Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Slow response to vancomycin or vancomycin plus rifampin in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis.

OBJECTIVE To determine the median response time to therapy with vancomycin alone or with vancomycin plus rifampin in patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) endocarditis. DESIGN Cohort analysis of a randomized study. SETTING University medical center. PATIENTS Forty-two consecutive patients with MRSA endocarditis were randomly assigned to receive either vancomycin (group I) or vancomycin plus rifampin (group II) for 28 days. MEASUREMENTS Clinical signs and symptoms were recorded, and blood cultures were obtained daily to determine the duration of bacteremia. MAIN RESULTS The median duration of bacteremia was 9 days (7 days for group I and 9 days for group II). The median duration of fever for all patients and for each treatment group was 7 days. Six patients failed therapy, including three patients who died 5, 6, and 9 days after therapy was started, respectively. The other three patients who failed therapy required valve surgery on days 2, 22, and 27, respectively. Although patients had sustained bacteremia, no unusual complications were seen in either treatment group, and most patients responded to continued antibiotic therapy. CONCLUSIONS Slow clinical response is common among patients with MRSA endocarditis who are treated with vancomycin or vancomycin plus rifampin. Nevertheless, few complications appear to be related solely to this sustained bacteremia.
High‐resolution diffusion tensor imaging of human patellar cartilage: Feasibility and preliminary findings

MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to analyze the microstructural properties of articular cartilage. Human patellar cartilage‐on‐bone samples were imaged at 9.4T using a diffusion‐weighted SE sequence (12 gradient directions, resolution = 39 × 78 × 1500 μm3). Voxel‐based maps of the mean diffusivity, fractional anisotropy (FA), and eigenvectors were calculated. The mean diffusivity decreased from the surface (1.45 × 10−3 mm2/s) to the tide mark (0.68 × 10−3 mm2/s). The FA was low (0.04–0.28) and had local maxima near the surface and in the portion of the cartilage corresponding to the radial layer. The eigenvector corresponding to the largest eigenvalue showed a distinct zonal pattern, being oriented tangentially and radially in the upper and lower portions of the cartilage, respectively. The findings correspond to current scanning electron microscopy (SEM) data on the zonal architecture of cartilage. The eigenvector maps appear to reflect the alignment of the collagenous fibers in cartilage. In view of current efforts to develop and evaluate structure‐modifying therapeutic approaches in osteoarthritis (OA), DTI may offer a tool to assess the structural properties of cartilage. Magn Reson Med 53:993–998, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Light Sensitivity in Peripheral Retinal Fields of Dyslexic and Proficient Readers

This present study furthers research on perceptual differences between dyslexics and normal readers which is contrary to the current linguistic approaches to this problem. Specifically, thresholds of light intensity for small retinal areas were examined. As hypothesized, the peripheral retinas of proficient readers evidenced lower thresholds than the peripheral retinas of dyslexic readers. These results are consistent with Grosser and Spafford's previous research which showed that dyslexics were better able to detect colors with their peripheral retinas than proficient readers. This research lends support to the premise that dyslexics' retinas have unusually high cone density in the periphery. Additional research is warranted to improve both diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia.
A Comparative Field Monitoring of Column Shortenings in Tall Buildings Using Wireless and Wired Sensor Network Systems

A comparative field measurement for column shortening of tall buildings is presented in this study, with a focus on the reliability and stability of a wireless sensor network. A wireless sensor network was used for monitoring the column shortenings of a 58-story building under construction. The wireless sensor network, which was composed of sensor and master nodes, employed the ultra-high-frequency band and CDMA communication methods. To evaluate the reliability and stability of the wireless sensor network system, the column shortenings were also measured using a conventional wired monitoring system. Two vibration wire gauges were installed in each of the selected 7 columns and 3 walls. Measurements for selected columns and walls were collected for 270 days after casting of the concrete. The results measured by the wireless sensor network were compared with the results of the conventional method. The strains and column shortenings measured using both methods showed good agreement for all members. It was verified that the column shortenings of tall buildings could be monitored using the wireless sensor network system with its reliability and stability.
Systematics and Evaluation of Meteorite Classification

Classification of meteorites is largely based on their mineralogical and petrographic characteristics and their whole-rock chemical and O-isotopic compositions. According to the currently used classification scheme, meteorites are divided into chondrites, primitive achondrites, and achondrites. There are 15 chondrite groups, including 8 carbonaceous (CI, CM, CO, CV, CK, CR, CH, CB), 3 ordinary (H, L, LL), 2 enstatite (EH, EL), and R and K chondrites. Several chondrites cannot be assigned to the existing groups and may represent the first members of new groups. Some groups are subdivided into subgroups, which may have resulted from asteroidal processing of a single group of meteorites. Each chondrite group is considered to have sampled a separate parent body. Some chondrite groups and ungrouped chondrites show chemical and mineralogical similarities and are grouped together into clans. The significance of this higher order of classification remains poorly understood. The primitive achondrites include ureilites, acapulcoites, lodranites, winonaites, and silicate inclusions in IAB and IIICD irons and probably represent recrystallization or residues from a low-degree partial melting of chondritic materials. The genetic relationship between primitive achondrites and the existing groups of chondritic meteorites remains controversial. Achondrites resulted from a high degree of melting of chondrites and include asteroidal (angrites, aubrites, howardites-diogenites-eucrites, mesosiderites, 3 groups of pallasites, 15 groups of irons plus many ungrouped irons) and planetary (martian, lunar) meteorites.
Etat d’infestation, connaissance endogène et approche systématique des espèces du genre Striga au Burkina Faso

Des prospections de terrain ont ete realisees dans les trois domaines phytogeographiques du Burkina Faso pour inventorier les especes de Striga , identifier leurs plantes hotes et determiner leur distribution geographique sur le territoire. Des enquetes ont egalement ete effectuees aupres des chercheurs, des agriculteurs et d’autres populations rurales pour apprehender leurs appreciations sur l’utilisation et les strategies locales de lutte contre ces plantes parasites. Les prospections ont montre que le territoire est infeste par au moins 13 especes de Striga , parmi lesquelles la presence de S. forbesii a ete revelee pour la premiere fois au Burkina Faso. L’incidence economique des 13 especes de Striga varie selon les conditions agro-ecologiques locales et le type de culture pratique. S. hermonthica , S. gesnerioide s et S. aspera sont dans l’ordre decroissant de virulence, les trois principales plantes parasites qui attaquent les cultures vivrieres du pays. Des methodes paysannes ont ete recensees et les plus courantes sont l’arrachage et le sarclage manuels. Parmi les especes de Striga inventoriees, seule S. hermonthica est connue pour ses vertus therapeutiques et est aussi utilisee dans des systemes tinctoriaux. Keywords : Striga spp. , infestation, distribution geographique, hotes, perception endogene, Burkina Faso
Methodological Notes on the Accuracy-Confidence Relation in Eyewitness Identifications

The important question of whether confidence and accuracy are related in eyewitness identifications involves a number of methodological considerations peculiar to the eyewitness setting. Inconsistencies in the literature are attributed in part to these methodological factors. Distinctions between four types of identification error (i.e., false identification, identification of foil in perpetratorpresent lineups, identification of foil in perpetrator-absent lineups, and false rejection) and two types of accuracy (accurate identification and accurate rejection) are critical to an applied analysis. Eyewitness confidence in foil identifications, although of potential theoretical interest, should not be included in the forensically relevant calculations of confidence-accuracy relationships. Choice and nonchoice responses of witnesses should be analyzed separately in terms of whether confidence has predictive utility. Applied generalizations should take account of routine real-world events such as attorney-witness briefings and other extramemorial factors that can have robust effects on confidence but not accuracy. Attempts at generalization should also take account of the imperfect relationship between witnesses' self-rated confidence and jurors' ascriptions of confidence. The common practice of squaring correlations to assess predictive utility is criticized and an alternative statistic is proposed.
Estimating seed vs. pollen dispersal from spatial genetic structure in the common ash

Spatial genetic structure was analysed with five highly polymorphic microsatellite loci in a Romanian population of common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.), a wind‐pollinated and wind‐dispersed tree species occurring in mixed deciduous forests over almost all of Europe. Contributions of seed and pollen dispersal to total gene flow were investigated by analysing the pattern of decrease in kinship coefficients among pairs of individuals with geographical distance and comparing it with simulation results. Plots of kinship against the logarithm of distance were decomposed into a slope and a shape component. Simulations showed that the slope is informative about the global level of gene flow, in agreement with theoretical expectations, whereas the shape component was correlated with the relative importance of seed vs. pollen dispersal. Hence, our results indicate that insights into the relative contributions of seed and pollen dispersal to overall gene flow can be gained from details of the pattern of spatial genetic structure at biparentally inherited loci. In common ash, the slope provided an estimate of total gene dispersal in terms of Wright's neighbourhood size of Nb = 519 individuals. No precise estimate of seed vs. pollen flow could be obtained from the shape because of the stochasticity inherent to the data, but the parameter combinations that best fitted the data indicated restricted seed flow, σs £ 14 m, and moderate pollen flow, 70 m £ σp £ 140 m.
Influence Of Demographic Factors On The Use Of Digital Library By The Post Graduate Students In Private Universities: A Case Study Of Babcock And Convenant University In Ogun State

The advent of technology has influenced the way human activities are being conducted today. The education sector in Nigeria is probably the most influenced due to the rapid growth being witnessed in the sector. Information technology is facilitating virtual delivery of programs and conduct of research. This study using survey research approach is the description of the influence of demographic factor on the use of digital libraries by postgraduate students in private universities in Nigeria. Two of such universities located in Ogun state, Nigeria were selected for the study and copies of structured questionnaire were randomly distributed among respondents to gather data. The study found out that there is a significant difference in the level of income of students from both universities in relation to the use of digital resources. In conclusion, the study recommends that both young and old students should be encouraged and sensitized on the use of digital library and the resources it has.
Mobile technology in the village: ICTs, culture, and social logistics in India

Mobile technology is currently emerging as the first extensive form of electronic communication system in many regions of Africa and Asia. This article analyses the appropriation of mobile phones in rural India by exploring what new social alternatives mobile phones enable and how these new social constellations relate to culture and cultural change. The ethnographic description relates phone usage to other communication patterns and ongoing processes of transformation. The article shows how the appropriation of phones draws from the local cultural and social context, but also that phones facilitate new patterns that show great similarity with social processes in other places where phones have been introduced as the first form of communication technology, such as the increased multiplicity of social contacts and the greater efficiency of market relationships. I argue that mobile technology amplifies ongoing processes of cultural change but does so selectively, so that it brings about the homogenization of ‘social logistics’. Resume Dans de nombreuses regions d'Asie et d'Afrique, la technologie mobile apparait aujourd'hui comme la premiere forme etendue de communications electroniques. L'auteur analyse ici l'appropriation de la telephonie mobile en Inde, en explorant les nouvelles alternatives sociales que le telephone portable rend possibles et les liens entre ces nouvelles constellations sociales, d'une part, et d'autre part la culture et le changement culturel. La description ethnographique fait le lien entre l'utilisation du telephone et les autres modes de communication et avec les processus actuels de transformation. L'article montre comment l'appropriation du telephone s'inscrit dans le contexte culturel et social local, tout en mettant en lumiere la similarite entre la facon dont le telephone facilite de nouveaux schemas de communication et les processus sociaux qui se deploient dans d'autres lieux ou la telephonie a ete introduite comme premiere forme de technologie de communication : multiplication des contacts sociaux, efficacite accrue des relations de marche. L'auteur affirme que la technologie mobile amplifie les processus actuels de changement culturel, mais quelle le fait de maniere selective, en induisant ainsi une homogeneisation de la « logistique sociale ».
Micropropagation in vitro of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)

Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) and modified Anderson’s Rhododendron medium (mAN) were compared for in vitro shoot multiplication of three highbush blueberries ‘Berkeley’, ‘Bluecrop’ and ‘Goldtraube’. All media contained 0.5 mg/L zeatin applied either alone or combined with 0.1, 1 and 5 mg/L IBA. In vitro rooting was induced using mAN medium supplemented with 0.8 mg/L IBA and 4 g/L activated charcoal. The results obtained showed that mAN medium is more suitable for in vitro multiplication of the selected highbush blueberry cultivars than MS medium. Low concentration of IBA (≤1 mg/L) added in zeatin-supplemented mAN medium increases shoot multiplication efficiency of highbush blueberries in vitro and can be recommended for large-scale propagation of high quality plants. MS medium induced partial or full necrosis of stems and leaves, which was more pronounced on media containing zeatin combined with increasing concentration of IBA. Rooting capacity of shoots varied widely among the tested blueberry cultivars. The highest rooting and acclimatisation rates were achieved in ‘Goldtraube’ (82.8 and 91.8% respectively), and the lowest (10 and 66.7% respectively) were in ‘Berkeley’.
Altered sequence of the ETS1 transcription factor may predispose to rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility

Objective: ETS1 belongs to the ETS family of transcription factors that regulate the expression of various immune-related genes. The aim of this study was to identify whether the ETS1 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs11221332, described in Caucasian subjects, plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility. Methods: We genotyped this polymorphism in 136 unrelated patients with RA and 147 healthy individuals with no history of autoimmune disease. Genotyping was performed with a polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay and the data were analysed using SPSS statistical software. Results: A statistically significant difference was observed in the distribution of the rs11221332 genotypes between RA patients and controls (p = 0.041). Comparing the distribution of rs11221332 alleles between the groups studied, a greater difference was found [odds ratio (OR) 1.504, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.036–2.183; p = 0.039]. Conclusions: The present study revealed, for first time, the positive association of a polymorphism in the sequence of the ETS1 transcription factor with RA susceptibility. Further studies in other ethnic groups of patients are needed to confirm the results of the present genetic association study related to ETS1, a widely used transcription factor in the regulation of the expression of various genes.
The Geometric Distance and Proper Motion of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33)

We measured the angular rotation and proper motion of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) with the Very Long Baseline Array by observing two H2O masers on opposite sides of the galaxy. By comparing the angular rotation rate with the inclination and rotation speed, we obtained a distance of 730 ± 168 kiloparsecs. This distance is consistent with the most recent Cepheid distance measurement. M33 is moving with a velocity of 190 ± 59 kilometers per second relative to the Milky Way. These measurements promise a method to determine dynamical models for the Local Group and the mass and dark-matter halos of M31, M33, and the Milky Way.
The Shaugh Moor Project: Second Report—The Enclosure

The Shaugh Moor project is concerned with an area of moorland in south Dartmoor north-east and north respectively of the villages of Shaugh Prior and Wotter (fig. 1). The physical threat to the evidence for settlement and land-use caused by the operations of the China Clay industry involved the Central Excavation Unit of the Department of the Environment from 1976 in a programme of survey, excavation and environmental studies related to the settlements, land boundaries, burial mounds and ceremonial structures that are to be found on this piece of moorland. The background to the project and its preliminary research strategy have been outlined in Paper I (Wainwright et al. 1979) and this publication describes the investigation of a stone-walled enclosure surrounding houses and other structures that was totally excavated in 1977 and 1978. Subsequent papers will describe the related archaeological and scientific investigations into the past environment and land-use of this block of moorland and its adjacent region.
The Orbital Pulley System: A Revolution in Concepts of Orbital Anatomy

Abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) now enables precise visualization of the mechanical state of the living human orbit. Resulting insights have motivated histological re‐examination of human and simian orbits, providing abundant consistent evidence for the active pulley hypothesis, a re‐formulation of ocular motor physiology. Each extraocular muscle (EOM) consists of a global layer (GL) contiguous with the tendon and inserting on the eyeball, and a similar‐sized orbital layer (OL) inserting on a connective tissue ring forming the EOM pulley. The pulley controls the EOM path and serves as the EOM's functional origin. Activity of the OL positions the pulley along each rectus EOM to assure that its pulling direction shifts by half the change in ocular orientation, the half‐angle behavior characteristic of a linear ocular motor plant. Half‐angle behavior is equivalent to Listing's law of ocular torsion, and makes 3‐D ocular rotations effectively commutative. Pulleys are configured to maintain oblique EOM paths orthogonal to half‐angle behavior, and violate Listing's law during the vestibulo‐ocular reflex. Rectus pulley positions shift during convergence, facilitating stereopsis.
Endoscopic transpapillary brush cytology and forceps biopsy in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

AIM To evaluate the sensitivity of brush cytology and forceps biopsy in a homogeneous patient group with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. METHODS Brush cytology and forceps biopsy were routinely performed in patients with suspected malignant biliary strictures. Fifty-eight consecutive patients undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) including forceps biopsy and brush cytology in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma between 1995-2005. RESULTS Positive results for malignancy were obtained in 24/58 patients (41.4%) by brush cytology and in 31/58 patients (53.4%) by forceps biopsy. The combination of both techniques brush cytology and forceps biopsy resulted only in a minor increase in diagnostic sensitivity to 60.3% (35/58 patients). In 20/58 patients (34.5%), diagnosis were obtained by both positive cytology and positive histology, in 11/58 (19%) by positive histology (negative cytology) and only 4/58 patients (6.9%) were confirmed by positive cytology (negative histology). CONCLUSION Brush cytology and forceps biopsy have only limited sensitivity for the diagnosis of malignant hilar tumors. In our eyes, additional diagnostic techniques should be evaluated and should become routine in patients with negative cytological and histological findings.
Are Biomphalaria snails resistant to Schistosoma mansoni?

Abstract Among Biomphalaria glabrata/Schistosoma mansoni snail–trematode combinations, it appears that some parasites succeed whilst others fail to infect snails. Snails that become infected are termed susceptible hosts. Those which are not infected are traditionally determined as ‘resistant’. Here the concept of B. glabrata resistance to S. mansoni is re-examined in the light of additional observations. It is suggested that, in B. glabrata/S. mansoni, compatibility is tested independently for each individual miracidium and host, and that the success or failure of an infection does not depend on the snail susceptibility/resistance status, but on the ‘matched’ or ‘mismatched’ status of the host and parasite phenotypes.
Investigating Purchase Conversion by Uncovering Online Visit Patterns

This research aims to understand and predict online customers’ store visit and purchase behaviors. To this end, we develop a model that accounts for different patterns of online store visits at the individual level. Given the latency of visit patterns, we employ a changepoint modeling framework and statistically infer them using a Bayesian approach. The inferences obtained are then used to examine the effects of visit patterns on purchase dynamics across store visits. Using Internet clickstream data at an online retailer, we find that online store visit patterns tend to be clustered with significant variation across customers in terms of the number and size of visit clusters as well as the visit frequencies, both within and between clusters. Furthermore, the conversion rates vary significantly, depending on store visit patterns, such that they tend to be higher at later visits within a visit cluster, compared with earlier visits. The proposed model thereby offers superior fit and predictive performance than benchmark models that ignore clustered visit patterns and their impact on purchase behavior. We demonstrate the model’s ability to better identify prospective customers by utilizing their visit patterns, which can assist marketers in scoring customers and making targeting decisions across individuals for marketing activity.Data, as supplemental material, are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2016. 0990 .