Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Randomized non-inferiority trial to compare trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole plus rifampicin versus linezolid for the treatment of MRSA infection.

OBJECTIVES The therapeutic arsenal for MRSA infections is limited. The aim of this study was to assess the non-inferiority of a combination of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole plus rifampicin versus linezolid alone for the treatment of MRSA infection. METHODS We conducted a randomized, open-label, single-centre, non-inferiority trial comparing trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (160 mg/800 mg three times daily) plus rifampicin (600 mg once a day) versus linezolid (600 mg twice a day) alone in adult patients with various types of MRSA infection. Patients were allocated 1:1 to either regimen. The primary outcome was clinical cure at 6 weeks after the end of treatment (non-inferiority margin 20%) assessed by both ITT and PP analyses. Secondary outcomes included the microbiologically documented persistence of MRSA in clinical cultures, mortality and adverse events. The study protocol has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00711854). RESULTS Overall, 150 patients were randomized to one of the two treatment arms between January 2009 and December 2013 and were included in the ITT analysis. Of these 56/75 (74.7%) in the linezolid group and 59/75 (78.7%) in the trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and rifampicin group experienced clinical success (risk difference 4%, 95% CI -9.7% to 17.6%). The results were confirmed by the PP analysis, with 54/66 (81.8%) cured patients in the linezolid group versus 52/59 (88.1%) in the trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and rifampicin group (risk difference 6.3%, 95% CI -6.8% to 19.2%). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in any of the secondary outcomes, including microbiologically documented failure. Four adverse drug reactions attributed to the study medication occurred in the linezolid group versus nine in the trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and rifampicin group. CONCLUSIONS Compared with linezolid, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and rifampicin seems to be non-inferior in the treatment of MRSA infection.
Advances in the understanding of Coxiella burnetii infection in Japan.

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by a rickettsia Coxiella burnetii. Since its first description in 1937, the disease has been found to be present in most countries of the world. Serological evidences of Q fever in humans and coxiellosis in animals were reported in Japan in the 1950s, however, systematic studies of the disease did not begin until the report of isolation of C. burnetii from an acute Q fever patient in 1989. In addition to the extensive information about epidemiology of the disease, the understanding of Japanese isolates of C. burnetii is increasing rapidly in recent years. In this review, the epidemiology of the disease along with some characteristics of isolates of C. burnetii in Japan is summarized in five sections, i.e., coxiellosis, Q fever, modes of spread of the infection, laboratory diagnosis of the infection and some characteristics of Japanese isolates. This review includes some recent, unpublished data from our and other groups.
Ethnic Differences in Perceptions of Cognitive Ability Tests: The Explanatory Role of Self‐Serving Attributions

This study examined the role of self‐serving attributions in the formation of pretest and posttest fairness perceptions of cognitive ability tests among ethnic majority and ethnic minority applicants. In total, 180 unemployed (52.8% Dutch majority) job seekers participated in an application training program consisting of a cognitive ability test and several pretest and posttest questionnaires. Results showed that both pretest and posttest fairness perceptions are prone to self‐serving attributions. Ethnic minority applicants have a stronger tendency than ethnic majority applicants to attribute their previous test experiences and their perceived test performance to the fairness of cognitive ability testing. Self‐serving attributions were partly explained by (ethnic differences in) attribution style.
Harvard Institute of Economic Research Discussion Paper Number 2016 Bad Beta , Good Beta by

This paper explains the size and value “anomalies” in stock returns using an economically motivated two-beta model. We break the CAPMbeta of a stock with the market portfolio into two components, one reflecting news about the market’s future cash flows and one reflecting news about the market’s discount rates. Intertemporal asset pricing theory suggests that the former should have a higher price of risk; thus beta, like cholesterol, comes in “bad” and “good” varieties. Empirically, we find that value stocks and small stocks have considerably higher cash-flow betas than growth stocks and large stocks, and this can explain their higher average returns. The poor performance of the CAPM since 1963 is explained by the fact that growth stocks and high-past-beta stocks have predominantly good betas with low risk prices. JEL classification: G12, G14, N22
A practical QoS solution to voice over IP in IEEE 802.11 WLANs

In this article we study the behavior of voice over IP traffic in IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Specifically, we design a QoS provisioning mechanism for VoIP traffic, and propose a practical solution of configuring the 802.11e enhanced distributed control access parameter sets for different types of traffic. We show that media access control layer only methods may be insufficient, but the demonstrated cross-layer (layers 2, 3, and 4) method works simply and efficiently. We find that the EDCA parameter sets of the access point are not always necessarily set more aggressively than those of wireless stations even though the traffic load of AP is much heavier than the stations. With our mechanism, the EDCA parameter sets can be easily configured via software interface for off-theshelf WiFi phone products, and there is no need to modify the operations of APs or 802.11 MAC layer protocols. The performance of our mechanism is evaluated via ns-2 simulations and via laboratory experiments over Quanta's O2 dual mode handsets. The results show our mechanism can provide effective and efficient QoS provisioning for VoIP traffic in IEEE 802.11 WLANs. Since the configuration may be readily configured in the field and the performance is robust across a wide range of environments, we believe that organizations deploying and operating WiFi networks for VoIP may benefit from our work and reduce or eliminate post-deployment tuning and debugging.
Performance Analysis of SNR-Based Incremental Hybrid Decode-Amplify-Forward Cooperative Relaying Protocol

In this paper, we propose and analyze a new relaying scheme for the three-node cooperative relaying system, named as incremental hybrid decode-amplify-forward relaying (IHDAF), where the relay may choose to keep silent or transmit message in decode-and-forward (DF) or amplify-and-forward (AF) mode based on the qualities of the channels among the source, relay, and destination. Closed-form expressions of the outage probability and bit error rate (BER) of the proposed IHDAF protocol are derived. The optimal relationship of the two important signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) thresholds at the relay and destination to decide whether cooperation is necessary and the cooperative mode has been achieved. Moreover, the effects of the power allocation schemes, SNR thresholds, and relay locations on the outage probability and BER of the IHDAF protocol are studied. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the IHDAF relaying scheme outperforms the incremental-selective DF (ISDF), incremental DF (IDF), and cooperative STBC schemes, especially when the relay is close to the destination.
Modeling the Interaction of Academic Self-Beliefs, Frequency of Reading at Home, Emotional Support, and Reading Achievement: An RCT Study of At-Risk Early Readers in First Grade and Second Grade

The current article examines what factors explained the success of a reading program delivered by older adult volunteers to at-risk early readers. The article also examines the direction of the relationship over time (both direct and mediated) between reading achievement, frequency of reading at home, and academic self-beliefs. Two hundred and twenty nine socially disadvantaged children recruited at the start of first and second grade at risk of reading failure participated in the randomized controlled trial study over an 18-month period. The results from structural equation modeling show the combined instructional and emotional support was a proximal outcome, whose distal outcomes included gains in reading achievement. There was no evidence that either academic self-beliefs or frequency of reading at home mediated program impact on reading achievement. In addition, academic self-beliefs became more accurate and stable as children advanced through school. Reading achievement mediated the impact of earlier reading achievement on both academic self-beliefs and frequency of reading at home for children entering second and third grade. In contrast, for the youngest children (at the start of first grade), academic self-beliefs were negatively associated with subsequent academic self-beliefs and frequency of reading at home.
Simulated maximum likelihood method for estimating kinetic rates in gene expression

MOTIVATION Kinetic rate in gene expression is a key measurement of the stability of gene products and gives important information for the reconstruction of genetic regulatory networks. Recent developments in experimental technologies have made it possible to measure the numbers of transcripts and protein molecules in single cells. Although estimation methods based on deterministic models have been proposed aimed at evaluating kinetic rates from experimental observations, these methods cannot tackle noise in gene expression that may arise from discrete processes of gene expression, small numbers of mRNA transcript, fluctuations in the activity of transcriptional factors and variability in the experimental environment. RESULTS In this paper, we develop effective methods for estimating kinetic rates in genetic regulatory networks. The simulated maximum likelihood method is used to evaluate parameters in stochastic models described by either stochastic differential equations or discrete biochemical reactions. Different types of non-parametric density functions are used to measure the transitional probability of experimental observations. For stochastic models described by biochemical reactions, we propose to use the simulated frequency distribution to evaluate the transitional density based on the discrete nature of stochastic simulations. The genetic optimization algorithm is used as an efficient tool to search for optimal reaction rates. Numerical results indicate that the proposed methods can give robust estimations of kinetic rates with good accuracy.
Training old rats selectively modulates synaptosomal protein synthesis

We have previously shown that the local synthesis of two synaptic proteins of 66.5‐kDa and 87.6‐kDa is selectively enhanced in male adult rats trained for a two‐way active avoidance task. We report here that a comparable but not identical response occurs in 2‐year‐old male rats trained for the same task. In the latter age group, the local synthesis of the 66.5‐kDa protein markedly increases in cerebral cortex, brainstem, and cerebellum, with a somewhat lower increment in synthesis of the 87.6‐kDa protein. On the other hand, the newly synthesized 87.6‐kDa protein correlates with avoidances and escapes and inversely correlates with freezings in cerebral cortex and brainstem, whereas the correlations of the newly synthesized 66.5‐kDa protein remain below significance. These correlative patterns are sharply at variance with those present in trained adult rats. Our data confirm that the local system of synaptic protein synthesis is selectively modulated by training and show that the synaptic response of old rats differs from that of adult rats as reflected in behavioral responses. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Neural Correlates of Fear in the Periaqueductal Gray

The dorsal and ventral periaqueductal gray (dPAG and vPAG, respectively) are embedded in distinct survival networks that coordinate, respectively, innate and conditioned fear-evoked freezing. However, the information encoded by the PAG during these survival behaviors is poorly understood. Recordings in the dPAG and vPAG in rats revealed differences in neuronal activity associated with the two behaviors. During innate fear, neuronal responses were significantly greater in the dPAG compared with the vPAG. After associative fear conditioning and during early extinction (EE), when freezing was maximal, a field potential was evoked in the PAG by the auditory fear conditioned stimulus (CS). With repeated presentations of the unreinforced CS, animals displayed progressively less freezing accompanied by a reduction in event-related field potential amplitude. During EE, the majority of dPAG and vPAG units increased their firing frequency, but spike-triggered averaging showed that only ventral activity during the presentation of the CS was significantly coupled to EMG-related freezing behavior. This PAG–EMG coupling was only present for the onset of freezing activity during the CS in EE. During late extinction, a subpopulation of units in the dPAG and vPAG continued to show CS-evoked responses; that is, they were extinction resistant. Overall, these findings support roles for the dPAG in innate and conditioned fear and for the vPAG in initiating but not maintaining the drive to muscles to generate conditioned freezing. The existence of extinction-susceptible and extinction-resistant cells also suggests that the PAG plays a role in encoding fear memories. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The periaqueductal gray (PAG) orchestrates survival behaviors, with the dorsal (dPAG) and ventral (vPAG) PAG concerned respectively with innate and learnt fear responses. We recorded neural activity from dPAG and vPAG in rats during the expression of innate fear and extinction of learned freezing. Cells in dPAG responded more robustly during innate fear, but dPAG and vPAG both encoded the time of the conditioned stimulus during early extinction and displayed extinction sensitive and resistant characteristics. Only vPAG discharge was correlated with muscle activity, but this was limited to the onset of conditioned freezing. The data suggest that the roles of dPAG and vPAG in fear behavior are more complex than previously thought, including a potential role in fear memory.
Intergenerational differences in personal relationship to nature

V přispěvku jsou shrnuty výsledky dotaznikoveho setřeni zaměřeneho na vybrane aspekty osobniho vztahu k přirodě u žaků 8. a 9. třid zakladnich skol (resp. odpovidajicich třid viceletých gymnazii) a jejich rodiců. Výzkum byl proveden prostřednictvim dotaznikoveho setřeni, ktereho se zucastnilo 222 respondentů, z nichž jednu polovinu představovali žaci výse uvedene věkove kategorie, druhou polovinu pak jejich rodice. Výsledky výzkumu naznacuji, že mezi žaky a jejich rodici existuji specificke rozdily, co se týce jejich osobniho vztahu k přirodě. Hlavnim rozdilem byl pocit potřeby obou skupin být v přirodě a zatimco žaci davaji přednost “modernim” aktivitam, jejich rodice praktikuji spise vice “tradicni” aktivity.
Using Ecophysiology to Improve Farm Efficiency: Application in Temperate Dairy Grazing Systems

Information on the physiological ecology of grass-dominant pastures has made a substantial contribution to the development of practices that optimise the amount of feed harvested by grazing animals in temperate livestock systems. However, the contribution of ecophysiology is often under-stated, and the need for further research in this field is sometimes questioned. The challenge for ecophysiolgists, therefore, is to demonstrate how ecophysiological knowledge can help solve significant problems looming for grassland farming in temperate regions while also removing constraints to improved productivity from grazed pastures. To do this, ecophysiological research needs to align more closely with related disciplines, particularly genetics/genomics, agronomy, and farming systems, including systems modelling. This review considers how ecophysiological information has contributed to the development of grazing management practices in the New Zealand dairy industry, an industry that is generally regarded as a world leader in the efficiency with which pasture is grown and utilised for animal production. Even so, there are clear opportunities for further gains in pasture utilisation through the refinement of grazing management practices and the harnessing of those practices to improved pasture plant cultivars with phenotypes that facilitate greater grazing efficiency. Meanwhile, sub-optimal persistence of new pastures continues to constrain productivity in some environments. The underlying plant and population processes associated with this have not been clearly defined. Ecophysiological information, placed in the context of trait identification, grounded in well-designed agronomic studies and linked to plant improvements programmes, is required to address this.
Voxel‐based analysis of confounding effects of age and dementia severity on cerebral metabolism in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by early hippocampal lesions, but neuropathological and functional imaging studies have also demonstrated involvement of associative cortices in patients suffering from this illness. New image‐processing technologies have led to demonstration of predominant posteromedial cortical metabolic impairment in the disease. Confounding effects of both age and dementia severity on brain metabolism were assessed using categorical and correlational analyses performed with Statistical Parametric Mapping. Posterior cingulate and precuneus metabolism, assessed by positron emission tomography, was significantly correlated with age in a population of 46 patients with probable Azheimer's disease. Metabolism in posterior cingulate and precuneus was higher in elderly than in younger patients with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, even when dementia severity was taken as a confounding covariate. The data suggest that the sensitivity of positron emission tomography for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is reduced in elderly cases, where less severe pathology is sufficient to induce clinical symptoms of dementia. Conversely, higher posteromedial metabolic impairment in early onset cases may reflect greater density of regional cerebral lesions or major decrease of functional afferences in a richly connected multimodal associative area. Posterior cingulate metabolism was also correlated to dementia severity, even when age was taken as a confounding covariate, whereas metabolism in the hippocampal formation was not shown to correlate with global cognitive deficit. Functional correlation was maintained between posterior cingulate and middle frontal cortex in demented patients as in elderly controls. The key role of posteromedial cortex in cognitive dysfunction assessed in Alzheimer's disease is probably related to its highly integrated position within attentional, visuospatial and memory neuronal networks. Hum. Brain Mapping 10:39–48, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Biparietal Diameter and Crown-Rump Length in Fetuses with Down's Syndrome: Implications for Antenatal Serum Screening for Down's Syndrome

Objectives 1. To compare the ultrasound biparietal diameter and crown‐rump length of fetuses with and without Down's syndrome in the first half of pregnancy; 2. To investigate the effect of estimation of gestational age using either measure on the detection rate of serum screening for Down's syndrome.
Astrometric Radial Velocities I. Non-spectroscopic methods for measuring stellar radial velocity

High-accuracy astrometry permits the determina- tion of not only stellar tangential motion, but also the comp o- nent along the line-of-sight. Such non-spectroscopic (i.e . astro- metric) radial velocities are independent of stellar atmos pheric dynamics, spectral complexity and variability, as well as of gravitational redshift. Three methods are analysed: (1) ch ang- ing annual parallax, (2) changing proper motion and (3) chang- ing angular extent of a moving group of stars. All three have significant potential in planned astrometric projects. Cur rent accuracies are still inadequate for the first method, while t he second is marginally feasible and is here applied to 16 stars. The third method reaches high accuracy (< 1 km s −1 ) already with present data, although for some clusters an accuracy limit is set by uncertainties in the cluster expansion rate.
Everyday Action Impairment in Parkinson's Disease Dementia

Abstract This study examined everyday action impairment in participants with Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) by comparison with participants with Parkinson's disease-no dementia (PD) or Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in reference to a neuropsychological model. Participants with PDD (n = 20), PD (n = 20), or AD (n = 20) were administered performance-based measures of everyday functioning that allowed for the quantification of overall performance and error types. Also, caregiver ratings of functional independence were obtained. On performance-based tests, the PDD group exhibited greater functional impairment than the PD group but comparable overall impairment relative to the AD group. Error patterns did not differ between PDD and PD participants but the PDD group demonstrated a higher proportion of commission errors and lower proportion of omission errors relative to the AD group. Hierarchical regression analyses showed omission errors were significantly predicted by neuropsychological measures of episodic memory, whereas commission errors were predicted by both measures of general dementia severity (MMSE) and executive control. Everyday action impairment in PDD differs quantitatively from PD but qualitatively from AD and may be characterized by a relatively high proportion of commission errors—an error type associated with executive control deficits. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1–12)
The Korean American Dream: Immigrants and Small Business in New York City

Korean immigrants to the United States establish their own small businesses at a rate exceeding that of immigrants from any other nation, with more than one third of all Korean immigrant adults involved in small businesses. Kyeyoung Park examines this phenomenon in Queens, New York, tracing its historical bases and exploring the transformation of Korean cultural identity prompted by participation in an enterprise. Park documents the ways in which Korean immigrants use entrepreneurship to improve the quality of their lives, focusing on their concerns and anxieties, as well as their joys. The concept of "anjong" is crucial to the lives of first-generation Korean Americans in Queens, Park explains. The word may be translated as "establishment," "stability," or "security," and it identifies a particular concept of success through which Koreans make sense of the American ideology of opportunity. What they seek is not great wealth or social position but rather the creation of their own small businesses as a way of realizing the American dream. The pursuit of "anjong" is important enough to justify changes in gender and kinship relations, resulting in the rise of a Korean American women-centered and sister-initiated kinship structure. Commitment to the concept has also inspired a different understanding of class, ethnicity, and race, and stimulated new religious ideas and practices.