Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relative frequency of rotavirus subgroups 1 and 2 in Venezuelan children with gastroenteritis as assayed with monoclonal antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies recently developed against the 42,000-dalton protein of two rotavirus strains were used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine the subgroup specificity of 252 specimens collected during a 45-month period from Venezuelan children with rotavirus gastroenteritis. Subgroup 2 rotavirus was shed by 85% of the children, whereas only 14% shed subgroup 1 rotavirus (one-half of them in a 3-month period). No differences were found in the occurrence of fever and vomiting between children shedding either rotavirus subgroup, but it appeared that the syndrome tended to last longer in children shedding subgroup 2 rotavirus. The monoclonal subgrouping enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay seemed to be more sensitive than an immune adherence hemagglutination assay, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with polyclonal antibodies, or the electrophoretic analysis of RNA extracted from the virus. Overall, 99% of the specimens could be subgrouped by this assay.
Detection of protein homolougs with HIV-1 antigens in bacteria of positive patients - phase II.

OBJECTIVES Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 is widely accepted as the cause of AIDS (Acquires Immunodeficiency Syndrome) but it is necessary to consider other factors, not only HIV, which may be involved in AIDS process. It is apparent that a viral reservoir persists in virtually all infected individuals receiving HAART. Reservoirs were detected in macrophages and other cells of the blood system, in which even very effective HAART was not able to eliminate the virus. Over the last period of time AIDS research has been focused on the gut and other mucosal tissue as the major site of HIV infection and CD4+ T cells loss. Intestinal bacteria and cells associated with GIT are in close vicinity and so has been raised the idea that bacteria may be involved in AIDS pathogenesis. Matherial/Methods: Bacteria and yeast isolated from a cohort of 67 Cambodian and Kenyan HIV positive children and from a cohort of 62 Slovak and American AIDS patients were analyzed for detection of expression of HIV-1 antigens p17, p24, p55, gp41 and gp120 (Abcam, UK). RESULTS By monoclonal antibodies against HIV-1 proteins p17 and p55 was detected protein with molecular weight of 45-55 kDa. In samples of Cambodian and Kenyan HIV positive children was found 35 kDa protein using MAb against HIV-specific protein p17. By using MAbs against p24 was found protein of 55-60 kDa in Cambodian and Kenyan samples but, suprisingly, no proteins were detected in bacterial extracts of American and Slovak AIDS patients by this MAbs. Using monoclonal antibodies against HIV-1 specific protein gp41 was positive signal identified in 30-35% of samples from both cohorts of patients from Kenya and Cambodia and in 75% of samples from American and Slovak patients. The protein of about 75-85 kDa was detected by MAbs against gp120 only in protein extracts obtained from yeasts Candida sp. of Cambodian and Kenyan HIV positive children. CONCLUSION The molecular weight of 55 kDa protein was detected by MAbs anti HIV p24, p17+p55. Its molecular weight is comparable to gag-encoded Pr55Gag precursor. Surprisingly, such proteins were not found in bacterial extract from samples of American and Slovak patients by using the MAbs against HIV-specific protein p24. The protein of about 75-85 kDa was detected only in Candida species protein extracts of Cambodian and Kenyan HIV positive children by the MAbs against gp120. In Slovak and American samples, protein reacting with MAbs anti gp120 was not found. These results suggest that there are specific differences between Slovak and American HIV positive patients bacterial proteins on one side and Cambodian and Kenyan on the other. These differences may suggest a diverse bacterial evolution in various geographical areas.
Energy-Efficient Web Access on Mobile Devices

The fast deployment of constantly higher speed wireless connectivity for mobile users has lead to a situation where the development of electronics and the battery capacities have not been able to keep up. This has lead to a situation where the batteries of mobile devices run out very quickly when for example enjoying web content. We can enable longer battery life by lowering the QoE by moving to for example WAP services, but in order to keep the same experience, we need to optimize the amount of data transmitted over the wireless link. In this paper, we analyze the benefits of proxy services and compression to extend the lifetime of mobile wireless devices consuming WWW content.
Down-Regulation of Renal Gluconeogenesis in Type II Diabetic Rats Following Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery: A Potential Mechanism in Hypoglycemic Effect

Objective: This study was initiated to evaluate the effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery on renal gluconeogenesis in type 2 diabetic rats and its relationship with hormonal parameters. Methods: Diabetic rats were induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ; 35 mg/kg) combined with a high-fat diet. They were then randomly divided into three groups: diabetes model group (DM group, n = 8), sham Roux-en-Y gastric bypass group (SRYGB group, n = 8), and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass group (RYGB group, n = 14). Another 8 normal rats comprised the normal control group (NC group, n = 8). Body weight, glucose, serum lipid, insulin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), leptin, and adiponectin were measured pre- and postoperatively. Glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), insulin receptor-α (IR-α), insulin receptor-β (IR-β), and glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (Gsk3b) were measured in renal cortex by using RT-PCR and Western immune-blot analyses on the 4th week after operation. Results: Following RYGB surgery, surgery-treated rats showed significantly improved oral glucose tolerance, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance as well as increased post-gavage insulin levels and serum circulating levels of GLP-1 and adiponectin. RT-PCR and Western immune-blot analyses showed PEPCK and G6Pase protein and mRNA to be significantly decreased in the renal cortex in the RYGB group (p < 0.05 vs. DM or SRYGB group); in addition, IR-α and Gsk3b phosphorylation levels increased in the RYGB group (p < 0.05 vs. DM or SRYGB group). Conclusion: Down-regulation of renal gluconeogenic enzymes might be a potential mechanism in hypoglycemia. An improved insulin signal pathway in the renal cortex and increased circulating adiponectin concentrations may contribute to the decline of renal gluconeogenesis following RYGB surgery.
Family Motivation to Change

SUMMARY Family Motivation to Change can best be understood as the combined forces operating within a family guiding it towards maintaining survival in the face of serious threat, and towards healing when threat is removed. Exploring what happens to families during major disaster allowed the authors to step back into the grief that initiates the problem. The authors discovered that the force driving a family towards health is the same force that drove them to the initial adaptive behavior where a family member becomes addicted in an attempt to keep the family close, preventing them from feeling the pain of intense loss and sorrow. Once this has happened, the driving force of health and healing, “Family Motivation to Change,” pushes, frees, or allows a member of the family, a natural change agent or Family Link to lead the family out of grief and addiction into health and recovery.
Positive employment relations and organisational outcomes : the role of the psychological contract and employability

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of psychological contract fulfilment on job satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviour, and turnover intention. A convenience sample (N = 205) was taken of employees in a mining environment in South Africa. A biographical questionnaire, Psychological Contract Inventory, Job Satisfaction Scale, Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale and Turnover Intention Scale were administered. Psychological contract fulfilment directly and significantly impacted job satisfaction, with no significant direct impact on organisational citizenship behaviour. Psychological contract fulfilment had indirect effects (via job satisfaction) on organisational citizenship behaviour and turnover intention. Key terms: Psychological contract fulfilment, job satisfaction, organisational citizenship behaviour, turnover intention
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Structured Random Orthogonal Embeddings

We examine a class of embeddings based on structured random matrices with orthogonal rows which can be applied in many machine learning applications including dimensionality reduction and kernel approximation. For both the Johnson-Lindenstrauss transform and the angular kernel, we show that we can select matrices yielding guaranteed improved performance in accuracy and/or speed compared to earlier methods. We introduce matrices with complex entries which give significant further accuracy improvement. We provide geometric and Markov chain-based perspectives to help understand the benefits, and empirical results which suggest that the approach is helpful in a wider range of applications.
Adding a closed unbounded set

The extreme interest of set theorists in the notion of “closed unbounded set” is epitomized in the following well-known theorem: Theorem A. For any regular cardinal κ > ω, the intersection of any two closed unbounded subsets of κ is closed and unbounded. The proof of this theorem is easy and in fact yields a stronger result, namely that for any uncountable regular cardinal κ the intersection of fewer than κ many closed unbounded sets is closed and unbounded. Thus, if, for κ a regular uncountable cardinal, we let denote {A ⊆ κ ∣ A contains a closed unbounded subset}, then, for any such κ, is a κ-additive nonprincipal filter on κ. Now what about the possibility of being an ultrafilterκ It is routine to see that this is impossible for κ > ℵ1. However, for κ = ℵ1 the situation is different. If were an ultrafilter, ℵ1 would be a measurable cardinal. As is well-known this is impossible if we assume the axiom of choice; however if ZF + “there exists a measurable cardinal” is consistent, then so is ZF + “ℵ1 is a measurable cardinal” [2]. Furthermore, under the assumption of certain set theoretic axioms (such as the axiom of determinateness or various infinite exponent partition relations) can be proven to be an ultrafilter. (See [3] and [5].)
Japanese Speakers' ArticleOmission in L2 English: Evidence against the Prosodic Transfer Hypothesis?

In recent studies by Goad & White (2004, 2006a, in press) the acquisition of articles (the/a) by second language (L2) learners of English have been investigated. They claim that L2 learners from article-less languages such as Turkish and Chinese will have difficulty in prosodically representing articles in spoken production due to first language (L1) prosodic transfer i.e. no prosodic structures available in the L1 to accommodate articles in the L2. The following study tests the Prosodic Transfer Hypothesis by examining the use of articles by Japanese learners of English.
Overweight and physical inactivity in children living in favelas in the metropolitan region of Recife, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity and its association with physical activity levels in children living in favelas in the city of Recife, state of Pernambuco, Brazil. METHODS A cross-sectional study was performed with 973 children ranging from 7 to 10 years old, all from two favelas in Recife, Fragoso and Caranguejo (total population of 9,315); of the 973 children assessed, 733 were included in the study. Overweight was defined as body mass index (BMI) equal to or above the 85th percentile, and obesity as BMI equal to or above the 95th percentile, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. Physical activity level was assessed by the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C). Children with scores > or = 3 were considered active, while those with scores < 3 were considered inactive. RESULTS Of the 733 children studied, overweight and obesity were observed in 92 (12.6%). There was no statistical association between physical inactivity and sex, income, maternal schooling, number of siblings and hours of television. However, more children with physical inactivity were observed among overweight or obese children, 66/92 (71.6%) vs. 363/641 (56.7%) (p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of overweight and obesity is high, and is associated with physical inactivity in children living in favelas in the city of Recife, Brazil.
Role of Mouse Peptidoglycan Recognition Protein PGLYRP2 in the Innate Immune Response to Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Infection In Vivo

ABSTRACT Peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs) are a family of innate pattern recognition molecules that bind bacterial peptidoglycan. While the role of PGRPs in Drosophila innate immunity has been extensively studied, how the four mammalian PGRP proteins (PGLYRP1 to PGLYRP4) contribute to host defense against bacterial pathogens in vivo remains poorly understood. PGLYRP1, PGLYRP3, and PGLYRP4 are directly bactericidal in vitro, whereas PGLYRP2 is an N-acetylmuramyl-l-alanine amidase that cleaves peptidoglycan between the sugar backbone and the peptide stem. Because PGLYRP2 cleaves muramyl peptides detected by host peptidoglycan sensors Nod1 and Nod2, we speculated that PGLYRP2 may act as a modifier of Nod1/Nod2-dependent innate immune responses. We investigated the role of PGLYRP2 in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium-induced colitis, which is regulated by Nod1/Nod2 through the induction of an early Th17 response. PGLYRP2 did not contribute to expression of Th17-associated cytokines, interleukin-22 (IL-22)-dependent antimicrobial proteins, or inflammatory cytokines. However, we found that Pglyrp2-deficient mice displayed significantly enhanced inflammation in the cecum at 72 h postinfection, reflected by increased polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) infiltration and goblet cell depletion. Pglyrp2 expression was also induced in the cecum of Salmonella-infected mice, and expression of green fluorescent protein under control of the Pglyrp2 promoter was increased in discrete populations of intraepithelial lymphocytes. Lastly, Nod2 −/− Pglyrp2 −/− mice displayed increased susceptibility to infection at 24 h postinfection compared to Pglyrp2 −/− mice, which correlated with increased PMN infiltration and submucosal edema. Thus, PGLYRP2 plays a protective role in vivo in the control of S. Typhimurium infection through a Nod1/Nod2-independent mechanism.
Convergence of proportional-fair sharing algorithms under general conditions

We are concerned with the allocation of the base station transmitter time in time-varying mobile communications with many users who are transmitting data. Time is divided into small scheduling intervals, and the channel rates for the various users are available at the start of the intervals. Since the rates vary randomly, in selecting the current user there is a conflict between full use (by selecting the user with the highest current rate) and fairness (which entails consideration for users with poor throughput to date). The proportional fair scheduler of the Qualcomm High Data Rate system and related algorithms are designed to deal with such conflicts. The aim here is to put such algorithms on a sure mathematical footing and analyze their behavior. The available analysis, while obtaining interesting information, does not address the actual convergence for arbitrarily many users under general conditions. Such algorithms are of the stochastic approximation type and results of stochastic approximation are used to analyze the long-term properties. It is shown that the limiting behavior of the sample paths of the throughputs converges to the solution of an intuitively reasonable ordinary differential equation, which is akin to a mean flow. We show that the ordinary differential equation (ODE) has a unique equilibrium and that it is characterized as optimizing a concave utility function, which shows that PFS is not ad-hoc, but actually corresponds to a reasonable maximization problem. These results may be used to analyze the performance of PFS. The results depend on the fact that the mean ODE has a special form that arises in problems with certain types of competitive behavior. There is a large set of such algorithms, each one corresponding to a concave utility function. This set allows a choice of tradeoffs between the current rate and throughout. Extensions to multiple antenna and frequency systems are given. Finally, the infinite backlog assumption is dropped and the data is allowed to arrive at random. This complicates the analysis, but the same results hold.
Community structure discovery in Facebook

In this work, we present a large-scale community structure detection and analysis of Facebook, which gathers more than 500 million users at 2011. Characteristics of this social network have been widely investigated during the last years. Related works focus on analysing its community structure on a small scale, usually from a qualitative perspective. In this study, we consider a significant sample of the network. Data, acquired mining the web platform, have been collected adopting two different sampling techniques. We investigated the structural properties of these samples in order to discover their community structure. Two well-known clustering algorithms, optimised for complex networks, have been here described and adopted. Results of our analysis show the emergence of a well-defined community structure inside Facebook, that is characterised by a power law distribution in the size of the communities. Moreover, the identified communities share a high degree of similarity, regardless the adopted detection.
Are behavioural risk factors to be blamed for the conversion from optimal blood pressure to hypertensive status in Black South Africans? A 5-year prospective study.

BACKGROUND Longitudinal cohort studies in sub-Saharan Africa are urgently needed to understand cardiovascular disease development. We, therefore, explored health behaviours and conventional risk factors of African individuals with optimal blood pressure (BP) (≤ 120/80 mm Hg), and their 5-year prediction for the development of hypertension. METHODS The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology study in the North West Province, South Africa, started in 2005 and included African volunteers (n = 1994; aged > 30 years) from a sample of 6000 randomly selected households in rural and urban areas. RESULTS At baseline, 48% of the participants were hypertensive (≥ 140/90 mmHg). Those with optimal BP (n = 478) were followed at a success rate of 70% for 5 years (213 normotensive, 68 hypertensive, 57 deceased). Africans that became hypertensive smoked more than the normotensive individuals (68.2% vs 49.8%), and they also had a greater waist circumference [ratio of geometric means of 0.94 cm (95% CI: 0.86-0.99)] and greater amount of γ-glutamyltransferase [0.74 U/l (95% CI: 0.62-0.88)] at baseline. The 5-year change in BP was independently explained by baseline γ-glutamyltransferase [R(2) = 0.23, β = 0.13 U/l (95% CI: 0.01-0.19)]. Alcohol intake also predicted central systolic BP and carotid cross-sectional wall area (CSWA) at follow-up. Waist circumference was another predictor of BP changes [β = 0.18 cm (95% CI: 0.05-0.24)] and CSWA. HIV infection was inversely associated with increased BP. CONCLUSIONS During the 5 years, 24% of Africans with optimal BP developed hypertension. The surge in hypertension in Africa is largely explained by modifiable risk factors. Public health strategies should focus aggressively on lifestyle to prevent a catastrophic burden on the national health system.
Association of Anxiety and Depression with Pulmonary-Specific Symptoms in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Objectives: To examine the association of anxiety and depression with pulmonary-specific symptoms of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and to determine the extent to which disease severity and functional capacity modify this association. Method: Patients (N = 162) enrolled in the INSPIRE-II study, an ongoing randomized, clinical trial of COPD patients and their caregivers who received either telephone-based coping skills training or education and symptom monitoring. Patients completed a psychosocial test battery including: Brief Fatigue Inventory, St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire, UCSD Shortness of Breath Questionnaire, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory. Measures of disease severity and functional capacity (i.e., FEV1 and six-minute walk test) were also obtained. Results: After covariate adjustment, higher anxiety and depression levels were associated with greater fatigue levels (ps < .001, ΔR2 = 0.16 and 0.29, respectively), shortness of breath (ps < .001, ΔR2 = 0.12 and 0.10), and frequency of COPD symptoms (ps < .001, ΔR2 = 0.11 and 0.13). In addition, functional capacity was a moderator of anxiety and pulmonary-specific COPD symptoms. The association between anxiety and shortness of breath (p = 0.009) and frequency of COPD symptoms (p = 0.02) was greater among patients with lower functional capacity. Conclusions: Anxiety and depression were associated with higher levels of fatigue, shortness of breath, and frequency of COPD symptoms. It is important for clinicians to be aware of the presence of anxiety and depression in COPD patients, which appears to correlate with pulmonary-specific COPD symptoms, especially in patients with lower functional capacity. Prospective design studies are needed to elucidate the causal relationships between anxiety and depression and pulmonary-specific symptoms in COPD patients.
Impact of use of information technology on lean production adoption: evidence from the automotive industry

In this paper we analyse the existing interrelationships between information technology (IT) and the adoption of lean production. More specifically, the level of adoption of lean production is studied in accordance with the degree of use and the kind of IT used (internal and external IT). The results of the study show how companies need to augment the degree of use of internal or intra-organisational IT in order to increase the level of implementation of lean production and therefore improve efficiency. Results also show that external or inter-organisational IT only has a significant negative influence on the level of adoption of lean production when internal IT is controlled. These findings provide managers with empirical evidence and a theoretical framework on the balance between internal and external IT in order to increase lean production adoption, thus offering practical guidance on how to manage IT and lean production adoption.
Direct correlation between impact ionization and the kink effect in InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs

We present new, unmistakable experimental evidence directly linking the kink effect with impact ionization in the channel of InAlAs-InGaAs HEMTs on InP. Through the use of a sidegate structure, we confirm that the impact ionization coefficient obeys the classic exponential dependence on the inverse electric field at the drain end of the gate, and that the onset of the kink strongly coincides with the onset of impact ionization in the devices we consider. These measurements illuminate the functional relationship between the kink and impact ionization, and therefore will allow assessment of the numerous impact-ionization related kink mechanisms that have recently been suggested in the literature.