Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Species identification, antibiotic sensitivity and slime production of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from clinical specimens

SUMMARY Two hundred and seventy-five consecutive clinical isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci, including strains associated with disease, contaminants and skin colonizers, were speciated, tested for slime production and for their sensitivity to a range of antibiotics. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most commonly identified species, comprising 63% of all isolates. Slime production was detected in half the strains of Staph. epidermidis, Staph. haemolyticus and Staph. Saprophyticus but was rare in other species. Most Staph. haemolyticus strains and approximately half of the Staph. epidermidis strains were resistant to five or more antibiotics. A significant association was found between slime production and multiple antibiotic resistance. For catheter-associated strains, clinical relevance was predictable by species i.e. Staph. epidermidis. Multi-resistant slime-positive Staph. haemolyticus strains, although infrequently associated with disease, were common skin colonizers, presumably acquired from the hospital environment. We describe a practical and inexpensive scheme for thespeciation of human coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates.
Use of high-dose erythropoietin for repair after injury: A comparison of outcomes in heart and kidney.

CONTEXT There is a need to define the exact benefits and contraindications of use of high-dose recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) for its non-hematopoietic function as a cytokine that enhances tissue repair after injury. This review compares the outcomes from use of EPO in the injured heart and kidney, two organs that are thought, traditionally, to have intrinsically-different repair mechanisms. EVIDENCE ACQUISITIONS Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Google Scholar, Pubmed (NLM), LISTA (EBSCO) and Web of Science have been searched. RESULTS Ongoing work by us on EPO protection of ischemia-reperfusion-injured kidneys indicated, first, that EPO acutely enhanced kidney repair via anti-apoptotic, pro-regenerative mechanisms, and second, that EPO may promote chronic fibrosis in the long term. Work by others on the ischaemia-injured heart has also indicated that EPO promotes repair. Although myocardial infarcts are made up mostly of necrotic tissue, many publications state EPO is anti-apoptotic in the heart, as well as promoting healing via cell differentiation and stimulation of granulation tissue. In the case of the heart, promotion of fibrosis may be advantageous where an infarct has destroyed a zone of cardiomyocytes, but if EPO stimulates progressive fibrosis in the heart, this may promote cardiac failure. CONCLUSIONS A major concern in relation to the use of EPO in a cytoprotective role is its stimulation of long-term inflammation and fibrosis. EPO usage for cytoprotection is undoubtedly advantageous, but it may need to be offset with an anti-inflammatory agent in some organs, like kidney and heart, where progression to chronic fibrosis after acute injury is often recorded.
Characterization of 20K fimbria, a new adhesin of septicemic and diarrhea-associated Escherichia coli strains, that belongs to a family of adhesins with N-acetyl-D-glucosamine recognition

Bovine septicemic Escherichia coli 31A agglutinates bovine, rabbit, and human erythrocytes and adheres in vitro to the brush border of bovine or ovine intestinal epithelial cells and to the human colon carcinoma Caco-2 cell line. The adhesion and hemagglutination of E. coli 31A are mediated by a chromosome-encoded fimbrial adhesin serologically distinct from known fimbrial adhesins found in enterotoxigenic and septicemic bovine E. coli strains. By electron microscopy studies the fimbriae designated 20K were observed as fine flexible filaments (diameter, 3 nm) and the purified major fimbrial subunit appeared with an apparent molecular mass of 20,000 Da. Western blot (immunoblot) analysis, N-terminal sequence alignment, and amino acid composition revealed a high homology with the N-acetyl-D-glcosamine-specific G fimbria of human uropathogenic E. coli and with fimbriae belonging to the F17 family produced by bovine enterotoxigenic and invasive E. coli strains. Immunological study revealed that 20K fimbria was closely related to G fimbria and represents a serological variant of F17 fimbria. Hemagglutination and adhesion inhibition assays demonstrated that 20K, G, and F17 fimbriae bind to an N-acetyl-D-glucosamine-containing receptor, but each probably binds to different oligosaccharide sequences or different receptors on host tissues. 20K fimbriae were produced by a limited group of clonally related strains with the unusual m-inositol-positive phenotype and appeared highly associated with the plasmid-mediated virulence factor. An examination of natural occurrence of 20K fimbriae among a large collection of human and animal pathogenic E. coli showed that 20K fimbria is the prominent adhesin among bovine septicemic E. coli isolated from European countries.
LymPHOS 2.0: an update of a phosphosite database of primary human T cells

LymPHOS is a web-oriented database containing peptide and protein sequences and spectrometric information on the phosphoproteome of primary human T-Lymphocytes. Current release 2.0 contains 15 566 phosphorylation sites from 8273 unique phosphopeptides and 4937 proteins, which correspond to a 45-fold increase over the original database description. It now includes quantitative data on phosphorylation changes after time-dependent treatment with activators of the TCR-mediated signal transduction pathway. Sequence data quality has also been improved with the use of multiple search engines for database searching. LymPHOS can be publicly accessed at http://www.lymphos. org. Database URL: http://www.lymphos. org.
A Case-Crossover Study of Temperature and Infant Mortality in California.

BACKGROUND While most research on temperature and mortality has focused on the elderly, little has concentrated on infants, who may also lack thermoregulatory responses to heat exposure. METHODS We examined mean daily apparent temperature, a combination of temperature and humidity, and infant deaths in California during the warm season of May through October 1999 to 2011. Deaths from all causes and specifically from congenital malformations, sudden infant death syndrome, abnormal gestation duration, respiratory causes, and circulatory causes were considered in a time-stratified case-crossover analysis of 12 356 infant deaths. RESULTS For all-cause mortality, excess risk was 4.4% (95% confidence interval -0.3, 9.2) per 5.6°C increase for average of same day and previous 3 days apparent temperature (lag 03). The associations for apparent temperature and both all-cause mortality and deaths caused by gestation duration were highest for Black infants (13.3%, 95% CI 0.6, 27.6 and 23.7%, 95% CI -3.3, 58.2, respectively), while White infants had elevated risk for deaths from respiratory causes (44.6%; -0.7, 110.5). We further observed differential effects for neonates (infants aged 28 days and under) and post-neonates (infants above 28 days and under 1 year), and coastal and non-coastal regions. These associations remained even after considering criteria air pollutants. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that infants are a vulnerable subgroup to heat exposure. Further studies should be conducted with a sufficient number of cases of infant deaths in other locales.
A high fidelity simulator for a quadrotor UAV using ROS and Gazebo

Flight tests of prototype UAV systems can be restricted by spatial constraints and they may bring risks of damage due to failures. Motivated by these, we presented a simulation approach based on Robot Operating System (ROS) and Gazebo. Unlike other state-of-the-art quadrotor simulators, we implemented the dynamics model of the UAV in ROS to achieve high fidelity behavior of the UAV. A hierarchical navigation system is also presented in our paper. The system layers include simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), mapping framework in Cartesian and polar coordinates, A* global path planner, revised vector field histogram plus (VFH+) for optimal local path selection and online trajectory algorithm (OTA) with collision checking for obstacle avoidance. In order to cater for vision-based applications, quadrotor is equipped with a monocular camera in the simulation model. The implementation of circle and landing pad detection and tracking algorithm demonstrates the functionality of vision guidance. In our simulation, various aspects including complex indoor and outdoor environments and on-board sensors are capable of simultaneously interacting with our navigation system to achieve certain surveillance missions. In the end, we demonstrated the applicability of our complex quadrotor systems by performing an autonomous navigation task in simulated complex environments. In comparison with the experimental data, simulation results align with the ones in flight tests in terms of real flight behaviors during navigation tasks in general.
Perceptions of internal marketing and organizational commitment by nurses.

AIM This paper is a report of a study to determine whether a favourable perception of internal marketing is associated with increased organizational commitment. BACKGROUND The role of nurses in healthcare treatment is expanding, and becoming more important as time progresses. Therefore, the primary concern of business of health care is to use internal marketing strategies effectively to enhance and develop nurses' organizational commitment and reduce turnover to promote competitive advantages for the organization. METHODS A cross-sectional design was used. Questionnaires were distributed in 2006 to a convenience sample of 450 Registered Nurses in two teaching hospitals in Taiwan, and 318 questionnaires were returned. Eighteen were excluded because of incomplete answers, which left 300 usable questionnaires (response rate 66.7%). Validity and reliability testing of the questionnaire proved satisfactory and Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyse the data. RESULTS A favourable perception of internal marketing was associated with increased organizational commitment. Communication management had the greatest influence on organizational commitment and external activity had the smallest impact. CONCLUSION Hospital managers need to recognize the importance of internal marketing for staff retention and the survival of their organizations as competitive pressure increases. As a great deal of time and costs are involved in educating nurses, the best way to retain outstanding nurses and reduce turnover costs and personnel problems is for employers to understand the needs and expectations of their nursing staff.
Insulin Therapy Induces Antiatherogenic Changes of Serum Lipoproteins in Noninsulin‐Dependent Diabetes

To study the effect of rigorous inslulin on serum llpoproteins in patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes not controlled with oral only, we measured serum llpoproteins, apoproteins, lipolytic enzymes, and glucose disposal using anf insulin clamp technique before and after 4 weeks of insulin therapy. Lipoproteins were isolated by ultracentrifugation and high density llpoprotein (HDL) subfractions, by rate-zonal density graddient ultracetrifugation. The group included 11 subfractions, by rate-zonal density gradient ultracentrifugation. The group included 11 women and eight men (age 58 ± 1 years adn RBW 125 ± 4%). Body weight, glycosylated hemoglobin, mean dlurnal glucose, plasma free insulin, and glucose uptake (M-value) were 75 vs. 76 kg; 11.9 vs. 8.9%; 234 vs. 124 mg/di; 123 vs. 27 μU/ml; and 5.0 ± 0.4 vs. 7.1 ± 0.6 mg/kg/min before and after insulin therapy, respectively. After Insulin therapy there was decrease of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) triglyceride (−60%, p < 0.001) but an increase of HDL2 cholesterol (+21%, p < 0.001); HDL2 phosphollpids (+38%, p < 0.001); HDL2 proteins (+23% p < 0.01); and HDL2 mass (127 ± 11 vs. 158 ± 12 mg/dl, p < 0.001). There was a decrease of HDL3 cholesterol (−13%, p < 0.05); HDL3 phosphollpids (+38%, p < 0.001); HDL2 proteins (+23%, p < 0.01); and HDL2 mass (127 ± 11 vs. 158 ± 12 mg/dl, p < 0.001). There was a decrease of HDL3 cholesterol (−13%, p < 0.025<; HDL3 phospholipids (−16%, p < 0.05); HDL3 proteins (−18%, p < 0.001); and HDL3 mass (179 ± 6 vs. 146 ± 6, p < 0.01). Zonel profiles showed a redisttribution of particles from HDL3 to HDL2. Serum apo A-l increased (p < 0.05), apo A-ll remained constant, but apo B decreased (−29%, p < 0.001). The most marked change during insulin therapy was a 2.3-fold increase in adlpose tissue fllploprotein llpase (LPL) activity (p < 0.001). The changes of VLDL and HDL subfractions were not explained by respective changes of the blood glucose, free insulin, or M-value. The data indicate that intensive insulin therapy induces antiatherogenic changes in serum lipids and lipoproteins and suggest that the induction of LPL by insulin is the major factor responsible for redistribution of HDL particles from HDL3 to HDL2
cDNA cloning of an intracellular form of the human interleukin 1 receptor antagonist associated with epithelium.

A cDNA encoding a receptor antagonist of interleukin 1 (IL-1ra), secreted from human monocytes, has recently been isolated and sequenced [Eisenberg, S. P., Evans, R. J., Arend, W. P., Verderber, E. , Brewer, M. T. , Hannum, C. H. & Thompson, R. C. (1990) Nature (London) 343, 341-346]. We have identified another version of this IL-1ra, which is predominantly expressed in epithelial cells. This IL-1ra lacks a leader sequence and, thus, is probably intracellular. Both proteins are derived from the same gene through use of an alternative transcriptional start site and internal splice-acceptor site. Expression of intracellular IL-1ra cDNA in COS cells demonstrated that the intracellular product specifically inhibited exogenous interleukin 1-dependent responses. Keratinocytes were shown to contain significant amounts of nonsecreted IL-1ra protein. Constitutive expression of the intracellular IL-1ra may be an intracellular defensive mechanism in exposed epithelial cells and/or may serve to regulate autocrine interleukin 1-mediated pathways of differentiation.
Heterodimerization of Two Pathological Mutants Enhances the Activity of Human Phosphomannomutase2

The most frequent disorder of glycosylation is due to mutations in the gene encoding phosphomannomutase2 (PMM2-CDG). For this disease, which is autosomal and recessive, there is no cure at present. Most patients are composite heterozygous and carry one allele encoding an inactive mutant, R141H, and one encoding a hypomorphic mutant. Phosphomannomutase2 is a dimer. We reproduced composite heterozygosity in vitro by mixing R141H either with the wild type protein or the most common hypomorphic mutant F119L and compared the quaternary structure, the activity and the stability of the heterodimeric enzymes. We demonstrated that the activity of R141H/F119L heterodimers in vitro, which reproduces the protein found in patients, has the same activity of wild type/R141H, which reproduces the protein found in healthy carriers. On the other hand the stability of R141H/F119L appears to be reduced both in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that a therapy designed to enhance protein stability such as those based on pharmacological chaperones or modulation of proteostasis could be beneficial for PMM2-CDG patients carrying R141H/F119L genotype as well as for other genotypes where protein stability rather than specific activity is affected by mutations.
Observing cycling of a few cross‐bridges during isometric contraction of skeletal muscle

During muscle contraction a myosin cross‐bridge imparts periodic force impulses to actin. It is possible to visualize those impulses by observing a few molecules of actin or myosin. We have followed the time course of orientation change of a few actin molecules during isometric contraction by measuring parallel polarized intensity of its fluorescence. The orientation of actin reflects local bending of a thin filament and is different when a cross‐bridge binds to, or is detached from, F‐actin. The changes in orientation were characterized by periods of activity during which myosin cross‐bridges interacted normally with actin, interspersed with periods of inactivity during which actin and myosin were unable to interact. The periods of activity lasted on average 1.2 ± 0.4 s and were separated on average by 2.3 ± 1.0 s. During active period, actin orientation oscillated between the two extreme values with the ON and OFF times of 0.4 ± 0.2 and 0.7 ± 0.4 s, respectively. When the contraction was induced by a low concentration of ATP both active and inactive times were longer and approximately equal. These results imply that cross‐bridges interact with actin in bursts and suggest that during active period, on average 36% of cross‐bridges are involved in force generation. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Life transitions and health insurance coverage of the near elderly.

OBJECTIVES This study addresses three issues. (1) What are demographic wealth, employment, and health characteristics of near-elderly persons losing or acquiring health insurance coverage? Specifically, (2) what are the effects of life transitions, including changes in employment status, health, and marital status? (3) To what extent do public policies protect such persons against coverage loss, including various state policies recently implemented to increase access to insurance? METHODS The authors used the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to analyze coverage among adults aged 51 to 64 years. RESULTS One in five near-elderly persons experienced a change in insurance coverage from 1992 to 1994. Yet, there was no significant change in the mix of coverage as those losing one form of coverage were replaced by others acquiring similar coverage. CONCLUSIONS Individuals whose health deteriorated significantly were not more likely than others to suffer a subsequent loss of coverage, due to substitution of retiree or individual coverage for those losing private coverage and acquisition of Medicaid and Medicare coverage for one in five uninsured. State policies to increase access to private health insurance generally did not prevent individuals from losing coverage or allow the uninsured to gain coverage. Major determinants of the probability of being insured were education, employment status of person and spouse, and work disability status. Other measures of health and functional status did not affect the probability of being insured, but had important impacts on the probability of having public coverage, conditional on being insured.
[The application of Chinese health questionnaire for mental disorder screening in community settings in mainland China].

OBJECTIVE To examine the applicability of Chinese Health Questionnaire (Taiwan version) (CHQ) originated from General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) for mental disorder screening in community settings in mainland China. METHODS A pilot study was conducted in Hangzhou (n = 377). Three thousand seven hundred and seven subjects were recruited from four cities to validate the results of the pilot study. Validation of the Screening Questionnaire was analyzed, using Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) method. RESULTS Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated to be 0.79 for the 12-items and 0.89 for 30-items to CHQ version in the first sample, and 0.74 in the second sample (12-items). Four factors were extracted from the CHQ-30, including somatic symptoms, anxiety and worry, social dysfunction, poor family relationship, and depression. CHQ-12 could be explained by a single factor in both samples. The areas under ROC were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.70 - 0.89) for 12 items and 0.72 (95% CI: 0.62 - 0.82) for 30 items. The sensitivities of CHQ-12 and CHQ-30 were found to be 76.9% and 71.8%, and the specificities were 73.8% and 67.9% with Kappa value 0.44 (P = 0.00) and 0.38 (P = 0.00), respectively. The estimated rates of mental disorder were 18.13% (95% CI: 14.16 - 22.10) by CHQ-12, and 22.80% (95% CI: 18.19 - 27.11) by CHQ-30 in the first sample and the rates were 21.72% (95% CI: 20.39 - 23.05) by CHQ-12 in the second sample. CONCLUSION CHQ, especially CHQ-12 through slight language modification, could be used for epidemiological studies and on community health care to screen for mental disorder in the mainland of China.
Image morphometry of acute leukemias. Comparison between lymphoid and myeloid subtypes.

OBJECTIVE To determine if image morphometry has any role in distinguishing blasts of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL-L2) from those of acute myeloid leukemia (AML-M1) and (AML-M2). STUDY DESIGN Ten cases each of ALL-L2, AML-M1 and AML-M2 diagnosed according to the French-American-British criteria were studied. In all cases May-Grünwald-Giemsa-stained bone marrow aspiration smears were obtained. At least 100 blast cells from each case were subjected to analysis randomly with an image cytometer using Leica Quantimet 600 software (Cambridge, U.K.). The area, convex area, length, width, perimeter, convex perimeter, roundness, total optical density, average optical density and pixel grey value variance of the nuclei were measured by random selection of cells using a 40:1 objective (1 pixel = 0.446 micron). RESULTS Mann Whitney's nonparametric test showed that there was considerable overlap of morphometric variables between the 3 subtypes. Though statistical significance was found in "roundness" between blasts of AML-M1 and ALL-L2, power analyses (sample size of 100 blasts of each subtype) did not show sufficient power for this variable. However, between blasts of ALL-L2 and AML-M2, "average optical density" and "pixel grey value variance" were statistically significant with full power using power analyses. CONCLUSION Image morphometry may be helpful in differentiating blasts from lymphoid and myeloid leukemic subtypes.
Exploring patient satisfaction predictors in relation to a theoretical model.

PURPOSE The aim is to describe patients' care quality perceptions and satisfaction and to explore potential patient satisfaction predictors as person-related conditions, external objective care conditions and patients' perception of actual care received ("PR") in relation to a theoretical model. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH A cross-sectional design was used. Data were collected using one questionnaire combining questions from four instruments: Quality from patients' perspective; Sense of coherence; Big five personality trait; and Emotional stress reaction questionnaire (ESRQ), together with questions from previous research. In total, 528 patients (83.7 per cent response rate) from eight medical, three surgical and one medical/surgical ward in five Norwegian hospitals participated. Answers from 373 respondents with complete ESRQ questionnaires were analysed. Sequential multiple regression analysis with ESRQ as dependent variable was run in three steps: person-related conditions, external objective care conditions, and PR (p < 0.05). FINDINGS Step 1 (person-related conditions) explained 51.7 per cent of the ESRQ variance. Step 2 (external objective care conditions) explained an additional 2.4 per cent. Step 3 (PR) gave no significant additional explanation (0.05 per cent). Steps 1 and 2 contributed statistical significance to the model. Patients rated both quality-of-care and satisfaction highly. ORIGINALITY/VALUE The paper shows that the theoretical model using an emotion-oriented approach to assess patient satisfaction can explain 54 per cent of patient satisfaction in a statistically significant manner.