Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of EvgAS-YdeO-GadE Branched Regulatory Circuit Governing Glutamate-Dependent Acid Resistance in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli prefers growth in neutral pH environments but can withstand extremely acidic conditions (pH 2) for long periods. Of the four E. coli systems that contribute to acid resistance, one, the glutamate-dependent system, is remarkable in its efficacy and regulatory complexity. The resistance mechanism involves the intracellular consumption of protons by the glutamate decarboxylase isozymes GadA and GadB. The antiporter GadC then exports the product, γ-aminobutyric acid, in exchange for fresh glutamate. A microarray study using overexpressed regulators uncovered evgAS and ydeO as potential regulators of gadE, now known to encode the essential activator of the gadA and gadBC genes. Examination of evgA and ydeO under normal expression conditions revealed that their products do activate gadE expression but only under specific conditions. They were important during exponential growth in acidified minimal medium containing glucose but were unnecessary for gadE expression in stationary-phase cells grown in complex medium. The response regulator EvgA activates gadE directly and indirectly via induction of the AraC-like regulator ydeO. Evidence obtained using gadE-lacZ operon fusions also revealed that GadE was autoinduced. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated that EvgA, YdeO, and GadE bind to different regions upstream of gadE, indicating they all act directly at the gadE promoter. Since GadE controls the expression of numerous genes besides gadA and gadBC, the relevance of these regulatory circuits extends beyond acid resistance.
Young Offenders' Experiences of Traumatic Life Events: A Qualitative Investigation

This investigation aimed to look at how a group of young offenders attending an inner-city youth offending team experienced adverse and traumatic life events. A qualitative approach was used and semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight young offenders about their perceptions of difficult experiences and the effects of such events. The interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Jarman, & Osborn, 1999). Analysis of the accounts yielded a number of themes. Young offenders experienced violence at home, in the community and in custody. Instability and transitions emerged as important themes in relation to school and home. Deprivation was experienced both in terms of poverty and the literal and emotional absence of parents. A variety of cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses to adverse/traumatic experiences were identified, including a blocking out of painful experience and aggression to self and others. There were barriers to seeking or making use of professional support. Custody appeared to offer an opportunity to reflect on and re-evaluate life trajectory. The study concluded that greater consideration of trauma when carrying out assessments would enable `at risk' young offenders to be identified using clinical interviewing along side standardized measures to aid assessment of the complexity and uniqueness of the response to trauma.
Economic transformations in Cuba: a review

Abstract After Raul Castro’s accession to the presidency of Cuba, the country has witnessed the most far-reaching process of economic reforms for more than five decades. The government has expanded the private and cooperative sectors, has passed a new foreign investment law, restructured most of its old debt and has sought to end the long-standing dispute with the USA. Yet economic performance has been poor and the country faces significant challenges and contradictions arising from the reforms. This paper analyses the macroeconomic environment and the changes introduced by the Cuban government over the period 2007–15. While successful at restoring macroeconomic equilibria, restrictive macroeconomic policies have hurt economic growth, whereas growth- and efficiency-enhancing measures are yet to produce results. Moreover, transformation of the economic model is slow because of its many internal contradictions. The paper also discusses some of the main impediments to future change.
Long-term health-related quality of life in transplant-ineligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma receiving lenalidomide and dexamethasone

Abstract The FIRST trial demonstrated that continuous therapy with lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Rd) prolongs overall survival (OS) and improves health-related quality of life (HRQoL) during the first 18 months of therapy in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) patients. However, patient-reported HRQoL data were not collected after 18 months. We therefore estimated HRQoL scores based on time-varying data collected during progression-free follow-up after 18 months. During the initial 18 months of Rd, observed changes from baseline were within the 95% confidence interval of the predictive models at 33 of 35 time points across 7 HRQoL scores. Predicted scores after 18 months of therapy showed that observed HRQoL improvements during therapy were maintained or improved. Therefore, the survival gain observed with Rd does not come at a cost of declining HRQoL during continuous therapy beyond 18 months, supporting long-term Rd as a standard of care for initial myeloma therapy.
The Provision of Frequency Control Reserves From Multiple Microgrids

The concept of microgrid is invented to harmonize local electricity production and consumption. The increasing interest on microgrids is caused by the considerable growth of renewable energy sources (RES) and distributed generation (DG). In a large geographical region, there can exist multiple microgrids. Many academic articles have reported the technicalities of microgrids operating in islanded mode, and few have analyzed their aggregated technical/economic impacts or benefits on the network in a larger region. Deregulation encourages RES to participate in energy markets to facilitate competition among different energy providers. Apart from participating in energy markets, an alternative way of making use of and making profit out of multiple microgrids is to take part in the ancillary-service market. This paper investigates the technical aspects of providing frequency control reserves (FCRs) and the potential economic profitability of participating in FCR markets based on a setup of multiple microgrids. In particular, it has a focus on the communication aspects under different market scenarios, i.e., decentralized or centralized coordination approach, for FCRs with the assumption of the possible aggregation of reserve provision from multiple microgrids (microsources and flexible loads).
A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the efficacy and safety of controlled-release fluvoxamine in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this 12-week, double-blind, flexible-dose, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm, multicenter trial was to determine the safety and efficacy of fluvoxamine in a controlled-release (CR) formulation in adult outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHOD 253 adult outpatients with DSM-IV OCD were randomly assigned to receive 100 to 300 mg of fluvoxamine CR (N = 127) or placebo (N = 126) once daily for 12 weeks. Intent-to-treat analyses of efficacy assessments with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scale (CGI-S), and Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale (CGI-I) were conducted. RESULTS Fluvoxamine CR was significantly (p <.05) superior to placebo in decreasing YBOCS total score beginning at week 2. This early response was sustained at all subsequent visits. At endpoint, there was a mean decrease of 8.5 +/- 0.7 (31.7%) in the YBOCS total score compared with baseline in the fluvoxamine CR treatment group versus a mean decrease of 5.6 +/- 0.7 (21.2%) in the placebo group (p =.001). Fluvoxamine CR was also significantly superior to placebo in lowering the severity of illness (CGI-S, p =.002) and in producing clinical improvement (CGI-I, p <.01). At endpoint, significantly greater percentages of the fluvoxamine CR treatment group were responders (p =.002) and remitters (p =.019) compared with the placebo group. CONCLUSION Over 12 weeks, fluvoxamine CR treatment was associated with a statistically significant and clinically relevant reduction in OCD severity and was found to be safe and well tolerated. The early onset of therapeutic effect, starting from week 2, was of particular interest.
Encoding Digital Information using Transient Chaos

Recent work has demonstrated that symbolic representations of controlled chaotic orbits can be utilized for encoding digital information. So far, this idea has been demonstrated using systems exhibiting sustained chaotic motion on chaotic attractors. The purpose of this work is to explore digital encoding by using transient chaos naturally arising in nonlinear systems. Dynamically, transient chaos is caused by nonattracting chaotic saddles. We argue that there are two major advantages when trajectories on chaotic saddles are exploited as information source: (1) the channel capacity can in general be large, and (2) the influence of channel noise can be reduced. We present a control scheme and also a practical example of encoding a digital message.
Regional Innovation Efficiency in China from the Green Low-carbon Perspective

Green carbon has become the theme of our era. Promoting green technological innovation and improving ecological environment are of great significance for the healthy and sustainable development of Chinese economy. From the perspectives of green environment and low-carbon economy,this paper improved stochastic frontier analysis model by combining with the projection pursuit model which is charactered with data reduction. Therefore,a more validate efficiency measurement model was built. On this basis,the study analyzed innovation efficiency and its affecting factors based on the panel data of 30 provincial regions in China from 2005 to2011. Results show that the average innovation efficiency in China is 0. 645,a little bit higher than 0. 5. However,a large area of nonefficient still existed,where innovation efficiency has to be improved. Moreover,the innovation efficiency shows significantly regional heterogeneity,which presents the phenomenon of unbalanced development. In addition to the innovation efficiency,the influencing factors of innovation efficiency were examined. Results show that the relationship between strength of environmental regulation and innovation efficiency is a U-shaped curve,which shows that at the beginning of environmental regulations it has a negative impact on innovation efficiency due to the increasing cost, however, it has positive impacts on innovation efficiency with environmental improvements. The degrees of openness,the maturity of technology market and government funding have positive impacts on innovation efficiency,which show that the higher degrees of openness can help push innovation efficiency to a higher level,the maturity of technology market will contribute to the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and innovation efficiency,and government funding may reduce innovation costs and risks of innovation subjects and stimulate their enthusiasm in order to improve innovation efficiency. Thus,to improve innovation efficiency and the sustainable development of social economy of China and regions,the effective use of innovation resources,the improvement of ecological environment and the vigorous promotion of green innovation technology should be attented. On the one hand,the coordinated development of economic growth and ecological environment should be balanced,on the other hand,more advanced foreign green innovation technology should be introduced actively. Meanwhile,the imbalance to the regional innovation capability by government should be regulated.
Straight sprinting is the most frequent action in goal situations in professional football

Abstract The present study aimed to analyse the influence of speed and power abilities in goal situations in professional football. During the second half of the season 2007/08, videos of 360 goals in the first German national league were analysed by visual inspection. For the assisting and the scoring player the situations immediately preceding the goal were evaluated. The observed actions were categorised as: no powerful action, rotation (around the body's centre-line), straight sprint, change-in-direction sprint, jump, or a combination of those categories. Two hundred and ninety-eight (83%) goals were preceded by at least one powerful action of the scoring or the assisting player. Most actions for the scoring player were straight sprints (n = 161, 45% of all analysed goals, P < 0.001) followed by jumps (n = 57, 16%), rotations and change-in-direction sprints (n = 22, 6% each). Most sprints were conducted without an opponent (n = 109, P < 0.001) and without the ball (n = 121, P < 0.001). Similarly, for the assisting player the most frequent action was a straight sprint (n = 137, P < 0.001) followed by rotations (n = 28), jumps (n = 22) and change-in-direction sprints (n = 18). The straight sprints were mostly conducted with the ball (n = 93, P = 0.003). In conclusion, straight sprinting is the most frequent action in goal situations. Power and speed abilities are important within decisive situations in professional football and, thus, should be included in fitness testing and training.
Communication System using OFDM on a Power Line Channel

The efficient communication systems development that use like environment of transmission the net of energy (Power Line Communication) needs a detailed knowledge of the channel's estates, such as the capacity, the noise, the setting of interference and the function of transference, currently the OFDM modulation is utilized in power line communication in information transference application with high debits, due to its robustness against interferences and spectral efficiency. It was with the objective of obtaining the transfer function of the power line that the experiences presented in this report were carried out. Index Terms — Power line communications, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, digital and analog signal processing, digital communication.
Modeling the effects of amount and timing of deception in simulated network scenarios

With the growth of digital infrastructure, cyber-attacks are increasing in the real-world. Cyber-attacks are deliberate exploitation of computer systems, technology-dependent enterprises, and networks. Deception, i.e., the act of making someone believe in something that is not true, could be a way of countering cyber-attacks. In this paper, we propose a real-time simulation environment (“Deception Game”), which we used to evaluate and model the decision making of hackers in the presence of deception. In an experiment, using a repeated Deception Game (N = 100 participants), we analyzed the effect of two factors on participants' decisions to attack a computer network: amount of deception used and the timing of deception. Across 10-attack trials, the amount of deception used was manipulated at 2-levels: low and high. The timing of deception was manipulated at 2-levels: early and late. Results revealed that using late and high deception caused a reduction in attacks on regular webserver compared to early and low deception. Furthermore, we developed a cognitive model of hacker's decision-making using Instance-Based Learning (IBL) Theory, a theory of decisions from experience. The parameters obtained from the model helped explain the reasons for our experimental results.
Extended follow-up of unruptured intracranial aneurysms detected by presymptomatic screening in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) patients have an increased risk for intracranial aneurysms (IAs). The importance of screening for unruptured IAs (UIAs) depends on their risks for growth and rupture. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS ADPKD patients with UIAs found by presymptomatic screening with magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) during 1989 to 2009 were followed initially at 6 months and annually, and less frequently after demonstration of stability. RESULTS Forty-five saccular aneurysms were detected in 38 patients from 36 families. Most were small (median diameter 3.5 mm) and in the anterior circulation (84%). Median age at diagnosis was 49 years. During cumulative imaging follow-up of 243 years, one de novo UIA was detected and increased in size from 2 to 4.4 mm over 144 months and two UIAs grew from 4.5 to 5.9 mm and 4.7 to 6.2 mm after 69 and 184 months, respectively. Seven patients did not have imaging follow-up. No change was detected in the remaining 28 patients. During cumulative clinical follow-up of 316 years, no aneurysm ruptured. Five patients died from unrelated causes and two were lost to follow-up after 8 and 120 months. Three patients underwent surgical clipping. CONCLUSIONS Most UIAs detected by presymptomatic screening in ADPKD patients are small and in the anterior circulation. Growth and rupture risks are not higher than those of UIAs in the general population. These data support very selective screening for UIAs in ADPKD patients, and widespread screening is not indicated.
Self-construal priming modulates the scope of visual attention

Although it is well documented that cultures influence basic cognitive processes such as attention, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We tested the hypothesis that self-concepts that characterize people from different cultures mediate the variation of visual attention. After being primed with self-construals that emphasize the Eastern interdependent self or the Western independent self, Chinese participants were asked to discriminate a central target letter flanked by compatible or incompatible stimuli (Experiment 1) or global/local letters in a compound stimulus (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 showed that, while responses were slower to the incompatible than to the compatible stimuli, this flanker compatibility effect was increased by the interdependent relative to the independent self-construal priming. Experiment 2 showed that the interdependent-self priming resulted in faster responses to the global than to the local targets in compound letters whereas a reverse pattern was observed in the independent-self priming condition. The results provide evidence for dynamics of the scope of visual attention as a function of self-construal priming that switches self-concept toward the interdependent or independent styles in Chinese.
Inflation targeting, recursive inattentiveness and heterogeneous beliefs

In this paper we consider a scenario in which the monetary authority provides an explicit inflation target in order to anchor private sector expectations and align them with policy objectives. In this context, a biased perception of the target may arise due to imperfect information flows and idiosyncrasies in information processing lead to heterogenous beliefs about the target. We allow private sector expectations to be revised over time as new information becomes available and the direction of change is determined by the distance between agents' beliefs and actual realizations of macro variables. The recursive choice between alternative predictors is modeled as an optimization problem under rational inattention. Within this framework we investigate whether a simple interest rate rule can steer the economy toward the targeted equilibrium. Our findings suggest that standard policy advices, i.e., ensure determinacy under rational expectations, may not be sufficient to reach the target. Instead, a sound monetary policy should be fine-tuned to ensure that the signal sent by realizations of macro variables can correct biased agents' beliefs.
Clinical Study Monitoring the pH on Tooth Surfaces in Patients with and without Erosion

The aim of this study was to compare tooth surface pH after drinking orange juice or water in 39 patients with dental erosion and in 17 controls. The following investigations were carried out: measurement of pH values on selected tooth surfaces after ingestion of orange juice followed by ingestion of water (acid clearance), measurement of salivary flow rate and buffering capacity. Compared with the controls, patients with erosion showed significantly greater decreases in pH after drinking orange juice, and the pH stayed lower for a longer period of time (p < 0.05). Saliva parameters showed no significant differences between the two patient groups except for a lower buffering capacity at pH 5.5 in the erosion group.
Investigation of the presence of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli in the North Wales and West Midlands areas of the UK in 2007 to 2008 using scanning surveillance

Between November 5, 2007 and November 4, 2008, faecal samples from cattle and sheep submitted for diagnostic purposes to the Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) (now AHVLA) regional laboratories (covering North Wales and the West Midlands) were screened for the presence of Escherichia coli that produces CTX-M extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) using the selective medium CHROMagar CTX. Samples from 113 farms were tested and eight ESBL-positive farms identified. Of these, six farms were identified via submissions of cattle faeces and two from sheep. Gene sequencing revealed both group 1 and group 9 CTX-M enzymes corresponding to CTX-M-14, CTX-M-14B (group 9) and CTX-M-15/28 (group 1). Analysis of these isolates by nanoarray revealed that some were carrying a range of virulence genes including ireA, iroN and prfB, which have been associated with extraintestinal pathogenic E coli, and were multidrug resistant. Geographical analysis with choropleth maps suggested that these CTX-M genes are relatively widespread in the North Wales and West Midlands study area. This work was carried out concurrently with the running of a VLA ESBL surveillance system, which has subsequently identified many more CTX-M positive farms in the UK.
Co-infection with HIV and hepatitis C virus in former plasma/blood donors: challenge for patient care in rural China

Background:Illegal commercial plasma donation in the late 1980s and early 1990s caused blood-borne infections in China. Objectives:To estimate the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and to identify associated risk factors in central China with a history of illegal plasma collection activities. Design and methods:A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2004, in which all adult residents in four villages in rural Shanxi Province were invited for a questionnaire interview and testing of HIV and HCV antibodies. Results:Of 3062 participating villagers, 29.5% reported a history of selling whole blood or plasma. HIV seropositivity was confirmed in 1.3% of subjects and 12.7% were HCV positive. Their co-infection rates were 1.1% among all study subjects, 85% among HIV-positive subjects, and 8.7% among HCV-positive subjects. Selling plasma [odds ratio (OR), 22.5; 95% confidence interval (CI), 16.1–31.7; P < 0.001] or blood (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 2.3–4.2; P < 0.001) were independently associated with HIV and/or HCV infections. Although a spouse's history of selling plasma/blood was not associated with either infection, the HIV or HCV seropositivity of a spouse was significantly associated with HIV and/or HCV infections (both OR, 3.2; 95% CI, 2.0–5.2 in men, 2.0–4.9 in women; P < 0.001). For men, residence in the village with a prior illegal plasma collection center (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.7–3.7; P < 0.001) and for women, older age (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.2–14.0; P = 0.04) were associated with HIV and/or HCV infections. Conclusions:HIV and HCV infections are now prevalent in these Chinese communities. HIV projects should consider screening and care for HCV co-infection.