pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Clinical management of drug–drug interactions in HCV therapy: Challenges and solutions

SummaryHepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients often take multiple co-medications to treat adverse events related to HCV therapy, or to manage other co-morbidities. Drug–drug interactions associated with this polypharmacy are relatively new to the field of HCV pharmacotherapy. With the advent of the direct-acting antivirals telaprevir and boceprevir, which are both substrates and inhibitors of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A iso-enzyme, knowledge and awareness of drug–drug interactions have become a cornerstone in the evaluation of patients starting and continuing HCV combination therapy. In our opinion, an overview of conducted drug–drug interaction studies and a list of contraindicated medications is not enough for the clinical management of these drug–drug interactions. Knowledge of pharmacokinetic profiles and concentration–effect relationships is key for the interpretation of these data, and insight into how to manage these interactions (e.g., dose adjustments, safe alternatives and therapeutic drug monitoring) is of equal importance. This review provides a practical overview of the safe and effective management of these clinical challenges
Lovelock black holes with a power-Yang–Mills source

AbstractWe consider the standard Yang–Mills (YM) invariant raised to the power q, i.e., (Fμν(a)F(a)μν)q as the source of our geometry and investigate the possible black hole solutions. How does this parameter q modify the black holes in Einstein–Yang–Mills (EYM) and its extensions such as Gauss–Bonnet (GB) and the third order Lovelock theories? The advantage of such a power q (or a set of superposed members of the YM hierarchies) if any, may be tested even in a free YM theory in flat spacetime. Our choice of the YM field is purely magnetic in any higher-dimensions so that duality makes no sense. In analogy with the Einstein-power-Maxwell theory, the conformal invariance provides further reduction, albeit in a spacetime for dimensions of multiples of 4
Foam stability in the presence and absence of hydrocarbons: From bubble- to bulk-scale

AbstractOne of the pioneering applications of foam is in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). A major stumbling-block to the success of foam application in EOR is the adverse influence of oil on foam stability. The objectives of the present work were to evaluate the effects of various surfactants and hydrocarbons with well-defined properties on foam stability. To do so, we have conducted a comprehensive series of experiments at bulk- and bubble-scale to investigate the foam stability of four surfactants in the absence and presence of three isoparaffins distinguished by their carbon chain length, density and viscosity. For the bulk foam stability experiments, foam was generated by sparging pure air into surfactant solution in a vertical cylindrical column. An automated camera was used to record the gradual decay of foam as a function of time. The results showed the significant impact of the type of the surfactant on foam stability. Besides, our results illustrated less stable foam in the presence of oil with less adverse impact on foam stability as oil viscosity and density increased. The limitation of the method used in the present study to quantify foam stability, i.e., measuring the decay of foam height over a certain period of time, which is a commonly used method in literature, is discussed here and an alternative approach is proposed to investigate foam stability at bubble-scale to supplement and improve understanding of the physical phenomena controlling foam stability
3-branes and uniqueness of the Salam–Sezgin vacuum

AbstractWe prove the uniqueness of the supersymmetric Salam–Sezgin (Minkowski)4×S2 ground state among all non-singular solutions with a four-dimensional Poincaré, de Sitter or anti-de Sitter symmetry. We construct the most general solutions with an axial symmetry in the two-dimensional internal space, and show that included amongst these is a family that is non-singular away from a conical defect at one pole of a distorted 2-sphere. These solutions admit the interpretation of 3-branes with negative tension
Hybrid effects in thin ply carbon/glass unidirectional laminates: Accurate experimental determination and prediction

AbstractExperimental results are presented which allow the hybrid effect to be evaluated accurately for thin ply carbon/epoxy–glass/epoxy interlayer hybrid composites. It is shown that there is an enhancement in strain at failure of up to 20% for very thin plies, but no significant effect for thicker plies. Hybrid specimens with thick carbon plies can therefore be used to measure the reference carbon/epoxy failure strain. The latter is significantly higher than the strain from all-carbon specimens in which there is an effect due to stress concentrations at the load introduction. Models are presented which illustrate the mechanisms responsible for the hybrid effect due to the constraint on failure at both the fibre and ply level. These results give a good understanding of how variability in the carbon fibre strengths can translate into hybrid effects in composite laminates
The value of grounded theory for disentangling inequalities in maternal-child healthcare in contexts of diversity: A psycho-sociopolitical approach

AbstractAdopting a psycho-sociopolitical approach, the present paper describes the results of a community-based participatory needs assessment focusing on the perceived needs of women of reproductive age as users of primary healthcare in contexts of migration-driven diversity and socioeconomic vulnerability in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon. The investigation comprised 64 in-depth interviews with women, including natives and immigrants to Portugal from the main origin countries in the context under study (Brazil, Cape Verde, and other Portuguese-speaking African countries) and a survey of 125 women, again natives and immigrants from these countries. The central role of qualitative methodology and grounded theory, in the framework of a multi-method research, allowed understanding the needs of women as embedded in contexts characterized by asymmetrical power relations, in terms of unequal opportunities and resources, at multiple interrelated ecological levels (personal, relational, organizational, community, socioeconomic, health system/policy, cultural/migration). The priority perceived needs of women were primarily related to socioeconomic disadvantage, severely aggravated in the current contexts of crisis; and factors at the health system level, mainly unequal access to family doctors, excessive waiting lists, and increases in the direct costs of healthcare. Results allow questioning the adequacy of cultural competence approaches for the reduction of inequalities in maternal-child healthcare in the context under study, showing the critical and innovative value of qualitative methodology and grounded theory in research on social justice and health in contexts of diversity characterized by unequal power dynamics
Functional stepped surfaces, flips, and generalized substitutions

AbstractA substitution is a non-erasing morphism of the free monoid. The notion of multidimensional substitution of non-constant length acting on multidimensional words is proved to be well-defined on the set of two-dimensional words related to discrete approximations of irrational planes. Such a multidimensional substitution can be associated with any usual unimodular substitution. The aim of this paper is to extend the domain of definition of such multidimensional substitutions to functional stepped surfaces. One central tool for this extension is the notion of flips acting on tilings by lozenges of the plane
Overview of the radiographers' practice in 65 healthcare centers using digital mammography systems in Portugal.

To assess current practices in digital mammography (DM) in Portuguese healthcare providers using digital systems. To investigate compliance with European standards regarding mean glandular dose and quality control practice and to identify optimisation needs.
Two questionnaires, targeted at breast radiographers and chief radiographers, were designed and applied in 65 imaging departments offering DM. Questions fielded were focused on the staff profile and technical/clinical practice.
Prior to starting their activity in DM, 70% (82 out of 118) of the respondents received training in DM. The practice in 29 out of 59 providers was established by the manufacturers' recommendations for image acquisition. Variations were observed between radiographers who belong to the same provider namely the selection of exposure parameters such as the target-filter combination and automatic mode. The use of the manual exposure mode was reported for imaging breast implants (44%) and surgical specimens (22%). The main causes of repeat examinations were skin folding (21%) and absence of pectoral muscle (PM) (20%).
The study revealed opportunities to optimise radiographers' practice in DM regarding the selection of exposure parameters. A robust and consistent training programme in DM and established local protocols can help to reduce the variations observed and improve clinical practice.
• Radiographers adopted different practices selecting AEC modes and T/F combinations. • Radiographer practice is more consistent using DR than using CR systems. • The main causes for rejecting images were the visibility of skin folding and PM absence. • Radiographers were partly unaware of the dose indicator. • Radiographers' training needs: QC, interventional procedures and breast dose optimisation
A chiral magnetic spiral in the holographic Sakai-Sugimoto model

We investigate the effect of a magnetic field on the vacuum of
low-temperature QCD at large-N_c in the presence of a chiral chemical
potential, using the holographic Sakai-Sugimoto model. Above some critical
chemical potential we find an instability, which triggers a decay of the
homogeneous vacuum to a non-homogeneous configuration with a spiral form, which
we construct explicitly. We find that this decay is suppressed for sufficiently
large magnetic field, and determine the critical strength. We find that the new
vacuum does not exhibit the chiral magnetic effect. This is related to the way
the chiral chemical potential is introduced. We discuss an alternative way of
introducing the chiral chemical potential that leads to a nonzero chiral
magnetic effect.Comment: 40 pages; v2: references added, minor typos correcte
K2-110 b: a massive mini-Neptune exoplanet

We report the discovery of the exoplanet K2-110 b (previously EPIC212521166b) from K2 photometry orbiting in a 13.8637d period around an old, metal-poor K3 dwarf star. With a V-band magnitude of 11.9,K2-110 is particularly amenable to RV follow-up. A joint analysis of K2 photometry and high-precision RVs from 28 HARPS and HARPS-N spectra reveal it to have a radius of 2.6 ± 0.1R⊕ and amass of 16.7 ± 3.2M⊕, hence a density of 5.2± 1.2 g cm-3, making it one of the most massive planets yet to be found with a sub-Neptune radius. When accounting for compression, the resulting Earth-like density is best fitted by a 0.2M⊕ hydrogen atmosphere over an 16.5M⊕ Earth-like interior, although the planet could also have significant water content. At 0.1 AU, even taking into account the old stellar age of 8 ± 3 Gyr, the planet is unlikely to have been significantly affected by EUV evaporation. However the planet likely disc-migrated to its current position making the lack of a thick H2 atmosphere puzzling. This analysis has made K2-110 b one of the best-characterised mini-Neptunes with density constrained to less than 30%.PostprintPeer reviewe
Demand for Long-Term Care for Older People in England to 2031

How best to finance long-term care has been the subject of considerable debate in Britain. This article outlines the methodology and results of a model (developed by the Personal Social Services Research Unit) that makes projections of demand for long-term care for older people (aged 65 and older) to 2031. Key findings include: to keep pace with demographic pressures over the next thirty years, residential and nursing home places would nee to expand by around 65 per cent and numbers of hours of home care by around 48 per cent, assuming unchanged dependency rates; long-term care expenditure would need to rise by around 148 per cent in real terms between 1996 and 2031 to meet  demographic pressures and allow for real rises in care costs of one per cent per year for social care and 1.5 per cent per year for health care; these projections are highly sensitive to the projected growth in the number of older people, to future dependency rates and to assumed real rises in the unit costs of care. However, they are less sensitive to future household composition. They  assume no change in policy and make no allowance for changes in public expectations
Variability in aerobic methane oxidation over the past 1.2 Myrs recorded in microbial biomarker signatures from Congo fan sediments.

Methane (CH4) is a strong greenhouse gas known to have perturbed global climate in the past, especially when released in large quantities over short time periods from continental or marine sources. It is therefore crucial to understand and, if possible, quantify the individual and combined response of these variable methane sources to natural climate variability. However, past changes in the stability of greenhouse gas reservoirs remain uncertain and poorly constrained by geological evidence. Here, we present a record from the Congo fan of a highly specific bacteriohopanepolyol (BHP) biomarker for aerobic methane oxidation (AMO), 35-aminobacteriohopane-30,31,32,33,34-pentol (aminopentol), that identifies discrete periods of increased AMO as far back as 1.2 Ma. Fluctuations in the concentration of aminopentol, and other 35-aminoBHPs, follow a pattern that correlates with late Quaternary glacial-interglacial climate cycles, with highest concentrations during warm periods. We discuss possible sources of aminopentol, and the methane consumed by the precursor methanotrophs, within the context of the Congo River setting, including supply of methane oxidation markers from terrestrial watersheds and/or marine sources (gas hydrate and/or deep subsurface gas reservoir). Compound-specific carbon isotope values of −30‰ to −40‰ for BHPs in ODP 1075 and strong similarities between the BHP signature of the core and surface sediments from the Congo estuary and floodplain wetlands from the interior of the Congo River Basin, support a methanotrophic and likely terrigenous origin of the 35-aminoBHPs found in the fan sediments. This new evidence supports a causal connection between marine sediment BHP records of tropical deep sea fans and wetland settings in the feeding river catchments, and thus tropical continental hydrology. Further research is needed to better constrain the different sources and pathways of methane emission. However, this study identifies the large potential of aminoBHPs, in particular aminopentol, to trace and, once better calibrated and understood, quantify past methane sources and fluxes from terrestrial and potentially also marine sources
Measurement of BB ̄ angular correlations based on secondary vertex reconstruction at √s = 7 TeV

A measurement of the angular correlations between beauty and anti-beauty hadrons (B B-bar) produced in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV at the CERN LHC is presented, probing for the first time the region of small angular separation. The B hadrons are identified by the presence of displaced secondary vertices from their decays. The B hadron angular separation is reconstructed from the decay vertices and the primary-interaction vertex. The differential B B-bar production cross section, measured from a data sample collected by CMS and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.1 inverse picobarns, shows that a sizable fraction of the B B-bar pairs are produced with small opening angles. These studies provide a test of QCD and further insight into the dynamics of b b-bar production
Massless AdS2 scattering and Bethe Ansatz

We first analyse the integrable scattering theory describing the massless excitations\ud
of AdS2 x S2 x T6 superstrings in the relativistic limit. The matrix part of the\ud
S-matrix is obtained in the BMN limit from the conjectured exact expression, and compared\ud
to known S-matrices with N = 1 supersymmetry in 1 + 1 dimensions. A dressing factor,\ud
yet unknown for the complete theory, is here constructed based on relativistic crossing\ud
symmetry. We derive a Bethe-ansatz condition by employing a transfer-matrix technique\ud
based on the so-called free-fermion condition. This is known to overcome the problem of\ud
lack of a reference state. We then generalise the method to the massless non-relativistic\ud
case, and compare the resulting Bethe-ansatz condition with a simple massless limit of the\ud
one conjectured by Sorokin, Tseytlin, Wulff and Zarembo
Confidence in the police: Balancing public image with community safety - A comparative review of the literature

Examining the evolution of British and Australian policing, this comparative review of the literature considers the historical underpinnings of policing in these two countries and the impact of community legitimacy derived from the early concepts of policing by consent. Using the August 2011 disorder in Britain as a lens, this paper considers whether, in striving to maintain community confidence, undue emphasis is placed on the police's public image at the expense of community safety. Examining the path of policing reform, the impact of bureaucracy on policing and the evolving debate surrounding police performance, this review suggests that, while largely delivering on the ideal of an ethical and strong police force, a preoccupation with self-image may in fact result in tarnishing the very thing British and Australian police forces strive to achieve - their standing with the public. This paper advocates for a more realistic goal of gaining public respect rather than affection in order to achieve the difficult balance between maintaining trust and respect as an approachable, ethical entity providing firm, confident policing in this ever-evolving, modern society.Full Tex
Planck intermediate results. XVIII. The millimetre and sub-millimetre emission from planetary nebulae

Late stages of stellar evolution are characterized by copious mass-loss events whose signature is the formation of circumstellar envelopes (CSE). Planck multi-frequency measurements have provided relevant information on a sample of Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) in the important and relatively unexplored observational band between 30 and 857 GHz. Planck enables the assembly of comprehensive PNe spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from radio to far-IR frequencies. Modelling the derived SEDs provides us with information on physical properties of CSEs and the mass content of both main components: ionized gas, traced by the free-free emission at cm-mm waves; and thermal dust, traced by the millimetre and far-IR emission. In particular, the amount of ionized gas and dust has been derived here. Such quantities have also been estimated for the very young PN CRL? 618, where the strong variability observed in its radio and millimetre emission has previously prevented constructing its SED. A morphological study of the Helix Nebula was also performed. Planck maps reveal, for the first time, the spatial distribution of the dust inside the envelope, allowing us to identify different components, the most interesting of which is a very extended component (up to 1? pc) that may be related to a region where the slow expanding envelope is interacting with the surrounding interstellar medium. © ESO, 2014
Systems biology of the IMIDIA biobank from organ donors and pancreatectomised patients defines a novel transcriptomic signature of islets from individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Pancreatic islet beta cell failure causes type 2 diabetes in humans. To identify transcriptomic changes in type 2 diabetic islets, the Innovative Medicines Initiative for Diabetes: Improving beta-cell function and identification of diagnostic biomarkers for treatment monitoring in Diabetes (IMIDIA) consortium ( www.imidia.org ) established a comprehensive, unique multicentre biobank of human islets and pancreas tissues from organ donors and metabolically phenotyped pancreatectomised patients (PPP).
Affymetrix microarrays were used to assess the islet transcriptome of islets isolated either by enzymatic digestion from 103 organ donors (OD), including 84 non-diabetic and 19 type 2 diabetic individuals, or by laser capture microdissection (LCM) from surgical specimens of 103 PPP, including 32 non-diabetic, 36 with type 2 diabetes, 15 with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and 20 with recent-onset diabetes (&lt;1 year), conceivably secondary to the pancreatic disorder leading to surgery (type 3c diabetes). Bioinformatics tools were used to (1) compare the islet transcriptome of type 2 diabetic vs non-diabetic OD and PPP as well as vs IGT and type 3c diabetes within the PPP group; and (2) identify transcription factors driving gene co-expression modules correlated with insulin secretion ex vivo and glucose tolerance in vivo. Selected genes of interest were validated for their expression and function in beta cells.
Comparative transcriptomic analysis identified 19 genes differentially expressed (false discovery rate ≤0.05, fold change ≥1.5) in type 2 diabetic vs non-diabetic islets from OD and PPP. Nine out of these 19 dysregulated genes were not previously reported to be dysregulated in type 2 diabetic islets. Signature genes included TMEM37, which inhibited Ca javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@26d8271b -influx and insulin secretion in beta cells, and ARG2 and PPP1R1A, which promoted insulin secretion. Systems biology approaches identified HNF1A, PDX1 and REST as drivers of gene co-expression modules correlated with impaired insulin secretion or glucose tolerance, and 14 out of 19 differentially expressed type 2 diabetic islet signature genes were enriched in these modules. None of these signature genes was significantly dysregulated in islets of PPP with impaired glucose tolerance or type 3c diabetes.
These studies enabled the stringent definition of a novel transcriptomic signature of type 2 diabetic islets, regardless of islet source and isolation procedure. Lack of this signature in islets from PPP with IGT or type 3c diabetes indicates differences possibly due to peculiarities of these hyperglycaemic conditions and/or a role for duration and severity of hyperglycaemia. Alternatively, these transcriptomic changes capture, but may not precede, beta cell failure