Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pharyngeal Chlamydia trachomatis is not uncommon any more

Abstract Background. The significance of Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) infection in the pharynx, and possible symptoms, are under discussion. Most studies have involved only homo/bisexual men. We report findings of pharyngeal Ct (PhCt) infections in patients with long-lasting throat discomfort and the prevalence of PhCt in genitally Ct-infected young people in a Swedish primary care setting. Method. Sub-study 1 (SS1) included 48 persons aged 15–35 y, with pharyngeal discomfort for more than 14 days. Sub-study 2 (SS2) included 150 persons, aged 15–35 y, with genital Ct. Questionnaires concerning symptoms, sexual behaviour and sexual identity were completed for both groups. Samples for Ct testing were taken from the pharynx, and in SS1, samples were also collected to ascertain genital Ct. Results. In SS1, 2 of 48 persons (4%) with pharyngeal discomfort had PhCt. In all, 35 of the 48 persons (73%) included in SS1 reported unprotected oral sex during the previous year. In SS2, 11 of 92 women (12%) and 4 of 58 men (7%) tested positive for PhCt. More women (94%) than men (83%) had given unprotected oral sex. Persons with PhCt had more symptoms from the upper respiratory tract (p = 0.04). Conclusions. Some primary care patients with long-lasting throat discomfort have a PhCt infection. PhCt infection is not uncommon in genitally infected sexually active people. More heterosexual women than heterosexual men had given unprotected oral sex and were infected by Ct in the pharynx. Thus, research on PhCt should not focus on homo/bisexual men only. Information about Ct should include the risk of contracting a PhCt infection as well as a gender perspective.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Risk Factors and Beliefs Reported by Families Presenting to a Pediatric Emergency Department

Objectives Adolescents are at greater risk for acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to increased risk behaviors. Parental influence is known to reduce adolescent risk behaviors. We compared HIV risk behaviors reported by adolescents to parents' perception of adolescent risky behavior engagement. We also examined participants' knowledge of HIV transmission and testing preferences. Methods Participants included English-speaking adolescents and parents presenting to a pediatric emergency department. Participants were interviewed separately in private. Modeled after existing instruments, “adolescent” and “parent” questionnaires included multiple choices items, Likert-type scales, and standard yes/no and true/false options. Data were analyzed using a &kgr; statistic and observed agreement to measure discordance between adolescent and parent responses. Results Participants included 126 adolescents and 110 parents. Many adolescents reported ever having sex (61%), of which 32% reported always practicing safe sex. Comparative analysis revealed low agreement between adolescents' risk behaviors and parents' perception of risk behavior engagement by youth. Discordance concerning tobacco use was greatest (&kgr; = 0.13), followed by drug use (&kgr; = 0.19) and ever having sex (&kgr;= 0.19), and alcohol use (&kgr;= 0.22). There was also poor agreement regarding HIV transmission knowledge (ie, oral sex; &kgr; = 0.16). Participants shared strong agreement regarding parental support for adolescent interest in HIV testing (95.5%). Conclusions Parents are mostly unaware of adolescents' broad risk behaviors. Participants' knowledge of HIV transmission is limited. Adolescents and parents shared strong agreement regarding HIV testing preferences. Multidimensional HIV prevention strategies aiming to decrease adolescent risk behaviors, increase parental involvement, and improve adolescent and parental knowledge of HIV transmission are needed.
Language as a representation of Mexican American identity

Demographic data indicate that the English of Mexican Americans is destined to play a key role in the sociolinguistic study of language variation in the United States. In fact, Mexican American speakers are reported to account for more than 12.5% of the U.S. population. In 2003, the U.S. Census released data showing that Latinos and Latinas had replaced African Americans as the largest minority ethnic group in the U.S., and by 2007, 29.2 million Americans listed their ancestry as Mexican (Pew Hispanic Center, 2009). Moreover, in addition to the large numbers of Mexicans (first generation) and Mexican Americans (second generation) living in the Southwest, we are now seeing a new representation of these ethnic groups in other areas, such as the South. For example, between 1990 and 2000, North Carolina experienced a higher percentage of growth in its Mexican American population than any other state (Wolfram, Carter & Moriello, 2004). These statistics are important with respect to language because they reveal that a large and increasing population of English speakers in the U.S. are Latinos and Latinas of Mexican origin. Our notion of American English, then, must be extended to include the variety traditionally spoken by the children of Mexican immigrants in the U.S., generally referred to in the literature as Chicano English. In addition, if we look at the Mexican American population as a whole, we will find a number of other varieties of English spoken.
A survey of knowledge, attitudes and behaviours regarding sexual wellbeing among Chinese women living in New Zealand - a pilot study

The aims of the study were to assess sexual wellbeing knowledge and attitudes among Chinese women living in New Zealand and to investigate the factors that prevented them from seeking support from sexual wellbeing services. Seventy-nine Chinese women from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan were recruited through community and personal networks to complete a self-report survey, which included questions on socio-demographics, self-rated adjustment, knowledge of sexual wellbeing, importance of understanding sexual wellbeing, cultural influences, structural influences, and willingness to seek information and assistance. The findings in this study suggested that younger Chinese women lacked sexual wellbeing knowledge and were less likely to seek support when compared to their older age group counterparts. Three out of the eight variables assessed were found to make a significant contribution in the willingness of Chinese women seeking support from sexual wellbeing services. These were knowledge of sexual wellbeing, self-perceived importance of gaining an understanding of sexual wellbeing issues and cultural influences. Our results suggest that despite the length of residency and self-rated adjustment in New Zealand, traditional Chinese values and beliefs continue to influence the perceptions of Chinese women regarding their sexual wellbeing. Interventions to improve sexual and reproductive wellbeing in this population, particularly younger Chinese women, should be tailored to the specific enabling and reinforcing factors that include cultural views, communications between Chinese women and health and social services providers, and access to healthcare information.
Tribal institutions and conservation of the bioculturally valuable ‘tasat’ (Arenga obtusifolia) tree in the eastern Himalaya

This study reports on the biocultural dimensions of the tasat (Arenga obtusifolia Griff.) tree and its conservation by various informal institutions of the Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, India. The study included 240 Adi community members (120 men and 120 women) residing in 12 villages of the East Siang and Upper Siang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The study was conducted using personal interviews and participatory methods. Results indicated that the stem of tasat is used as a traditional food during droughts and in preparing an ethnic beverage. Tasat is being conserved by the Adi tribe in various habitats. Plant populations of tasat were observed relatively higher in Upper Siang than the East Siang district. The study found differences in the status of biocultural knowledge between genders and different age groups. Kebang and reglep are two indigenous institutions of men and women, respectively, and play leading roles in sustaining tasat plants in various habitats. Women of the Upper Siang district still maintain a knowledge network for diffusing biocultural knowledge related to tasat, among others, through a barter system. Changing land use patterns in agriculture affects tasat conservation. The value addition for tasat based products, and rewarding women who conserve tasat, can enhance the sustainability of tasat based on biocultural knowledge and institutions.
VPS 36-Dependent Multivesicular Bodies Are Critical for Plasmamembrane Protein Turnover and Vacuolar Biogenesis 1 [ OPEN ]

Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (H.-J.W., Y.-W.H., C.-L.G., W.-N.J., G.-Y.J.); School of Life Sciences, Centre for Cell and Developmental Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China (H.W., L.J.); Molecular and Biological Agricultural Sciences, Taiwan International Graduate Program, National Chung-Hsing University Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (G.-Y.J.); and Biotechnology Center, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan (G.Y.J.)
Forecasting Value-at-Risk (VaR) in the Major Asian Economies

This is an empirical study of forecasting Value-at-Risk (VaR) in the major Asian economies. The VaR is first forecasted for Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong of China, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, China, Taiwan of China and India using different competing models. The VaR estimates are then backtested using unconditional coverage test, conditional coverage test and loss function to arrive at the best VaR model for each of the economies. The results are mixed with the highest success rate of FIGARCH model. Also, the appropriateness of the models changes across quantiles and between tails.
Sexual behavior of adolescent students in Chandigarh and their perceptions regarding family life education

Background: With rapidly changing lifestyle and exposure to the Internet and mass media, lifestyle and sexual behavior of adolescent students are also changing rapidly. Objectives: To investigate the sexual behavior of adolescent students and to study misconceptions prevailing among them. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 1022 adolescent students aged 14–19 years as a part of an Indian Council of Medical Research sponsored survey. Sexual behavior explored by interview method. Logistic regression analysis for finding correlates. Results: Intimate friendship was reported by 19.2% respondents. The sexual behavior included 89% exposure to sex-related material, 74.7% were aware of sexual intercourse. Awareness regarding at least one contraceptive was found among 95.5% (94.5% of condoms and 67.2% of emergency contraception). About 6% respondents reported some sex-related problems and 2.5% of all respondents consulted some doctors for these problems. Awareness of HIV/AIDS was quite high (about 99%), and 96.4% of them were of the opinion that it is spread through sexual intercourse. Knowledge regarding transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) through sexual contact was found among 89.2% respondents. Avoidance/abstinence from sex (84.7%), faithful to one partner (81.7), and use of barrier methods (90.3%) was main reported preventive measures for STI's. About 33% want that the discussion about sex should be open and frank, and 69.4% showed the need of sex education in the schools mostly by doctors. Conclusions: Sexual behavior of adolescent students is changing, and awareness about sex acts is also increasing. There is likelihood of indulging in risky behavior by adolescents. Family life education was felt necessary mainly by qualified medical staff.
Dynamics Between Exchange Rates and Stock Prices: Evidence From Developed and Emerging Markets

This study examines the long- and short-run dynamics between exchange rates and stock prices by using cointegration methodology and multivariate Granger causality tests. We apply the analysis to six countries, including: Japan, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, China, India and Brazil over the period December 2007 to May 2013. The evidence suggests that the global financial crisis 2007-2009 is an important determinant of the link between the domestic stock and foreign exchange markets. The exchange rate is negatively related to the domestic stock market for emerging countries but positively for developed countries for entire sample and during the crisis. However, this relationship became positive for all countries after the crisis, except United Kingdom. The finding also indicates that the exchange rate movements contain some significant information to forecast the stock returns of these markets
Review of atmospheric water-soluble ionic species in Asia during 1998-2001

Anthropogenic acid precursor emissions in Asia are increasing at a significant rate and this is expected to continue for the next several years. This paper comprises of studies that included sulfate, nitrate and ammonium around Asian countries (China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan) in recent years. The paper also provides the water-soluble ionic fine and coarse particulate concentrations in these Asian countries in recent years. Fine and coarse particulates in Taiwan (Kaohsiung and Talchung) and China (Nanjing and Shanghai) were found to have higher sulfate (average 18.68 and 15.75 mg/m3) and nitrate (average 12.77 and 7.71 mg/m3) concentrations than any other Asian country. The average sulfate concentrations for Japan and Korea were 7.31 and 5.84 mg/m3, respectively. The average nitrate concentrations for Japan and Korea were 6.73 and 4.65 mg/m3, respectively during the years 1998-2001. The different sample collection devices, analysis methods and pollutant concentrations are discussed in this study. The purpose of this study is to arrange the atmospheric water-soluble ionic species (SO/2- 4 and NO / - 3) investigations in the Asian region. The data obtained here can also help to understand the sources, concentrations, phase distribution and health impact of atmospheric water-soluble ionic species (SO4 2 - and NO- 3) in other Asian regions.
COPD prevalence in 12 Asia-Pacific countries and regions: projections based on the COPD prevalence estimation model.

OBJECTIVE COPD is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Despite the high rates of cigarette smoking, and the wide use of biomass fuels, there is very little objective data on the prevalence of COPD in Asia. METHODOLOGY We used a COPD prevalence model to estimate the prevalence of COPD in 12 Asian countries. This model is a validated, computerized tool that uses epidemiological relationships and risk factor prevalence to project the prevalence of COPD within a given population aged 30 years and older. RESULTS The total number of moderate to severe COPD cases in the 12 countries of this region, as projected by the model, is 56.6 million with an overall prevalence rate of 6.3%. The COPD prevalence rates for the individual countries range from 3.5% (Hong Kong and Singapore) to 6.7% (Vietnam). CONCLUSIONS The COPD prevalence rates projected by the model reflect the high prevalence of the risk factors for the disease in Asia. The combined prevalence of 6.3% for these countries is considerably higher than the overall rate of 3.8% as extrapolated from WHO data for this region. These estimates highlight the need for further epidemiological studies to support appropriate allocation of resources for the prevention and management of COPD.
Specific autoantibodies precede the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis: a study of serial measurements in blood donors.

OBJECTIVE Autoantibodies have been demonstrated in single serum samples from healthy subjects up to 10 years before they developed rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the time course for the development of antibodies before onset of clinical RA is unknown, nor is it known which antibody, or combinations of antibodies, might be most sensitive or specific for predicting future development of the disease. The present study was undertaken to investigate this. METHODS Patients with RA who had been blood donors before the onset of disease symptoms were enrolled. Frozen serum samples from each donor were retrieved, together with 2 serum samples from controls matched for age, sex, and date of donation. All samples were tested for IgM rheumatoid factor (IgM-RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies. RESULTS Seventy-nine patients with RA (62% female; mean age at onset of symptoms 51 years) were included. A median of 13 samples (range 1-51) per patient were available; the earliest samples had been collected a median of 7.5 years (range 0.1-14.5) before the onset of symptoms. Thirty-nine patients (49%) were positive for IgM-RF and/or anti-CCP on at least one occasion before the development of RA symptoms, a median of 4.5 years (range 0.1-13.8) before symptom onset. Of the 2,138 control samples, 1.1% were positive for IgM-RF, and 0.6% were positive for anti-CCP. CONCLUSION Approximately half of patients with RA have specific serologic abnormalities several years before the onset of symptoms. A finding of an elevated serum level of IgM-RF or anti-CCP in a healthy individual implies a high risk for the development of RA. We conclude that IgM-RF and anti-CCP testing with appropriately high specificity may assist in the early detection of RA in high-risk populations.
Strategic and business planning for the VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada ocean observing systems

The Canadian and B.C. Governments have invested over S100M to build the VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada ocean observatories. They are national science facilities led by the University of Victoria that align closely with the four priority areas identified in Canada's S&T Strategy (Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage) released in 2007: environmental science and technology; energy and natural resources; life sciences; and information and communication technologies. These state of the art observatories position Canada at the leading edge internationally of a new generation of ocean research that combines transformative science programs and innovative technologies. The science is transformative in its focus on integrated earth-ocean system processes, continuous real-time measurement, plate scale investigation, and dynamic web-based collaborative investigation by international research teams. The technologies are innovative in providing continuous power, remote instrument control, and the streaming of real-time data to Internet web platforms. Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) was created as a not for-profit society in 2007 to govern and manage NEPTUNE Canada and VENUS to meet the highest standards of research excellence, societal contribution, and best operational and business practices. The rationale for creating ONC reflects the scope, scale, longevity and risks of operating major science platforms. ONC is developing strategic and business plans that maximize the benefits for Canada from these major investments in research infrastructure. While created as national science facilities through major grants from Canadian funding agencies-principally the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund - international collaboration has been central to the design and planning of the observatories and is vital to their future success. To this end, memoranda of understanding are in place or in process with partner agencies in the U.S., the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and China. Likewise, the technology development required to build the observatories-the backbone system, the instrumentation, and the data communications-involves contracts and partnerships with companies in the ocean sector in Canada and internationally.
The Fact-Checking Observatory: Reporting the Co-Spread of Misinformation and Fact-checks on Social Media

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tracking how misinformation and fact-checks spread on social media is key for understanding where fact-checking efforts need to be focused and what demographics are most likely to spread misinformation. In this article, we introduce the Fact-checking Observatory, a website that automatically generates human-readable weekly reports about the spread of misinformation and fact-checks on Twitter. The proposed approach differs from other tools that give one-off manual reports or visualisation by providing organisations and individuals with easily readable and shareable self-contained reports that contain both information about the spread of misinformation and fact-checks.
Fisheries Subsidies and Their Implications, Case Studies of Fuel Subsidy Programs in Taiwan and Vietnam

In recent years, WTO constantly focuses on fishery subsidy negotiations, and since the Non-actionable subsidies have been cancelled, fishery subsidies norm is still hard to reach a consensus. Although the WTO president drafted a list of prohibitive subsidies in 2008, they have been implementing widely in most countries, especially the vessel fuel subsidy programs. While Taiwan has implemented for a long time the vessel fuel subsidy program made the fishermen depend on it as an annual aid, Vietnam has shown several disadvantages in fishery management after the first application of fuel price supporting for its fishing fleet. This research studied fuel subsidies programs in two countries Taiwan and Vietnam, examined its impacts on management policy and adjustments to fisheries in conformity with the countermeasure. Currently, most countries treated the fuel subsidy as a negative policy. The 7th Meeting of Ministers just finished in Geneva in December 2009, most delegates claimed that Doha round negotiation should be finished in the year 2010. With this, phasing out or reducing the fuel subsidy may be implemented in 2013. In order to release the pressure on fishermen's livelihood and apply adjustments earlier, the government can encourage the retirement on aged vessel, and reward suspension of fishing activities, energy-conservation, safe and small-scale fishery. In addition, government can also consider a more elastic category of fishing activities, or discourage the subsidy on production support or the structural safety net by supporting the fishermen income. Finally, in order to provide more rooms for negotiating in WTO, it is necessary to continue data collection on other countries fishery subsidies policy and adjust the timing and contents publicized.
A Unified Symbolic Analysis of WireGuard

—WireGuard [22], [21] is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), presented at NDSS 2017, recently integrated into the Linux Kernel [57] and paid commercial VPNs such as NordVPN, Mullvad and ProtonVPN [56]. It proposes a different approach from other classical VPN such as IPsec [29] or OpenVPN [48] because it does not let users configure cryptographic algorithms. The protocol inside WireGuard is a dedicated extension of IKpsk2 protocol from Noise Framework [49]. Different analyses of WireGuard and IKpsk2 protocols have been proposed, in both the symbolic and the computational model, with or without computer-aided proof assistants. These analyses however consider different adversarial models or refer to incomplete versions of the protocols. In this work, we propose a unified formal model of WireGuard protocol in the symbolic model. Our model uses the automatic cryptographic protocol verifiers S APIC + , P RO V ERIF and T AMARIN . We consider a complete protocol execution, including cookie messages used for resistance against denial of service attacks. We model a precise adversary that can read or set static, ephemeral or pre-shared keys, read or set ecdh pre-computations, control key distribution. Eventually, we present our results in a unified and interpretable way, allowing comparisons with previous analyses. Finally thanks to our models, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for security properties to be compromised, we confirm a flaw on the anonymity of the communications and point an implementation choice which considerably weakens its security. We propose a remediation that we prove secure using our models.