Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iha from an Escherichia coli Urinary Tract Infection Outbreak Clonal Group A Strain Is Expressed In Vivo in the Mouse Urinary Tract and Functions as a Catecholate Siderophore Receptor

ABSTRACT Virulence factors of pathogenic Escherichia coli belonging to a recently emerged and disseminated clonal group associated with urinary tract infection (UTI), provisionally designated clonal group A (CGA), have not been experimentally investigated. We used a mouse model of ascending UTI with CGA member strain UCB34 in order to identify genes of CGA that contribute to UTI. iha was identified to be expressed by strain UCB34 in the mouse kidney using selective capture of transcribed sequences. iha from strain UCB34 demonstrated a siderophore receptor phenotype when cloned in a catecholate siderophore receptor-negative E. coli K-12 strain, as shown by growth promotion experiments and uptake of 55Fe complexed to enterobactin or its linear 2, 3-dihydroxybenzoylserine (DHBS) siderophore derivatives. Siderophore-mediated growth promotion by Iha was TonB dependent. Growth and iron uptake were more marked with linear DHBS derivatives than with purified enterobactin. The reported phenotype of adherence to epithelial cells conferred by expressing iha from a multicopy cloning vector in a poorly adherent E. coli K-12 host strain was confirmed to be specific to iha, in comparison with other siderophore receptor genes. iha expression was regulated by the ferric uptake regulator Fur and by iron availability, as shown by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR. In a competitive infection experiment using the mouse UTI model, wild-type strain UCB34 significantly outcompeted an isogenic iha null mutant. Iha thus represents a Fur-regulated catecholate siderophore receptor that, uniquely, exhibits an adherence-enhancing phenotype and is the first described urovirulence factor identified in a CGA strain.
Chronotype of South African adults is affected by solar entrainment

ABSTRACT Our daily lives are influenced by three different daily timers: the solar clock, our endogenous circadian clock and the societal clock. The way an individual’s endogenous clock synchronises to the solar clock, through either advances or delays relative to sunrise and sunset, results in a phenomenon known as diurnal preference or chronotype. South Africa uses just one time zone, but in the most easterly regions of the country, the sun rises and sets up to an hour earlier than in the most westerly regions throughout the year. It was hypothesised first that South Africans living in the east of the country may have a greater preference for mornings (more morning chronotypes) than those living in the west; and second, that this difference would not be due to genetic differences in the populations, particularly a genetic polymorphism previously shown to influence chronotype. Here, we describe and compare the distribution of chorotype and PERIOD3 variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism frequency in eastern (n = 129) and western (n = 175) sample populations. Using the Horne–Östberg Morningness, Eveningness Questionnaire we found that there was a significantly higher proportion of morning-types in the eastern population (56.6%) than in the western population (39.4%), and there were higher proportions of neither-types and evening-types in the western population (51.4% and 9.1%, respectively) than in the eastern population (37.2% and 6.2%, respectively) (p = 0.009). There were no significant differences in distribution of the PER3 genotype (p = 0.895) and allele (p = 0.636) frequencies. Although previous studies have shown associations between chronotype and PER3 VNTR genotypes, no significant associations were observed in either the eastern (p = 0.695) or the western (p = 0.630) populations. These findings indicate that, in South African populations, longitude influences chronotype independently of PER3 genotype. The impacts of the differences in chronotype whilst maintaining the same societal temporal organisation in the eastern and western regions were not assessed.
Gamification of a Software Engineering course and a detailed analysis of the factors that lead to it's failure

This paper describes the setup for a gamified classroom for the subject of Software Engineering. A series of papers have resulted from this work: “Understanding Student Motivation” at CSEDU 2013 [1] and “Bridging the Motivation Gap”, an IGIP SPEED Young Scientist award paper here at ICL 2013 [2]. The intention behind gamifying the course was to increase student engagement and motivation by allowing for independent learning with flexible speed and choice of emphasis. Daniel Pink's [3] motivational theory, which is also found in gamification factors, outlines that autonomy, mastery and purpose lead to these goals. The adopted approach also deals nicely with the vast differences regarding background knowledge and the spread of interest of each of the students. During the latter part of the course a student survey was conducted. Out of 90 students, 59 answered. As a general rule, students did not receive the gamification ideas in a positive light. We examine what went wrong regarding the gamification factors and propose changes for the next iteration of the course.
A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17) and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Signaling Drive the Epithelial Response to Staphylococcus aureus Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 (TSST-1)*

Background: The staphylococcal superantigen (SAg) toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) is proinflammatory to mucosal epithelial cells by an unknown mechanism. Results: Metalloproteinases and the epidermal growth factor receptor mediate the epithelial response to TSST-1. Conclusion: Inflammatory signals from the epithelium contribute to SAg-mediated disease progression. Significance: Understanding how SAgs initiate the inflammatory cascade may provide molecular targets for the development of new therapies. Staphylococcal superantigens (SAgs), such as toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), are the main cause of toxic shock syndrome (TSS). SAgs deregulate the host immune system after penetrating epithelial barriers such as the vaginal mucosa. In response to TSST-1, human vaginal epithelial cells (HVECs) produce cytokines and undergo morphological changes. The epithelial signaling mechanisms employed by SAgs remain largely unknown and are the focus of the work presented here. Analysis of published microarray data identified a network of genes up-regulated by HVECs in response to TSST-1 that includes the sheddase, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17). Investigation revealed that the ADAM17 proteolytic targets, amphiregulin (AREG), transforming growth factor α (TGFα), syndecan-1 (SDC1), and tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1), are shed from HVECs in response to TSST-1. TAPI-1 (an ADAM inhibitor) completely abrogates all observed shedding and the production of the cytokine interleukin-8 (IL-8). Knock-down studies show that ADAM17, but not the closely related ADAM10, is required for AREG, TGFα, and TNFR1 shedding. Both ADAM10 and ADAM17 contribute to SDC1 shedding and IL-8 production by HVECs in response to TSST-1. EGFR signaling is critical for up-regulation of IL-8 at the transcriptional level in response to TSST-1 and is also necessary for AREG, TGFα, and TNFR1 shedding. A model is proposed describing the interactions of TSST-1, ADAMs, and the EGFR that lead to establishment of a proinflammatory positive feedback loop in epithelial cells and demonstrate a role for SAgs in the initial stages of disease.
Reflections on Trends in Teacher Education in Europe Using the Scenario Perspective

SUMMARY In the preceding papers the scenario model of ATEE-RDC19 is used as a reflecting instrument on trends and development in teacher education in different European countries. In this short contribution, a reflection on those papers is made to see whether common trends arise. In this rough picture, it is possible to see that in all analysed countries there is a tendency towards a more pragmatic and individualistic approach in society, influencing teacher education. But these two trends (toward pragmatism and towards idealism) are not in all case studies strongly connected. However, bearing in mind some critical comments on the scenario model, strong and definitive conclusions are to be avoided.
Energy-Efficient Data Management For Sensor Networks : A WorkIn-Progress Report

We give a status update of the Cougar Project, in which we investigate a database approach to sensor networks: Clients “program” the sensors through queries in a high-level declarative language (such as a variant of SQL). In this paper, we overview our activities on energy-efficient data dissemination and query processing. Due to space constraints, we cannot present a full menu of results; instead, we decided to only whet the reader’s appetite with some interesting problems in energyefficient routing and in-network aggregation and some thoughts on how to approach them.
Vaginal Epithelial Cell-Derived S100 Alarmins Induced by Candida albicans via Pattern Recognition Receptor Interactions Are Sufficient but Not Necessary for the Acute Neutrophil Response during Experimental Vaginal Candidiasis

ABSTRACT Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), caused by Candida albicans, affects women worldwide. Animal and clinical studies suggest that the immunopathogenic inflammatory condition of VVC is initiated by S100 alarmins in response to C. albicans, which stimulate polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) migration to the vagina. The purpose of this study was to extend previous in vitro data and determine the requirement for the alarmin S100A8 in the PMN response and to evaluate pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that initiate the response. For the former, PMN migration was evaluated in vitro or in vivo in the presence or absence of S100 alarmins initiated by several approaches. For the latter, vaginal epithelial cells were evaluated for PRR expression and C. albicans-induced S100A8 and S100A9 mRNAs, followed by evaluation of the PMN response in inoculated PRR-deficient mice. Results revealed that, consistent with previously reported in vitro data, eukaryote-derived S100A8, but not prokaryote-derived recombinant S100A8, induced significant PMN chemotaxis in vivo. Conversely, a lack of biologically active S100A8 alarmin, achieved by antibody neutralization or by using S100A9−/− mice, had no effect on the PMN response in vivo. In PRR analyses, whereas Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)- and SIGNR1-deficient vaginal epithelial cells showed a dramatic reduction in C. albicans-induced S100A8/S100A9 mRNAs in vitro, inoculated mice deficient in these PRRs showed PMN migration similar to that in wild-type controls. These results suggest that S100A8 alarmin is sufficient, but not necessary, to induce PMN migration during VVC and that the vaginal PMN response to C. albicans involves PRRs in addition to SIGNR1 and TLR4, or other induction pathways.
Routine Activities Preceding Adolescent Sexual Abuse of Younger Children

Adolescent abuse of younger children has long been recognized, but empirical research on the circumstances of this phenomenon is rare. This article examines how adolescent offenders find and gain access to victims, work out time alone with them, and set up or exploit settings for sexual contact. Prior researchers learned that adult sex offenders use certain routine activities to perform these tasks. The current research inquires whether adolescent offenders are similar. We administered Kaufman’s Modus Operandi Questionnaire to a sample of 116 Canadian adolescent males undergoing treatment for a sexual offense against a child. Adolescent offenders follow routines similar to adults but are better able to use games and activities as a prelude to sexual abuse. We discuss how routine legal activities set the stage for activities and should be considered when devising situational prevention strategies.
Revising the Rorschach Ego Impairment Index to Accommodate Recent Recommendations About Improving Rorschach Validity

We used multiple regression to calculate a new Ego Impairment Index (EII-3). The aim was to incorporate changes in the component variables and distribution of the number of responses as found in the new Rorschach Performance Assessment System, while sustaining the validity and reliability of previous EIIs. The EII-3 formula was derived from a large, diverse, developmental sample (N = 411) and was tested on an independent validation sample (N = 206) procured from psychiatric, forensic, research, and nonclinical control contexts. Additional analyses revealed high correlations with previous EIIs with similar reliability and validity but superior distributional qualities.
Role for Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Protein in a Glutathione Response to Bronchopulmonary Pseudomonas Infection

ABSTRACT The lung maintains an elevated level of glutathione (GSH) in epithelial lining fluid (ELF) compared to serum. The mechanism(s) by which the lung maintains high levels of ELF GSH and factors that modulate them are largely unexplored. We hypothesized that lung cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein (CFTR) modulates GSH efflux in response to extracellular stress, which occurs with lung infections. Mice were challenged intratracheally with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and on the third day of infection bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was obtained and analyzed for cytokines and antioxidants. Lung tissue antioxidants and enzyme activities were also assessed. P. aeruginosa lung infection increased levels of inflammatory cytokines and neutrophils in the ELF. This corresponded with a marked threefold increase in GSH and a twofold increase in urate levels in the ELF of P. aeruginosa-infected wild-type mice. A twofold increase in urate levels was also observed among lung tissue antioxidants of P. aeruginosa-infected wild-type mice. There were no changes in markers of lung oxidative stress associated with the P. aeruginosa lung infection. In contrast with wild-type mice, the CFTR knockout mice lacked a significant increase in ELF GSH when challenged with P. aeruginosa, and this correlated with a decrease in the ratio of reduced to oxidized GSH in the ELF, a marker of oxidative stress. These data would suggest that the lung adapts to infectious agents with elevated ELF GSH and urate. Individuals with lung diseases associated with altered antioxidant transport, such as cystic fibrosis, might lack the ability to adapt to the infection and present with a more severe inflammatory response.
Space and social control in the administration of the Oglala Lakota ("Sioux"), 1871-1879

Abstract The "panoptic" logic of social control analyzed by Michel Foucault plays an important part in regulating "normal" citizens of the modern world as well as institutionalized populations. However, control of the unconfined presupposes certain conditions not paid adequate attention by Foucault, especially the requirement that people be individually identifiable in most activities, and that private property be located at fixed addresses. In order to explore the importance and the implications of these and other preconditions, this paper examines the strategies with which the U.S. government attempted to bring the Oglala Lakota under administrative control during the first decade of their settlement around the Red Cloud Agency on the northern Great Plains. Oglala society exhibited none of the hypothesized prerequisites for social control by the U.S. government at the beginning of the decade, but by 1879, the rudiments of a working system were in place. This story of the struggles surrounding its imposition robs modern social control of its seeming naturalness and immutability, brings into a critical light many of the spatial conditions we take for granted in today's world, and suggests the importance of a new, relatively unexplored dimension of the historical geography of American Indians and their dealings with White society. To the men of my time was appointed the task of taking the raw and bleeding material which made the hostile strength of the plains Indians, of bringing that material to the mills of the white man, and of transmuting it into a manufactured product that might be absorbed by the nation without interfering with the national digestion… In the language of the bounding West in which he made his habitat, it may be said that, in 1871, the Indian was "halter-broke but he had not yet been bitted". James McLaughlin, Former Agent to the Standing Rock Sioux
HTTP(P2P): a transaction based (HTTP) peer-to-peer protocol for the dissemination of Web-objects in congested networks

Highly popular Web sites can suffer classical congestion collapse because of the ability of outgoing 'bursty' data to congest the server side link. Using the well known and recognized network simulator ns we look at the effect that this congestion collapse has on user perceived performance (UPP) of a simulated Web site. We developed a protocol overlay for HTTP/1.1 and a complementary distribution infrastructure to alleviate the effects of this congestion. Our protocol HTTP(P2P) shows promise for increasing the maximum load of Web sites during times of high and very high Web site load and link contention. In our simulated environment, HTTP(P2P) significantly decreases the time required for users to download the Web page they request. The protocol also distributes the redirected traffic over the network to reduce secondary transient network congestion.
Ecstasy use and higher-level cognitive functions: weak effects of ecstasy after control for potential confounds

Background Although there have been several reports linking ecstasy use with lowered cognitive function, much previous research suffers from substantial methodological limitations. The present study aimed to examine associations between ecstasy use and higher-level cognitive functions, using a larger sample size than most previous research and better controlling for a range of potential confounds. Method A cross-sectional cohort design assessed 45 currently abstinent ecstasy polydrug users (EP), 48 cannabis polydrug users (CP) and 40 legal drug users (LD). Standardized neuropsychological tests were used to measure attention, verbal, visual and working memory and executive function. Prospective memory function was also assessed. Results It was not possible to discriminate between groups on the basis of the cognitive functions assessed. Regression analyses showed an inverse association between lifetime dose of ecstasy and verbal memory performance. A combination of drug-use variables, including measures of ecstasy use, contributed to prediction of attention/working memory. However, individual associations were small, explaining 1–6% of variance in cognitive scores. Conclusions Although the results suggest that heavy use of ecstasy is associated with some lowering of higher-level cognitive functions, they do not indicate a clinical picture of substantial cognitive dysfunction.
Effect of Low Mg2+ and Bicuculline on Cell Survival in Hippocampal Slice Cultures

ABSTRACT A reliable model system of epileptiform insult would facilitate investigation into the underlying biological mechanisms. Epileptiform insult was induced in hippocampal slice cultures by lowering extracellular Mg2+, (+)-bicuculline, or (−)-bicuculline methochloride, a stable salt form of bicuculline (both forms block GABAA receptors). Cell death was assessed by propidium iodide uptake. Low Mg2+ or (+)-bicuculline did not produce cell death regardless of dose or incubation period. Exposure to 100 μM (−)-bicuculline methochloride for 48 hr resulted in prominent CA1 cell death. These findings demonstrate that not all pro-epileptic drugs/ion changes used routinely for electrophysiological recording of seizure activity lead to cell death in hippocampal slice cultures and that treatment with bicuculline methochloride can be used as a reliable model for epileptiform insult.
Designing Learning Algorithms over the Sequence Form of an Extensive-Form Game

We focus on multi-agent learning over extensive-form games. When designing algorithms for extensive-form games, it is common the resort to tabular representations (i.e., normal form, agent form, and sequence form). Each representation provides some advantages and suffers from some drawbacks and it is not known which representation, if any, is the best one in multi-agent learning. In particular, a wide literature studies algorithms for the normal form, but this representation is prohibitive in practice since it is exponentially large in the size of the game tree. In this paper, we show that some learning algorithms defined over the normal form can be re-defined over the sequence form so that the dynamics of the two algorithms are realization equivalent (i.e., they induce the same probability distribution over the outcomes). This allows an exponential compression of the representation and therefore makes such algorithms employable in practice.
Fly-inspired visual steering of an ultralight indoor aircraft

We aim at developing autonomous microflyers capable of navigating within houses or small indoor environments using vision as the principal source of information. Due to severe weight and energy constraints, inspiration is taken from the fly for the selection of sensors, for signal processing, and for the control strategy. The current 30-g prototype is capable of autonomous steering in a 16/spl times/16 m textured environment. This paper describes models and algorithms which allow for efficient course stabilization and collision avoidance using optic flow and inertial information.
Subcontractors' business relationships as risk sources in project networks

Purpose – This paper seeks to address the risks for a main contractor firm's project business that arise from subcontractors' inter‐organizational relationships in complex‐ and dynamic‐project networks.Design/methodology/approach – Existing project risk management research neglects the management of such relational risks in networks. This paper discusses this un‐researched area by analyzing triads representing sub‐networks of three actors in a larger network. The empirical study employed several semi‐structured interviews in two global contractor organizations. Critical incidents identified in triadic settings were used to explain the logic of how risks arose from subcontractors' inter‐organizational relationships.Findings – This paper identifies four categories of risk sources characterized by subcontractors' inter‐organizational relationships. The four risk source categories are based on subcontractors' relationships with other subcontractors, the contractor's competitor the contractor's client and non‐.
THE COLEMAN REPORT

"Altogether the sources of inequality of educational opportunity appear to lie first in the home itself and the cultural influences immediately surrounding the home . It is important to replace this family environment as much as possible . This suggests thai internal changes in the Negro, changes in his conception of himself . and have more effect on Negro educational achievement than any other single factor . ”
Identification of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli isolated from swine with diarrhea in Thailand by colony hybridization, using three enterotoxin gene probes

The DNA colony hybridization assay was used to identify enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli among E. coli isolated from 803 swine with diarrhea at 10 farms in Thailand. Between 5 September and 8 December 1981, enterotoxigenic E. coli were identified in 40% of 58 litters of piglets under 10 days old and 17% of 29 litters between 10 and 21 days old with diarrhea at farms at four different locations in Thailand. All E. coli that hybridized with one or more of the three enterotoxin gene probes produced heat-labile or heat-stable toxin or both, as determined by testing culture supernatants in the Y1 adrenal and suckling mouse assays. The DNA colony hybridization technique is a specific method of identifying enterotoxigenic E. coli from swine and can be used to further characterize these enteric pathogens.