Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efflux-Mediated Antifungal Drug Resistance

SUMMARY Fungi cause serious infections in the immunocompromised and debilitated, and the incidence of invasive mycoses has increased significantly over the last 3 decades. Slow diagnosis and the relatively few classes of antifungal drugs result in high attributable mortality for systemic fungal infections. Azole antifungals are commonly used for fungal infections, but azole resistance can be a problem for some patient groups. High-level, clinically significant azole resistance usually involves overexpression of plasma membrane efflux pumps belonging to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) or the major facilitator superfamily class of transporters. The heterologous expression of efflux pumps in model systems, such Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has enabled the functional analysis of efflux pumps from a variety of fungi. Phylogenetic analysis of the ABC pleiotropic drug resistance family has provided a new view of the evolution of this important class of efflux pumps. There are several ways in which the clinical significance of efflux-mediated antifungal drug resistance can be mitigated. Alternative antifungal drugs, such as the echinocandins, that are not efflux pump substrates provide one option. Potential therapeutic approaches that could overcome azole resistance include targeting efflux pump transcriptional regulators and fungal stress response pathways, blockade of energy supply, and direct inhibition of efflux pumps.
The effectiveness of yoga for the improvement of well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace.

OBJECTIVES Recent research has indicated concern for the degree of stress and emotional well-being among university staff. This study examined the effectiveness of yoga in enhancing emotional well-being and resilience to stress among university employees. METHODS In a randomized controlled trial at a British university, we recruited 48 employees and randomized them into either a yoga or a wait-list control group. The yoga group was offered six weeks of Dru Yoga, comprising one 60-minute class per week. These classes were offered by a certified Dru Yoga instructor at lunchtime from January-March 2008. The wait-list control group received no intervention during this six-week study. Baseline and end-program measurements of self-reported mood and well-being were self-assessed with the Profile of Mood States - Bipolar (POMS-Bi) and the Inventory of Positive Psychological Attitudes (IPPA). RESULTS This six-week yoga intervention resulted in significantly improved POMS-Bi and IPPA scores for the yoga compared to the wait-list control group for seven of eight measures of mood and well-being. In comparison to the wait-list control group at baseline and the end of the program, the yoga group reported marked improvements in feelings of clear-mindedness, composure, elation, energy, and confidence. In addition, the yoga group reported increased life purpose and satisfaction, and feelings of greater self-confidence during stressful situations. CONCLUSION These results show that even a short program of yoga is effective for enhancing emotional well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace. We suggest that employers should consider offering yoga classes to their employees.
In vivo comparison of biomechanical, histological, and radiological properties of three techniques for tendon lengthening: An experimental study in rabbits

Biomechanical, histological, and radiological properties of three different techniques of tendon lengthening – Z-plasty, modified Vulpius, and modified Baker – were investigated and compared. Sixty white female Angora rabbits (mean weight 4.1 kg, range 3.9 kg- 4.2 kg) were randomly divided into three groups: Z-plasty, V-Y plasty (modified Vulpius technique), and U-T plasty (modified Baker technique). Histopathological, radiological, and biomechanical properties were evaluated at the third and sixth postoperative week. Qualitative analysis of ultrasound examination showed that Z-plasty had the most irregular echo pattern at the third postoperative week, and had less echogenic areas at the sixth postoperative week. Histological evaluation showed that Z-plasty had significantly more formation of fibrosis and adhesion and less parallel homogeneous collagen fibres at the sixth postoperative week (p<0.05). U-T plasty had a significantly higher mean (SD) failure load (15.35 (1.89) N) than the other two methods during the third postoperative week (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in failure load between the groups at the sixth postoperative week. U-T plasty is a good alternative to Z-plasty technique for lengthening tendons, and it may be the first choice in those who need moderate lengthening of tendons and early rehabilitation because it is easy to do, heals better, and has good biomechanical properties.
Environmental responsibility: millennial values and cultural dimensions

Purpose This study aims to examine how students in business colleges across three countries, the United States, India and China, interpret environmental sustainability. This study also explores where students from different cultures believe responsibility lies in caring for the environment and how these beliefs represent their cultural and millennial values. The purpose of this study, then, is to investigate millennial business students’ perspectives toward the environment across the three countries holding the largest ecological footprint. Design/methodology/approach College of business students from the United States, India and China were surveyed. Student responses regarding environmental sustainability were compared to values of the millennial generation and placement of responsibility compared to national culture dimensions. Findings An average of 66.3 per cent of the coded responses reflect the optimism of the generation. Concern for future generations was a frequent theme. Most responses assigned responsibility for environmental sustainability to “all”. Results support the work of Husted (2005) and Park et al. (2007) as well as the expectations of the millennial generation’s values related to environmental sustainability. Originality/value The authors connect national cultural research to environmental sustainability. This study explores where students from different cultures believe responsibility lies in caring for the environment and how these beliefs represent their cultural and millennial values. National cultural combined with millennial opinion is an important area of research for understanding the assignment of responsibility related to environmental sustainability.
Editor Reputation and Journal Quality: The Case of Regional Economic Association Journals

Abstract This study provides a formal game that explores how editor reputation and rent seeking play a part in scholarly research that involves regional economic association journals. The game asserts that a regional economic association journal’s reputation is determined by the academic reputation of its editor, the academic reputation of the department wherein the journal is housed, and, among other things, rent seeking by scholars. Evidence from the two most prominent regional economic association journals in the United States, namely Economic Inquiry and the Southern Economic Journal, generally support these aspects of the formal game.
A comparative clinical investigation of 2 early loaded ITI dental implants supporting an overdenture in the mandible.

The purpose of this prospective clinical study was to evaluate the efficacy of early loading of implants and to provide evidence to support simplified treatment of mandibular edentulism by using an implant designed for 1-stage surgery, combined with ball abutments to circumvent the need for a fixed prosthodontic superstructure. Historically, the recommended time between the placement and functional loading of dental implants has been 3 months in the mandible. This recommendation is the result of a systematically chosen healing time during development of implant treatment. In recent years, histologic and experimental studies have shown that specially designed implants can result in increased bone-to-implant contact at earlier healing times. Accordingly, these implants can be placed into function faster than previously recommended. In this study, 21 patients aged between 61 and 85 years with edentulous mandibles were included. All received 2 titanium plasma-sprayed, solid-screw dental implants in the interforaminal region. Ten patients had the implants loaded with an overdenture connected with ball abutments after 3 months (control group). The other 11 patients (test group) had prostheses connected to the ball abutments after a maximum of 3 weeks. Marginal bone resorption, Periotest values, and patient satisfaction were evaluated. The cumulative post-loading implant survival rate was 100% for both groups after 24 months. Marginal bone resorption after 1 year around all implants ranged from 0 to 2 mm (no significant differences between groups; P < .05). Periotest values for all implants 1 year after loading were below zero (range -1 to -6). The results of this clinical trial suggest that successful early loading of 2 implants is possible provided there is uncomplicated implant placement.
Hepatitis B and C prevalences among blood donors in the south region of Brazil.

The prevalence of hepatitis B and C infection has been determined in a seroepidemiological survey among blood donors from the south of Brazil (Florianópolis, State of Santa Catarina). These markers has also been correlated with the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a surrogate marker to prevent post-transfusion hepatitis. Sera from 5000 donors were randomly collected in the period of April to November 1991. The prevalences of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc were respectively 0.78%, 7.02% and 13.98%. The anti-HCV prevalence after confirmation testing with line immunoassay (LIA), was 1.14%. Normal values of ALT ( < = 32 U/ml) were found in 59.78%, values slightly above the mean (ALT between 32-70 U/ml) in 37.74% and high values of ALT ( > = 70 U/ml) in 2.48%. The positivity of anti-HCV antibodies increased with the elevation of ALT levels. This correlation was not observed in relation to HBsAg. There exists a diversity in the recognition of HCV epitopes among HCV positive donors. Via the confirmation test used, we could observe that 94.7% of donors recognize the structural core antigen. Besides that, we observed that 5.26% of the HCV reactive sera recognized only epitopes located in the NS4 and/or NS5 region, indicating the importance of these epitopes for the improvement of assays.
A survey of tick‐borne pathogens in dogs and their ticks in the Pantanal biome, Brazil

Tick and blood samples collected from domestic dogs in the Brazilian Pantanal were tested by molecular methods for the presence of tick‐borne protozoa and bacteria. Among 320 sampled dogs, 3.13% were infected by Babesia vogeli (Piroplasmida: Babesiidae), 8.75% by Hepatozoon canis (Eucoccidiorida: Hepatozoidae), 7.19% by Anaplasma platys (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae), and 0.94% by an unclassified Anaplasma sp. In three tick species collected from dogs, the following tick‐borne agents were detected: (a) B. vogeli, An. platys and Ehrlichia canis (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae), infecting Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (Ixodida: Ixodidae) ticks; (b) H. canis, an unclassified Anaplasma sp. and Rickettsia amblyommii (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae), infecting Amblyomma cajennense sensu lato (Ixodida: Ixodidae) ticks, and (c) Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest, an emerging human pathogen, infecting Amblyomma ovale ticks. Molecular analysis, based on a mitochondrial gene, revealed that the Am. cajennense s.l. ticks of the present study corresponded to Amblyomma sculptum, a member of the Am. cajennense species complex, and that Rh. sanguineus s.l. belonged to the tropical lineage. Whereas dogs are exposed to a number of tick‐borne bacterial and protozoan agents in the Pantanal biome, humans are potentially exposed to infection by spotted fever group rickettsiae (e.g. R. amblyommii and Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest) because both Am. sculptum and Am. ovale are among the most important human‐biting ticks in Brazil.
Evidence for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication In Vivo in CD14+ Monocytes and Its Potential Role as a Source of Virus in Patients on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

ABSTRACT In vitro studies show that human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) does not replicate in freshly isolated monocytes unless monocytes differentiate to monocyte-derived macrophages. Similarly, HIV-1 may replicate in macrophages in vivo, whereas it is unclear whether blood monocytes are permissive to productive infection with HIV-1. We investigated HIV-1 replication in CD14+ monocytes and resting and activated CD4+ T cells by measuring the levels of cell-associated viral DNA and mRNA and the genetic evolution of HIV-1 in seven acutely infected patients whose plasma viremia had been <100 copies/ml for 803 to 1,544 days during highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HIV-1 DNA was detected in CD14+ monocytes as well as in activated and resting CD4+ T cells throughout the course of study. While significant variation in the decay slopes of HIV-1 DNA was seen among individual patients, viral decay in CD14+ monocytes was on average slower than that in activated and resting CD4+ T cells. Measurements of HIV-1 sequence evolution and the concentrations of unspliced and multiply spliced mRNA provided evidence of ongoing HIV-1 replication, more pronounced in CD14+ monocytes than in resting CD4+ T cells. Phylogenetic analyses of HIV-1 sequences indicated that after prolonged HAART, viral populations related or identical to those found only in CD14+ monocytes were seen in plasma from three of the seven patients. In the other four patients, HIV-1 sequences in plasma and the three cell populations were identical. CD14+ monocytes appear to be one of the potential in vivo sources of HIV-1 in patients receiving HAART.
Cesium power: low Cs+ levels impart stability to perovskite solar cells.

Towards increasing the stability of perovskite solar cells, the addition of Cs+ is found to be a rational approach. Recently triple cation based perovskite solar cells were found to be more effective in terms of stability and efficiency. Heretofore they were unexplored, so we probed the Cs/MA/FA (cesium/methyl ammonium/formamidinium) cation based perovskites by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and correlated their compositional features with their solar cell performances. The Cs+ content was found to be optimum at 5%, when incorporated in the (MA0.15FA0.85)Pb(I0.85Br0.15)3 lattice, because the corresponding device yielded the highest fill factor compared to the perovskite without Cs+ and with 10% Cs+. XPS studies distinctly reveal how Cs+ aids in maintaining the expected stoichiometric ratios of I : Pb2+, I : N and Br : Pb2+ in the perovskites, and how the valence band (VB) edge is dependent on the Cs+ proportion, which in turn governs the open circuit voltage. Even at a low content of 5%, Cs+ resides deep within the absorber layer, and ensures minimum distortion of the VB level (compared to 0% and 10% Cs+ perovskites) upon Ar+ sputtering, thus allowing the formation of a stable robust material that delivers excellent solar cell response. This study which brings out the role of Cs+ is anticipated to be of paramount significance to further engineer the composition and improve device performances.
What Are Your Intentions: An Empirical Analysis of the Distinction between Behavioral Intentions and Behavioral Goals?

This study analyzes the distinction, both conceptually and operationally, between behavioral intentions and behavioral goals. This paper recognizes the importance of time orientation in the measurement of behavioral intentions as defined by Fishbein and Ajzen [1]. Literature is reviewed that shows this conceptual definition is often misused in information systems (IS) research because behavioral intention is sometimes operationalized with a long-term time orientation (i.e., continued use). This paper offers an empirical assessment of the discriminant validity between behavioral intentions and behavioral goals. Theoretical implications are that long-term oriented behavioral intentions actually represents behavioral goals and thus have less conceptual implications for predicting actual behavior.
S‐allylcysteine prevents cisplatin‐induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative stress

Cisplatin (CP) is an antineoplastic agent that induces nephrotoxicity and oxidative stress. S‐allylcysteine (SAC) is a garlic‐derived antioxidant. This study aims to explore whether SAC protects against CP‐induced nephrotoxicity in rats.
Judging in Rhythmic Gymnastics at Different Levels of Performance

Abstract This study aimed to analyse the quality of difficulty judging in rhythmic gymnastics, at different levels of performance. The sample consisted of 1152 difficulty scores concerning 288 individual routines, performed in the World Championships in 2013. The data were analysed using the mean absolute judge deviation from the final difficulty score, a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and intra-class correlations, for consistency and reliability assessment. For validity assessment, mean deviations of judges’ difficulty scores, the Kendall’s coefficient of concordance W and ANOVA eta-squared values were calculated. Overall, the results in terms of consistency (Cronbach’s alpha mostly above 0.90) and reliability (intra-class correlations for single and average measures above 0.70 and 0.90, respectively) were satisfactory, in the first and third parts of the ranking on all apparatus. The medium level gymnasts, those in the second part of the ranking, had inferior reliability indices and highest score dispersion. In this part, the minimum of corrected item-total correlation of individual judges was 0.55, with most values well below, and the matrix for between-judge correlations identified remarkable inferior correlations. These findings suggest that the quality of difficulty judging in rhythmic gymnastics may be compromised at certain levels of performance. In future, special attention should be paid to the judging analysis of the medium level gymnasts, as well as the Code of Points applicability at this level.
The Political Economy of Collective Memories: Evidence from Russian Politics

Abstract How do political elites reactivate salient collective memories to entrench their power? We study this question examining a government-led recollection campaign of the traumatic transition the Russian population experienced during the 1990s, starting with the year 2003. Using detailed data from national-level TV and radio as well as a text analysis of 3832 regional and local newspapers, we estimate a higher electoral support for the government, and a lower support for the liberal political opposition, in regions that suffered more during the transition period, once negative memories are recalled on state-controlled media. We then provide additional evidence on the mechanism at play, and show how the effect of the newspaper-based recollection campaign is stronger in regions that feature less political competition, and where the governor is a member of the ruling party United Russia.
Policy transfer in a corporatist context: Agents, adjustments and continued innovation

This article examines a case of collaborative policy transfer from Australia to Sweden involving a three-year project of structured analysis, piloting and system modification. The influential role of agency and the manner in which formal mechanisms established to manage engagement impact upon policy analysis and transfer are explored. The analysis finds that agency mobilised with the supplementation of institutional resources becomes a highly motivating and powerful force underpinning collaborative policy transfer processes. The nuances and challenges of policy transfer from a predominantly neoliberal administrative domain into a characteristically corporatist environment are analysed demonstrating that domestic policy processes are critical for defining avenues for actor participation and the manner through which policy adjustments are progressed. A key finding of the work is that policy transfer is more than the one-way transmission of ideas, systems and practices from one jurisdiction to another but can also act as an iterative process, more evidently linked into each jurisdictions’ domestic policy cycles of problem analysis, action and review. Under collaborative policy transfer the resources and interest from two distinct locations are mobilised around a policy concern and this effectively enhances the level of critical thinking and reflective practice that contributes to problem solving and solution development. The findings of this study confirm that cross-country collaboration and transfer is an increasingly important pathway in the ongoing development of policy reform and innovation.
Early Canadian Multicenter Experience With WATCHMAN for Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure

There are limited data with WATCHMAN (Boston Scientific Corporation, Natick, MA, USA) for left atrial appendage (LAA) closure in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) and contraindications to anticoagulation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of WATCHMAN in our early Canadian experience.
Human monocytes are severely impaired in base and DNA double-strand break repair that renders them vulnerable to oxidative stress

Monocytes are key players in the immune system. Crossing the blood barrier, they infiltrate tissues and differentiate into (i) macrophages that fight off pathogens and (ii) dendritic cells (DCs) that activate the immune response. A hallmark of monocyte/macrophage activation is the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a defense against invading microorganisms. How monocytes, macrophages, and DCs in particular respond to ROS is largely unknown. Here we studied the sensitivity of primary human monocytes isolated from peripheral blood and compared them with macrophages and DCs derived from them by cytokine maturation following DNA damage induced by ROS. We show that monocytes are hypersensitive to ROS, undergoing excessive apoptosis. These cells exhibited a high yield of ROS-induced DNA single- and double-strand breaks and activation of the ATR-Chk1-ATM-Chk2-p53 pathway that led to Fas and caspase-8, -3, and -7 activation, whereas macrophages and DCs derived from them were protected. Monocytes are also hypersensitive to ionizing radiation and oxidized low-density lipoprotein. The remarkable sensitivity of monocytes to oxidative stress is caused by a lack of expression of the DNA repair proteins XRCC1, ligase IIIα, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1, and catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs), causing a severe DNA repair defect that impacts base excision repair and double-strand break repair by nonhomologous end-joining. During maturation of monocytes into macrophages and DCs triggered by the cytokines GM-CSF and IL-4, these proteins become up-regulated, making macrophages and DCs repair-competent and ROS-resistant. We propose that impaired DNA repair in monocytes plays a role in the regulation of the monocyte/macrophage/DC system following ROS exposure.