Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The isolation and detection of Escherichia coli O157 by use of immunomagnetic separation and immunoassay procedures

A.R. BENNETT, S. MACPHEE AND R.P. BETTS. 1996. The use of immunomagnetic separation (IMS) techniques has been reported to reduce the total test time, and improve the sensitivity, of microbiological tests done on foods. This approach is being adopted in epidemiological investigations into suspected foodborne outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157 infection and has gained acceptance by public health laboratories and the food industry. This study demonstrated the ability of a commercially available IMS procedure, Dynabeads anti‐E. coli O157, to enable detection of a few cells of E. coli O157 in 25 g of inoculated minced beef, giving results 1 d earlier than a cultural analysis of similar sensitivity. With correct choice of enrichment broths, IMS may increase isolation rate of E. coli O157 compared to that obtained using conventional cultural methods. It is suggested that this may be due to an increase in relative concentration of E. coli O157 compared with the background microflora present in minced beef, which may reduce reliability of non‐IMS detection procedures by masking or mimicking target cells on selective/differential solid media. The use of an immunoassay incorporating an IMS step, EHEC‐Tek (Organon‐Teknika), enabled detection of a few cells of E. coli O157 in 25 g of minced beef. Comparison of the IMS‐ELISA with a standard ELISA procedure (Tecra) indicated the sensitivity of the latter system to be greater, perhaps resulting in the higher isolation rate. The use of a method to reliability isolate and detect extremely low levels of E. coli O157 in a food is necessary to aid reduction in the incidence of this most serious of foodborne pathogens.
Mini-Mental State Examination and Mattis Dementia Rating Scale performance differs in Hispanic and non-Hispanic Alzheimer's disease patients

Little information exists regarding the performance of Spanish-speaking versus English-speaking patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) on the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale. In an attempt to identify culturally biased MMSE items or DRS subscales, we matched Spanish-speaking Hispanic and English-speaking non-Hispanic White community-dwelling AD patients by their MMSE scores and examined specific items within each scale. Our findings indicate that Hispanic AD patients perform significantly worse than non-Hispanics in terms of total DRS score, scores on the DRS subscales for Conceptualization and Memory, and on serial subtraction (or backward spelling item) of the MMSE. While mildly to moderately demented Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients obtained comparable scores on the DRS, severely impaired Spanish-speaking participants obtained considerably lower DRS scores than their English-speaking counterparts. The discrepancy in the DRS scores of the severely impaired Hispanic and non-Hispanic examinees might reflect a cultural bias in the test or educational differences between the groups. Alternatively, the DRS may be more sensitive than the MMSE for detecting severe cognitive impairment in Hispanic patients. (JINS, 1999, 5, 301–307.)
Optical transmission system penalties due to fiber polarization mode dispersion

A new approach to studying the transmission impairment of polarization mode dispersion in a digital optical fiber system, based on numerical simulation and statistical description of the problem, is discussed in detail. A new figure of merit, the penalty probability, has been calculated and used to set up an overall criterion for system design considerations involving polarization mode dispersion in a single mode fiber. Simulation examples have shown that the design bound obtained holds well against experimental results. With practical system parameters and operation conditions known, the method can be used for effectively assessing potential system impairment and producing guidelines for achieving design compromises. <<ETX>>
Interval cancers in a FOBT-based colorectal cancer population screening programme: implications for stage, gender and tumour site

Background Between 2000 and 2007, a demonstration pilot of biennial guaiac faecal occult blood test (GFOBT) screening was carried out in Scotland. Methods Interval cancers were defined as cancers diagnosed within 2 years (ie, a complete screening round) of a negative GFOBT. The stage and outcome of the interval cancers were compared with those arising contemporaneously in the non-screened Scottish population. In addition, the gender and site distributions of the interval cancers were compared with those in the screen-detected group and the non-screened population. Results Of the cancers diagnosed in the screened population, interval cancers comprised 31.2% in the first round, 47.7% in the second, and 58.9% in the third, although this was due to a decline in the numbers of screen-detected cancers rather than an increase in interval cancers. There were no consistent differences in the stage distribution of interval cancers and cancers from the non-screened population, and, in all three rounds, both overall and cancer-specific survival were significantly better for patients diagnosed with interval cancers (p<0.01). The percentage of cancers arising in women was significantly higher in the interval cancer group (50.2%) than in either the screen-detected group (35.3%, p<0.001) or the non-screened group (40.6%, p<0.001). In addition, the proportion of both right-sided and rectal cancers was significantly higher in the interval cancer group than in either the screen-detected (p<0.001) or non-screened (p<0.004) groups. Conclusions Although GFOBT screening is associated with substantial interval cancer rates that increase with screening round, the absolute numbers do not. Interval cancers are associated with a better prognosis than cancers arising in a non-screened population, and GFOBT appears to preferentially detect cancers in men and the left side of the colon at the expense of cancers in women and in the right colon and rectum.
Cardiac Autonomic Responses at Onset of Exercise: Effects of Aerobic Fitness

Abstract Analyzes of cardiac autonomic responses at the initial transient of exercise have been used for the investigation of the cardiovascular health. We evaluated the influence of aerobic fitness on HR and HRV responses at the onset of exercise. 25 male subjects (22.3±2.4 years) were divided into 2 groups: ‘low aerobic fitness’ (36.2±2.6ml.kg−1.min−1; n=10) and ‘high aerobic fitness’ (46.4±5.0ml.kg−1.min−1; n=15). The experimental session consisted of assessing the beat-to-beat HR at rest and during submaximal exercise. The autonomic responses at the onset of exercise were calculated by fitting the HR and HRV (rMSSD-index) curves during the initial 300s of exercise into a first-order exponential equation. The time constant of HR and of the rMSSD index (τonHR and τonrMSSD) were calculated for analysis. We observed lower values of τonrMSSD in the high aerobic fitness group compared to the low aerobic fitness group (26.8±5s vs. 38.0±18s, respectively; p=0.02). The τonHR (42.0±15 vs. 49.3±26s, p=0.38) for the groups showed no difference. Aerobic fitness partially influenced the autonomic responses during exercise, since individuals with higher fitness showed faster decreases in beat-to-beat HRV at the onset of exercise.
Improved voltage response in III–V solar cells based on engineered spontaneous emission

In order to obtain a high photovoltaic (PV) efficiency, a solar cell must operate at both a high current and voltage. The current is determined by the semiconductor's ability to convert above-bandgap photons into electron-hole pairs that can be collected, while the maximum achievable voltage depends on maximizing the carrier densities and minimizing recombination within the cell. For a high quality semiconductor like GaAs, which has been shown to have an internal fluorescence yield of 99.7%, non-radiative recombination can be minimized to the point where the PV efficiency is limited by radiative emission from the cell. Here we show an improvement in output voltage and efficiency by engineering the spontaneous emission rate using photonic crystal structures. The proposed device is composed of a GaAs PV cell that has been nano-patterned with photonic crystals in order to control carrier spontaneous emission and, as a result, increase device output voltage. In the proposed device, this emission control is achieved by tuning the bandgap of the photonic crystal structure near the semiconductor band edge. Under these operating conditions, the open circuit voltage is increased by a factor of -(kBT/q) ln[FP], where FP is defined as the ratio of the spontaneous emission rate in the nano-patterned solar cell to the spontaneous emission rate in bulk GaAs. By engineering small FP the voltage of the device can be significantly improved, leading to photovoltaic efficiencies of ~36% from a single junction device.
Economic policy and economic development in Austria–Hungary, 1867–1913

Introduction The Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph I of the House of Habsburg-Lothringen, had every right to be pleased as he stood in the Hungarian capital city of Buda, atop a mound of earth gathered from every part of the country, to be crowned I. Ferencz Jozsef, King of Hungary, on 8 June 1867. Ten days earlier, the Hungarian parliament had passed the acts constituting the Compromise of 1867 which, with their counterpart laws in Austria, formally established the Austro-Hungarian monarchy as of I January 1868. Very largely the personal work of the Kaiser himself, the Compromise regulated the political relations between the two constituent parts of his Empire, at one and the same time stabilizing both the internal conditions and the international position of the Habsburg lands. Franz Joseph had rightly seen that the position of Hungary was the key both to the internal cohesion of the Empire and to the arrest and reversal of the decline of Austria as a major power, which defeat in the war with Prussia in 1866 had exposed so clearly. Under the Compromise, Hungary regained full internal autonomy and most of the status of an independent country, but remained united with Austria in the person of the common monarch and in the conduct of foreign affairs. The Compromise established two classes of relations between the partners in the new Austria–Hungary: ‘Common affairs’ embraced the army and navy, and all aspects of international relations including the diplomatic service; a common ministry was set up to handle the financial side of these matters.
The Complexities of Intimate Partner Violence: Mental Health, Disabilities, and Child Abuse History for White, Indigenous, and Other Visible Minority Canadian Women

This research examines how mental health issues associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) relate to women’s intersecting identities of race/ethnicity, disability status, and child abuse history. Data (N = 595) from a Canadian triprovincial study included women who were White (n = 263, 44.8%), Indigenous (n = 292, 49.7%), or visible minority (n = 32, 5.5%). Few demographic differences were found. None of the mental health measures (Symptom Checklist–Short Form [SCL-10], Centre for Epidemiological Studies–Depression [CES-D-10], Posttraumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] Checklist) were in the clinical ranges. In a MANCOVA on the mental health scales, with IPV severity, racial group, disability status, and child abuse history as variables, only disability was significantly associated with more mental health symptoms.
Avoidance tests in site‐specific risk assessment—influence of soil properties on the avoidance response of collembola and earthworms

The ability of organisms to avoid contaminated soils can act as an indicator of toxic potential in a particular soil. Based on the escape response of earthworms and Collembola, avoidance tests with these soil organisms have great potential as early screening tools in site‐specific assessment. These tests are becoming more common in soil ecotoxicology, because they are ecologically relevant and have a shorter duration time compared with standardized soil toxicity tests. The avoidance response of soil invertebrates, however, can be influenced by the soil properties (e.g., organic matter content and texture) that affect behavior of the test species in the exposure matrix. Such an influence could mask a possible effect of the contaminant. Therefore, the effects of soil properties on performance of test species in the exposure media should be considered during risk assessment of contaminated soils. Avoidance tests with earthworms (Eisenia andrei) and springtails (Folsomia candida) were performed to identify the influence of both organic matter content and texture on the avoidance response of representative soil organisms. Distinct artificial soils were prepared by modifying quantities of the standard artificial soil components described by the Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development to achieve different organic matter and texture classes. Several combinations of each factor were tested. Results showed that both properties influenced the avoidance response of organisms, which avoided soils with low organic matter content and fine texture. Springtails were less sensitive to changes in these soil constituents compared with earthworms, indicating springtails can be used for site‐specific assessments of contaminated soils with a wider range of respective soil properties.
Comparison of Stimulation Patterns to Elicit Steady-State Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (SSSEPs): Implications for Hybrid and SSSEP-Based BCIs

The goal of this study was to systematically compare signal characteristics and performance of three stimulation patterns that have been used to elicit steady-state somatosensory evoked potentials (SSSEPs): no pulses, random pulses, and rhythmic pulses with a consistent pattern. These three different vibrotactile stimulation patterns were provided to the fingertips of five healthy subjects by a small solenoid-type vibrating tactor. The five subjects, who were blindfolded, were asked to selectively focus their attention to either left or right fingertip flutter sensations, according to the audible cue given. Results of this study showed that small solenoid-type haptic tactors can elicit SSSEPs near the contra lateral central brain areas. There were significant differences in the resulting signals between the three paradigms, with the rhythmic pattern showing the highest classification accuracy. Moreover, the accuracy of the rhythmic pulse pattern was significantly higher than with or without random pulse patterns for the majority of subjects. The results of this study should provide insights to future research of SSSEP based BCIs and hybrid BCIs that use SSSEPS as one type of brain signal for users who are unable to use visual BCIs.
Explaining the allocation of regional Structural Funds: The conditional effect of governance and self-rule

What regional factors can explain the heterogeneity in Structural Funds distribution to European Union regions? Past studies have shown that aside from the level of economic development and rates of unemployment, other political, and economic factors systematically explain why certain European Union regions receive greater funding than others, in particular where there is room for bargaining. In this article, a novel theory is posited which argues that the determination of Structural Funds is based on an interaction between a region’s formal institutions (the level of a regional autonomy) and informal institutions (its level of quality of government). In cases of low regional autonomy, member states and European Union level actors prefer to allocate greater levels of Funds to regions with lower quality of government in order to increase cohesion. Yet in cases of high regional autonomy, risks associated with absorption failure in lower capacity regions lead states to strategically allocate greater levels of transfers to regions with higher quality of government. The theory is tested on data for 171 European Union regions for the 2007–2013 budget period. The results show robust empirical support for the theoretical claims.
Coordinated control of battery energy storage system and diesel generator for isolated power system stabilization

Nowadays, renewable energy such as wind turbine generator and photovoltaic system are introduced in power system. Output power fluctuations of these generation systems will result in frequency deviations and terminal voltage fluctuations. In order to overcome these problems, battery energy storage system is used for frequency and voltage control. However, it needs large capacity of battery system which increase the equipment cost. In this paper, we propose the coordinated control strategy between diesel generator and battery system for reducing the equipment cost of battery, inverter capacity and storage capacity. The proposed control system incorporates Hinfin control theory which enables intuitive controller design in frequency domain. The effectiveness of the proposed control system is validated by simulation results in MATLAB.
Plasmid-to-chromosome gene transfer in Haemophilus influenza during growth

A low level of recombination between homologous regions of plasmids and the host chromosome occurred during cell growth. The plasmids contained antibiotic resistance markers on the homologous regions which were only expressed when they were integrated into the chromosome. Such recombination took place in Rec+ rec-2 mutants but not in rec-1 mutants.
The novel inhibitor of histone deacetylase resminostat (RAS2410) inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in multiple myeloma (MM) cells

Inhibition of histone deacetylase (HDAC) is a promising mechanism for novel, anti‐myeloma agents. We investigated the effects of the novel HDAC inhibitor resminostat on multiple myeloma (MM) cells in vitro. Resminostat is a potent inhibitor of HDACs 1, 3 and 6 [50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 43–72 nmol/l] representing HDAC classes I and II and induces hyperacetylation of histone H4 in MM cells. Low micromolar concentrations of resminostat abrogated cell growth and strongly induced apoptosis (IC50 = 2·5–3 μmol/l in 3 out of 4 MM cell lines) in MM cell lines as well as primary MM cells. At 1 μmol/l, resminostat inhibited proliferation and induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in 3 out of 4 MM cell lines accompanied with decreased levels of cyclin D1, cdc25a, Cdk4 and pRb as well as upregulation of p21. Resminostat decreased phosphorylation of 4E‐BP1 and p70S6k indicating an interference with Akt pathway signalling. Treatment with resminostat resulted in increased protein levels of Bim and Bax and decreased levels of Bcl‐xL. Caspases 3, 8 and 9 were activated by resminostat. Furthermore, synergistic effects were observed for combinations of resminostat with melphalan and the proteasome inhibitors bortezomib and S‐2209. In conclusion, we have identified potent anti‐myeloma activity for this novel HDAC inhibitor.
Relative Apportioning of Resources to the Body and Regenerating Tail in Juvenile Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularius) Maintained on Different Dietary Rations*

Caudal autotomy is a widespread phenomenon among lizards, and similar processes occur in other groups of vertebrates and invertebrates. Many costs have been associated with autotomy, including the regeneration of lost biomass. For lizards, it is not known whether resources are preferentially directed toward caudal regeneration or whether regeneration occurs only when resources are abundant. Conflicting information is present in the literature, and an absence of controlled experiments prevents determination of what pattern of regeneration may occur under a given set of circumstances. We employed the leopard gecko, a fat-tailed species, to examine whether tail regeneration is a priority and, if so, whether it remains so when resources become limiting. We explored this through caudal autotomy and dietary manipulation under conditions that ensured that differences in diet were sufficient to permit differential growth. We examined juvenile leopard geckos because these animals are rapidly growing and allocation of energy is not compromised by reproductive investment. The effects of dietary resource availability and the demands of caudal regeneration were compared in intact and regenerating animals. Our evidence indicates that caudal regeneration is a priority, even when resources are limiting. We conclude that tail regrowth is a priority that is associated with long-term survival and possibly reproductive success.
Discrete and continuous optimizations for depth image super-resolution

Recently a Time-of-Flight 2D/3D image sensor has been developed, which is able to capture a perfectly aligned pair of a color and a depth image. To increase the sensitivity to infrared light, the sensor electrically combines multiple adjacent pixels into a depth pixel at the expense of depth image resolution. To restore the resolution we propose a depth image super-resolution method that uses a high-resolution color image aligned with an input depth image. In the first part of our method, the input depth image is interpolated into the scale of the color image, and our discrete optimization converts the interpolated depth image into a high-resolution disparity image, whose discontinuities precisely coincide with object boundaries. Subsequently, a discontinuity-preserving filter is applied to the interpolated depth image, where the discontinuities are cloned from the high-resolution disparity image. Meanwhile, our unique way of enforcing the depth reconstruction constraint gives a high-resolution depth image that is perfectly consistent with its original input depth image. We show the effectiveness of the proposed method both quantitatively and qualitatively, comparing the proposed method with two existing methods. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method gives sharp high-resolution depth images with less error than the two methods for scale factors of 2, 4, and 8.
Growth Cone 3-D Morphology is Modified by Distinct Micropatterned Adhesion Substrates

The development, connectivity, and structural plasticity of neuronal networks largely depend on the directional growth of axonal growth cones (GCs). The morphology and 3-D profile of axons and GCs of primary hippocampal neurons, grown onto glass surfaces coated with poly-D-lysine (PDL) and micropatterned with stripes of the adhesion molecule L1 by using the indirect microcontact printing, were investigated. Neurons were fixed at early stages (one to seven days) of in vitro development prior to synapse formation, and analyzed by fluorescence and atomic force microscopy. The latter technique allowed us to investigate the 3-D morphology of the GCs, and detect their morphological rearrangements during axon outgrowth and during contact with the underlying substrate. We found that axons decreased their height-to-width ratio over development in culture, and that this value became particularly low when the axon and the GC proceeded onto a surface containing attracting cues such as L1 with respect to GCs growing onto a nonspecific adhesion substrate such as PDL. Along with this shape change of the axons, GCs lying onto L1 tracks displayed a flattened shape, ideal for sensing and progression, whereas GCs onto areas of nonspecific adhesion displayed more prominent shapes and steeper edges.