Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a Long-Term Ascending Urinary Tract Infection Mouse Model for Antibiotic Treatment Studies

ABSTRACT A model of ascending unobstructed urinary tract infection (UTI) in mice was developed to study the significance of the antibiotic concentration in urine, serum, and kidney tissue for efficacy of treatment of UTI in general and pyelonephritis in particular. Outbred Ssc-CF1 female mice were used throughout the study, andEscherichia coli was used as the pathogen. The virulence of 11 uropathogenic E. coli isolates and 1 nonpathogenic laboratory E. coli strain was examined. Strain C175-94 achieved the highest counts in the kidneys, and this strain was subsequently used as the infecting organism. The model gave reproducible bladder infections, i.e., bacteria were recovered from 22 of 23 control mice after 3 days, and histological examination of kidney tissue showed that of 14 infected kidneys, 7 (50%) showed major histological changes, whereas 3 of 36 uninfected kidneys showed major histological changes (P = 0.018). Once the model was established, the efficacies of different doses of cefuroxime and gentamicin, corresponding to active concentrations in urine only or in urine, serum, and kidney tissue simultaneously, were examined. All cefuroxime doses resulted in significantly lower counts in urine than control treatments, but the dose which produced concentrations of cefuroxime only in urine and not in serum or kidney tissue had no effect on kidney infection. Even low doses of gentamicin (0.05 mg/mouse) resulted in concentrations in renal tissue for prolonged times due to accumulation. All gentamicin doses had a significant effect (compared to the effect of the control treatment) on bacterial counts in urine and kidneys. The antibiotic effect on bacterial counts in bladders was negligible for unknown reasons. Use of the mouse UTI model is feasible for study of the effect of an antibiotic in the urinary system, although the missing antibacterial effect in the bladder needs further evaluation.
A multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization assay: A monitoring tool in the surveillance of patients with a history of non–muscle‐invasive urothelial cell carcinoma

Non–muscle‐invasive urothelial cell carcinoma (NMIUCC) has a high tendency to recur and affected patients must be monitored regularly using invasive cystoscopies. The aim of the current study was to compare a multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay (UroVysion) with routine follow‐up (cystoscopy and cytology) in the monitoring of patients with a previous history of NMIUCC.
The Polarization of the U.S. Labor Market

This paper analyzes a marked change in the evolution of the U.S. wage structure over the past fifteen years: divergent trends in upper-tail (90/50) and lower-tail (50/10) wage inequality. We document that wage inequality in the top half of distribution has displayed an unchecked and rather smooth secular rise for the last 25 years (since 1980). Wage inequality in the bottom half of the distribution also grew rapidly from 1979 to 1987, but it has ceased growing (and for some measures actually narrowed) since the late 1980s. Furthermore we find that occupational employment growth shifted from monotonically increasing in wages (education) in the 1980s to a pattern of more rapid growth in jobs at the top and bottom relative to the middles of the wage (education) distribution in the 1990s. We characterize these patterns as the %u201Cpolarization%u201D of the U.S. labor market, with employment polarizing into high-wage and low-wage jobs at the expense of middle-wage work. We show how a model of computerization in which computers most strongly complement the non-routine (abstract) cognitive tasks of high-wage jobs, directly substitute for the routine tasks found in many traditional middle-wage jobs, and may have little direct impact on non-routine manual tasks in relatively low-wage jobs can help explain the observed polarization of the U.S. labor market.
Missing OH Reactivity in a Forest: Evidence for Unknown Reactive Biogenic VOCs

Forest emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), such as isoprene and other terpenes, play a role in the production of tropospheric ozone and aerosols. In a northern Michigan forest, the direct measurement of total OH reactivity, which is the inverse of the OH lifetime, was significantly greater than expected. The difference between measured and expected OH reactivity, called the missing OH reactivity, increased with temperature, as did emission rates for terpenes and other BVOCs. These measurements are consistent with the hypothesis that unknown reactive BVOCs, perhaps terpenes, provide the missing OH reactivity.
Responses of regular spiking and fast spiking cells in turtle visual cortex to light flashes

Sharp electrodes were used to record light-evoked postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) from neurons in turtle visual cortex in an in vitro preparation of the geniculocortical pathway. Neurons were placed into four groups based on the firing patterns produced by intracellular current injections: regular spiking (RS), fast spiking (FS), intrinsic bursting (IB), and chattering (CH) cells. RS cells have been shown to be pyramidal cells while FS cells are typically interneurons. Light stimuli were diffuse, 1-s flashes of 640-nm light with intensities (I) varying from 0 to 104 photons μm−2 s−1. The response (R) in each case was the maximal amplitude of the light-evoked depolarizing PSP. Cells of all four types showed sigmoidal intensity–response (IR) functions with a linear rising phase for stimuli above the intensity threshold followed by saturation at high light intensities. Responses at high intensities were variable and some cells showed indications of supersaturation. Light-evoked PSPs had longer latencies and times-to-peak response in RS cells than they did in FS cells. RS cells fired action potentials as much as 200 ms later than did FS cells. Since responses recorded in RS cells at light intensities just above threshold are unlikely to involve contributions from other pyramidal cells, these data indicate that the geniculocortical or feedforward pathway to pyramidal cells has a high gain. The fact that FS cells fire well before RS cells suggests that feedforward inhibition plays a role in controlling the gain of the geniculocortical pathway.
Drop test for Sn96.7-Ag3.7 polymer core solder ball in BGA package

Using polymer core solder ball in ball-grid-array (BGA) package instead of solid solder ball in cost consideration is a feasible choice. Besides the consideration for inter-metallic compound (IMC) between solder ball and carrier substrate, the reliability test for drop test is necessary. Following the commercial specification test conditions, this candidate demonstrates an impressive performance. The uniformity for the test results is also better than that with the control group. The slope value and scale parameter of Weibull distribution adopted in this statistic calculation illustrated the polymer core solder ball in BGA package owned the wonderful bombardment endurance capability, incorporated with the ENEPIG processing recipe for substrate metal finish.
Supporting an Integrated Soft Approach to Ecotourism Development: The Agmon Lake, Israel

Abstract This paper deals with an ecotourism site – the Agmon Lake in Israel. The main aim of the research is to conduct market analysis based on geographical, demographic and psychographic characteristics of visitors and non-visitors in order to draw some conclusions on the nature of ecotourism with respect to supply, demand and planning, and their interrelationship. The methodology included interviews with 961 visitors to the Agmon Lake about their personal characteristics, activities at the site and attitudes toward the site. Their answers were also compared with those of 254 tourists who did not visit the Agmon Lake during their visit to the area but rather visited other mass tourist sites. The analysis of the results of each group surveyed, as well as the correlation between the groups, enables the classification of visitors and to distinguish them from the ‘non-visitors’ (those who come to this region of Galilee but choose not to visit the site itself). It was found that the differences between nature-based tourists, ecotourists and special tourist niches (such as bird-watchers) are narrowing and that it is becoming hard to differentiate between the different market segments. It is also suggested that the identified de-segmentation exists not only on the demand side (e.g. the tourists) but also on the supply side (the sites themselves). Thus, the Agmon Lake could be considered as a ‘soft’ ecotourism site according to its characteristics.
Strategic management of profit centers in promoting exhausted enterprises

The purpose of cost and profit can not be obtained just about knowing the cost of products, it must consider the economic management of the enterprise to obtain the best balance between expenditure and utility which it creates. Studying the implications of management issues based on profit centers leads us to pay attention to the management of resources, because the optimization can be achieved only through careful decentralization and delegation of authority. But we put the question of how managers can ensure obtaining a high performance in a competitive environment unstable, complex and turbulent? Answers to these questions take different shades depending on the nature of managerial interventions, type of business covered and its economic and financial situation. The solution is to redesign the management, that change the parameter of the constructive and functional management system - results - human, as valence strategy "sustainable" market, flexible conceptual and practical. Key words: Profit centers, results, management, performance, strategy.
Exploring sequence constraints on an interhelical turn using in vivo selection for catalytic activity

The role of interhelical turns in determining protein structure has been investigated previously in relatively simple four‐helix‐bundle proteins using combinatorial mutagenesis coupled with screening for functional variants. To assess the tolerance to sequence substitution of a short, interhelical turn in a larger, more complicated protein, we have exploited a more sensitive in vivo selection for catalytic activity. Randomization of three solvent‐exposed turn residues in Escherichia coli chorismate mutase (Ala65, His66, and His67), followed by selection, indicated that > 63% of tripeptides, including some with significantly altered backbone conformations, can functionally replace the native sequence. The increased sensitivity of the catalytic assay allowed optimal sequences to be distinguished from less appropriate ones, revealing a statistically significant preference for hydrophilic residues in solvent‐exposed positions. It also enabled investigation of the extent to which either secondary structure or tertiary interactions influence substitution patterns. Randomization of an α‐helical residue (Lys64), together with the adjacent solvent‐exposed tripeptide, Ala65‐His66‐His67, showed that the secondary structure at position 64 does not limit the range of side chains allowed at this site. In contrast, randomization of a buried turn residue (Leu68), together with the same tripeptide, revealed an extremely strict requirement for hydrophobic aliphatic amino acids at this position. The strong constraint imposed by the tertiary interaction, in contrast to the weak influence of secondary structure, has important implications for protein design.
The Influence of Counterfactual Comparison on Fairness in Gain-Loss Contexts

Fairness perceptions may be affected by counterfactual comparisons. Although certain studies using a two-player ultimatum game (UG) have shown that comparison with the proposers influences the responders' fairness perceptions in a gain context, the effect of counterfactual comparison in a UG with multiple responders or proposers remains unclear, especially in a loss context. To resolve these issues, this study used a modified three-player UG with multiple responders in Experiment 1 and multiple proposers in Experiment 2 to examine the influence of counterfactual comparison on fairness-related decision-making in gain and loss contexts. The two experiments consistently showed that regardless of the gain or loss context, the level of inequality of the offer and counterfactual comparison influenced acceptance rates (ARs), response times (RTs), and fairness ratings (FRs). If the offers that were received were better than the counterfactual offers, unequal offers were more likely to be accepted than equal offers, and participants were more likely to report higher FRs and to make decisions more quickly. In contrast, when the offers they received were worse than the counterfactual offers, participants were more likely to reject unequal offers than equal offers, reported lower FRs, and made decisions more slowly. These results demonstrate that responders' fairness perceptions are influenced by not only comparisons of the absolute amount of money that they would receive but also specific counterfactuals from other proposers or responders. These findings improve our understanding of fairness perceptions.
Caffeine, alcohol, smoking, and the risk of incident epithelial ovarian cancer

Smoking, caffeine, and alcohol intake are all potentially modifiable factors that have an unclear association with ovarian cancer risk. Therefore, the associations between these exposures and ovarian cancer risk were prospectively examined among 110,454 women in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) for the smoking analyses and 80,253 women for the dietary analyses.
Recombinant water-soluble chlorophyll protein from Brassica oleracea var. Botrys binds various chlorophyll derivatives.

A gene coding for water-soluble chlorophyll-binding protein (WSCP) from Brassica oleracea var. Botrys has been used to express the protein, extended by a hexahistidyl tag, in Escherichia coli. The protein has been refolded in vitro to study its pigment binding behavior. Recombinant WSCP was found to bind two chlorophylls (Chls) per tetrameric protein complex but no carotenoids in accordance with previous observations with the native protein [Satoh, H. , Nakayama, K. , Okada, M. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 30568-30575]. WSCP binds Chl a, Chl b, bacteriochlorophyll a, and the Zn derivative of Chl a but not pheophytin a, indicating that the central metal ion in Chl is essential for binding. WSCP also binds chlorophyllides a and b and even the more distant Chl precursor Mg-protoporphyrin IX; however, these pigments fail to induce oligomerization of the protein. We conclude that the phytol group in bound Chl plays a role in the formation of tetrameric WSCP complexes. If WSCP in fact binds Chl or its derivative(s) in vivo, the lack of carotenoids in pigmented WSCP raises the question of how photooxidation, mediated by triplet-excited Chl and singlet oxygen, is prohibited. We show by spin-trap electron-paramagnetic resonance that the light-induced singlet-oxygen formation of WSCP-bound Chl is lower by a factor of about 4 than that of unbound Chl. This as-yet-unknown mechanism of WSCP to protect its bound Chl against photooxidation supports the notion that WSCP may function as a transient carrier of Chl or its derivatives.
Do We Really Know That Oil Caused the Great Stagflation? A Monetary Alternative

This paper argues that major oil price increases were not nearly as essential a part of the causal mechanism that generated the stagflation of the 1970s as is often thought. There is neither a theoretical presumption that oil supply shocks are stagflationary nor robust empirical evidence for this view. In contrast, we show that monetary expansions and contractions can generate stagflation of realistic magnitude even in the absence of supply shocks. Furthermore, monetary fluctuations help to explain the historical movements of the prices of oil and other commodities, including the surge in the prices of industrial commodities that preceded the 1973-1974 oil price increase. Thus, they can account for the striking coincidence of major oil price increases and worsening stagflation.
Arfima-Figarch vs. Arfima-Hygarch: Case Study ETF Returns of Emerging Asian Countries

This research investigate the long memory returns for ETF returns index of seven Asian countries in Emerging Markets Equities during 2008-2013 periods. Those ETFs are Wisdom Tree Indian Rupee Fund (ICN), Market Vectors Indonesia Index (IDX), iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund (EWM), Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX), and iShares MSCI Thailand Investable Market Index Fund (THD), SPDR S&P China ETF (GXC), and Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM). The ARFIMA, ARFIMA-FIGARCH, and ARFIMA-HYGARCH models were estimated. The empirical results of log-likelihood information criterion analyses, the statistics supports ARFIMA-HYGARCH model instead of ARFIMA and ARFIMA-FIGARCH models.
Optimal Law Enforcement with Legal Aid

The economic literature on enforcement is generally pessimistic concerning the use of legal aid. In this paper we show that legal aid can be a part of optimal law enforcement. The rationale behind our result is that with legal aid, in a system with legal or judicial error both guilty and innocent individuals are better off, because the marginal cost of defence expenditure is reduced. If, on average, legal aid helps the innocent more than the guilty, a government seeking to maximize social welfare will want to use it in order to increase deterrence.
MAC framework for Intermittently Connected Cognitive Radio networks

This paper presents a customizable framework for employing Cognitive Radio in Intermittently Connected Wireless Networks, which aims to maximize transmission opportunities that arise when fully connected network partitions are formed. Various layer 3 routing and information dissemination protocols would benefit from increased opportunity utility. We propose to use Cognitive Radio to permit multiple flows to occur in close proximity while minimizing spectrum wastage. We provide an example implementation of the proposed MAC framework which could increase the MAC throughput of networks exhibiting intermittent connectivity and network partition.
Corporate Governance Scoring Systems: What Do They Tell Us?

The failure of companies such as Enron in the United States, and One. Tel and HIH in Australia, and the collapse of Arthur Andersen have created a worldwide debate on the importance of good corporate governance practices. A number of accounting and consulting firms and rating agencies have responded to the debate by developing corporate governance scoring systems (CGSS). In this paper we seek evidence of whether CGSS convey any information about the financial characteristics and performance of companies. We find no evidence of any significant relationship between the corporate governance score and financial performance. However, we find a direct relationship between a firm's size and its corporate governance score.
The Motives for Joint Ventures: A Transaction Costs Analysis of Japanese MNES in the UK

What factors determine the choice of Japanese companies between part and full ownership of their UK subsidiaries? In seeking to answer this question, this study employs data of Japenese foreign direct investment (FDI), through joint ventures, in the UK, not previously used. The main findings of the econometric work presented is that transaction costs are the principal consideration when Japanese firms choose between part and full ownership of their UK subsidiaries. Variables that hive featured prominently in studies relating to either US parents or for subsidiaries in the US do not appear to play a significant role. The European Union (EU) market appears to be the target of Japanese foreign direct investment in the UK. Copyright 1997 by Scottish Economic Society.
A Simulation Analysis of Tour-Shift Construction Procedures

Work force scheduling research over the last few years has concentrated on the shift scheduling problem in service oriented firms telephone operators, postal employees, bank encoders, etc. In all cases, the authors were primarily interested in the evaluating procedures optimal and heuristic to determine the appropriate number of workers to be assigned to the available set of work schedules to meet fluctuating work volumes. However, more attention should be given to how the available shift schedules were defined start times, durations, etc. and their impact on maintaining good productivity levels. This paper analyzes the impact of six different approaches in defining the available weekly tour-shift schedules. Tests are conducted to evaluate the performance of the six approaches using operating data from Ohio National Bank for the check proof and encoding activity. The results of this study provide some useful managerial insights into the issues of effectively staffing personnel on a weekly basis. First, restrictive employment policies/customs can substantially increase costs. Second, structured procedures can be used to identify and build good employment schedules for a weekly assignment. And third, the structured procedures presented here provide useful cost and productivity information for evaluating various staffing decisions, and weighing these decisions with other intangible factors such as employee morale and turnover.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions Interactive comment on “ Comparison of OMI ozone and UV irradiance data with ground-based measurements at two French sites ”

Answers to referee #2 comments received and published on 10 April 2008, on the manuscript: "Comparison of OMI ozone and UV irradiance data with ground-based measurements at two French sites. " General comments : This well-written paper presents a comparison between OMI (TOMS-like and DOASlike) estimated total ozone content (TOC) and the value retrieved from two Jobin Yvon spectroradiometers at two French sites. Spectral irradiance and erythemal doses/dose
Dissatisfaction Attributions and Complaining Behavior Of Public Library Users

This study investigates the dissatisfaction attributions and complaining behavior of public library users. This paper analysis a survey of ninety-nine randomly selected public library users in the Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia. Data was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The survey revealed that public library users in the Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia, who believe that service failure is due to the negligence of library staff and perceive the service of the library to be free, are more likely to complain to a third party. Loyal users also prefer to complain to a third party about their dissatisfaction. Some users complain directly to the personnel or person in charge of the department or chief librarian at the time of dissatisfaction. Users' complaints can be a powerful resource for the library management to use in making strategic and tactical decisions that could prevent them from switching services or performing actions such as abandoning theÂ·library and no longer using library services.