Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Correlation between rpoB gene mutation in Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis and clinical rifabutin and rifampicin resistance for treatment of Crohn's disease.

AIM To investigate overlapping regions of the rpoB gene previously involved with rifamycin resistance in M. tuberculosis and seek correlation between rpoB mutations in clinical MAP strains with susceptibility to RIF and RFB. METHODS We designed a molecular-based PCR method for the evaluation of rifabutin (RFB) and rifampicin (RIF) resistance based on probable determinant regions within the rpoB gene of MAP, including the 81 bp variable site located between nucleotides 1363 and 1443. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for RIF was also determined against 11 MAP isolates in attempt to seek correlation with rpoB sequences. RESULTS We determined that MAP strain 18 had an MIC of > 30 mg/L and <or= 5 mg/L for RIF and RFB respectively, and a significant and novel rpoB mutation C1367T, compared to an MIC of <or= 1.0 mg/L for both drugs in the wild type MAP. The 30-fold increase in the MIC was a direct result of the rpoB mutation C1367T, which caused an amino acid change Thr456 to Ile456 in the drug's binding site; the beta subunit of RNA polymerase. In addition, MAP strain 185 contained five silent rpoB mutations and exhibited an MIC comparable to the wild-type. Moreover, our in vitro selected mutation in MAP strain UCF5 resulted in the generation of a new resistant strain (UCF5-RIF16r) that possessed T1442C rpoB mutation and an MIC > 30 mg/L and > 10 mg/L for RIF and RFB respectively. Sequencing of the entire rpoB gene in MAP strains UCF4, 18, and UCF5-RIF16r revealed an rpoB mutation A2284C further downstream of the 81 bp variable region in UCF4, accounting for observed slight increase in MIC. In addition, no other significant mutations were found in strains 18 and UCF-RIF16r. CONCLUSION The data clearly illustrates that clinical and in vitro-selected MAP mutants with rpoB mutations result in resistance to RIF and RFB, and that a single amino acid change in the beta subunit may have a significant impact on RIF resistance. Unconventional drug susceptibility testing such as our molecular approach will be beneficial for evaluation of antibiotic effectiveness. This molecular approach may also serve as a model for other drugs used for treatment of MAP infections.
Creating Civic Bureaucrats

ABSTRACT Kirlin (1996a; 1996b) argued that big questions of public management should be placed within a democratic framework emphasizing government's role in creating “civic infrastructure. ” For this study, those who build civic infrastructure are called “civic bureaucrats,” and new measures (Civic Bureaucrat Scale and subscales:civic skills, faith in the public, deliberative democracy value, civic motivation, and political system value) are used to examine which factors are associated with encouraging public servants, such as U.S. city planners, to pursue democratic processes. These measures are different from those that examine public service or public participation, and are more focused on finding public servants guided by democratic values. Variables that might influence civic bureaucrats are individual, job, work, and community characteristics. Regression results found Civic Bureaucrat levels associated with gender (being a woman), dedication to civic duty, citizens bashing government, cities’ civic capital levels, and non-competitive elections. Notably, Civic Bureaucrat levels go up when elections are less competitive, suggesting civic bureaucrats picking up the slack when democratic institutions falter. Understanding such factors sheds light on what boosts and saps the civic energies of public servants.
The valuation of reset options with multiple strike resets and reset dates

This article makes two contributions to the literature. The first contribution is to provide the closed‐form pricing formulas of reset options with strike resets and predecided reset dates. The exact closed‐form pricing formulas of reset options with strike resets and continuous reset period are also derived. The second contribution is the finding that the reset options not only have the phenomena of Delta jump and Gamma jump across reset dates, but also have the properties of Delta waviness and Gamma waviness, especially near the time before reset dates. Furthermore, Delta and Gamma can be negative when the stock price is near the strike resets at times close to the reset dates. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 23:87–107,2003
Insulin Resistance in the Control of Body Fat Distribution: A New Hypothesis

Obesity causes insulin resistance, which is a prime etiological factor for type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular disease. However, insulin resistance may be a normal physiological response to obesity that limits further fat deposition and which only has pathological effects at high levels. The current hypothesis suggests that in obesity the initial deposition of triglycerides occurs in subcutaneous adipose tissue and as this increases in size insulin resistance will rise and limit further subcutaneous lipid accumulation. Triglycerides will then be diverted to the visceral fat depot as well as to ectopic sites. This leads to a substantial rise in insulin resistance and the prevalence of its associated disorders. Evidence supporting this hypothesis includes studies showing that in lean subjects the prime determinant of insulin resistance is BMI, that is, subcutaneous fat whilst in overweight and obese subjects it is waist circumference and visceral adiposity. It has also been shown that the metabolic syndrome suddenly increases in prevalence at high levels of insulin resistance and we suggest that this is due to the diversion of lipids from the subcutaneous to the visceral depot. This system may have functioned in our evolutionary past to limit excessive adiposity by causing lipid deposition to occur at a site that has maximal effects on insulin resistance but involves minimal weight gain.
The Takeover Deterrent Effect of Open Market Share Repurchases

This paper examines whether open market share repurchases deter takeovers. We model pre-repurchase takeover probability as a latent variable and examine its impact on the firm's decision to repurchase shares. Given specification tests reject the Tobit model, we turn to the censored quantile regression method of Powell (1986, "Journal of Econometrics" 32, 143-155). We find a significantly positive relation between open market share repurchases and takeover probability, and we reconcile empirical findings in previous studies that contradict predictions. Repurchase activity is inversely related to firm size, consistent with smaller firms having greater information asymmetry, and is related to temporary, but not permanent, cash flows. Copyright 2007 by The American Finance Association.
Multimodal Transport Pricing: First Best, Second Best and Extensions to Non-motorized Transport

In this paper, we examine the main concepts of transport pricing in an urban environment, focusing on the automobile, public transport and walking or cycling as travel alternatives. A review of the literature on the first-best and second-best pricing policies is provided, with an emphasis on public transport pricing, including the setting of frequency and vehicle capacity, the influence of bus congestion externalities and the interactions between transport pricing reforms and the broader tax system. A model is developed to analyse the impact of non-motorized transport on optimal public transport pricing policy, congestion interactions between cars and buses associated with the transfer of passengers at bus stops and the existence of a capacity constraint within the public transport mode.
Analysis of the Binding of Xenopus Ribosomal Protein L5 to Oocyte 5 S rRNA

Xenopus ribosomal protein L5 was expressed in Escherichia coli and exhibits high affinity (Kd = 2 nM) and specificity for oocyte 5 S rRNA. The pH dependence of the association constant for the complex reveals an ionization with a pKa value of 10.1, indicating that tyrosine and/or lysine residues are important for specific binding of L5 to the RNA. Formation of the L5·5 S rRNA complex is remarkably insensitive to ionic strength, providing evidence that nonelectrostatic interactions make significant contributions to binding. Together, these results suggest that one or more tyrosine residues may form critical contacts through stacking interactions with bases in the RNA. In order to locate recognition elements within 5 S rRNA, we measured binding of L5 to a collection of site-specific mutants. Mutations in the RNA that affected the interaction are confined to the hairpin structure comprised of helix III and loop C. Earlier experiments with a rhodium structural probe had shown that the two-nucleotide bulge in helix III and the intrinsic structure of loop C create sites in the major groove that are opened and accessible to stacking interactions with the metal complex. In the present studies, we detect a correlation between the intercalative binding of the rhodium complex to mutants in the hairpin and binding of L5, supporting the proposal that binding of the protein is mediated, in some part, by stacking interactions. Furthermore, the results from mutagenesis establish that, despite overlapping binding sites on 5 S rRNA, L5 and transcription factor IIIA utilize distinct structural elements for recognition.
Firm-Level Contracting and the Structure of Wages in Spain

In many European countries, sectoral bargaining agreements are automatically extended to cover all firms in an industry. Employers and employees can also negotiate firm-specific contracts. The authors of this paper use a large matched employer-employee data set from a 1995 survey in Spain to study the effects of firm-level contracting on the structure of wages. They estimate a series of wage determination models, including specifications that control for individual characteristics, coworker characteristics, the bargaining status of the workplace, and the probability that the workplace was covered by a firm-level contract. They find that firm-level contracting was associated with a 5–10% wage premium, with larger premiums for more highly paid workers. Although they cannot decisively test between alternative explanations for the firm-level contracting premium, they find that workers with firm-specific contracts had substantially longer job tenure than other workers, suggesting that the premium was at least partially a non-competitive phenomenon.
Profiling lipids across Caucasian and Afro‐American hair transverse cuts, using synchrotron infrared microspectrometry

Synchrotron‐based infrared microscopic measurements have been performed on various hair transverse sections, sampled either from the heads of Caucasian or Afro‐American subjects. Lipid content of various virgin hair transverse sections was established, with an unprecedented resolution. The variations in shape and intensity of the CH2, CH3, amide I and amide II bands, before and after lipid removal by solvent extraction, were profiled, showing clearly that Caucasian hair often contains lipids localized inside the medulla and to a lesser extent inside the cuticle. This statement does not hold for the Afro‐American hair analysed. For this, the FT‐IR spectra do not change within the hair section and are insensitive to solvent extraction. The importance of the origin of hair on its physical and chemical properties has to be taken into account in future investigations.
Like It! Learn It! Use It?

This field study examines factors influencing hotel employees’ ability to transfer the concepts that they learned in job training when they return to work. The study was conducted during a major hotel company’s training program. The training objective was to ready front-desk associates to operate a new property management system (PMS). Past business research suggests that trainee characteristics, training design, and work environment factors can positively impact an employee’s transfer of training. Role-play exercises and surveys were used to explore the validity of this research in a hospitality setting. This study’s findings suggest that proper management of these impact factors can foster enhanced transfer of training in hotels. Strategies are offered to help hospitality human resource professionals improve training transfer in hotels.
Virtuous Interactions in Removing Exclusion: The Link between Foreign Market Access and Access to Education

Abstract We outline a methodology which aims to give an answer to the widespread demand of impact analyses by regulators or by funding agencies which need to evaluate the current and past performance of development projects and may lack time series evidence. We devise a retrospective panel data approach to evaluate the dynamics of the effects of fair trade affiliation on the schooling decisions of a sample of Thai organic rice producers across the past 20 years. We find that the probability of school enrolment in families with more than two children is significantly affected by fair trade affiliation years. We try to ascertain whether our finding is robust to endogeneity of producers' choices of local cooperative affiliation and adoption of organic techniques. The significant difference between pre- and post-fair trade affiliation performance documents that fair trade participation generates a significant break in the schooling decisions of affiliated households.
Herding in the German Mutual Fund Industry

This paper analyses the trading activity of German mutual funds in the 1998–2002 period to investigate whether German mutual fund managers are engaged in herding behaviour. Another objective of the study is to determine the impact of this herd-like trading on stock prices. Our results provide evidence of herding and positive feedback trading by German mutual fund managers. We show that a significant portion of herding detected in the German market is associated with spurious herding as a consequence of changes in benchmark index composition. Investigating the impact of mutual fund herding on stock prices, we find that herding seems to neither destabilise nor stabilise stock prices.
Versatility of gene therapy vectors through viruses

Several viruses have been engineered for gene therapy applications, and the specific properties of each viral vector have been exploited to target a variety of inherited and acquired diseases. Preclinical and clinical studies demonstrated that viral vectors are highly versatile tools capable of efficient transfer of foreign genetic information into almost all cell types and tissues. Gene therapy applications depend on vector characteristics, such as host range, cell- or tissue-specific targeting, genome integration, efficiency and duration of transgene expression, packaging capacity, and suitability for scale-up pr-oduction. This review discusses the advances in the development of viral vectors, with particular emphasis on how knowledge of virus biology has been exploited to design a variety of vectors with improved safety ch-aracteristics and efficiency, potentially suitable for a large number of gene therapy applications.
Virtual reality exercise to improve balance control in older adults at risk of falling.

It is estimated that 28% to 35% of older adults (age 65 years) experience at least one fall each year; fall is the second leading cause of accidental death worldwide.1 Risk factors of fall include intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Balance control is intrinsic and modifiable. Virtual reality (VR) simulates daily life activities by presenting an illusion of threedimensional vision and direct visual and auditory feedback.2 Interventions using the Nintendo Wii Fit force-sensing platform and its built-in VR games for balance, yoga, aerobic, and strength training have been reported.2 The effectiveness of Wii Fit exercise versus conventional exercise on balance control has been studied. In a study of 36 community living older adults, the Wii Fit balance training group achieved better balance control post intervention, based on the Tinetti test and the Wii Fit centre of gravity test.3 In another study of 32 community living older adults, the Wii-fit group, the traditional exercise group, and the control group achieved significant but comparable improvement in Berg Balance Scale (BBS) score of 3.55, 3.45, and 2.99, respectively.4 However, scientific evidence on the effects of VR exercise using Wii Fit on balance control among institutionalised older adults with a fall history is still lacking. Hence, this randomised clinical study aimed to compare Wii Fit balance training with conventional balance training in this group of older adults.
Symptom scores as measures of the severity of rhinitis

Methodological aspects of subjective symptom ratings were investigated in 103 symptomatic rhinitis patients. The patient's own overall rating registered on a visual analogue scale was compared with a summed symptom score calculated from ratings of sneezing, rhinorrhea and congestion. A significant correlation, but not complete correspondence, was found in patients with untreated rhinitis during the birch pollen season and after challenges with birch pollen or histamine. Comparisons between the overall rating and scores for individual symptoms gave lower degrees of correlation or non‐significant correlations. When twenty‐five patients were treated with an intranasal corticosteroid during the pollen season, both the overall rating and the summed symptom score decreased significantly. The changes in the two ratings for each Patient showed a moderate correlation. The patients’ ratings of rhinorrhea correlated with an approximate measure of the volume of secretion after pollen challenge but not during the pollen season or after histamine challenge. It is recommended on the basis of these findings that, for measuring the severity of rhinitis, scores indicating the course of individual symptoms should not be combined into a summed score, but that the patient's overall rating of the condition should be used. Scores for individual symptoms can be used to draw more detailed conclusions about nasal pathophysiological features and about qualitative disimilarities between different modes of therapy.
Equity-Based Compensation in New and Old Economy UK Firms

We examine competing agency theory and managerial power hypotheses on the role of Equity-Based Compensation (EBC) in the UK. Our study covers a unique sample of some 61 old and new economy firms over the 1997-2001 period. Despite the fact that new economy firms award much higher levels of EBC as compared with old economy firms, we find no evidence that such awards influence company performance in either sector of the economy. Our study also indicates that loss of office compensation payments have detrimental effects on the incentive-alignment power of EBC. These are novel finding for the UK and they are consistent with the managerial power view of EBC.
Impact of just-in-time (JIT) inventory system on efficiency, quality and flexibility among manufacturing sector, small and medium enterprise (SMEs) in South Africa

The paper presents the findings of the study that was conducted to investigate the impact of application of Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management system in the manufacturing sector SMEs. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to a sample of manufacturing sector SMEs in the food, wood and furniture, metals, non-metals and other industries. The study revealed that the majority of SMEs in the manufacturing sector were not applying the JIT inventory management principles. It was furthermore revealed that there are challenges impeding the implementation of JIT principles in the manufacturing sector SMEs. These challenges include lack of reliable supplier networks, lack of capital and lack of knowledge of immediate financial gains among others. Furthermore, statistically significant positive correlations between the application of JIT inventory management principles and cost efficiency, quality and flexibility were found. It is therefore deduced that manufacturing sector SMEs can benefit significantly in terms of improved quality of products, increased operational cost cuts and increased flexibility by applying the JIT inventory management principles. Key words: South Africa, just-in-time, efficiency, quality, flexibility, small and medium enterprises.
Dynamic Analysis of Cardiac Rhythms for Discriminating Atrial Fibrillation From Lethal Ventricular Arrhythmias

Background—Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), the first line of therapy for preventing sudden cardiac death in high-risk patients, deliver appropriate shocks for termination of ventricular tachycardia (VT)/ventricular fibrillation. A common shortcoming of ICDs is imperfect rhythm discrimination, resulting in the delivery of inappropriate shocks for atrial fibrillation (AF). An underexplored area for rhythm discrimination is the difference in dynamic properties between AF and VT/ventricular fibrillation. We hypothesized that the higher entropy of rapid cardiac rhythms preceding ICD shocks distinguishes AF from VT/ventricular fibrillation. Methods and Results—In a multicenter, prospective, observational study of patients with primary prevention ICDs, 119 patients received shocks from ICDs with stored, retrievable intracardiac electrograms. Blinded adjudication revealed shocks were delivered for VT/ventricular fibrillation (62%), AF (23%), and supraventricular tachycardia (15%). Entropy estimation of only 9 ventricular intervals before ICD shocks accurately distinguished AF (receiver operating characteristic curve area, 0.98; 95% confidence intervals, 0.93–1.0) and outperformed contemporary ICD rhythm discrimination algorithms. Conclusions—This new strategy for AF discrimination based on entropy estimation expands on simpler concepts of variability, performs well at fast heart rates, and has potential for broad clinical application.
Vitamin D Concentrations and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in a Multicenter Cohort of Older Males.

RATIONALE Seasonal nadirs in 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations overlap with increased incidence and severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in winter. We hypothesized that, because lower 25(OH)D concentrations might lead to upper airway muscle dysfunction, low 25(OH)D would be associated with higher apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), a measure of OSA severity. OBJECTIVES To determine if lower 25(OH)D concentration is associated with greater prevalence and increased severity of OSA, independent of established OSA risk factors. METHODS Using unconditional logistic regression, we performed a cross-sectional analysis in the Outcomes of Sleep Disorders in Older Men study, which included in-home overnight polysomnography, serum 25(OH)D measurement, and collection of demographic and comorbidity data. The primary outcome was severe sleep apnea, as defined by AHI of 30/h or more. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Among 2,827 community-dwelling, largely white (92.2%), elderly (aged 76.4 ± 5.5 yr [mean±SD]) males, mean 25(OH)D concentration was 28.8 (±8.8) ng/ml. Subjects within the lowest quartile of 25(OH)D (6-23 ng/ml) had greater odds of severe sleep apnea in unadjusted analyses (odds ratio = 1.45; 95% confidence interval = 1.02-2.07) when compared with the highest 25(OH)D quartile (35-84 ng/ml). However, further adjustment for established OSA risk factors strongly attenuated this association (multivariable adjusted odds ratio = 1.05; 95% confidence interval = 0.72-1.52), with body mass index and neck circumference as the main confounders. There was also no evidence of an independent association between lower 25(OH)D levels and increased odds of mild (AHI = 5.0-14.9/h) or moderate (AHI = 15.0-29.9/h) sleep apnea. CONCLUSIONS Among community-dwelling older men, the association between lower 25(OH)D and sleep apnea was largely explained by confounding by larger body mass index and neck circumference.