Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparing Azithromycin and Doxycycline for the Treatment of Rectal Chlamydial Infection: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend azithromycin or doxycycline for treatment of rectal chlamydial infection. Methods We created a retrospective cohort of male patients diagnosed as having rectal chlamydia between 1993 and 2012 at a sexually transmitted disease clinic in Seattle, Washington. Men were included in the analysis if they were treated with azithromycin (1 g single dose) or doxycycline (100 mg twice a day × 7 days) within 60 days of chlamydia diagnosis and returned for repeat testing 14 to 180 days after treatment. We compared the risk of persistent/recurrent rectal chlamydial infection among recipients of the 2 drug regimens using 4 follow-up testing time intervals (14–30, 60, 90, and 180 days). Results Of 1835 cases of rectal chlamydia diagnosed in the study period, 1480 (81%) were treated with azithromycin or doxycycline without a second drug active against Chlamydia trachomatis. Of these, 407 (33%) of 1231 azithromycin-treated men and 95 (38%) of 249 doxycycline-treated men were retested 14 to 180 days after treatment (P = 0.12); 88 (22%) and 8 (8%), respectively, had persistent/recurrent infection (P = 0.002). Persistent/recurrent infection was higher among men treated with azithromycin compared with doxycycline at 14 to 30 days (4/53 [8%] vs. 0/20 [0%]), 14 to 60 days (23/136 [17%] vs. 0/36 [0%]), and 14 to 90 days (50/230 [22%] vs. 2/56 [4%]). In multivariate analysis, azithromycin-treated men had a significantly higher risk of persistent/recurrent infection in the 14 to 90 days (adjusted relative risk, 5.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.3–21.0) and 14 to 180 days (adjusted relative risk, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.2–4.8) after treatment. Conclusions These data suggest that doxycycline may be more effective than azithromycin in the treatment of rectal chlamydial infections.
Model fitting and testing in near surface seismics using maximum likelihood in frequency domain

Imaging the subsurface of seismic near-field scenarios by an environmental parameter inversion technique is considered. The wave propagation along a geophone line array after exciting the elastic wavefield by a seismic source (e.g. a falling weight) is modelled by a suitable forward model. The important forward model parameters, e.g. P-, S-wave velocities or the depths of the Earth-layers are estimated using a broadband maximum-likelihood estimation procedure and a genetic algorithm for solving the complicated optimization problem. An important question is the required number of parameters to describe the observed data accurately. To solve this problem a hypothesis testing procedure with a sequence of models with an increasing number of parameters is used to verify model order against a set of alternatives. The sequence of models is of hierarchical order in which each particular model contains all previous ones as special cases. The technique is applied to broadband data measured by a horizontal geophone line array in a former coal-mining area near Bonn, Germany.
An exploratory study of the extent of information technology adoption in SMEs: an application of upper echelon theory

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate the effect of compositions of managerial/demographic characteristics of the top management team (TMT) on the extent of information technology (IT) adoption in small businesses (SMEs), where such strategic decisions made by TMT have direct and significant influence on all aspects of business operations and its competitive position in a market.Design/methodology/approach – Based on the upper echelon theory, the study formulated four hypotheses relating the compositions of TMT characteristics to the extent of IT adoption in different functional areas. Multiple regression analysis was employed to analyze the data.Findings – The age average and the education average of TMT in small businesses are significant predictors of the extent of IT adoption. However, the group heterogeneity (either gender or ethnicity), contrary to the prediction, has negative impact on the extent of IT adoption.Practical implications – The research findings indicate that the age and education com.
The Positional-Specificity Effect Reveals a Passive-Trace Contribution to Visual Short-Term Memory

The positional-specificity effect refers to enhanced performance in visual short-term memory (VSTM) when the recognition probe is presented at the same location as had been the sample, even though location is irrelevant to the match/nonmatch decision. We investigated the mechanisms underlying this effect with behavioral and fMRI studies of object change-detection performance. To test whether the positional-specificity effect is a direct consequence of active storage in VSTM, we varied memory load, reasoning that it should be observed for all objects presented in a sub-span array of items. The results, however, indicated that although robust with a memory load of 1, the positional-specificity effect was restricted to the second of two sequentially presented sample stimuli in a load-of-2 experiment. An additional behavioral experiment showed that this disruption wasn’t due to the increased load per se, because actively processing a second object – in the absence of a storage requirement – also eliminated the effect. These behavioral findings suggest that, during tests of object memory, position-related information is not actively stored in VSTM, but may be retained in a passive tag that marks the most recent site of selection. The fMRI data were consistent with this interpretation, failing to find location-specific bias in sustained delay-period activity, but revealing an enhanced response to recognition probes that matched the location of that trial’s sample stimulus.
Learning Recursion: Multiple Nested and Crossed Dependencies

Language acquisition in both natural and artificial language learning settings crucially depends on extracting information from ordered sequences. A shared sequence learning mechanism is thus assumed to underlie both natural and artificial language learning. A growing body of empirical evidence is consistent with this hypothesis. By means of artificial language learning experiments, we may therefore gain more insight in this shared mechanism. In this paper, we review empirical evidence from artificial language learning and computational modeling studies, as well as natural language data, and suggest that there are two key factors that help deter-mine processing complexity in sequence learning, and thus in natural language processing. We propose that the specific ordering of non-adjacent dependencies (i.e. nested or crossed), as well as the number of non-adjacent dependencies to be resolved simultaneously (i.e. two or three) are important factors in gaining more insight into the boundaries of human sequence learning; and thus, also in natural language processing. The implications for theories of linguistic competence are discussed.
The self-concept revisited. Or a theory of a theory.

most from the beginning, the field has been divided on this question. From a behavioristic viewpoint, the self-concept has an aura of mysticism about it, appearing not far removed from the concept of a soul. One can neither see a self-concept, nor touch it, and no one has succeeded as yet in adequately defining it as a hypothetical construct. Definitions that are offered tend to lack meaningful referents or to be circular. Thus, the self has been defined in terms of the "I" or the "me," or both, or as the individual's reactions to himself. Some authors, apparently having despaired of providing an adequate definition, dispense with the matter by an appeal to common sense and by asserting that everyone knows he has a self as surely as he knows what belongs to him and what does not. Allport (1955), in an attempt to make afresh start, coined a new word, the "proprium," which he defined as "all the regions of our life that we regard as peculiarly ours [p. 40]. " The difficulty here is that one cannot identify the proprium until one identifies what people regard as essentially theirs, which, in effect, requires identification of the self. One occasionally detects a note of authoritative assertiveness in place of logical analysis when an author feels certain he knows what the self is, but finds it a slippery concept whose adequate definition is irritatingly elusive. Thus, Sullivan (1953) stated, When I talk about the self-system, I want it clearly understood that I am talking about a dynamism which comes to be enormously important in understanding interpersonal relations. This dynamism is an explanatory conception; it is not a thing, a region, or what not, such as superegos, egos, ids, and so on [p. 167]. It is encouraging to know that a dynamism, unlike an ego, is a concept that can be understood without, specifying its referents. If the self is not a thing and cannot be defined as a concept, then perhaps it can be dispensed with altogether. It is noteworthy that Allport, one of the proponents of the self-concept, essentially agrees with this conclusion. He noted that everything that has been explained by reference to a self concept can be explained as well without it, and the only advantage in retaining the word is that it draws attention to important areas of psychology that otherwise would be ignored. He stated, If …
Computer Therapy for the Anxiety and Depressive Disorders Is Effective, Acceptable and Practical Health Care: A Meta-Analysis

Background Depression and anxiety disorders are common and treatable with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), but access to this therapy is limited. Objective Review evidence that computerized CBT for the anxiety and depressive disorders is acceptable to patients and effective in the short and longer term. Method Systematic reviews and data bases were searched for randomized controlled trials of computerized cognitive behavior therapy versus a treatment or control condition in people who met diagnostic criteria for major depression, panic disorder, social phobia or generalized anxiety disorder. Number randomized, superiority of treatment versus control (Hedges g) on primary outcome measure, risk of bias, length of follow up, patient adherence and satisfaction were extracted. Principal Findings 22 studies of comparisons with a control group were identified. The mean effect size superiority was 0.88 (NNT 2.13), and the benefit was evident across all four disorders. Improvement from computerized CBT was maintained for a median of 26 weeks follow-up. Acceptability, as indicated by adherence and satisfaction, was good. Research probity was good and bias risk low. Effect sizes were non-significantly higher in comparisons with waitlist than with active treatment control conditions. Five studies comparing computerized CBT with traditional face-to-face CBT were identified, and both modes of treatment appeared equally beneficial. Conclusions Computerized CBT for anxiety and depressive disorders, especially via the internet, has the capacity to provide effective acceptable and practical health care for those who might otherwise remain untreated. Trial Registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12610000030077
Lattice Structure for Regular Linear Phase Paraunitary Filter Bank With Odd Decimation Factor

Linear phase paraunitary filter bank (LPPUFB) with regular property, i.e. regular LPPUFB (RLPPUFB), can be efficiently designed via lattice structure. The key to the design of such filter bank is to formulate an easy-to-handle regular condition in terms of the lattice structure of LPPUFB, and the solution for the case with even decimation factor has been published. In this letter, a method is proposed to design RLPPUFB with odd decimation factor. First, small part of the free parameters in the lattice structure of LPPUFB is discarded. Then, the lattice structure is equivalently converted to a new one for which the easy-to-handle regular condition can be easily obtained. In contrast to a simple method that discards about a half of the free parameters, the proposed method only discards small part of the free parameters and it therefore can produce better RLPPUFBs.
25.1 A highly-digital frequency synthesizer using ring-oscillator frequency-to-digital conversion and noise cancellation

Digital fractional-N PLLs are increasingly used in place of analog fractional-N PLLs as frequency synthesizers in wireless applications, because they avoid large analog loop filters and can tolerate device leakage and low supply voltages, which makes them better-suited to highly-scaled CMOS technology [1-6]. However, the phase noise and spurious tone performance of previously published digital PLLs is inferior to that of the best analog PLLs. This is because all fractional-N PLLs introduce quantization noise, and in prior digital PLLs this noise has higher power or spurious tones than in comparable analog PLLs. Digital PLLs based on ΔΣ frequency-to-digital conversion (FDC-PLLs) offer a potential solution to this problem in that their quantization noise ideally is equivalent to that of analog PLLs, but prior FDC-PLLs incorporate charge pumps and ADCs that have so far limited their performance and minimum supply voltages [7,8]. This paper presents an FDC-PLL that avoids these limitations by implementing the functionality of a charge pump and ADC with a simple dual-mode ring oscillator (DMRO) and digital logic. Also demonstrated is a new quantization noise cancellation (QNC) technique that relaxes the fundamental bandwidth versus quantization noise tradeoff inherent to most fractional-TV PLLs. The new techniques enable state-of-the-art spurious tone performance and very low phase noise with a lower power dissipation and supply voltage than previously published state-of-the-art PLLs in the same class shown in Fig. 25.1. 6.
Cytotoxic Effects of Streptolysin O and Streptolysin S Enhance the Virulence of Poorly Encapsulated Group A Streptococci

ABSTRACT Although the toxicity of streptolysin O (SLO) and streptolysin S (SLS) in purified group A streptococci (GAS) has been established, the effect of these molecules in natural infection is not well understood. To identify whether biologically relevant concentrations of SLO and SLS were cytotoxic to epithelial and phagocytic cells that the bacteria would typically encounter during human infection and to characterize the influence of cell injury on bacterial pathogenesis, we derived GAS strains deficient in SLO or SLS in the background of an invasive GAS M3 isolate and determined their virulence in in vitro and in vivo models of human disease. Whereas bacterial production of SLO resulted in lysis of both human keratinocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes, GAS expression of SLS was associated only with keratinocyte injury. Expression of SLO but not SLS impaired polymorphonuclear leukocyte killing of GAS in vitro, but this effect could only be demonstrated in the background of acapsular organisms. In mouse invasive soft-tissue infection, neither SLO or SLS expression significantly influenced mouse survival. By contrast, in a mouse model of bacterial sepsis after intraperitoneal inoculation of GAS, SLO expression enhanced the virulence of both encapsulated and acapsular GAS, whereas SLS expression increased the virulence only of acapsular GAS. We conclude that the cytotoxic effects of SLO protect GAS from phagocytic killing and enhance bacterial virulence, particularly of strains that may be relatively deficient in hyaluronic acid capsule. Compared to SLO, SLS in this strain background has a more modest influence on GAS pathogenicity and the effect does not appear to involve bacterial resistance to phagocytosis.
Modal decomposition of astronomical images with application to shapelets

The decomposition of an image into a linear combination of digitized basis functions is an everyday task in astronomy. A general method is presented for performing such a decomposition optimally into an arbitrary set of digitized basis functions, which may be linearly dependent, non-orthogonal and incomplete. It is shown that such circumstances may result even from the digitization of continuous basis functions that are orthogonal and complete. In particular, digitized shapelet basis functions are investigated and are shown to suffer from such difficulties. As a result the standard method of performing shapelet analysis produces unnecessarily inaccurate decompositions. The optimal method presented here is shown to yield more accurate decompositions in all cases.
Structural Requirements of Membrane Phospholipids for M-type Potassium Channel Activation and Binding

Background: M-channels are potassium channels that are activated by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, but their response to other phospholipids is unknown. Results: M-channel proteins were activated by phosphoinositides and lipid phosphates but not by inositol phosphates. Conclusion: Minimum activation requirements are an acyl chain and one or more phosphate groups. Significance: M-channels control cell excitability, so their regulation by membrane constituents is important for biology. M-channels are voltage-gated potassium channels that regulate cell excitability. They are heterotetrameric assemblies of Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 subunits. Their opening requires the presence of the membrane phospholipid phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2). However, the specificity of PI(4,5)P2 as a binding and activating ligand is unknown. Here, we tested the ability of different phosphoinositides and lipid phosphates to activate or bind to M-channel proteins. Activation of functional channels was measured in membrane patches isolated from cells coexpressing Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 subunits. Channels were activated to similar extents (maximum open probability of ∼0.8 at 0 mV) by 0.1–300 μm dioctanoyl homologs of the three endogenous phosphoinositides, PI(4)P, PI(4,5)P2, and PI(3,4,5)P3, with sensitivity increasing with increasing numbers of phosphates. Non-acylated inositol phosphates had no effect up to 100 μm. Channels were also activated with increasing efficacy by 1–300 μm concentrations of the monoacyl monophosphates fingolimod phosphate, sphingosine 1-phosphate, and lysophosphatidic acid but not by phosphate-free fingolimod or sphingosine or by phosphate-masked phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylglycerol. An overlay assay confirmed that a fusion protein containing the full-length C terminus of Kv7.2 could bind to a broad range of phosphoinositides and phospholipids. A mutated Kv7.2 C-terminal construct with reduced sensitivity to PI(4,5)P showed significantly less binding to most polyphosphoinositides. We concluded that M-channels bind to, and are activated by, a wide range of lipid phosphates, with a minimum requirement for an acyl chain and a phosphate headgroup. In this, they more closely resemble inwardly rectifying Kir6.2 potassium channels than the more PI(4,5)P2-specific Kir2 channels. Notwithstanding, the data also support the view that the main endogenous activator of M-channels is PI(4,5)P2.
Genotoxicity of Silver Nanoparticles in Vicia faba: A Pilot Study on the Environmental Monitoring of Nanoparticles

The use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in commercial products has increased significantly in recent years. Although there have been some attempts to determine the toxic effects of AgNPs in mammalian and human cell-lines, there is little information on plants which play a vital role in ecosystems. The study reports the use of Vicia faba root-tip meristem to investigate the genotoxicity of AgNPs under modified GENE-TOX test conditions. The root tip cells of V. faba were treated with four different concentrations of engineered AgNPs dispersion to study toxicological endpoints such as mitotic index (MI), chromosomal aberrations (CA) and micronucleus induction (MN). For each concentration, five sets of microscopy observations were carried out. The results demonstrated that AgNPs exposure significantly increased (p < 0.05) the number of chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei, and decreased the MI in exposed groups compared to control. From this study we infer that AgNPs might have penetrated the plant system and may have impaired mitosis causing CA and MN. The results of this study demonstrate that AgNPs are genotoxic to plant cells. Since plant assays have been integrated as a genotoxicity component in risk assessment for detection of environmental mutagens, they should be given full consideration when evaluating the overall toxicological impact of the nanoparticles in the environment.
Protein Kinase A Regulates Chondrogenesis of Mesenchymal Cells at the Post‐Precartilage Condensation Stage via Protein Kinase C‐α Signaling

Chondrogenesis of mesenchymal cells during in vitro micromass culture requires the generation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and subsequent activation of cAMP‐dependent protein kinase A (PKA). In this study, we investigated the regulatory activity of PKA during chondrogenesis of chick limb bud mesenchymal cells. PKA activity was high in 1‐day and 2‐day cultures, which was followed by a slight decrease in 4‐day and 5‐day old cultures. Inhibition of PKA blocked chondrogenesis. It did not affect precartilage condensation, but it blocked the progression from the precartilage condensation stage to cartilage nodule formation. The PKA inhibition‐induced blockage of chondrogenesis was accompanied by an altered expression of N‐cadherin. Although expression of N‐cadherin was detected during the early period of chondrogenesis, it became reduced as chondrogenesis proceeded. Still, inhibition of PKA maintained expression of N‐cadherin throughout the micromass culture period. The inhibition of PKA did not affect expression of protein kinase C‐α (PKCα), PKCϵ, PKCζ, and PKCλ/ι, which are the isoforms expressed in differentiating mesenchymal cells. However, PKA inhibition completely blocked activation of PKCα. Because PKC activity regulates N‐cadherin expression and chondrogenesis, the PKA‐mediated regulation of PKCα appears to be responsible for the PKA regulation of N‐cadherin expression and chondrogenesis. Taken together, our results suggest that PKA regulates chondrogenesis by activating PKCα at the stage of post‐precartilage condensation.
Inhibitory effect of FK506 and cyclosporine A on the growth and invasion of human liver cancer cells.

BACKGROUND The prognosis of liver transplantation for liver cancer is determined by recurrence in the liver graft. In this study, the effects of immunosuppressors, FK506 and cyclosporine A (CsA) on the migration of liver cancer cells were investigated. METHODS The effects of FK506 at concentrations of 1-100 ng/mL and CsA at 1-1000 ng/mL on the growth of poorly and well differentiated human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, HLE and HuH-7, respectively, were examined. After treatment of these cells with FK506 and CsA, the growth of these cells, their cytotoxicities and invasion assay on the Matrigel basement membrane invasion chamber were evaluated. In addition, the effects of FK506 and CsA on the changes in the production of a soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) of these cells were measured. RESULTS FK506 and CsA at concentrations of 1-10 ng/mL inhibited the growth of both HLE and HuH-7 and those immunosuppressors at concentrations over 100 ng/mL exhibited cytotoxicity on these cells. FK506 at concentration of 1 ng/mL significantly inhibited the invasion of poorly differentiated HLE, but not well differentiated HuH-7, after treatment for 2-5 days in culture (p<0.05), but FK 506 at 10 ng/mL showed less inhibitory efficient. CsA at concentrations of 1-10 ng/mL, however, did not inhibit or transiently inhibited the invasion of both cell lines. The production of ICAM-1 in HLE and HuH-7 was suppressed by FK506 at concentrations of 1-10 ng/mL after treatment for 3-5 days but the effect was not significant in the initial phase at days 1-2 and the last phase at days 5-6. CONCLUSIONS FK506, but not CsA, at a clinical dose of 1 ng/mL significantly inhibited the invasion of the poorly-differentiated HLE, but not HuH-7 and also inhibited the production of sICAM-1 in HLE.