Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emergence of vanA vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in a hospital in Porto Alegre, South Brazil.

INTRODUCTION In Porto Alegre (South Brazil), since the first VRE isolation in 2000 until the middle of the last decade, the epidemiology of enterococcal infections presented the peculiarity that, as opposed to other regions of the country, almost all VRE were E. faecalis. The aim of this study was to investigate the microbiological and epidemiological characteristics of a VRE outbreak that occurred between August 2010 and September 2011 in Porto Alegre, South Brazil. METHODOLOGY Twenty-nine isolates from inpatients of Mãe de Deus Hospital that were identified and characterized for their susceptibility profile, vancomycin genotype, presence of esp gene, biofilm production, and clonal relationship were collected. Patients' records were reviewed for clinical information. RESULTS All isolates were identified as vancomycin/ampicillin resistant E. faecium carrying the vanA gene. Almost all were susceptible to gentamicin and streptomycin. Most patients died and were associated with a hemodialysis unit stay. All but the first isolate were clustered in a main clone. CONCLUSIONS An important change in vancomycin-resistant enterococci was observed. Studies like this are necessary to monitor the dissemination of VRE, especially of some individual clones.
Dynamic Interactions among Road Transport Infrastructure Development, Economic Growth and Poverty Level in Nigeria

This study examines the interactive effects among road transport infrastructure development, economic growth and poverty level in Nigeria. This was with the view to providing empirical evidence on the linkages among road transport infrastructure, economic growth and poverty level. The study used secondary data. Annual time series data from 1980 to 2013 on road network, Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) and Real Consumption Expenditure per Capita were collected from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin (2013), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) various publications and World Development Indicators (2013) published by the World Bank. The Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) econometric technique was applied in the analysis of standard neoclassical macroeconomic framework. The result indicated that an unanticipated increase in road transport infrastructure development increased economic growth. Another indication is the positive response produced by real consumption expenditure per capita, as a proxy for poverty reduction due to an innovation in road transport infrastructure development. Furthermore, real consumption expenditure per capita increased immediately at the initial period following an innovation in economic growth but falls also thereafter. The study concluded that road transport infrastructure development had impacted positively on economic growth and poverty reduction in Nigeria.
Research Note - Role of Social Media in Social Change: An Analysis of Collective Sense Making During the 2011 Egypt Revolution

This study explores the role of social media in social change by analyzing Twitter data collected during the 2011 Egypt Revolution. Particular attention is paid to the notion of collective sense making, which is considered a critical aspect for the emergence of collective action for social change. We suggest that collective sense making through social media can be conceptualized as human-machine collaborative information processing that involves an interplay of signs, Twitter grammar, humans, and social technologies. We focus on the occurrences of hashtags among a high volume of tweets to study the collective sense-making phenomena of milling and keynoting. A quantitative Markov switching analysis is performed to understand how the hashtag frequencies vary over time, suggesting structural changes that depict the two phenomena. We further explore different hashtags through a qualitative content analysis and find that, although many hashtags were used as symbolic anchors to funnel online users' attention to the Egypt Revolution, other hashtags were used as part of tweet sentences to share changing situational information. We suggest that hashtags functioned as a means to collect information and maintain situational awareness during the unstable political situation of the Egypt Revolution.
Activated 5′flanking region of NANOGP8 in a self‐renewal environment is associated with increased sphere formation and tumor growth of prostate cancer cells

NANOGP8 is a retrogene which encodes a full‐length protein similar to the NANOG1 gene. The expression of NANOGP8 has been documented in several cancers and is related to cell proliferation and tumor development. However, the regulation of NANOGP8 expression has not been investigated. Therefore, the role of NANOGP8 in cell proliferation has not been completely understood.
Identification of novel L1CAM mutations using fluorescence‐assisted mismatch analysis

The L1CAM gene, which is located in Xq28 and codes for a neuronal cell adhesion molecule, is involved in three distinct conditions: HSAS (hydrocephalus‐stenosis of the aqueduct of Sylvius), MASA (mental retardation, aphasia, shuffling gait, adductus thumbs), and SPG1 (spastic paraplegia). Molecular analysis of the L1CAM gene is labor‐intensive because of the size of the coding region, which is fragmented in numerous exons, and because of the great allelic heterogeneity and distribution of the mutations. The FAMA (fluorescent assisted mismatch analysis) method combines the excellent sensitivity of the chemical cleavage method for scanning PCR fragments larger than 1 kb and the power of automated DNA sequencers. In order to optimize this method for L1CAM, we divided the gene into nine genomic fragments, each including three to four exons. These fragments were PCR‐amplified using nine sets of primers containing additional rare universal sequences. A second‐stage PCR, performed with the two dye‐labeled universal primers, allowed us to generate 1‐kb‐labeled fragments, which were then submitted to the chemical clivage analysis. Among 12 French families with HSAS and/or MASA, we identified nine distinct L1CAM mutations, seven of which were novel, and an intronic variation. This study demonstrates that FAMA allows rapid and reliable detection of mutations in the L1CAM gene and thus represents one of the most appropriate methods to provide diagnosis for accurate genetic counseling in families with HSAS, MASA, or SPG1. Hum Mutat 12:259–266, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
17β‐estradiol regulation of the mRNA expression of t‐type calcium channel subunits: Role of estrogen receptor α and estrogen receptor β

Low‐voltage‐activated (T‐type) calcium channels are responsible for burst firing and transmitter release in neurons and are important for exocytosis and hormone secretion in pituitary cells. T‐type channels contain an α1 subunit, of which there are three subtypes, Cav3.1, ‐3.2, and ‐3.3, and each subtype has distinct kinetic characteristics. Although 17β‐estradiol (E2) modulates T‐type calcium channel expression and function, little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved. We used real‐time PCR quantification of RNA extracted from hypothalamic nuclei and pituitary in vehicle and E2‐treated C57BL/6 mice to elucidate E2‐mediated regulation of Cav3.1, ‐3.2, and ‐3.3 subunits. The three subunits were expressed in both the hypothalamus and the pituitary. E2 treatment increased the mRNA expression of Cav3.1 and ‐3.2, but not Cav3.3, in the medial preoptic area and the arcuate nucleus. In the pituitary, Cav3.1 was increased with E2 treatment, and Cav3.2 and ‐3.3 were decreased. To examine whether the classical estrogen receptors (ERs) were involved in the regulation, we used ERα‐ and ERβ‐deficient C57BL/6 mice and explored the effects of E2 on T‐type channel subtypes. Indeed, we found that the E2‐induced increase in Cav3.1 in the hypothalamus was dependent on ERα, whereas the E2 effect on Cav3.2 was dependent on both ERα and ERβ. However, the E2‐induced effects in the pituitary were dependent on only the expression of ERα. The robust E2 regulation of T‐type calcium channels could be an important mechanism by which E2 increases the excitability of hypothalamic neurons and modulates pituitary secretion. J. Comp. Neurol. 512:347–358, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Composite system adequacy assessment incorporating virtual power plants

A systematic procedure for assessing composite system adequacy of power systems incorporating Virtual Power Plants (VPP) is introduced in this paper. The VPP model used in this research work represents an aggregated profile of numerous Distributed Energy Resources together with loads belonging to a specified distribution network. The VPP's performance is evaluated using two new indices - Mean VPP Export (External) and Expected VPP Energy Not Used (External) - defined in this paper. A linearized DC load flow based optimal power flow formulation is introduced as part of the overall proposed composite system adequacy assessment procedure, and the impacts of the VPP's incorporation on reliability at the system and at individual transmission bus levels are quantified. Impacts of variations in parameters like the VPP's point of connection to the transmission grid, forced outage rates of transmission lines, etc., on the VPP's performance metrics are also addressed.
Effect of Well Defined Dodecahedral Porosity on Inflammation and Angiogenesis

Porosity is an important factor in the healing of prosthetic devices. To better understand this phenomenon, porous polyurethane scaffolds were produced by a variation of the phase inversion/porogen extraction technique in which a prepacked column of spherical porogen particles was infiltrated with a polymer solution before polymer precipitation and porogen extraction. Scaffolds contained pores of well defined shape (approaching open faced pentagonal dodecahedra), narrow size distributions (66.1 ± 1.3 &mgr;m, 84.2 ± 1.7 &mgr;m, and 156.9 ± 1.2 &mgr;m) and high interconnectivity (interconnecting windows of 30.1 ± 0.8 &mgr;m, 41.9 ± 1.5 &mgr;m, and 76.4 ± 2.0 &mgr;m, respectively). A high degree of accessible macroporosity (>80%) could be achieved while limiting the mostly inaccessible microporosity to below 2%. The neovascularization and inflammatory responses to the scaffolds were evaluated in the subcutaneous rat model for 4 weeks. The inflammatory response index and foreign body giant cell index could be reduced by 56% (p < 0.05) and 21% (p < 0.02), respectively, when the pore size was increased from 66 &mgr;m to 157 &mgr;m, whereas the vascularization index and arteriolar index remained unchanged.Thus, a significant decrease in inflammatory response could be achieved without adversely affecting the degree of neovascularization by increasing the size of the pores.
Long‐term clinicopathological impact of calcineurin inhibitor cessation without specific cytoreductive induction in kidney transplantation

Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) have considerably improved renal allograft survival. However, their chronic use has various adverse effects, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and nephrotoxicity. We conducted a retrospective study of kidney transplant recipients using a CNI withdrawal protocol. Eleven of 13 patients who had stable graft function on triple‐drug therapy including a cyclosporine (CsA) were enrolled in this study. The dose of CsA was reduced by 20% every two wks until complete withdrawal. The mean period between the baseline and last biopsies was 97 (range: 21–123) months. No patient had an acute rejection episode during follow‐up. Progression of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy was seen in five and six cases, respectively. Arteriolar hyalinosis improved in three cases, but worsened in four. No patient lost his graft during the study. The mean serum creatinine level was 1.30 ± 0.26 mg/dL at baseline and stable for 10 yr after elimination (1.26 ± 0.11 mg/dL). At the end of the study, four of the eleven patients had reduced their antihypertensive drugs, and one patient had stopped hyperlipidemia treatment. CNI withdrawal can be implemented safely in stable renal transplant recipients and might lead to improved patient outcomes. Additional specific evidence of CNI nephrotoxicity should be elucidated.
Valdecoxib Is Associated with Improved Dyspepsia-Related Health Compared with Nonspecific NSAIDs in Patients with Osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis

OBJECTIVES:Dyspepsia and related gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are commonly reported by patients taking nonspecific nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and significantly impact treatment effectiveness, cost, and quality of life. This study sought to evaluate dyspepsia-related health in osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients taking valdecoxib compared with patients taking nonspecific NSAIDs.METHODS:Analysis of two separate, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies: one in RA patients randomized to placebo, valdecoxib (10 and 20 mg once daily [o.d.]) and naproxen (500 mg twice daily [b.i.d.]); one in OA patients randomized to placebo, valdecoxib (10 and 20 mg o.d.), diclofenac (75 mg b.i.d.), or ibuprofen (800 mg three times daily [t.i.d.]). Study population comprised patients with RA in flare or clinically documented OA who required chronic symptomatic treatment with NSAIDs/analgesics. Dyspepsia-related health was evaluated at baseline and weeks 2, 6, and 12 (or early termination) using the validated Severity of Dyspepsia Assessment (SODA) questionnaire. This patient self-report tool consists of scales for evaluating dyspepsia pain intensity, nonpain symptoms, and satisfaction. Analysis was based on the intent-to-treat population with the last observation carried forward.RESULTS:Valdecoxib was significantly better at endpoint than standard doses of naproxen, diclofenac, and ibuprofen for pain intensity scores (p < 0.05), and provided significantly improved nonpain symptom and satisfaction scores compared with naproxen for patients with RA (p < 0.05). For RA patients, the difference between valdecoxib and naproxen pain intensity scores were clinically meaningful; at all the time points, significantly fewer patients receiving valdecoxib reported severe dyspepsia pain intensity increases (≥10 points) than those receiving naproxen. At 12 wk, fewer patients receiving valdecoxib reported severe dyspepsia pain intensity increases versus those receiving ibuprofen and diclofenac.CONCLUSIONS:The GI tolerability of valdecoxib is superior to that of nonspecific NSAIDs, and therefore can potentially have a favorable impact on patient quality of life.
POSTER: TouchTrack: How Unique are your Touch Gestures?

This paper studies a privacy threat induced by the collection and monitoring of a user's touch gestures on touchscreen devices. The threat is a new form of persistent tracking which we refer to as "touch-based tracking". It goes beyond tracking of virtual identities and has the potential for cross-device tracking as well as identifying multiple users using the same device. To demonstrate the likelihood of touch-based tracking, we propose an information theoretic method that quantifies the amount of information revealed by individual features of gestures, samples of gestures as well as samples of gesture combinations, when modelled as feature vectors. We have also developed a purpose-built app, named "TouchTrack" that collects data from users and informs them on how unique they are when interacting with their touch devices. Our results from 89 different users indicate that writing samples and left swipes can reveal 73.7% and 68.6% of user information, respectively. Combining different combinations of gestures results in higher uniqueness, with the combination of keystrokes, swipes and writing revealing up to 98.5% of information about users. We correctly re-identify returning users with a success rate of more than 90%.
Neuropeptide Y

Several lines of evidence suggest that NPY is a neurotransmitter and neurohormone intricately involved in stress responses of the body, and as such should be considered a "stress molecule. " Thus, circulating plasma NPY levels are increased by stress particularly if it is severe or prolonged. Stress stimulates the release of NPY from the sympathetic nerves and the adrenal medulla (in some species also from platelets), and in addition, modulates NPY inactivation. Stress-induced plasma NPY levels may reach the concentrations that are vasoconstrictive per se in addition to potentiating the actions of catecholamines. Reciprocally, elevated circulating levels of catecholamines during stress appear to induce hypersensitivity of blood vessels to NPY. Consequently, the peptide may be responsible for stress-induced regional vasoconstriction (splanchnic, coronary, and cerebral) but also may exert other actions that may be a part of the stress response: facilitate platelet aggregation, leukocyte adhesion, and macrophage activation. NPY release and actions appear to be up-regulated by testosterone and down-regulated by estrogens; therefore, NPY may be of particular importance to stress-induced cardiovascular events in men. In addition to acute vasoconstrictive effects, NPY exerts chronic actions and stimulates vascular smooth muscle proliferation and vascular hypertrophy, and hence, may be a link between stress and potential chronic changes in blood vessels.
Assessing quality of pilot training with use of mathematical analyses

This paper provides information on methods of measuring pilots' reactions to a changed flight parameter while being tested on simulators. The calculations are made on the grounds of mathematical algorithms modeling human behavior. The prepared mathematical models of behavior are based on transfer functions. The subsequent analysis aimed at acquiring time constants that shall appropriately characterize the state of pilot training is made in the MATLAB simulation environment. Future pilots studying at the University of Defence undergo, always after each period designated to their practical training, several sets of testing measurements. The testing was running on two different simulators, i.e. built on a fixed and movable platform. The obtained results indicate that individual pilots gradually improve their flying skills.
Connectivity maintenance and collective consensus for multi-agent system with an active leader

In this paper, we study a leader-following consensus problem with an active leader and distance-determinant topology. In the scenario we consider, only the leader has the information of the desired motion, and only the followers located within a sensing zone can access to the information of the leader. To reach a desired global consensus, a neighbor-based local controller is developed for the followers. We prove that, under some initial conditions, the proposed control scheme can enable the followers to maintain connectivity, avoid collision, and track the varying-velocity leader. Simulations are also presented to illustrate the theoretical results.
Monetary Rule, Central Bank Loss and Household's Welfare: An Empirical Investigation

Which monetary policy rule best fits the historical data? Which rule is most effective to reach the central bank? s objectives? Is minimizing a central bank loss equivalent to maximizing households? welfare? Are NGDP growth or level targeting good options, and if so, when? Do they perform better than Taylor-type rules? In order to answer these questions, we use Bayesian estimations to evaluate the Smets and Wouters (2007) model under nine monetary policy rules with US data ranging from 1955 to 2017 and over three different sub-periods (among them the zero lower bound period where a shadow rate is introduced). We find that when considering the minimization of the central bank? s loss function, the estimates generally indicate the superiority of NGDP level targeting rules. If the behavior of the Fed is expressed in terms of households-welfare, the implications are not necessarily the same.
Differential patterns of histone methylation and acetylation distinguish active and repressed alleles at X-linked genes

In female mammals, one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated to compensate for the difference in dosage of X-linked genes between males and females. X inactivation involves sequential alterations to the chromatin that ultimately lead to the transcriptional repression of genes on the X chromosome. Here, histone methylation and acetylation along X-linked genes are investigated by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) of adult fibroblast cell lines. At Pgk1 and Hprt, chromatin on the active X chromosome reveals H3 lysine 4 methylation and acetylation of histones H3 and H4. These modifications are absent on the repressed allele, which is marked by H3 lysine 9 methylation. On the expressed allele of Xist (on the inactive X chromosome), we found that H3 acetylation is confined to the promoter, whereas H3 lysine 4 methylation and H4 acetylation are present along the entire gene. On the repressed Xist allele, in contrast, the promoter and gene exhibit H3 lysine 9 methylation. At only 1.5 kb upstream of the Xist gene, chromatin on the inactive X chromosome has strongly reduced levels of H4 acetylation and is marked by both H3 lysine 9 and H3 lysine 4 methylation. These data demonstrate that patterns of histone methylation and acetylation are distinct along and upstream of Xist and suggest that the inactive X chromatin configuration occurs at a region close to the 5′ end of the gene.
Protein Phosphatase 2A and Cdc7 Kinase Regulate the DNA Unwinding Element-binding Protein in Replication Initiation*

Background: Cdc7 kinase and protein phosphatase 2A are important in DNA replication initiation. Results: DNA unwinding element (DUE)-binding protein (DUE-B) is an essential replication factor that is regulated by Cdc7 and PP2A. Conclusion: The phosphorylation of DUE-B determines its ability to bind the minichromosome maintenance helicase and regulate Cdc45 chromatin loading. Significance: PP2A and Cdc7 regulate DUE-B mediated loading of Cdc45 to the prereplication complex. The DNA unwinding element (DUE)-binding protein (DUE-B) binds to replication origins coordinately with the minichromosome maintenance (MCM) helicase and the helicase activator Cdc45 in vivo, and loads Cdc45 onto chromatin in Xenopus egg extracts. Human DUE-B also retains the aminoacyl-tRNA proofreading function of its shorter orthologs in lower organisms. Here we report that phosphorylation of the DUE-B unstructured C-terminal domain unique to higher organisms regulates DUE-B intermolecular binding. Gel filtration analyses show that unphosphorylated DUE-B forms multiple high molecular weight (HMW) complexes. Several aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and Mcm2–7 proteins were identified by mass spectrometry of the HMW complexes. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase binding is RNase A sensitive, whereas interaction with Mcm2–7 is nuclease resistant. Unphosphorylated DUE-B HMW complex formation is decreased by PP2A inhibition or direct DUE-B phosphorylation, and increased by inhibition of Cdc7. These results indicate that the state of DUE-B phosphorylation is maintained by the equilibrium between Cdc7-dependent phosphorylation and PP2A-dependent dephosphorylation, each previously shown to regulate replication initiation. Alanine mutation of the DUE-B C-terminal phosphorylation target sites increases MCM binding but blocks Cdc45 loading in vivo and inhibits cell division. In egg extracts alanine mutation of the DUE-B C-terminal phosphorylation sites blocks Cdc45 loading and inhibits DNA replication. The effects of DUE-B C-terminal phosphorylation reveal a novel S phase kinase regulatory mechanism for Cdc45 loading and MCM helicase activation.