Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Resistance to antibiotic synergism in Streptococcus faecalis: further studies with amikacin and with a new amikacin derivative, 4'-deoxy, 6'-N-methylamikacin

Streptococcus faecalis strains may resist penicillin-aminoglycoside synergy by the production of plasmid-mediated aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes. One of these enzymes, aminoglycoside 3'-phosphotransferase, has been shown to have a broad range of substrate specificity, including amikacin. We have studied a derivative of amikacin, 4'-deoxy, 6'-N-methylamikacin (BB-K311), against 11 clinical blood isolates of S. faecalis. Minimal inhibitory concentrations of BB-K311 were quite similar to those of amikacin, ranging from 125 to 1,000 micrograms/ml. In assays for antibiotic synergy, penicillin and amikacin produced enhanced killing compared with the penicillin alone only against those three strains which lacked the phosphotransferase enzyme. The other eight enzyme-positive strains actually demonstrated significant antagonism between penicillin against all 11 strains, regardless of enzyme production. Analysis of substrate profiles with crude preparations of the aminoglycoside 3'-phosphotransferase enzyme confirmed that BB-K311 was a very poor substrate for modification, as expected from the synergy studies. Use of other aminoglycoside analogs confirmed the 3'-OH site of modification. These findings suggest that removing the 4'-OH group in amikacin effectively blocks 3'-phosphorylation by S. faecalis enzyme.
An Improved Fault Diagnosis Method of Rotating Machinery Using Sensitive Features and RLS-BP Neural Network

An improved algorithm with feature selection and neural network classification is proposed in this paper to investigate the fault diagnosis problem of rotating machinery. The feature vectors are constructed by extracting the time- and frequency-domain characteristics of the overall machine under multiple operating conditions. To strengthen the fault diagnostic ability, an improved sensitive feature selection algorithm is proposed by improving the distance evaluation (DE) method and reconstructing a low-dimensional sensitive feature sample with selectively chosen parameters from multidimensional feature vectors. The recursive least square backpropagation (RLS-BP) neural network algorithm is used for fault diagnosis by classifying the feature vectors of normal signal and faulty signals. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified via hardware experiments using wind turbine drivetrain diagnostics simulator (WTDDS) by comparing with conventional feature vector construction methods and neural network algorithm.
Direct torque control of a two five-phase series connected Induction Machine drive using a three-level five-phase space vector PWM inverter

This paper describes the decoupled torque and flux control of a two series connected five-phase induction machine (IM) drive that is supplied by a three-level five phase SVPWM inverter, using a well know phase transposition in the series connection. At the first, the decoupled torque and flux controller is developed based on variable-structure control (VSC). Then, a sliding-mode (SM) flux observer in employed to estimate the stator flux; that uses a two reference frames which result in eliminating the speed adaptation. Moreover simple control strategy is introduced for three-level SVPWM inverter that can be easily implemented in practice for a two-series five phase IM drive. Finally, the effectiveness and capability of the proposed control method is verified by computer simulation.
Efficient solution of electrically large and complex problems using parallel WIPL-D 3D EM solver

In this paper, we present an overview of parallelization of WIPL-D 3D EM solver and present examples of electrically large structures simulated on a small computer cluster. A helicopter up to 51 lambda long was used as a benchmark example for illustrating parallelization efficiency. Radar cross section from the 51 lambda long helicopter is calculated in 72 minutes on a low-cost 8-node cluster.
Pentylenetetrazole affects metabolism of astrocytes in culture

Cortical and cerebellar astrocytes were cultured in medium containing pentylenetetrazole (PTZ), a γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor antagonist, for 3 weeks (up to 6 mM) or 2 hr (10 mM). Cells were incubated in medium containing [U‐13C]glutamate (0.5 mM) and unlabeled glucose (3 mM) for 2 hr and cell extracts and media were analyzed by 13C magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy and high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). When cerebellar astrocytes were incubated with PTZ for 2 hr, the amount of glucose removed from the medium and glucose and [U‐13C]glutamate oxidation were decreased. Metabolism in cortical astrocytes was affected only slightly; amounts of glutathione and aspartate were decreased. When cerebellar and cortical cells were cultured in the presence of PTZ for 3 weeks, the amount of glucose removed from the medium and lactate formed were increased, indicating increased glycolytic activity. Despite the increased intracellular [U‐13C]glutamate concentration in both types of astrocytes cultured with PTZ, labeled glutamine and glutathione were unchanged, indicating intracellular compartmentation. The amount of cellular protein was decreased at 6 mM PTZ for cerebellar astrocytes and 1 mM for cortical astrocytes, indicating a differential sensitivity to the effects of PTZ. In conclusion, mitochondrial metabolism and glycolysis were decreased by short‐term incubation with PTZ in cerebellar astrocytes, whereas long‐term incubation affected both types of astrocytes, leading to increased glycolysis. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Short-Term Effects of School Consolidation on Student Achievement: Evidence of Disruption?

We exploit variation stemming from school consolidations in Denmark from 2010-2011 to analyze the impact on student achievement as measured by test scores. For each student we observe enrollment and test scores one year prior to school consolidation and up to four years after. We find that school consolidation has adverse effects on achievement in the short run and that these effects are most pronounced for students exposed to school closings. Furthermore, students initially enrolled in small schools experience the most detrimental effects. The effects appear to weaken over time, suggesting that part of the effect is due to disruption.
Reentry of Young Offenders from the Justice System

This article presents a developmental perspective on the reentry of young offenders into the community. The authors begin with a discussion of the psychosocial tasks of late adolescence. Next, they discuss contextual influences on the successful negotiation of these psychosocial tasks. Third, they examine whether and to what extent the contexts to which young offenders are exposed in the justice system are likely to facilitate normative psychosocial development. Finally, they argue that the psychosocial development of youthful offenders is disrupted, or “arrested,” by their experiences within the justice system. Interventions designed to facilitate the successful reentry of young offenders into the community must be informed by what we know about healthy psychosocial development in late adolescence.
Differences in black and white adolescents' perceptions about cancer.

This study determined if black and white adolescents differed significantly in cancer knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs. Using the Health Belief Model, a 97-item questionnaire was developed by the researchers and completed by 573 black and 297 white junior and senior high school students from a large, midwest school district. Chi-square analyses yielded nine significant differences (p less than .01) between blacks and whites on cancer knowledge (etiology, warning signs, and prevention techniques). Further significant differences were found when items comprising the separate Health Belief Model subscales were analyzed. Blacks and whites differed significantly on cues to action (one item), perceived susceptibility (two items), perceived severity (one item), perceived barriers (two items), perceived benefits (three items), and interpersonal relationships (three items). Blacks and whites received cancer information from the same sources, with the exception of books, which was reported more by blacks.
von Willebrand factor as a novel noninvasive predictor of portal hypertension and esophageal varices in hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis

Abstract Objective. At present, there is no perfect noninvasive method to assess portal hypertension and esophageal varices. Early predicting esophageal varices can provide evidence for managing cirrhotic patients. We aimed to further investigate von Willebrand factor (vWF) as a noninvasive predictor of portal hypertension, especially of esophageal varices. Material and Methods. A total of 60 hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis and 45 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. Levels of six markers were examined. All patients underwent hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) and esophagogastroduodenoscopy. We evaluated the performance of six factors for diagnosis of portal hypertension and esophageal varices. The vWF levels in liver tissues were observed by immunohistochemistry. Correlations between the level of vWF in liver tissues and HVPG and between levels of vWF in tissues and plasma were examined. Results. Cutoff values of plasma vWF (1510.5 mU/mL and 1701 mU/mL) showed high positive predictive value (PPV, 90.2% and 87.5%) in predicting clinically significant portal hypertension and severe portal hypertension. Cutoff values of vWF (1414 mU/ml and 1990 mU/mL, PPV 90.3% and 86.3%, respectively) were provided to detect the presence and degree of esophageal varices. Linear correlations were observed between levels of vWF in liver tissues and HVPG (r2 = 0.552, p < 0.001) and between the level of vWF in liver tissues and in plasma (r2 = 0.461, p < 0.001). Conclusion. The vWF is a noninvasive predictor of portal hypertension and esophageal varices in hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis. Increased levels of vWF in liver tissues may induce the elevated plasma vWF levels, but molecular mechanism is needed for further study.
DEA-based performance predictive design of complex dynamic system usiness process improvement

Business performance prediction draws a vision that accounts for the measures of business process improvement through benchmarking which is to find best practices in an industry or organization and suggest solutions for business process improvement. Data envelopment analysis (DEA), a nonparametric mathematical programming, is utilized for business performance prediction that gives the best benchmark of business process improvement. The DEA-based benchmarking procedure and SA (slacks-adjusted)-AR (assurance region)-DEA model-based performance predictive design models are developed in this paper. The predictive design method considering business constraints on efficient frontiers of decision-making units (DMUs) is a kind of quantitative business knowledge discovery based on historical business data that synthetically takes both successful and impolitic business practices of various organizations or within an organization into consideration.
High‐level expression of Aspergillus niger β‐galactosidase in Ashbya gossypii

Ashbya gossypii has been recently considered as a host for the expression of recombinant proteins. The production levels achieved thus far were similar to those obtained with Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the same proteins. Here, the β‐galactosidase from Aspergillus niger was successfully expressed and secreted by A. gossypii from 2‐µm plasmids carrying the native signal sequence at higher levels than those secreted by S. cerevisiae laboratorial strains. Four different constitutive promoters were used to regulate the expression of β‐galactosidase: A. gossypii AgTEF and AgGPD promoters, and S. cerevisiae ScADH1 and ScPGK1 promoters. The native AgTEF promoter drove the highest expression levels of recombinant β‐galactosidase in A. gossypii, leading to 2‐ and 8‐fold higher extracellular activity than the AgGPD promoter and the heterologous promoters, respectively. In similar production conditions, the levels of active β‐galactosidase secreted by A. gossypii were up to 37 times higher than those secreted by recombinant S. cerevisiae and ∼2.5 times higher than those previously reported for the β‐galactosidase‐high producing S. cerevisiae NCYC869‐A3/pVK1.1. The substitution of glucose by glycerol in the production medium led to a 1.5‐fold increase in the secretion of active β‐galactosidase by A. gossypii. Recombinant β‐galactosidase secreted by A. gossypii was extensively glycosylated, as are the native A. niger β‐galactosidase and recombinant β‐galactosidase produced by yeast. These results highlight the potential of A. gossypii as a recombinant protein producer and open new perspectives to further optimize recombinant protein secretion in this fungus. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog. , 30:261–268, 2014
Molecular cloning of CIF1, a yeast gene necessary for growth on glucose

The cif1 mutation of Saccharomyces cerevisia (Navon et al., Biochemistry 18, 4487–4499, 1979) causes inability to grow on glucose and absence of catabolite inactivation. We have cloned the CIF1 gene by complementation of funcion and licated it in a 2·75 kb SphI‐BstEII fragment situated at ca. 18 kb centomere distal of LYS2 and ca. 80 kb centromere proximal of TYRI on chromosome II. Southern analysis demostrated that CIF1 is present in a single copy in the yeast genome. Northern analysis revealed that the corresponding mRNA of 1·8 kb is more abundant in cells grown on galactose than in those grown on glucose. A protein of ca. 54 kDa was predicted from the open reading frame in the sequenced fragment. In strains carrying the cif1 mutation the intracellular concentration of ATP decreased immediately after addition of glucose while the intracellular concentration of cAMP did not increse. cAMP concentration increases in response to galactose or 2,4‐dinitrophenol. Disruption of BCY1 or overexpression of CDC25 in a cif1/, background did not restore growth on glucose, suggesting that the absence of cAMP signal is not primary cause of lack of growth on glucose. Complementation tests showed that cif1 is not allelic to fdp1 although the two genes seem to be functionally related.
Energy consumption and economic growth: assessing the evidence from Sri Lanka

This study attempts to shed light into the empirical relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in Sri Lanka (1981-2012) employing the vector error-correction model estimation (VECM). The vector specification includes energy consumption, real GDP and price developments, and the latter was taken to represent a measure of economic efficiency. The empirical evidence suggests that there is a long-run relationship among the three variables, supporting the endogeneity of energy consumption and real output. These findings suggest important policy implications, since the adoption of suitable structural policies aiming at improving economic efficiency can induce energy consumption without impeding economic growth. The paper evaluates empirically the dynamic interaction between energy consumption, real output and the price level and test for the endogeneity of these three variables included in the vector, utilizing the vector error-correction models (VECM) technique. The relevance of endogenous energy consumption is investigated and its dynamic response to structural shocks is estimated. Furthermore, the empirical analysis distinguishes between three categories of energy consumption: total; residential; and industrial energy consumption, all treated independently. The empirical results showed that total energy consumption is an endogenous variable also affecting economic growth. In addition, economic efficiency, as reflected in price developments, is a determining factor of both energy consumption and income behavior. The same applies to industrial energy consumption, while energy consumption for residential uses behaves independently of price and income developments. As regards to policy implications, policies aiming at improving economic efficiency via structural reforms (implementation of adjustment policies, enforcement of endogenous growth mechanisms) boost economic growth and result in lower energy requirements. At the same time, these policies induce energy conservation, positively affecting economic growth. Hence, structural policies are a stimulus to both economic growth and energy saving. This being the case, energy conservation does not impede economic growth.
EEG motor imagery signals classification using maximum overlap wavelet transform and support vector machine

A BCI system (Brain-Computer Interface) aims to the interpretation of brain signals perceived through electroencephalography (EEG) sensors in order to allow the user interaction with the environment through specific actions. In this paper we present an experiment of EEG signal classification under the motor imagery paradigm using two feature extraction methods for comparison purposes: discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and maximum overlap discrete wavelet transform (MODWT). The feature vectors are fed into a support vector machine (SVM) classification system. The results obtained show an accuracy of 98.81% in average.
Automatic Extraction of an Effective Rule Set for Fall Detection for a Real-Time Mobile Monitoring System

Automatic fall detection is a major issue in taking care of the health of elderly people. In this task the capability of telling in real time falls from normal daily activities is crucial. To this aim, this paper proposes an approach based on the automatic extraction of knowledge expressed as a set of IF.THEN rules from a database of fall recordings. This set of rules, generated offline, can then be exploited in a real-time mobile monitoring system: data gathered by wearable sensors are processed in real time and, if their values activate some of the rules describing falls, an alarm message is automatically produced. The approach has been compared against other classifiers on a real-world fall database, and its discrimination ability is shown to be higher. Moreover, a test phase for the real-time mobile monitoring system is being carried out over real cases.
Microvascular loops and networks as prognostic indicators in choroidal and ciliary body melanomas.

BACKGROUND Malignant melanoma of the ciliary body and choroid of the eye is a tumor that disseminates frequently, and 50% of the diagnosed patients die within 10 years. We investigated the hypothesis that, by histopathologic analysis of the arrangement of microvessels (i.e., small blood vessels) in loops and networks, we might be able to differentiate better those patients with a favorable prognosis from those with a poor prognosis. METHODS We conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study of melanoma-specific and all-cause mortality for 167 consecutive patients who had an eye surgically removed because of malignant choroidal or ciliary body melanoma during the period from 1972 through 1981. Microvascular loops and networks were evaluated independently by two pathologists who were unaware of patient outcome. RESULTS Microvascular patterns could be assessed in 134 (80%) of 167 melanoma specimens. The 10-year probability of melanoma-specific survival was worse if microvascular loops (0.45 versus 0.83; two-sided P<.0001) and networks (0.41 versus 0.72, two-sided P<.0001) were present. In multivariate Cox regression analysis of melanoma-specific survival, the hazard ratios were 1.66 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19-2.30) for the presence of loops and networks as a combined three-category variable, 2.36 (95% CI = 1.37-4.05) for the presence of epithelioid cells, 1.11 (95% CI = 1.03-1.19) for the largest basal tumor diameter (evaluated as a continuous variable), and 2.14 (95% CI = 1.25-3.67) for ciliary body involvement. CONCLUSIONS Patients with malignant uveal melanoma who have a favorable prognosis can be distinguished from those with a poor prognosis by histopathologic analysis of microvascular patterns in uveal melanoma tumor specimens.
Forming Expectations for the 2016 U.S. Average Soybean Yield: What About El Niño?

There continues to be a lot of discussion about the likely magnitude of U.S. soybean production in 2016, with much of current focus on planted acreage. Low commodity prices, along with the 2.8 million acre reduction in winter wheat seedings and the likelihood that there will be fewer prevented plantings in 2016, create uncertainty about the likely magnitude of total acreage of spring planted crops, as well as uncertainty about the acreage of individual crops. For the most part, current expectations are that total planted acreage may decline from that of 2015, but expectations for soybean acreage are very mixed. The Grains and Oilseeds Outlook at last week’s USDA Outlook Forum projected plantings of the 8 major crops would decline by 5.5 million acres (2.2 percent) in 2016/17 and that soybean acreage would decline by 0.2 million acres (0.2 percent) to a total of 82.5 million acres. The USDA will release the results of its March survey of 2016 planting intentions in the Prospective Plantings report to be released on March 31.
Structural Insights into the Assembly of the Type III Secretion Needle Complex

Type III secretion systems (TTSSs) mediate translocation of virulence factors into host cells. We report the 17-angstrom resolution structures of a central component of Salmonella typhimurium TTSS, the needle complex, and its assembly precursor, the bacterial envelope–anchored base. Both the base and the fully assembled needle complex adopted multiple oligomeric states in vivo, and needle assembly was accompanied by recruitment of the protein PrgJ as a structural component of the base. Moreover, conformational changes during needle assembly created scaffolds for anchoring both PrgJ and the needle substructure and may provide the basis for substrate-specificity switching during type III secretion.
Lymph node staging in non-small-cell lung cancer with FDG-PET scan: a prospective study on 690 lymph node stations from 68 patients.

PURPOSE To compare the accuracy of computed tomography-(CT) scan and the radiolabeled glucose analog 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) visually correlated with CT (PET + CT) in the locoregional lymph node (LN) staging of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Sixty-eight patients with potentially operable NSCLC underwent thoracic CT, PET, and invasive surgical staging (ISS). Imaging studies were read prospectively and blinded to the surgical and pathologic data. A five-point visual scale was used for the interpretation of LNs on PET. Afterwards, with knowledge of the pathology, the relationship between standardized uptake values (SUVs) and the presence of metastasis in LNs was explored in a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and the likelihood ratios (LRs) for SUVs of LNs were determined. RESULTS ISS was available for 690 LN stations. CT correctly identified the nodal stage in 40 of 68 patients (59%), with understaging in 12 patients and overstaging in 16 patients. PET + CT was accurate in 59 patients (87%), with understaging in five patients and overstaging in four patients. In the detection of locally advanced disease (N2/N3), the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of CT were 75%, 63%, and 68%, respectively. For PET + CT, this was 93%, 95%, and 94% (P = .0004). In the ROC curve, the best SUV threshold to distinguish benign from malignant LNs was 4.40. The analysis with this SUV threshold was not superior to the use of a five-point visual scale. The LR of a SUV less than 3.5 in an LN was 0.152; for a SUV between 3.5 and 4.5, it was 3.157; and for a SUV greater than 4.5, it was 253.096. CONCLUSION PET + CT is significantly more accurate than CT alone in LN staging of NSCLC. A five-point visual scale is as accurate as the use of an SUV threshold for LNs in the distinction between benign and malignant nodes. The very high negative predictive value of mediastinal PET could reduce the need for mediastinal ISS in NSCLC substantially.