Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Novel Helicobacter pylori ClariRes Real-Time PCR Assay for Detection and Clarithromycin Susceptibility Testing of H. pylori in Stool Specimens from Symptomatic Children

ABSTRACT The aim of the present study was to evaluate the Helicobacter pylori ClariRes assay (Ingenetix, Vienna, Austria) for the detection of H. pylori infection and the simultaneous clarithromycin susceptibility testing of the H. pylori isolates in stool samples from 100 symptomatic children. The results obtained by this novel biprobe real-time PCR method were directly compared with the results obtained from histological examination of gastric biopsy specimens, culturing, the [13C]urea breath test, and a monoclonal antibody-based stool antigen enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Fecal specimens from all 54 children who were shown to be noninfected by “gold standard” tests gave true-negative PCR results (specificity, 100%). Of the remaining 46 individuals with a positive H. pylori status, 29 were found to be positive by real-time PCR (sensitivity, 63%). For these 29 cases, the H. pylori ClariRes assay confirmed all results from phenotypic clarithromycin susceptibility testing by Etest. In summary, this investigation demonstrates that detection of Helicobacter DNA in stool samples by real-time PCR is a difficult task and that this method cannot replace the stool antigen EIA (sensitivity, 95.7%) for the accurate diagnosis of H. pylori infection in children.
Enhancement of Light Extraction Efficiency in OLED with Periodic Nano-Structure

To improve the light-extraction-efficiency of organic light emitting diode (OLED), we introduced novel photonic crystal slab (PCS) structures with Taper unit cells into the interface of ITO layer and glass substrate. By optimizing the geometric parameters, we proved that the PCS with triangular lattice of Taper cells was more effective in reducing the energy of guided wave trapped in OLED than the traditional PCS structures. Light-extraction-efficiency of OLED based on this PCS increased by 95.26%. Physical mechanisms of light- extraction-efficiency enhancement in these structures are further discussed.
The velvet complex governs mycotoxin production and virulence of Fusarium oxysporum on plant and mammalian hosts

Fungal pathogens provoke devastating losses in agricultural production, contaminate food with mycotoxins and give rise to life‐threatening infections in humans. The soil‐borne ascomycete Fusarium oxysporum attacks over 100 different crops and can cause systemic fusariosis in immunocompromised individuals. Here we functionally characterized VeA, VelB, VelC and LaeA, four components of the velvet protein complex which regulates fungal development and secondary metabolism. Deletion of veA, velB and to a minor extent velC caused a derepression of conidiation as well as alterations in the shape and size of microconidia. VeA and LaeA were required for full virulence of F. oxysporum on tomato plants and on immunodepressed mice. A critical contribution of velvet consists in promoting chromatin accessibility and expression of the biosynthetic gene cluster for beauvericin, a depsipeptide mycotoxin that functions as a virulence determinant. These results reveal a conserved role of the velvet complex during fungal infection on plants and mammals.
Impact of Phytoestrogens on Serum Lipids in Postmenopausal Women.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the impact of soy- and red clover-derived isoflavones on serum lipid levels in postmenopausal women and to compare the effects to the lipid levels of healthy postmenopausal women without phytoestrogen supplementation. Materials and Methods: Blood levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol and cholesterol fractions were assessed. Measurements were performed before treatment and at 6-month intervals over a period of 18 months. The investigation included 74 healthy postmenopausal women randomized into three groups according to treatment. The first group of 23 patients received soy-derived isoflavones, the second group (26 patients) was given red clover-derived phytoestrogens, while the third control group (25 patients) received no supplements. Results: Mean triglyceride, cholesterol and LDL levels of patients in the control group were significantly higher than in both the soy and the red clover groups (p < 0.001) at all three time points, while mean values did not differ significantly between the soy and the red clover groups. The mean HDL levels of patients in the control group was significantly lower than in both the soy and the red clover groups (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Phytoestrogen supplementation had a positive metabolic effect on serum lipid levels in postmenopausal women. The impact on serum lipids levels was similar for soy and red clover.
A CPHD Filter for Tracking With Spawning Models

In some applications of multi-target tracking, appearing targets are suitably modeled as spawning from existing targets. However, in the original formulation of the cardinalized probability hypothesis density (CPHD) filter, this type of model is not supported; instead appearing targets are modeled by spontaneous birth only. In this paper we derive the necessary equations for a CPHD filter for the case when the process model also includes target spawning. For this generalized filter, the cardinality prediction formula might become computationally intractable for general spawning models. However, when the cardinality distribution of the spawning targets is either Bernoulli or Poisson, we derive expressions that are practical and computationally efficient. Simulations show that the proposed filter responds faster to a change in target number due to spawned targets than the original CPHD filter. In addition, the performance of the filter, considering the optimal subpattern assignment (OSPA), is improved when having an explicit spawning model.
Reducing the Energy Consumption of Robots Using the Bidirectional Clutched Parallel Elastic Actuator

Parallel elastic actuators (PEAs) have shown the abilto reduce the energy consumption of robots. However, regular PEAs do not allow us to freely choose at which instant or configuration to store or release energy. This paper introduces the concept and design of the bidirectional clutched parallel elastic actuator (BIC-PEA), which reduces the energy consumption of robots by loading and unloading a parallel spring with controlled timing and direction. The concept of the BIC-PEA consists of a spring that mounted between the two outgoing axes of a differential mechanism. Those axes can also be locked to the ground by two locking mechanisms. At any position, the BIC-PEA can store the kinetic energy of a joint in the spring such that the joint is decelerated zero velocity. The spring energy can then be released, accelerating joint in any desired direction. Such functionality is suitable for robots that perform rest-to-rest motions, such as pick-and-place robots or intermittently moving belts. The main body of our prototype weighs 202 g and fits in a cylinder with a length of 51 mm and a diameter of 45 mm. This excludes the size and weight nonoptimized clutches, which would approximately triple the total volume and weight. In the results, we also omit the energy consumption of the clutches. The BIC-PEA can store 0.77 J and a peak torque of 1.5 N·m. Simulations show that the energy consumption of our one-degree-of-freedom setup can be reduced 73%. In hardware experiments, we reached peak reductions 65% and a reduction of 53% in a realistic task, which is larger than all other concepts with the same functionality.
Quantitative Anatomy of Subaxial Cervical Lateral Mass: An Analysis of Safe Screw Lengths for Roy-Camille and Magerl Techniques

Study Design. Determination of lateral mass screw lengths with Roy-Camille and Magerl techniques of screw insertion using computerized tomography in 98 young, asymptomatic North American volunteers. Objective. To provide reliable and normative data on safe screw lengths using the Roy-Camille and Magerl techniques of lateral mass fixation in the subaxial cervical spine. Summary of Background Data. Lateral mass screw lengths have been studied in the past using differing subject and measurement characteristics and small sample sizes. Results demonstrated considerable variation in screw length and influencing factors. Inappropriate screw lengths can result in neurovascular injury during screw insertion, facet joint damage, or inadequate fixation. Methods. Bicortical screw lengths were bilaterally measured at each spinal level from C3–C7 in 98 young volunteers using computed tomography reconstructions through the lateral masses obtained in the plane of the screw in Roy-Camille and Magerl techniques. Results. With both techniques, trajectories were longest at C4–C6, shorter at C3, and shortest at C7. Screw lengths were greater in males when compared with females at all levels. Average Magerl screw lengths were approximately 2.6 mm longer at C3–C6 levels, and approximately 1.3 mm longer at the C7 level when compared with Roy-Camille technique. There was minimal correlation between screw lengths and anthropometric measurements including stature, body weight, and neck length. Conclusion. Significant variations exist at each subaxial level with either technique. We recommend the surgeon determine screw lengths for fixation at each level using preoperative sagittal oblique computed tomography scans, which provide the most accurate technique of preoperative templating for screw length.
Medication Errors in a Swiss Cardiovascular Surgery Department: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on a Novel Medication Error Report Method

The purpose of this study was (1) to determine frequency and type of medication errors (MEs), (2) to assess the number of MEs prevented by registered nurses, (3) to assess the consequences of ME for patients, and (4) to compare the number of MEs reported by a newly developed medication error self-reporting tool to the number reported by the traditional incident reporting system. We conducted a cross-sectional study on ME in the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of Bern University Hospital in Switzerland. Eligible registered nurses (n = 119) involving in the medication process were included. Data on ME were collected using an investigator-developed medication error self reporting tool (MESRT) that asked about the occurrence and characteristics of ME. Registered nurses were instructed to complete a MESRT at the end of each shift even if there was no ME. All MESRTs were completed anonymously. During the one-month study period, a total of 987 MESRTs were returned. Of the 987 completed MESRTs, 288 (29%) indicated that there had been an ME. Registered nurses reported preventing 49 (5%) MEs. Overall, eight (2.8%) MEs had patient consequences. The high response rate suggests that this new method may be a very effective approach to detect, report, and describe ME in hospitals.
Effects of display blurring on the behavior of novices and experts during program debugging

The Restricted Focus Viewer (RFV) relates a small part of an otherwise blurred display to the focus of visual attention. A user controls which part of the screen is in focus by using a computer mouse. The RFV tool records these movements. Recently, some studies used the RFV to investigate the cognitive behavior of users and some others have even enhanced the tool for research of usability issues.We report on an eye-tracking study where the effects of RFV's display blurring on the visual attention allocation of 18 novice and expert programmers were investigated. We replicated a previous RFV-based study and analyzed attention switching and fixation durations reported by an eye tracker. Our results indicate that the blurring interferes with the strategies possessed by experts and has an effect on fixation duration: however, we found that debugging performance was preserved. We discuss possible reasons and implications.
Memory as assessed by recognition and reading time in normal and memory-impaired people with Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders.

Three experiments are reported that examine the dissociations in performance on two tests of retention, speeded reading and recognition in young people, home-dwelling and institutionalized elderly people, and people with severe memory disorders. In Experiment 1, subjects read sentences in normal and in geometrically transformed script at initial presentation, 1-2 hr later, and again 4-14 days later. On the latter two occasions, they were required to distinguish old sentences that they had read previously from new ones. In general, the young and elderly subjects could distinguish old from new sentences at the short delay, and all but the institutionalized elderly people could do so at the long delay. Retention as measured by reading speed typically paralleled recognition performance in that those items that were recognized best were read most quickly. The dissociation between these two tests of retention is seen only in people with memory disorders. Although these people could not distinguish old from new items even at short delays (most could not even remember having seen any sentences), their retention as assessed by reading time was similar to that of the other groups. Old sentences were read most quickly, indicating retention of item-specific information, and reading time of new sentences improved, indicating the acquisition and retention of a general skill. Experiment 2 examined what type of item-specific information was retained. Young, elderly, and memory-disordered subjects studied weakly associated word pairs and sentences. A few minutes later they were tested on both recognition and speeded reading of old, new, and recombined pairs and sentences, the last being those in which words from a studied pair or sentence were recombined with words from other such pairs or sentences. The results of both retention tests indicated that young and elderly people could distinguish old from new and recombined items. People with memory disorders, however, again failed on recognition but performed normally on speeded reading. Like the other two groups, they read old items faster than either recombined or new items. In Experiment 3, similar results were obtained even when the word pairs were constructed using randomly associated items. The results of all three experiments suggest that on implicit tests of memory, such as speeded reading, people with memory disorders can be shown to have formed and retained new associations despite failing utterly on explicit tests, such as recognition, that require conscious recollection of a previous episode. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Re-evaluating the territorial embeddedness of multi-national branch plants : evidence from the South Tyrol region in North-East Italy

The paper re-evaluates the regional embeddedness of multinational manufacturing branch plants in view of recent work on global production networks and extra-regional links. It is argued that the predominance of extra-regional production linkages are not necessarily detrimental to regional economies. They can even compensate for weak territorial innovations systems in non-core regions. The arguments are exemplified through a case study of the South Tyrol region in NorthEast Italy, using firm level survey and interview data, complemented by evidence on institutional conditions. The findings suggest that neither the branch plants nor the locally owned manufacturing firms are strongly embedded in the region in terms of material linkages and inter-organizational relationships, indicating that ownership status of firms is not a good predictor for embeddedness. Second, compared to local firms, branch plants are more innovative, hence contributing to a larger degree to regional upgrading processes. Third, South Tyrol’s core institutional structures such as those governing the labor force play a decisive role in branch plant competitiveness and therefore create co-dependencies that bind these producers to the territory. The results suggest a more differentiated assessment of the role of branch plants within non-core regions.
Explorer Generalizing a Strongly Lexicalized Parser using Unlabeled Data

Statistical parsers trained on labeled data suffer from sparsity, both grammatical and lexical. For parsers based on strongly lexicalized grammar formalisms (such as CCG, which has complex lexical categories but simple combinatory rules), the problem of sparsity can be isolated to the lexicon. In this paper, we show that semi-supervised Viterbi-EM can be used to extend the lexicon of a generative CCG parser. By learning complex lexical entries for low-frequency and unseen words from unlabeled data, we obtain improvements over our supervised model for both indomain (WSJ) and out-of-domain (questions and Wikipedia) data. Our learnt lexicons when used with a discriminative parser such as C&C also significantly improve its performance on unseen words.
Sexual Functioning in Women Reporting a History of Child Sexual Abuse: Review of the Empirical Literature and Clinical Implications

Abstract Researchers have frequently linked childhood sexual abuse (CSA) with some form of adult sexual disturbance. Unfortunately, research on how to treat sexual dysfunctions in women with a history of childhood sexual abuse has lagged behind. In this article, we review the literature concerning childhood sexual abuse and sexual dysfunction. In addition, we look at two theories that help explain the relationship between CSA and sexual dysfunction. Both of these theories highlight the importance of emotional experience. The contextual behavioral model described by Polusny and Follette (1995) is derived from the work of Hayes and colleagues (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999) and focuses on the role of experiential avoidance in understanding the problems experienced by CSA survivors. Greenberg and colleagues' emotion theory (Greenberg & Pavio, 1998; Greenberg, Rice, & Elliott, 1993; Greenberg & Savin, 1987) is useful in highlighting the way in which early abuse experiences can impair emotional development and result in maladaptive emotional schemes contributing to sexual problems. Treatments for CSA survivors' sexual problems based on the two above theories are outlined. The question concerning the applicability of traditional sex therapy for CSA survivors versus a modified treatment is discussed and recent developments in the field of sexual functioning as well as future directions for the field are also highlighted.
An XMM-Newton observation of Ark 120: the X-ray spectrum of a 'bare' Seyfert 1 nucleus

We report on a long (100 ks) XMM-Newton observation of the bright Seyfert 1 galaxy Arakelian 120. The source previously showed no signs of intrinsic reddening in its infrared-ultraviolet continuum and previous observations had shown no evidence for ionized absorption in either the ultraviolet or X-ray bands. The new XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer data place tight limits on the presence of an ionized X-ray absorber and confirm that the X-ray spectrum of Ark 120 is essentially unmodified by intervening matter. Thus Ark 120 can be considered a 'bare' Seyfert 1 nucleus. This observation therefore offers a clean view of the X-ray spectrum of a 'normal' Seyfert galaxy free from absorption effects. The spectrum shows a Doppler broadened iron emission line (FWHM ∼ 3 × 10 4 km s -1 ) and a smooth, continuous soft excess which appears to peak at an energy 10.5 keV. This adds weight to the claim that genuine soft excesses (i.e. those due to a real steepening of the underlying continuum below ∼2 keV) are ubiquitous in Seyfert 1 spectra. However, the detailed shape of the excess could not be reproduced by any of the simple models tested (power laws, blackbodies, Comptonized blackbodies, accretion disc reflection). This observation therefore demonstrates both the need to understand the soft excess (as a significant contributor to the luminosity of most Seyfert 1s) and the inability of the existing, simple models to explain it.
The Influence of Buyers’ Time Orientation on Online Shopping Behavior: A Typology

ABSTRACT This research investigates the influence of buyers’ time orientations (measured as polychronic–monochronic and past–future time orientations) on four major variables of online shopping: trust, social interaction, browsing, and locus of control, which in turn influence users’ intention to shop online. Results using structural equation modeling with a sample of 377 Chinese cosmetics shoppers support our hypotheses and show that polychronic orientation of users tends to be positively related to trust, social interaction, browsing experience, and external locus of control and indirectly to intention to shop online through these four consumer characteristics. No relationship was found between future orientation and browsing experience and external locus of control, but a positive relationship was found with intention to shop online through trust and social interaction. Finally, results show that trust and social interaction are positively related to intention to shop online. The authors conclude that time orientations can be used as effective segmentation variables, which are useful in describing a universal typology among different types of online shopping behaviors. Internet retailers should take into account the role of time in e-shopping adoption when assessing different types of users and website design.
Prosodic morphology and templatic morphology

aspect of prosody, the classical system of versification. In Al-Xalil's analysis of this system, a fundamental distinction is made between two kinds The result is the is then too problem is resolved by introducing a final just as in the case of (fYawwal). (~), (~), and Q3 (~) root associations only to obligatorily consonantal positions (onsets and an initial incomplete syllable), in with
Systemic and Mucosal Antibody Responses to Selected Cell Surface Antigens of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli in Experimentally Infected Chickens

SUMMARY. The immune response to four cell surface antigens of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) was investigated as the first step in identifying vaccine candidates. F1 pilus adhesin, P pilus adhesin, aerobactin receptor protein, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from an O78 E. coli (strain EC99) were used as antigens. The proteins were purified as 6xhistidine-tagged recombinant proteins and LPS was purified from a phenol/water extract. Groups of 12 broiler chickens were vaccinated intranasally with the EC99 strain and challenged with the same strain 10 days later via the intra-air sac route. The chickens that survived were euthanatized 10 days postchallenge. Scores were assigned to infected chickens on the basis of lesions and recovery of the challenge E. coli. The immunoglobulin (Ig) IgG, IgA, and IgM antibodies to the four antigens were measured in serum and air sac washings in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Among the chickens that were not vaccinated prior to challenge, two died and three of the survivors were ill, whereas, of the chickens that were vaccinated prior to challenge, one died and one of the survivors became ill. After the intranasal vaccination, high antibody activity against all four antigens was associated with each Ig isotype in serum and air sac washings. IgG was the predominant isotype of Ig in air sac washings as detected by radial immunodiffusion. Chickens that were not ill after challenge had greater IgG, IgA, and IgM antibody activity against all four antigens in serum and air sac washings than did sick chickens. Thus, all of the antigens tested appear to be suitable candidates for a vaccine to protect chickens from respiratory tract infections caused by APEC.