Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ampc Beta Lactamases Among Gram Negative Clinical Isolates From A Tertiary Hospital, South India

AmpC β-lactamases are cephalosporinases that hydrolyze cephamycins as well as other extended-spectrum cephalosporins and are poorly inhibited by clavulanic acid. Although reported with increasing frequency, the true rate of occurrence of AmpC β-lactamases in different organisms, including members of Enterobacteriaceae, remains unknown. The present study was designed to determine the occurrence of AmpC enzyme-harbouring Gram-negative clinical isolates in a tertiary care hospital in Pondicherry state, South India. A total of 235 Gram negative clinical isolates were tested for resistance to cefoxitin, third generation cephalosporin (3GC) antibiotics, ampicillin, amikacin, co-trimoxazole, gentamicin, meropenem and tetracycline by disc diffusion method. Isolates found resistant to 3GC and cefoxitin were tested for the production of AmpC β -lactamases by three dimensional extraction method and AmpC disc method. Isolates found to sensitive to 3GC were subjected to disc antagonism test for inducible AmpC production. One hundred and thirty four (57%) strains were resistant to 3GC, among which 63(47%) were positive for plasmid-mediated AmpC beta lactamases production. Among the 101 strains sensitive to 3GC, 23 (22.7%) revealed the presence of inducible AmpC beta lactamases by disc approximation test. A total of 80.9% (51/63) of screen positive isolates were detected by Amp C disc test and 93.6% (59/63) by three dimensional extraction method. Out of the 86 AmpC producers, 67 (77.9%) were cefoxitin resistant . Inducible AmpC was not found in Esch.coli and Klebsiella spp. The AmpC producers also concurrently showed multidrug resistance pattern. AmpC producers were found to be prevalent in our hospital and though three dimensional extraction test detects AmpC better, the disk test is easier to perform routinely and is user- friendly.
Disruption in the Inhibitory Architecture of the Cell Minicolumn: Implications for Autisim

The modular arrangement of the neocortex is based on the cell minicolumn: a self-contained ecosystem of neurons and their afferent, efferent, and interneuronal connections. The authors’ preliminary studies indicate that minicolumns in the brains of autistic patients are narrower, with an altered internal organization. More specifically, their minicolumns reveal less peripheral neuropil space and increased spacing among their constituent cells. The peripheral neuropil space of the minicolumn is the conduit, among other things, for inhibitory local circuit projections. A defect in these GABAergic fibers may correlate with the increased prevalence of seizures among autistic patients. This article expands on our initial findings by arguing for the specificity of GABAergic inhibition in the neocortex as being focused around its mini- and macrocolumnar organization. The authors conclude that GABAergic interneurons are vital to proper minicolumnar differentiation and signal processing (e.g., filtering capacity of the neocortex), thus providing a putative correlate to autistic symptomatology.
Learning from the Crowd: Regression Discontinuity Estimates of the Effects of an Online Review Database

Internet review forums increasingly supplement expert opinion and social networks in informing consumers about product quality. However, limited empirical evidence links digital word‐of‐mouth to purchasing decisions. We implement a regression discontinuity design to estimate the effect of positive Yelp.com ratings on restaurant reservation availability. An extra half‐star rating causes restaurants to sell out 19 percentage points (49%) more frequently, with larger impacts when alternate information is more scarce. These returns suggest that restaurateurs face incentives to leave fake reviews but a rich set of robustness checks confirm that restaurants do not manipulate ratings in a confounding, discontinuous manner.
Prolonged antiscarring effects of ilomastat and MMC after experimental glaucoma filtration surgery.

PURPOSE To determine the long-term antiscarring effect of ilomastat treatment after experimental glaucoma filtration surgery (GFS). METHODS In a randomized, prospective, masked-observer study, 21 New Zealand White rabbits underwent modified GFS. The animals were allocated to receive either intraoperative mitomycin-C (MMC) at a concentration of 0.2 mg/mL or postoperative subconjunctival injections of either ilomastat or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Fifteen injections were given to each animal during the study period. The animals were killed 60 days after surgery. Bleb morphology and intraocular pressures were recorded. Tissue sections were immunohistochemically stained for signs of scarring. RESULTS Ilomastat significantly improved surgical outcome compared with vehicle (P < 0.0163) and length of bleb survival was similar to the MMC group. The mean day of failure was 46.2 (range, 42-60) with ilomastat, 51.3 (range, 49-60) with MMC, and 16 (range, 15-21) with vehicle. IOP maintenance with ilomastat was similar to that in the MMC group. Histologically, minimal scar tissue was seen with MMC and ilomastat. MMC-treated tissue demonstrated subconjunctival hypocellularity associated with peripheral fibrosis. Ilomastat resulted in normal-appearing conjunctival morphology. CONCLUSIONS Ilomastat successfully prolongs bleb survival. MMP inhibition may provide an additional, potentially safer method of controlling intraocular pressure, thus preventing failure of glaucoma surgery, and may also act as a potential adjuvant treatment when MMC alone is inadequate.
Relationship between drug use and psychopathological variables of risk in university students.

BACKGROUND Research has been studying the relationships between drug use and the risk of suffering psychopathological disorders. This study analyzed the relationships existing between this use and certain psychotic disorder risk variables: hallucination, schizotypy and cognitive fusion. METHOD Several screening questionnaires on drug use (CAGE), a questionnaire on "cognitive fusion" (TAFS), another on hallucination proneness (LSHS-R) and another on schizotypy (O-LIFE-R) were given to a sample of 308 students at the University of Almeria with a mean age of 19.51 years (SD= 2.11). RESULTS The results found show how cognitive fusion is positively related to use of cannabis and cocaine, the scores on the schizotypy scale correlated positively with use of alcohol and cannabis, and the scores on a hallucination proneness correlated positively to use of cannabis. Regression equations were found that predicted the use of these substances from the variables of vulnerability to suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders. CONCLUSIONS The results show an association between drug use and the risk variables studied.
Selective Excitation of Subtypes of Neocortical Interneurons by Nicotinic Receptors

The cellular mechanisms by which neuronal nicotinic cholinergic receptors influence many aspects of physiology and pathology in the neocortex remain primarily unknown. Whole-cell recordings and single-cell reverse transcription (RT)-PCR were combined to analyze the effect of nicotinic receptor agonists on different types of neurons in acute slices of rat neocortex. Nicotinic receptor agonists had no effect on pyramidal neurons and on most types of interneurons, including parvalbumin-expressing fast spiking interneurons and somatostatin-expressing interneurons, but selectively excited a subpopulation of interneurons coexpressing the neuropeptides vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and cholecystokinin. This excitation persisted in the presence of glutamate, GABA, and muscarinic receptor antagonists and in the presence of tetrodotoxin and low extracellular calcium, suggesting that the depolarization was mediated through the direct activation of postsynaptic nicotinic receptors. The responses were blocked by the nicotinic receptor antagonists dihydro-β-erythroidine and mecamylamine and persisted in the presence of the α7 selective nicotinic receptor antagonist methyllycaconitine, suggesting that the involved nicotinic receptors lacked the α7 subunit. Single-cell RT-PCR analysis indicated that the majority of the interneurons that responded to nicotinic stimulation coexpressed the α4, α5, and β2 nicotinic receptor subunits. Therefore, these results provide a role for non-α7 nicotinic receptors in the selective excitation of a subpopulation of neocortical interneurons. Because the neocortical interneurons expressing VIP have been proposed previously to regulate regional cortical blood flow and metabolism, these results also provide a cellular basis for the neuronal regulation of cortical blood flow mediated by acetylcholine.
Towards Shorter Solutions for Problems of Path Planning for Multiple Robots in Theta-like Environments

A problem of path planning for multiple robots is addressed in this paper. A specific case of the problem with so called theta-like environment is studied. This case of the problem represent structurally the simplest solvable case and an eventual solving method for this case can be used as a building block for more general solving procedures. We propose a solving method for multi-robot path planning in theta-like environments that constructs a solution by composing it of the pre-calculated shortest solutions of certain sub-problems. This approach prefers short overall solutions. Moreover, we propose a new algorithm for pre-calculating shortest solutions of sub-problems - it is in fact an improvement of the IDA* algorithm. An experimental comparison of our methods with existing techniques is presented in the paper.
Correlation between Antioxidant Activities and Phenolic Contents of Radix Angelicae Sinensis (Danggui)

Radix Angelicae Sinensisis (RAS) is one of the most popular traditional Chinese herbal medicines. In the present study, six RAS extracts (i.e., phenolic extract PE, petroleum ether extract PEE, ethyl acetate extract EAE, absolute ethanol extract AEE, 95% ethanol extract 95 EE, and water extract WE) were prepared and their antioxidant activities measured by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical), ABTS [2,2′-azino-bis(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid diammonium salt)], Reducing power, •O2– and lipid peroxidation assays. In general, PE, PEE and EAE had relatively high antioxidant activity, followed by AEE with moderate activity, as compared with 95 EE and WE that had low activity. Their phenolic contents (including total phenolic, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, same as below) were then determined by HPLC or spectrophotometry. The sequence of phenolic contents was roughly identical with that of antioxidant activity. When the values of 1/IC50 of various antioxidant assays were used to evaluate the level of antioxidant of the RAS extracts, (plot between 1/IC50 values and phenolic contents), the correlation coefficient (R) ranged from 0.642 to 0.941, with an average value of 0.839. Significant positive correlations demonstrated that the antioxidant effects of RAS might generally be considered a result of the presence of the phenolic compounds, especially ferulic acid and caffeic acid.
La investigación en gestión de la calidad en España (1990-1999)

This article's goal is about analysing, which are the main research topics in quality management and methodological features. A framework for quality-related topics have been developed from a database of 180 papers published in Spanish management journals. Identification of trends both in research intensity of different topics and methodological-related issues in quality management studies is accomplished by means of a longitudinal analysis
Respiratory rate and pulse oximetry derived information as predictors of hospital admission in young children in Bangladesh: a prospective observational study

Objective Hypoxaemia is a strong predictor of mortality in children. Early detection of deteriorating condition is vital to timely intervention. We hypothesise that measures of pulse oximetry dynamics may identify children requiring hospitalisation. Our aim was to develop a predictive tool using only objective data derived from pulse oximetry and observed respiratory rate to identify children at increased risk of hospital admission. Setting Tertiary-level hospital emergency department in Bangladesh. Participants Children under 5 years (n=3374) presenting at the facility (October 2012–April 2013) without documented chronic diseases were recruited. 1-minute segments of pulse oximetry (photoplethysmogram (PPG), blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate (HR)) and respiratory rate were collected with a mobile app. Primary outcome The need for hospitalisation based on expert physician review and follow-up. Methods Pulse rate variability (PRV) using pulse peak intervals of the PPG signal and features extracted from the SpO2 signal, all derived from pulse oximetry recordings, were studied. A univariate age-adjusted logistic regression was applied to evaluate differences between admitted and non-admitted children. A multivariate logistic regression model was developed using a stepwise selection of predictors and was internally validated using bootstrapping. Results Children admitted to hospital showed significantly (p<0.01) decreased PRV and higher SpO2 variability compared to non-admitted children. The strongest predictors of hospitalisation were reduced PRV-power in the low frequency band (OR associated with a 0.01 unit increase, 0.93; 95% CI 0.89 to 0.98), greater time spent below an SpO2 of 98% and 94% (OR associated with 10 s increase, 1.4; 95% CI 1.3 to 1.4 and 1.5; 95% CI 1.4 to 1.6, respectively), high respiratory rate, high HR, low SpO2, young age and male sex. These variables provided a bootstrap-corrected AUC of the receiver operating characteristic of 0.76. Conclusions Objective measurements, easily obtained using a mobile device in low-resource settings, can predict the need for hospitalisation. External validation will be required before clinical adoption.
Lung clearance index at 4 years predicts subsequent lung function in children with cystic fibrosis.

RATIONALE The markedly improved life expectancy of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) has created a new challenge, as traditional markers of lung disease are frequently normal in young children. This prevents identification of individuals who may benefit from more aggressive therapy and also obliges large study numbers and prolonged duration for intervention studies. There is an urgent need for alternative surrogates that detect early lung disease and track through early childhood. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to determine whether multiple-breath washout (MBW) results at preschool age can predict subsequent abnormal lung function. METHODS Preschool children (3-5 yr) with CF and healthy control subjects underwent spirometry and MBW with testing repeated during early school age (6-10 yr). Primary outcomes were FEV1 from spirometry and lung clearance index (LCI) from MBW. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Forty-eight children with CF and 45 healthy children completed testing. Thirty-five (73%) children with CF had abnormal LCI at preschool age, whereas only five had abnormal FEV1. The positive predictive value of preschool LCI for predicting any abnormal school-age result was 94%, with a negative predictive value of 62%. Only one child with abnormal FEV1 at school age had had a normal preschool LCI. In contrast, for preschool FEV1 the positive predictive value was 100%, but negative predictive value was only 25%. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that an abnormal preschool LCI predicts subsequent lung function abnormalities, whereas a normal preschool LCI usually remains normal. MBW has potential as a clinical and research outcome in young children with CF.
Selective nucleation and controlled growth: quantum dots on metal, insulator and semiconductor surfaces

Nucleation and growth models are well developed for nucleation on homogeneous substrates, and they can typically be described in terms of three energy parameters. Nucleation on substrates containing point–defect traps has been investigated, at the cost of introducing more energy parameters. This paper outlines the quantitative description of such growth models, using rate and rate–diffusion equations, in terms of energies for individual surface processes, with examples taken from metal–metal, metal–insulator and semiconductor growth. The challenge to modelling is to describe the large range of length and time–scales in thin–film fabrication and degradation, without relying on too many (unknown) material parameters, which often occur in combination. Separating them into elementary processes often proves to be a challenge. One typically requires selective nucleation using patterned substrates, in combination with controlled, self–organized, growth for reliable nanotechnology. Reconstructed semiconductor surfaces offer both a further challenge to modelling and an opportunity for future technology; these paradoxes are discussed briefly.
Neural interaction in cat primary auditory cortex. Dependence on recording depth, electrode separation, and age.

1. Neural activity was recorded with two independent electrodes separated by 0.5-2 mm, aligned in parallel, and advanced perpendicular to the surface of the cat auditory cortex. For smaller separations a solid-state multielectrode array with interelectrode distances of 125 microns was used. The difference in recording depths for the two independently movable electrodes was never more than 100 microns; the electrode contacts of the multielectrode array were at the same depth. Thus the correlation studies dominantly explored horizontal interactions. 2. Out of 995 neuron pairs recorded, 478 represented pairs of single units, whereas the other pairs were contaminated with 5-10% misclassified spikes. Only the single-unit pairs were further analyzed. Of those pairs, 338 showed a clear correlation peak, and in 329 of these the peak heights were exceeding the Z > 4 significance level (P < 0.0001). Two hundred fifty-two of the significant correlograms (53% of total) could be attributed to common input; the remaining (16% of total) were indicative of unilateral excitation. For the 181 single-electrode pairs the percentage of unilateral excitation pairs (42%) was about the same as the percentage of common input pairs (38%). For the 297 dual-electrode pairs all but one of the 184 significant correlations were indicative of common input. No correlograms indicative of inhibition were found. 3. The correlograms with clear peaks were classified into three types: narrow (n = 40), mixed (n = 77), and broad (n = 221). Narrow and mixed types were with two exceptions found only for single-electrode pairs; broad types were found for single- and dual-electrode pairs. Narrow-type correlograms were in majority of the unilateral excitation type. Correlograms were calculated both for 1-ms binwidths (50-ms lead/lag time) and for 10-ms binwidth (500-ms lead/lag time). The correlograms were characterized by four parameters; the half width of the central peak, the peak correlation coefficient, the association index, and for unilateral excitation cases also by the effectiveness. 4. Across all three correlogram types the half width of the correlation peaks was significantly smaller for single-electrode pairs (mean, 27 ms) than for dual-electrode pairs (mean, 42 ms). For broad-type correlograms only, the mean half widths were not significantly different between single- and dual-electrode pairs. 5. The correlation coefficients (1-ms bin correlograms) were significantly larger for single-electrode pairs (mean, 0.038) than for dual-electrode pairs (mean, 0.011). The same was found for the 10-ms binwidth correlograms. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
The functional angiotensin converting enzyme gene I/D polymorphism does not alter susceptibility to chronic pancreatitis.

CONTEXT Alterations of the renin-angiotensin system have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases. The angiotensin converting enzyme is a key enzyme in the renin-angiotensin system. A deletion polymorphism of a 287-bp fragment of intron 16 of the angiotensin converting enzyme gene allele results in higher levels of circulating enzyme. ACE deletion genotype has been linked to heart diseases, sarcoidosis and liver fibrosis. The pancreatic renin-angiotensin system plays a role in the development of pancreatic fibrosis and ACE inhibitors decrease pancreatic fibrosis in experimental models. OBJECTIVES We investigated the frequency of the ACE gene insertion/deletion polymorphism in chronic pancreatitis patients and controls. PATIENTS Subjects with familial pancreatitis (n=51), sporadic chronic pancreatitis (n=104), and healthy controls (n=163) were evaluated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The presence of ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism. RESULTS The frequency of the ACE gene deletion allele was similar in familial pancreatitis (49.0%) sporadic pancreatitis (51.0%) and controls (55.8%). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in clinical features between patients with ACE-insertion or insertion/deletion genotypes vs. patients with ACE-deletion genotype. CONCLUSION We conclude that the ACE deletion genotype does not make a significant contribution to the pathogenesis and the progression of chronic pancreatitis.
The Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 complex interacts with the mismatch repair system and contributes to temozolomide-induced G2 arrest and cytotoxicity

The chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide produces O6-methylguanine (O6MG) in DNA, which triggers futile DNA mismatch repair, DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), G2 arrest, and ultimately cell death. Because the protein complex consisting of Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 (MRN complex) plays a key role in DNA damage detection and signaling, we asked if this complex also played a role in the cellular response to temozolomide. Temozolomide exposure triggered the assembly of MRN complex into chromatin-associated nuclear foci. MRN foci formed significantly earlier than γ-H2AX and 53BP1 foci that assembled in response to temozolomide-induced DNA DSBs. MRN foci formation was suppressed in cells that incurred lower levels of temozolomide-induced O6MG lesions and/or had decreased mismatch repair capabilities, suggesting that the MRN foci formed not in response to temozolomide-induced DSB but rather in response to mismatch repair processing of mispaired temozolomide-induced O6MG lesions. Consistent with this idea, the MRN foci colocalized with those of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (a component of the mismatch repair complex), and the MRN complex component Nbs1 coimmunoprecipitated with the mismatch repair protein Mlh1 specifically in response to temozolomide treatment. Furthermore, small inhibitory RNA–mediated suppression of Mre11 levels decreased temozolomide-induced G2 arrest and cytotoxicity in a manner comparable to that achieved by suppression of mismatch repair. These data show that temozolomide-induced O6MG lesions, acted upon by the mismatch repair system, drive formation of the MRN complex foci and the interaction of this complex with the mismatch repair machinery. The MRN complex in turn contributes to the control of temozolomide-induced G2 arrest and cytotoxicity, and as such is an additional determining factor in glioma sensitivity to DNA methylating chemotherapeutic drugs such as temozolomide. [Mol Cancer Ther 2006;5(11):2757–66]