Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of organic acids to inactivate Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes on organic fresh apples and lettuce.

UNLABELLED This study was undertaken to investigate the antimicrobial effect of organic acids against Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes on whole red organic apples and lettuce. Several studies have been conducted to evaluate organic acids as sanitizers. However, no studies have compared antimicrobial effects of various organic acids on organic fresh produce, including evaluation of color changes of produce. Apples and lettuce were inoculated with a cocktail of 3 strains each of 3 foodborne pathogens provided above and treated with 1% and 2% organic acids (propionic, acetic, lactic, malic, and citric acid) for 0, 0.5, 1, 5, and 10 min. With increasing treatment time and acid concentration, organic acid treatments showed significant reduction compared to the control treatment (distilled water), and differences in antimicrobial effects between organic acids were observed. After 10 min of treatment with 1% and 2% organic acids in apples, propionic (0.92 to 2.75 log reduction), acetic (0.52 to 2.78 log reduction), lactic (1.69 to >3.42 log reduction), malic (1.48 to >3.42 log reduction), and citric acid (1.52 to >3.42 log reduction) exhibited significant (P < 0.05) antibacterial effects against 3 foodborne pathogens compared to the control treatment. In lettuce, propionic (0.93 to 1.52 log reduction), acetic (1.13 to 1.74 log reduction), lactic (1.87 to 2.54 log reduction), malic (2.32 to 2.98 log reduction), and citric acid (1.85 to 2.86 log reduction) showed significant (P < 0.05) effects compared to the control treatment. Changes in sample color subjected to organic acids treatment were not significant during storage. PRACTICAL APPLICATION It is suggested that organic acids have a potential as sanitizers for organic fresh produce. These data may help the organic produce industry provide safe fresh produce for consumers.
Inhibitory Processes Relate Differently to Balance/Reaction Time Dual Tasks in Young and Older Adults

ABSTRACT Inhibitory processes have been suggested to be involved in maintaining balance in older adults, specifically in the integration of sensory information. This study investigated the association between inhibition and the ability to shift attention between auditory and visual modalities during a balance challenge. Young (21–35 years; n = 24) and older (70–85 years; n = 22) healthy subjects completed tasks assessing perceptual inhibition and motor inhibition. Subjects then performed dual-task paradigms pairing auditory and visual choice reaction time tasks with different postural conditions. Sensory channel switch cost was quantified as the difference between visual and auditory reaction times. Results showed that better perceptual and motor inhibition capabilities were associated with less sensory switch cost in the old (perceptual inhibition: r = .51; motor inhibition: r = .48). In the young, neither perceptual nor motor inhibition was associated with sensory switch cost. Inhibitory skills appear particularly important in the elderly for processing events from multiple sensory channels while maintaining balance.
Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes.

BACKGROUND Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of getting influenza than the general population, therefore putting patients at risk of nosocomial infection. Influenza vaccination coverage among HCWs is low despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. However, the reasons for such a poor uptake are not well reported in Malaysia. This study aimed at assessing the rate of influenza vaccination uptake, knowledge and attitude of healthcare workers regarding influenza, and employers' policy on influenza vaccination. METHODS A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in three hospitals in the Klang Valley. Mann-Whitney test was used to assess possible differences in knowledge and attitude towards flu vaccination and the χ2 was used for categorical variables. Analyses were performed with SPSS 22.0. RESULTS A total of 690 questionnaires were distributed; 527 were returned (giving a response rate of 76.4%. The vaccine uptake was 51.4% with the majority (83.5%) of those believing they were vaccinated to protect themselves. Higher proportion of vaccinated HCWs (p <0.05) agreeing to the fact that influenza is a serious threat to their health, however, 10% were not sure of its safety. Eighty-three (15.7%) claimed their employers did not have a vaccination policy, while 43.3% were not sure if their employers have vaccination policy. CONCLUSION This study has demonstrated more than half of the healthcare workers were vaccinated, with a significant proportion of the healthcare workers believed they were vaccinated to protect themselves, while most of those that were not vaccinated claimed they are worried about the safety of the vaccine. Most employers did not have a flu vaccination policy in place. Hence, the need for government to enforce such policy and make annual flu vaccination free and compulsory for all healthcare workers.
Genetic diversity and phylogenetic analysis of Tams1 of Theileria annulata isolates from three continents between 2000 and 2012

Theileria annulata, which is part of the Theileria sergenti/Theileria buffeli/Theileria orientalis group, preferentially infects cattle and results in high mortality and morbidity in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Central Asia. The polypeptide Tams1 is an immunodominant major merozoite piroplasm surface antigen of T. annulata that could be used as a marker for epidemiological studies and phylogenetic analysis. In the present study, a total of 155 Tams1 sequences were investigated for genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships through phylogenetic analysis. Results showed that the Tams1 sequences were divided into two major groups and that distribution for some isolates also exhibited geographic specificity. As targeting polymorphic genes for parasite detection may result in underestimation of infection, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay using two different probes targeting tams-1 genes of these two groups can be more credible. In addition, the direction of the spread of the disease was discovered to be from the Mediterranean or the tropical zone to the Eurasian peninsula, Middle East, Southern Asia, and Africa, particularly for Group 2. A similar occurrence was also found between the Ms1 gene of Theileria lestoquardi and the Tams1 gene of T. annulata, which explains cross-immunogenicity to a certain extent. However, no potential glycosylation site in the Tams1 of T. annulata was found in this study, which illustrated that instead of N-glycosylation, other modifications have more significant effects on the immunogenicity of the Tams1 protein.
The impact of conditional conservatism on creative accounting: A suggested framework

This paper provides a framework of how conditional conservatism contributes to the reduction of creative accounting which in turn affects auditor fees, litigation risk, auditor independence and improved auditing quality. All these factors are reflected in the degree of stakeholders’ confidence in financial reports. The absence of conservatism in the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) conceptual framework is due to its belief that conditional conservatism causes a bias in accounting information and that it compromises neutrality. However, by supporting conservatism with a set of controls including upgraded training, intensified effort of auditors, increased professional skills and activated audit committees, users’ financial statement become more reliable which helps users make the right decisions.
Evidence of allergic inflammation in the middle ear and nasopharynx in atopic children with otitis media with effusion.

BACKGROUND Otitis media with effusion (OME) occurs in the setting of eustachian tube (ET) dysfunction. Previous studies have demonstrated a predominance of T helper 2 (Th2) mediators in the middle ear effusions (MEEs) of atopic children, suggesting that allergy plays a role in the pathogenesis of OME. Given that the middle ear is contiguous with the upper airway, the allergic inflammation seen in the middle ear of atopic patients with OME may also have been observed in the nasopharynx. OBJECTIVE We hypothesize that atopic children have different cellular and cytokine profiles in MEE compared with nonatopic patients and that this allergic inflammation occurs in both the middle ear and the nasopharynx. METHODS Forty-five patients undergoing both ventilation tube placement for OME and adenoidectomy for adenoid hypertrophy were recruited. The atopic status was determined for each patient using standard skin testing. The cellular and cytokine profiles of the MEEs and the torus tubarius and adenoid tissues were investigated using immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization. RESULTS Our results indicate that, within the atopic patient, there is a similar cellular and cytokine profile within the three regions sampled, with a predominant expression of interleukin-4 (a Th2 cytokine) and an increased infiltration of eosinophils compared with the nonatopic patient. CONCLUSION These findings confirm the association of allergy with MEE and support the hypothesis that the middle ear may be an integral part of the United Airway Concept.
Human T cell responses to endogenously presented HLA‐A*0201 restricted peptides of simian virus 40 large T antigen

Presence of the simian virus 40 (SV40) has recently been demonstrated in a relatively high percentage of human mesotheliomas and it is associated with the development of these malignancies in pleural cavities. Therefore, we have initiated a study to identify candidate peptides presented by the human HLA‐A*0201 molecule for vaccination approaches against SV40 and monitoring of SV40 directed human immune responses. Initial screening of SV40 large T (Tag) domains required for transformation of cells for HLA‐A*0201 binding motifs revealed ten possible binding peptides. Screening of these candidate peptides showed that seven of the ten peptides could bind and stabilize HLA‐A*0201 molecules. In an in vitro immunization assay the two peptides with the highest binding affinity for HLA‐A*0201, Tag aa 396–405 and aa 577–585, were tested for their ability to induce peptide specific cytotoxic T cells in two healthy donors. One donor developed cytotoxic T cells against Tag aa 396–405 and in T cell cultures of both donors Tag aa 577–585 specific T cells were initiated. The T cells against Tag aa 577–585 not only recognized and killed peptide pulsed cells, but, most importantly, SV40 transformed human mesothelial cells. This is the first demonstration of the induction of SV40 specific human cytotoxic T lymphocytes that recognize endogenously processed peptides from SV40. This peptide identification study opens the possibility to investigate immune responses against SV40 in mesothelioma patients and in individuals exposed to SV40. J. Cell. Biochem. 82: 155–162, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Clinical significance of elevated plasma endothelin concentration in patients with cirrhosis

Endothelin is a newly discovered potent vasoconstrictor peptide. To explain the clinical significance of endothelin in patients with chronic liver diseases, we measured the plasma concentration of endothelin in patients with chronic hepatitis (n = 15), cirrhosis with ascites (n = 8) and cirrhosis without ascites (n = 12), and we compared the findings with the plasma concentration of endothelin in normal controls (n = 14). The plasma endothelin concentration was significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis with ascites than in normal controls (8.3 ± 2.3 pg/ml vs. 3.3 ± 1.4 pg/ml, mean ± S.D., p < 0.001), whereas no significant difference was observed between normal controls and the other groups of patients (cirrhosis without ascites = 5.0 ± 1.3 pg/ml; chronic hepatitis = 3.8 ± 1.2 pg/ml). In patients with cirrhosis, the plasma endothelin concentration showed a significant negative correlation with creatinine clearance (r = −0.73, p < 0.01), but no significant correlation was observed between plasma endothelin concentration and fractional excretion of filtered sodium. Furthermore, plasma endothelin levels were significantly higher in patients with endotoxemia than in those without (10.1 ± 2.1 pg/ml vs. 4.9 ± 1.2 pg/ml, p < 0.001). From these results, elevated plasma endothelin, which has a close relation to endotoxemia, may play a contributory role in kidney dysfunction in patients with cirrhosis. (HEPATOLOGY 1992;16:95–99.)
Parent-of-origin effects in MS

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurologic disease of unknown etiology and inheritance pattern, but with increasing incidence among females. The study of aunt/uncle–niece/nephew (AUNN) pairs has potential to shed light on the on complex trait inheritance as this group can be divided into eight different pair types by gender, MS status, and parent of origin. Methods: Using a cohort of 807 avuncular MS families with 938 affected AUNN pairs ascertained from a longitudinal, population-based Canadian database, we examined differential MS transmission by separating affected pairs into likely maternal and paternal trait origin. Results: We observed an increased number of avuncular pairs connected through unaffected mothers compared to unaffected fathers (p = 0.008). To restrict confounders introduced by families with multiple pairs the overall number of maternal and paternal families were compared, to reveal a significantly higher number of maternal families (p = 0.038). Female-to-male sex ratios were higher among affected nieces/nephews when compared to the sex ratio for aunts/uncles (0.00042). Conclusions: This observation independently confirms previous findings of a “maternal parent-of-origin” effect in multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility. These findings highlight the special contribution that can be derived from avuncular pairs. These underutilized pairings can compare transmission by the gender of affected aunt–uncle, the unaffected transmitting parent, and by that of the affected offspring. This strategy may be especially profitable in diseases where parent-of-origin effects are being sought. These findings also independently confirm the increasing rate of MS in females, demonstrating that familial cases are influenced by the same environmental factors as the general MS population.
Mouse Toll-like Receptor 4·MD-2 Complex Mediates Lipopolysaccharide-mimetic Signal Transduction by Taxol*

Taxol, an antitumor agent derived from a plant, mimics the action of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mice but not in humans. Although Taxol is structurally unrelated to LPS, Taxol and LPS are presumed to share a receptor or signaling molecule. The LPS-mimetic activity of Taxol is not observed in LPS-hyporesponsive C3H/HeJ mice, which possess a point mutation in Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4); therefore, TLR4 appears to be involved in both Taxol and LPS signaling. In addition, TLR4 was recently shown to physically associate with MD-2, a molecule that confers LPS responsiveness on TLR4. To determine whether TLR4·MD-2 complex mediates a Taxol-induced signal, we constructed transformants of the mouse pro-B cell line, Ba/F3, expressing mouse TLR4 alone, both mouse TLR4 and mouse MD-2, and both mouse MD-2 and mouse TLR4 lacking the cytoplasmic portion, and then examined whether Taxol induced NFκB activation in these transfectants. Noticeable NFκB activation by Taxol was detected in Ba/F3 expressing mouse TLR4 and mouse MD-2 but not in the other transfectants. Coexpression of human TLR4 and human MD-2 did not confer Taxol responsiveness on Ba/F3 cells, suggesting that the TLR4·MD-2 complex is responsible for the species specificity with respect to Taxol responsiveness. Furthermore, Taxol-induced NFκB activation via TLR4·MD-2 was blocked by an LPS antagonist that blocks LPS-induced NFκB activation via TLR4·MD-2. These results demonstrated that coexpression of mouse TLR4 and mouse MD-2 is required for Taxol responsiveness and that the TLR4·MD-2 complex is the shared molecule in Taxol and LPS signal transduction in mice.
Risk of gastrointestinal complications in cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a meta-analysis.

AIM We performed a meta-analysis of the risk of selected gastrointestinal toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. PATIENTS & METHODS Eligible studies included randomized trials of patients with solid tumors on ipilimumab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab, tremelimumab, pidilizumab and atezolizumab, describing events of diarrhea, vomiting or colitis. RESULTS After exclusion of ineligible studies, a total of ten clinical trials were considered eligible for the meta-analysis. The relative risk of all-grade diarrhea, vomiting and colitis was 1.64 (95% CI: 1.19-2.26; p = 0.002), 0.72 (95% CI: 0.49-1.07; p = 0.1), 10.35 (95% CI: 5.78-18.53; p < 0.00001), respectively. CONCLUSION Our meta-analysis has demonstrated that immune checkpoint inhibitors are associated with a significantly increased risk of all grade and high-grade colitis.
Assessment of in vivo skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiratory capacity in humans by near‐infrared spectroscopy: a comparison with in situ measurements

In vivo skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiratory capacity was determined from the post‐exercise recovery kinetics of muscle oxygen consumption ( mVO2 ) measured using near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in humans. NIRS recovery rates were compared with the in situ gold standard of high‐resolution respirometry measured in permeabilized muscle fibre bundles prepared from muscle biopsies taken from the same participants. NIRS‐measured recovery kinetics of mVO2 were well correlated with maximal ADP‐stimulated mitochondrial respiration in permeabilized fibre bundles. NIRS provides a cost‐effective, non‐invasive means of assessing in vivo mitochondrial respiratory capacity.
Effect of enamel matrix derivative on collagen guided tissue regeneration-based root coverage procedure.

BACKGROUND Enamel matrix derivative (EMD) has been shown to promote periodontal wound healing and/or regeneration when applied to tooth root surfaces in soft tissue dehiscence models. In addition, guided tissue regeneration (GTR)-based root coverage using collagen membrane (GTRC) has shown promising results. However, limited information is available regarding how EMD may influence GTRC outcome. METHODS Twenty-six patients with Miller's Class I or II gingival recession defects of 2.5 mm were recruited for the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either EMD + collagen (EMDC; test group) or collagen membrane (GTRC; control group). Clinical parameters, including plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), relative clinical attachment levels (RCAL) to the stent, recession depth (RD), recession width (RW), probing depth (PD), gingival tissue thickness (GTT), and width of keratinized gingiva (KG) were assessed at baseline, and 3 and 6 months after surgery. A repeated measure of analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine differences between treatment groups and time effect. RESULTS Both treatments (GTRC and EMDC) resulted in a statistically significant decrease in RD and RW between baseline and 6 months (P <0.05). However, no difference was noted between treatment groups. The percent of root coverage after 6 months was 75% for GTRC and 63% for EMDC. Complete 100% root coverage was achieved in five patients in the GTRC group, compared to only one patient in the EMDC group. There was a statistically significant gain (P <0.05) in the clinical attachment level (CAL) between baseline and 6 months in both groups, as reflected on the RCAL data. No other significant differences were noted on other clinical parameters (PD, GTT, KG, GI, and PI). CONCLUSIONS GTR-based root coverage utilizing collagen membrane, with or without enamel matrix derivative, can be successfully used in obtaining gingival recession coverage. The application of EMD during GTRC procedures did not add additional benefit to the final clinical outcome.
FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN POLAND 1990-2018

The aim of the paper is to study finance-economic growth nexus in Poland using a time series approach. We find evidence of the existence of the finance-economic growth link in Poland. Most empirical studies do not consider the lending structure of the financial sector (share of households’ vs firms in total credits). The obtained results show that when using the share of households and companies in total credits, the long run empirical relationship in VECM is statistically significant and larger. Empirical studies using total private credit share in the GDP or the value/volume of total credits tend to undervalue the impact of financial development on economic growth. In the case of Poland, empirical evidence that supports this hypothesis was found, and therefore policymakers and researchers should take bank lending structure into account. Furthermore, the study shows that financial series may possibly have long memory properties and that researching the financial development-growth nexus could require using fractional integration methods. The reported evidence suggests financial development plays a significant role in both economic growth and credit growth. Due to data limitation, this study focuses on a single country case – Poland with the need for further research (larger sample).
Resolution Enhancement for Inversed Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Under Low SNR via Improved Compressive Sensing

The theory of compressed sampling (CS) indicates that exact recovery of an unknown sparse signal can be achieved from very limited samples. For inversed synthetic aperture radar (ISAR), the image of a target is usually constructed by strong scattering centers whose number is much smaller than that of pixels of an image plane. This sparsity of the ISAR signal intrinsically paves a way to apply CS to the reconstruction of high-resolution ISAR imagery. CS-based high-resolution ISAR imaging with limited pulses is developed, and it performs well in the case of high signal-to-noise ratios. However, strong noise and clutter are usually inevitable in radar imaging, which challenges current high-resolution imaging approaches based on parametric modeling, including the CS-based approach. In this paper, we present an improved version of CS-based high-resolution imaging to overcome strong noise and clutter by combining coherent projectors and weighting with the CS optimization for ISAR image generation. Real data are used to test the robustness of the improved CS imaging compared with other current techniques. Experimental results show that the approach is capable of precise estimation of scattering centers and effective suppression of noise.
Sovereign wealth funds : governance, performance and durability

Sovereign wealth funds have become an important actor on the economic and financial sphere. However, their rises have also brought many concerns, since there are accused to pursue strategic and even political motivations. This thesis has for objectives to see if those concerns have reasons to be. We will elaborate new governance models that are respectful of the funds objectives, and analyze funds’ activism. We will also try to determine their performance as well as their impact on the firms they invest in, by considering five distinct types of funds. Finally, we will study the funds longevity, and their implication in socially responsible investment.