Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A survey on epidemiology of leishmaniasis in Khatam, Iran during 2008-2012

Background: Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease, that due to the incidence, dissemination and scattering throughout different parts of Iran is of paramount importance. This study was carried out with the aim of determining the epidemiology of leishmaniasis cutaneous in Khatam during 2008-2012. Methods: This is a cross-sectional and retrospective study of collected demographic and epidemiological information, related to 760 patients with the disease who underwent treatment in health centers in Khatam during 2008-2012. This information was analyzed using SPSS version 16 software and includes the history of disease outbreak, age, sex, place of residence, number of wounds, wound placement and a history of travel to endemic areas in the past year. Results: The results showed that out of a total number of patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis 460 persons were male (60.5%) and 300 persons were female (39.5%); age mean of patients was 22 ± 1.68. The 0-9 years age group was more susceptible to the disease. The lodging for 525 subjects (69.1%) was listed as village, 224 (29.7%) of them lived in the city and 11 people (1.4%) lived on the fringes of the city. 98.8% of these patients were infected with rural cutaneous leishmaniasis. There were 428 cases of wounds on the hands (56.3%) making it the most common type. Conclusion: The rural leishmaniasis is one of the major health problems of Khatam, and given the high disease incidence in children and farmers, continuing education on the care and control of the disease in the region is of very high importance. Keywords: Epidemiology, Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous, Parasitic Diseases , Khatam city, Iran
The Role of Victim-Offender Relationship in Women’s Sexual Assault Experiences

This study’s goal is to identify differences in background, assault, and postassault factors according to the victim-offender relationship. A mail survey is conducted with more than 1,000 female sexual assault survivors (response rate 90%) recruited from college, community, and mental health agency sources. Stranger assailants are associated with a greater victim perceived life threat, more severe sexual assaults, and ethnic minority victims. Positive social reactions do not vary according to the victim-offender relationship, but stranger victims report more negative social reactions from others than do victims of acquaintances or romantic partners. Assaults by strangers and relatives are associated with more posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms than assaults by acquaintances and romantic partners. As expected, survivors’ social cognitive responses to rape and social reactions from support providers are stronger correlates of PTSD symptoms than demographic or assault characteristics in general, but correlates vary across victim-offender relationship groups.
An overview of Gravitational Search Algorithm utilization in optimization problems

Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) is one of the recent nature inspired algorithms which is capable to solve optimization problems. GSA is inspired by the Newtonian's law of gravity and the law of motion. The aim of the paper is to investigate GSA utilization in various optimization problems. The paper provides a brief explanation on GSA and also presents the previous optimization works based on GSA. Based on the literature, GSA is capable of providing more accurate, effective and robust high-quality solution for most of the optimization problems. The algorithm has been applied in various applications and has solved various optimization problems such as in power system, controller design, network routing, sensor networks, software design and many more. GSA has been adapted in the optimization of parameters, settings, strategies, cost, voltage control and also power dispatch. The algorithm also has been adapted to optimize the design of controllers, software, antenna and microgrids. Based on previous works, GSA has showed better performance in solving the optimization problems compared to other previous algorithms such as PSO, ACO and ABC. It is expected that more studies are to be done based on GSA in future as the algorithm has a high potential to solve various optimization problems in different areas.
Neuroendocrine and cardiovascular parameters during simulation of stress-induced rise in circulating oxytocin in the rat

Physiological functions of oxytocin released during stress are not well understood. We have (1) investigated the release of oxytocin during chronic stress using two long-term stress models and (2) simulated stress-induced oxytocin secretion by chronic treatment with oxytocin via osmotic minipumps. Plasma oxytocin levels were significantly elevated in rats subjected to acute immobilization stress for 120 min, to repeated immobilization for 7 days and to combined chronic cold stress exposure for 28 days with 7 days immobilization. To simulate elevation of oxytocin during chronic stress, rats were implanted with osmotic minipumps subcutaneously and treated with oxytocin (3.6 μg/100 g body weight/day) or vehicle for 2 weeks. Chronic subcutaneous oxytocin infusion led to an increase in plasma oxytocin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, corticosterone, adrenal weights and heart/body weight ratio. Oxytocin treatment had no effect on the incorporation of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine into DNA in the heart ventricle. Mean arterial pressure response to intravenous phenylephrine was reduced in oxytocin-treated animals. Decrease in adrenal tyrosin hydroxylase mRNA following oxytocin treatment was not statistically significant. Oxytocin treatment failed to modify food intake and slightly increased water consumption. These data provide evidence on increased concentrations of oxytocin during chronic stress. It is possible that the role of oxytocin released during stress is in modulating hypothalamic—pituitary–adrenocortical axis and selected sympathetic functions.
Race and Education Differences in Disability Status and Labor Force Attachment

The labor force participation rates of older, working-aged black men and men with lower levels of education have historically been significantly lower than those of white men and men with more education, respectively. This paper uses data from the alpha release of the new Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) to examine the extent to which variation in health and job characteristics can account for these differences. Our analysis suggests that race and education differences in the health status of middle-aged men can explain a substantialfraction of blacklwhite differences in labor force attachment and essentially all of the gap between men with different levels of education.
The kinetics of formation of native ribonuclease during oxidation of the reduced polypeptide chain.

In this article, Anfinsen, Haber, Sela, and White reported that there existed a considerable lag phase before enzymatic activity appeared after the sample of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease was treated with mercaptoethanol in urea, during which period the sulfhydrl titer and the specific optical rotation changed along a curve similar to that of a first-order reaction. The lag in enzymatic activity in vitro often took several hours, while the same process seemed to take only a few minutes in vivo. This discrepancy eventually led to the discovery of an enzyme system in the endoplasmic reticulum of cells that catalyzes the disulfide interchange reaction, and subsequently, the rapid formation of the correct, native disulfide pairing in relatively short order.
Binding of Daptomycin to Anionic Lipid Vesicles Is Reduced in the Presence of Lysyl-Phosphatidylglycerol

ABSTRACT The cytoplasmic membrane of Staphylococcus aureus contains ∼20 mol% of the net cationic lipid lysyl-phosphatidylglycerol (LPG). Elevated fractions of LPG are associated with increased resistance to cationic antibiotics, including the lipopeptide daptomycin (DAP). Although the surface charge of the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane is altered by LPG, surface binding of DAP was found to be only moderately affected in anionic vesicles containing 20 mol% LPG. These results suggest that charge repulsion cannot fully explain LPG-mediated resistance to cationic peptides.
Randomized trial of 3-dose regimens of tafenoquine (WR238605) versus low-dose primaquine for preventing Plasmodium vivax malaria relapse.

BACKGROUND Tafenoquine is an 8-aminoquinoline developed as a more effective replacement for primaquine. In a previous dose-ranging study in Thailand, 3 tafenoquine regimens with total doses ranging from 500 mg to 3000 mg prevented relapse of Plasmodium vivax malaria in most patients when administered 2 days after receipt of a blood schizonticidal dose of chloroquine. METHODS To improve convenience and to begin comparison of tafenoquine with primaquine, 80 patients with P. vivax infection were randomized to receive 1 of the following 5 treatments 1 day after receiving a blood schizonticidal dose of chloroquine: (A) tafenoquine, 300 mg per day for 7 days (n=18); (B) tafenoquine, 600 mg per day for 3 days (n=19); (C) tafenoquine, 600 mg as a single dose (n=18); (D) no further treatment (n=13); or (E) primaquine base, 15 mg per day for 14 days (n=12). The minimum duration of protocol follow-up was 8 weeks, with additional follow-up to 24 weeks. RESULTS Forty-six of 55 tafenoquine recipients, 10 of 13 recipients of chloroquine only, and 12 of 12 recipients of chloroquine plus primaquine completed at least 8 weeks of follow-up (or had relapse). There was 1 relapse among recipients of chloroquine plus tafenoquine, 8 among recipients of chloroquine only, and 3 among recipients of chloroquine plus primaquine. The rate of protective efficacy (determined on the basis of reduction in incidence density) for all recipients of chloroquine plus tafenoquine, compared with recipients of chloroquine plus primaquine, was 92.6% (95% confidence interval, 7.3%-99.9%; P=.042, by Fisher's exact test). CONCLUSIONS Tafenoquine doses as low as a single 600-mg dose may be useful for prevention of relapse of P. vivax malaria in Thailand.
Adaptive manipulation and slippage control of an object in a multi-robot cooperative system

SUMMARY Considering undesired slippage between manipulated object and finger tips of a multi-robot system, adaptive control synthesis of the object grasping and manipulation is addressed in this paper. Although many studies can be found in the literature dealing with grasp analysis and grasp synthesis, most assume no slippage between the finger tips and the object. Slippage can occur for many reasons such as disturbances, uncertainties in parameters, and dynamics of the system. In this paper, system dynamics is analyzed using a new presentation of friction and slippage dynamics. Then an adaptive control law is proposed for trajectory tracking and slippage control of the object as well as compensation for parameter uncertainties of the system, such as mass properties and coefficients of friction. Stability of the proposed adaptive controller is studied analytically and the performance of the system is studied numerically.
Association Analysis of GRIN2B, Encoding N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor 2B Subunit, and Alzheimer’s Disease

Background: The glutamatergic neurotransmitter systems play a crucial role in memory formation and information processing. Alterations in this system contribute to the manifestation of symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Glutamate transmits signals via the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs). Aims: The potential involvement of polymorphisms in the GRIN2B gene, encoding subunit 2B of the NMDA receptor, in the risk for AD was evaluated. Methods: We investigated the 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs1019385, rs1806201 and rs890, i.e. the G–200→T transversion in the 5′UTR, the A2664→G transition in exon 13 and the G5072→T transition in the 3′UTR of the GRIN2B gene, in 222 Caucasian AD patients and 170 healthy Caucasian age-matched controls. Results: No differences were found in the overall distribution of the single-nucleotide polymorphism genotypes between AD patients and healthy controls, even when the analysis was adjusted for sex, age and APOE. As expected from genotype frequencies, no differences were found in the distribution of the estimated allele and haplotype frequencies between AD patients and healthy controls. Conclusion: In this study no significant association between polymorphisms in the GRIN2B gene and AD was observed. Further investigations of polymorphisms in the gene encoding the NMDA receptor 2B subunit in AD patients with different genetic setting are needed to clarify their role in the pathogenesis of AD.
Foreign Experience of Imposing Tourist Environmental Tax and Its Enlightenment

“Green taxes” contribute a great deal to a society free from pollution. Being one of the green taxes, environmental tax affects every aspect of social economic activities. Taken for granted as a newly emerging economic activity, tourist industry is subject to environmental tax. Tourist environmental tax originated from paying tourist cost. However, apart from paying the cost and preventing pollution, it has proliferate purposes, to illustrate, maintaining fairness of taxation, raising tax efficiency, improving financial condition, and increasing employment, to which the eco-tax levied on the Balearic Island in Spain is a good example. It eloquently proves the effect of tourist environmental tax on the development of tourist industry, and gives enlightenment to ideas of China’s tourist environmental tax, including the coverage of tax, scope of levy, agencies or individuals in charge of withhold taxes, tax margin, tax rate, and levying agencies.
Using a remote system to study the thermal properties of a vegetable oil filled power transformer: How does operation differ from mineral oil

There has been much discussion on the properties of natural esters and how they can be best applied as a transformer dielectric. The thermal properties of natural esters are different from those of mineral oil. A difficulty with investigating the thermal properties is that it is uncommon to find the same transformer design filled with different fluids. Two 90MVA power transformers were manufactured to the same design and installed in the south east of England, UK, where they were connected to the internet via a private connection. The transformers have been filled with different dielectrics, one being mineral oil and the other a natural ester. Remote monitoring has allowed us to perform a field study on the thermal properties of a natural ester and their effect on the operation of the transformer. The investigation shows that despite the viscosity affecting the cooling capability a power transformer can be designed so that there is little effect on its temperature. This study also demonstrates the advantage of remote monitoring, where a team in Australia can oversee a transformer on the other side of the world.
Thymidine Phosphorylase: A Possible Marker of Cell Maturation in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia 1

Thymidine Phosphorylase activity has been measured in two populations of human Acute Myeloid Leukaemia cells (AML) and in normal human macrophages. During short-term culture in vitro of AML cells the activity of this enzyme increases progressively and approaches that of normal non-dividing macrophages at a time when the leukaemia cells in culture show evidence of maturation as assayed by functional, enzymatic and morphological criteria. It is suggested that the level of Thymidine Phosphorylase activity may be a marker of maturation in AML.
Linearization study of a highly efficient CMOS-GaN RF pulse width modulation based transmitter

This paper studies linearity of a 2 GHz, 10 Watt peak output power RF pulse width modulation (RF-PWM) based transmitter. The transmitter incorporates a tunable load network class-E PA as the final output stage. The tunable load network enables dynamic optimization of the class-E along with the duty cycle resulting in high efficiency over a wide range of output power levels. A digital predistiortion based linearization scheme is proposed to enhance the linearity of the transmitter. After linearization, the transmitter exhibits an adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) of -45 dBc with a 3.84 MHz, 6.7 dB peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) W-CDMA signal. The average drain efficiency of the GaN HEMT output stage is 67% and the total transmitter efficiency is 54%.
Internet and World Wide Web‐Based Tools for Neuropathology Practice and Education

The Internet and the World Wide Web (www) serve as a source of information and a communication network. Together they form a so‐called web or network that allows for transmission and dissemination of information in unprecedented speed, volume and detail. This article presents an overview of the current status of neuropathology content on the www. As well as considering the Internet as a resource for neuropathology practice, education and research, we also address the issue of quality assurance when evaluating Internet and www content. Four major categories of websites (archival, broker, news and blog) are discussed and resources relevant to neuropathology of each type are highlighted. We believe that our report and similar attempts can provide an opportunity to discuss appropriate and effective use of the Internet by the neuropathology community.
Self‐reported sleep duration in Finnish general population

Self‐reported short or long sleep duration has been repeatedly found to be associated with increased mortality and health risks. However, there is still an insufficient amount of detailed knowledge available to characterize the short and long sleep duration groups in general population. Consequently, the underlying mechanisms potentially explaining the health risks associated with short and long sleep duration are unclear. In the present study, the self‐reported sleep duration in a sample of Finnish general population was studied, and its possible associations with such factors as self‐perceived health, sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, sleep difficulties and daytime concomitants were analyzed. In particular, an effort was made to define mutually statistically‐independent determinants of sleep duration. In the Finnish Health 2000 Survey, a representative sample of 8028 subjects of 30 years of age or older and a sample of 1894 subjects of 18–29 years of age were invited to take part in the health interview and health examination. The participation rate of the study was over 80%. The most important and statistically‐independent determinants of short and long sleep duration were gender, physical tiredness, sleep problems, marital status, main occupation and physical activity. However, in the multivariable model they only accounted for approximately 16% of the variance in sleep duration in short and long sleepers, suggesting multiple sources of variance. The present study also suggests a dose–response like relationship between the sleep duration and many of its determinants within both short and long sleepers. A more detailed analysis of the clinical status of the short and long sleep duration groups is needed to evaluate the possible importance of these findings for health risks associated with sleep duration.
Increased Brown Adipose Tissue Oxidative Capacity in Cold-Acclimated Humans

Context: Recent studies examining brown adipose tissue (BAT) metabolism in adult humans have provided convincing evidence of its thermogenic potential and role in clearing circulating glucose and fatty acids under acute mild cold exposure. In contrast, early indications suggest that BAT metabolism is defective in obesity and type 2 diabetes, which may have important pathological and therapeutic implications. Although many mammalian models have demonstrated the phenotypic flexibility of this tissue through chronic cold exposure, little is known about the metabolic plasticity of BAT in humans. Objective: Our objective was to determine whether 4 weeks of daily cold exposure could increase both the volume of metabolically active BAT and its oxidative capacity. Design: Six nonacclimated men were exposed to 10°C for 2 hours daily for 4 weeks (5 d/wk), using a liquid-conditioned suit. Using electromyography combined with positron emission tomography with [11C]acetate and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose, shivering intensity and BAT oxidative metabolism, glucose uptake, and volume before and after 4 weeks of cold acclimation were examined under controlled acute cold-exposure conditions. Results: The 4-week acclimation protocol elicited a 45% increase in BAT volume of activity (from 66 ± 30 to 95 ± 28 mL, P < .05) and a 2.2-fold increase in cold-induced total BAT oxidative metabolism (from 0.725 ± 0.300 to 1.591 ± 0.326 mL·s−1, P < .05). Shivering intensity was not significantly different before compared with after acclimation (2.1% ± 0.7% vs 2.0% ± 0.5% maximal voluntary contraction, respectively). Fractional glucose uptake in BAT increased after acclimation (from 0.035 ± 0.014 to 0.048 ± 0.012 min−1), and net glucose uptake also trended toward an increase (from 163 ± 60 to 209 ± 50 nmol·g−1·min−1). Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that daily cold exposure not only increases the volume of metabolically active BAT but also increases its oxidative capacity and thus its contribution to cold-induced thermogenesis.
Generalized Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov Lemma Based I-PD Controller Design for Ball and Plate System

The ball-on-plate balancing system has a camera that captures the ball position and a plate whose inclination angles are limited. This paper proposes a PID controller design method for the ball and plate system based on the generalized Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov lemma. The design method has two features: first, the structure of the controller called I-PD prevents large input signals against major changes in the reference signal; second, a low-pass filter is introduced into the feedback loop to reduce the influence of the measurement noise produced by the camera. Both simulations and experiments are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the design method.
The effect of folic acid fortification on plasma folate and total homocysteine concentrations.

BACKGROUND In 1996, the Food and Drug Administration issued a regulation requiring all enriched grain products to be fortified with folic acid to reduce the risk of neural-tube defects in newborns. Fortification (140 microg per 100 g) began in 1996, and the process was essentially complete by mid-1997. METHODS To assess the effect of folic acid fortification on folate status, we measured plasma folate and total homocysteine concentrations (a sensitive marker of folate status) using blood samples from the fifth examination (January 1991 to December 1994) of the Framingham Offspring Study cohort for baseline values and the sixth examination (January 1995 to August 1998) for follow-up values. We divided the cohort into two groups on the basis of the date of their follow-up examination: the study group consisted of 350 subjects who were seen after fortification (September 1997 to March 1998), and the control group consisted of 756 subjects who were seen before fortification (January 1995 to September 1996). RESULTS Among the subjects in the study group who did not use vitamin supplements, the mean folate concentrations increased from 4.6 to 10.0 ng per milliliter (11 to 23 nmol per liter) (P<0.001) from the baseline visit to the follow-up visit, and the prevalence of low folate concentrations (<3 ng per milliliter [7 nmol per liter]) decreased from 22.0 to 1.7 percent (P< 0.001). The mean total homocysteine concentration decreased from 10.1 to 9.4 micromol per liter during this period (P<0.001), and the prevalence of high homocysteine concentrations (>13 micromol per liter) decreased from 18.7 to 9.8 percent (P<0.001). In the control group, there were no statistically significant changes in concentrations of folate or homocysteine. CONCLUSIONS The fortification of enriched grain products with folic acid was associated with a substantial improvement in folate status in a population of middle-aged and older adults.