Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of antisera used for detecting enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in Sao Paulo

The usefulness of antisera in detecting enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains in Sao Paulo was evaluated. Polyvalent antisera detected 49% of ETEC isolates and were more effective in identifying E. coli that produced heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxins and in strains that produced only heat-stable enterotoxin. ETEC strains not detected by the antisera belonged to different serogroups not isolated in Sao Paulo before; 34% of these strains had undetermined O antigens, and most of them produced only heat-labile toxin. A variation of serogroups over time was especially observed among strains that produced heat-stable toxin. The importance of H-antigen determinations in the effectiveness of ETEC diagnosis by serological methods became evident, as non-ETEC strains were also detected by polyvalent antisera, but their serotypes were different from those of ETEC strains. Although antisera can be used to identify O:H types of ETEC strains with accuracy, serotyping cannot be recommended for routine diagnosis. However, such a procedure may be useful for studying outbreaks of ETEC diarrhea if the involved serotypes are already known.
Proliferative and inductive effects of Cyclosporine a on gingival fibroblast of child and adult

Background: Gingival overgrowth is a serious side-effect that accompanies the use of Cyclosporin A (CsA). Up to 97% of the transplant recipient children, who were submitted to CsA therapy, have been reported to suffer from this side-effect. Several conflicting theories have been proposed to explain the fibroblast's function in CsA-induced gingival overgrowth. The aim of this study is to assess the proliferation of gingival fibroblasts and levels of released cytokines after being exposed to CsA, in both adults and pediatric groups, and to make a comparison between the results of the two groups. Materials and Methods: The adult fibroblast samples were derived from four healthy adults, aged 35 to 42 years and pediatric samples were obtained from four healthy children, age between four and eleven years. Tissue samples were plated in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), Streptomycin and Penicillin. The samples were cultured in 25 cm2 plates containing 5% CO2, and incubated at 37°C. The cells used for all the experiments were at the fourth passage. The concentration of PGE2, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, and TGF-β1 was determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the proliferation rate was assessed by the MTT assay. Alpha error levels were set as 0.05. Results: CsA stimulated significantly higher levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TGF-β1 in adult gingival fibroblasts than it did in the control group; whereas, the expression of IL-1β and PGE2 in the fibroblasts exposed to CsA was significantly weaker (P < 0.05). The fibroblasts in the two groups did not reveal any noticeable difference in the production of TNF-α. Furthermore, cell proliferation in the CsA group was not significantly higher than that in the control group. No significant differences in cytokines TNF-α and IL-1β were noted between the two groups. The results indicated that CsA stimulated cell proliferation in the pediatric fibroblast cell line. Comparison between the results in the adult and pediatric groups demonstrated that the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and PGE2 were significantly higher in the pediatric group than in the adult group; however, statistics showed no significant difference in the levels of TNF-α and TGF-β1 and CsA-induced proliferation between these two groups. Conclusions: The mechanism of a CsA-induced fibroblast overgrowth may converge on the steps involving fibroblast proliferation and cytokine network including IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β, TGF-β1, and PGE2, in both adults and pediatrics. As the prevalence and intensity of drug-induced gingival overgrowth is more serious in the pediatrics. As group than in adults, we suggest that more studies be conducted on the pediatric group.
Xenogeneic Monoclonal Antibodies to Mouse Lymphoid Differentiation Antigens *

Xenogeneic immunizations have the advantage of detecting a wide range of antigenic determinants because many commonly occurring proteins have diverged significantly during the course of evolution and are thus antigenic in other species. The broadness of xenogeneic responses, however, means that the antisera they produce are usually complex and require extensive absorptions to make them specific for a single antigen. This problem has now been overcome by generating hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies (Kohler & Milstein 1975). These permit dissection ofthe xenogeneic response so that large amounts of individual antibodies can be obtained, each of which recognizes only one of the determinants recognized by a broadly reactive conventional antiserum. Williams et al. (1977) used hybridoma monoclonal antibodies obtained after immunizations of mice with rat cells to study rat cell-surface antigens present on subpopulations of rat lymphocytes, i.e., differentiation antigens. Springer et al. (1978a) and Stern et al. (1978) used a similar approach to study mouse lymphocyte antigens. They prepared monoclonal antibodies by immunizing rats with mouse lymphocytes and showed that these monoclonals recognized previously undetected mouse cell surface determinants including a glycoprotein antigen that appears to be specific for macrophages (Springer et al. 1978b). Trowbridge (1978) also used rat anti-mouse immunizations to generate a monoclonal antibody against the non-polymorphic lymphocyte surface antigen T200.
Bacterial flora in the duodenum of healthy cats, and effect of dietary supplementation with fructo-oligosaccharides.

OBJECTIVE To investigate changes in the duodenal flora of healthy cats over time, and evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS). ANIMALS 12 healthy, barrier-maintained, specific-pathogen-free cats. PROCEDURE Duodenal juice for bacteriologic examination was collected via oral endoscopy 5 times from each cat over a 32-week period. Cats were allotted randomly to 2 groups, and a crossover design study, during which they were fed either a replete dry (basal) diet or, for 12 consecutive weeks, basal diet supplemented with 0.75% FOS, was done. Samples (3 from cats fed the basal and 2 from cats fed the FOS diet) were collected for a minimum of 6 weeks after commencement of feeding, and a minimum of 6 weeks apart. RESULTS Mean aerobic, anaerobic, and total bacterial counts did not differ significantly among sample collection times. After pooling of the results, mean (+/- SD) log10 colony-forming units (CFU) of aerobic, anaerobic, and total bacteria/ml were 5.5 +/- 1.1, 4.8 +/- 1.0 and 5.6 +/- 1.1, respectively. However, individual cats had considerable variation in counts: mean (range) intraindividual coefficients of variation were: 19.0 (6.1 to 34.2), 19.9 (4.8 to 35.5), and 18.1 (5.5 to 32.6)%, respectively. In 1 cat, total bacterial count varied between < 3.0 and 6.3 CFU/ml. Bacterial flora varied qualitatively: only Enterococcus faecalis, Clostridium perfringens, Bacteroides, Pasteurella, and Streptococcus spp, and unidentified gram-negative (aerobic) rods were present in > 50% of the samples. CONCLUSIONS Wide quantitative and qualitative variation in the duodenal flora of healthy cats was observed over time, which was not affected by dietary supplementation with FOS.
An Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-determined nuclear antigen (EBNA5) partly encoded by the transformation-associated Bam WYH region of EBV DNA: preferential expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines.

Four peptides were synthesized on the basis of amino acid sequences deduced from a highly spliced transcript encoded by the Bam W, Y, and H fragments of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome [Bodescot, M. , Chambraud, J. B. , Farrell, P. J. & Perricaudet, M. (1984) EMBO J. 3, 1913-1917]. Rabbit antisera against three of the four peptides identified a nuclear polypeptide that varied between 22 and 70 kDa in molecular size. Four of 20 EBV-positive human sera contained antibodies against this polypeptide. Since this is the fifth EBV-determined nuclear antigen (EBNA) discovered in growth-transformed cells, it is designated EBNA5. The antigen was detected in virus nonproducer lines (less than 0.01% EBV early antigen expression) and is thus not dependent on the viral cycle. It was differentially expressed depending on the origin of the lines. All 10 lymphoblastoid cell lines tested expressed EBNA5, but it could not be detected in 10 of 11 EBV-carrying Burkitt lymphoma lines. Infection of tonsillar lymphocytes with the B95-8 strain of EBV induced six EBNA5-specific polypeptides that varied between 41 and 70 kDa in molecular size with regular increments of 6 kDa. This may be due to the fact that the EBNA5 coding sequence includes the Bam W internal repeat. Parallel infection of the EBV-negative Burkitt lymphoma line Ramos with the same viral substrain did not induce detectable levels of EBNA5, nor was this antigen present in permanently EBV-converted Ramos sublines. These findings imply that the expression of the viral genome varies among B cells having different phenotypes.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Financial Performance by the Jordanian Telecommunication Firms

This paper studies the empirical relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance in Jordanian telecommunications companies(Orange, Zain, Umniah). All three companies included in the sample data during 2007-2016. The extent of CSR disclosure is evaluated based on a CSR checklist that covers five Activities related to: environmental control, energy, human resources development, community service and improvement of the product or services. Corporate financial performance is measured by ROA. Regression analysis used to test the relationship by using SPSS. Prior studies had produce mixed result but most research found there is positive relationship between CSR and CFP. The result of this study concludes that there is positive relationship between CFP and CSR practices together with Firm Size and Firm Revenue as control variable. The finding from this study indicates that the CSR disclosure level is increased moderately during the period under study.
Living‐Donor Liver Transplantation for Hepatoblastoma

Hepatoblastoma is the most common malignant liver tumor in children. Recently, liver transplantation has been indicated for unresectable hepatoblastoma. We retrospectively reviewed 14 children with a diagnosis of hepatoblastoma who had undergone living‐donor liver transplantation (LDLT) at Kyoto University Hospital. During the period from June 1990 to December 2004, 607 children underwent LDLT. Of these interventions, 2.3% were performed for hepatoblastoma. Based on radiological findings, the pre‐treatment extent of disease (PRETEXT) grouping was used for pre‐treatment staging of the tumor. There were grade III in seven patients and grade IV in seven patients. Thirteen patients received chemotherapy, and seven underwent hepatectomy 11 times. Immunosuppressive treatment consisted of tacrolimus monotherapy in 11 patients. Actuarial 1‐ and 5‐year graft and patient survival rates were 78.6% and 65.5%. The poor prognostic factors were macroscopic venous invasion and extrahepatic involvement with 1‐year and 5‐year survival rates of 33.0% and 0%. Pediatric patients without these factors showed an acceptable 5‐year survival rate of 90.9%. LDLT provides a valuable alternative with excellent results in children with hepatoblastoma because it allows optimal timing of the liver transplantation, given the absence of delay between the completion of chemotherapy and planned liver transplantation.
Phonological Processes, Confrontational Naming, and Immediate Memory in Dyslexia

A group of poor readers classified as dyslexic by age/IQ discrepancy criteria (n=42) were contrasted with two clinic control groups: 56 adequate-for-age readers with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and 21 poor-for-age readers not meeting the IQ discrepancy criterion (slow/borderline group). The children (33 girls, 86 boys) ranged in age from 7.5 years to 12 years. Variables chosen for study included simple and complex phonological processing, speech rate, continuous naming speed, running memory span, serial memory span, and mental addition. Evidence is presented that the two poor reader groups are distinguishable. Unlike the dyslexic group, the slow/borderline group did not differ from the ADD group on three key measures: simple auditory phonological sensitivity, continuous naming speed, and running memory span. Stepwise regression to predict word list reading level showed that once age and verbal IQ were removed (51% of variance), these three key measures accounted for an additional 22% of the variance (R=0.86, R2=0.73). The single best predictor of word list reading level was nonsense word list reading level, which was explained by the same set of five variables that explained real word reading (R=0.77, R2=.60). Severity of attentional problems was not linearly related to reading skill in this clinic sample.
The impact of pioneer adopter characteristics and perceptions on the perceived costs of switching to a follower product

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a model in which the perceived post-purchase monetary costs and time costs of switching from a pioneer product are a function of the perceived difficulty of comparing follower products with the pioneer product, the variety of ways in which the pioneer product is used by an adopter, pioneer adopter satisfaction with the pioneer, the familiarity of the pioneer adopter with follower products and the anticipated reactions to switching of other household members who use the pioneer product. Design/methodology/approach The authors test this model with data collected from 518 Japanese iPad owners. Hypotheses are evaluated using structural equation modeling. Findings The authors find that each of the hypothesized independent variables is related in the hypothesized direction with one or both types of switching costs. Research limitations/implications Findings indicate that the variety of pioneer product use, the perceived negative reaction of other household users of the pioneer product and comparison difficulties between the pioneer and follower product have an important influence on the perceptions of the perceived costs of switching from a pioneer to a follower product. Practical implications Findings suggest that managers responsible for launching follower products can lower the perceived costs of switching from a pioneer product through specific product design and communication decisions. Originality/value In contrast with prior switching-cost research, this paper focuses on switching costs as perceived by pioneer adopters and examining the importance of pioneer-follower product comparison difficulties, the variety of pioneer product use and the negative reactions of other household users of the pioneer product.
A diagnosis testbench of analog IP cores against on-chip environmental disturbances

Analog IP cores exhibit a multivariate response to dynamic variations of an operation environment, that are typically represented by power and substrate voltage changes. A testbench provides a silicon area to embed and diagnose custom IP cores with power delivery and substrate networks, where the area is surrounded by on-chip precision waveform capturing and configurable power and substrate noise generation circuits. The coefficients of noise propagation and noise coupling are quantitatively derived for fabless IP cores processed in a target technology, that will be further linked with EDA tooling for the successful adoption of such IP cores in SoC integration.
Interventions for suspected placenta praevia.

BACKGROUND Because placenta praevia is implanted unusually low in the uterus, it may cause major, and/or repeated, antepartum haemorrhage. The traditional policy of care of women with symptomatic placenta praevia includes prolonged stay in hospital and delivery by caesarean section. OBJECTIVES To assess the impact of any clinical intervention applied specifically because of a perceived likelihood that a pregnant woman might have placenta praevia. SEARCH STRATEGY A comprehensive electronic search was performed to identify relevant literature. Searched databases included the Trials Register maintained by the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group, and the Cochrane Controlled Clinical Trials Register. SELECTION CRITERIA Any controlled clinical trial that has assessed the impact of an intervention in women diagnosed as having, or being likely to have, placenta praevia. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Data were extracted from the three identified trial reports, unblinded, by the author without consideration of results. MAIN RESULTS Two comparisons could be made - home versus hospitalisation and cervical cerclage versus no cerclage. Both were associated with reduced lengths of stay in hospital antenatally. Otherwise, there was little evidence of any clear advantage or disadvantage to a policy of home versus hospital care. Cervical cerclage may reduce the risk of delivery before 34 weeks, or the birth of a baby weighing less than 2 kg or having a low 5 minute Apgar score. In general, these possible benefits were more evident in the trial of lesser methodological quality. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS There are insufficient data from trials to recommend any change in clinical practice. Available data should, however, should encourage further work to address the safety of more conservative policies of hospitalisation for women with suspected placenta praevia, and the possible value of insertion of a cervical suture.
Semantic Query Optimization for Tree and Chain Queries

Semantic query optimization, or knowledge-based query optimization, has received increasing interest in recent years. The authors provide an effective and systematic approach to optimizing queries by appropriately choosing semantically equivalent transformations. Basically, there are two different types of transformations: transformations by eliminating unnecessary joins, and transformations by adding/eliminating redundant beneficial/nonbeneficial selection operations (restrictions). A necessary and sufficient condition to eliminate a single unnecessary join is provided. We prove that it is /spl Nscr//spl Pscr/-/spl Cscr/omplete to eliminate as many unnecessary joins as possible for various types of acyclic queries with the exception of the closure chain queries whose query graphs are chains and all equi-join attributes are distinct. An algorithm is provided to minimize the number of joins in tree queries. This algorithm has an important property that, when applied to a closure chain query, it will yield an optimal solution with the time complexity O(n*m), where n is the number of relations referenced in the chain query, and m is the time complexity of a restriction closure computation. >
Liver transplantation in children: maternal and family stress, coping, and adaptation.

ISSUES AND PURPOSE This study examined the relationship of family stress, severity of the stressor, uncertainty, coping, and family adaptation from pretransplantation to posttransplantation. DESIGN AND METHODS A descriptive, longitudinal study of 15 mothers whose children were at least 5 years posttransplantation. RESULTS Maternal stress, coping, and uncertainty demonstrated significant changes over time, whereas family stress did not. Pretransplantation family stress, anger, and confusion were related to poorer family adaptation. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Interventions for mothers pretransplantation should account for the coping, levels of stress, and uncertainty present at each phase of the transplantation process. Interventions need to be tailored to the transplantation phase. Long-term interventions remain necessary and should be directed at reinforcement of teaching, as well as assessment and provision of parental support relevant to the long-term needs of the family.
The evolution of the density of galaxy clusters and groups: denser environments at higher redshifts

We show that, observationally, the projected local density distribution in high-z clusters is shifted towards higher values compared to clusters at lower redshift. To search for the origin of this evolution, we analyse a sample of haloes selected from the Millennium simulation and populated using semi-analytic models, investigating the relation between observed projected density and physical three-dimensional (3D) density, using densities computed from the 10 and three closest neighbours. Both observationally and in the simulations, we study the relation between number of cluster members and cluster mass, and the number of members per unit of cluster mass. We find that the observed evolution of projected densities reflects a shift to higher values of the physical 3D density distribution. In turn, this must be related with the globally higher number of galaxies per unit of cluster volume N/V in the past. We show that the evolution of N/V is due to a combination of two effects: (i) distant clusters were denser in dark matter (DM) simply because the DM density within R_(200) (~ the cluster virial radius) is defined to be a fixed multiple of the critical density of the Universe, and (ii) the number of galaxies per unit of cluster DM mass is remarkably constant both with redshift and cluster mass if counting galaxies brighter than a passively evolving magnitude limit. Our results highlight that distant clusters were much denser environments than today's clusters, both in galaxy number and mass, and that the density conditions felt by galaxies in virialized systems do not depend on the system mass.
Efecto de palitoxina y dimetilcelecoxib sobre la proteína calcio-atpasa de retículo sarco/endoplásmico

La tesis versa sobre el estudio del posible efecto de palitoxina, celecoxib y su analogo estructural dimetil-celecoxib sobre la proteina calcio atpasa de reticulo sarco/endoplasmico (conocida tambien como serca). Palitoxina es una toxina de origen marino de una alta complejidad estructural y que ha ocasionado varios casos de intoxicaciones con resultado de muerte a nivel mundial. Celecoxib y su analogo dimetil-celecoxib han demostrado ser utiles tanto en el tratamiento como en la prevencion de determinados tipos de cancer, aunque su mecanismo molecular no esta dilucidado completamente. El trabajo pretende caracterizar el efecto de dichas sustancias y sus mecanismos moleculares por los que actuan.
Control of kinetic properties of GluR2 flop AMPA‐type channels: impact of R/G nuclear editing

The GluR2 flop subunit of α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methylisoxazole‐4‐propionic acid (AMPA)‐type glutamate receptors greatly determines calcium permeability and kinetic properties of heteromeric AMPA subunit assemblies. Post‐transcriptional editing of this subunit at the Q/R/N site controls calcium permeability whereas editing at the R/G site is involved in the regulation of biophysical properties. We used patch‐clamp techniques with ultrafast solution exchange to examine the kinetics of recombinant human homomeric GluR2 flop channels transiently expressed in HEK293 cells [edited at the R/G site and Q/R/N site (GR), and unedited (RN) and edited (GN) at the R/G site both with asparagine (N) at the Q/R/N site]. The time constant of desensitization after application of 10 mm glutamate was 1.38 ± 0.05 ms (n = 10), 5.53 ± 0.57 ms (n = 7) and 1.33 ± 0.06 ms (n = 12) for the GluR2 flop GR, RN and GN channels, respectively. The time constant of resensitization was 75 ms for the GluR2 flop RN and 30 ms for the GN channels. The dose‐dependence of the peak current amplitude, kinetics of activation and deactivation, and peak open probability did not differ between RN and GN channels. The study shows that desensitization and resensitization kinetics of homomeric GluR2 flop channels are controlled by a single amino acid exchange (glycine by arginine) at the R/G site. Quantitative analysis by computer simulation using a circular kinetic scheme allows the prediction of the main experimental results.