Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unexplained rabies in three immigrants in the United States. A virologic investigation.

BACKGROUND Extensive investigation of three patients who died of rabies in the United States failed to reveal any source of exposure to the disease. The three patients had immigrated to the United States from areas in Laos, the Philippines, and Mexico where rabies is endemic. METHODS We studied rabies viruses isolated from the three patients, other patients with a known source of exposure, and animals in the United States, Thailand (as a proxy for Laos), the Philippines, and Mexico. The viruses were characterized by indirect immunofluorescence and neutralization tests according to their reactions to panels of monoclonal antibodies. Transcribed complementary DNA from these isolates was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction; the DNA product was then analyzed by differential digestion with restriction enzymes. RESULTS The viral isolate from each of the three patients was a rabies variant with distinctive antigenic or genetic characteristics. For each of the three isolates, identical variants were found in specimens from rabid animals obtained from or near the country in which the patient lived before immigrating to the United States. None of these variants were found among the isolates collected from rabid animals in the United States. CONCLUSIONS Rabies infection in these three patients did not originate in the United States but resulted from exposures in Laos, the Philippines, and Mexico. Since the three patients had lived in the United States for 4 years, 6 years, and 11 months, our findings suggest that the onset of the clinical manifestations of rabies occurred after long incubation periods.
Liver transplantation in patients with alcoholic liver disease

Although alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is one of the most common indications for liver transplantation (LT), there are still unresolved controversies about the goals of treatment, the referral, evaluation, and selection of patients with ALD for LT, and their care after LT. It is uncertain whether there is a large unmet need for LT among patients with ALD because of the unmeasured effects of recent drinking, relapse, and recovery with abstinence in this population. A careful assessment of the extrahepatic effects of alcohol‐related end‐organ damage is needed for ALD patients who are referred for an LT evaluation. Although there clearly is a relationship between the length of sobriety and future abstinence, the present methods for predicting future drinking are inexact. The survival of ALD patients after LT is as good as the survival of non‐ALD patients, although patients with coincident ALD and hepatitis C virus have higher mortality and morbidity rates. After LT, ALD patients have an increased risk of developing malignancies and cardiovascular disease. These risks appear to be linked to cigarette smoking. Covert drinking occurs both before and after transplantation, and approximately 20% of patients return to harmful drinking after LT. Harmful drinking after LT (instead of slips) causes liver damage and reduces survival. Better therapies for controlling addictions to alcohol and nicotine are needed for ALD patients both before and after LT. Liver Transpl 17:751‐759, 2011. © 2011 AASLD.
Clinical and endoscopic features of eosinophilic esophagitis in adults.

BACKGROUND Eosinophilic esophagitis in adults is regarded as unusual, being diagnosed mostly in young men presenting with dysphagia. Mucosal furrows are a sentinel endoscopic feature. This study examined the demographic and clinical profile of adults with eosinophilic esophagitis seen from 1981 to 2002. METHODS All patients from an Australian provincial city (population 198,000) with otherwise unexplained eosinophilic inflammation of the squamous epithelium (>/=30 eosinophils per high-power field) were included in a retrospective review. RESULTS A diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis was made in 31 patients (24 men, 7 women; mean age 34 years, range 14-77 years). The diagnosis was made in 19 (61%) of the 31 patients during the most recent 2 years (none between 1981 and 1994 vs. 12 between 1995-2000 vs. 19 between 2000-2001). Esophageal mucosal furrows were present in 30 (97%), a finding infrequently recognized before 2001. Dysphagia was documented in 26 (89%). Symptoms had been present for long periods before diagnosis (mean 54 months; range 0-180 months), and diagnosis was delayed in 7 (mean 81 months, range 20-144 months) because sentinel features were overlooked at endoscopy. Strictures, often evident only as a result of mucosal shearing during dilation, were present in 17 (57%). Esophageal dilation preformed in 17 (mean 3.4 dilations per patient, range 1-13) consistently relieved symptoms; tears were recorded in 13 (87%), but no serious complication resulted. CONCLUSIONS Eosinophilic esophagitis in adults of all ages is more common than recognized. Mucosal furrows are easily overlooked at endoscopy although this finding is an important clue to diagnosis. Strictures, a frequent consequence, can be safely managed by dilation.
Dietary modifications versus dicyclomine hydrochloride in the treatment of severe infantile colics

This study examined 120 infants, aged 3–12 weeks, with severe colics and compared the results of a specific hypoallergenic diet (group A) with those of pharmacological treatment (group B). Non‐breastfed group A infants received soy milk and if unresponsive, hydrolyzed milk formulas; mothers of breast‐fed infants received a diet without cow's milk, eggs or fish. Breast‐fed and non‐breast‐fed group B infants received dicyclomine hydrochloride 3 mg/kg/day. Results, based on quantitative measurements of crying. indicated that in breast‐fed infants there was no significant improvement between group A (62.5%) and group B (66.6%) infants. Among formula‐fed infants, comparison of positive results using soy milk (65.9%) with positive results using dicyclomine (53.3%) was not significant; positive results using soy milk and hydrolyzed milk formulas in non‐responders to soy milk, provided an improvement in 95.4% of cases. Pharmacological treatment provided an improvement in 53.3%) of cases. The diffcrence was significant (p<0.01).
Disc Positions and Condylar Changes Induced by Different Stretching Forces in the Model for Anterior Disc Displacement of Temporomandibular Joint

Objective The aim of this study was to compare the disc positions and condylar changes induced by different stretching forces in the modified animal model for anterior disc displacement (ADD) of the temporomandibular joint. Methods In the experimental group, 30 rabbits were equally divided into 3 subgroups and underwent surgical ADD via different stretching forces: group A with 0.5 N, group B with 1 N, and group C with 2 N. In the sham group, 6 rabbits underwent the same surgery without the disc being pulled anteriorly. The diagnosis of ADD was made when the anterior band of the disc was located anteriorly to the articular eminence. Histologic and radiographic changes of the condyles were observed under light microscopy and micro-computed tomography scanning 1 week after surgery. Results The success rates of ADD were both 100% in groups B and C and 70% in group A. The correlations between the stretching force and severity of ADD, the stretching force and severity of cartilage changes, and the severity of ADD and cartilage changes were statistically significant (P < 0.01). The most advanced ADD and severest condylar changes were induced in group C. Condylar remodeling and scleroses were found in micro-computed tomography scans. Conclusions The rabbit model for ADD has been successfully established in this study, which is feasible and minimally invasive. The stretching force of at least 1 N could induce the disc displaced successfully. Larger stretching force would induce severer ADD and condylar degenerative changes.
Indistinguishable Predicates: A New Tool for Obfuscation

Opaque predicates are a commonly used technique in program obfuscation, intended to add complexity to control flow and to insert dummy code or watermarks. We survey a number of methods to remove opaque predicates from obfuscated programs, hence defeating the intentions of the obfuscator. Our main contribution is an obfuscation technique that introduces opaque constant predicates that are provably indistinguishable from obfuscations of certain other predicates in the program. Our technique resists all known efficient static attacks on opaque predicates. We present an evaluation of our implementation of the scheme. This includes measurements of its performance impact on an obfuscated instance versus a vanilla one and an experimental verification that the obfuscator is functionality preserving.
Photosynthetic microbial desalination cells (PMDCs) for clean energy, water and biomass production.

Current microbial desalination cell (MDC) performances are evaluated with chemical catalysts such as ferricyanide, platinum catalyzed air-cathodes or aerated cathodes. All of these methods improve power generation potential in MDCs, however, they are not preferable for large scale applications due to cost, energy and environmental toxicity issues. In this study, performance of microbial desalination cells with an air cathode and an algae biocathode (Photosynthetic MDC - PMDC) were evaluated, both under passive conditions (no mechanical aeration or mixing). The results indicate that passive algae biocathodes perform better than air cathodes and enhance COD removal and utilize treated wastewater as the growth medium to obtain valuable biomass for high value bioproducts. Maximum power densities of 84 mW m(-3) (anode volume) or 151 mW m(-3) (biocathode volume) and a desalination rate of 40% were measured with 0.9 : 1 : 0.5 volumetric ratios of anode, desalination and algae biocathode chambers respectively. This first proof-of-concept study proves that the passive mechanisms can be beneficial in enhancing the sustainability of microbial desalination cells.
Review: Biosynthesis and function of yeast vacuolar proteases

The yeast vacuole, which is equivalent to the lysosome of higher eukaryotes, is one of the best characterized degradative organelles. This review describes the biosynthesis and function of yeast vacuolar proteases. Most of these enzymes are delivered to the vacuole via the early compartments of the secretory pathway and the endosome, while one of them is directly imported from the cytoplasm. The proteases are synthesized as precursors which undergo many post‐translational modifications before the final active form is generated. Proteolytic activation by removal of propeptides is performed by proteinase A and/or proteinase B in an intricate cascade‐like fashion. Recent developments in the analysis of the functions of vacuolar proteolysis are described. Substrates of the vacuolar proteases are mostly imported via endocytosis or autophagocytosis, and vacuolar proteolysis appears to be mainly important under nutritional stress conditions and sporulation.
Abundance in Sewage of Bacteriophages That InfectEscherichia coli O157:H7 and That Carry the Shiga Toxin 2 Gene

ABSTRACT Shiga toxin-converting bacteriophages are involved in the pathogenicity of some enteric bacteria, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, but data on the occurrence and distribution of such phages as free particles in nature were not available. An experimental approach has been developed to detect the presence of the Shiga toxin 2 (Stx 2)-encoding bacteriophages in sewage. The Stx 2 gene was amplified by PCR from phages concentrated from 10-ml samples of sewage. Moreover, the phages carrying the Stx 2 gene were detected in supernatants from bacteriophage enrichment cultures by using an Stx 2-negative E. coli O157:H7 strain infected with phages purified from volumes of sewage as small as 0.02 ml. Additionally, the A subunit of Stx 2 was detected in the supernatants of the bacteriophage enrichment cultures, which also showed cytotoxic activity for Vero cells. By enrichment of phages concentrated from different volumes of sewage and applying the most-probable-number technique, it was estimated that the number of phages infectious for E. coli O157:H7 and carrying the Stx 2 gene was in the range of 1 to 10 per ml of sewage from two different origins. These values were approximately 1% of all phages infectingE. coli O157:H7.
PENGARUH RASIO LIKUIDITAS, RASIO SOLVABILITAS, DAN RASIO PROFITABILITAS TERHADAP EARNING PER SHARE ( Study Kasus Pada Perusahaan Manufaktur Yang Terdaftar Di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode 2008-2011)

The purpose of this research was to determine whether Liquidity Ratios (Current Ratio), Solvency Ratio (Debt to Equity Ratio), and Profitability ratios (Return on Equity and Net Profit Margin) have an influence on Earning Per Share.The type of data in this study are secondary data, the sampling method is used purposive sampling and methods polled. The company used a sample of 26 of 136 companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during the period 2008-2011. This research is quantitative, and statistical testing using multiple linear regression test.The results of this study indicate that simultaneous four independent variables significantly influence the Earning Per Share. Partially shown that Current Ratio, Debt to Equity Ratio and Net Profit Margin has a positive and significant effect on Earning Per Share. While Return On Equity has a positive effect but not significant to Earning Per Share. Keywords: Current Ratio, Debt to Equity Ratio, Return On Equity, Net Profit Margin, Earning Per Share.
Use EMO to protect sensitive knowledge in association rule mining by adding items

When data is released or shared among different organizations, some sensitive or confidential information may be subject to be exposed by using data mining tools. Thus, a question arises: how can we protect sensitive knowledge while allowing other parties to extract the knowledge behind the shared data. In this paper, we address the problem of privacy preserving in association rule mining from the perspective of multi-objective optimization. A sensitive rule can be hidden by adding items into the dataset to make the support of the antecedent part of the sensitive rule increase and accordingly the confidence of the sensitive rule decrease. The evolutionary multi-objective optimization (EMO) algorithm is utilized to find suitable transactions (or tuples) to be modified so as the side effects to be minimized. Experiments on real datasets demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Implementation of Teaching Skills and Strategies in the Schools: A study of graduates of a teacher education program

‘Teaching Skills’ and ‘Teaching Strategies’ are two core (professional) modules offered at the two colleges of education in Bhutan to develop pedagogical knowledge and skills of student teachers. However, a tracer study (in press) done by Samtse College of Education [SCE] revealed teacher graduates’ (1) confusion over the two concepts, ‘teaching skill’ and ‘teaching strategy’ and (2) the lack of confidence in integrating the two in their daily teaching activities. Therefore, this study was carried out to find out the graduates’ understanding of the concepts and implementation of ‘Teaching Skills’ and ‘Teaching Strategies’ in the classroom. Further, it was aimed to find lapses, inappropriateness and irrelevancies in the two professional modules in which pedagogical concepts and skills were taught. Survey questionnaire, interview and participant observation were used to gather data to find out the use of teaching skills and strategies in the schools. Teacher graduates, both male and female having working experience of three years and above, teaching in Middle Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools, were selected as the participants in the study. Samples were drawn from the different parts of the country covering seventeen Dzongkhags. The study revealed adequate understanding of the concepts of professional modules. However, teachers were found to be grappling with the extra responsibilities affecting their planning to integrate skills and strategies into their teaching.
Software Fault Injection Campaign Generation for Cloud Infrastructures

A justifiably trustworthy provisioning of cloud services can only be ensured if reliability, availability, and other dependability attributes are assessed accordingly.We present a structured approach for deriving fault injection campaigns from a failure space model of the system. Fault injection experiments are selected based on criteria of coverage, efficiency and maximality of the faultload. The resulting campaign is enacted automatically and shows the performance impact of the tested worst case non-failure scenarios.We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach with a fault tolerant deployment of an OpenStack cloud infrastructure.
Design and performance analysis of three-phase solar PV integrated UPQC

In this paper, the design and performance of a three-phase solar PV (photovoltaic) integrated UPQC (PV-UPQC) are presented. The proposed system combines both the benefits of distributed generation and active power filtering. The shunt compensator of the PV-UPQC compensates for the load current harmonics and reactive power. The shunt compensator is also extracting maximum power from solar PV array by operating it at its maximum power point (MPP). The series compensator compensates for the grid side power quality problems such as grid voltage sags/swells by injecting appropriate voltage in phase with the grid voltage. The dynamic performance of the proposed system is simulated in Matlab-Simulink under a nonlinear load consisting of a bridge rectifier with voltage-fed load.
Daily Reports of Positive and Negative Affect and Alcohol and Marijuana Use Among College Student and Nonstudent Young Adults

ABSTRACT Background: Daily affect and substance use covary among college students, but little is known about these associations among young adults not in college. Objectives: The current pilot study examines associations between positive and negative affect and alcohol and marijuana use, with a focus on differences between college student and nonstudent young adults. Methods: High school seniors completed a baseline survey during the spring of 2012 and were then randomly selected to participate in an intensive measurement follow-up. Participants in the follow-up (N = 72, 40.3% men, 77.8% White, 66.7% full-time college students) completed up to 14 consecutive web-based daily surveys during the fall after high school completion. Multilevel models in which days (Level 1) were nested in persons (Level 2) were estimated. Results: Weekend days were associated with increased alcohol use among all young adults, increased marijuana use among college students, and decreased marijuana use among nonstudents. For young adults not in college, greater daily positive affect was associated with increased likelihood of binge drinking, consuming a greater number of drinks, and lower odds of marijuana use; greater daily negative affect was associated with lower odds of alcohol use and lower odds of binge drinking for non-students. For college students, greater daily negative affect was associated with lower odds of marijuana use. Conclusions/Importance: Daily affect and alcohol and marijuana use covary among young adults, though these associations differ between students and non-students. Results highlight the need to examine predictors of alcohol and marijuana use among young adults who do not attend college.
Catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met polymorphism and risk of autism spectrum disorders

Objective Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a family of childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorders with complex genetic mechanisms underlying their aetiology. The aim of this case–control study was to evaluate the effect of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene Val158Met polymorphism on ASD risk in a Chinese Han population. Methods The COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism was detected by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism in children (≤18 years old) with ASD and healthy control subjects. Results The frequency of the Val158/Val158 genotype in children with ASD (22/186; 11.8%) was significantly lower than in controls (38/186; 20.4%). When stratifying by select-item scores on the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised protocol, it was found that children with ‘current overactivity’ and ‘ever overactivity’ had a significantly lower frequency of the Val158/Val158 genotype than those without. There were no significant associations between the COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism and ASD subtypes. Conclusions The COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism may be a biomarker for phenotypic variation in ASD, but these preliminary findings remain tentative, pending replication in larger, independent samples.
No Information? Delay Estimation Below the Threshold SNR

This paper questions the appropriateness of the mean squared error (MSE) as dominant performance metric for the maximum-likelihood delay estimator. The departure of the MSE from the Crambound is seen as an incidental effect, whereas knowledge of the frequencies of nominal estimates versus outliers leads to better statistics. Simulations are used to evaluate an alternative scheme for robust acquisition of signal delay, based upon binning statistics. This scheme converges on the correct estimate at signal-to-noise ratios that are well below the MSE threshold and into the "no information" region. I. INTRODUCTION
Control of the AtMAP65-1 interaction with microtubules through the cell cycle

Cell division depends on the fine control of both microtubule dynamics and microtubule organisation. The microtubule bundling protein MAP65 is a `midzone MAP' essential for the integrity of the anaphase spindle and cell division. Arabidopsis thaliana MAP65-1 (AtMAP65-1) binds and bundles microtubules by forming 25 nm cross-bridges. Moreover, as AtMAP65-1 bundles microtubules in interphase, anaphase and telophase but does not bind microtubules in prophase or metaphase, its activity through the cell cycle must be under tight control. Here we show that AtMAP65-1 is hyperphosphorylated during prometaphase and metaphase and that CDK and MAPK are involved in this phosphorylation. This phosphorylation inhibits AtMAP65-1 activity. Expression of non-phosphorylatable AtMAP65-1 has a negative effect on mitotic progression resulting in excessive accumulation of microtubules in the metaphase spindle midzone causing a delay in mitosis. We conclude that normal metaphase spindle organisation and the transition to anaphase is dependent on inactivation of AtMAP65-1.
Methods of Evaluating the Efficiency of Energy Saving Projects with Taking Risks into Account.

The relevance of the problem studied in the article is caused by the fact that now the process of reforming the housing and utilities sector in the Republic of Tatarstan continues. Its purpose is to increase the quality of service for public and to protect their legitimate rights and interests. That is why it is one of the aspects of social and economic policy. All mentioned above determines the necessity of implementing energy saving projects and evaluating their efficiency. The purpose of the article is quantitative evaluation of the efficiency of investment project in the field of energy saving with estimation of the risk of its implementation. The leading method to study this problem is the quantitative approach of evaluating the project risks, based on the analysis of sensitivity and project risks scenarios which are calculated by using discount method of its efficiency. Such methods provide the accuracy of the calculations. In the article we made evaluation of economic efficiency in housing and utility sector. We also detected the most critical factors for implementing the projects in the field of energy saving and made quantitative assessment of their influence. We also made the reasonable conclusions about the necessity of risk evaluation by using methods of sensitivity and scenario evaluation. Results of calculating the project efficiency in the field of energy saving and the results of analyzing sensitivity of the factors that influence the project can be useful when implementing similar project.