Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhanced Detection of Surface-Associated Bacteria in Indoor Environments by Quantitative PCR

ABSTRACT Methods for detecting microorganisms on surfaces are needed to locate biocontamination sources and to relate surface and airborne concentrations. Research was conducted in an experimental room to evaluate surface sampling methods and quantitative PCR (QPCR) for enhanced detection of a target biocontaminant present on flooring materials. QPCR and culture analyses were used to quantitateBacillus subtilis (Bacillus globigii) endospores on vinyl tile, commercial carpet, and new and soiled residential carpet with samples obtained by four surface sampling methods: a swab kit, a sponge swipe, a cotton swab, and a bulk method. The initial data showed that greater overall sensitivity was obtained with the QPCR than with culture analysis; however, the QPCR results for bulk samples from residential carpet were negative. The swab kit and the sponge swipe methods were then tested with two levels of background biological contamination consisting of Penicillium chrysogenum spores. The B. subtilis values obtained by the QPCR method were greater than those obtained by culture analysis. The differences between the QPCR and culture data were significant for the samples obtained with the swab kit for all flooring materials except soiled residential carpet and with the sponge swipe for commercial carpet. The QPCR data showed that there were no significant differences between the swab kit and sponge swipe sampling methods for any of the flooring materials. Inhibition of QPCR due solely to biological contamination of flooring materials was not evident. However, some degree of inhibition was observed with the soiled residential carpet, which may have been caused by the presence of abiotic contaminants, alone or in combination with biological contaminants. The results of this research demonstrate the ability of QPCR to enhance detection and enumeration of biocontaminants on surface materials and provide information concerning the comparability of currently available surface sampling methods.
Paternal depression, expressed emotion and child emotional and behavioural problems

Few studies currently exist which examine expressed emotion in depressed fathers, despite considerable evidence linking expressed emotion and depression in mothers. These findings are important as they indicate that mothers’ depressed mood is associated with an increase in child-directed critical comments and a decrease in positive comments, which have been linked to poorer child emotional and behavioural outcomes. There are limited findings exploring how depressed mood may impact fathers’ expressed emotion, and how this is in turn may impact upon the child. This paper reports findings from part of a longitudinal study examining fathers with depression in the postnatal period. The aim of this study was to determine whether child emotional and behavioural problems at age 2 years were associated with increased critical comments and decreased positive comments made by fathers (N = 143). It was predicted that fathers who were depressed when their child was 3 months or 12 months old would make more critical comments and fewer positive comments about their children at age 24 months, and that fathers’ critical comments would predict child emotional and behavioural problems at 24 months. Fathers’ depression at 12 months was found to be significantly related to child emotional and behavioural problems at 24 months. The children of fathers who made more positive comments had fewer reported emotional and behavioural difficulties at 24 months. Fathers’ positive comments were found to remain stable from 12 months to 24 months. There were no significant relationships found between fathers’ depression and the frequency of positive or critical comments. This study has implications for increasing fathers’ child-directed positive comments in order to prevent the development of child emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Mast Cell Chymase Modifies Cell-Matrix Interactions and Inhibits Mitogen-Induced Proliferation of Human Airway Smooth Muscle Cells1

The hallmarks of chronic, severe asthma include prominent airway inflammation and airway smooth muscle (ASM) hypertrophy and hyperplasia. One of the factors that contribute to the injury and repair process within the airway is activation of proteases and turnover of extracellular matrix components. Mast cells, which are present in increased numbers in the asthmatic airway, are a rich source of the neutral protease chymase, which can degrade several basement membrane components. Recent data suggest that proteases also play a critical role in regulating the expression of CD44, the primary receptor for the matrix glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan. In this study we investigated the effects of chymase treatment on human ASM cell function. We found that chymase degraded the smooth muscle cell pericellular matrix. This was accompanied by an increased release of fibronectin and soluble CD44, but not soluble ICAM-1 or soluble hyaluronan, into the conditioned medium. In addition, chymase inhibited T cell adhesion to ASM and dramatically reduced epidermal growth factor-induced smooth muscle cell proliferation. These data suggest that the local release of mast cell chymase may have profound effects on ASM cell function and airway remodeling.
Mucosal prolapse in the pathogenesis of Peutz-Jeghers polyposis

Germline mutations in LKB1 cause the rare cancer prone disorder Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS). Gastrointestinal hamartomatous polyps constitute the major phenotypic trait in PJS. Hamartomatous polyps arising in PJS patients are generally considered to lack premalignant potential although rare neoplastic changes in these polyps and an increased gastrointestinal cancer risk in PJS are well documented. These conflicting observations are resolved in the current hypothesis by providing a unifying explanation for these contrasting features of PJS polyposis. We postulate that a genetic predisposition to epithelial prolapse underlies the formation of the polyps associated with PJS. Conventional sporadic adenomas arising in PJS patients will similarly show mucosal prolapse and carry the associated histological features.
Simple guidelines for efficient referral of soft-tissue sarcomas: a population-based evaluation of adherence to guidelines and referral patterns.

BACKGROUND Optimal treatment of soft-tissue sarcoma requires multidisciplinary management at a sarcoma center. However, these rare tumors are often misinterpreted as benign and many are inadequately treated outside a sarcoma center, with an increased risk of local recurrence that often requires further extensive surgical treatment. To improve referral and centralization of soft-tissue sarcoma management in the southern Sweden health care region, an open-access outpatient clinic at our sarcoma center and simple referral guidelines have been established for the past thirty years. The guidelines call for referral of all deep-seated soft-tissue tumors and of all ≥5-cm superficial tumors before open biopsy or surgery. We evaluated adherence to these guidelines and characterized referral patterns. We also studied the consequences of our strategy with regard to the relative numbers of benign and malignant diagnoses among referred patients. METHODS Adherence to guidelines, referral pathways, and time to referral to the sarcoma center were analyzed in a population-based series of 100 consecutive patients with soft-tissue sarcoma in the extremities or trunk wall. We also analyzed diagnosis and management of benign and malignant tumors in a second cohort consisting of 464 consecutive patients referred to the sarcoma center because of a soft-tissue tumor. RESULTS Ninety-seven of the 100 patients with soft-tissue sarcoma were referred to the sarcoma center. All fifty-eight of the deep-seated soft-tissue sarcomas and twenty-eight of the forty-two superficial tumors were referred before open biopsy or surgery. Three-quarters of the patients with soft-tissue sarcoma first presented to a general practitioner. One-quarter of these patients were directly referred to the sarcoma center, which cut the referral time in half compared with patients initially referred to a local hospital. One-quarter of all patients referred to the outpatient clinic were diagnosed with a malignancy, with the majority of the malignancies being soft-tissue sarcoma. CONCLUSIONS Our simple referral guidelines and open-access outpatient clinic resulted in nearly complete referral of patients with soft-tissue sarcoma to the sarcoma center. The "excess work" associated with referral of benign tumors according to our strategy was limited to the diagnosis of three benign tumors for each malignant tumor. We consider this surplus evaluation of benign tumors acceptable and probably necessary to achieve a high referral rate of soft-tissue sarcoma before initial surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
The Effects of Firm Growth and Model Specification Choices on Tests of Earnings Management in Quarterly Settings

ABSTRACT: Commonly used Jones-type discretionary accrual models applied in quarterly settings do not adequately control for nondiscretionary accruals that naturally occur due to firm growth. We show that the relation between quarterly accruals and backward-looking sales growth (measured over a rolling four-quarter window) and forward-looking firm growth (market-to-book ratio) is non-linear. Failure to control for the effects of firm growth and performance on innate accruals leads to excessive Type I error rates in tests of earnings management. We propose simple refinements to Jones-type models that deal with non-linear growth and performance effects and show that the expanded models are well-specified and exhibit high power in quarterly settings where one is testing for earnings management. The expanded models are able to identify the presence of earnings management in a sample of restatement firms. Our findings have important implications for the use of discretionary accrual models in earnings management.
New insight into the mechanism of mitochondrial cytochrome c function

We investigate functional role of the P76GTKMIFA83 fragment of the primary structure of cytochrome c. Based on the data obtained by the analysis of informational structure (ANIS), we propose a model of functioning of cytochrome c. According to this model, conformational rearrangements of the P76GTKMIFA83 loop fragment have a significant effect on conformational mobility of the heme. It is suggested that the conformational mobility of cytochrome c heme is responsible for its optimal orientation with respect to electron donor and acceptor within ubiquinol–cytochrome c oxidoreductase (complex III) and cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV), respectively, thus, ensuring electron transfer from complex III to complex IV. To validate the model, we design several mutant variants of horse cytochrome c with multiple substitutions of amino acid residues in the P76GTKMIFA83 sequence that reduce its ability to undergo conformational rearrangements. With this, we study the succinate–cytochrome c reductase and cytochrome c oxidase activities of rat liver mitoplasts in the presence of mutant variants of cytochrome c. The electron transport activity of the mutant variants decreases to different extent. Resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) data demonstrate, that all mutant cytochromes possess heme with the higher degree of ruffling deformation, than that of the wild-type (WT) cytochrome c. The increase in the ruffled deformation of the heme of oxidized cytochromes correlated with the decrease in the electron transport rate of ubiquinol–cytochrome c reductase (complex III). Besides, all mutant cytochromes have lower mobility of the pyrrol rings and methine bridges, than WT cytochrome c. We show that a decrease in electron transport activity in the mutant variants correlates with conformational changes and reduced mobility of heme porphyrin. This points to a significant role of the P76GTKMIFA83 fragment in the electron transport function of cytochrome c.
Artificial Neuron-Glia Networks Learning Approach Based on Cooperative Coevolution

Artificial Neuron-Glia Networks (ANGNs) are a novel bio-inspired machine learning approach. They extend classical Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) by incorporating recent findings and suppositions about the way information is processed by neural and astrocytic networks in the most evolved living organisms. Although ANGNs are not a consolidated method, their performance against the traditional approach, i.e. without artificial astrocytes, was already demonstrated on classification problems. However, the corresponding learning algorithms developed so far strongly depends on a set of glial parameters which are manually tuned for each specific problem. As a consequence, previous experimental tests have to be done in order to determine an adequate set of values, making such manual parameter configuration time-consuming, error-prone, biased and problem dependent. Thus, in this paper, we propose a novel learning approach for ANGNs that fully automates the learning process, and gives the possibility of testing any kind of reasonable parameter configuration for each specific problem. This new learning algorithm, based on coevolutionary genetic algorithms, is able to properly learn all the ANGNs parameters. Its performance is tested on five classification problems achieving significantly better results than ANGN and competitive results with ANN approaches.
Advertising message processing amongst urban children

Purpose – This study is designed to extend knowledge of cognitive processing of advertising messages by urban children in India.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 250 children aged between 7 and 12 years, drawn in the sample from five major towns of the relatively affluent western state of Gujarat (India) by using the cluster sampling approach. A simple questionnaire using three point rating scale was administered with the help of moderators. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software.Findings – It was found that children's ability to decode and process advertising messages and to understand their intents is influenced not only by their cognitive abilities at different age strata but also by their social and personal environments. Social norms related to acceptability and appropriateness of gender behavior also influence the processing of ad messages by the children of both sexes. Other elements like likeability of the model, character or endorser, story line, slogan and the music will.
E-Cigarette Use among Smokers with Serious Mental Illness

Background We examined electronic cigarette (EC) use, correlates of use, and associated changes in smoking behavior among smokers with serious mental illness in a clinical trial. Methods Adult smokers were recruited during acute psychiatric hospitalization (N = 956, 73% enrollment among approached smokers) in the San Francisco Bay Area between 2009–2013. At baseline, participants averaged 17 (SD = 10) cigarettes per day for 19 (SD = 14) years; 24% intended to quit smoking in the next month. Analyses examined frequency and correlates of EC use reported over the 18-month trial and changes in smoking behavior by EC use status. Findings EC use was 11% overall, and by year of enrollment, increased from 0% in 2009 to 25% in 2013. In multiple logistic regression, the likelihood of EC use was significantly greater with each additional year of recruitment, for those aged 18–26, and for those in the preparation versus precontemplation stage of change, and unlikely among Hispanic participants. EC use was unrelated to gender, psychiatric diagnosis, and measures of tobacco dependence at baseline. Further, over the 18-month trial, EC use was not associated with changes in smoking status or, among continued smokers, with reductions in cigarettes per day. Interpretation Within a clinical trial with smokers with serious mental illness, EC use increased over time, particularly among younger adults and those intending to quit tobacco. EC use was unrelated to changes in smoking. The findings are of clinical interest and warrant further study.
The Influence of Meteorology on the Spread of Influenza: Survival Analysis of an Equine Influenza (A/H3N8) Outbreak

The influences of relative humidity and ambient temperature on the transmission of influenza A viruses have recently been established under controlled laboratory conditions. The interplay of meteorological factors during an actual influenza epidemic is less clear, and research into the contribution of wind to epidemic spread is scarce. By applying geostatistics and survival analysis to data from a large outbreak of equine influenza (A/H3N8), we quantified the association between hazard of infection and air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, and wind velocity, whilst controlling for premises-level covariates. The pattern of disease spread in space and time was described using extraction mapping and instantaneous hazard curves. Meteorological conditions at each premises location were estimated by kriging daily meteorological data and analysed as time-lagged time-varying predictors using generalised Cox regression. Meteorological covariates time-lagged by three days were strongly associated with hazard of influenza infection, corresponding closely with the incubation period of equine influenza. Hazard of equine influenza infection was higher when relative humidity was <60% and lowest on days when daily maximum air temperature was 20–25°C. Wind speeds >30 km hour−1 from the direction of nearby infected premises were associated with increased hazard of infection. Through combining detailed influenza outbreak and meteorological data, we provide empirical evidence for the underlying environmental mechanisms that influenced the local spread of an outbreak of influenza A. Our analysis supports, and extends, the findings of studies into influenza A transmission conducted under laboratory conditions. The relationships described are of direct importance for managing disease risk during influenza outbreaks in horses, and more generally, advance our understanding of the transmission of influenza A viruses under field conditions.
Short term variability of dissolved lipid classes during summer to autumn transition in the Ligurian sea (NW Mediterranean)

Changes in concentration and composition of dissolved lipid classes (Iatroscan TLC/FID) were examined at daily to month scale, in relation to the hydrological and biological situation at a central site of the Ligurian sea, NW Mediterranean during the PECHE-DYNAPROC 2 experiment (14 September to 17 October). Dissolved lipid concen- 5 trations (TLd) and lipid to DOC ratios varied in the range 5.3–48.5 µg l − 1 and 0.01 to 0.08 respectively, along the 0–1000 m water column. The highest TLd concentration values were found in the 0–150 m surface layer coinciding with phytoplankton biomass. Lipid class composition provided valuable information on the origin of DOM, and the changes that occurred during the period investigated. The signiﬁcant 10 correlations ( p< 0 . 01, n = 87) between glycolipids from chloroplast membrane (MGDG) (38.7 ± 8.5% of TLd, n = 166), and various phytoplankton pigments (chlorophyll cs-170, violaxanthin, diadinoxanthin, zeaxanthin, and lutein), suggested that picoeucaryotes were the major source of dissolved lipids. Lipid metabolites (37.6 ± 11.1%, n = 166), the second most important compounds in TLd, showed a greater degree of degradation 15 of lipids in this transition period than previously observed earlier in the year. A contribution of lipids to DOM in the mesopelagic zone was observed before the winter mixing: At mid time of the cruise (4–6 October), zooplankton wax esters biomarkers (WE, 5.5–13.6 µg L − 1 ) appeared in the 0–150 m surface layer. WE were observed later and deeper in the mesopelagic layer (6 to 11 October), accompanied by re-increases 20 of hydrocarbons (6–8 October) and phospholipids concentrations (12 October) in the 400–1000 m depth layer. Zooplankton migration and/or fecal pellets egestion, followed by DOM release from POM, were likely responsible for the appearance of these lipid signatures in the mesopelagic layer, which occurred during the period of low wind ( < 15 knots) (28 September–12 October). The low salinity water lenses that appeared 25 twice during the cruise in the 40–80 m surface layer had little e ﬀ ect on total biogenic lipid concentrations. Lower concentrations in phosphoglycerides and hydrocarbons than the nearby sea water suggested di ﬀ erent microbial assemblages and di ﬀ erent level of HC contamination in this less-salted water. The analytical TLC/FID technic on an apparatus allows detection of low concentrations of lipids without prior split- 25 ting of the extract, opens interesting by removing a obstacle to the study of neutral and polar lipid classes in the environment. This technique involves a qualitative separation of the lipid extract by thin-layer chromatography on chromarods coupled to a quantiﬁcation of separated compounds by ﬂame ionization
SAV2P: Exploring the Impact of an Interface for Shared Automated Vehicles on Pedestrians' Experience

To study future communication needs between pedestrians and shared automated vehicles (SAVs), an interface that communicates the intentions of SAVs to pedestrians was designed and implemented in a virtual reality (VR) environment. This enabled the exploration of behaviors and experiences of 34 pedestrians when encountering SAVs, both with and without the interface, in several street crossing situations. All pedestrians assessed the level of perceived safety and comfort directly after each encounter with the SAV. The results show that the pedestrians' level of perceived safety and comfort is higher in encounters with the interface than in encounters without the interface. This may have a positive influence on the acceptance of SAVs, and implies that future SAVs may gain from this, or similar interface.
A Dual-Route Approach to Orthographic Processing

In the present theoretical note we examine how different learning constraints, thought to be involved in optimizing the mapping of print to meaning during reading acquisition, might shape the nature of the orthographic code involved in skilled reading. On the one hand, optimization is hypothesized to involve selecting combinations of letters that are the most informative with respect to word identity (diagnosticity constraint), and on the other hand to involve the detection of letter combinations that correspond to pre-existing sublexical phonological and morphological representations (chunking constraint). These two constraints give rise to two different kinds of prelexical orthographic code, a coarse-grained and a fine-grained code, associated with the two routes of a dual-route architecture. Processing along the coarse-grained route optimizes fast access to semantics by using minimal subsets of letters that maximize information with respect to word identity, while coding for approximate within-word letter position independently of letter contiguity. Processing along the fined-grained route, on the other hand, is sensitive to the precise ordering of letters, as well as to position with respect to word beginnings and endings. This enables the chunking of frequently co-occurring contiguous letter combinations that form relevant units for morpho-orthographic processing (prefixes and suffixes) and for the sublexical translation of print to sound (multi-letter graphemes).