Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Invasive group A streptococcal infections in Ontario, Canada. Ontario Group A Streptococcal Study Group.

BACKGROUND Several reports suggest that the incidence of invasive group A streptococcal infections, including streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis, is increasing. METHODS During 1992 and 1993 we conducted prospective, population-based surveillance of invasive group A streptococcal disease in Ontario, Canada. We reviewed clinical and laboratory records, searched for secondary cases of invasive disease, and cultured specimens from household contacts. RESULTS We identified 323 patients with invasive group A streptococcal infections, for an annual incidence of 1.5 cases per 100,000 population. The rates were highest in young children and the elderly. Fifty-six percent of the patients had underlying chronic illness. Risk factors for disease included infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, cancer, diabetes, alcohol abuse, and chickenpox. The most common clinical presentations were soft-tissue infection (48 percent), bacteremia with no septic focus (14 percent), and pneumonia (11 percent). Necrotizing fasciitis occurred in 6 percent of patients, and toxic shock in 13 percent. The mortality rate was 15 percent overall, but it was 29 percent among those over 64 years of age (P<0.001) and 81 percent among those with toxic shock (P<0.001). Fourteen percent of the cases were nosocomial, and 4 percent occurred in nursing home residents, often in association with disease outbreaks. Invasive disease occurred in 2 household contacts of patients with infection, for an estimated risk of 3.2 per 1000 household contacts (95 percent confidence interval, 0.39 to 12 per 1000). CONCLUSIONS The elderly and those with underlying medical conditions are at greatest risk for invasive group A streptococcal disease, toxic shock, and necrotizing fasciitis. Invasive steptococcal infection is associated with a substantial risk of transmission in households and health care institutions.
The Cytokine Interleukin-6 and the Chemokines CCL20 and CXCL13 Are Novel Biomarkers of Specific Endogenous Uveitic Entities.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine levels of the cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-21, IL-22, and IL-23 and the chemokines CXCL13, CCL19, CCL20, and CCL21 in aqueous humor (AH) samples from patients with specific uveitic entities. METHODS Paired serum samples (n = 13) and AH samples (n = 111) from patients with active idiopathic granulomatous uveitis (IGU) or with uveitis associated with HLA-B27-related inflammation, Behçet's disease (BD), Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease, or sarcoidosis and control patients were analyzed in two different multiplex assays. RESULTS Cytokines IL-1β, IL-21, IL-22, and IL-23 were not detected in any AH sample. Chemokine CCL21 concentrations in serum were significantly higher than those in AH. CCL19 levels in AH and serum were not significantly different. Levels of CCL20 and CXCL13 in AH were significantly higher than those in serum. IL-6 was not detected in serum samples. IL-6 AH levels were significantly higher in patients with HLA-B27-associated uveitis and in BD patients than in patients with VKH disease, sarcoidosis, and IGU (P < 0.0001). CCL20 AH levels were significantly higher in HLA-B27-associated uveitis than in BD, VKH, sarcoidosis, and IGU (P = 0.001), whereas CXCL13 AH levels were significantly higher in VKH disease and IGU than in HLA-B27-associated uveitis, BD, and sarcoidosis (P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS IL-6-driven immune responses are more potent in HLA-B27-associated uveitis and BD than in VKH disease, sarcoidosis, and IGU. CCL20 appears to be a specific biomarker of HLA-B27-associated uveitis, whereas CXCL13 appears to be a biomarker of VKH disease and IGU. Our findings suggest that IL-6, CCL20, and CXCL13 could serve as drug targets for treatment of specific clinical entities of endogenous uveitis.
Unemployment and economic growth: Is there a relationship in the European Union?

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between unemployment and economic growth in the European Union and in individual European countries. This allows to determine what the effect on the unemployment rate will be when there is a change in output. The European Union (28 countries) quarterly data used is for the period from 2000Q1 to 2017Q3. Regression analysis, co-integration analysis and a vector error correction model have also been used. The relationship between the unemployment rate and economic growth in the EU-28 for the period examined in this study is less pronounced in comparison with the other countries. A negative relationship between economic growth and a change in the unemployment rate is obtained for all the countries in the European Union (28 countries). During each stage of the period studied, the effect of hysteresis on the labour market grew. The results from the statistical analysis show that the data on economic growth and the change in the rate of unemployment in the EU-28 are co-integrated. The validity of Okun’s Law for the economy of the European Union is confirmed although during the period studied the European economy went through several phases of the economic cycle.
Matricellular protein SPARC/osteonectin expression is regulated by DNA methylation in its core promoter region

Background: SPARC/osteonectin is an evolutionarily conserved matricellular protein that modulates cell–matrix interaction and cell function. In all vertebrates, SPARC is dynamically expressed during embryogenesis. However, the precise function of SPARC and the regulatory elements required for its expression in particular during early embryogenesis are largely unknown. Results: The present study was undertaken to explore the molecular mechanisms that regulate sparc gene expression by in vivo functional characterization of the sparc promoter and identification of possible putative regulatory elements that govern basal promoter activity. We report here transient expression analyses of eGFP expression from transgenic zebrafish containing a Sparc‐iTol2‐eGFP‐BAC and/or 7.25 kb‐sparc‐Tol2‐eGFP constructs. eGFP expression was specifically found in the notochord, otic vesicle, fin fold, intermediate cell mass, and olfactory placode of BAC and Tol2 transposon vectors injected embryos. Deletion analysis revealed that promoter activity resides in the unique 5′‐untranslated intronic region. Computer‐based analysis revealed a putative CpG island immediately proximal to the translation start site within the intron sequence. Global inhibition of methylation with 5‐Aza‐2‐deoxycytidine promoted sparc expression in association with decreasing CpG methylation. Conclusions: Taken together, these data identify a contributory role for DNA methylation in regulating sparc expression in zebrafish embryogenesis. Developmental Dynamics 244:693–702, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Age variation in blood pressure: Effect of sex and urbanization in a genetically homogeneous caste population of Andhra Pradesh

Age variation in blood pressure and prevalence of hypertension were studied in relation to sex and urbanization in a caste population of southern Andhra Pradesh living in rural, semi‐urban, and urban locales. There is an increase in mean blood pressure from rural to semi‐urban areas, and a slight but insignificant decline in urban men. Sex differences in mean blood pressure are significant only in the urban and semi‐urban environments. However, the increase in blood pressure with age is sharper in women than in men, and age effects are more perceptible in the urban setting compared to the other two environments. Similarly, age influences SBP more strongly than DBP. The prevalence of hypertension is greater in urban than in rural areas, at older ages (≥45 years), and in men compared to women. Results of multiple logistic regression suggest that urban residence and alcohol consumption are associated with increased risk of hypertension in men. Higher risk for hypertension in women is more significantly associated with older age (≥45) and obesity (BMI >25). The results indicate that blood pressure and hypertension are more strongly correlated with the indices of modernization and associated lifestyle patterns in men than in women. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 13:744–752, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Output Effects of Monetary Policy in Emerging and Developing Countries: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACT Using 45 studies conducted between 2001 and 2014, this paper employs a meta-regression analysis (MRA) to synthesize vector-autoregressive findings of output effects of a tightening in monetary policy in 32 emerging and developing countries. The outcomes indicate a publication bias. However, tightening of monetary policy has a negative real effect on output. Primary studies including commodity price variable(s) tend to report stronger negative effects. Output effects are likely to be more negative in an economy with a developed financial system and less effective in an economy with high inflation volatility.
p53 Status Does Not Determine Outcome of E1B 55-Kilodalton Mutant Adenovirus Lytic Infection

ABSTRACT The ability of the adenovirus type 5 E1B 55-kDa mutantsdl1520 and dl338 to replicate efficiently and independently of the cell cycle, to synthesis viral DNA, and to lyse infected cells did not correlate with the status of p53 in seven cell lines examined. Rather, cell cycle-independent replication and virus-induced cell killing correlated with permissivity to viral replication. This correlation extended to S-phase HeLa cells, which were more susceptible to virus-induced cell killing by the E1B 55-kDa mutant virus than HeLa cells infected during G1. Wild-type p53 had only a modest effect on E1B mutant virus yields in H1299 cells expressing a temperature-sensitive p53 allele. The defect in E1B 55-kDa mutant virus replication resulting from reduced temperature was as much as 10-fold greater than the defect due to p53 function. At 39°C, the E1B 55-kDa mutant viruses produced wild-type yields of virus and replicated independently of the cell cycle. In addition, the E1B 55-kDa mutant viruses directed the synthesis of late viral proteins to levels equivalent to the wild-type virus level at 39°C. We have previously shown that the defect in mutant virus replication can also be overcome by infecting HeLa cells during S phase. Taken together, these results indicate that the capacity of the E1B 55-kDa mutant virus to replicate independently of the cell cycle does not correlate with the status of p53 but is determined by yet unidentified mechanisms. The cold-sensitive nature of the defect of the E1B 55-kDa mutant virus in both late gene expression and cell cycle-independent replication leads us to speculate that these functions of the E1B 55-kDa protein may be linked.
Dopamine D1 receptor actions in layers V-VI rat prefrontal cortex neurons in vitro: modulation of dendritic-somatic signal integration

The ionic mechanisms by which dopamine (DA) regulates the excitability of layers V-VI prefrontal cortex (PFC) output neurons (including those that project to the nucleus accumbens) were investigated in rat brain slices using in vitro intracellular recording techniques. DA or the D1 receptor agonist SKF38393, but not the D2 agonist quinpirole, reduced the first spike latency and lowered the firing threshold of the PFC neurons in response to depolarizing current pulses. This was accomplished by enhancing the duration of a tetradotoxinsensitive, slowly inactivating Na+ current and attenuating a slowly inactivating, outwardly rectifying, dendrotoxin-sensitive K+ current. Furthermore, D1 receptor stimulation attenuated high-threshold Ca2+ spike(s) (HTS) evoked primarily from the apical dendrites of these PFC neurons. Taken together, these data suggest that D1 receptor stimulation on layers V- VI pyramidal PFC neurons: (1) restricts the effects of inputs to the apical dendrites of these neurons by attenuating the dendritic HTS- mediated amplification of such inputs; and (2) potentiates the influence of local inputs from neighboring deep layers V-VI neurons by enhancing the slowly inactivating Na+ current and attenuating the slowly inactivating K+ current. By influencing the input/output characteristics of PFC-->NAc neurons, DA may play an important role in the processes through which PFC signals are translated into action.
Fast growers sprint slower: effects of food deprivation and re-feeding on sprint swimming performance in individual juvenile European sea bass

While many ectothermic species can withstand prolonged fasting without mortality, food deprivation may have sublethal effects of ecological importance, including reductions in locomotor ability. Little is known about how such changes in performance in individual animals are related to either mass loss during food deprivation or growth rate during re-feeding. This study followed changes in the maximum sprint swimming performance of individual European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, throughout 45 days of food deprivation and 30 days of re-feeding. Maximum sprint speed did not show a significant decline until 45 days of food deprivation. Among individuals, the reduction in sprinting speed at this time was not related to mass loss. After 30 days of re-feeding, mean sprinting speed had recovered to match that of control fish. Among individuals, however, maximum sprinting speed was negatively correlated with growth rate after the resumption of feeding. This suggests that the rapid compensatory growth that occurs during re-feeding after a prolonged fast carries a physiological cost in terms of reduced sprinting capacity, the extent of which shows continuous variation among individuals in relation to growth rate. The long-term repeatability of maximum sprint speed was low when fish were fasted or fed a maintenance ration, but was high among control fish fed to satiation. Fish that had been previously food deprived continued to show low repeatability in sprinting ability even after the initiation of ad libitum feeding, probably stemming from variation in compensatory growth among individuals and its associated negative effects on sprinting ability. Together, these results suggest that food limitation can disrupt hierarchies of maximum sprint performance within populations. In the wild, the cumulative effects on locomotor capacity of fasting and re-feeding could lead to variable survival among individuals with different growth trajectories following a period of food deprivation.
Effects of different hematocrit levels on glucose measurements with handheld meters for point-of-care testing.

OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of low, normal, and high hematocrit levels on glucose meter measurements and to assess the clinical risks of hematocrit errors. DESIGN Changes in glucose measurements between low and high hematocrit levels were calculated to determine hematocrit effects. The differences between glucose measured with meters and with a plasma glucose method (YSI 2300) also were compared. SETTING Six hand-held glucose meters were assessed in vitro at low (19.1%), normal (38.5%), and high (58.3%) hematocrit levels, and at 6 glucose concentrations ranging from 2.06 mmol/L (37.1 mg/dL) to 30.24 mmol/L (544.7 mg/dL). RESULTS Most systems, regardless of the reference to which they were calibrated, demonstrated positive bias at lower hematocrit levels and negative bias at higher hematocrit levels. Low, normal, and high hematocrit levels progressively lowered Precision G and Precision QID glucose measurements. Hematocrit effects on the other systems were more dependent on the glucose concentration. Overall, Accu-Chek Comfort Curve showed the least sensitivity to hematocrit changes, except at the lowest glucose concentration. CONCLUSIONS We strongly recommend that clinical professionals choose glucose systems carefully and interpret glucose measurements with extreme caution when the patient's hematocrit value changes, particularly if there is a simultaneous change in glucose level.
Keeping to the Marketplace : Evolution of Canadian Housing Policy

Some social housing was developed as a result of the 1949 National Housing Act (NHA) amendments but this program remained marginalized for many years as government policy favoured shelter provision by private entrepreneurs. While the 1973 amendments to the NHA set the stage for a vigorous "comprehensive" housing policy, these measures were short-lived. In 1978 federal termination of land banking and transfer of financial responsibilities for housing to the provinces encouraged a rapid contraction of the growth of social housing, contributing to mounting homelessness in the 1980s. Bacher's analysis is a fundamental departure from explanations of the policies of the Canadian federal state by both liberal and Marxist scholars. While accepting their notion of the "hegemonic" role of the ideologically rigid Department of Finance, he stresses that such orthodoxy was not shared throughout influential sections of the Canadian civil service. Many critical policy shapers chafed under the department's narrow constraints and were instrumental in effecting policy changes which enabled more socially responsive housing programs to develop.
The synthesis of a small heat shock/alpha-crystallin protein in Artemia and its relationship to stress tolerance during development.

Fertilized oocytes of the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana undergo either ovoviviparous or oviparous development, yielding free-swimming larvae (nauplii) or encysted gastrulae (cysts), respectively. Encystment is followed by diapause, wherein metabolism is greatly reduced; the resulting cysts are very resistant to extreme stress, including desiccation and long-term anoxia. The synthesis of p26, a small heat shock/alpha-crystallin protein produced only in oviparously developing Artemia, is shown in this paper to be transcriptionally regulated. A p26 mRNA of about 0.7 kb was detected on Northern blots in the second day after oocyte fertilization. It peaked as embryos encysted and declined rapidly when activated cysts resumed development. The appearance of p26 protein, as indicated by immunoprobing of Western blots, followed mRNA by 1 day; it also increased as encystment occurred but remained constant during postgastrula development of cysts. However, p26 underwent a marked reduction during emergence of nauplii and could not be detected in cell-free extracts of second-instar larvae. p26 entered nuclei of encysting embryos soon after synthesis and was localized therein as late as instar II, when it was restricted to a small set of salt gland nuclei. First-instar larvae derived from cysts were more thermotolerant than larvae that had developed ovoviviparously, but synthesis of p26 was not induced by heat under the experimental conditions employed. Additionally, transformed bacteria synthesizing p26 were more thermotolerant than bacteria that lacked the protein. The results support the proposal that p26, a developmentally regulated protein synthesized during embryo encystment, has chaperone activity in vivo and protects the proteins of encysted Artemia from stress-induced denaturation.
Market size, agricultural reforms and agricultural productivity in Nigeria

This paper examined market size, agricultural reforms and agricultural productivity nexus in Nigeria with a view to finding out if market size and agricultural reforms can boost agricultural productivity in Nigeria. The study used time series variables that were estimated based on Autoregressive Distributed Bounds Testing approach (ARDL). The results indicated that market size has the capacity to drive agricultural productivity in Nigeria. In the light of this, reforms aimed at adequately financing agricultural sector by government should be pursued. Government should also continue to evolve reforms towards mobilising the private sector to invest in agriculture. Keywords: Reforms, Government, incentives and Market
A Statistical Factor Asset Pricing Model Versus the 4-Factor
 Model

This research aims to compare the performance of a statistical factor asset pricing model with the Fama-French-Carhart 4-factor model. We perform a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to extract latent risk factors using data of stocks listed on B3 from 2001 to 2015. We test the abilities of the two models to explain assets' returns both in the time-series and in the cross-section dimension. We found that the statistical factor models generates statistically significant abnormal returns in the time-series analysis while the 4-factor model does not. In the cross section dimension, neither model generates significant abnormal returns but they also are not able to generate positive risk premia. Similar results are found if we consider different sets of time and assets. Therefore, although the 4-factor model performs slightly better in the set of tests, neither of the models can be considered fully adequate to explain expected returns of assets in the Brazilian stock market.
The Nitrate Reductase and Nitrite Reductase Operons and the narT Gene of Staphylococcus carnosus Are Positively Controlled by the Novel Two-Component System NreBC

ABSTRACT In Staphylococcus carnosus, the nreABC (for nitrogen regulation) genes were identified and shown to link the nitrate reductase operon (narGHJI) and the putative nitrate transporter gene narT. An nreABC deletion mutant, m1, was dramatically affected in nitrate and nitrite reduction and growth. Transcription of narT, narGHJI, and the nitrite reductase (nir) operon was severely reduced even when cells were cultivated anaerobically without nitrate or nitrite. nreABC transcripts were detected when cells were grown aerobically or anaerobically with or without nitrate or nitrite. NreA is a GAF domain-containing protein of unknown function. In vivo and in vitro studies showed that NreC is phosphorylated by NreB and that phospho-NreC specifically binds to a GC-rich palindromic sequence to enhance transcription initiation. This binding motif was found at the narGHJI, nir, and narT promoters but not at the moeB promoter. NreB is a cytosolic protein with four N-terminal cysteine residues. The second cysteine residue was shown to be important for NreB function. In vitro autophosphorylation of NreB was not affected by nitrate, nitrite, or molybdate. The nir promoter activity was iron dependent. The data provide evidence for a global regulatory system important for aerobic and anaerobic metabolism, with NreB and NreC forming a classical two-component system and NreB acting as a sensor protein with oxygen as the effector molecule.
Meaning and misunderstanding in occupational forms: a study of therapeutic goal setting.

OBJECTIVE This study examined occupational therapists' use of the occupational form of goal setting as therapy and its impact on clients. METHOD The study method was qualitative, using participant observation and interviewing as the main source of data. RESULTS The findings illustrated that therapists work both to give substance to the occupational form and to create the context of an implied narrative that imbues it with particular meanings. Simultaneously, clients' experience of meaning is influenced by a personal volitional narrative. When the two narratives do not coincide, therapists' efforts to maintain the occupational form intensify as they encourage clients toward attitudes and performances that do not resonate with the clients' experience of reality. CONCLUSION The findings underscore the importance of recognizing that occupational forms are embedded in social processes and perspectives that inevitably come into play when occupational forms are used as therapy.