Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term changes of bacterial and viral compositions in the intestine of a recovered Clostridium difficile patient after fecal microbiota transplantation

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is an effective treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (RCDIs). However, long-term effects on the patients’ gut microbiota and the role of viruses remain to be elucidated. Here, we characterized bacterial and viral microbiota in the feces of a cured RCDI patient at various time points until 4.5 yr post-FMT compared with the stool donor. Feces were subjected to DNA sequencing to characterize bacteria and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses including phages. The patient's microbial communities varied over time and showed little overall similarity to the donor until 7 mo post-FMT, indicating ongoing gut microbiota adaption in this time period. After 4.5 yr, the patient's bacteria attained donor-like compositions at phylum, class, and order levels with similar bacterial diversity. Differences in the bacterial communities between donor and patient after 4.5 yr were seen at lower taxonomic levels. C. difficile remained undetectable throughout the entire timespan. This demonstrated sustainable donor feces engraftment and verified long-term therapeutic success of FMT on the molecular level. Full engraftment apparently required longer than previously acknowledged, suggesting the implementation of year-long patient follow-up periods into clinical practice. The identified dsDNA viruses were mainly Caudovirales phages. Unexpectedly, sequences related to giant algae–infecting Chlorella viruses were also detected. Our findings indicate that intestinal viruses may be implicated in the establishment of gut microbiota. Therefore, virome analyses should be included in gut microbiota studies to determine the roles of phages and other viruses—such as Chlorella viruses—in human health and disease, particularly during RCDI.
Acute Exudative Polymorphous Paraneoplastic Vitelliform Maculopathy Managed With Intravitreal Aflibercept.

The authors report on two patients with bilateral acute exudative polymorphous paraneoplastic vitelliform maculopathy (AEPPVM) treated with intravitreal aflibercept (Eylea; Regeneron, Tarrytown, NY [marketed locally in Turkey by Bayer]). Underlying malignancy had been treated in each case, including breast carcinoma in one case and colon carcinoma in the other case. A macular vitelliform lesion was noted in the right eye and atrophic retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) changes were noted in the left eye of each case. Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) of the vitelliform lesion showed sensorineural retinal detachment, highly reflective subretinal material, ellipsoid loss in the right eye, and photoreceptor loss in both eyes of each patient. In both cases, the right eye with a vitelliform macular lesion was treated with intravitreal aflibercept (2.0 mg/0.05 mL) at monthly intervals for the first three injections and at bimonthly intervals for the following injections. Case 1 received a total of six injections and visual acuity (VA) increased from 20/70 to 20/50 at 10 months' follow-up. EDI-OCT showed slight gradual resolution of subretinal vitelliform material. Case 2 received three injections and VA increased from 20/100 to 20/40 at 4 months' follow-up with a decrease in the subretinal vitelliform deposit and intraretinal edema on EDI-OCT. Intravitreal aflibercept may control progression of APPVME in newly diagnosed cases by decreasing vascular leakage and stabilizing RPE function. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:844-850. ].
Schizophrenia and temporal lobe asymmetry

Background A previous report by Crow of a left-sided increase in temporal horn volume in schizophrenia implies a left-sided loss of tissue. Aims To elucidate the structural nature of schizophrenia. Method The volume of grey matter in the temporal pole and inferior, middle and superior temporal gyri was measured, in addition to the total volume of grey and white matter, in the temporal lobes of the brains of 29 patients with schizophrenia and 27 controls. Results We found a significant left-sided reduction in the superior temporal gyrus in both males and females with schizophrenia, which was related to increasing age of onset in the males. The total volume of temporal lobe grey and white matter was also significantly reduced. Although being more marked on the left than the right, the lateralisation for these total grey and white measures (by contrast with the superior temporal gyrus alone) did not attain formal statistical significance. Conclusions Confirmation of a lateralised reduction in the superior temporal gyrus, which is differentially related to age of onset according to gender, adds to evidence that the changes in schizophrenia are in systems that are lateralised. The findings implicate language as the relevant function.
Molecular and cellular aspects of extramedullary manifestations of acute myeloid leukemia

Molecular and cellular aspects of extramedullary manifestations of acute myeloid leukemia Javad Mohammadiasl1, Abbas Khosravi2, Mohammad Shahjahani2, Shirin Azizidoost2, Najmaldin Saki2 1Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz 6135715794, Iran. 2Health Research Institute, Research Center of Thalassemia and Hemoglobinopathy, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz 6135715794, Iran. Correspondence to: Dr. Najmaldin Saki, Health Research Institute, Research Center of Thalassemia and Hemoglobinopathy, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz 6135715794, Iran. E-mail: najmaldinsaki@gmail.com The myeloid extramedullary tumor is a solid tumor formed by infiltration of immature myeloid cells in various tissues of the body. This tumor is also identified as chloroma or myeloid sarcoma (MS). MS is a manifestation of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) occurring at presentation or during treatment or relapse. MS is associated with multiple chromosomal abnormalities and molecular mutations since patients with these disorders bear a high potential for MS manifestation. There is a high incidence of extramedullary infiltration (EMI) in AML. AML patients with EMI have a worse prognosis than patients without it. Hematopoietic stem cells and leukemic stem cells reside in a special bone marrow microenvironment called niche, which is essential for their normal functions. Cancers are exploited dysfunctional cell-cell and matrix-cell interactions, which convert a normal niche into a neoplastic niche. This study summarizes the current knowledge on the molecular and cellular characteristics of AML with EMI and extramedullary niches in AML patients.
Picking Friends Before Picking (Proxy) Fights: How Mutual Fund Voting Shapes Proxy Contests

This paper studies mutual fund voting in proxy contests using a comprehensive sample of voting records over the period 2008-2015, taking into account selective targeting by activists. We find that firm, fund, and event characteristics generate substantial heterogeneity among investors in their support for the dissident, including their reliance on proxy advisors. Notably, active funds are significantly more pro-dissident than passive funds. We also uncover evidence consistent with a large unobserved fund "inherent stance" that cannot be explained by observable fund or event characteristics. In particular, we document a positive correlation between the propensity for targeting by activists and pro-activist voting by mutual funds, based both on observables and unobservables. This finding suggests that a relatively pro-activist shareholder base is a key factor driving activists' selection of targets.
Online Inter-Datacenter Service Migrations

Service migration between datacenters can reduce the network overhead within a cloud infrastructure; thereby, also improving the quality of service for the clients. Most of the algorithms in the literature assume that the client access pattern remains stable for a sufficiently long period so as to amortize such migrations. However, if such an assumption does not hold, these algorithms can take arbitrarily poor migration decisions that can substantially degrade system performance. In this paper, we approach the issue of performing service migrations for an unknown and dynamically changing client access pattern. We propose an online algorithm that minimizes the inter-datacenter network, taking into account the network load of migrating a service between two datacenters, as well as the fact that the client request pattern may change “quickly”, before such a migration is amortized. We provide a rigorous mathematical proof showing that the algorithm is 3.8-competitive for a cloud network structured as a tree of multiple datacenters. We briefly discuss how the algorithm can be modified to work on general graph networks with an <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$O{\mathrm{(log\vert V\vert)}}$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>O</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mi> log </mml:mi><mml:mo>|</mml:mo><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">V</mml:mi><mml:mo>|</mml:mo><mml:mo>)</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:mrow></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="tziritas-ieq1-2680439.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> probabilistic approximation of the optimal algorithm. Finally, we present an experimental evaluation of the algorithm based on extensive simulations.
Mass azithromycin distribution for reducing childhood mortality in sub-Saharan Africa

BACKGROUND We hypothesized that mass distribution of a broad‐spectrum antibiotic agent to preschool children would reduce mortality in areas of sub‐Saharan Africa that are currently far from meeting the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. METHODS In this cluster‐randomized trial, we assigned communities in Malawi, Niger, and Tanzania to four twice‐yearly mass distributions of either oral azithromycin (approximately 20 mg per kilogram of body weight) or placebo. Children 1 to 59 months of age were identified in twice‐yearly censuses and were offered participation in the trial. Vital status was determined at subsequent censuses. The primary outcome was aggregate all‐cause mortality; country‐specific rates were assessed in prespecified subgroup analyses. RESULTS A total of 1533 communities underwent randomization, 190,238 children were identified in the census at baseline, and 323,302 person‐years were monitored. The mean (±SD) azithromycin and placebo coverage over the four twice‐yearly distributions was 90.4±10.4%. The overall annual mortality rate was 14.6 deaths per 1000 person‐years in communities that received azithromycin (9.1 in Malawi, 22.5 in Niger, and 5.4 in Tanzania) and 16.5 deaths per 1000 person‐years in communities that received placebo (9.6 in Malawi, 27.5 in Niger, and 5.5 in Tanzania). Mortality was 13.5% lower overall (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.7 to 19.8) in communities that received azithromycin than in communities that received placebo (P<0.001); the rate was 5.7% lower in Malawi (95% CI, ‐9.7 to 18.9), 18.1% lower in Niger (95% CI, 10.0 to 25.5), and 3.4% lower in Tanzania (95% CI, ‐21.2 to 23.0). Children in the age group of 1 to 5 months had the greatest effect from azithromycin (24.9% lower mortality than that with placebo; 95% CI, 10.6 to 37.0). Serious adverse events occurring within a week after administration of the trial drug or placebo were uncommon, and the rate did not differ significantly between the groups. Evaluation of selection for antibiotic resistance is ongoing. CONCLUSIONS Among postneonatal, preschool children in sub‐Saharan Africa, childhood mortality was lower in communities randomly assigned to mass distribution of azithromycin than in those assigned to placebo, with the largest effect seen in Niger. Any implementation of a policy of mass distribution would need to strongly consider the potential effect of such a strategy on antibiotic resistance. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; MORDOR ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02047981.)
Mechanisms of Visuospatial Attention: Evidence from Event-related Brain Potentials

A series of experiments are reviewed that studied mechanisms underlying visuospatial attention by measuring the influence of attentional selectivity on event-related brain potentials (ERPs). The results are interpreted within a theoretical framework developed by LaBerge (1995)and LaBerge and Brown (1989). Spatial attention can have an effect on occipital P1 and N1 components in trial-by-trial cueing situations, which indicate a spatially selective modulation of processing in the VI-IT pathway. However, this effect is strongly attenuated when unattended locations are potentially relevant, suggesting that early attentional modulations within the ventral stream are optional rather than obligatory. A distinct parietal negativity (Nd1) that is elicited in cued attention tasks is assumed to reflect the existence of a transient location expectation gradient within the posterior parietal cortex (PPC). This effect is not present in sustained attention situations. The factthatthis effectis also observed with audito.
Long Run Dynamics of World Food, Crude Oil Prices and Macroeconomic Variables: A Cointegration VAR Analysis

This study examines the long-run relationship between the real world price of maize, soybeans and sugar with the real world price of crude oil and a series of macroeconomic variables using a cointegration analysis from January 1982 until December 2012. The main empirical results support a strong causal relationship between maize and soybeans with crude oil, the real interest rate and the real U.S. exchange rate. Concretely, we show that real world crude oil prices are cointegrated with real world prices of maize and soybeans for the entire sample period and that real oil prices have a one-to-one relationship with these commodities. In other words, a one-percent increase in the price of real crude oil is associated with a one-percent increase in the price of maize and soybeans. Moreover, we find that permanent shocks to crude oil prices are transmitted to both maize and soybeans by a factor of 0.67 in both cases. In addition, our results show that despite the instability associated with the period between 2007/08, the long-run relationship between crude oil and these agricultural commodities has remained stable during the entire sample period. Finally, our results also support that although the real interest rate and the U.S. exchange rate are cointegrated with these commodities, it is only permanent shocks to real crude oil prices that have a permanent effect on these commodity price behavior.
Augmenter of Liver Regeneration (alr) Promotes Liver Outgrowth during Zebrafish Hepatogenesis

Augmenter of Liver Regeneration (ALR) is a sulfhydryl oxidase carrying out fundamental functions facilitating protein disulfide bond formation. In mammals, it also functions as a hepatotrophic growth factor that specifically stimulates hepatocyte proliferation and promotes liver regeneration after liver damage or partial hepatectomy. Whether ALR also plays a role during vertebrate hepatogenesis is unknown. In this work, we investigated the function of alr in liver organogenesis in zebrafish model. We showed that alr is expressed in liver throughout hepatogenesis. Knockdown of alr through morpholino antisense oligonucleotide (MO) leads to suppression of liver outgrowth while overexpression of alr promotes liver growth. The small-liver phenotype in alr morphants results from a reduction of hepatocyte proliferation without affecting apoptosis. When expressed in cultured cells, zebrafish Alr exists as dimer and is localized in mitochondria as well as cytosol but not in nucleus or secreted outside of the cell. Similar to mammalian ALR, zebrafish Alr is a flavin-linked sulfhydryl oxidase and mutation of the conserved cysteine in the CxxC motif abolishes its enzymatic activity. Interestingly, overexpression of either wild type Alr or enzyme-inactive AlrC131S mutant promoted liver growth and rescued the liver growth defect of alr morphants. Nevertheless, alr C131S is less efficacious in both functions. Meantime, high doses of alr MOs lead to widespread developmental defects and early embryonic death in an alr sequence-dependent manner. These results suggest that alr promotes zebrafish liver outgrowth using mechanisms that are dependent as well as independent of its sulfhydryl oxidase activity. This is the first demonstration of a developmental role of alr in vertebrate. It exemplifies that a low-level sulfhydryl oxidase activity of Alr is essential for embryonic development and cellular survival. The dose-dependent and partial suppression of alr expression through MO-mediated knockdown allows the identification of its late developmental role in vertebrate liver organogenesis.
Genotypic Features of Clinical and Bovine Escherichia coli O157 Strains Isolated in Countries with Different Associated-Disease Incidences

There is great geographical variation in the frequency of Escherichia coli O157 infections that correlates with important differences in the bovine reservoir of each country. Our group carried out a broad molecular characterization of human and bovine E. coli O157 strains circulating in Argentina using different methodologies. Our data allows us to conclude that in Argentina, a high homogeneity is observed in both cattle and human strains, with almost exclusive circulation of strains belonging to the hypervirulent clade 8 described by Manning. The aim of this review was to compare the genetic background of E. coli O157 strains isolated in countries that have conducted similar studies, to try to correlate specific O157 genotypes with the incidence and severity of E. coli O157 associated diseases. The characteristics of the strains that cause disease in humans reflect the predominant genotypes in cattle in each of the countries analyzed. The main features clearly linked to high incidence or severity of E. coli O157 infections are lineage-specific polymorphism assay-6 lineage I/II, clade 8 strains and probably, clade 6 strains, the stx2a/stx2c genotype, the presence of q933 and q21 simultaneously, and putative virulence factor EC_3286. In countries with an absence of these features in O157 strains, the overall incidence of O157 disease is low. Argentina, where these characteristics are detected in most strains, shows the highest incidence of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) worldwide.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance: A Snapshot from the Lodging and Gaming Industries

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance for a sample of lodging and gaming companies. The study attempts to answer the question: do lodging and gaming companies ranked highly on CSR initiatives outperform their counterparts that are not highly ranked? The study utilizes data of publicly traded U.S. hospitality firms obtained from the CRSP and Mergent databases. The study also uses the Fortune CSR ranking survey for hotels and casinos. The findings suggest that lodging and gaming firms with well-executed CSR initiatives have higher profit margins and higher return on equity than the rest of the sampled firms.
Serum Uromodulin: A Biomarker of Long-Term Kidney Allograft Failure

Background: Uromodulin is a kidney-derived glycoprotein and putative tubular function index. Lower serum uromodulin was recently associated with increased risk for kidney allograft failure in a preliminary, longitudinal single-center European study involving 91 kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). Methods: The Folic Acid for Vascular Outcome Reduction in Transplantation (FAVORIT) trial is a completed, large, multiethnic controlled clinical trial cohort, which studied chronic, stable KTRs. We conducted a case cohort analysis using a randomly selected subset of patients (random subcohort, n = 433), and all individuals who developed kidney allograft failure (cases, n = 226) during follow-up. Serum uromodulin was determined in this total of n = 613 FAVORIT trial participants at randomization. Death-censored kidney allograft failure was the study outcome. Results: The 226 kidney allograft failures occurred during a median surveillance of 3.2 years. Unadjusted, weighted Cox proportional hazards modeling revealed that lower serum uromodulin, tertile 1 vs. tertile 3, was associated with a threefold greater risk for kidney allograft failure (hazards ratio [HR], 95% CI 3.20 [2.05–5.01]). This association was attenuated but persisted at twofold greater risk for allograft failure, after adjustment for age, sex, smoking, allograft type and vintage, prevalent diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease (CVD), total/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, systolic blood pressure, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and natural log urinary albumin/creatinine: HR 2.00, 95% CI (1.06–3.77). Conclusions: Lower serum uromodulin, a possible indicator of less well-preserved renal tubular function, remained associated with greater risk for kidney allograft failure, after adjustment for major, established clinical kidney allograft failure and CVD risk factors, in a large, multiethnic cohort of long-term, stable KTRs.
Adolescent crash rates and school start times in two central Virginia counties, 2009-2011: a follow-up study to a southeastern Virginia study, 2007-2008.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Early high school start times (EHSST) may lead to sleep loss in adolescents ("teens"), thus resulting in higher crash rates. (Vorona et al., 2011). In this study, we examined two other adjacent Virginia counties for the two years subsequent to the above-mentioned study. We again hypothesized that teens from jurisdictions with EHSST (versus later) experience higher crash rates. METHODS Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles supplied de-identified aggregate data on weekday crashes and time-of-day for 16-18 year old (teen) and adult drivers for school years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 in Henrico and Chesterfield Counties. Teen crash rates for counties with early versus later school start-times were compared using two-sample Z-tests and these compared to adult crash rates using pair-wise tests. RESULTS Henrico teens manifested a statistically higher crash rate of 48.8/1000 licensed drivers versus Chesterfield's 37.9/1000 (p = 0.04) for 2009-2010. For 2010-2011, HC 16-17 year old teens demonstrated a statistically significant higher crash rate (53.2/1000 versus 42.0/1000), while for 16-18 teens a similar trend was found, albeit nonsignificant (p = 0.09). Crash peaks occurred 1 hour earlier in the morning and 2 hours earlier in the afternoon in Chesterfield, consistent with commute times. Post hoc analyses found significantly more run-off road crashes to the right (potentially sleep-related) in Chesterfield teens. Adult crash rates and traffic congestion did not differ between counties. CONCLUSIONS Higher teen crash rates occurred in jurisdictions with EHSST, as in our prior study. This study contributes to and extends existing data on preventable teen crashes and high school start times.
Rapid search for genetic differentiation of populations: application to the European pond turtle

A strategy has been developed to screen very rapidly many individuals and loci in one step to screen for qualitative genetic difference among different populations. Genomic DNAs of individuals are digested with a restriction enzyme and then pooled according to the phenotypic character to genetically characterize. After electrophoresis on the same gel of the different DNA pools, the DNA fragments are hybridized with synthetic oligonucleotides of 4 base repeats. The hybridization patterns obtained with the different pools of DNA are compared and are used as references to analyze the individual profiles. This strategy was used to screen the genetic structure of several breeding groups of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) from department of Indre (Brenne region), and Var, both in France at 4 geographic scales. The results are concordant with those obtained using morphological and mtDNA data.