687, p = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, significantly increased CIMT and decreased PON1 activity suggest a relationship between atherosclerosis and AS: a relationship that is strongly correlated with disease duration.