Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of a Novel Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Epidemic Clone in Córdoba, Argentina, Involved in Nosocomial Infections

ABSTRACT Infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are increasingly a main health concern worldwide for hospitalized patients. In addition, the prevalence of community-acquired infection has risen continuously during the last few years. Some MRSA clones spread easier than others within the hospital environment and therefore are frequently implicated in outbreaks. Thus, the spread of a unique epidemic multiresistant clone, the so-called South American clone, is the main cause of nosocomial infections produced by this bacterium in Brazil and in some regions of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. In the present work we describe the identification of a novel clone of MRSA that is involved in nosocomial infections and that shows a prevalence as high as that for the South American clone. A total of 53 consecutive single-patient MRSA isolates were recovered during a 3-month period (May to July 1999) from six different hospitals (955 beds) in Córdoba. The isolates were initially typed according the antibiotic resistance and phage susceptibility patterns, followed by genotyping using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). PFGE analysis of the 53 MRSA isolates revealed six major types (A to F) and 25 subtypes. The B-type DNA pattern was indistinguishable from that of the South American epidemic clone observed in 34% of the isolates. A novel highly prevalent clone, showing the A-type DNA pattern and representing 38% of the isolates, was also identified. Moreover, the most frequent subtype of the A clonal family triggered an outbreak in a hospital 2 months later, further confirming its epidemic feature.
Erythrokeratodermia variabilis: Two case reports

Erythrokeratodermia variabilis (EKV) is a rare heterogeneous skin disorder. The classical EKV first described by Mendes da Costa is characterized by two types of skin lesions: (1) figurate hyperkeratotic plaques, and (2) transient erythematous areas. Herein, we report two patients presenting with erythematous and hyperkeratotic lesions that were histopathologically diagnosed with EKV.
Relation of health literacy to gonorrhoea related care.

OBJECTIVE To assess the relation between health literacy and receipt of a screening test for gonorrhoea in the past year. METHODS Study design was multisite, cross sectional survey of subjects enrolled from clinics, from community based organisations, and by street intercept. Data were obtained using face to face interview. The dependent variable was self reported receipt of a test for gonorrhoea in the past year. Health literacy was measured by the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM), recoded to represent 8th grade or lower reading or 9th grade and higher reading level. Statistical analyses were adjusted to account for selection bias in literacy assessment. RESULTS 54% of the sample reported at least one gonorrhoea test in the previous year. 65% of the sample read at a 9th grade level or higher. REALM score was moderately correlated with the respondent's years of education. After adjustment for missing REALM data, past suspicion of gonorrhoea, self inspection for gonorrhoea, self efficacy for care seeking, REALM score of 9th grade reading level or higher, and younger age were independently associated with gonorrhoea testing in the previous year. For the average respondent, REALM reading grade level of 9th grade or higher is associated with a 10% increase in the probability of having a gonorrhoea test in the past year. CONCLUSIONS Low literacy appears to pose a barrier to care for sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhoea.
Pricing to Market When the Exchange Rate Changes

It has been widely remarked that US import prices have not fully reflected movements in the exchange rate. This paper begins with an investigation of the actual extent of "pricing to market" by foreign suppliers. It shows that pricing to market is a real phenomenon, but not universal; in particular, evidence on German export prices suggests that stickiness of import prices is largely confined to machinery and transport equipment. The paper then considers a number of possible models. While the evidence is not sufficient to distinguish among thesemodels, it seems probable that a full explanation will involve both dynamics and imperfect competition.
Defining the transcriptome of accelerated and replicatively senescent keratinocytes reveals links to differentiation, interferon signaling, and Notch related pathways

Epidermal keratinocytes (KCs) undergo highly orchestrated morphological and molecular changes during transition from proliferative compartment into growth arrested early and late differentiation layers, prior to dying in outermost cornified layers of normal skin. Creation of stratum corneum is vital to barrier function protecting against infection. Transcriptional events in KCs regulating complex processes of differentiation and host defense required to maintain constant epidermal thickness and resistance to infection in either young or aged skin are largely unknown. Furthermore, as terminal differentiation is characterized by irreversible loss of replicative potential culminating in dead layers at the skin surface, this process may be viewed as a form of senescence. However, a complete transcriptional profile of senescent (SN) human KCs has not been previously defined to permit delineation of molecular boundaries involving differentiation and senescence. To fill this void, we utilized global transcriptional analysis of KCs maintained in vitro as either cultures of proliferating (PR) cells, early and late confluent (LC) (accelerated senescence) cultures, or KCs undergoing replicative senescence. Global gene expression profiling revealed early confluent (EC) KCs were somewhat similar to PR KCs, while prominent differences were evident when compared to LC KCs; which were also distinct from replicatively SN KCs. While confluent KCs have in common several genes regulating differentiation with replicatively SN KCs, the latter cells expressed elevated levels of genes involved in interferon signaling and inflammatory pathways. These results provide new insights into cell autonomous transcriptional‐based programs operative within KCs contributing to replicative senescence, with partial sharing of genes involved in differentiation. In addition, regulation of KC senescence may involve participation of interferon signaling pathways derived from the important role of KCs in protecting skin from infection. Integrating all of the transcriptional data revealed a key role for Notch receptor mediated signaling in the confluency induced differentiation phenotype using this model system. J. Cell. Biochem. 98: 394–408, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
G protein coupled receptor signaling complexes in live cells

Classical models of receptor (GPCR) and G protein (Gαβγ) signaling based on biochemical studies have proposed that receptor stimulation results in G protein activation (Gα-GTP) and dissociation of the heterotrimer (Gα-GTP + Gβγ) to regulate downstream signaling events. Unclear is whether or not there exists freely diffusible, activated Gα-GTP on cellular membranes capable of catalytic signal amplification. Recent studies in live cells indicate that GPCRs serve as platforms for the assembly of macromolecular signaling complexes that include G proteins to support a highly efficient and spatially restricted signaling event, with no requirement for full Gα-GTP and Gβγ dissociation and lateral diffusion within the plasma membrane.
Are normally sighted, visually impaired, and blind pedestrians accurate and reliable at making street crossing decisions?

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to measure the accuracy and reliability of normally sighted, visually impaired, and blind pedestrians at making street crossing decisions using visual and/or auditory information. METHODS Using a 5-point rating scale, safety ratings for vehicular gaps of different durations were measured along a two-lane street of one-way traffic without a traffic signal. Safety ratings were collected from 12 normally sighted, 10 visually impaired, and 10 blind subjects for eight different gap times under three sensory conditions: (1) visual plus auditory information, (2) visual information only, and (3) auditory information only. Accuracy and reliability in street crossing decision-making were calculated for each subject under each sensory condition. RESULTS We found that normally sighted and visually impaired pedestrians were accurate and reliable in their street crossing decision-making ability when using either vision plus hearing or vision only (P > 0.05). Under the hearing only condition, all subjects were reliable (P > 0.05) but inaccurate with their street crossing decisions (P < 0.05). Compared to either the normally sighted (P = 0.018) or visually impaired subjects (P = 0.019), blind subjects were the least accurate with their street crossing decisions under the hearing only condition. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggested that visually impaired pedestrians can make accurate and reliable street crossing decisions like those of normally sighted pedestrians. When using auditory information only, all subjects significantly overestimated the vehicular gap time. Our finding that blind pedestrians performed significantly worse than either the normally sighted or visually impaired subjects under the hearing only condition suggested that they may benefit from training to improve their detection ability and/or interpretation of vehicular gap times.
R&D Strategy, Performance and Earnings Management

The current paper studies the determinants of R&D strategy and analyzes the effects of R&D decentralization on financial performance and earnings management. We use a sample of 160 U.S. Multinational companies (MNCs) between 2001 and 2006. Our results provide evidence that MNCs decentralize their R&D to improve firm profitability but mangers can take advantages to get some private and non transferable benefits which increases earnings management. Moreover, it seems that the presence of institutional investors and the use of performance-based compensation encourage managers to decentralize their R&D to increase earnings management.
Mandatory Worker Representation on the Board and Its Effect on Shareholder Wealth

Several countries legally mandate representation of workers on boards of directors. The evidence on the shareholder wealth effects of such a corporate governance design is mixed. I examine abnormal announcement returns around major milestones leading to the passing of the German Codetermination Act in 1976. I find that news about the act causes an average decline in the equity value of firms that are certain to have been affected by the new law of up to 1.5% relative to the control firms. Firms close to the regulatory threshold of 2,000 employees remain unaffected implying an expectation of avoiding compliance.
Caffeine treatment prevents rapid eye movement sleep deprivation‐induced impairment of late‐phase long‐term potentiation in the dentate gyrus

The CA1 and dentate gyrus (DG) are physically and functionally closely related areas of the hippocampus, but they differ in various respects, including their reactions to different insults. The purpose of this study was to determine the protective effects of chronic caffeine treatment on late‐phase long‐term potentiation (L‐LTP) and its signalling cascade in the DG area of the hippocampus of rapid eye movement sleep‐deprived rats. Rats were chronically treated with caffeine (300 mg/L drinking water) for 4 weeks, after which they were sleep‐deprived for 24 h. L‐LTP was induced in in anaesthetized rats, and extracellular field potentials from the DG area were recorded in vivo. The levels of L‐LTP‐related signalling proteins were assessed by western blot analysis. Sleep deprivation markedly reduced L‐LTP magnitude, and basal levels of total cAMP response element‐binding protein (CREB), phosphorylated CREB (P‐CREB), and calcium/calmodulin kinase IV (CaMKIV). Chronic caffeine treatment prevented the reductions in the basal levels of P‐CREB, total CREB and CaMKIV in sleep‐deprived rats. Furthermore, caffeine prevented post‐L‐LTP sleep deprivation‐induced downregulation of P‐CREB and brain‐derived neurotrophic factor in the DG. The current findings show that caffeine treatment prevents acute sleep deprivation‐induced deficits in brain function.
A Thirsty Banking Sector: An Empirical Study of Banking Liquidity During the 2007 – 2010 Financial Crisis

In the first study of its kind, I find evidence from the application of both time series regressions and time varying techniques, specifically the Kalman Filter, that during the financial crisis there was a significant change in the liquidity of the UK banking sector, which in some cases has not returned to its pre-crisis equilibrium. The ‘break point’ at which the liquidity beta changes trajectory has been identified in each case around the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. The results highlight Standard Chartered’s liquidity position developed in an entirely different fashion – most likely due to their strong Asian, Middle East & African position leading them to ‘weather the liquidity drought’ and increase returns in the crisis period whilst its contemporaries all experienced negative abnormal returns.
Differential diagnosis of lipoma‐like lipoblastoma

Lipoblastomas are rare benign tumors of white fatty tissue that occur primarily in young children. Occasionally, heterogeneity of morphological appearance and histological overlap with other lipogenic tumors are described. In such cases fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of PLAG1, a gene specifically rearranged in lipoblastoma, is necessary to prevent misdiagnosis. We present a case of lipoblastoma arising in an atypical site with histological features characteristic of lipoma. The correct diagnosis was made possible on cytogenetic grounds through the identification of the characteristic PLAG1‐HAS2 fusion gene, thus allowing an appropriate clinical approach. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;52:132–134. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Manage Your Information as a Product

While many managers believe that quality information is key to their success, few act on the belief. With the help of four case examples, the authors demonstrate the need for companies to treat information as a product for customers rather than as a by-product of the systems or the events that produce the information. They present four principles that together form the keystone on which the delivery of high-quality information depends: 1. Understand consumers' needs. Consumer needs must be clearly established and understood during every phase of the information product's development and manufacture. 2. Manage the information production process. The process must be well defined and contain adequate controls, including quality assurance, inspection, and production and delivery time management. 3. Manage the life cycle of information products. The degree and frequency of changes to information products depend on the type and nature of the information, the tasks the information supports, and the changing context in which the information is used. 4. Appoint an information product manager. The IPM's key responsibility is to coordinate and manage the suppliers of raw information, the producers of deliverable information, and the information consumers. The IPM must apply an integrated, cross-functional approach. As the four case examples illustrate, failure to abide by these principles can raise costs, lower quality, and jeopardize a company's competitive position. Adopting an information-as-product approach enables companies to discover new opportunities, exploit those opportunities, and deploy the resulting applications for enhanced profitability, competitive advantage, and market dominance.
Ageing, pension reforms and capital market development in transition countries

This paper gives an overview of demographic trends and their impact on public finances in transition countries. It also describes the pension reforms that have been carried out and the impact of multipillar pension reforms on capital market developments. We show that the transition countries face more severe demographic pressures than comparable emerging market economies, and that there is a cause for concern that they may ‘grow old before they grow rich’. Their government finances therefore have to cope with a rising strain on public social security systems. We argue that multi-pillar pension reform is not a cure-all for this problem. Multi-pillar systems are costly to introduce, as pension contributions previously used to finance the public pension liabilities are diverted to the funded pillars. They also change the risk-profile of the pension schemes, as the intergenerational risksharing of the public system is replaced by risk-sharing through financial markets. Parametric reform to public pension systems continues to be a viable policy alternative. The necessity of parametric reforms is underscored by data on asset allocations of mandatory pension funds in the transition countries, showing that limited diversification of assets can undermine the actual impact of multi-pillar reform on fiscal sustainability.
Food Retail Competitive Strategy in Recession Economy: A case of Successful Foreign Discount Stores in Finland

The study aims to increase our knowledge of how a retailer can survive in recession economy by changing its competitive strategy. In particular, the study is to identify those strategies that can help retailers to maintain successful performance despite turbulence in the operational environment. A case study approach is employed to explore a whole picture of a successful retailer’s actions and strategy to scope with down turn economy. Results of the study show that retailers can maintain and improve their performance in times of crisis by adjusting their competitive strategies properly. We found that in recession period, retailers need to exercise a combination of competitive strategies including low cost focus and differentiation focus strategy. To be able to enhance low cost strategy, retailers need to have logic logistic center, to increase effectiveness of employees, and to reduce wastes from right-ordered for fresh food products, to strictly utilize first-in-first-out food product displaying methods. For focus strategy, firms need to pull unprofitable products from the shelves, and to focus on profit-driven product selection, to focus their promotion campaign on the most effective time and channel. In differentiation strategy, retailers need to be more selective for which products to offer, and to be more creative in their promotion program.
Auditing the Auditors: Evidence on the PCAOB's Inspections of Audit Firms

This paper analyzes audit firm supervision since the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) began conducting inspections. First, we find that audit clients do not perceive that the PCAOB's inspection reports are valuable for signaling audit quality. Second, we document that the information content of peer review reports fell after they became narrower in scope with the initiation of PCAOB inspections. Third, we isolate that the signaling role of peer review reports mainly stems from information that PCAOB inspectors do not publicly disclose. Collectively, our evidence implies that less is known about audit firm quality under the new regulatory regime.
Does size matter? The influence of firm size on working conditions and job satisfaction

Using a Spanish survey, this paper investigates the relationship between firm size and working conditions, and whether firm size differences in workersâ€™ job satisfaction can be accounted for by differences in their work environment. The results indicate that: (1) workers in larger firms have a significantly lower level of autonomy and, in general, face worse working conditions; (2) working in large firms has no statistically significant effect on job satisfaction after controlling for working conditions; and (3) no systematic differences exist in worker mobility across firm-size categories. We conclude that observed wage differentials by firm size are utility-equalizing, so they are due to differences in working conditions.
Serum carotenoids and tocopherols and severity of nuclear and cortical opacities.

PURPOSE To determine whether higher levels of individual carotenoids and tocopherols in the serum are related to less severe nuclear and cortical opacities within the general population. METHODS Levels of individual carotenoids and tocopherols in the serum were determined in 400 randomly selected persons aged 50 to 84 years participating in the Nutritional Factors in Eye Disease Study of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Severity of nuclear and cortical opacities was assessed from lens slit lamp and retroillumination photographs taken at the same time. Relationships between serum levels of nutrients and prevalence of these opacities were evaluated using logistic regression analysis accounting for known possible confounders. RESULTS Higher levels of individual or total carotenoids or alpha-tocopherol in the serum were not associated with less severe nuclear or cortical opacities overall. However, associations differed between men and women and within specific population subgroups. A significant trend for lower odds for either type of opacity with increasing levels of beta-carotene in the serum was observed in men. For nuclear sclerosis, this protective association with beta-carotene was found in younger but not older men. Higher levels of three other carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and lutein) in serum were significantly related to lower odds for nuclear sclerosis only in men who smoked. In contrast to these inverse associations observed in some subgroups, higher levels of some carotenoids and alpha-tocopherol often were directly associated with nuclear sclerosis, particularly in women. CONCLUSIONS Higher levels of carotenoids and tocopherols are not consistently associated with less severe opacities in the general population.
Two GacA-Dependent Small RNAs Modulate the Quorum-Sensing Response in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

ABSTRACT In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the GacS/GacA two-component system positively controls the quorum-sensing machinery and the expression of extracellular products via two small regulatory RNAs, RsmY and RsmZ. An rsmY rsmZ double mutant and a gacA mutant were similarly impaired in the synthesis of the quorum-sensing signal N-butanoyl-homoserine lactone, the disulfide bond-forming enzyme DsbA, and the exoproducts hydrogen cyanide, pyocyanin, elastase, chitinase (ChiC), and chitin-binding protein (CbpD). Both mutants showed increased swarming ability, azurin release, and early biofilm development.
Uplink rate analysis of multicell massive MIMO systems in Ricean fading

In this paper, we investigate the uplink rate of multicell massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. We assume the channel is estimated through uplink training with MMSE estimation. Unlike previous studies, the channel between users and the base station (BS) in the same cell is modeled to be Ricean fading, in which the fast fading matrix is assumed to have a deterministic component as well as a Rayleigh-distributed random component, and the Ricean K-factor of each user is supposed to be different. The effect of pilot contamination is analyzed and we derive a closed-form approximation for the achievable uplink rate that holds for any finite number of BS antennas (M). Based on it, we find that increasing the proportion of line-of-sight (LOS) component can improve the uplink performance. In particular, with both very large M and Ricean K-factor, the uplink rate grows infinite, which means that the pilot contamination can be eliminated completely. However, the increase of users' transmit power will make the uplink rate approach a constant value even with unlimited M. In addition, we show that with no reduction in the rate performance, each user's power can be most scaled down to 1/√M with Rayleigh fading channel and to 1/M with non-zero Ricean K-factor.