Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seroprevalence of human parvovirus B19 in a suburban population in São Paulo, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the prevalence of IgG antibodies to human parvovirus B19. METHODS Cross-sectional study in a suburban community in São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, between November 1990 and January 1991. Randomly selected (N=435) representative samples of sera were collected from healthy children older than 15 days old and adults up to 40 years old. IgG antibodies were detected using ELISA. RESULTS High prevalence of IgG antibodies to B19 parvovirus was found in 87% of newborns. The prevalence of maternally derived IgG antibodies exponentially plunged up to the 19th month of age. Low prevalence of antibodies was found in the first 4 years of life, increasing up to 72% in those aged 31-40 years. It was estimated that the average age of first infection in this population is 21 +/- 7 years old and the optimal age for vaccination with a hypothetical vaccine would be 1 year of age. CONCLUSIONS Parvovirus B19 IgG antibody prevalence was high in newborns and those aged 31-40 years. The analysis by age groups showed a pattern similar to that found in previous studies, i.e., low prevalence of infection in children that increases with age.
Enterovirus 71 Infection Cleaves a Negative Regulator for Viral Internal Ribosomal Entry Site-Driven Translation

ABSTRACT Far-upstream element-binding protein 2 (FBP2) is an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) trans-acting factor (ITAF) that negatively regulates enterovirus 71 (EV71) translation. This study shows that EV71 infection cleaved FBP2. Live EV71 and the EV71 replicon (but not UV-inactivated virus particles) induced FBP2 cleavage, suggesting that viral replication results in FBP2 cleavage. The results also showed that virus-induced proteasome, autophagy, and caspase activity co-contribute to EV71-induced FBP2 cleavage. Using FLAG-fused FBP2, we mapped the potential cleavage fragments of FBP2 in infected cells. We also found that FBP2 altered its function when its carboxyl terminus was cleaved. This study presents a mechanism for virus-induced cellular events to cleave a negative regulator for viral IRES-driven translation.
A Spherical Metric for the Field-Oriented Analysis of Complex Urban Open Spaces

The author deals with the analysis of urban open spaces, once conceived as part and parcel of our urban heritage. He introduces a mathematical modelling technique that is capable of mapping the variation of the sky visible from points distributed throughout space. The resulting maps overcome the limits of orthographic (plan, section, and elevation) and perspective methods of analysis by considering the dynamic qualities of the Gibsonian ‘visual world’ that takes account not only of bifocal vision but also of the relatively free movement of the head and shoulders, that is, vision as part of the human ecology. The maps show how a person might experience those volumes of a void that define a space, not from a fixed point but from moving about inside the entire urban open space.
Price-Cost Tests in Antitrust Analysis of Single Product Loyalty Contracts

This article examines the conditions when predatory pricing or exclusive dealing antitrust principles should be the controlling legal standard for the evaluation of single product loyalty discount contracts. Following Meritor, it clarifies what it means for price to be “the predominant mechanism of exclusion” in a loyalty contract, and therefore for price-cost considerations to be a relevant element of the analysis. Loyalty contracts are shown to be a way by which firms efficiently reduce the price of incremental sales, with effects similar to the commonly recognized competitive use of price discounts in Brooke Group. Rather than assuming a loyalty contract involves exclusive dealing, antitrust analysis in all cases requires determining whether a de facto exclusive dealing arrangement has been created where equally efficient rivals cannot compete for contestable sales.
Whole-Genome Sequence of a Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing Sequence Type 10 Isolate from an Outbreak in Thailand

ABSTRACT Infections with the Beijing family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis occur worldwide and are endemic in Asian countries. We present the draft genome sequence of DS6701, a multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis Beijing strain of sequence type 10. The isolate is a representative of strains isolated from a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis outbreak in Thailand.
PLS Path Model for Testing the Moderating Effects in the Relationships among Formative IS Usage Variables of Academic Digital Libraries

Digital library research has developed rapidly over the past decade, and millions of dollars have been spent on building digital libraries. However, studies on the awareness of digital libraries are still scarce. Previous research indicates that many potential users may still not use or benefit from using digital libraries. Moreover, the studies on the awareness concept of digital libraries and for their longer term, is only beginning. In academia, transition from physical to digital libraries has been largely taken place in most of higher institutions in Malaysia. Owing to the Internet, Web and digital technologies, the academic library are now inevitably digital. Past researches majorly reported the usage of digital libraries and on recent studies focussing on the awareness. As far as academic digital library is concerned, studies on interacting the awareness factors in the relationships among the digital library usage constructs using formative model has not been located so far. In formative model, the measures are treated as the cause, as opposed to reflective model (where the measures are treated as the effect). Many social science researchers tend to have a priori assumption on the measures as reflective which may lead to misspecification of model. In bridging this gap, this paper attempts to examine the relationships between digital library usage and individual impact where the usage measures were hypothesized as formative measures. The relationships are tested with the incorporation of interaction effects of digital library awareness factors. The tests are performed in academic digital libraries of higher institutions in Malaysia. All of the hypothesized causal paths among digital library usage constructs and individual impact tested using partial least squares (PLS) model were supported in both of the main effects and interaction effects models. Moreover the incorporation of digital library awareness factors has shown a moderate effect size, addressing the need of such factors in moderating the relationships between the digital library usage and individual impact for academic purposes.
Biologics in rotator cuff surgery

Pathologies of the rotator cuff are by far the most common cause of shoulder dysfunction and pain. Even though reconstruction of the rotator cuff results in improved clinical outcome scores, including decreased pain, several studies report high failure rates. Orthopaedic research has therefore focused on biologically augmenting the rotator cuff reconstruction and improving tendon–bone healing of the rotator cuff. This biological augmentation has included the application of different platelet concentrates containing growth factors, mesenchymal stem cells, scaffolds and a combination of the above. The present review provides an overview over the biological augmentation options based upon current evidence.
Business multicriteria performance analysis: a tutorial

Purpose – The business performances of firms are measured on a set of indicators (Financial Ratio Analysis Indicators or Balanced Scorecard Key Performance Indicators). Traditional benchmark analysis considers a set of criteria, though it generally synthesizes all the results, taking into consideration only an aggregate performance criterion (reductio ad unum approach). This methodology has many disadvantages, both theoretical and empirical. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the advantages, in terms of greater flexibility and realism, related to the application of a multicriteria methodology.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a tutorial approach. An exemplification of an outranking multicriteria methodology (ELECTRE type) is described.Findings – The main findings of the paper can be summarized as: first, the evaluation of a business performance cannot generally be conducted by means of a unique criterion as in the traditional monocriterion benchmark analysis; second, when the evaluation.
A Framework for Promoting Cooperation

Marketing scholars such as Kotler and Rothschild emphasize that, because “you can't sell brotherhood like soap,” there is a need for research that will generate and test social marketing strategies. By drawing on social dilemma theory, the authors identify the barriers to prosocial behavior and the means for overcoming those barriers. Both general propositions and specific marketing strategies are discussed.
Evaluation of Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Diagnosis of Post-Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis with Crude or Recombinant k39 Antigen

ABSTRACT The diagnosis of post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), a dermatosis that provides the only known reservoir for the parasite Leishmania donovani in India, remains a problem. Timely recognition and treatment of PKDL would contribute significantly to the control of kala-azar. We evaluated here the potential of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as a diagnostic tool for PKDL. Antigen prepared from promastigotes and axenic amastigotes with parasite isolates that were derived from skin lesions of a PKDL patient gave sensitivities of 86.36 and 92%, respectively, in the 88 PKDL cases examined. The specificity of the ELISA test was examined by testing groups of patients with other skin disorders (leprosy and vitiligo) or coendemic infections (malaria and tuberculosis), as well as healthy controls from areas where this disease is endemic or is not endemic. A false-positive reaction was obtained in 14 of 144 (9.8%) of the controls with the promastigote antigen and in 14 of 145 (9.7%) of the controls with the amastigote antigen. Evaluation of the serodiagnostic potential of recombinant k39 by ELISA revealed a higher sensitivity (94.5%) and specificity (93.7%) compared to the other two antigens used. The data demonstrate that ELISA with crude or recombinant antigen k39 provides a relatively simple and less-invasive test for the reliable diagnosis of PKDL.
The nuts and bolts of the endogenous spliceosome

The complex life of pre‐mRNA from transcription to the production of mRNA that can be exported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm to encode for proteins entails intricate coordination and regulation of a network of processing events. Coordination is required between transcription and splicing and between several processing events including 5′ and 3′ end processing, splicing, alternative splicing and editing that are major contributors to the diversity of the human proteome, and occur within a huge and dynamic macromolecular machine—the endogenous spliceosome. Detailed mechanistic insight of the splicing reaction was gained from studies of the in vitro spliceosome assembled on a single intron. Because most pre‐mRNAs are multiintronic that undergo alternative splicing, the in vivo splicing machine requires additional elements to those of the in vitro machine, to account for all these diverse functions. Information about the endogenous spliceosome is emerging from imaging studies in intact and live cells that support the cotranscriptional commitment to splicing model and provide information about splicing kinetics in vivo. Another source comes from studies of the in vivo assembled spliceosome, isolated from cell nuclei under native conditions—the supraspliceosome—that individually package pre‐mRNA transcripts of different sizes and number of introns into complexes of a unique structure, indicating their universal nature. Recent years have portrayed new players affecting alternative splicing and novel connections between splicing, transcription and chromatin. The challenge ahead is to elucidate the structure and function of the endogenous spliceosome and decipher the regulation and coordination of its network of processing activities. WIREs RNA 2017, 8:e1377. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1377
Managing for speed to avoid product obsolescence: A survey of techniques

Competition among product manufacturers is intensifying in many industries. The nature of this competition forces firms to manage the product supply process for speed to avoid product obsolescence and decreased competitiveness. Rene Cordero describes a number of time-saving techniques and develops a framework for managing the product supply process for speed: making speed a central objective of the firm, selecting faster product strategies, managing for the speedy implementation of these product strategies, and managing human resources for speed. Although speeding the product supply process requires significant changes in the traditional management of product development, managing for speed can bring benefits such as faster response to market needs, reduced product cost, and increased product quality.
Tacit knowledge transfer and firm innovation capability

This study surveys a broad spectrum of US manufacturer and service firms to examine the effect of tacit knowledge transfer on firm innovation capability. The authors present a set of hypotheses concerning the relationships between inter‐firm relationship strength and tacitness of knowledge transfer, extent of tacit knowledge transfer and innovation capability, and innovation capability and innovation performance based on the theory of knowledge. Moderating roles of firm collaborative experience and firm size on the relationship between inter‐firm relationship strength and the extent of tacit knowledge transfer are considered. Empirical results generally support the predictions from the theory and managerial implications are included.
Design and Analysis of a Hierarchical IP Traceback System

In this paper, we present the detailed design and analysis of our solution to the IP traceback problem. We adopt (at the AS level) a path signature generation method which was proposed at the router level to primarily provide a means of filtering attack traffic. Our solution assumes a secure routing infrastructure to exchange authenticated messages in order to learn path signatures. We envision the local adoption of a separate, yet complementary, traditional traceback system at each AS. This solution is hierarchical in the sense that it works at the Autonomous System (AS) level first then once a small list of possible source ASes is identified, those ASes are queried and traceback is performed within each AS to prune the list down to the actual source. Using simulation results we demonstrate that our solution is practical since it reduces - as a first step - the search space from the entire router space of the Internet to an AS-list that is only a very small fraction of all possible ASes. This combination is more scalable than doing a flat IP traceback on the entire router space of the Internet. We go on to propose a means of using more than 16 bits of the IP fragmentation fields which are traditionally used by various IP traceback systems. We present results based on using various sizes for the marking field, as well as varying number of total marks and different sizes for each mark.
Connecting primary care clinics and community pharmacies through a nationwide electronic prescribing network: a qualitative study

Background The use of medication is at the heart of primary care, but is also the cause for major health concerns. It is therefore important to examine the prescription of medication process. Objective This study identifies the barriers and facilitators perceived by community pharmacists and primary care physicians concerning the adoption of a nationwide electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) network in the province of Quebec, Canada. Methods We used purposive sampling to identify the most intensive users of the e-prescribing network. We conducted phone and in-person interviews. Interviews were transcribed, and we analysed their content with NVivo, using the clinical adoption framework (CAF) for the codification of the data. Results We interviewed 33 pharmacists, 2 pharmacy technicians, 11 physicians and 3 clinic managers. Adoption of the e-prescribing network was fairly low. The respondents underlined adaptation of their work environment, openness to change and perception of benefits as facilitators to the adoption of the network. However, important barriers were perceived, including system quality issues and paper prescriptions being the only legal document in the prescribing process. Even if respondents recognised that the e-prescribing network can offer substantial benefits to the prescribing process, issues still persisted and raised barriers to the full use of such a network, especially in a context where different local information systems are connected within a nationwide e-prescribing network. Conclusion This study, based on the CAF, provides a better understanding of the factors related to the adoption of a nationwide e-prescribing network connecting primary care clinics and community pharmacies. Where this study fits in? Electronic prescribing could improve the processes related to the use and dispensation of drugs in health care, but their adoption is still poor in the North American context. Research on the topic of adoption of electronic prescribing is still limited, particularly among health professionals other than physicians. This study, based on the clinical adoption framework (CAF), provides a better understanding of the factors related to the adoption of a nationwide electronic prescribing network connecting primary care clinics and community pharmacies in the province of Quebec, Canada.
Campus Recreation Participation, Health, and Quality of Life

This study investigated the relationship between frequency of participation in campus recreation services and six indicators of health and quality of life. The study involved a secondary analysis from a survey of a random sample of 342 students from a Western University. Health and quality of life measures included satisfaction with life, satisfaction with how time is spent, satisfaction with students’ experience at the sponsoring university, the amount of energy, the extent to which emotional health interfered with social functioning, and the extent to which physical health interfered with social functioning. Multivariate and follow-up univariate analysis of variance tests revealed a significant relationship between frequency of participation and four of the six measures of health and quality of life. Patterns of means revealed that students with greater levels of participation had higher scores on the health and quality of life measures. Effect sizes were, however, small. The researchers recommend that the study be followed up by an experimental protocol using the benefits-based programming model in order to attempt to achieve stronger effect sizes.
Investigating Features in Support of Web Tools for Information Gathering

This paper presents a study that investigated three features to improve how users perform information gathering tasks on the web. These features were based on recommendations that were developed in a previous work. The results of the previous study indicated that tools supporting information gathering could be improved by: 1) keeping track of references to information as it is gathered for the task 2) keeping the task information integrated between sessions, and 3) providing integrated search, browsing, and editing capabilities. The results of the study described in this paper using a prototype indicate that these features improve performance.
Determination and comparison of the total polyphenol contents of fresh and commercial fruit juices

Purpose – This paper aims to study the importance of polyphenols in human health and, based on recommendations on the replacement of carbonated drinks with nutritious beverages, like fruit juices, seeks to compare the polyphenol contents of natural and commercial juices.Design/methodology/approach – The total polypheol content of 39 fresh and 159 commercial (100 percent and less than 50 percent) fruit juices was analyzed by the terbium sensitized fluorescence method. The ANOVA with Tukey post hoc test, and also an independent t‐test, were used for statistical analyses.Findings – The mean polyphenol contents of fresh juices were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of 100 percent commercials (5.34±2.7 vs 3.28±0.86 mg/l). In fresh juices the concentration ranged from 1.06±0.08 (pineapple) to 10.14±0.07 (sour cherry) mg QE/100 ml, while in 100 percent commercial juices the range was from 2.37±0.05 (orange) to 5.34±0.4 (pomegranate) mg QE/100 ml, and in <50 percent commercial juices they ranged from 1.04.
Do Interactivity and Vividness impact Objective and Subjective Claims of Online Product Presentation?

This paper investigates the impacts of interactivity and vividness on objective claims and subjective claims of product presentations, which in turn impact online consumer’s behavior. Employing an empirical study, we found that interactivity impacts objective claims and vividness impacts subjective claims. Going forward, we have found support for the impacts of objective claims and subjective claims on consumer behavior. Specifically, objective claims impacts a consumer’s perceived risk and attitude toward the online product presentation, whereas subjective claims impacts a consumer’s perceived risk, attitude and purchase intention.
Role of cardiac‐renal neural reflex in regulating sodium excretion during water immersion in conscious dogs

The present study was undertaken to determine the role of cardiopulmonary mechanoreceptors in inducing the sustained reduction of renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) and concomitant changes in sodium excretion occurring during water immersion (WI) in intact dogs. Seven cardiac‐denervated dogs were chronically instrumented for measuring RSNA, systemic arterial (Pa), central venous (Pcv) and left atrial pressures (Pla). WI initially decreased RSNA in cardiac denervated dogs by 10.0 ± 5.5 %; thereafter the RSNA fell to a nadir of 18.5 ± 5.6 % (P < 0.05) at 40–80 min of WI and then returned toward the pre‐immersion level. Renal sodium excretion increased significantly by 211 ± 69 % (P < 0.05) only during the first 20–40 min of WI. WI increased Pa, Pcv and Pla in a step manner from 94 ± 3 to 108 ± 3 mmHg (P < 0.05), from 1.4 ± 0.5 to 12.3 ± 1.0 mmHg (P < 0.05) and from 4.9 ± 0.6 to 15.4 ± 1.2 mmHg (P < 0.05), respectively. These responses in RSNA and sodium excretion to WI in the cardiac‐denervated dogs were significantly (P < 0.05) attenuated compared with those in a previous group of intact dogs. These data suggest that the attenuated responses of neural and excretory response to WI observed in cardiac‐denervated dogs can be attributed to an interruption of afferent input originating from the cardiopulmonary mechanoreceptors to the central nervous system.
Determinants of halal meat consumption in France

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of halal meat consumption within a Muslim migration population using the theory of planned behaviour as a conceptual framework. The role of self‐identity as a Muslim and dietary acculturation in the host culture is explored.Design/methodology/approach – Cross‐sectional data were collected through a survey with 576 Muslims mainly originating from North Africa and currently living in France. Data were analysed by means of independent samples' t‐tests, correlations and stepwise multiple regression.Findings – A positive personal attitude towards the consumption of halal meat, the influence of peers and the perceived control over consuming halal meat predict the intention to eat halal meat among Muslims.Research implications/limitations – Limitations include the use of a convenience sample and the focus on only two individual characteristics related to religious food consumption, namely self‐identity and dietary acculturation. Additional in.