Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Relationship Between Methamphetamine and Popper Use and Risk of HIV Seroconversion in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study

Background:The association between methamphetamine use and HIV seroconversion for men who have sex with men (MSM) was examined using longitudinal data from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study. Methods:Seronegative (n = 4003) men enrolled in 1984 to 1985, 1987 to 1991, and 2001 to 2003 were identified. Recent methamphetamine and popper use was determined at the current or previous visit. Time to HIV seroconversion was the outcome of interest. Covariates included race/ethnicity, cohort, study site, educational level, number of sexual partners, number of unprotected insertive anal sexual partners, number of unprotected receptive anal sexual partners, insertive rimming, cocaine use at the current or last visit, ecstasy use at the current or last visit, any needle use since the last visit, Center for Epidemiologic Study of Depression symptom checklist score >16 since the last visit, and alcohol consumption. Results:After adjusting for covariates, there was a 1.46 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12 to 1.92) increased relative hazard of HIV seroconversion associated with methamphetamine use. The relative hazard associated with popper use was 2.10 (95% CI: 1.63 to 2.70). The relative hazard of HIV seroconversion increased with the number of unprotected receptive anal sexual partners, ranging from 1.87 (95% CI: 1.40 to 2.51) for 1 partner to 9.32 (95% CI: 6.21 to 13.98) for 5+ partners. The joint relative hazard for methamphetamine and popper use was 3.05 (95% CI: 2.12 to 4.37). There was a significant joint relative hazard for methamphetamine use and number of unprotected receptive anal sexual partners of 2.71 (95% CI: 1.81 to 4.04) for men with 1 unprotected receptive anal sexual partner, which increased in a dose-dependent manner for >1 partners. Conclusions:Further examination of the mechanisms underlying the synergism of drug use and sexual risk behaviors on rates of HIV seroconversion is necessary for the development of new targeted HIV prevention strategies for nonmonogamous drug-using MSM.
Asymptotic study of dispersion relations for viscoelastic waveguides of canonical shapes in the case of Rabotnov's rheological model

Dispersion properties of a viscoelastic layer and a thin-walled hollow circular cylinder are studied by asymptotic methods. The viscoelastic properties of the material are described by the constitutive equations in the integral form with the fractional exponential Rabotnov's function as a kernel of the integral operators. For both types of waveguides, the generalized power series expansion are used to construct the asymptotic expansions of the lowest dispersion equations roots for small and large values of frequency. The influence of viscoelastic properties on the asymptotic behavior of dispersion curves is discussed. Comparison of the asymptotic solutions with the numerical one is presented.
Split hand foot malformation is associated with a reduced level of Dactylin gene expression

Split hand foot malformation (SHFM) is a congenital limb malformation presenting with a median cleft of the hand and/or foot, syndactyly and polydactyly. SHFM is genetically heterogeneous with four loci mapped to date. Murine Dactylaplasia (Dac) is phenotypically similar, and it has been mapped to a syntenic region of 10q24, where SHFM3 has been localized. Structural alterations of the gene‐encoding dactylin, a constituent of the ubiquitinization pathway, leading to reduced levels of transcript have been identified in Dac. Here, we report a significant decrease of Dactylin transcript in several individuals affected by SHFM. This observation supports a central role for dactylin in the pathogenesis of SHFM.
Alternaria sensitization and allergic rhinitis with or without asthma in the French Six Cities study

To cite this article: Randriamanantany ZA, Annesi‐Maesano I, Moreau D, Raherison C, Charpin D, Kopferschmitt C, Lavaud F, Taytard A, De Blay F, Caillaud D. Alternaria sensitization and allergic rhinitis with or without asthma in the French Six Cities study. Allergy 2010; 65: 368–375.
Cerebral mechanism of puncturing at He-Mu point combination for functional dyspepsia: study protocol for a randomized controlled parallel trial

Acupuncture is widely used to treat functional dyspepsia with satisfactory outcomes. Combination of the He and Mu acupoints is commonly used and has a synergistic effect on functional dyspepsia; however, its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, a randomized controlled parallel clinical trial is currently underway at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China. This trial is designed to explore the efficacy of and central responses to the He-Mu point combination in patients with functional dyspepsia using functional magnetic resonance imaging. A total of 105 patients with functional dyspepsia will be allocated into 3 groups: the low-He point group (puncturing at Zusanli (ST36)), Mu point group (puncturing at Zhongwan (CV12)), and He-Mu point combination group (puncturing at ST36 and CV12). Every participant will receive 20 sessions of manual acupuncture for 4 weeks. The needles will be inserted perpendicularly to a depth of 1 to 2 cun. The angle of rotation and twisting will range from 90 to 180 degrees, while lifting and thrusting will range from 0.3 to 0.5 cm. The various manipulations will be performed 60 to 90 times per minute. The needles will remain in place for 30 minutes, during which manipulation will be applied every 10 minutes. Magnetic resonance imaging will be performed before and after 20 sessions of acupuncture. The primary outcome is symptom improvement according to the Chinese version of the Nepean Dyspepsia Index. Secondary outcomes include the Leeds dyspepsia questionnaire, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and visual analogue scale scores before and after 10 and 20 sessions of acupuncture. Needle sensation and adverse events will be used to assess the therapeutic effects. This study will promote more widespread awareness of the benefits of acupoint combination in the clinical setting and provide a further explanation of the neuromechanism by which acupuncture at the He-Mu point combination for functional dyspepsia. Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-IOR-15006402.
SPR Biosensor Based on Polymer PCF Coated With Conducting Metal Oxide

We propose a biosensor based on photonic crystal fiber made of polymethyl methacrylate using surface plasmon resonance. The proposed sensor consists of a layer of air holes as cladding and a central hole for phase matching between plasmon mode and core guided mode. Alternate holes in the second layer coated with conducting metal oxide, i.e., indium tin oxide (ITO), contain analyte. We found that the optimized thickness of the ITO for optimum performance is 70 nm, which matches with reported result. Unlike other metal coated structures, here the resonance is around telecommunication window and can be tuned by varying the intrinsic properties of the ITO as per requirement. The proposed sensor shows refractive index sensitivity as high as 2000 nm/RIU and has resolution of 5×10-5 RIU.
Simulation der Zylinderinnenströmung eines Zweiventil-Dieselmotors mit einem skalenauflösenden Turbulenzmodell

Die Luftstromung im Brennraum eines Dieselmotors zum Zeitpunkt der Einspritzung hat einen masgeblichen Einfluss auf die Gemischbildung, Verbrennung und letztendlich auf die entstehenden Emissionen. Experimentelle Methoden und numerische Stromungssimulation (CFD) bieten die Moglichkeit, die auftretenden Stromungsphanomene zu untersuchen und zu verstehen. In der CFD ermoglicht die Large Eddy Simulation (LES) als ein skalenauflosendes Turbulenzmodell die Abbildung von instantanen und lokalen Stromungsstrukturen und von Zyklusschwankungen. In dieser Arbeit wird die LES fur die Berechnung der Zylinderinnenstromung eines realistischen Zweiventil-Dieselmotors angewendet und die Ergebnisse anhand experimenteller Daten validiert. Zusatzlich wird die Anwendung im industriellen Umfeld, insbesondere im Vergleich zur etablierten RANS-Methode, bewertet. Fur die Validierung steht eine umfassende Datenbasis aus HS-PIV-Untersuchungen bestehend aus zeitlich hoch aufgelosten Geschwindigkeitsvektorfeldern in horizontalen und vertikalen Messebenen zur Verfugung. Um die Vergleichbarkeit zu den experimentellen Untersuchungen am Motorprufstand zu gewahrleisten, wurden die fur die Simulation notwendigen Geometrie- und Randbedingungen in enger Abstimmung mit dem Experiment definiert. Die Simulationen wurden mit dem kommerziellen CFD-Loser ANSYS CFX auf einem Hochleistungsrechner durchgefuhrt. Dabei wurde ein hochwertiges blockstrukturiertes Hexaedergitter verwendet. Im Rahmen der Arbeit wurde ein Algorithmus entwickelt, der es ermoglicht, die bewegte Motorgeometrie wahrend der Rechnung anhand bestimmter Qualitatskriterien automatisiert neu zu vernetzen. Fur eine rechenzeitreduzierte Berechnung mehrerer LES-Zyklen, die fur die statistische Auswertung notwendig sind, wurde die Zyklenreihenparallelisierung verwendet. Zu den charakteristischen Stromungen des Zweiventil-Dieselmotors gehoren die Einlassstromung mit den sehr hohen Geschwindigkeiten und Fluktuationen und die sich in der Kompressionsphase ausbildende Drallstromung. Gegen Ende der Kompressionsphase fuhrt die Quetschspaltstromung zu einer Erhohung des Turbulenzgrades in der Mulde. Mit der LES konnen diese Stromungen und instantane und lokale Stromungsfluktuationen zusammen mit der daraus resultierenden mittleren turbulenten kinetischen Energie, insbesondere in der Kompressionsphase, gut wiedergegeben werden. Auch zyklische Schwankungen, z.B. charakterisiert durch die Variation des Drallzentrums, werden im Vergleich zum Experiment sehr gut abgebildet. Die Anwendung der LES fur die Berechnung der Zylinderinnenstromung ist im industriellen Umfeld prinzipiell moglich und ermoglicht die gewunschte Abbildung der kleinskaligen Stromungen und Zyklusschwankungen. Gemittelte Werte werden sowohl von LES als auch von RANS im Vergleich zum Experiment richtig wiedergegeben. Allerdings ist fur die LES ein gegenuber der RANS-Simulation deutlich erhohter Ressourcenaufwand in allen drei Phasen vor, wahrend, und nach der Rechnung notwendig.
Effect of BN size on arc ablation characteristics of PTFE material

To satisfy the rapid development of energy requirements, power transmission with higher voltage must be adopted. The large improvement in transmission voltage needs more excellent power equipment and better materials to meet its insulation requirement. PTFE nozzle used in high voltage circuit breaker faces the issue of arc ablation, and thus superior performance nozzles are urgently needed. In this paper, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)/boron nitride (BN) micro sheet composites (PTFE/BN) are prepared to study the relationship of BN size and arc ablation characteristics. The thermal transport performance of PTFE/BN composites increases with BN sizes and the highest value has improved by 86.44% compared with that of neat PTFE when PTFE is filled with 3 μm BN. Moreover, PTFE/BN composites indicate higher spectral reflectance properties than that of neat PTFE when the light wavelength is longer than 300 nm. The arc ablation test results show that the PTFE/BN composites present better arc ablation resistance performance, which gets more and more excellent with increase of BN size. It is considered that the increase in thermal transport performance makes the heat form the high temperature arc conduct more quickly and then reduce the heat accumulation on the specimen surface, and thus the arc ablation resistance performance is improved.
A YKL-40–Neutralizing Antibody Blocks Tumor Angiogenesis and Progression: A Potential Therapeutic Agent in Cancers

Accumulating evidence has indicated that expression levels of YKL-40, a secreted glycoprotein, were elevated in multiple advanced human cancers. Recently, we have identified an angiogenic role of YKL-40 in cancer development. However, blockade of the function of YKL-40, which implicates therapeutic value, has not been explored yet. Our current study sought to establish a monoclonal anti–YKL-40 antibody as a neutralizing antibody for the purpose of blocking tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. A mouse monoclonal anti–YKL-40 antibody (mAY) exhibited specific binding with recombinant YKL-40 and with YKL-40 secreted from osteoblastoma cells MG-63 and brain tumor cells U87. In the functional analysis, we found that mAY inhibited tube formation of microvascular endothelial cells in Matrigel induced by conditioned medium of MG-63 and U87 cells, as well as recombinant YKL-40. mAY also abolished YKL-40–induced activation of the membrane receptor VEGF receptor 2 (Flk-1/KDR) and intracellular signaling mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase extracellular signal–regulated kinase (Erk) 1 and Erk 2. In addition, mAY enhanced cell death response of U87 line to γ-irradiation through decreased expression of pAKT and AKT and accordingly, abrogated angiogenesis induced by the conditioned medium of U87 cells in which YKL-40 levels were elevated by treatment with γ-irradiation. Furthermore, treatment of xenografted tumor mice with mAY restrained tumor growth, angiogenesis, and progression. Taken together, this study has shown the therapeutic use for the mAY in treatment of tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(5); 742–51. ©2011 AACR.
Bone Tissue Engineering Using Novel Interconnected Porous Hydroxyapatite Ceramics Combined with Marrow Mesenchymal Cells: Quantitative and Three-Dimensional Image Analysis

We developed fully opened interconnected porous calcium hydroxyapatite ceramics having two different pore sizes. One has pores with an average size of 150 μm in diameter, an average 40-μm interconnecting pore diameter, and 75% porosity (HA150). The other has pores with an average size of 300 μm in diameter, an average 60–100-μm interconnecting pore diameter, and 75% porosity (HA300). Because of its smaller pore diameter, HA150 has greater mechanical strength than that of HA300. These ceramics were combined with rat marrow mesenchymal cells and cultured for 2 weeks in the presence of dexamethasone. The cultured ceramics were then implanted into subcutaneous sites in syngeneic rats and harvested 2–8 weeks after implantation. All the implants showed bone formation inside the pore areas as evidenced by decalcified histological sections and microcomputed tomography images, which enabled three-dimensional analysis of the newly formed bone and calculation of the bone volume in the implants. The bone volume increased over time. At 8 weeks after implantation, extensive bone volume was detected not only in the surface pore areas but also in the center pore areas of the implants. A high degree of alkaline phosphatase activity with a peak at 2 weeks and a high level of osteocalcin with a gradual increase over time were detected in the implants. The levels of these biochemical parameters were higher in HA150 than in HA300. The results indicate that a combination of HA150 and mesenchymal cells could be used as an excellent bone graft substitute because of its mechanical properties and capability of inducing bone formation.
Competent mouse oocytes isolated from antral follicles exhibit different chromatin organization and follow different maturation dynamics

After labelling DNA with the specific vital fluorophore Hoechst 33342, oocytes, isolated by puncture from antral follicles in adult mice, have two essentially different configurations of their nuclear fluorescence images. These have been called SN (where the nucleolus is not surrounded by chromatin) and NSN (where the nucleolus is not surrounded by chromatin). Intermediate configurations are also found, although with a lower frequency. The proportion of each class is on the average equal and depends neither on the presence of cumulus cells nor on the age of the mouse. Electron microscopy confirms several ultrastructural differences between these two nuclear configurations, namely, the structure of the nucleolus, which is vacuolated in NSN‐type and compact in SN‐type oocytes. Using video‐enhanced fluorescence microscopy at low level of excitation light, we could follow directly in vitro the meiotic maturation of both classes, without impairing their viability. We show that in germinal vessicle (GV) state, the chromatin does not change from one configuration into the other and that both classes are able to mature to metaphase II, although the maturation has slightly different characteristics. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
CS 229 Project Final Report Deep Q-Learning on Arcade Game Assault

Atari 2600 Assault is a game environment provided on the OpenAI Gym platform; it is a top-down shoot’em up game where the player gains reward points for destroying enemy ships. The enemy consists of a mothership and smaller vessels that shoot at the player. The player can move and shoot in various directions with a total of 7 actions available. Every time the player shoots, a heat meter keeps track of how ‘hot’ the engine is; if the player shoots too frequently, the player can lose a life when the heat meter fills up due to overheating. The player can also lose a life upon taking fire from enemy ships. The game ends when the player runs out of lives. We create an AI agent that generates the optimal actions, taking raw pixels as features by feeding them into a convolutional neural network (CNN), also known as deep Q-learning.
A Conversation with Werner Vogels

Many think of Amazon as "that hugely successful online bookstore. " You would expect Amazon CTO Werner Vogels to embrace this distinction, but in fact it causes him some concern. "I think it’s important to realize that first and foremost Amazon is a technology company," says Vogels. And he’s right. Over the past years, Vogels has helped Amazon grow from an online retailer (albeit one of the largest, with more than 55 million active customer accounts) into a platform on which more than 1 million active retail partners worldwide do business. Behind Amazon’s successful evolution from retailer to technology platform is its SOA (service-oriented architecture), which broke new technological ground and proved that SOAs can deliver on their promises.
Biological role of lactoferrin.

Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein closely related in structure to the serum iron transport protein transferrin. Unlike transferrin, only traces are normally present in serum, and it is instead found mainly in milk and other external secretions, and in the secondary granules of neutrophils. Although lactoferrin was first isolated 30 years ago, its biological role remains unclear. Some aspects of its function were discussed about 12 years ago in this journal,' and this review will attempt to reassess the function of lactoferrin in the light of the large amount of new information that has accrued since then. Knowledge of the structure of lactoferrin has been advanced by recent x ray crystallographic studies, and the structure and iron binding properties of lactoferrin are reviewed in detail elsewhere.2 Briefly lactoferrin, like transferrin, reversibly binds two ferric ions, for which synergistic binding of an anion, usually bicarbonate or carbonate, is necessary. However, its affinity constant for iron is 300 times greater than that of transferrin, and even in the presence of a competing iron chelator such as citrate it can retain iron down to pH 3 or less while transferrin loses it at pH 5. Unlike transferrin, lactoferrin is strongly basic. Human lactoferrin has been cloned and sequenced4 and the recombinant protein expressed in baby hamster kidney cells.5 bearing in mind when considering its possible biological function. Human milk contains 3-6-12-5 ,umol/l of iron, and of this only 60-70% is in the whey fraction, the remainder being in the lipid fraction (11-20%) or bound to casein (2-14%). " As a consequence, milk lactoferrin is only 6-8% saturated with iron, presumably because of the difficulty in gaining access to iron in the lipid fraction or casein micelles.
Process Temperature–Dependent Mechanical Properties of Polysilicon Measured Using a Novel Tensile Test Structure

A new test structure was developed to measure three major unknown mechanical parameters of deposited thin films, i.e., fracture strength, Young's modulus, and residual stress. The structure was designed to have plural specimens of a deposited thin film bridging the gap of the silicon substrate and enables the easy and efficient tensile testing of the film. It was used to measure those parameters of various polysilicon films. Polysilicon is commonly used as a structural material of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) after being deposited at a temperature below 600 degC and annealed at a temperature around 1000 degC to remove the residual stress. On the other hand, polysilicon can be also deposited at a temperature higher than 600 degC. The three parameters of polysilicon films depend on process temperature and were evaluated using the new test structure. Concerning the strength, films deposited at 560 degC had the highest strength when annealed at 850 degC. Films deposited at 625 degC and annealed at 1050 degC were weaker than those deposited at 560 degC and annealed at 1050 degC. Young's modulus was found to behave in a similar way. The trend of the residual stress was the same as already reported, but its local evaluation was possible in combination with the tensile strength determination
The Trp53 delta proline (Trp53ΔP) mouse exhibits increased genome instability and susceptibility to radiation‐induced, but not spontaneous, tumor development

The tumor suppressor TP53 can initiate a plethora of anti‐proliferative effects to maintain genomic integrity under conditions of genotoxic stress. The N‐terminal proline‐rich domain (PRD) of TP53 is important in the regulation of TP53 activity and stability. A common polymorphism at codon 72 in this region has been associated with altered cancer risk in humans. The Trp53ΔP mouse, which carries a germline homozygous deletion of a region of the PRD, does not develop spontaneous tumors in a mixed 129/Sv and C57BL/6 genetic background, but is highly susceptible to a broad range of tumor types following total body exposure to 4 Gy gamma (γ) radiation. This contrasts with the tumor spectrum in Trp53 null (−/−) mice, which mainly develop thymic lymphomas and osteosarcomas. Analysis of genomic instability in tissues and cells from Trp53ΔP mice demonstrated elevated basal levels of aneuploidy, but this is not sufficient to drive spontaneous tumorigenesis, which requires an additional DNA damage stimulus. Levels of genomic instability did not increase significantly in Trp53ΔP mice following irradiation exposure, suggesting that other radiation effects including tissue inflammation, altered metabolism or autophagy, may play an important role. The Trp53ΔP mouse is a novel model to dissect the mechanisms of tumor development induced by radiation exposure. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.