Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Activity of ceftaroline against serotyped Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from Europe and South Africa associated with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (2007-08).

OBJECTIVES To determine the activity of ceftaroline (the active metabolite of the prodrug ceftaroline fosamil), a new cephalosporin recently approved in the USA for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, against serotyped Streptococcus pneumoniae causing community-acquired bacterial pneumonia from Europe and South Africa. METHODS During 2007-08, 74 centres submitted 857 isolates of S. pneumoniae from patients with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. These were re-identified and serotyped. MICs of ceftaroline and 12 comparators were determined by CLSI broth microdilution at a central laboratory. RESULTS Ceftaroline was very active against all 857 S. pneumoniae isolates (MIC(90) 0.12 mg/L). The MIC(50) for South African isolates was 0.06 mg/L compared with 0.004 or 0.008 mg/L for isolates from elsewhere. Antibiotic resistance was also higher in South Africa than other countries. Serotypes 3, 1, 7 and 11 were more susceptible to ceftaroline (MIC(90) = 0.008 mg/L) and the reference antibiotics than the population as a whole. Ceftaroline showed a biphasic MIC distribution (associated with cefuroxime susceptibility), the extent of which differed between isolate populations. Nevertheless, the highest ceftaroline MIC observed was only 0.5 mg/L (two isolates: one from the UK and one from South Africa). CONCLUSIONS These data from a large collection of S. pneumoniae isolates during 2007-08 from Europe and South Africa with varying serotype and antibiotic susceptibility, confirm the excellent in vitro activity of ceftaroline against S. pneumoniae causing community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in both adults and children.
Technology, Information and the Decentralization of the Firm

This paper develops a framework to analyze the relationship between the diffusion of new technologies and the decentralization decisions of firms. Centralized control relies on the information of the principal, which we equate with publicly available information. However, the manager can use her informational advantage to make choices that are not in the best interest of the principal. As the available public information about the specific technology increases, the trade-off shifts in favor of centralization. We show that firms closer to the technological frontier, firms in more heterogeneous environments and younger firms are more likely to choose decentralization. Using three datasets of French and British firms in the 1990s we report robust correlations consistent with these predictions.
Combined cardiomyocyte PKCδ and PKCε gene deletion uncovers their central role in restraining developmental and reactive heart growth

Two related isoforms of PKC cooperate to limit cardiac hypertrophy during heart development and in response to hemodynamic stress. Keeping hearts at the right size If left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to abnormally enlarged hearts (a condition called pathological hypertrophy) and heart failure. Inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms are in development for treating heart failure and some cancers. However, Song et al. report that inhibition of some PKC isoforms may exacerbate heart pathology. During development, mice lacking two related PKC isoforms, PKCδ and PKCε, had abnormally large hearts and usually died in utero. Genetic ablation of these PKC isoforms in adult mice enhanced pathological hypertrophy and cardiac dysfunction in response to pressure overload. Thus, drugs that inhibit PKCδ and PKCε could trigger adverse cardiac side effects. Cell growth is orchestrated by changes in gene expression that respond to developmental and environmental cues. Among the signaling pathways that direct growth are enzymes of the protein kinase C (PKC) family, which are ubiquitous proteins belonging to three distinct subclasses: conventional PKCs, novel PKCs, and atypical PKCs. Functional overlap makes determining the physiological actions of different PKC isoforms difficult. We showed that two novel PKC isoforms, PKCδ and PKCε, redundantly govern stress-reactive and developmental heart growth by modulating the expression of cardiac genes central to stress-activated protein kinase and periostin signaling. Mice with combined postnatal cardiomyocyte-specific genetic ablation of PKCδ and germline deletion of PKCε (DCKO) had normally sized hearts, but their hearts had transcriptional changes typical of pathological hypertrophy. Cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction induced by hemodynamic overloading were greater in DCKO mice than in mice with a single deletion of either PKCδ or PKCε. Furthermore, gene expression analysis of the hearts of DCKO mice revealed transcriptional derepression of the genes encoding the kinase ERK (extracellular signal–regulated kinase) and periostin. Mice with combined embryonic ablation of PKCδ and PKCε showed enhanced growth and cardiomyocyte hyperplasia that induced pathological ventricular stiffening and early lethality, phenotypes absent in mice with a single deletion of PKCδ or PKCε. Our results indicate that novel PKCs provide retrograde feedback inhibition of growth signaling pathways central to cardiac development and stress adaptation. These growth-suppressing effects of novel PKCs have implications for therapeutic inhibition of PKCs in cancer, heart, and other diseases.
Hierarchy, Bureaucracy, and Ideology in French Criminal Justice: Some Empirical Observations

Using observational and interview data from my own empirical study of the investigation and prosecution of crime in France, this article examines critically the extent to which three features generally considered central to inquisitorial procedure - hierarchy, bureaucracy, and ideology - exist within the structures and procedures of the French criminal process and the constraining impact they have upon the decision-making of the procureur, the judicial officer responsible for supervising the majority of criminal investigations. A broad degree of discretion is found to exist at the local and individual level and the unavailability of resources further increases disparities in practice. Nevertheless, the conventional "ideals" retain a continuing force and relevance for procureurs, who describe their work (both as they understand it to be and as they would wish it to be) in these terms and whose crime control orientation is shielded by redefining it in terms of "representing the public interest".
Relations between cortical and thalamic cellular activities during absence seizures in rats

In a rat model of generalized absence epilepsies (Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg, GAERS), multiunit activity was recorded simultaneously at different sites of the thalamocortical system under neurolept anaesthesia (fentanyl‐droperidol). Under these conditions, bilaterally synchronized spike‐and‐wave‐discharges (SWDs) occurred spontaneously on the electroencephalogram (EEG) that were in principle identical to those reported earlier from unanaesthetized preparations. The generation of SWDs on the EEG was associated with spike‐concurrent, rhythmic burst‐like activity in (mono‐)synaptically connected regions of specific (somatosensory) thalamic regions and layers IV/V of the somatosensory cortex, and the reticular thalamic nucleus. Precursor activity was typically recorded in cortical units, concomitant with ‘embryonic’ SW seizures on the EEG, before the paroxysm was evident on the gross EEG and in the thalamus. On average, SWD‐correlated activity in layers IV/V of the somatosensory cortex started significantly earlier than correlated burst‐like firing in reticular and in ventrobasal thalamic neurons. Cellular peak firing in thalamus and cortex during bilaterally synchronized SWDs was related to the spike component on the gross EEG with the temporal rank order ventroposteromedial > ventrolateral ≥ ventroposterolateral thalamic > > rostral reticular thalamic nuclei ≥ cortex (layers IV/V) = caudal reticular thalamic nucleus. A spike‐related depression and wave‐related increase in firing was recorded in anteroventral ventrolateral thalamic areas, presumably reflecting their peculiar anatomical arrangement within the thalamus. These results from an in vivo preparation with intact synaptic connections that spontaneously produces SWDs indicate that SWDs spread within the thalamocortical network, involving short and long delays. The order of concurrent rhythmic firing observed in thalamocortical circuits during SW seizures are supportive of the hypothesis that the processes of rhythmogenesis recruit local thalamic networks, while cortical mechanisms appear to synchronize rhythmic activities on a larger spatiotemporal scale, thereby providing an important contribution to the generalization of epileptiform activity and expression of SWDs on the EEG.
Public perception and responses to environmental pollution and health risks: evaluation and implication from a national survey in China

Concerns have been raised among policy-makers, researchers and Chinese citizens regarding the widespread environmental degradation that has occurred in China in recent decades. Years of environmental education and media coverage on pollution harm and health risks have not only provided information about pollution to the public, but have also strengthened people’s concerns. However, an ‘intense focus’ on pollution is far from sufficient; at present, it is necessary to assess to what extent the public can identify specific environmental conditions and whether they are ready to cope with potential health risks from pollution. Through face-to-face surveys on trains and at railway stations nationwide, we investigated public experiences of environmental pollution accidents, perceptions of local environmental risks (focused on air and water quality) and responses to local environmental conditions. By comparing public perceptions with official environmental monitoring data-sets, we concluded that the accuracy of perceptions related to four environmental factors ranged from 40 to 60% at the individual scale. Furthermore, the accuracies increased approximately 2–10% at the county scale and 10–30% at the city scale, highlighting the possible benefits of collective intelligence in helping the public to identify existing environment conditions more accurately. Additionally, despite great concerns about pollution and health, public attitudes toward coping with the dangers of pollution and health risks were found to be indifferent. Our study revealed factors at the individual, social and governmental levels that led to low levels of perception accuracy and response scores. Thereout, we stressed potential pathways to improve the accuracy of public perception and the positivity of responses. The survey results indicate that there is a long way to go before the public is well prepared to cope with the risks of pollution; as a consequence, it is necessary to improve both personal environmental awareness as well as governmental, social and commercial responses to pollution events.
Early Intervention with Gifted Children

This study surveyed the status of preschool and kindergarten programs for gifted children in 50 states, 5 territories and Washington, D.C. We received responses from 100% of the states, 40% of the territories and Washington, D.C., for a 95% overall response rate. Fourteen states (28%) and one territory reported having a total of more than 51 preschool programs for gifted children. These programs are located at public schools, university campuses, and private sites. Twenty-nine states (58%) and one territory reported serving gifted kindergarten children in a total of more than 2,655 school districts. Kindergarten programs are funded through regular education (40%), special education (30%), a combination of regular and special education (17%) or other sources (13%). Sixteen states (52%) providing preschool or kindergarten programs reported that needs of gifted children from disadvantaged families are specifically addressed.
Statistical Models for Social Networks

Statistical models for social networks as dependent variables must represent the typical network dependencies between tie variables such as reciprocity, homophily, transitivity, etc. This review first treats models for single (cross-sectionally observed) networks and then for network dynamics. For single networks, the older literature concentrated on conditionally uniform models. Various types of latent space models have been developed: for discrete, general metric, ultrametric, Euclidean, and partially ordered spaces. Exponential random graph models were proposed long ago but now are applied more and more thanks to the non-Markovian social circuit specifications that were recently proposed. Modeling network dynamics is less complicated than modeling single network observations because dependencies are spread out in time. For modeling network dynamics, continuous-time models are more fruitful. Actor-oriented models here provide a model that can represent many dependencies in a flexible way. Strong model d.
Nonverbal courtship patterns in women: Rejection signaling — An empirical investigation

L'A. porte son attention sur la communication non verbale des femmes dans le cadre des relations de seduction amoureuse. Elle presente un certain nombre de donnees collectees aux Etats-Unis. Elle dresse une typologie des comportements non verbaux de rejet. Elle souligne l'importance du visage, des gestes, de la posture et du regard en ce domaine
Beyond school effectiveness and school improvement: lighting the slow fuse of possibility

ABSTRACT This paper argues that both school effectiveness and school improvement are importantly flawed and that we should be developing alternative approaches which connect more explicitly and more imaginatively with the dilemmas and possibilities facing education in and for democracy at the end of the twentieth century. The first half of the paper (sections 1‐3) begins by expressing a number of dissatisfactions with the school effectiveness movement as a prelude to exploring the positive nature and potential of ‘mapping’ change in the school improvement process. The second half (sections 4‐5) articulates a number of reservations about both school effectiveness and school improvement and begins to explore the possibility of an alternative, namely, ‘transformative education’.
Distinguishing Nested Variants of Urothelial Carcinoma From Benign Mimickers by TERT Promoter Mutation

Nested variant of urothelial carcinoma (NVUC) is an uncommon variant with minimally atypical cytology, which may overlap with benign urothelial lesions such as von Brunn nests, cystitis cystica, cystitis glandularis, and nephrogenic adenoma. Because of the tumor’s deceptively bland appearance, these cancers can potentially be misdiagnosed as benign lesions, leading in some cases to a significant delay in correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Prior studies suggest that Ki67 and p53 are useful markers in distinguishing NVUC from benign lesions. However, the overlap in the rates of immunoreactivity has prevented pathologists from using these markers as reliable adjunct markers in differentiating NVUC from mimickers. In addition, large nested variant urothelial carcinoma (LNVUC), a relatively new entity, shares features of both the NVUC and papillary urothelial carcinomas with an inverted growth pattern. They also mimic benign lesions, such as proliferation of von Brunn nests and inverted urothelial papilloma. With the recent demonstration of a strong association of TERT promoter mutations and urothelial carcinoma, we hypothesized that TERT promoter mutations would be a useful marker to distinguish NVUC and LNVUC from other benign urothelial lesions. We have therefore sequenced the TERT promoter region of 20 cases of NVUC, 10 cases of LNVUC, 5 cases of von Brunn nests, 3 cases of cystitis cystica, 3 cases of cystitis glandularis, and 3 cases of nephrogenic adenoma. We found that 17 of 20 cases of NVUC and 8 of 10 cases of LNVUC had TERT promoter mutation: C228T; no mutation was found in any of the benign mimickers (0/14). This result strongly suggests that TERT promoter mutation is a useful adjunct biomarker to distinguish NVUC and LNVUC from benign mimickers.
High Cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNAemia Predicts CMV Sequelae in Asymptomatic Congenitally Infected Newborns Born to Women With Primary Infection During Pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE We investigated the kinetics of cytomegalovirus (CMV) clearance in blood and urine and the relationship between the viral load in blood at birth and the development of late-onset sequelae in asymptomatic congenital CMV infection. METHODS Thirty-three newborns with congenital asymptomatic CMV infection born to women with primary CMV infection during pregnancy were enrolled. CMV infection was monitored by polymerase chain reaction analysis of blood and urine. The follow-up examination was concluded at 6 years of age. RESULTS Ten infants developed postnatal sequelae, whereas twenty-three infants remained asymptomatic. Fifty percent of babies cleared CMV in blood and urine within 3 and 36 months, respectively. Logistic multivariate regression revealed that the risk of neonatal clinical disease crossed the level of 50% with a DNAemia at birth of ≥ 12,000 copies/mL (P = .0002). The risk of hearing deficit crossed the level of 50% with a DNAemia at birth of ≥ 17,000 copies/mL (P = .0001). No significant difference was found between the kinetics of CMV clearance in asymptomatic children as compared to babies with late-onset disease. CONCLUSIONS Asymptomatic newborns with a CMV DNAemia at birth of ≥ 12,000 copies/mL were more likely to experience CMV-related sequelae. The risk of hearing deficit increased with a viral load in blood of ≥ 17,000 copies/mL.
Influence of Variability in Motivation and Affect on Elite Athlete Burnout Susceptibility

Forty-four elite swimmers (F = 19, M = 25) participated in the present study designed to examine shifts along the self-determined motivation continuum, as well as swings in negative and positive affect, to predict susceptibility to athlete burnout. Each week the participants were asked to record positive and negative affect states. Swimmers? affect swing was calculated using mean intraindividual standard deviation scores as an indicator of intraindividual variance. Every third week the athletes? level of self-determined motivation to participate in swimming was compiled on a self-determination index. A motivational trend slope for the whole season was computed for each swimmer. Results indicated that shifts in the quality of motivation were reliable predictors of all burnout dimensions. In addition, results of the regression analyses showed that swimmers experiencing increased variability in negative affect were more at risk for burnout. These two psychological constructs reliably predicted burnout potential in elite swimmers.
Ideological Crisis among China's Youths: Values and Official Ideology

This article examines youth culture in a socialist society. Pragmatism, consumerism, individual accomplishment, admiration for the West, and dissatisfaction with the Party, but support for the political system, stand out as the majorbeliefs of young Chinese in the 1980s. The young rejected the harsh and irrelevant values promoted in the ideal youth culture the government packaged for their consumption. Instead they created their own subsulture adopting what they deemed most pertinent and desirable from the official ideology and from the conditions they encountered. In light of these orientations, it is likely that the present policies will continue when this generation takes over political control.
Evaluating the Impact of Land-Use Density and Mix on Spatiotemporal Urban Activity Patterns: An Exploratory Study Using Mobile Phone Data

Dense and mixed land-use configurations are assumed to encourage high and prolonged activity levels, which in turn are considered to be important for the condition of urban neighbourhoods. We used mobile phone usage data recorded in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as a proxy for urban activity to test whether the density in different forms of urban land use increases the level of activity in urban areas, and whether mixed land uses can prolong high levels of activity in an area. Our results indicate that higher densities correspond with higher activity levels, mixed land uses do indeed diversify urban activity dynamics and colocating particular land uses prolongs high activity levels in the evening hours. We proceed to demonstrate that mixed activity provisions and high urban activity levels coincide with urban neighbourhoods that are considered attractive places in which to live and work, while lower activity levels and markedly low activity mixes coincide with neighbourhoods that are considered disadvantaged.
Individual-Level Predictors of Task-Related Teamwork Processes

This study investigates expertise (i.e., high level of individual task performance) and self-efficacy as predictors of an individual's contribution to teamwork processes (problem analysis, goal specification) during team meetings. Multilevel, multisource data from a longitudinal field study in 22 professional software design teams reveal large within-team variability in individual contributions to teamwork processes. Expertise positively predicted a team member's contribution to meeting processes 1 year later, also when controlling for the initial level of contribution. Contrary to the hypothesis, self-efficacy was negatively related to problem analysis during team meetings.
Distinguishing Means and Ends: The Counterintuitive Effects of UNHCR's Community Development Approach in Nepal

UNHCR's community development approach (CDA) consists of a disparate set of guidelines designed to strengthen the self-reliance of refugees during protracted displacement. It envisions refugees as agents of their own development, and aims to prepare them for a durable solution. But in the absence of basic standards and benchmarks, the CDA is being used - by implementing partners as well as specialized units with the agency - as an opportunity to advance rights-based development. This raises a number of concerns related to the desired aims of the CDA, the accountability of UNHCR and its implementing partners and its capacity to administer development while preserving its core mandate. This article casts a critical eye over CDA as experienced in Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal. It contends that UNHCR must develop appropriate standards for CDA. At the very least, the agency must move beyond basic emergency benchmarks and toward minimum standards that strengthen self-reliance and empower refugees, but do not simultaneously undermine prospects of achieving a durable solution.