Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HIV/AIDS Performance of Xpert MTB/RIF and Alternative Specimen Collection Methods for the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in HIV-Infected Children

Background . The diagnosis of tuberculosis in human immunode ﬁ ciency virus (HIV)-infected children is challenging. We assessed the performance of alternative specimen collection methods for tuberculosis diagnosis in HIV-infected children using Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert). Methods . HIV-infected children aged ≤ 13 years with suspected intrathoracic tuberculosis were enrolled in 8 hospitals in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, and Vietnam. Gastric aspirates were taken for children aged <10 years and expectorated sputum samples were taken for children aged ≥ 10 years (standard samples); nasopharyngeal aspirate and stool were taken for all children, and a string test was performed if the child was aged ≥ 4 years (alternative samples). All samples were tested with Xpert. The diagnostic accuracy of Xpert for culture-con ﬁ rmed tuberculosis was analyzed in intention-to-diagnose and per-protocol approaches. Xpert performed on respiratory and stools samples enables rapid con ﬁ rmation of tuberculosis diagnosis in HIV-infected children. Clinical Trials Registration. The (Agence 12229 (Pediatric Asian African Network for Tuberculosis and Research) 01 study is registered at (NCT01331811).
A Comparative Study of Crossed Pinning Versus Lateral Pinning by Percutaneous K-wire in Paediatric Supracondylar Fractures of Humerus

Aim: The present study aims at comparing the functional outcome of percutaneous crossed pinning with lateral pinning. Materials and Methods: An analysis of results with regards to ulnar nerve injury, carrying angle and range of movements was made in 17 children with lateral pinning and 28 children with crossed pinning. Functional outcome was graded according to Mitchell and Adams criteria. Results: There was no statistically significant difference with regards to functional outcome, between two groups. Both methods produced satisfactory results in all cases. Ulnar nerve injury occurred in two cases (7%) after cross pinning. One case had significant palsy, which recovered by four months and the other had only ulnar nerve parasthesia. Conclusion: Percutaneous pinning is an excellent method of treatment of type III supracondylar fractures in children. Crossed medial and lateral pinning may be considered the treatment of choice in majority of these fractures, with careful technique safeguarding against ulnar nerve injury. The lateral pinning is an equally good treatment of choice especially for grossly swollen elbows in which the medial epicondyle is barely palpable.
Toll-Like Receptor 5-Dependent Regulation of Inﬂammation in Systemic Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Infection (cid:1)

Salmonella enterica , a gram-negative pathogen, causes a spectrum of human infections including enterocolitis and typhoid fever. We previously showed that Salmonella ﬂagellin played a role in suppressing intestinal mucosal inﬂammation in a murine model of acute enterocolitis. In this study, we examined the role of ﬂagellin in the typhoid-like systemic murine Salmonella infection by measuring bacterial proliferation, inﬂammation, leukocyte recruitment, and cellular apoptosis in Peyer’s patches (PPs), mesenteric lymph node (MLN), and spleen. We found that relative to an isogenic wild-type (WT) strain, aﬂagellate Salmonella exhibited increased proliferation at 4 days postinfection in PPs and MLN but not spleen. The aﬂagellate mutant also elicited increased local and systemic secretion of inﬂammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 (cid:1) , gamma interferon, and tumor necrosis factor alpha and enhanced surface expression of ICAM-1 on macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). Furthermore, the recruitment of macrophages and DCs in PPs and MLN, but not spleen, was enhanced upon infection with aﬂagellate Salmonella . The relative differences between WT and aﬂagellate Salmonella were highly attenuated in Toll-like receptor 5-deﬁcient (TLR5 (cid:2) / (cid:2) TLR5-dependent aﬂagellate of T-cell apoptosis in detection of the aﬂagellate in the the inﬂammatory Cellular dissociation achieved pipetting. lysed were plated LB (cid:8) g/ml WT or 45 (cid:8) g/ml kanamycin for aﬂagellate After a centrifugation, the remaining supernatants were recovered and frozen for sub- sequent determination of cytokines. Cells three and ﬁltered. additionally on ice M NH 4 Cl to lyse red min g/ml noglobulin different for min: CD11c necessary, streptavidin-conjugated secondary conjugated with either phycoerythrin (PE) or allophycocyanin (APC) (Caltag) was used to biotinylated ICAM-1 and F4/80. Staining with annexin V–ﬂuorescein-5- isothiocyanate (FITC) and propidium iodide (PI) for apoptosis using the apoptosis detection kit (Molecular probes) according to the manufac- turer’s were on a FACScalibur cytometer (Bec-ton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems).
Analysis of patient pathways in acute stroke care episodes

: We analyzed the practices of acute stroke referral based on the data store of the National Health Development Institute in the 8-year-long period between 2010 and 2017. The essence of the method lies in the classification of cases and events, forming episodes of 8 distinct types, finding the de facto dominant care regions of the providers, and characterizing the care practices of the providers with the relative frequency of the various episode types. The analysis highlighted some interesting spatial and provider related anomalies. There are remarkable, even an order of magnitude differences in the relative frequency of various event and episode types. An even more remarkable result is the formation of spatial patches of postal code areas with outlier values, on the relative frequency maps. Some of the anomalies identified may be caused by the shortcomings of the current national case reporting and coding system. Any qualitative conclusions regarding the care system should be stated, however, after a more elaborate statistical analysis in the future.
A CROSS-COUNTRY STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INQUIRY-BASED AND TRADITIONAL DIDACTIC APPROACHES

Aim : In past decades, teacher practices in science teaching have changed from perceived traditional ways of teaching to more inquiry-based approaches. The driving force behind this change is the assumption of inquiry-based approach being more effective in terms of student science achievement than the traditional didactic approach. This study aims to examine the extent of these two approaches in a cross-country perspective. Moreover, it investigates the effectiveness of these two instructional approaches on student science achievement. Theory : Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) proposed by Sweller suggests that learning happens best under conditions that are aligned with human cognitive architecture. According to CLT, instructional design principles must be based on our knowledge of the brain and memory. CLT was used to ground the assumption that is investigated in this thesis. Method : Single level Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) modelling is used to identify the relationship between two latent constructs of instructional approaches and student science achievement while Socio- economic status (SES) and student confidence (CON) are used as statistical controls. This study used 8th grade dataset in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 by performing statistical analyses in Mplus version 8.2 software together with IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Results : Findings across 12 countries indicate no clear evidence in favour of neither both instructional approaches, with the exception of the results from Italy in which the traditional didactic approach is found to be negatively influencing student science achievement, explaining 21% of the variance in achievement.
Modelling and simulation of the hydrodynamics and mixing profiles in the human ascending colon at different filling levels using Discrete Multiphysics

The ascending part of the colon offers opportunities for dosage form design to prolong the release of a drug. In this work, we used computer simulations to study the hydrodynamics in this part of the colon to increase the understanding of targeted drug delivery behaviour. For this purpose, we developed and compared three different models: completely-filled colon partially-filled colon and partially-filled colon with a gaseous phase present (gas-liquid model). The highest velocities of the liquid were found in the completely-filled model, which also shows the best mixing profile, defined by the distribution of tracking particles over time. No significant differences with regard to the mixing and velocity profiles were found between the partially-filled model and the gas-liquid model. The fastest transit time of an undissolved tablet was found in the completely-filled model. Furthermore, no significant difference between the partially-filled model and the gas-liquid model was found.
Highly compact and uniform CH 3 NH 3 Sn 0.5 Pb 0.5 I 3 ﬁlms for efﬁcient panchromatic planar perovskite solar cells

An efﬁcient panchromatic planar perovskite solar cell is developed based on highly uniform, lead-reduced CH 3 NH 3 Sn 0.5 Pb 0.5 I 3 perovskite ﬁlms with full ﬁlm-cover-age on the substrates. We demonstrate here that full-cover-age of the CH 3 NH 3 Sn 0.5 Pb 0.5 I 3 ﬁlms can be developed by a facile chlorobenzene-assisted spin-coating method. A power conversion efﬁciency of * 7 % is achieved using low-tem-perature processes, which is among the best-reported performance for panchromatic planar perovskite solar cells with a light-absorption over 1,000 nm.
Rapid and Economical Bench Detection of Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus Aureus in a Resource Poor Setting

Background: With the first reports of methicillin resistance in early 1960’s shortly after its introduction, MRSA has been emerging as nosocomial and community pathogen worldwide. In developing world like ours there are many challenges for finding highly sensitive and economical test for detection of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. The aim of the present study was to compare different phenotypic methods with PCR based method as a gold standard for detection of mecA gene. Methodology: A total of 400 S. aureus isolates which were isolated from different clinical samples at a teritiary care hospital in Kashmir. Methicillin resistance was determined by oxacillin screening agar, cefoxitin disc diffusion, chromagar, latex agglutination test. The results were compared with mecA based PCR method as a gold standard. Results: Among 400 isolates of S. aureus, 179 (43.5%) were positive for mecA gene by PCR method. Cefoxitin disc diffusion method and latex agglutination test were the most sensitive with 98. 8% and 100% sensitivity respectively. Conclusion: Latex agglutination test and cefoxitin disc diffusion method with very high sensitivity and specificity can be used as an alternative for MRSA detection in resource poor settings.
Assessment of the consequences of deficiencies in design documents in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT Properly prepared design documents are crucial to the success of construction projects. Poor design documents can have a range of adverse effects on various construction project stakeholders. This research explored the significance of various consequences of Design Documents’ Deficiencies (DDDs) on large construction projects. A comprehensive literature review, and questionnaire survey were conducted. Overall, 15 consequences were identified. Based on responses from 41 designers and 30 contractors, a significance index was assigned to each of the identified consequences of DDDs. The most significant consequences of DDDs were ‘design changes’ and ‘frequent change orders’, respectively. The test of agreement revealed a moderate-high level of agreement between designers and contractors. The findings were used to recommend an action plan for preventing the occurrence of DDDs. It is envisioned that this research will increase the awareness of the consequences of DDDs, and hence, contribute to their reduction. The study contributes to the literature by identifying various consequences of DDDs from diverse sources and synthesizing them into a single study. The study also provides separate and combined viewpoints of two key stakeholders of construction projects on the impact DDDs can have on themselves, and the project as a whole. The study contributes to the literature by identifying the various consequences of DDDs in a fast-growing economy in which minor design errors can translate to substantial financial losses. Further, the identified consequences can be employed as performance measures for assessing an organizations’ progress towards continuous improvement of their design practice.
Potential Application of N -Carbamoyl- (cid:2) -Alanine Amidohydrolase from Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 for (cid:2) -Amino Acid Production (cid:1)

An N -carbamoyl- (cid:1) -alanine amidohydrolase of industrial interest from Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 ( (cid:1) car At ) has been characterized. (cid:1) car At is most active at 30°C and pH 8.0 with N -carbamoyl- (cid:1) -alanine as a substrate. The puriﬁed enzyme is completely inactivated by the metal-chelating agent 8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid (HQSA), and activity is restored by the addition of divalent metal ions, such as Mn 2 (cid:2) , Ni 2 (cid:2) , and Co 2 (cid:2) . The native enzyme is a homodimer with a molecular mass of 90 kDa from pH 5.5 to 9.0. The enzyme has a broad substrate spectrum and hydrolyzes nonsubstituted N -carbamoyl- (cid:3) -, - (cid:1) -, - (cid:4) -, and - (cid:5) -amino acids, with the greatest catalytic efﬁciency for N -carbamoyl- (cid:1) -alanine. (cid:1) car At also recognizes substrate analogues substituted with sulfonic and phosphonic acid groups to produce the (cid:1) -amino acids taurine and ciliatine, respec-tively. (cid:1) car At is able to produce monosubstituted (cid:1) 2 - and (cid:1) 3 -amino acids, showing better catalytic efﬁciency ( k cat / K m ) for the production of the former. For both types of monosubstituted substrates, the enzyme hydrolyzes N -carbamoyl- (cid:1) -amino acids with a short aliphatic side chain better than those with aromatic rings. These properties make (cid:1) car At an outstanding candidate for application in the biotechnology industry. 100 buffer 8.0) a (cid:6) l reaction volume. The reaction mixture was incubated at 30°C for 20 min, and 25- (cid:6) l aliquots were stopped by the addition of 475 (cid:6) l of 1% H 3 PO 4 . After centrifugation, the resulting supernatants were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). N -Carbamoyl- (cid:2) -alanine and (cid:2) -alanine were an HPLC Hypersil-amino acid at a rate of 0.75 ml (cid:7) and measured at 200 nm. The speciﬁc activity of the enzyme was deﬁned as the amount of enzyme that catalyzed the formation of (cid:6) mol of (cid:2) -amino acid at 30°C min (cid:7) 1 and mg (cid:7) 1 of protein. Substrate speciﬁcity studies were performed with each different N -carbamoyl-(cid:2) -amino acid dissolved in 100 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 8.0) along with the puriﬁed enzyme at different concentrations (0.03 to 5 (cid:6) M). Reactions were carried out at 30°C, with the apoenzyme preincubated (1 h) at 4°C with NiCl 2 , and stopped by the addition of 1% H 3 PO 4 . The mobile phase of the different substrates and their corresponding (cid:2) -amino acids was methanol-phosphoric acid (20 mM) (5:95 to 30:70 [vol/vol], depending on the compound) at pH 3.2, at a ﬂow rate of 0.75 ml min (cid:7) 1 . Compounds were detected with a UV detector at a wavelength of
of the reductase Trr1 suppresses the genomic instability of peroxiredoxin tsa1 mutants.

The absence of Tsa1, a key peroxiredoxin that scavenges H 2 O 2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae , causes the accumulation of a broad spectrum of mutations. Deletion of TSA1 also causes synthetic lethality in combination with mutations in RAD51 or several key genes involved in DNA double-strand break repair. In the present study, we propose that the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the primary cause of genome instability of tsa1 D cells. In searching for spontaneous suppressors of synthetic lethality of tsa1 D rad51 D double mutants, we identified that the loss of thioredoxin reductase Trr1 rescues their viability. The trr1 D mutant displayed a Can R mutation rate 5-fold lower than wild-type cells. Additional deletion of TRR1 in tsa1 D mutant reduced substantially the Can R mutation rate of tsa1 D strain (33-fold), and to a lesser extent, of rad51 D strain (4-fold). Loss of Trr1 induced Yap1 nuclear accumulation and over-expression of a set of Yap1-regulated oxido- reductases with antioxidant properties that ultimately re-equilibrate intracellular redox environment, reducing substantially ROS-associated DNA damages. This trr1 D -induced effect was largely thioredoxin-dependent, probably mediated by oxidized forms of thioredoxins, the primary substrates of Trr1. Thioredoxin Trx1 and Trx2 were constitutively and strongly oxidized in the absence of Trr1. In trx1 D trx2 D cells, Yap1 was only moderately activated; consistently, the trx1 D trx2 D double deletion failed to efficiently rescue the viability of tsa1 D rad51 D . Finally, we showed that modulation of the dNTP pool size also influences the formation of spontaneous mutation in trr1 D and trx1 D trx2 D strains. We present a tentative model that helps to estimate the respective impact of ROS level and dNTP concentration in the generation of spontaneous mutations. in constitutive oxidation of thioredoxins, which leads to suppression of mutation formation through two distinct mechanisms. Yap1 activation and consequent overexpression of Yap1-regulated oxido-reductases play a major role in reducing mutagenesis. TLS,
The Work Ethic of Chinese Culinary Entrepreneurs in Teluk Betung Selatan Sub-District, Bandar Lampung City

This study aims to analyze the work ethic indicators and the aspects behind the formation of the work ethic of the Chinese culinary entrepreneurs in the Teluk Betung Selatan sub-district. This study employed the qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. Data collecting techniques that researchers used were observation, documentation, and interviews. The data analysis technique used was proposed by Miles and Huberman, which consisted of data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusion stages. The subjects of this study were Chinese culinary entrepreneurs in the Teluk Betung Selatan sub-district. This study found four aspects of the work ethic applied by the Chinese culinary entrepreneurs in the Teluk Betung Selatan sub-district. First, achievements through superior motivation. Second, build the future through visionary leadership. Third, create new values through creative innovation. Fourth, improve quality through human excellence, characterized by hard work and diligence, discipline, responsibility, excellent service, honesty, patience, and morals. Two factors influence the background that shapes the work ethic of the Chinese culinary entrepreneurs. First, the intrinsic factors, such as motivation, high interest, and a sense of wanting to get a big profit. Second, the extrinsic factors, namely religion, culture, and education.
Structural and functional analysis of the (cid:2) -barrel domain of BamA from Escherichia coli

In gram-negative bacteria, the assembly of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) requires a (cid:2) -bar-rel assembly machinery (BAM) complex, of which BamA is an essential and evolutionarily conserved component. To elucidate the mechanism of BamA-mediated OMP biogenesis, we determined the crystal structure of the C-terminal transmembrane domain of BamA from Escherichia coli ( Ec BamA) at 2.6 Å resolution. The structure reveals 2 distinct features. First, a portion of the extracellular side of the (cid:2) barrel is composed of 5 markedly short (cid:2) strands, and the loops stemming from these (cid:2) strands form a potential surface cavity, ﬁlled by a portion of the L6 loop that includes the conserved VRGF/Y motif found in the Omp85 family. Second, the 4 extracellular loops L3, L4, L6, and L7 of Ec BamA form a dome over the barrel, stabilized by a salt-bridge interaction network. Functional data show that hydrophilic-to-hydrophobic mutations of the potential hydrophilic
FactorRelease of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Reorganization of the Cytoskeleton, and Down-Regulation of Chemokine Receptors, Macrophage Motility through Human Cytomegalovirus Paralyzes

Macrophages contribute to host defense and to the maintenance of immune homeostasis. Conversely, they are important targets of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a herpesvirus that has evolved many strategies to modulate the host immune response. Because an efﬁcient macrophage trafﬁcking is required for triggering an adequate immune response, we investigated the effects exerted by HCMV infection on macrophage migratory properties. By using endotheliotropic strains of HCMV, we obtained high rates of productively infected human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM). Twenty-four hours after infection, MDM showed reduced polar morphology and became unable to migrate in response to inﬂammatory and lymphoid chemokines, bacterial products and growth factors, despite being viable and metabolically active. Although chemotactic receptors were only partially affected, HCMV induced a dramatic reorganization of the cytoskeleton characterized by rupture of the microtubular network, stiffness of the actin ﬁbers, and collapse of the podosomes. Furthermore, supernatants harvested from infected MDM contained high amounts of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and were capable to block the migration of neighboring uninfected MDM. Because immunodepletion of MIF from the conditioned medium completely restored MDM chemotaxis, we could show for the ﬁrst time a functional role of MIF as an inhibitor of macrophage migration in the context of HCMV infection. Our ﬁndings reveal that HCMV uses different mechanisms to interfere with movement and positioning of macrophages, possibly leading to an impairment of antiviral responses and to an enhancement of the local inﬂammation. The Journal of Immunology, 2009, 182: 477–488.
Dimensions, embeddings, and attractors

This accessible research monograph investigates how 'finite-dimensional' sets can be embedded into finite-dimensional Euclidean spaces. The first part brings together a number of abstract embedding results, and provides a unified treatment of four definitions of dimension that arise in disparate fields: Lebesgue covering dimension (from classical 'dimension theory'), Hausdorff dimension (from geometric measure theory), upper box-counting dimension (from dynamical systems), and Assouad dimension (from the theory of metric spaces). These abstract embedding results are applied in the second part of the book to the finite-dimensional global attractors that arise in certain infinite-dimensional dynamical systems, deducing practical consequences from the existence of such attractors: a version of the Takens time-delay embedding theorem valid in spatially extended systems, and a result on parametrisation by point values. This book will appeal to all researchers with an interest in dimension theory, particularly those working in dynamical systems.
Well-posedness and stabilization of a model system for long waves posed on a quarter plane

In this paper we are concerned with a initial boundary-value problem for a coupled system of two KdV equations, posed on the positive half line, under the effect of a localized damping term. The model arises when modeling the propagation of long waves generated by a wave maker in a channel. It is shown that the solutions of the system are exponential stable and globally well-posed in the weighted space $L^2(e^{2bx}dx)$ for $b>0$. The stabilization problem is studied using a Lyapunov approach while the well-posedness result is obtained combining fixed point arguments and energy type estimates.