793 research outputs found
Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis in HIV : the evidence
BibliographyHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) damages the body’s
immune system, making secondary (or opportunistic)
infections more common. Treatment and prevention of such
infections is integral to the management of patients with HIV
infection. Co-trimoxazole is a prophylactic treatment that has a
wide range of action against common bacteria, parasites, fungi
and yeasts. As part of a minimum care package, UNAIDS/
WHO recommends co-trimoxazole prophylaxis for HIVinfected
adults with symptomatic disease (WHO stage II, III
or IV), or asymptomatic individuals with CD4 counts ≤500
cells/ÎĽl, and for all HIV-positive pregnant women after the
first trimester.1 Co-trimoxazole is also recommended for use in
children with proven HIV infection and infants exposed to HIV
(from 4 - 6 weeks of age until infection with HIV is ruled out).2
The object of this report is to summarise the effects of
co-trimoxazole prophylaxis on morbidity and mortality among
HIV-infected individuals
Agricultural cropland extent and areas of South Asia derived using Landsat satellite 30-m time-series big-data using random forest machine learning algorithms on the Google Earth Engine cloud
The South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan) has a staggering 900 million
people (~43% of the population) who face food insecurity or severe food insecurity as per United
Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). The
existing coarse-resolution (≥250-m) cropland maps lack precision in geo-location of individual farms
and have low map accuracies. This also results in uncertainties in cropland areas calculated fromsuch
products. Thereby, the overarching goal of this study was to develop a high spatial resolution (30-m
or better) baseline cropland extent product of South Asia for the year 2015 using Landsat satellite
time-series big-data and machine learning algorithms (MLAs) on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud
computing platform. To eliminate the impact of clouds, 10 time-composited Landsat bands (blue,
green, red, NIR, SWIR1, SWIR2, Thermal, EVI, NDVI, NDWI) were derived for each of the three timeperiods
over 12 months (monsoon: Days of the Year (DOY) 151–300; winter: DOY 301–365 plus 1–60;
and summer: DOY 61–150), taking the every 8-day data from Landsat-8 and 7 for the years
2013–2015, for a total of 30-bands plus global digital elevation model (GDEM) derived slope band.
This 31-band mega-file big data-cube was composed for each of the five agro-ecological zones
(AEZ’s) of South Asia and formed a baseline data for image classification and analysis. Knowledgebase
for the Random Forest (RF) MLAs were developed using spatially well spread-out reference
training data (N = 2179) in five AEZs. The classification was performed on GEE for each of the five AEZs
using well-established knowledge-base and RF MLAs on the cloud. Map accuracies were measured
using independent validation data (N = 1185). The survey showed that the South Asia cropland
product had a producer’s accuracy of 89.9% (errors of omissions of 10.1%), user’s accuracy of 95.3%
(errors of commission of 4.7%) and an overall accuracy of 88.7%. The National and sub-national
(districts) areas computed from this cropland extent product explained 80-96% variability when
compared with the National statistics of the South Asian Countries. The full-resolution imagery can be
viewed at full-resolution, by zooming-in to any location in South Asia or the world, atwww.croplands.
org and the cropland products of South Asia downloaded from The Land Processes Distributed Active
Archive Center (LP DAAC) of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United
States Geological Survey (USGS): https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/products/gfsad30saafgircev001/
Calibration of optimal execution of financial transactions in the presence of transient market impact
Trading large volumes of a financial asset in order driven markets requires
the use of algorithmic execution dividing the volume in many transactions in
order to minimize costs due to market impact. A proper design of an optimal
execution strategy strongly depends on a careful modeling of market impact,
i.e. how the price reacts to trades. In this paper we consider a recently
introduced market impact model (Bouchaud et al., 2004), which has the property
of describing both the volume and the temporal dependence of price change due
to trading. We show how this model can be used to describe price impact also in
aggregated trade time or in real time. We then solve analytically and calibrate
with real data the optimal execution problem both for risk neutral and for risk
averse investors and we derive an efficient frontier of optimal execution. When
we include spread costs the problem must be solved numerically and we show that
the introduction of such costs regularizes the solution.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figure
A Crystal Structure of the Bifunctional Antibiotic Simocyclinone D8, Bound to DNA Gyrase
Simocyclinones are bifunctional antibiotics that inhibit bacterial DNA gyrase by preventing DNA binding to the enzyme. We report the crystal structure of the complex formed between the N-terminal domain of the Escherichia coli gyrase A subunit and simocyclinone D8, revealing two binding pockets that separately accommodate the aminocoumarin and polyketide moieties of the antibiotic. These are close to, but distinct from, the quinolone-binding site, consistent with our observations that several mutations in this region confer resistance to both agents. Biochemical studies show that the individual moieties of simocyclinone D8 are comparatively weak inhibitors of gyrase relative to the parent compound, but their combination generates a more potent inhibitor. Our results should facilitate the design of drug molecules that target these unexploited binding pockets
Electron-hadron shower discrimination in a liquid argon time projection chamber
By exploiting structural differences between electromagnetic and hadronic showers in a multivariate analysis we present an efficient Electron-Hadron discrimination algorithm for liquid argon time projection chambers, validated using Geant4 simulated data
Systematic event generator tuning for the LHC
In this article we describe Professor, a new program for tuning model
parameters of Monte Carlo event generators to experimental data by
parameterising the per-bin generator response to parameter variations and
numerically optimising the parameterised behaviour. Simulated experimental
analysis data is obtained using the Rivet analysis toolkit. This paper presents
the Professor procedure and implementation, illustrated with the application of
the method to tunes of the Pythia 6 event generator to data from the LEP/SLD
and Tevatron experiments. These tunes are substantial improvements on existing
standard choices, and are recommended as base tunes for LHC experiments, to be
themselves systematically improved upon when early LHC data is available.Comment: 28 pages. Submitted to European Physical Journal C. Program sources
and extra information are available from
http://projects.hepforge.org/professor
Neurovasculature of high and low tie ligation of the inferior mesenteric artery
PURPOSE: Controversy exists as to whether a high or low tie ligation of the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) is the preferred technique in surgeries of the left colon and rectum. This study aims to contribute to the discussion as to which is the more beneficial technique by investigating the neurovasculature at each site. METHODS: Ten embalmed cadaveric donors underwent division of the inferior mesenteric artery at the level of the low tie. The artery was subsequently ligated at the root to render a section of tissue for histological analysis of the proximal (high tie), mid and distal (low tie) segments. RESULTS: Ganglia observed in the proximal end of seven specimens in the sample imply that there would be disruption to the innervation in a high tie procedure. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that a high tie should be avoided if the low tie is oncologically viable
A variational method based on weighted graph states
In a recent article [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97 (2006), 107206], we have presented a
class of states which is suitable as a variational set to find ground states in
spin systems of arbitrary spatial dimension and with long-range entanglement.
Here, we continue the exposition of our technique, extend from spin 1/2 to
higher spins and use the boson Hubbard model as a non-trivial example to
demonstrate our scheme.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figure
1928-29: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text
INTRODUCTION
It has been the custom of Abilene Christian College for several years to hold an annual “Lectureship” the last week in February. This is a time of gathering of brethren from all over the state and adjoining states. It is a time of a great spiritual feast. It affords an opportunity for brethren to meet and talk over the work of the Lord. It also enables us to hear again great men of God whose voices have sounded the Word of the Lord in the days of the past in great meetings. In order that those who are not permitted to hear the lectures may enjoy them it has been the custom of Abilene Christian College to publish the lectures in a book at the end of each two years. We feel that these wonderful messages from some of the greatest minds of the church ought to be preserved that they may do good even after the lips of the speakers have become silent. It is with a prayer that great good may come that this volume of lectures of 1928 and 1929 is sent forth. We regret that some of the lectures could not be included in the book. Several of the brethren neglected to send in their manuscripts; some other manuscripts were destroyed by fire, and the brethren did not replace them. Most\u27 of the lectures are in the book.
BATSELL BAXTER.
DELIVERED IN THE AUDITORIUM OF ABILENE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ABILENE, TEXAS FEBRUARY 1928-1929
FIRM FOUNDATION PUBLISHING HOUSE 104-106-108 E. 9th Street Austin, Texas
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