Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A BTP1 prophage gene present in invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella determines composition and length of the O-antigen of the lipopolysaccharide

Salmonella Typhimurium isolate D23580 represents a recently identified ST313 lineage of invasive non‐typhoidal Salmonellae (iNTS). One of the differences between this lineage and other non‐iNTS S. Typhimurium isolates is the presence of prophage BTP1. This prophage encodes a gtrC gene, implicated in O‐antigen modification. GtrCBTP1 is essential for maintaining O‐antigen length in isolate D23580, since a gtrBTP1 mutant yields a short O‐antigen. This phenotype can be complemented by gtrCBTP1 or very closely related gtrC genes. The short O‐antigen of the gtrBTP1 mutant was also compensated by deletion of the BTP1 phage tailspike gene in the D23580 chromosome. This tailspike protein has a putative endorhamnosidase domain and thus may mediate O‐antigen cleavage. Expression of the gtrCBTP1 gene is, in contrast to expression of many other gtr operons, not subject to phase variation and transcriptional analysis suggests that gtrC is produced under a variety of conditions. Additionally, GtrCBTP1 expression is necessary and sufficient to provide protection against BTP1 phage infection of an otherwise susceptible strain. These data are consistent with a model in which GtrCBTP1 mediates modification of the BTP1 phage O‐antigen receptor in lysogenic D23580, and thereby prevents superinfection by itself and other phage that uses the same O‐antigen co‐receptor.
Portfolio Diversification and the Cross-Sectional Distribution of Foreign Investment

In this paper I explore the role of portfolio diversification in explaining the distribution of foreign investment across countries. I capture the portfolio diversification motive by a measure of country-specific riskiness, “covariance risk,” which I construct as how countries' growth rates covary with the stochastic discount factor of a representative international investor. My key new empirical finding is a strong and significant correlation between this new measure of country riskiness and foreign investment allocations. Less risky countries, i.e. countries whose growth rates are more highly correlated with the investor's stochastic discount factor, receive larger investment shares than more risky countries. I interpret this result as evidence that investors do take into account diversification opportunities, not only for portfolio investment decisions, but also for foreign direct investment decisions. My empirical results confirm the theoretical predictions of standard portfolio allocation models.
Beliefs about Mental Illness among University Students in Egypt

Objective: To detect differences in attitudes towards psychiatric illness, regarding its nature, cause, different ways of therapy, possibility of cure and the effect on the society in two areas from different socioeconomic classes in Egypt. Method: A survey study using self administered questionnaire, to detect culture differences between students of Cairo and Beni Suef universities “Beni Suef is one of upper Egypt governorates”. All participating students were subjected to Familial Socioeconomic status scale, Beliefs about Psychiatric Illness in the Arab Culture Scale. Results: 69.8% students were females. The majority of Cairo University students were from higher socioeconomic classes (average 41% and above average 32.5%). However, the majority of Beni Suef University students were form low and below average class (13.6%, 49% respectively). Cairo University students showed higher positive attitude regarding Beliefs about Psychiatric Illness including the nature of psychiatric illness, psychiatric etiology, psychiatric management, psychiatric cure, and effect on the family than Beni Suef University students (p<.001). Females in both groups showed lower positive attitude on Attitudes Towards Psychiatric Illness in the Arab Culture Scale than males (P <.001). Conclusion: Beliefs about mental illness are highly affected by low socioeconomic status, upbringing way and beliefs in Egypt. Public education about psychiatric illnesses is highly beneficial for mental and public health professionals.
The British hypothesis revisited

Forty years ago, British investigators developed the hypothesis that recurrent bronchial infections were the reason that some smokers developed progressive airways obstruction and other did not 1. The classical studies of Fletcher et al. 2 were designed to test this proposition. They carried out a prospective study of working males, noting the frequency of respiratory infections, sputum quantity and quality, and rate of loss of lung function in the form of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). They found that chronic cough and sputum production, and recurrent respiratory infections did not relate to lung function decline. They concluded that the chronic bronchitis syndrome (cough, sputum and episodes of acute bronchitis) was an epiphenomenon in so far as the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was concerned; both chronic bronchitis and COPD were caused by smoking, but the two were not related. This made sense, since chronic bronchitis symptoms largely reflected pathology in major conducting airways, and airways obstruction was related to lesions in small airways and the lung parenchyma. This view of the pathogenesis of COPD was essentially unchallenged for many years, in a large part because it was hard to do a better study that that of …
Radiomorphometric indices of the mandible - an indicator of osteoporosis.

INTRODUCTION Osteoporosis is a regressive change which occurs in the bone and it is seldom diagnosed before the occurrence of fractures. Hence, determination of mandibular bone density is of paramount importance for the detection of this silent disease. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influences of gender and age on the radiomorphometric indices and to assess the differences in the various indices, if any, between digital and analog radiographs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred and fifty six panoramic radiographs (128 digital and 128 analog) were obtained and they were grouped into 8 age groups which were between 21 to 60 years with 5 year intervals between them, with equal sex distributions. The mandibular cortical index (MCI), mental index (MI) and panoramic mandibular index (PMI) were analyzed. RESULTS C2 and C3 categories of MCI increased as age advanced in females. MI showed a significant difference in genders and MI Values decreased from younger to older females. PMI (p<0.05) was significant for both the genders. CONCLUSION This study showed that MCI, MI and PMI indices were useful for identifying patients with low skeletal bone mineral densities (BMD) or osteoporosis and that digital panoramic radiographs were better than analog radiographs for measuring the indices.
O ct 2 00 4 Detectability of Upgoing Sleptons

Some supersymmetric models predicted long lived charged sleptons. We consider an exact process where the τ̃ , the supersymmetry partner of τ lepton, are produced inside the earth by collisions of high energy neutrinos with nucleons. We detailedly investigate the possible signals of upgoing τ̃ by comparing with the background muons where atmospheric neutrino flux is taken into account. The realistic spectra shows that km-scale experiments could see as many as 69 events a year by using the WaxmanBahcall limit on the extraterrestrial neutrino flux.
Do They Really Smell Bad? A Study on Developers' Perception of Bad Code Smells

In the last decade several catalogues have been defined to characterize bad code smells, i.e., symptoms of poor design and implementation choices. On top of such catalogues, researchers have defined methods and tools to automatically detect and/or remove bad smells. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing debate regarding the extent to which developers perceive bad smells as serious design problems. Indeed, there seems to be a gap between theory and practice, i.e., what is believed to be a problem (theory) and what is actually a problem (practice). This paper presents a study aimed at providing empirical evidence on how developers perceive bad smells. In this study, we showed to developers code entities -- belonging to three systems -- affected and not by bad smells, and we asked them to indicate whether the code contains a potential design problem, and if any, the nature and severity of the problem. The study involved both original developers from the three projects and outsiders, namely industrial developers and Master's students. The results provide insights on characteristics of bad smells not yet explored sufficiently. Also, our findings could guide future research on approaches for the detection and removal of bad smells.
Development and external validation of nomograms predicting distant metastases and overall survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery for patients with nonmetastatic osteosarcoma: A multi‐institutional study

In this era of individualized cancer treatment, data that could be applied to predicting the survival of patients with osteosarcoma are still limited because of the rarity of the disease and the difficulty in accumulating a sufficient number of patients. Therefore, a multi‐institutional collaboration was implemented to develop and externally validate nomograms that would predict metastasis‐free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OAS) for patients with nonmetastatic osteosarcoma.
The Weight of Inequality: Socioeconomic Status and Adolescent Body Mass in Brazil

Abstract:The high rate of obesity among adolescents is a global public health problem that has recently expanded to affect middle- and low-income countries. Brazil, which is undergoing a relatively rapid nutrition transition and has inadequate health systems, is currently experiencing the consequences of increasing rates of overweight and obesity concomitantly with the consequences of generations of malnourishment. Given this scenario, Brazil is an ideal context for examining the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and adolescent body mass, as well as how this relationship varies across very different regions within the same country and across the body mass index (BMI) continuum. Guided by a framework that integrates nutrition transition and fundamental cause theories, we use unique nationally representative data with measured height and weight for all household members to conduct quantile regression models. The results suggest that family socioeconomic conditions are important theoretical factors associated with adolescent BMI, but that the way in which family SES impinges on adolescent BMI varies across regions characterized by different locations in the nutrition transition and varying levels of economic development. We also find that family socioeconomic disadvantages operate very differently according to BMI status. The results show that the socioeconomic gradient of adolescent BMI varies by stages of the nutrition transition and economic development and across BMI percentiles.
Antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles: sensitivity of different Salmonella serovars

Salmonella spp. is one of the main causes of foodborne illnesses in humans worldwide. Consequently, great interest exists in reducing its impact on human health by lowering its prevalence in the food chain. Antimicrobial formulations in the form of nanoparticles exert bactericidal action due to their enhanced reactivity resultant from their high surface/volume ratio. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are known to be highly toxic to Gram-negative and Gram-positive microorganisms, including multidrug resistant bacteria. However, few data concerning their success against different Salmonella serovars are available. Aims of the present study were to test the antimicrobial effectiveness of AgNPs, against Salmonella Enteritidis, Hadar, and Senftenberg, and to investigate the causes of their different survival abilities from a molecular point of view. Results showed an immediate, time-limited and serovar-dependent reduction of bacterial viability. In the case of S. Senftenberg, the reduction in numbers was observed for up to 4 h of incubation in the presence of 200 mg/l of AgNPs; on the contrary, S. Enteritidis and S. Hadar resulted to be inhibited for up to 48 h. Reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction experiments demonstrated the constitutive expression of the plasmidic silver resistance determinant (SilB) by S. Senftenberg, thus suggesting the importance of a cautious use of AgNPs.
6‐Keto PGExi A Possible Metabolite of Prostacyclin Having Platelet Antiaggregatory Effects

SUMMARY Hepatic metabolism of prostacydin (PGI,) results in the formation of several biologically inactive lipids and one stable product that has the same chromatographic and biological properties as authentic 6-keto PGE,. Both prostaglandins, 6-keto PGE, and PGI 2, hare comparable potency in their antiaggregatory and disaggregatory effects on platelets. They contract the superfused rat stomach strip but differ in their effects on the bovine coronary artery, which is contracted by 6-keto PGE, but relaxed by PGI 2. Further, 6-keto PGE, is considerably more stable than PGI,. Thus, 6-keto PGE, could account for some of the prolonged effects occasionally seen with PGI,.
The digital watermarking algorithm of the relational database based on the effective bits of numerical field

According to the numerical field of the relational database, the paper put forwards a database digital watermarking algorithm. The algorithm coverts digital watermarking into binary stream, and adopts error correction coding technique first, and then utilizes HASH function and control factor to determine the position of watermarking embedding to enhance the robustness of watermarking. At last, embed the watermarking binary bit stream into the lowest effective bit of numerical field of database.
Academic self-concept and causal attributions for success and failure amongst elementary school children

ABSTRACT A great deal of research shows that the way in which children attribute causes to their successes and failures in school has implications for the development of their academic self-concept (ASC). The most common attributions are ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. The present study asked 68 elementary school children aged seven to eight years how they explained their successes and failures in school subjects. The aim of the study was to examine whether there were gender differences in the children’s responses which might indicate differences in ASCs or in their explanations for the causes of success or failure. Data were collected via quantitative questionnaires. Results showed no gender differences in ASC but, within the group, boys were more likely to attribute their success to high ability; on the other hand girls were more likely to attribute their failures to low ability or the difficulty level of task. This suggests that boys are more likely than girls to provide positive, self-enhancing reasons for their success while girls are more likely than boys to provide negative, self-deprecating reasons for their failures.
Protein expression pattern in cerebellum of Cav2.1 mutant, tottering-6j mice

Neuronal voltage-gated Cav2.1 channel controls a broad array of functions, including neurotransmitter release, neuronal excitability, activity-dependent gene expression, and neuronal survival. The Cav2.1 channel is molecular complexes consisting of several subunits: α1, α2/δ, β, and γ. The pore-forming subunit, α1, is encoded by the Cacna1a gene. Tottering-6j mice, generated by the Neuroscience Mutagenesis Facility at The Jackson Laboratory, are a recessive mutant strain in which the mutation has been chemically induced by ethylnitrosourea. In tottering-6j mice, mutation in the Cacna1a gene results in a base substitution (C-to-A) in the consensus splice acceptor sequence, which results in deletion of a part of the S4-S5 linker, S5, and a part of S5-S6 linker domain I in the α1 subunit of Cav2.1 channel. The mice display motor dysfunctions and absence-like seizures. However, protein expression in the cerebellum of tottering-6j mice has not been investigated. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and histological analyses of the cerebellum of tottering-6j mice revealed high expression levels of tyrosine hydroxylase, zebrin II, and ryanodine receptor 3 compared with those of wild-type mice. Conversely, a low level of calretinin expression was found compared with wild-type mice. These results indicate that Cacna1a mutation plays a significant role in protein expression patterns and that the tottering-6j mouse is a useful model for understanding protein expression mechanisms.
An Experiment about Estimating the Number of Instruments in Polyphonic Music: A Comparison Between Internet and Laboratory Results

Internet experiments in the fields of music perception and music information retrieval are becoming more and more popular. However, not many Internet experiments are compared to laboratory experiments, the consequence being that the effect of the uncontrolled Internet environment on the results is unknown. In this paper the results of an Internet experiment with 1168 participants are compared to those of the same experiment with 62 participants but previously conducted in a controlled environment. The comparison of the Internet and laboratory results enabled us to make a point on whether the Internet can be used for our experiment procedure. The experiment aimed to investigate the listeners ability to correctly estimate the number of instruments being played back in a given excerpt of music. The participants listened to twelve short classical and pop music excerpts each composed using one to six instruments. For each music excerpt the participants were asked how many instruments they could hear and how certain they were about their estimation.
2-D Terahertz Metallic Photonic Crystals in Parallel-Plate Waveguides

2-D metallic photonic crystals without defects, with point defects, and with a Fabry-Perot (F-P) defect are characterized by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The metal parallel-plate waveguide (PPWG) with single TEM-mode propagation is used as a tool to simulate 2-D photonic crystals in free space. The 2-D metallic photonic-crystal structures were fabricated by coating Au on an SU-8 polymer cylinder array. Wide terahertz bandgaps were observed in the photonic crystals within the PPWG. The experimental measurements have excellent agreement to 2-D photonic-crystal theory without defects. Defect modes are observed in the samples with defects and show the F-P defect has a strong localization effect
Tracing Down Real Socio-Economic Trends From Household Data With Erratic Sampling Frames: The Case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

By means of the latest seven national household surveys of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this article uncovers the very volatile sampling frame used underneath all survey designs. As a result, the reliability of much associated survey information as well as any corresponding temporal analysis are seriously jeopardized. Relying on recent vaccination, school enrolment and election data, the article proposes a post-stratification technique to retroactively control for these erratic variations in sampling frame in an attempt to identify real socio-economic trends. Although the proposed technique did not restore full comparability of survey data in all respects, it has been able to eliminate an essential part of the spuriousness as illustrated by assessing trends in asset ownership under both the biased and stabilized sampling frames.
Optimal AC Distribution Systems Reconfiguration

Convex power flow relaxations have become popular to alleviate difficulties with embedding the non-convex AC power flow equations into optimisation models, and to provide guarantees on the quality of feasible solutions generated by heuristic approaches. However, their use has almost universally been limited to purely continuous problems. This paper extends the reach of relaxations to reconfiguration problems with binary decision variables, such as minimal power loss, load balancing and power supply restoration. This is achieved by extending the relaxations of AC power flows to bear on the on/off nature of constraints featured in reconfiguration problems. This leads to an approach producing AC feasible solutions with provable optimality gaps, and to global optimal solutions in some cases. In terms of run time, the new models are competitive with state-of-the-art approximations which lack formal guarantees.
Case amazon: ratings and reviews as part of recommendations

We studied user behavior in a recommender-rich environment, Amazon online store, to see what role the algorithm-based and user-generated recommendations play in finding items of interest. We used applied ethnography, on-location interviewing and observation, to get an accurate picture of user activity. We were especially interested in the role of customer ratings and reviews and what kind of strategies users had developed for such an environment. Our results underline the need to develop recommender systems as a whole. The way the recommendations are shown affects which items get picked, and for improving the interface, it is necessary to study the whole in addition to studying the parts in isolation.
Influence of the Ionic Composition of Fluid Medium on Red Cell Aggregation

The effects of ionic strength and cationic valency of the fluid medium on the surface potential and dextran-induced aggregation of red blood cells (RBC's) were investigated. The zeta potential was calculated from cell mobility in a microelectrophoresis apparatus; the degree of aggregation of normal and neuraminidase-treated RBC's in dextrans (Dx 40 and Dx 80) was quantified by microscopic observation, measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and determination of low-shear viscosity. A decrease in ionic strength caused a reduction in aggregation of normal RBC's in dextrans, but had no effect on the aggregation of neuraminidase-treated RBC's. These findings reflect an increase in electrostatic repulsive force between normal RBC's by the reduction in ionic strength due to (a) a decrease in the screening of surface charge by counter-ions and (b) an increase in the thickness of the electric double layer. Divalent cations (Ca++, Mg++, and Ba++) increased aggregation of normal RBC's in dextrans, but had no effect on the aggregation of neuraminidase-treated RBC's. These effects of the divalent cations are attributable to a decrease in surface potential of normal RBC's and a shrinkage of the electric double layer. It is concluded that the surface charge of RBC's plays a significant role in cell-to-cell interactions.