Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro activities of sitafloxacin tested alone and in combination with rifampin, colistin, sulbactam, and tigecycline against extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

OBJECTIVES To detect the in vitro activities of sitafloxacin alone and in combination with rifampin, colistin, sulbactam, and tigecycline against extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (XDR-A. baumannii). MATERIALS AND METHODS 24 XDR-A. baumannii strains were isolated from patients' specimens. Broth microdilution assay was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for sitafloxacin, rifampin, colistin, sulbactam, and tigecycline against XDR-A. baumannii strains. The checkerboard microdilution method was used to determine the in vitro activities of sitafloxacin combined with the other four antimicrobial agents. Accordingly, the fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) and FIC index (FICI) were calculated for each of the combinations. RESULTS According to our results, when tested alone, the rate of susceptibility for sitafloxacin was 91.67% against XDR-A. baumannii, followed by colistin 62.5%, and then tigecycline 54.17%, rifampin 41.67%. Sulbactam, with a 16.67% rate of susceptibility was the least effective one. On the other hand, when tested in combination, all those three combinations except tigecycline/sitafloxacin revealed remarkable synergistic effects. Colistin/sitafloxacin showed the highest indifference rate. These combination regimens could exert addictive or partially-synergistic effects at the sub-MIC levels against XDR-A. baumannii strains. CONCLUSION Sitafloxacin has acceptable in vitro activity against XDR-A. baumannii strains as well as tigecycline, rifampin and colistin. Compared with single drugs, most of the combinations of these antimicrobial agents could exert synergistic and/or partially synergistic and/or addictive effects, which might provide a better alternative when treating XDR-A. baumannii infections.
The expression of thymidine phosphorylase/platelet‐derived endothelial cell growth factor is correlated to angiogenesis in breast cancer

It has been shown that human thymidine phosphorylase (TP) Is Identical to platelet‐derlved endothelial cell growth factor and has angiogenlc actlvhy. In the present study, the expression of TP was examined In 139 mammary carclnomas and 35 benign mammary disorders using biochemical and lmmunohlstochemlcal methods. Moreover, In order to evaluate the significance of TP expression in mammary carcinomas, the relationship between vascular density and various cllnicopathological factors, including age and menopausal status of patients with a mammary carcinoma, were compared wtth the size, nodal status, expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), c‐erbB‐2, p53 and TP of a mammary carcinoma. Thymidine phosphorylase expression Increased in both the nuclei and cytoplasm of mammary carclnoma cells in comparison to mammary benign disorder cells. The number of mlcroves‐sels In mammary carcinomas was generally correlated to the number of tumor cells with TP expression in cytoplasm. The number of cells with TP expression in cytoplasm was significantly large In tumors that measured 34 cm In diameter, compared wtth tumors measuring 1–2 and 5–6 cm in diameter. In mammary tumors of 1–4 cm diameter, TP expression and vessel denslty were slgnlficantly high in tumors negative for ER or positive for cerbB2 and In tumors positive for TP or cerbB2, respectively; whereas tumors of 5–6 cm In diameter were not modified by any cllnlcopathological factors. The results lndlcated that TP plays an Important anglogenetic role In mammary carcinomas, especially tumors with a certain progression.
Colorectal Cancer Knowledge, Perceptions, and Behaviors in African Americans

Disparities in healthcare among racial and ethnic minorities are associated with poor outcomes. African Americans have the highest incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) among all racial groups. Using a nonrandom sample of 100 African American men and women, 50 years of age and older, the authors explored CRC knowledge, perceptions, and screening behaviors of African American men and women who resided or worked in an urban low-income housing residence. The extent to which screening may be attributed to demographic, sociopsychological, and structural variables was also investigated. Respondents demonstrated inadequate knowledge of CRC, with a significant difference in mean scores between males and females. Self-report of participation in CRC screening was above the national average, with almost half of the sample reporting fecal occult blood home kit use and more than half of the sample reporting completion of sigmoid and colonoscopy exams and double contrast barium enema exam. A majority perceived CRC as a threat. A very high percentage perceived numerous benefits to CRC screening in preventing CRC susceptibility. Perceived barriers of nearly half of the sample included screening may be painful and afraid to find out something is wrong if I have CRC screening, while more than half did not know how to schedule screening. Barriers and threat were correlated with grade school education. Barriers were negatively correlated with secondary education and post-secondary education and moderately correlated with threat. Predictor variables found in the Health Belief Model accounted for a significant amount of the variance in screening behavior, barriers, and threat. Older African American men and women need more information about CRC in order to increase their awareness of CRC and the importance of screening. There is a need to educate healthcare professionals about the causes, prevention, and detection of CRC and the importance of screening.
Paraphrase Generation with Deep Reinforcement Learning

Automatic generation of paraphrases from a given sentence is an important yet challenging task in natural language processing (NLP). In this paper, we present a deep reinforcement learning approach to paraphrase generation. Specifically, we propose a new framework for the task, which consists of a generator and an evaluator, both of which are learned from data. The generator, built as a sequence-to-sequence learning model, can produce paraphrases given a sentence. The evaluator, constructed as a deep matching model, can judge whether two sentences are paraphrases of each other. The generator is first trained by deep learning and then further fine-tuned by reinforcement learning in which the reward is given by the evaluator. For the learning of the evaluator, we propose two methods based on supervised learning and inverse reinforcement learning respectively, depending on the type of available training data. Experimental results on two datasets demonstrate the proposed models (the generators) can produce more accurate paraphrases and outperform the state-of-the-art methods in paraphrase generation in both automatic evaluation and human evaluation.
How do entrepreneurs’ characteristics influence the benefits from the various elements of a business incubator?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate empirically that differences in characteristics of entrepreneurs result in benefits from different elements of a regional incubator programme. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use mixed methods consisting of in-depth interviews and a survey of 100 incubatees in order to study entrepreneurs within a specific incubator programme called the Growth Factories located in Region Zealand, Denmark. Findings – The authors find that there are significant differences in the perceived benefit of various business incubator elements for incubatees depending on their entrepreneurial characteristics. Research limitations/implications – Future studies are particularly important in order to learn which elements provide the different kinds of entrepreneurs with a critical factor in determining their success or failure. Practical/implications – The conclusions have importance for regional government and development managers aiming at designing new business incubat.
Draft Genome Sequences of the Antarctic Endolithic Fungi Rachicladosporium antarcticum CCFEE 5527 and Rachicladosporium sp. CCFEE 5018

ABSTRACT The draft genome sequences of Rachicladosporium antarcticum CCFEE 5527 and Rachicladosporium sp. CCFEE 5018 are the first sequenced genomes from this genus, which comprises rock-inhabiting fungi. These endolithic strains were isolated from inside rocks collected from the Antarctic Peninsula and Battleship Promontory (McMurdo Dry Valleys), Antarctica, respectively.
There Is Poverty Convergence

Martin Ravallion ("Why Don't We See Poverty Convergence? " American Economic Review, 102(1): 504-23; 2012) presents evidence against the existence of convergence in global poverty rates despite convergence in household mean income levels and the close linkage between income growth and poverty reduction. We show that this finding is driven by a specification that demands more than simple convergence in poverty headcount rates and assumes a growth elasticity of poverty reduction, which is well-known to accelerate with low initial poverty levels. If we motivate the poverty convergence equation using an arguably superior growth semi-elasticity of poverty reduction, we find highly significant and robust evidence of convergence in absolute poverty headcount ratios and poverty gaps. Relatedly, we show that the results in Ravallion (2012) are driven by the special income growth and poverty dynamics in Central and Eastern European transition economies that started with low initial poverty rates and thus observed a high elasticity of poverty reduction. Once we control for their abnormal poverty dynamics, we again find robust evidence of global convergence in poverty, even in the original specification by Ravallion (2012).
The APOA1/C3/A4/A5 gene cluster, lipid metabolism and cardiovascular disease risk

Purpose of review APOA1/C3/A4/A5 are key components modulating lipoprotein metabolism and cardiovascular disease risk. This review examines the evidence regarding linkage disequilibrium and haplotype structure within the A1/C3/A4/A5 cluster, and assesses its association with plasma lipids and cardiovascular disease risk. In addition, we use genomic information from several species to draw inferences about the location of functional variants within this cluster. Recent findings The close physical distance of these genes and the interrelated functions of these apolipoproteins have encumbered attempts to determine the role of individual variants on lipid metabolism. Therefore, current research aims to define linkage disequilibrium and haplotype structure within this cluster. Functional variants in regulatory regions are most interesting as they are potentially amenable to therapy. Comparative genomics can contribute to the identification of such functional variants. Summary Genetic variability at the APOA1/C3/A4/A5 cluster has been examined in relation to lipid metabolism and cardiovascular disease risk. However, the findings are inconsistent. This is partly due to the classic approach of studying single and mostly nonfunctional polymorphisms. Moreover, allelic expression may depend on the concurrent presence of environmental factors. Association studies using haplotypes should increase the power to detect true associations and interactions. We hypothesize that phenotypes observed in association with transcriptional regulatory variants can be readily modified by environmental factors. Therefore, studies focusing on regulatory variants may be more fruitful to locate/define future therapeutic targets.
Developmental changes in pharyngeal airway depth and hyoid bone position from childhood to young adulthood.

OBJECTIVE (1) To test the hypothesis that there are no developmental changes in the pharyngeal airway depth and hyoid bone position from childhood to adulthood in normal Taiwanese persons, (2) to identify any sexual dimorphism, and (3) to find the predictive value of selective variables for the hyoid bone position. MATERIALS AND METHODS Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 239 normal Taiwanese (132 females and 107 males; aged 7-27 years) were separated into three stages according to dental age. Twenty-three linear and 20 angular measurements were made in all subjects. Sexual dimorphism was analyzed by Student's t-test. Analysis of variance was used to compare the three stages in both genders. A stepwise regression analysis was carried out to predict the hyoid bone position. The level of significance for all analyses was set at P < . 05. RESULTS The pharyngeal airway depth increased from the mixed dentition stage to the permanent dentition stage in both genders. There was sexual dimorphism in the lower pharyngeal airway depth. The hyoid bone position showed an obvious difference in the permanent dentition stages between genders. The vertical position of the hyoid bone was associated with the mandibular morphology and position, but the relationship in males was reversed compared with that in females. CONCLUSIONS The hypothesis was rejected. There are developmental changes in the pharyngeal airway depth and hyoid position from childhood to young adulthood. Sexual dimorphism appeared in the lower pharyngeal airway and the direction of change in the vertical position of the hyoid bone.
Exploring geographic distributions of high-risk water, sanitation, and hygiene practices and their association with child diarrhea in Uganda

Background High-risk water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices are still prevalent in most low-income countries. Because of limited access to WASH, children may be put at an increased risk of diarrheal diseases. Objectives This study aims to 1) develop a new measure of WASH-induced burden, the WASH Resource Index (WRI), and estimate its correlation with child diarrhea and an additive index of high-risk WASH practices; 2) explore the geographic distribution of high-risk WASH practices, child diarrhea, and summary indices at the cluster level; and 3) examine the association between the WRI and child diarrhea at the individual level. Design A sample of 7,019 children from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2011 were included in this study. Principal component analysis was used to develop a WRI, and households were classified as WASH poorest, poorer, middle, richer, and richest. A hot spot analysis was conducted to assess whether and how high-risk WASH practices and child diarrhea were geographically clustered. A potential association between the WRI and child diarrhea was examined through a nested regression analysis. Results High-risk WASH practices were clustered at geographically distant regions from Kampala. The 2-week prevalence of child diarrhea, however, was concentrated in Eastern and East Central regions where high-risk WASH practices were not prevalent. At the individual level, none of the high-risk WASH practices were significantly associated with child diarrhea. Being in the highest WASH quintile was, however, significantly associated with 24.9% lower prevalence of child diarrhea compared to being in the lowest quintile (p<0.05). Conclusions Only a weak association was found between the WRI and child diarrhea in this study. Future research should explore the potential utility of the WRI to examine WASH-induced burden.
Induction of autoimmune diabetes in non‐obese diabetic mice requires interleukin‐21‐dependent activation of autoreactive CD8+ T cells

Non‐obese diabetic (NOD) mice lacking interleukin (IL)‐21 or IL‐21 receptor do not develop autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D). We have shown recently that IL‐21 may promote activation of autoreactive CD8+ T cells by increasing their antigen responsiveness. To investigate the role of IL‐21 in activating diabetogenic CD8+ T cells in the NOD mouse, we generated IL‐21‐deficient NOD mice expressing the highly pathogenic major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class‐I‐restricted 8.3 transgenic T cell receptor (TCR). IL‐21 deficiency protected 8.3‐NOD mice completely from T1D. CD8+ T cells from the 8.3‐NOD.Il21−/− mice showed decreased antigen‐induced proliferation but displayed robust antigen‐specific cytolytic activity and production of effector cytokines. IL‐21‐deficient 8.3 T cells underwent efficient homeostatic proliferation, and previous antigen stimulation enabled these cells to cause diabetes in NOD.Scid recipients. The 8.3 T cells that developed in an IL‐21‐deficient environment showed impaired antigen‐specific proliferation in vivo even in IL‐21‐sufficient mice. These cells also showed impaired IL‐2 production and Il2 gene transcription following antigen stimulation. However, IL‐2 addition failed to reverse their impaired proliferation completely. These findings indicate that IL‐21 is required for efficient initial activation of autoreactive CD8+ T cells but is dispensable for the activated cells to develop effector functions and cause disease. Hence, therapeutic targeting of IL‐21 in T1D may inhibit activation of naive autoreactive CD8+ T cells, but may have to be combined with other strategies to inhibit already activated cells.
Impact of Foreign Exchange rate on stock prices

Foreign exchange fluctuations have been found in the literature review to have an impact on the stock market return and the fluctuations in the stock prices. This research uses the cointegration technique to analyze the impact of USD to PKR exchange rate on the stock return market in Pakistan. The stock market return has been studied by KSE 100 Index. The results show that a relationship between the two variables exists in the short run in Pakistan. Keywords– Exchange Markets, stock prices, Pakistan
A randomized trial of standard-dose versus half-dose rabeprazole, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a standard-dose versus half-dose 10-day triple regimen for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection. Methods A total of 115 consecutive patients with documented infection were enrolled in this open-label trial. Group A (standard dose) received rabeprazole (20 mg), amoxicillin (1 g), and clarithromycin (500 mg), all twice daily for 10 days. Group B (half dose) received rabeprazole (10 mg), amoxicillin (500 mg), and clarithromycin (250 mg), all twice daily for 10 days. 14C urea breath tests were performed a minimum of 4 weeks after treatment and a minimum of 2 weeks off any acid-suppressive therapy. Compliance and adverse effects were evaluated throughout the treatment period. Results A total of 115 patients were enrolled (59 women and 56 men; mean age 47.1±14.0 years). Eradication occurred in 45 of 58 patients [77.6%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 66.9–88.3%] in the standard-dose group versus 44 of 57 in the half-dose group (77.2%; 95% CI: 66.3–88.1%) on an intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis (P=1.00). Per protocol eradication rates were 45 of 57 (78.9%; 95% CI: 68.4–85.9%) and 44 of 54 (81.5%; 95% CI: 71.1–91.8%), respectively (P=0.81). The number of patients reporting any adverse effect was significantly higher in the standard-dose group (64.9 vs. 40.4%; P=0.014). The cost of treatment was significantly less in patients receiving the half-dose regimen (ITT analysis; P<0.05). The number needed to harm to suffer one additional failure in the half-dose over the standard-dose arm was 250 (ITT analysis). Conclusion A half-dose 10-day regimen of rabeprazole, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin is equally effective but cheaper and better tolerated than its standard-dose regimen in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori. Eradication rates of both regimens are, however, suboptimal compared with accepted standards.
Psychophysiological stress and emg activity of the trapezius muscle

Although it is generally assumed that mental stress induces muscular tension, the experimental data have, so far, been inconclusive. Likely explanations for these inconsistent findings are (a) too small subject samples in some experiments, (b) the use of only one type of stress stimulation, and (c) the lack of objective (physiological) measurements documenting the stress-inducing properties of the experimental treatment. Furthermore, the effect of mental stress and physical load separately, versus the combined influence of physical and mental load on muscular tension, has not been investigated earlier. Therefore. the aim of the present experiment was to examine the effects of mental stress as well as of physical load, separately and in combination, on perceived stress, physiological stress responses, and on muscular tension as reflected in electromyographical (EMG) activity of the trapezius muscle. Sixty two female subjects were individually exposed to mental arithmetic, the Stroop color word test (CWT), the cold pressor test, standardized test contractions (TCs), and the CWT combined with a TC. Compared to baseline, the stress session induced significant increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, urinary catecholamines, salivary Cortisol, and self-reported stress. Each of the two mental stress tests induced a significant increase in EMG activity, The CWT caused a rise in EMG activity also during the TC, which was significantly more pronounced than the increase induced by the CWT alone. Blood pressure responses and self-reported stress followed the same pattern as the EMG activity. The results are consistent with the assumption that psychological stress plays a role in musculoskeletal disorders by increasing muscular tension both in low-load work situations and in the absence of physical load. It is also indicated that the stress-induced increase in muscular tension is accentuated on top of a physical load.
Australian/New Zealand Bachelor of Oral Health students: sociodemographics and career decisions.

This article describes the sociodemographic profile and factors affecting career decisions of Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) students in Australia and New Zealand. Data were collected during the 2009 and 2011 academic years via online. A total of 271 students participated. The majority were female (87.8%), single (74.5%) and of Anglo-Saxon background (59.4%), and the average age was 23.7 years. The majority indicated that their fathers had at least secondary school education. The majority (52.8%) decided to study BOH after high school, and of those who commence after high school, 53.7% worked as a dental assistant/auxiliary. Career selection was self-motivated (70.2%) and a career to 'care for and help other people' (59.6%). Most respondents wished to work in a city (59.8%), in both the public and the private sectors (47.2%). This study represents a comprehensive assessment of BOH student profile in Australia and New Zealand. Findings indicate an overall different BOH student profile compared with other oral health profession students in Australia. A significant proportion had previous employment as a dental auxiliary staff and an increasing number of male students. Findings are relevant to educators, recruitment administrators and policy makers in the way the BOH profession is presented as a career option.
The Revised Theory of Surge and Decline

The status of Angus Campbell's theory of surge and decline is a matter of considerable controversy. While analysis of the composition and voting behavior of presidential and midterm electorates fails to support the theory, analysis of aggregate congressional election results yields supporting evidence. This research seeks to reconcile these findings by proposing and examining a revised version of the surge and decline theory. The analysis finds that in presidential elections there is a surge in turnout among partisans of the advantaged party and a surge in support for the advantaged party among independent voters. Both surges are proportional to the magnitude of short-term forces as measured by the partisan division of the presidential vote. In midterm elections, both the one-sided partisan turnout surge and the independent vote surge for the advantaged party recede.