Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis: characterization of strains by multilocus enzyme genotype, M and T protein serotype, and pyrogenic exotoxin gene probing

Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, serological characterization of M and T proteins, and probing for pyrogenic exotoxin A and C genes were used to investigate the bacteriologic epidemiology of strains of Streptococcus pyogenes recovered primarily from patients with recurrent pharyngitis. A total of 164 strains recovered from individuals living in nine states of the United States was analyzed. Two-thirds of the patients in our sample were infected with the homologous strain following antibiotic therapy and presumably represented treatment failures, whereas the other one-third of the patients were infected with a heterologous strain after therapy and probably represented reinfections. Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis was as efficacious in strain discrimination as serologic typing techniques were and, in addition, successfully characterized all organisms that were serologically nontypeable. Two clones of S. pyogenes responsible for most of the episodes of toxic shock-like syndrome in the United States are geographically widespread, but they vary by locality in the frequency of their occurrence. Compared with a sample of strains cultured from patients whose pharyngeal infections were eliminated by antimicrobial therapy, these two clones were statistically overrepresented among organisms that cause recurrent pharyngitis.
Loneliness, Depression, and Computer Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Problematic Internet Use

This study investigated whether university students' levels of loneliness, depression, and computer self-efficacy were significant predictors of their problematic Internet use levels. The study was carried out with 559 Turkish university students. The research data were analyzed by multiple regression analysis. The findings indicated that loneliness, depression, and computer self-efficacy were significant predictors of problematic Internet use. Loneliness was found as the most important predictive variable. Depression predicted problematic Internet use on the second rank, and computer self-efficacy on the third rank.
Confidence and Willingness among Preservice Teachers to Use Technology to Support Learner-Centered Strategies that Address the Diverse Needs of Students: A Multimedia Experience

The purpose of this study was to examine the change in preservice teachers’ attitudes towards using technology to meet the needs of diverse students as noted by the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*S) III. B. This research included two interventions: a research paper assignment and a hands-on practice using technology to assist students with special needs. The study took place within the coursework in an instructional technology class offered for preservice teachers. After the pre-intervention survey was collected on the 10th week of the semester, the instructor explained the research paper assignment for assisting students with special needs with technology. The research question each student formulated was “How can I meet the needs of ____ with technology? ” Each student selected his or her target group by filling in the blank. The second set of data was collected immediately after the paper was due. During the 13th week of the semester, there was a collaborative lecture delivered by the course instructor and a special education faculty member about readers’ theater multimedia. The lecture suggested readers’ theater as a way of including weak readers in a general classroom. Following the lecture, the class had a discussion to connect the knowledge that they gained from the research paper and an example of mainstreaming provided by the faculty members. During the 14th and 15th weeks, preservice teachers got into groups to create readers’ theater multimedia productions using PowerPoint. The third survey was filled in at the end of the readers’ theater multimedia production. The data analysis indicated that the research participants generally had positive attitudes about assistive technology prior to the interventions. Therefore, a significant change of attitude for positive direction occurred in limited items. The results of this study indicated that preservice teachers may have positive attitudes about special
Genetic population structure of the winter moth (Operophtera brumata L.) (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in a fragmented landscape

As a result of human activities natural environments have been altered in many different ways. One important effect of human disturbance is the fragmentation of natural habitats. As a consequence, genetic differentiation among habitat islands is expected to increase, whereas within-area genetic diversity is expected to decrease. Indirect estimates from allozyme polymorphisms are used to investigate the effects of habitat fragmentation in the winter moth on a very small geographical scale. We demonstrated that genetic differentiation increased whereas genetic diversity decreased with fragmentation, with habitat patches isolated by only a few hundred metres up to 3 km. These results were even more striking considering that no genetic differentiation was detected at a larger scale (10–40 km). This pattern of distribution of genetic variation is in agreement with temporarily variable densities and gene flow levels which prevent an equilibrium being reached between genetic drift and gene flow. Consequently the effects of fragmentation probably remain limited.
Severe Traumatic Brain Injury and Controlled Hemorrhage in Rats: Quest for the Optimal Mean Arterial Blood Pressure After Whole Fresh Donor Blood Resuscitation

ABSTRACT Treatment of combined traumatic brain injury and hypovolemic shock poses a particular challenge due to the possible conflicting consequences. While restoring diminished volume is the treatment goal for hypovolemia, maintaining and adequate cerebral perfusion pressure and avoidance of secondary damage remain a treatment goal for the injured brain. Various treatment modalities have been proposed, but the optimal resuscitation fluid and goals have not yet been clearly defined. In this study, we investigate the physiological and neurological outcomes in a rat model of combined traumatic brain injury and hypovolemic shock, submitted to treatment with varying amounts of fresh blood. Forty-eight male Lewis rats were divided into control and treatment groups. Traumatic brain injury was inflicted by a free-falling rod on the exposed cranium. Hypovolemia was induced by controlled hemorrhage of 30% blood volume. Treatment groups were treated by fresh whole blood with varying volumes, reaching resuscitation goals of a mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) of 80, 100, and 120 mmHg at 15 min. Mean arterial blood pressure was assessed at 60 min and neurological outcomes and mortality in the subsequent 48 h. At 60 min, MAP was highest for the group resuscitated most aggressively. Neurological outcomes and mortality inversely correlated with the aggressiveness of resuscitation. In this study, we find that mild resuscitation with goals of restoring MAP to 80 mmHg (which is lower than baseline) provided best results when considering hemodynamic stability, survival, and neurological outcomes. An aggressive resuscitation may be detrimental, inducing processes that eventually cause a significant decrease in survival.
A Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Study of Non-cross-linked Porcine Acellular Dermal Matrix Fascial Sublay for Parastomal Reinforcement in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Permanent Abdominal Wall Ostomies

BACKGROUND: A large proportion of patients with a colostomy or an ileostomy develop parastomal hernias. The placement of a reinforcing material at the stoma site may reduce parastomal hernia incidence. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of stoma reinforcement with sublay placement of non-cross-linked porcine-derived acellular dermal matrix at the time of stoma construction. DESIGN: This is a randomized, patient- and third-party assessor-blind, controlled trial. SETTINGS: This study took place in colorectal/general surgery institutions. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were prospectively randomly assigned to undergo standard end-stoma construction with or without porcine-derived acellular dermal matrix reinforcement. PATIENTS: Patients undergoing construction of a permanent stoma were eligible. A total of 113 patients (59 men, 54 women; mean age, 60 years; mean BMI, 25.4 kg/m2) participated: 58 controls and 55 with reinforcement. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: The incidence of parastomal hernia, safety, and stoma-related quality of life were assessed. RESULTS: Intraoperative complications and blood loss were similar between groups. Quality-of-life scores were similar through 24 months of follow-up. At 24 months of follow-up, the incidence of parastomal hernias was similar for both groups (12.2% of the porcine-derived acellular dermal matrix group and 13.2% of controls). LIMITATIONS: Study limitations include the inclusion of ileostomy and colostomy patients, open and laparoscopic techniques, and small numbers of patients at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Safety and quality-of-life data from this randomized control trial show similar outcomes in both groups. Prosthetic reinforcement of stomas was safe, but it did not significantly reduce the incidence of parastomal hernia formation. Clinical Trial Registration: Identification no. NCT00771407.
Are the predictors of sexual violence the same as those of nonsexual violence? A gender analysis.

INTRODUCTION Violence manifests itself in such multifarious ways as sexual, physical, and psychological abuse. What has hitherto eluded the medical community, however, is whether sexual and nonsexual abuse share the same predictors. AIM Drawing upon a representative sample of married men and women in the Iranian capital, Tehran, we aimed to determine: (i) the overlap between sexual abuse and physical and psychological violence, and (ii) the predictors that sexual violence victimization share with physical and psychological violence victimization. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Victimization through any type of sexual coercion by the husband in the context of the current marital relationship, as determined via the conflict tactic scales-revised (CTS-2). METHODS In a cross-sectional survey in Tehran in 2007, 460 married Iranian men and women were selected via a multicluster sampling method from four different randomized regions. Independent variables comprised sociodemographic characteristics, subscores of psychological, and personality characteristics known to be allied with intimate abuse (personal and relationship profile), and dichotomus data on victimization history through all types of violence by the spouse including psychological aggression, physical assault, and sexual coercion (CTS-2). RESULTS In both genders, the experience of physical or psychological violence increased the likelihood of sexual violence victimization. In both genders, higher conflict was a predictor of sexual and psychological violence victimization. In addition, the common predictors of sexual and physical violence victimization were low self-control and high violent socialization in the men and women, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Sexual violence victimization shares some factors with the victimization of nonsexual types of marital abuse, but this seems to be partially gender dependent.
Lumbar discography in normal subjects. A controlled, prospective study.

Major advances in the techniques of discography since 1968, in conjunction with major strides in the evaluation of pain in recent years, prompted a study in which Holt's work on the specificity of discography was replicated and extended. For the present study, seven patients who had low-back pain and ten volunteers who had been carefully screened, with a questionnaire and a physical examination, to ensure that they had no history of problems with the back, had an injection at three levels, and all sessions were videotaped. After each injection, the participant was interviewed about the pattern and intensity of the pain, and then the discs were imaged with computed tomography. Five raters, who were blind to the condition of the participant, graded each disc as normal or abnormal on the basis of findings on magnetic resonance images that had been made before the injection and computed tomography (discography) were done. There was only one disagreement between the ratings that were made on the basis of the magnetic resonance images and those that were made on the basis of the discograms. Each participant's pain-related response was evaluated independently by two raters who viewed the videotapes of the discography. Inter-rater reliability was 0.99, 0.93, and 0.88 for the evaluation of intensity of the pain, pain-related behavior, and similarity of the pain to pain that the subject had had before the injection. In the asymptomatic individuals, the discogram was interpreted as abnormal for 17 per cent (five) of the thirty discs and for five of the ten subjects. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Comparison of the therapeutic effects and side effects of tadalafil and sildenafil after surgery in young infants with pulmonary arterial hypertension due to systemic-to-pulmonary shunts

Abstract Young children with CHD and large systemic-to-pulmonary shunts eventually develop pulmonary hypertension. At present, phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors such as sildenafil have been used to control pulmonary pressure before and after cardiac surgery. Recently, tadalafil has been utilised in older children with similar efficacy, but it has been used to a lesser extent in young infants. From April, 2015 to June, 2016, 42 patients aged 3–24 months with a large septal defect and pulmonary arterial hypertension were randomly divided into two equal groups: one group received oral sildenafil (1–3 mg/kg/day every 8 hours), whereas the other group received oral tadalafil (1 mg/kg once a day) from 7–10 days before surgery to 3–4 weeks after surgery. During the first 48 hours after surgery, pulmonary artery-to-aortic pressure ratio and recorded systolic pulmonary artery pressures were not significantly different between the two groups (p>0.05); moreover, there were no differences in paediatric ICU length of stay, mechanical ventilation time, clinical findings of low cardiac output state, and echocardiographic data between the two groups (p>0.05). Most of the patients had no side effects, and only five patients had a minor with no significant difference in both groups (p=0.371). Tadalafil can be considered as an effective oral therapy for preoperative and postoperative pulmonary hypertension in young infants. It can be administered at a once-daily dose with an appropriate efficacy and safety profile as sildenafil, and therefore it can be considered as an alternative to sildenafil in young children.
Differential Effects of Transforming Growth Factor 01 on the Growth of Poorly and Highly Metastatic Murine Melanoma Cells1

We have examined the effects of transforming growth factor ÃŸ\(TGF-01) on the growth of paired murine melanoma cell clones that differ with respect to their experimental metastatic potential. Neither poorly (clone 16) nor highly (clone M2) metastatic cells were capable of anchorage-independent growth in 0.3% agar/Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium in the absence of scrum. However, both clones were capable ofanchorage- independent growth in 0.3% agar/Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10% calf serum. Colony formation in the presence of 10% calf serum was enhanced in a dose-dependent manner by TGF-/31 (half-maximal dose, 0.1 ng/ml) and was 5- to 10-fold greater than colony formation in the presence of 10% calf serum alone. Under anchorage-dependent (monolayer) conditions, neither clone grew in the absence of serum or in medium containing less than 1% calf serum. The monolayer growth of poorly metastatic cells (clone 16) was enhanced in a dose-dependent manner by TGF-/31 in medium supplemented with calf serum. Growth was 3.5-fold and 2.3-fold greater than untreated controls after 5 days in submitogenic (0.5%) and mitogenic (10%) concentrations of calf serum, respectively. In contrast, TGF-/31 had no effect on the monolayer growth of highly metastatic cells (clone M2) either in submitogenic (0.5%) or mitogenic (10%) concentrations of serum. TGF-/31 did not directly stimulate DNA synthesis by either poorly or highly metastatic cells when measured 24 h after TGF-/91 treatment. The ability of TGF-/j'l to stimulate the anchorage-independent growth of metastatic mela noma cells suggests that this potent growth factor may play a role in the growth of these cells in vivo. In addition, the differential sensitivity of poorly and highly metastatic cells to TGF-/81 may be relevant to their metastatic potential in vivo. While the mechanism(s) by which TGF-/31 stimulates the growth of these cells remains unknown, these differentially metastatic clones of the K-1735 murine melanoma should provide a useful model in which to study the effects of transforming growth factor ÃŸon the metastatic phenotype.
‘Nordic’ Hamstrings Exercise – Engagement Characteristics and Training Responses

Abstract The present study examined the neuromuscular activation characteristics of the hamstrings during the ‘Nordic’ hamstrings exercise (NHE) and changes in the eccentric strength of the knee flexors with NHE training. Initially, the normalised root mean square electromyographic (EMG) activity of the hamstrings of both limbs during various phases (90–61°, 60–31° and 30–0° of knee extension) of the NHE were determined in 18 soccer players. Subsequently participants were randomly allocated to either a training (n=10) or control group. The isokinetic eccentric peak torques of the dominant and non-dominant limbs were recorded at 60, 120 and 240°/s pre- and post-training. The EMG values of both limbs were comparable (P=0.184) and greater EMG activity was recorded at more extended knee positions of the NHE (P=0.001). 4 weeks of NHE training significantly improved peak torque by up to 21% in all assessment conditions. Data indicate the hamstrings of both limbs are engaged identically during the NHE and training results in gains in the eccentric peak torque of the hamstrings of both limbs; these gains may augment the force that the hamstrings can withstand when forcefully stretched, attenuating injury risk.
Activation of human immunodeficiency virus gene expression by ultraviolet light in stably transfected human cells does not require the enhancer element.

Ultraviolet light (UV) exposure of cells infected with human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV) or transfected with HIV reporter genes increases virus-directed gene expression. Here we report the mapping of the UV response on the long terminal repeat (LTR) by using human cells stably transfected with HIV promoter plasmids harboring different mutations and controlling the expression of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) reporter gene. Promoter mutation analysis revealed that no specific upstream region of the LTR was associated with UV activation, although a significant decrease was observed with mutations in the basal promoter elements Spl and TATA. Most importantly, UV activation was not diminished by removal of the - 119 to -69 region encompassing the LTR enhancer region or, more specifically, by point mutations in the NF -kappa B binding elements. Consistent with this result, we found that the phorbol ester (PMA) response, which is known to act through the enhancer, occurred independently and was synergistic with the UV response. Removal of the -119 to -69 region did not affect UV activation; however, it resulted in total abrogation of the PMA response. These results suggest that UV activation is distinct from NF -kappa B activation and does not act through the enhancer in stably transfected cells. This is in dramatic contrast to what is found with transient expression analysis of these responses. Lastly, RNA protection experiments revealed that UV may act on preassembled basal transcription complexes by allowing elongation of nascent short mRNAs generated from the LTR. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A Light and Electron Microscopic Study of Changes in Blood and Bone Marrow in Acute Hemorrhagic Trypanosoma vivax Infection in Calves

Eleven 6-month-old calves were tsetse fly challenged with a stock of Trypanosoma vivax (IL 2337) that causes hemorrhagic infection. The calves were randomly euthanatized every 4 to 6 days; two other calves served as controls. Peripheral blood changes included anemia, thrombocytopenia, and an initial leukopenia. Later in the course of infection, leukocytosis associated with lymphocytosis and neutropenia developed. Moderate reticulocytosis (highest mean count 3.6 ± 3.7%, maximum count 9.4%) accompanied the first wave of parasitemia, but poor response (highest mean 0.4 ± 0.0%) occurred during the second wave, despite the persistence of severe anemia. Light microscopic examination of bone marrow samples showed a drop in the myeloid: erythroid ratio with a decrease in granulocytes, particularly metamyelocytes, bands, and segmenters. Increase in lymphocyte counts corresponded with the appearance of lymphoid nodules within the marrow. Megakaryocyte volume increased significantly in infected animals, and some megakaryocytes showed emperipolesis of red cells, neutrophils, and lymphocytes. Transmission electron microscopic examination of the bone marrow revealed that trypanosomes had crossed the sinusoidal endothelium into the hematopoietic compartment as early as the second day of parasitemia. Macrophages proliferated in the bone marrow; and from the second day of parasitemia until the end of the experimental infection, on day 46, the macrophages had phagocytosed normoblasts, eosinophil and neutrophil myelocytes, metamyelocytes, bands, and segmenters, as well as reticulocytes, erythrocytes, and thrombocytes. Therefore, dyserythropoiesis and dysgranulocytopoiesis were responsible, in part, for the observed anemia and granulocytopenia, respectively.
Director Attention and Firm Value

This paper shows that exogenous director distraction affects board monitoring intensity and leads to a higher level of inactivity by management. We construct a firm-level director "distraction'' measure by exploiting shocks to unrelated industries in which directors have additional directorships. Directors attend significantly fewer board meetings when they are distracted. Firms with distracted board members tend to be inactive and experience a significant decline in firm value. Overall, this paper highlights the impact of limited director attention on the effectiveness of corporate governance and the importance of directors in keeping management active.