Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Caregivers' Knowledge, Practices about Childhood Diarrhea and Pneumonia and their Perceptions of Lady Health Worker Program; Findings from NIGRAAN Implementation Research Project

Background: Despite 60% coverage by Lady Health Worker (LHW) Program, 30% of child deaths in Pakistan are still due to diarrhea and pneumonia. Caregivers are an important stakeholder yet there is little information on their case management practices and utilization of LHW Program. This study explored caregivers’ knowledge and practices about childhood diarrhea and pneumonia and utility of LHW services before and after a supportive supervision intervention. Methods: Cross sectional surveys were conducted with caregivers’ (mothers) pre and post intervention in project NIGRAAN. The intervention aimed to improve LHSs clinical and supervisory skills of lady health supervisors in order to improve LHW performance and ultimately impact caregiver practices. 4250 households were surveyed. Questionnaire was adapted from PDHS 2012-13. Differences between intervention and control groups were assessed using chi square test. P-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Comparing baseline to end line, there were significant overall improvements in caregivers’knowledge of loose motion (62 to 84%) and dehydration (12 to 18%) as signs and symptoms of childhood diarrhea. There was also a significant overall increase in caregivers’ knowledge of presenting features of pneumonia- i.e. fever (58 to 86%), cough (51 to 61%) and breathing problems (25 to 57%). The proportion of caregivers seeking advice for diarrhea from public sector significantly improved in intervention arm from 20% to 29%. Private sector however remained overall preferred choice for care seeking. There was significant overall improvement in awareness about LHWs functioning (93 to 99%) and household visits (91 to 98%). Actual care seeking from LHWs however stayed low (≤ 0.3%) Conclusion: In order to improve utility and expand coverage of LHW Program interventions aimed at providing supportive supervision have the potential to improve caregiver practices and utilization of available services and decrease childhood deaths due to preventable illnesses.
Hydraulic resistance in Acer saccharum shoots and its influence on leaf water potential and transpiration.

A new method is presented for measuring whole-shoot hydraulic conductance, K(T) (kg s(-1) MPa(-1)). The method was also used to determine other conductance values in maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) stem segments of differing diameter including: K(h) (absolute conductance or conductance per unit pressure gradient, kg s(-1) m MPa(-1)), K(s) (specific conductance or K(h) per unit wood area, kg s(-1) m(-1) MPa(-1)), and LSC (leaf specific conductance or K(h) per unit leaf area, kg s(-1) m(-1) MPa(-1)). A regression of K(T) versus stem basal diameter, D (m), gave K(T) = 5.998 x 10(-2) D(1.402) (R(2) = 0.986 for D from 0.001 to 0.1 m) and a regression for leaf area, A(L) (m(2)), gave A(L) = 4.667 x 10(3) D(2.007) (R(2) = 0.981 for D from 0.001 to 0.3 m). More than 50% of the resistance to water flow in large shoots (0.1 m in diameter and 8 to 10 m long) was contained in branches less than 0.012 m in diameter, i.e., in the distal 1.5 m of branches. We used the regressions to predict the steady state difference in pressure potential, P, between the base of a shoot of diameter D and the average pressure potential at the apices of the shoot; the relation is given by P = 7.781 x 10(4) E D(0.605), where E is the average evaporative flux density (kg s(-1) m(-2)) in the leaves attached to the shoot. After comparing the predictions of this equation to field observations of E and leaf water potential and stomatal conductance, we concluded that the hydraulic conductance of large maple shoots is sufficiently low to prevent maximum stomatal conductance in maple leaves.
Chronic heart failure : management of chronic heart failure in adults in primary and secondary care

To order copies Copies of this guideline can be ordered from the NHS Response Line; telephone 0870 1555 455 and quote reference number N0247. A version for people who want to understand what NICE has told the NHS, called Management of Heart Failure. Understanding NICE Guidance – Information for People with Heart Failure, Their Carers, and the Public, is also available from the Response Line; quote reference number N0248 for an English only version and N0249 for an English and Welsh version. This guidance is written in the following context: This guidance represents the view of the Institute, which was arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. Health professionals are expected to take it fully into account when exercising their clinical judgment The guidance does not, however, override the individual responsibility of health professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer.
Perbedaan Motivasi Berprestasi pada India Tamil dan India Punjabi di Kota Medan

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui perbedaan motivasi berprestasi padamasyarakat India Tamil dan India Punjabi di kota Medan. Metode yang digunakan dalampenelitian ini adalah pendekatan kuantitatif dengan metode komparasi. Alat ukur yangdigunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah skala motivasi berprestasi yang diadopsi dari alat ukurmotivasi berprestasi direvisi dan divalidasi oleh Ye and Hagtvet (1992) dalam konteks China.Alat ukur ini terdiri dari 45 item dengan reliabilitas 0,921. Adapun jumlah subjek dalampenelitian ini adalah 140 orang dengan jumlah masing-masing dari masyarakat India Tamilmaupun India Punjabi sebanyak 70 orang.Berdasarkan hasil penelitian yang diperoleh dari uji dan interpretasi independent samplet-test didapatkan nilai p=0,000 yang menunujukkan bahwa hipotesis alternatif yang berbunyimotivasi berprestasi India Punjabi di kota Medan lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan motivasiberprestasi India Tamil diterima. Skor rata-rata motivasi berprestasi masyarakat India Punjabiadalah 108,41 dan skor rata-rata motivasi berprestasi India Tamil sebesar 92,53.Kata kunci: Motivasi Berprestasi, India Tamil, India Punjabi.
Personality, Coping, and Well-Being for People Living with Chronic Hepatitis C

The present study examined the relationships between personality, coping strategies, and health ratings to extend past research to people living with chronic hepatitis C (HCV). Participants were 35 people (11 men, 24 women; M age = 49.6 yr., SD = 10.6) living with chronic hepatitis C for an average of 9.0 yr. (SD = 6.0) since diagnosis. Participants provided descriptions of stressful situations and responded to a personality inventory, Ways of Coping Questionnaire scales (planful problem solving and escape-avoidance) and SF36 Health Survey scales measuring physical functioning and mental health. The stressful situations were judgmentally clustered into seven dimensions (diagnosis/mortality, disclosure, stigma, social and work role functioning, compounding problems, and no stress). Correlational analyses indicated strong negative relationships between escape–avoidance coping and health measures. Emotional Stability and Extraversion were positively related to both health variables, and Extraversion was negatively related to escape–avoidance coping. The results suggest that research from other contexts that has examined these relationships tended to generalize to people living with HCV.
Entecavir monotherapy for lamivudine-refractory chronic hepatitis B

Evaluation of: Sherman M, Yurdaidin C, Simsek H et al. Entecavir therapy for lamivudine-refractory chronic hepatitis B: improved virologic, biochemical and serology outcomes through 96 weeks. Hepatology 48, 99–108 (2008). This article evaluates the efficacy, safety and resistance profile of entecavir treatment in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B lamivudine-refractory patients. A total of 286 patients were randomized and treated with entecavir 1 mg (n = 141) or continued lamivudine 100 mg (n = 145). At week 52, 77 entecavir-treated patients with a protocol-defined virologic response continued blinded therapy for up to 96 weeks. Cumulative proportions of all treated patients who achieved confirmed efficacy end points were also analyzed. It was shown that with 2 years of treatment, 30% of all entecavir-treated patients achieved HBV DNA of less than 300 copies/ml by PCR and 85% had alanine aminotransferase normalization (vs 1 and 29% of lamivudine-treated patients; p < 0.0001). HBeAg seroconversion was achieved by 17% of all entecavir-treated patients (24 out of 141) versus 6% of all lamivudine-treated patients (8 out of 1450; p < 0.0011) and was sustained in 11 patients (7.8%) 6 months after treatment discontinuation. However, entecavir treatment was associated with an increasing rate of drug resistance. Therefore, entecavir monotherapy does not appear to be the treatment of choice for lamivudine-refractory HBV patients and either a combination of potent antivirals with nonoverlapping resistance patterns or the use of newer nucleotides as monotherapy (e.g., tenofovir) could be helpful in the management of this difficult population.
Lung Cancer Stem Cells and Their Therapeutic Targeting

Lung cancer is responsible for causing more than 1 million deaths worldwide each year making it the most common cancer in humans. It has now been established that lung cancers contain a subpopulation of cancer cells, responsible for tumor initiation, propagation, and metastasis, termed as cancer stem cells (CSCs). However, this stem cell population in lung cancers remains poorly characterized. The present review discusses on the novel cell surface markers that would be required for isolating lung CSCs, and characterization of these important cells. The discussion also elucidates the regulatory signalling pathways involved in their maintenance and the role of miRNA in lung cancer stem cells and prospects of using them as therapeutic targets.
VEGF165b Modulates Endothelial VEGFR1–STAT3 Signaling Pathway and Angiogenesis in Human and Experimental Peripheral Arterial Disease

Rationale: Atherosclerotic-arterial occlusions decrease tissue perfusion causing ischemia to lower limbs in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Ischemia in muscle induces an angiogenic response, but the magnitude of this response is frequently inadequate to meet tissue perfusion requirements. Alternate splicing in the exon-8 of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A results in production of proangiogenic VEGFxxxa isoforms (VEGF165a, 165 for the 165 amino acid product) and antiangiogenic VEGFxxxb (VEGF165b) isoforms. Objective: The antiangiogenic VEGFxxxb isoforms are thought to antagonize VEGFxxxa isoforms and decrease activation of VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR2), hereunto considered the dominant receptor in postnatal angiogenesis in PAD. Our data will show that VEGF165b inhibits VEGFR1 signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)-3 signaling to decrease angiogenesis in human and experimental PAD. Methods and Results: In human PAD versus control muscle biopsies, VEGF165b: (1) is elevated, (2) is bound higher (versus VEGF165a) to VEGFR1 not VEGFR2, and (3) levels correlated with decreased VEGFR1, not VEGFR2, activation. In experimental PAD, delivery of an isoform-specific monoclonal antibody to VEGF165b versus control antibody enhanced perfusion in animal model of severe PAD (Balb/c strain) without activating VEGFR2 signaling but with increased VEGFR1 activation. Receptor pull-down experiments demonstrate that VEGF165b inhibition versus control increased VEGFR1–STAT3 binding and STAT3 activation, independent of Janus-activated kinase-1)/Janus-activated kinase-2. Using VEGFR1+/− mice that could not increase VEGFR1 after ischemia, we confirm that VEGF165b decreases VEGFR1–STAT3 signaling to decrease perfusion. Conclusions: Our results indicate that VEGF165b prevents activation of VEGFR1–STAT3 signaling by VEGF165a and hence inhibits angiogenesis and perfusion recovery in PAD muscle.
Analyzing the effects of peripheral circuit aging of embedded SRAM architectures

Modern System-on-Chips rely heavily on the performance of their embedded memories which are also most susceptible to the increasing reliability challenges of today's nanoscale technology nodes. However, in contrast to memory core-cells, the effects of transistor aging inside the peripheral logic of SRAM architectures have received little attention. This study works out how BTI and HCI induced wear-out of the peripheral SRAM circuitry impacts various performance metrics of an industrially used memory library. We show that the degradation of the peripheral logic is the dominant driver for access speed loss while it tends to slightly lower memory read margin and lead to minor improvements of write margin. We furthermore show that in terms of access time margin the degradation of SRAM control circuitry counteracts aging effects inside core-cells and sense amplifiers. Surprisingly, wear-out of peripheral circuitry can even improve access time margin in case when the relative magnitude of PBTI is much lower compared with NBTI. Based on the example of an embedded memory library, this study further underlines the importance to analyze aging mechanisms at system level rather than for its individual interacting sub-circuits.
Organ Donation After Euthanasia: A Dutch Practical Manual

The recent publication from the Netherlands regarding the Dutch Practical Manual, detailing guidelines relating to patients’ requests for organ donation after euthanasia, highlights the legal and medical feasibility of such a procedure (1). However, as of 2016, euthanasia is legal only in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and Colombia; remains controversial in Canada and the United States; and is the subject of much debate among health care professionals worldwide.
Role of PI3K/Akt and MEK/ERK in mediating hypoxia-induced expression of HIF-1alpha and VEGF in laser-induced rat choroidal neovascularization.

PURPOSE The transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 plays a central physiological role in oxygen and energy homeostasis and is activated during hypoxia by stabilization of the subunit HIF-1alpha. Hypoxia plays an important role in the development of choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Expression of HIF-1alpha has been demonstrated in CNV. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the most well-characterized angiogenic factors in CNV, which is under the regulation of HIF-1. The aim of the present study was to explore the upstream signaling pathways involved in regulating hypoxia-induced expression of HIF-1alpha and VEGF in laser-induced rat CNV. METHODS A well-established rat model of CNV and cultured human retinal pigment epithelium (hRPE) was used to investigate the role of PI3K/Akt and MEK/ERK pathways in regulating HIF-1alpha and VEGF expression in CNV in rat and hRPE under hypoxia by immunohistochemistry, Western blot analysis, real-time PCR, and ELISA. RESULTS pAkt, pERK, HIF-1alpha, and VEGF were upregulated in vivo and in vitro. PI3K inhibitor (Ly294002) significantly decreased pAkt activity and HIF-1alpha and VEGF expression in vivo and in vitro, whereas MEK inhibitor (PD98059) reduced ERK phosphorylation and the expression of VEGF but had no effect on HIF-1alpha. LY294002 and PD98059 severely inhibited the formation of CNV. CONCLUSIONS The PI3K/Akt pathway was required for hypoxia-induced expression of HIF-1alpha and VEGF, whereas the MEK/ERK pathway was required only for VEGF in laser-induced rat CNV.
Translational Control Mechanisms in Long-lasting Synaptic Plasticity and Memory*

Mnemonic processes are controlled by selective modification (weakening or strengthening) of connections between neurons (1,–5). To understand the precise molecular mechanisms by which this remarkably complex network encodes a given episode during learning is arguably one of the major challenges in modern neuroscience (6). Two kinds of memory storage mechanisms have been described: short-term memory (STM),3 which lasts only a few minutes or hours, and long-term memory (LTM), which persists for many weeks, months, years, and even a lifetime (7). Consolidation of LTM depends on de novo synthesis. Indeed, the first molecular distinction between STM and LTM emerged from studies with protein synthesis inhibitors >40 years ago: animals that were treated with drugs that block protein synthesis could not form LTM, yet their STM was preserved. More than a century ago, Dr. Santiago Ramon y Cajal, the great Spanish neuroanatomist, proposed that forming memories requires neurons to strengthen their connections with one another. Now, it is widely accepted that information is stored in the brain as changes in the strength of synaptic connections. Like LTM, long-lasting (but not short-lasting) changes in the strength of synaptic connections depend on new protein synthesis. Such changes can be observed when neuronal activity is recorded in brain slices with microelectrodes in vitro. Synaptic plasticity refers to the ability of the synapse to strengthen or weaken in response to experience. The best studied forms of synaptic plasticity are long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), which refer to facilitation and depression of synaptic strength, respectively (8). LTP can be divided into two distinct temporal phases: early LTP (E-LTP), which depends on modification of pre-existing proteins, is usually induced by one tetanic train, and lasts 1–2 h, and late LTP (L-LTP), which requires new protein synthesis, is induced by repetitive tetanic trains, and lasts for several hours (9). There is emerging evidence that local protein synthesis at dendrites could play a key role in long-lasting forms of synaptic plasticity (10). Recent genetic and molecular studies have cast new light on the molecular mechanisms underlying protein synthesis-dependent synaptic plasticity and memory storage. We discuss here some of the molecular mechanisms by which translational control regulates changes in synaptic strength and memory storage.
Negative regulation of the Wnt–β‐catenin pathway by the transcriptional repressor HBP1

In certain cancers, constitutive Wnt signaling results from mutation in one or more pathway components. The result is the accumulation and nuclear localization of β‐catenin, which interacts with the lymphoid enhancer factor‐1 (LEF)/T‐cell factor (TCF) family of HMG‐box transcription factors, which activate important growth regulatory genes, including cyclin D1 and c‐myc. As exemplified by APC and axin, the negative regulation of β‐catenin is important for tumor suppression. Another potential mode of negative regulation is transcriptional repression of cyclin D1 and other Wnt target genes. In mammals, the transcriptional repressors in the Wnt pathway are not well defined. We have previously identified HBP1 as an HMG‐box repressor and a cell cycle inhibitor. Here, we show that HBP1 is a repressor of the cyclin D1 gene and inhibits the Wnt signaling pathway. The inhibition of Wnt signaling and growth requires a common domain of HBP1. The apparent mechanism is an inhibition of TCF/LEF DNA binding through a physical interaction with HBP1. These data suggest that the suppression of Wnt signaling by HBP1 may be a mechanism to prevent inappropriate proliferation.
Channel tracking for RAKE receivers in closely spaced multipath environments

This paper deals with the problem of channel tracking for RAKE receivers in propagation environments characterized by closely spaced multipath components. After outlining why conventional single-path channel tracking algorithms fail in such scenarios, several new estimation algorithms are developed that are tailored to channels with closely spaced multipaths. This is achieved by removing or minimizing self-interference caused by multipath components. Other interfering users are treated as noise. Both timing tracking and phasor tracking and their interaction are covered in this paper. The derived algorithms are benchmarked against perfect channel knowledge on one hand and conventional tracking algorithms on the other hand, both in a UMTS test scenario. In moderate scenarios, the use of these new algorithms leads to performance improvements of up to 2 dB, in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at moderate bit error rates, and even manages to track the channel in conditions where conventional tracking algorithms fail completely.
Iatrogenic Cushing's syndrome in an HIV-infected patient treated with ritonavir and inhaled fluticasone.

In-vitro and limited in-vivo data suggest that uridine may be beneficial in preventing and treating the mitochondrial toxicity of pyrimidine nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI). For example, the supplementation of uridine to hepatocytes exposed to pyrimidine analogues has been shown to prevent and treat mitochondrial DNA depletion and all its consequences on mitochondrial metabolism, cell survival and function [1]. Similarly, uridine also completely abrogated the lipoatrophic phenotype of adipocytes exposed to stavudine by preventing apoptosis, the loss of lipids, mtDNA depletion and mitochondrial depolarization [2]. Uridine rescued neuronal cells exposed to zalcitabine [3], and was also beneficial in both anaemia [4,5] and lipoatrophy related to zidovudine [2]. The competition of uridine or its metabolites with NRTI, either at gammapolymerase or at enzymes responsible for NRTI activation and transport is the most plausible mechanism of action [1]. Depending on the system studied, uridine was effective at concentrations of 50–200 mM [1,4].
RGD-dependent entry of coxsackievirus A9 into host cells and its bypass after cleavage of VP1 protein by intestinal proteases

The recently reported nucleotide sequence of coxsackievirus A9 (CAV-9) showed that unlike other enteroviruses, CAV-9 has an insertion of about 17 amino acids at the C-terminal end of VP1 (K. H. Chang, P. Auvinen, T. Hyypiä, and G. Stanway, J. Gen. Virol. 70:3269-3280, 1989). This sequence includes the RGD (arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) motif which is known to be important in certain protein-protein interactions. We studied the inhibitory effect of RGD-containing peptides in the attachment of CAV-9 to African green monkey kidney cells. A peptide corresponding to the RRGDM sequence derived from the inserted segment of CAV-9 was found to block virus attachment effectively, and the inhibition was dose dependent. Substitution of glutamic acid for the homologous aspartic acid completely abolished the inhibitory effect, indicating great specificity of the action. During replication in the gut, all enteroviruses are exposed to host proteolytic enzymes. Exposure of CAV-9 to purified trypsin or human intestinal fluid resulted in selective cleavage of the VP1 capsid protein. Intact and trypsin-cleaved VP1 proteins gave identical N-terminal sequences, indicating that cleavage of VP1 takes place near the C terminus. Attachment of proteolytically cleaved infectious CAV-9 to green monkey kidney cells was not prevented by RGD-containing peptides, indicating that cleaved CAV-9 is able to bypass RGD-dependent entry. The altered receptor specificity of proteolytically cleaved viruses may have important consequences in the pathogenesis of enteric infections.
Variance estimation of DEE and regression estimator when a first-phase cluster sample is restratified

ABSTRACT We consider a variance estimation when a stratified single stage cluster sample is selected in the first phase and a stratified simple random element sample is selected in the second phase. We propose explicit formulas of (asymptotically), we propose explicit formulas of (asymptotically) unbiased variance estimators for the double expansion estimator and regression estimator. We perform a small simulation study to investigate the performance of the proposed variance estimators. In our simulation study, the proposed variance estimator showed better or comparable performance to the Jackknife variance estimator. We also extend the results to a two-phase sampling design in which a stratified pps with replacement cluster sample is selected in the first phase.