Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacillus cereus and related species

Bacillus cereus is a gram-positive aerobic or facultatively anaerobic spore-forming rod. It is a cause of food poisoning, which is frequently associated with the consumption of rice-based dishes. The organism produces an emetic or diarrheal syndrome induced by an emetic toxin and enterotoxin, respectively. Other toxins are produced during growth, including phospholipases, proteases, and hemolysins, one of which, cereolysin, is a thiol-activated hemolysin. These toxins may contribute to the pathogenicity of B. cereus in nongastrointestinal disease. B. cereus isolated from clinical material other than feces or vomitus was commonly dismissed as a contaminant, but increasingly it is being recognized as a species with pathogenic potential. It is now recognized as an infrequent cause of serious nongastrointestinal infection, particularly in drug addicts, the immunosuppressed, neonates, and postsurgical patients, especially when prosthetic implants such as ventricular shunts are inserted. Ocular infections are the commonest types of severe infection, including endophthalmitis, panophthalmitis, and keratitis, usually with the characteristic formation of corneal ring abscesses. Even with prompt surgical and antimicrobial agent treatment, enucleation of the eye and blindness are common sequelae. Septicemia, meningitis, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, and surgical and traumatic wound infections are other manifestations of severe disease. B. cereus produces beta-lactamases, unlike Bacillus anthracis, and so is resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics; it is usually susceptible to treatment with clindamycin, vancomycin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, and erythromycin. Simultaneous therapy via multiple routes may be required.
A Solution to the Subcomparative Paradox

In (1) the compared constituent in the main clause is italicized and the place of the interpreted but non-overt element in the embedded clause is marked by a gap, e. The category of the gap is identical to that of the compared constituent in the matrix clause. Sentence (1a), for instance, means The number of books that John has is larger than the number of books that Bill has. The examples in (2) differ minimally from those in (1) in that only a subpart of the second compared constituent is non-overt. Thus in (2a) the number of books owned by John is compared to the number of magazines (not books as in (1a)) owned by Bill.
Work organization and health among immigrant women: Latina manual workers in North Carolina.

OBJECTIVES We sought to describe work organization attributes for employed immigrant Latinas and determine associations of work organization with physical health, mental health, and health-related quality of life. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 319 employed Latinas in western North Carolina (2009-2011). Measures included job demands (heavy load, awkward posture, psychological demand), decision latitude (skill variety, job control), support (supervisor control, safety climate), musculoskeletal symptoms, mental health (depressive symptoms), and mental (MCS) and physical component score (PCS) health-related quality of life. RESULTS Three fifths reported musculoskeletal symptoms. Mean scores for depression, MCS, and PCS were 6.2 (SE = 0.2), 38.3 (SE = 0.5), and 42.8 (SE = 0.3), respectively. Greater job demands (heavy load, awkward posture, greater psychological demand) were associated with more musculoskeletal and depressive symptoms and worse MCS. Less decision latitude (lower skill variety, job control) was associated with more musculoskeletal and depressive symptoms. Greater support (supervisor's power and safety climate) was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and better MCS. CONCLUSIONS Work organization should be considered to improve occupational health of vulnerable women workers. Additional research should delineate the links between work organization and health among vulnerable workers.
Early viral kinetics on treatment with pegylated interferon‐α‐2a in chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection *

summary. Even with pegylated (PEG) interferons (IFN), therapy of chronic hepatitis C (genotype 1) remains unsatisfactory. The initial viral response to IFN identifies patients infected with IFN resistant viruses not responding to standard IFN/ribavirin therapy. The impact of primary IFN unresponsiveness for PEG‐IFN‐α‐2a/ribavirin therapy is unknown. Viral load was measured in 22 chronic hepatitis C (genotype 1) patients before and 24 h after 9 MU IFN‐α‐2a (days 0 and 1), and before and during weekly 180 μg PEG‐IFN‐α‐2a (days 7, 8, 11, 14 and 21) administration. Thereafter, ribavirin (800 mg/d) was added for 6 months. Virological responders continued treatment for a further 6 months. Twenty‐eight patients treated with standard IFN/ribavirin therapy in a previous study using an analogous protocol served as historic controls. After 6 months 15 (68.2%) patients were (HCV‐RNA) negative, eight of whom (36.4%) had a sustained response. The decrease in viral load 24 h after 9 MU IFN‐α‐2a was greater in virological responders (1.05 log [0.25–1.67]) than in nonresponders (NR) (0.34 [0.14–0.65]; P=0.003). In contrast, viral decline was not different between responders and NRs during the first 2 weeks on PEG‐IFN‐α‐2a. All patients with an initial decline > 1.4 log became sustained responders. Five of 12 patients with a log change < 0.8 became end of treatment responders, two had a sustained response. Antiviral response to PEG‐IFN‐α‐2a is different to that on standard IFN. In spite of a lower initial response PEG‐IFN‐α‐2a/ribavirin combination therapy may overcome predicted IFN unresponsiveness.
Reproductive and menstrual factors and thyroid cancer among Japanese women: the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study.

AIM Thyroid cancer is more frequent in women than in men, suggesting the potential role of reproductive and menstrual factors in this cancer. To investigate the association with these factors, we examined 37,986 women involved in the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study from 1988 to 1997. METHODS Reproductive and menstrual factors were assessed with a self-administered questionnaire at baseline. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of thyroid cancer incidence were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression. RESULTS Eighty-six new cases of thyroid cancer were recorded during 379,281 person-years of follow-up. Overall incidence rate was 22.7 per 100,000 person-years, with a diagnosed peak of 38.2 per 100,000 at 55-59 years old. Multivariate HRs of 0.56 (95% CI 0.25-1.24) and 0.52 (95% CI 0.24-1.16) were observed for women who had experienced pregnancy or a live birth, respectively, but without statistical significance. Further, we saw no associations with other factors, such as age at menarche, age at menopause, age at first birth, or hormone use. CONCLUSIONS There was no significant association between thyroid cancer and reproductive and menstrual factors in the present study. Additional cohort studies should further examine this possible relationship among Japanese women.
Presentations of finite simple groups: a computational approach

All nonabelian finite simple groups of rank $n$ over a field of size $q$, with the possible exception of the Ree groups $^2G_2(3^{2e+1})$, have presentations with at most $80 $ relations and bit-length $O(\log n +\log q)$. Moreover, $A_n$ and $S_n$ have presentations with 3 generators$,$ 7 relations and bit-length $O(\log n)$, while $\SL(n,q)$ has a presentation with 7 generators, $2 5$ relations and bit-length $O(\log n +\log q)$
Null Activity of Selenium and Vitamin E as Cancer Chemopreventive Agents in the Rat Prostate

To evaluate the potential efficacy of selenium and vitamin E as inhibitors of prostate carcinogenesis, four chemoprevention studies using a common protocol were done in a rat model of androgen-dependent prostate cancer. After stimulation of prostate epithelial cell proliferation by a sequential regimen of cyproterone acetate followed by testosterone propionate, male Wistar-Unilever rats received a single i.v. injection of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) followed by chronic androgen stimulation via subcutaneous implantation of testosterone pellets. At 1 week post-MNU, groups of carcinogen-treated rats (39-44/group) were fed either a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with l-selenomethionine (3 or 1.5 mg/kg diet; study 1), dl-α-tocopherol (vitamin E, 4,000 or 2,000 mg/kg diet; study 2), l-selenomethionine + vitamin E (3 + 2,000 mg/kg diet or 3 + 500 mg/kg diet; study 3), or selenized yeast (target selenium levels of 9 or 3 mg/kg diet; study 4). Each chemoprevention study was terminated at 13 months post-MNU, and prostate cancer incidence was determined by histopathologic evaluation. No statistically significant reductions in prostate cancer incidence were identified in any group receiving dietary supplementation with selenium and/or vitamin E. These data do not support the hypotheses that selenium and vitamin E are potent cancer chemopreventive agents in the prostate, and when considered with the recent clinical data reported in the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT), show the predictive nature of this animal model for human prostate cancer chemoprevention. Cancer Prev Res; 3(3); 381–92
BIOINFORMATICS APPLICATIONS

Motivation: BLAST users frequently expect to obtain homologous genes with certain similarity to their query genes. But what they get from BLAST searches are often collections of local alignments called high-scoring segment pairs (HSPs). On the other hand, most homology-based gene ﬁnders have been built using computation-intensive algorithms, without taking full advantage of BLAST searches that have been perfected over the last decades. Results: Here we report an efﬁcient algorithm, genBlastG that directly uses the HSPs reported by BLAST to deﬁne high-quality gene models.
The positive impact of portfolios on health care assistants' clinical practice.

© 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 14 (2008) 172–174 Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice ISSN 1356-1294 Blackwell Publishing LtdOxford, UKJEPJournal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice1356 1294© 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd? 2006141172174Research Letter Positive impact of portfoliosA. Atwal et al.
Dengue encephalitis

We report a case of dengue fever with features of encephalitis. The diagnosis of dengue was confirmed by the serum antibodies to dengue and the presence of a dengue antigen in the cerebrospinal fluid. This patient had characteristic magnetic resonance imaging brain findings, mainly involving the bilateral thalami, with hemorrhage. Dengue is not primarily a neurotropic virus and encephalopathy is a common finding in Dengue. Hence various other etiological possibilities were considered before concluding this as a case of Dengue encephalitis. This case explains the importance of considering the diagnosis of dengue encephalitis in appropriate situations.
Speeded naming, frequency and the development of the lexicon in Williams syndrome

Atypical vocabulary has been reported as one of the most notable features of the language of adolescents and adults with Williams syndrome (WS), including use of unusual or low frequency words. Two hypotheses were identified regarding the developmental origins of this phenomenon. The intra-lexicon hypothesis views the cause in terms of domain-specific anomalies of structure or activation dynamics in the WS lexicon. The extra-lexicon hypothesis views the cause in terms of pragmatic influences, whereby individuals with WS use social engagement devices in their language in service of their “hyper-social” profile (Jones et al., 2000), and domain-general deficits to lexical-semantic representations in line with the level of learning disability present in WS. The hypotheses were evaluated using a speeded picture-naming task, in which frequency and semantic category were manipulated as implicit variables. The performance of 16 adolescents and adults with WS was compared with two individually matched control groups, one matched on chronological age (CA) and the other on receptive vocabulary age (RVA). Developmental trajectories were also constructed to assess the relationship between performance and age. Results indicated slower and less accurate naming in the WS group compared with both CA and RVA groups, but frequency and semantic category effects in line with the RVA group. Trajectories were delayed but not atypical. The data support a normal encoding of word frequency (rarity) in the WS lexicon, with rare-word usage explained as a pragmatic aspect of the WS social profile. The finding sets bounds on the domain-specificity of the complex developmental pathway between atypical genotype and atypical phenotype in WS.
Why Do New Parents Stop Practising Sport? A Retrospective Study towards the Determinants of Dropping Out after Becoming a Parent

Despite the known health benefits of sport, recent studies showed that parenthood is related to decreased sport participation. Changes in sport behaviour after becoming a parent have been explained by gender or with the rational resource perspective of limited time and energy. However, the latter is mostly theoretical, since empirical insights on resource mechanisms are scarce. We want to improve and go beyond these explanations by investigating them empirically and by examining sport socialisation during the formative years as an alternative explanation. Consequently, our main objective is to explain changes in sport participation after becoming a parent with gender, limited resources and socialisation with sport. To this end, we employ representative Dutch survey data of new parents (n = 594), containing detailed information on sport careers and sport socialisation, as well as babysitter availability, partner support and physical discomfort after childbirth. The results of the logistic regression analyses show that, besides gender and resource mechanisms, sport socialisation and social support seem to have a great impact on sport behaviour when people become parents. That is, men are more likely to continue sport participation, as well as people with more resources (physical, temporal and social) and more socialisation with sport during the formative years. So including sport socialisation and social support seems necessary to better explain and prevent sport dropout during major life transitions, like becoming a parent.
An incremental placement and global routing algorithm for field-programmable gate arrays

Rapid system prototyping is one of the main applications for field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). At the stage of rapid system prototyping, design specifications can often be changed since they cannot always be determined completely. In this paper, layout design change is focused on and a layout reconfiguration algorithm is proposed for FPGAs. In layout reconfiguration, the main problem is to add LUTs to initial layouts. Our algorithm consists of two steps: For given placement and global routing of LUTs, Step 1 places an added LUT with allowing that the position of the added LUT may overlap that of a preplaced LUT; Then Step 2 moves preplaced LUTs to their adjacent positions so that the overlap of the LUT positions can be resolved. Global routes are updated corresponding to reconfiguration of placement. The algorithm keeps routing congestion small by evaluating global routes directly both in Steps 1 and 2. Especially in Step 2, if the minimum number of preplaced LUTs are moved to their adjacent positions, our algorithm minimizes routing congestion. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the algorithm.
Bacterial Delivery of Nuclear Proteins into Pluripotent and Differentiated Cells

Numerous Gram negative pathogens possess a type III secretion system (T3SS) which allows them to inject virulent proteins directly into the eukaryotic cell cytoplasm. Injection of these proteins is dependent on a variable secretion signal sequence. In this study, we utilized the N-terminal secretion signal sequence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin ExoS to translocate Cre recombinase containing a nuclear localization sequence (Cre-NLS). Transient exposure of human sarcoma cell line, containing Cre-dependent lacZ reporter, resulted in efficient recombination in the host chromosome, indicating that the bacterially delivered protein was not only efficiently localized to the nucleus but also retained its biological function. Using this system, we also illustrate the ability of P. aeruginosa to infect mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) and the susceptibility of these cells to bacterially delivered Cre-NLS. A single two-hour infection caused as high as 30% of the mESC reporter cells to undergo loxP mediated chromosomal DNA recombination. A simple antibiotic treatment completely eliminated the bacterial cells following the delivery, while the use of an engineered mutant strain greatly reduced cytotoxicity. Utility of the system was demonstrated by delivery of the Cre-NLS to induced pluripotent stem cells to excise the floxed oncogenic nuclear reprogramming cassette. These results validate the use of T3SS for the delivery of transcription factors for the purpose of cellular reprogramming.
Ownership Versus Environment: Disentangling the Sources of Public-Sector Inefficiency

An unanswered question in the debate on public-sector inefficiency is whether reforms other than government divestiture can effectively substitute for privatization. Using a 19811995 panel data set of all public and private manufacturing establishments in Indonesia, we analyze whether public-sector inefficiency is primarily due to agency-type problems or to the environment in which public-sector enterprises (PSEs) operate, as measured by the soft budget constraint and the degree of internal and external competition. The results, obtained from fixed-effects specifications, provide support for both models. Ownership matters because, for a given level of government financing or competition, PSEs perform worse than their private-sector counterparts. The environment matters because only PSEs which received government financing or those shielded from import competition or foreign ownership performed worse than private enterprises. The results suggest that the efficiency of PSEs can be increased through privatization, through manipulation of the environment, or through a combination of both approaches.
Successful treatment of therapy-resistant pruritus in lichen amyloidosis with menthol.

Sir, Lichen amyloidosis, a variant of localized cutaneous amyloidosis, is characterized by discrete, intensely pru-ritic, hyperkeratotic brown-coloured papules and plaques (1). Genetic and viral factors, as well as chronic friction due to scratching, are possible causes (2–4). Therapeutic management of lichen amyloidosis comprises the use of topical treatments, such as glucocorticosteroids, calcipotriene, hydrocolloid dressings, psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) photochemotherapy, intralesional gluco-corticosteroids, systemic treatments, such as acitretin, cyclophosphamide, and cyclosporine, as well as curet-tage, cryotherapy, surgical excision, electrodessication, dermabrasion and laser therapy. All are characterized by variable and limited response frequently followed by reoccurrence of lichen amyloidosis. A 67-year-old Caucasian woman with a history of lichen amy-loidosis on the upper back for more than 26 years presented to the itch clinic of the Department of Dermatology in 2007 because of severe therapy-resistant pruritus within the affected skin area. The lichen amyloidosis had begun in 1982, the size of a hens egg, constantly extending in a triangular area of the upper and lower back up to a size of 30 × 25 cm in 2007. The patient's history, including that of her family, was free of any dermatological diseases, atopy or allergies. She denied any sun or ultraviolet (UV) exposure before lichen amyloidosis had begun. Her past medical history comprised arterial hypertension, which had started 20 years after onset of lichen amyloidosis. She had been treated with losartan, hydrochlorothia-zide and oestradiol/norethisterone acetate since menopause. Systemic amyloidosis, including any systemic disease, had been excluded. In 1993 and 2006, a skin biopsy was taken of the affected skin. Light microscopy revealed ortho-keratotic hyperkeratosis with prominent stratum granulosum and elongation of the rete ridges, as well as slight lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate. Congo red staining could not be seen under polarized light. Staining with methylene blue revealed light blue hyaline-like bodies. In electron microscopy, no changes were observed in the keratinocytes. Globular deposits of fibril-lary material were seen at the papillary dermis (amyloid deposits). Over the past 25 years, the patient had tried various therapies, but none were effective long-term: local PUVA bath therapy, topical glucocorticosteroids, oral antihistamines, derma-brasion (performed in 1995 leading to a temporary reduction in pruritus with reoccurrence 12 months later), various laser therapies in 2003, oral pregabalin and gabapentin in 2004, topical immunomodulators in 2004 and 2007, various over-the-counter products (moisturizers, urea and herbal-containing topicals). Topical capsaicin cream had not been tolerated due to severe burning sensations. In 2007, she was …
Early and Sustained Survival Benefit Associated With Statin Therapy at the Time of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Background—Long-term administration of statin therapy has been shown to reduce major coronary events and cardiac mortality within randomized clinical trials. In addition to lowering lipids, statins favorably affect platelet adhesion, thrombosis, endothelial function, inflammation, and plaque stability, which may potentially improve outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Therefore, we hypothesized that statin therapy has an early beneficial effect among patients undergoing PCI. Methods and Results—Each year from 1993 to 1999, we prospectively collected data among the first 1000 patients undergoing PCI. Patients who presented with acute or recent myocardial infarction or cardiogenic shock were excluded from the analysis. Baseline, procedural, and 6-month data of statin-treated and non–statin-treated patients were compared. Propensity score and multivariate survival analysis were used to adjust for heterogeneity between the two groups. Of 5052 patients who completed follow-up, 26.5% were treated with statin at the time of the procedure. Statin therapy was associated with a mortality reduction at 30 days (0.8% versus 1.5%; hazard ratio, 0.53;P =0.048) and at 6 months (2.4% versus 3.6%; hazard ratio, 0.67;P =0.046). After adjusting for the propensity to receive statin therapy before the procedure and other confounders, statin therapy remained an independent predictor for survival at 6 months after coronary intervention (hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.99;P =0.045). Conclusions—In this large study cohort, statin therapy among PCI patients seems to be associated with a significant mortality advantage at early and intermediate-term follow-up.