Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distribution of virulence determinants among antimicrobial-resistant and antimicrobial-susceptible Escherichia coli implicated in urinary tract infections

Introduction: Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) rely on the correlation of virulence expression with antimicrobial resistance to persist and cause severe urinary tract infections (UTIs). Objectives: We assessed the virulence pattern and prevalence among UPEC strains susceptible and resistant to multiple antimicrobial classes. Methods: A total of 174 non-duplicate UPEC strains from patients with clinically significant UTIs were analysed for susceptibility to aminoglycoside, antifolate, cephalosporin, nitrofuran and quinolone antibiotics for the production of extended-spectrum β-lactamases and for the presence of six virulence determinants encoding adhesins (afimbrial, Type 1 fimbriae, P and S-fimbriae) and toxins (cytotoxic necrotising factor and haemolysin). Results: Relatively high resistance rates to nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, cephalothin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (82%, 78%, 62% and 59%, respectively) were observed. Fourteen distinct patterns were identified for the virulence determinants such as afaBC, cnfI, fimH, hylA, papEF and sfaDE. The toxin gene, cnfI (75.3%), was the second most prevalent marker to the adhesin, fimH (97.1%). The significant association of sfaDE/hylA (P < 0.01) among antimicrobial resistant and susceptible strains was also observed notwithstanding an overall greater occurrence of virulence factors among the latter. Conclusions: This study provides a snapshot of UPEC complexity in Jamaica and highlights the significant clonal heterogeneity among strains. Such outcomes emphasise the need for evidence-based strategies in the effective management and control of UTIs.
A Solid-State Neuron for Spiking Neural Network Implementation

This paper presents a compact analog neuron cell incorporating an array of charge-coupled synapses connected via a common output terminal. The novel silicon synapse is based on a two stage charge-coupled device where the weighting function- ality can be integrated into the rst stage. A pre- synaptic spike to the second gate allows the charge under the rst gate to drift onto the oating diu- sion output stage to produce a current, or voltage spike. Parallel dened synapses are each assigned to the left hand side of a current mirror gate where the right hand side feeds into a thresholding inverter. The decay of the membrane potential is mimicked by the charge leakage through a reverse-biased diode, whose model is veried by comparing the simulations and measured data. Spice simulation results show that the proposed neuron cell is capable of capturing the summing and thresholding dynamics of biological neurons.
Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Point Cloud Codec for Tele-Immersive Video

We present a generic and real-time time-varying point cloud codec for 3D immersive video. This codec is suitable for mixed reality applications in which 3D point clouds are acquired at a fast rate. In this codec, intra frames are coded progressively in an octree subdivision. To further exploit inter-frame dependencies, we present an inter-prediction algorithm that partitions the octree voxel space in $N \times N \times N$ macroblocks ( $N=8,16,32$ ). The algorithm codes points in these blocks in the predictive frame as a rigid transform applied to the points in the intra-coded frame. The rigid transform is computed using the iterative closest point algorithm and compactly represented in a quaternion quantization scheme. To encode the color attributes, we defined a mapping of color per vertex attributes in the traversed octree to an image grid and use legacy image coding method based on JPEG. As a result, a generic compression framework suitable for real-time 3D tele-immersion is developed. This framework has been optimized to run in real time on commodity hardware for both the encoder and decoder. Objective evaluation shows that a higher rate-distortion performance is achieved compared with available point cloud codecs. A subjective study in a state-of-the-art mixed reality system shows that introduced prediction distortions are negligible compared with the original reconstructed point clouds. In addition, it shows the benefit of reconstructed point cloud video as a representation in the 3D virtual world. The codec is available as open source for integration in immersive and augmented communication applications and serves as a base reference software platform in JTC1/SC29/WG11 (MPEG) for the further development of standardized point-cloud compression solutions.
A New  $l_0$-LMS Algorithm With Adaptive Zero Attractor

In the l0 norm constraint least mean square (l0-LMS) algorithm, the zero attractor is an important parameter which balances the trade-off between the convergence rate and steady-state error of the algorithm. However, there is no practically effective choice guideline of this parameter. In addition, the optimal value of this parameter should be time-varying when the measurement noise power varies with time, and a fixed value of the zero attractor is no longer suitable. In this letter, we propose an l0-LMS algorithm with adaptive zero attractor for applications with time-varying measurement noise signal, where the zero attractor is updated based on the criterion of maximizing the decrease of the transient mean square deviation.
Endothelin stimulates Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity by a protein kinase C-dependent pathway in rabbit aorta.

Incubation with endothelin (Endo) caused a time- and concentration-dependent increase in both ouabain-sensitive (OS) and ouabain-insensitive (OI) 86Rb+ uptake [half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) for OS component = 11 nM] in the rabbit aorta. Increase in the OS component [Na(+)-K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity] accounted for 70% of the 110% increase in total 86Rb+ uptake at a maximally effective concentration of Endo (100 nM). Protein kinase C (PKC) activator phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBU; 100 nM) increased total 86Rb+ uptake by 69%, with 42% of the increase in the OS component. Stimulation by Endo and PDBU was not additive. Staurosporine (STA; 100 nM) inhibited stimulation of total 86Rb+ uptake by Endo and PDBU by approximately 60%. With ouabain and STA added together, inhibition of Endo-stimulated total 86Rb+ uptake (90%) was greater than with either agent alone, suggesting that STA inhibits an OS as well as an OI component of 86Rb+ uptake. Stimulation of total 86Rb+ uptake by both Endo and PDBU were also inhibited by approximately 60% by the Na(+)-H+ exchange inhibitor 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride (EIPA). Endo-stimulated total 86Rb+ uptake was not further inhibited when ouabain was added together with EIPA, suggesting that Na(+)-H+ exchange is primarily linked to the OS component of 86Rb+ uptake. In contrast, Na(+)-K(+)-Cl- cotransport inhibitor bumetanide inhibited increases in total 86Rb+ uptake caused by Endo (30%) and PDBU (56%) due solely to its effects on OI 86Rb+ uptake. Results suggest that Endo stimulates Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity in rabbit aorta by activating PKC and Na(+)-H+ exchange. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Concurrent Search Data Structures Can Be Blocking and Practically Wait-Free

We argue that there is virtually no practical situation in which one should seek a "theoretically wait-free" algorithm at the expense of a state-of-the-art blocking algorithm in the case of search data structures: blocking algorithms are simple, fast, and can be made "practically wait-free". We draw this conclusion based on the most exhaustive study of blocking search data structures to date. We consider (a) different search data structures of different sizes, (b) numerous uniform and non-uniform workloads, representative of a wide range of practical scenarios, with different percentages of update operations, (c) with and without delayed threads, (d) on different hardware technologies, including processors providing HTM instructions. We explain our claim that blocking search data structures are practically wait-free through an analogy with the birthday paradox, revealing that, in state-of-the-art algorithms implementing such data structures, the probability of conflicts is extremely small. When conflicts occur as a result of context switches and interrupts, we show that HTM-based locks enable blocking algorithms to cope with them.
DETECTION OF FAR-INFRARED AND POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBON EMISSION FROM THE COSMIC EYE: PROBING THE DUST AND STAR FORMATION OF LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES

We report the results of a Spitzer infrared (IR) study of the Cosmic Eye, a strongly lensed, L*UV Lyman break galaxy (LBG) at z = 3.074. We obtained Spitzer mid-IR spectroscopy as well as MIPS 24 and 70 μm photometry. The Eye is detected with high significance at both 24 and 70 μm and, when including a flux limit at 3.5 mm, we estimate an IR luminosity of LIR = 8.3+4.7−4.4 × 1011 L☉ assuming a magnification of 28± 3. This LIR is eight times lower than that predicted from the rest-frame ultraviolet properties assuming a Calzetti reddening law. This has also been observed in other young LBGs, and indicates that the dust reddening law may be steeper in these galaxies. The mid-IR spectrum shows strong polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission at 6.2 and 7.7 μm, with equivalent widths near the maximum values observed in star-forming galaxies at any redshift. The LPAH-to-LIR ratio lies close to the relation measured in local starbursts. Therefore, LPAH or LMIR may be used to estimate LIR, and thus star formation rate, of LBGs, whose fluxes at longer wavelengths are typically below current confusion limits. We also report the highest redshift detection of the 3.3 μm PAH emission feature. The PAH ratio, L6.2/L3.3 = 5.1 ± 2.7, and the PAH-to-LIR ratio, L3.3/LIR = 8.5 ± 4.7 × 10−4, are both in agreement with measurements in local starbursts and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), suggesting that this line may serve as a good proxy for LPAH or LIR at z > 3 with the James Webb Space Telescope.
Steady-State Performance of Non-Negative Least-Mean-Square Algorithm and Its Variants

The Non-Negative Least-Mean-Square (NNLMS) algorithm and its variants have been proposed for online estimation under non-negativity constraints. The transient behavior of the NNLMS, Normalized NNLMS, Exponential NNLMS and Sign-Sign NNLMS algorithms have been studied in the literature. In this letter, we derive closed-form expressions for the steady-state excess mean-square error (EMSE) for the four algorithms. Simulation results illustrate the accuracy of the theoretical results. This work complements the understanding of the behavior of these algorithms.
Disseminated Mycobacterium celatum (Type 3) Infection in a Domestic Ferret (Mustela putorius furo)

A 4-year-old male ferret (Mustela putorius furo) had a 6-month history of weight loss and gradual development of depression and coughing. Necropsy findings included pale gray tissue around the distal trachea, multiple nodules in the lungs, a single nodule in the stomach wall, gray foci in the liver, and enlarged lymph nodes. Histologic examination revealed multifocal to coalescing granulomatous inflammation in the trachea, lungs, stomach, liver, and lymph nodes, with acid-fast bacteria in epithelioid cells and macrophages. The acidfast bacteria were identified as Mycobacterium celatum (type 3) using DNA sequence analysis of the 16S ribosomal DNA gene. M. celatum is a recently described mycobacterium isolated mainly from immunocompromised humans. This is the first report of M. celatum infection in an animal.
A limiting dilution assay for quantifying Leishmania major in tissues of infected mice

Summary A limiting dilution assay for the quantification of Leishmania major in infected mouse tissue was developed. The assay was found to be both sensitive and reliable, and, due to its design, could be scored either visually or following the incorporation of 3H‐thymidine by the growing parasites. Results are presented in which the assay was employed to enumerate L. major in the tissues of susceptible (BALB/c) and resistant (CBA) mice at intervals after infection with L. major. It was found that parasites could be detected at the site of injection with L. major as early as 3 days after infection. By day 8, a substantial increase in the number of parasites at the lesion site had occurred in both strains of mice. Subsequently, whereas the number of parasites decreased in the lesions of CBA mice, their number steadily increased in the lesions of BALB/c mice. Parasites were detected in lymph nodes draining the lesion site in both BALB/c and CBA mice by 28 days after infection. Interestingly, a low number of L. major was found in the lymph nodes of CBA mice at 100 days after infection, a time when no parasites could be detected at the lesion site. Previous results from this laboratory have demonstrated that the adoptive transfer of L. major‐specific L3T4‐positive T‐cell populations exacerbated cutaneous lesions induced by L. major in BALB/c mice. Experiments presented here indicate that the adoptive transfer of L. major‐specific T‐cells also exacerbated cutaneous leishmaniasis in CBA mice. Using the sensitive limiting dilution assay presently described, it was found that this unexpected exacerbative effect of L. major‐specific T‐cells on lesion development was accompanied by a substantial increase in the number of parasites in the lesions of the adoptively transferred mice.
Genetically Determined Differences in Sodium Current Characteristics Modulate Conduction Disease Severity in Mice With Cardiac Sodium Channelopathy

Conduction slowing of the electric impulse that drives the heartbeat may evoke lethal cardiac arrhythmias. Mutations in SCN5A, which encodes the pore-forming cardiac sodium channel &agr; subunit, are associated with familial arrhythmia syndromes based on conduction slowing. However, disease severity among mutation carriers is highly variable. We hypothesized that genetic modifiers underlie the variability in conduction slowing and disease severity. With the aim of identifying such modifiers, we studied the Scn5a1798insD/+ mutation in 2 distinct mouse strains, FVB/N and 129P2. In 129P2 mice, the mutation resulted in more severe conduction slowing particularly in the right ventricle (RV) compared to FVB/N. Pan-genomic mRNA expression profiling in the 2 mouse strains uncovered a drastic reduction in mRNA encoding the sodium channel auxiliary subunit &bgr;4 (Scn4b) in 129P2 mice compared to FVB/N. This corresponded to low to undetectable &bgr;4 protein levels in 129P2 ventricular tissue, whereas abundant &bgr;4 protein was detected in FVB/N. Sodium current measurements in isolated myocytes from the 2 mouse strains indicated that sodium channel activation in myocytes from 129P2 mice occurred at more positive potentials compared to FVB/N. Using computer simulations, this difference in activation kinetics was predicted to explain the observed differences in conduction disease severity between the 2 strains. In conclusion, genetically determined differences in sodium current characteristics on the myocyte level modulate disease severity in cardiac sodium channelopathies. In particular, the sodium channel subunit &bgr;4 (SCN4B) may constitute a potential genetic modifier of conduction and cardiac sodium channel disease.
Reduction in Dynamical Systems : A Representational View

Standard accounts have traditionally viewed reduction as a deductive rela2 tionship between two formal theories [23]. Schaffner’s General Reduction 3 Paradigm [25] was an early attempt to modify Nagel’s classic account, so as 4 to accomodate cases where the reduced theory is, strictly speaking, false. The 5 most comprehensive and detailed deductivist account of reduction is Church6 land and Hooker’s Imaging Approach [9, 10, 13, 14, 16], which can be seen as a 7 creative development of Nagel’s basic insights, as well as a sensible departure 8 from Nagel’s explicit tenets [4, 6, 7, 19]. [19] has convincingly argued that 9 Kim’s Functionalizing Approach to reduction [17] is in fact a version of Nagel’s 10 account; such a version is essentially equivalent to the Imaging Approach. 11 This paper proposes an alternative view, according to which reduction is 12 better conceived as a representational relationship between two mathematical 13 models MS 1 and MS 2, which grants the retrieval, within the representing 14 model MS 1, of an isomorphic image of MS 2. 15 Bickle’s New Wave Reduction [6, ch. 3] is a version of the Imaging Ap16 proach by Churchland and Hooker in which (i) theories are construed as sets of 17 models (semantically), rather than sets of sentences (syntactically), and thus 18 (ii) reduction is not a deductive relationship between formal theories, but a 19 relationship between semantic theories (i.e. sets of models) that satisfies spe20 cial conditions. Notwithstanding these differences, reduction is still analyzed 21 by Bickle as a special relationship between theories (i.e. sets of models) and 22 not as a representational relationship between models. Bickle shares his gen23 eral view of reduction and theory structure with the Structuralist Program 24 [27, 28, 21, 22, 3, 2]. 25 The general representational theory of reduction that I advocate is in broad 26 agreement with Suppes’ Reduction Paradigm [29, 271], and it is somehow 27 consonant with some of the ideas of Hooker’s dynamically based revision of 28 the Imaging Approach [15]. 29 Compared to traditional approaches to reduction (deductivist or, more gen30 erally, theory-based approaches), the representational one has several advan31 tages, whose details will only be apparent later. For the moment, it suffice to 32
Transient receptor potential channels in bladder function

The transient receptor potential (TRP) superfamily of cationic ion channels includes proteins involved in the transduction of several physical and chemical stimuli to finely tune physiological functions. In the urinary bladder, they are highly expressed in, but not restricted to, primary afferent neurons. The urothelium and some interstitial cells also express several TRP channels. In this review, we describe the expression and the known roles of some members of TRP subfamilies, namely TRPV, TRPM and TRPA, in the urinary bladder. The therapeutic interest of modulating the activity of TRP channels to treat bladder dysfunctions is also discussed.
Characterization of human invariant natural killer T subsets in health and disease using a novel invariant natural killer T cell‐clonotypic monoclonal antibody, 6B11

Identification of human CD1d‐restricted T‐cell receptor (TCR)‐invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells has been dependent on utilizing combinations of monoclonal antibodies or CD1d tetramers, which do not allow for the most specific analysis of this T‐cell subpopulation. A novel monoclonal antibody (clone 6B11), specific for the invariant CDR3 loop of human canonical Vα24Jα18 TCR α chain, was developed and used to specifically characterize iNKT cells. In healthy individuals studied for up to 1 year, a wide but stable frequency of circulating iNKT cells (range: 0·01–0·92%) was observed, with no differences in frequency by gender. Four stable iNKT cell subsets were characterized in peripheral blood based on the expression of CD4 and CD8, with CD8+ iNKT cells being a phenotypic and functionally different subset from CD4+ and double negative iNKT cells; in particular, LAG‐3 was preferentially expressed on CD8+ iNKT cells. In addition, a strong negative linear correlation between the frequency of total iNKT cells and percentage of the CD4+ subset was observed. In terms of their potential association with disease, patients at risk for type 1 diabetes had significantly expanded frequencies of double negative iNKT cells when compared to matched controls and first‐degree relatives. Moreover, peripheral blood CD4+ iNKT cells were the highest producers of interleukin‐4, while the production of interferon‐γ and tumour necrosis factor‐α was similar amongst all iNKT cell subsets. These differences in iNKT cell subsets suggest that in humans the relative ratio of iNKT cell subsets may influence susceptibility vs. resistance to immune‐mediated diseases.
Hepatosplenography by Intravenous Injection of a New Iodized Oily Emulsion

Hepatosplenography with intravenously injected iodized lipid emulsion has been performed in 30 cases and the results reported. The side effects were minor and transient, as the elimination is rapid. The uptake in the liver was satisfactory and permitted tomography both of the liver and the spleen. Small neoplasms and splenic nodules in Hodgkin's disease could be detected and located accurately.
A Trace Bound for the Hereditary Discrepancy

AbstractLet A be the incidence matrix of a set system with m sets and n points, m ≤ n , and let t= \mathop \rm tr M , where M= ATA . Finally, let σ = \mathop \rm tr M2 be the sum of squares of the elements of M . We prove that the hereditary discrepancy of the set system is at least ${\frac14}\, c^{n\sigma/ t^2} \sqrt{t/n}$, with $c= \frac{1}{324}$ . This general trace bound allows us to resolve discrepancy-type questions for which spectral methods had previously failed. Also, by using this result in conjunction with the spectral lemma for linear circuits, we derive new complexity bounds for range searching.We show that the (red—blue) discrepancy of the set system formed by n points and n lines in the plane is Ω(n1/6) in the worst case and always1\tilde O(n1/6) . We give a simple explicit construction of n points and n halfplanes with hereditary discrepancy \tildeΩ(n1/4) . We show that in any dimension d= Ω( log n/\kern -1ptlog log n ) , there is a set system of n points and n axis-parallel boxes in \bf R d with discrepancy nΩ(1/\kern -1ptlog log n) . Applying these discrepancy results together with a new variation of the spectral lemma, we derive a lower bound of Ω(nlog n) on the arithmetic complexity of off-line range searching for points and lines (for nonmonotone circuits). We also prove a lower bound of Ω(nlog n/\kern -1ptlog log n) on the complexity of orthogonal range searching in any dimension Ω(log n/\kern -1ptlog log n) . 1 We use the notation \tilde O(m) and \tilde Ω(m) as shorthand for O(mlog c m) and Ω(m/\kern -1ptlog c m) , respectively, for some constant c>0 .