Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral commensal Prevotella species and Fusobacterium nucleatum: Identification and potential pathogenic role

6 LIST OF ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS 8 ABBREVIATIONS 9 INTRODUCTION 10 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 11 The oral cavity as a habitat for bacterial colonization 11 Bacterial populations in the oral cavity 11 Oral bacterial colonization in children 12 Attachment and coaggregation in oral bacterial colonization 13 Oral cultivable Gram-negative anaerobes 14 Prevotella and Porphyromonas 14 Fusobacterium nucleatum 16 Identification of oral Gram-negative anaerobes 16 Phenotypic characteristics useful in identification 17 Molecular methods for identification 18 Population structure and dynamics within oral commensals 19 Transmission and translocation of oral bacteria 20 Virulence and virulence factors 22 Virulence factors of Gram-negative anaerobes 23 Oral bacteria and diseases 24 Gram-negative anaerobes and diseases 25 WORKING HYPOTHESES AND AIMS OF THE STUDY 28 Working hypotheses 28 Aims 28 MATERIAL AND METHODS 29 Subjects, sample collection, and primary cultures 29 Clinical isolates and reference strains 29 Development of identifications schemes (I) 32 Hemagglutination assays (II, III, unpublished) 33
Targeting Cancer Stem Cells with Defined Compounds and Drugs

Abstract : Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subpopulation of tumor cells that possess self-renewal and tumor initiation capacity and the ability to give rise to the heterogenous lineages of cancer cells that comprise the tumor. CSCs possess numerous intrinsic mechanisms of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs, novel tumor-targeted drugs and radiation therapy, allowing them to survive current cancer therapies and to initiate tumor recurrence and metastasis. Recently, different pathways that confer resistance and survival of CSCs, but also compounds and drugs that selectively target some of these pathways in CSCs have been identified. Such compounds and drugs include antibiotics like salinomycin, phytochemicals such as parthenolide, cyclopamine, EGCG, resveratrol, curcumin, sulforaphane and oxymatrine, the small molecule inhibitors vismodegib and repertaxin, monoclonal antibodies and antibody constructs raised against cell surface proteins expressed by CSCs, and, surprisingly, some classical drugs such as metformin, tranilast and thioridazine. These agents exhibit significant anti-CSC activity, alone or in combination with cytostatic drugs or tumor-targeted drugs, as recently shown in vitro and in human xenograft mice. Since current cancer therapies fail to eliminate CSCs, leading to cancer recurrence and progression, selective targeting of CSCs with compounds and drugs introduced herein may represent a novel therapeutic strategy to eradicate cancer.
Prevalence and correlates of chronic kidney disease among civil servants in Bayelsa state, Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become a public health problem with rising incidence and prevalence world-wide. Despite the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria appears to be badly hit by this epidemic, there is a paucity of data on CKD prevalence in these regions and where data exists, they are mostly hospital-based. OBJECTIVES The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence and correlates of CKD in an urban civil service population in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 179 civil servants in the Bayelsa State secretariat were screened for CKD during the World Kidney Day on March 2012. CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 body surface area and/or proteinuria. Socio-demographic data was obtained using interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire while anthropometric measurements were taken. Blood pressure (BP), urinalysis, serum urea and creatinine were also assessed. RESULTS The prevalence of CKD in the study was 7.8%. Age >50 years was associated with CKD in univariate analysis but none of age, gender, body mass index, BP or hyperglycemia independently predicted it. CONCLUSION The prevalence of CKD among Nigerian civil servants was fairly high and was associated with advancing age. Routine screening for CKD in this population is recommended.
Partial inhibition of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease results in aberrant virus assembly and the formation of noninfectious particles

The production of infectious particles by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 is dependent on the accurate cleavage of its Gag and Gag/Pol precursors by a virally encoded protease. In the absence of protease activity, morphologically abnormal particles which are noninfectious are formed. Recently, inhibitors of the protease of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 have been developed as potential therapeutic agents. We have examined the basis for the loss of infectivity at the limiting inhibitor concentrations that are likely to be achieved in clinical settings. We found that subtle defects in processing are correlated with profound deficits in infectivity. Further, we correlated this partially disrupted processing with an altered virion morphology. These data suggest that accurate and complete processing is essential to the formation of infectious, morphologically normal virions and that the pathway by which these precursors are processed and assembled is sensitive to partial inhibition of the protease by an inhibitor disproportionate to the effect of the inhibitor on the viral protease itself.
Mid-Atomic-Number Cylindrical Wire Array Precursor Plasma Studies on Zebra

Precursor plasmas from low wire number cylindrical wire arrays (CWAs) were previously shown to radiate at temperatures >300 eV for Ni-60 (94% Cu and 6% Ni) wires in experiments on the 1-MA Zebra generator. Continued research into precursor plasmas has studied additional midatomic-number materials including Cu and Alumel (95% Ni, 2% Al, 2% Mn, and 1% Si) to determine if the >300 eV temperatures are common for midatomic-number materials. In addition, current scaling effects were observed by performing CWA precursor experiments at an increased current of 1.5 MA using a load current multiplier. The results show an increase in a linear radiation yield of ~50% (16 versus 10 kJ/cm) for the experiments at increased current. However, plasma conditions inferred through the modeling of X-ray time-gated spectra are very similar for the precursor plasma in both current conditions.
Rates of Convergence in Common Value Auctions

We derive the limit distributions of equilibrium bids in common value auctions as the number of bidders grows large. We view the common value auction as a statistical experiment in which the winning bids are estimators of the unknown common value, whereby the question of information aggregation is equivalent to whether the winning bids in a sequence of auctions is a consistent estimator of the true common value. Our results are directly analogous to the econometric task of characterizing the asymptotic properties of a consistent sequence of estimators. While the previous literature has demonstrated that information aggregation obtains across all the common auction forms, our analysis uncovers important di erences. We nd that rstprice, second-price, and English auctions aggregate information much faster than uniform-price multi-object auctions. However, this ranking is very sensitive to assumptions about the information structure, with the information aggregation properties of the English and uniform-price auctions being most robust across di erent assumptions. In this paper, we derive the limit distributions for equilibrium bids in sequences of common value auctions in which the number of bidders increases. We show some striking di erences in the asymptotic behavior of the standard auction forms which have been overlooked in the previous literature. This literature (cf. Wilson (1977), Milgrom (1979), Pesendorfer and Swinkels (1997), Kremer (1999)) has derived conditions under which the common value auction is a decentralized market mechanism which aggregates the private information of the agents, in the sense that the sequence of winning bids and/or market prices converges to the \true" common value. Remarkably, this literature has demonstrated that information aggregation obtains under quite general distributional assumptions on the information structure and auction format ( rst-price, We thank Jimmy Chan, Victor Chernozhukov, Phil Haile, Bo Honore, Hidehiko Ichimura, Harry Paarsch, Wolfgang Pesendorfer, Frank Wolak, participants at the Eighth World Congress of the Econometric Society in Seattle and seminar participants in CORE for helpful discussions, and Paul Milgrom and Bob Wilson for introducing us to auction theory. We gratefully acknowledge support from the NSF (SES-0079495, SES-0003352) and SSHRC.
Uncovering the Face of Android Ransomware: Characterization and Real-Time Detection

In recent years, we witnessed a drastic increase of ransomware, especially on popular mobile platforms including Android. Ransomware extorts victims for a sum of money by taking control of their devices or files. In light of their rapid growth, there is a pressing need to develop effective countermeasure solutions. However, the research community is still constrained by the lack of a comprehensive data set, and there exists no insightful understanding of mobile ransomware in the wild. In this paper, we focus on the Android platform and aim to characterize existing Android ransomware. Specifically, we have managed to collect 2,721 ransomware samples that cover the majority of existing Android ransomware families. Based on these samples, we systematically characterize them from several aspects, including timeline and malicious features. In addition, the detection results of existing anti-virus tools are rather disappointing, which clearly calls for customized anti-mobile-ransomware solutions. To detect ransomware that extorts users by encrypting data, we propose a novel real-time detection system, called RansomProber. By analyzing the user interface widgets of related activities and the coordinates of users’ finger movements, RansomProber can infer whether the file encryption operations are initiated by users. The experimental results show that RansomProber can effectively detect encrypting ransomware with high accuracy and acceptable runtime performance.
A Psychiatric Mobile Crisis Unit in New York City: Description and Assessment, with Implications for Mental Health Care in the 1990S

This article presents a review and assessment of a community Mobile Crisis Intervention Team working on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Of special importance, a trend is noted invoiving a changing philosophy and modus operandi. Some reasons are offered to explain the trend and questions are raised about the future of the delivery of mental health services in large urban areas.
[Frequency and incidence of myopia among medical students].

PURPOSE To estimate the frequency and dynamic changes in refractive errors in population of students of medical (MF) and dental (DF) faculties of Pommeranian Medical Academy in Szczecin. MATERIAL AND METHODS Medical records from ophthalmic examinations performed in 176 medical students (117 females and 59 males) during the 2nd and 4th course of studies were analyzed (2-years long observation). RESULTS Refractive error was found in 42% of MF students and 39.5% of DF students on the 2nd course and in 51% and 47% on the 4th course respectively. Myopia was found in 75% of ametropic eyes. In 2 years observation time, there was a statistically significant progression of refracive error in 50% of myopic students (from -2.9 +/- 2.3 D to -3.4 +/- 1.9D in MF and from -2.0 +/- 1.5 to -2.4 +/- 1.5D in DF). Myopia developed in 13% of initially emmetropic students.
Studying the Effect of Vitamin E and Selenium on Liver Enzymes in Chemotherapy Rat with Cyclophosphamide

Cyclophosphamide is a drug of alkylating group and used widely as an anticancer drug. Vitamin E and selenium have important role in protecting the body by their antioxidant factor. The aim of this study is investigating the effect of selenium and vitamin E on liver enzymes in cyclophosphamide chemotherapy rats. The experimented animals were a total of 42 were Wistar rats which randomly divided into 7 equal groups. CO group did not receive any drug or solvent. SA Group daily received 0.2 ml of physiological saline as drug solvent intraperitoneally. SN group received 1 mg/kg-B.W of sodium selenite intraperitoneally. VE group received 200 mg/kg-BW of vitamin E gavage feeding. CP group received 5 mg/kg-BW of cyclophosphamide intraperitoneally. CP-SN and CP-VE groups once a day received 5 mg/kg-BW of cyclophosphamide intraperitoneally and respectively 1 mg/kg-B.W of sodium selenite and 200mg/kg-BW of vitamin E gavage feeding for 21 days. Then the rats were bled and serum was separated. Then, activities of ALT, AST, ALP enzymes were evaluated by the kinetics method and photometer. The results showed that the activities of measured enzymes in SA, SN and VE groups have not significant different compared to the CO group but the CP group has increased significant and in groups of CP-VE and CP-SN has a decreased significant compared to the CP group. According to the results from studies of liver enzymes we can conclude that cyclophosphamide with increasing active oxygen types, increased the liver enzymes’ activity in serum. Vitamin E and sodium selenite also have antioxidant factor and somewhat reduces the negative effects of cyclophosphamide. So, the use of vitamin E and sodium selenite is recommended for reducing cyclophosphamide toxicity in cancer patients.
The Cognitive Revolution at Age 50: Has the Promise of the Human Information-Processing Approach Been Fulfilled?

The cognitive revolution and the human information-processing approach it adopted are now more than 50 years old. This article provides an overview of the history of human information processing and its relation to human factors and human-computer interaction (HCI). Fundamental concepts and findings concerning human information processing and their applications to HCI are summarized. The last half of the article discusses new developments and evaluates criticisms of human information processing and alternative approaches that have been proposed. Our conclusion is that the information-processing approach has served psychology and HCI well, providing cumulative basic and applied knowledge in a variety of areas and a basis for integrating this knowledge. The approach continues to be a fruitful source of empirical and theoretical advances across a variety of disciplines.
The affordability of the Sustainable Development Goals: A myth or reality?

Global governance in various forms has emerged as a salient means of setting and driving common development goals that are of interest to the world's functioning at large. However, literature is divided on the attribution of achievements to the global social governance efforts. The experience of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) showed the importance of setting indicators at an early stage to support a sound monitoring system. If the world is to start implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2016, we cannot afford a lag of several years before putting monitoring tools in place and measuring progress towards achieving these goals. To answer the question on the level of resources required to fulfil the SDGs target by country and income category, five low and lower middle income countries were selected from Asia, Africa, and Latin America based on availability of data and their classification as low and lower-middle income countries: Cambodia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Senegal. The required data for the assessment is sourced from the World Bank Development Indicators Databank (WDID). The estimation of the resource requirement to adhere to the poverty, health and education targets of the SDGs involves computing three indices for each dimension. For the income gap index, two poverty lines underlie the composite resource gap as percentage of the GDP to meet the SDGs targets on poverty. The education gap is constructed by normalising seven indices that either directly capture or proxy the governance and outcome targets on education in the SDGs. Thirdly, this research employed a three-step approach in estimating the normative public health expenditure gap; the staff expenditure gap; and the resource allocation expenditure gap. To conclude, the viability of closing the cumulative resource gap is assessed in light of a country's tax revenue.
Anti-thrombotic therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation and intracranial hemorrhage

Patients with atrial fibrillation have an increased risk of ischemic stroke that can be dramatically lowered by treatment with anticoagulants. The annual rate of major bleeds with warfarin averages about 2%. The rates of intracerebral and intracranial bleeds are significantly reduced with the use of the novel direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) compared with warfarin. Treatment of anticoagulation-related intracerebral hemorrhage is based on the results of case series and small trials. Resumption of anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation who had an intracerebral bleed depends on the etiology and location of the bleeding and the absolute rate of stroke in the absence of anticoagulation.
Asymmetric Forecast Information and the Value of Demand Observation in Repeated Procurement

In many supply chain relationships that continue over multiple periods, information about the hidden properties of the supply chain partners can be revealed throughout the course of the relationship. This paper examines how the availability of such information affects the contracting scheme between a supplier and his manufacturer in a relationship that persists over several selling seasons. At the beginning of the first selling season, the manufacturer observes private information about the demand distribution, whereas the supplier who is less familiar with the market is endowed only with a prior belief about the market condition. When the supplier cannot observe the demand realization during the first selling period, she offers a contract that induces the manufacturer to reveal the market condition in the first selling season. However, the opportunity for the supplier to observe demand realization can result in the supplier offering the manufacturer a simple contract that does not induce the manufacturer to reveal his private information during the first selling season. In the latter case, the supplier observes the demand realization and designs the second period contract based on this information. We show that when the supplier chooses to offer such a contract, the manufacturer becomes worse-off, and it has an ambiguous effect on the performance of the supply chain.
A preloaded amorphous calcium carbonate/doxorubicin@silica nanoreactor for pH-responsive delivery of an anticancer drug.

Biomedical applications of nontoxic amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) nanoparticles have mainly been restricted because of their aqueous instability. To improve their stability in physiological environments while retaining their pH-responsiveness, a novel nanoreactor of ACC-doxorubicin (DOX)@silica was developed for drug delivery for use in cancer therapy. As a result of its rationally engineered structure, this nanoreactor maintains a low drug leakage in physiological and lysosomal/endosomal environments, and responds specifically to pH 6.5 to release the drug. This unique ACC-DOX@silica nanoreactor releases DOX precisely in the weakly acidic microenvironment of cancer cells and results in efficient cell death, thus showing its great potential as a desirable chemotherapeutic nanosystem for cancer therapy.
On the Antigenic Determinants of the Lipopolysaccharides of Vibrio cholerae O:1, Serotypes Ogawa and Inaba*

Monoclonal, murine IgG1s S-20-4, A-20-6, and IgA 2D6, directed against Vibrio cholerae O:1 Ogawa-lipopolysaccharide exhibited the same fine specificities and similar affinities for the synthetic methyl α-glycosides of the (oligo)saccharide fragments mimicking the Ogawa O-polysaccharide (O-PS). They did not react with the corresponding synthetic fragments of Inaba O-PS. IgG1s S-20-4 and A-20-6 have absolute affinity constants for synthetic Ogawa mono- to hexasaccharides of from ∼105 to ∼106 m −1. For IgG1s S-20-4, A-20-6, and IgA 2D6, the nonreducing terminal residue of Ogawa O-PS is the dominant determinant, accounting for ∼90% of the maximal binding energy shown by these antibodies. Binding studies of derivatives of the Ogawa monosaccharide and IgGs S-20-4 and A-20-6 revealed that the C-2O-methyl group fits into a somewhat flexible antibody cavity and that hydrogen bonds involving the oxygen and, respectively, the OH at the 2- and 3-position of the sugar moiety as well as the 2′-position in the amide side chain are required. Monoclonal IgA ZAC-3 and IgG3 I-24-2 are specific forV. cholerae O:1 serotypes Ogawa/Inaba-LPS.1 The former did not show binding with members of either series of the synthetic ligands related to the O-antigens of the Ogawa or Inaba serotypes, in agreement with its reported specificity for the lipid/core region (1). Inhibition studies revealed that the binding of purified IgG3 I-24-2 to Ogawa-LPS might be mediated by a region in the junction of the OPS to the lipid-core region of the LPS. cDNA cloning and analysis of the anti-Ogawa antibodies S-20-4, A-20-6, and 2D6 revealed a very high degree of homology among the heavy chains. Among the light chains, no such homology between S-20-4 and A-20-6 on the one hand, and 2D6 on the other hand, exists. For the anti-Inaba/Ogawa antibodies I-24-2 and ZAC-3, their heavy chains are completely different, with some homology among the light chains.
Cultural and Spiritual Meanings of Childbirth

This descriptive, phenomenological study investigated the cultural and spiritual meanings of the childbirth experience from the personal perspectives of 30 Canadian Orthodox Jewish and 30 American Mormon women. Fewer Jewish women had childbirth education and attendance of their partners during childbirth than did Mormon women. Participants in the study, having codified belief systems, expressed the primary importance of bearing children in obedience to religious law. Birth was articulated as a bittersweet paradox, often accompanied by a sense of empowerment. Women described the importance of personal connectedness with others and with God, the importance of childbearing, and the spiritual and emotional dimensions of their childbirth experiences. Religious beliefs help women define the meaning of childbirth and may provide coping mechanisms for the intensity of giving birth. It is essential for holistic nurses to value and acknowledge the cultural and spiritual dimensions of the childbirth experience.