Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Heteroresistance to penicillin in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Heteroresistance to β-lactam antibiotics has been mainly described for staphylococci, for which it complicates diagnostic procedures and therapeutic success. This study investigated whether heteroresistance to penicillin exists in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Population analysis profile (PAP) showed the presence of subpopulations with higher penicillin resistance in four of nine clinical pneumococcal strains obtained from a local surveillance program (representing the multiresistant clones ST179, ST276, and ST344) and in seven of 16 reference strains (representing the international clones Spain23F-1, Spain9V-3, Spain14-5, Hungary19A-6, South Africa19A-13, Taiwan23F-15, and Finland6B-12). Heteroresistant strains had penicillin minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) (for the majority of cells) in the intermediate- to high-level range (0.19–2.0 μg/ml). PAP curves suggested the presence of subpopulations also for the highly penicillin-resistant strains Taiwan19F-14, Poland23F-16, CSR19A-11, and CSR14-10. PAP of bacterial subpopulations with higher penicillin resistance showed a shift toward higher penicillin-resistance levels, which reverted upon multiple passages on antibiotic-free media. Convergence to a homotypic resistance phenotype did not occur. Comparison of two strains of clone ST179 showed a correlation between the heteroresistant phenotype and a higher-penicillin MIC and a greater number of altered penicillin-binding proteins (PBP1a, -2b, and -2x), respectively. Therefore, heteroresistance to penicillin occurs in international multiresistant clones of S. pneumoniae. Pneumococci may use heteroresistance to penicillin as a tool during their evolution to high penicillin resistance, because it gives the bacteria an opportunity to explore growth in the presence of antibiotics before acquisition of resistance genes.
Taming mobile processes using types

We discuss some examples of the use of types for taming the behavior of concurrent systems, in particular systems of mobile processes. By "taming" we mean that we use types to enforce expected - and desirable - properties of systems. These properties would not hold without types. The examples we discuss are a printer with mobile ownership, a Boolean package implementation, and the termination property. In all these examples, the solutions based on types are only sketched. Details on the types themselves (the formal systems and their basic properties), and on the proof techniques based on types with which the equalities in the examples are proved can be found following the reference pointers, especially the work of Sangiorgi and Walker (2001) and Sangiorgi (2001). The examples are presented in the /spl pi/-calculus described by Milner (1992), a paradigmatical process calculus for message-passing concurrency.
STUDENTS' SATISFACTION OF CAMPUS SHUTTLING BUS SERVICES: A QUALBUS APPROACH

The general aim of this research was to ascertain the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. This was ascertained with the use of QUALBUS dimensions and how each influences student’s satisfaction. The purpose and reasons for using campus shuttle were also elucidated. The research methodology was a cross sectional survey at the two designated bus stops for the University of Cape Coast’s bus shuttling service at Old site (South campus) and Science (North campus) of 300 questionnaires through simple randomly sampling. The reliability of the study was tested by cronbach’s alfa. Frequency, percentage, correlation and regression were used for the data analysis. The results of the study indicate that 55% of the respondents were male; 70.2% were aged between 20-24years; 67.3% used the shuttle every other day; 50.5% used the campus shuttle because of the lower transport fares; 83.7% used the campus shuttle for educational reasons. Furthermore the results revealed that only reliability variable has a significant relationship with student satisfaction because it has a p-value smaller than ? = 0.05. Attempts to improve on service quality to influence student satisfaction should be directed at assurance, tangibility, empathy and receptivity variables. The study could have looked all passengers’ satisfaction coupled with an in-depth interview of the transport officers.
Coordination and the Performance of Research Teams: An Organizational Study.

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the relationship between coordination and research team performance and an empirical investigation of the relationship on 725 research teams. Results indicated that coordination was significantly related to the quality of output produced by research teams but was weakly related to output quantity. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Interactive lecturing for meaningful learning in large groups

In order to enhance the quality of integration of physiological basic concepts with clinical sciences and to facilitate problem solving skills, a ‘structured integrated interactive’ two-hour block lecture on growth hormone physiology was implemented. A template showing the central regulation of growth hormone release and its peripheral effects was developed as an advanced organizer. Based on this template, new information was presented. Student feedback demonstrated that the lecture, based on the expository teaching model and enhanced by different forms of question and problem solving activities, was successful and interactive. It was also more motivating and was able to keep the attention of the students in relatively higher levels throughout the lecture. Furthermore, students felt that they had made important gains in transferable problem solving skills and this opinion was supported by their performance in clinical cases. These findings reinforced the idea that systematic incorporation of active learning strategies into lectures may minimize many of the weaknesses of traditional lectures.
Codein: a knowledge-based framework for the description and evaluation of reality-based interaction

This thesis presents Cognitive Description and Evaluation of Interaction (CoDeIn), a framework that allows one to describe, compare, and estimate completion times for tasks that are designed in a variety of interaction styles. Task time estimates based upon evaluations performed with CoDeIn are consistently more accurate than evaluations carried out using existing model-based evaluation methods. This accuracy arises from several sources, including separating and distinguishing between different forms of knowledge necessary for performing the task. This distinction allows---as not provided by other methods---the ability to model non-expert task performance by estimating knowledge and its effect upon task completion time. The accuracy of the CoDeIn methodology is supported by several experiments that compare the predictions produced by CoDeIn to actual measurements and predictions from the GOMSL methodology. To utilize GOMSL, several sub-models must be created, including a model of grasping and a model for iterative shuffling of physical objects. I conclude that CoDeIn is in these circumstances more accurate and more expressive than GOMSL, due to the ability to account for and manipulate representations of knowledge.
Design innovation and marketing strategy in successful product competition

Purpose – Taiwanese computer and electronic products possess advantages in design, innovation, rapid response, and global market flexibility. This study aims to examine Taiwanese computer and electronics firms to explore the product marketing strategies they adopted to deal with global competition. Furthermore, it is intended to analyze firms in different marketing strategic groups in terms of their product design strategies and how they incorporated design and marketing strategies into design innovation. This analysis is applied as an integrated innovation model for allocating design and marketing strategies.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a questionnaire survey and case studies, the marketing strategies adopted by the Taiwanese computer and electronics industry can be classified into the categories of “market leader”, “market focus”, “market challenge” and “market niche”. Findings – Firms employing different marketing strategies employed different design innovation strategies in product design. Th.
Recycling household waste: A classification of the logistics used by consumers

This research classifies the logistics used by consumers when recycling their household waste. Through an analysis of 20 waste recyclers, we identify three types of logistics depending on the characteristics of the recycling context and the desired relationship to waste: stockpiling, just-in-time and pooling. Contributing to the field of consumer logistics, our research shows that for the consumer recycling is not just a question of motivation and context, but also of logistics.
Self-Stabilizing Routing and Related Protocol

Aself-stabilizingsystem is a distributed system which can tolerateany numberandany typeof faults in the history. After the last fault occurs the system converges to alegitimate behavior. The self-stabilization property is very useful for systems in which processors may malfunction for a while and then recover. When there is a long enough period during which no processor malfunctions the system stabilizes.Dynamicdistributed systems are systems in which communication links and processors may fail and recover during normal operation. Such failures could cause partitioning of the system communication graph. The application of self-stabilizing protocols to dynamic systems is natural. Following the last topology change each connected component of the system stabilizes independently. We present self-stabilizing dynamic protocols for a variety of tasks including: routing, leader election, and topology update. For systems that support local broadcasts to neighbors in a single time unit the protocol for each of those tasks stabilizes in ? (d) time, wheredis theactualdiameter of the system.
Abatacept: a biologic immune modulator for rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: Abatacept is a biologic drug that belongs to the class of T-cell co-stimulation modulators and is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Areas covered: This article covers major randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses concerning abatacept in the treatment of RA, as identified in a Pubmed search. Scientific meeting abstracts describing long-term extension data of the identified trials are also included. Efficacy outcomes and the safety profile are the focus of this evaluation. Expert opinion: Abatacept in combination with methotrexate (MTX) or other synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARD) has been proven effective for the treatment of RA in different groups of patients: with early RA and no prior exposure to DMARD; with DMARD-resistant RA; and with RA not responding to TNF-α-blocking agents. Significant reductions of disease activity are achieved, with 1-year remission rates reaching up to 41% of DMARD-naïve patients with early RA receiving a combination of abatacept plus MTX. Abatacept treatment has been shown to improve function and quality of life and to suppress radiographic progression. No major safety issues have emerged during clinical trials and long-term extensions. Therefore, abatacept is a drug with a favorable efficacy and safety profile, which may offer substantial benefits to RA patients.
Five-year clinical trial using three attachment systems for implant overdentures.

OBJECTIVE The objective is to compare, in a prospective randomized clinical trial, three types of attachment systems for mandibular implant overdenture, focusing on costs, maintenance requirements and complications from baseline to the end of 5-year follow-up period. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-nine fully mandibular and fully/partially maxillary edentulous patients received two screw-type Straumann implants, in the mandibular canine region. New overdentures with three types of attachment systems were inserted according to an early-loading protocol: Group B (balls, divided into Subgroup B.1 - retentive anchor with gold matrix and Subgroup B.2 - retentive anchor with titanium matrix) (n = 23), Group M (magnets) (n = 23) and Group L (locator) (n = 23). RESULTS The highest maintenance event number (195) was observed in Group B vs. 31 in Group L and 15 in Group M. Significantly more complications were recorded in Subgroup B.1 than in Subgroup B.2, Group M and Group L (P < 0.05). Group M registered the highest prosthetic success (82.6%) in the 5 years, followed by Group L (78.2%). Subgroup B.1 had the lowest success rate (50%). The magnet group recorded statistically significant higher costs, comparing with the other two groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The three attachment systems functioned well after 5 years. The magnets had a low maintenance requirement and high success rate, despite the relatively increased initial costs. Retentive anchor with titanium matrix and locator may be a better choice from a financial point of view, taking into consideration the initial low cost of the components and also the reduced number of complications.
Analysis on Decentralized Adaptive Route Selection in Cooperative Relaying Networks

In this paper, the performance of decentralized adaptive route selection problem in cooperative relaying networks in which each source independently chooses a route to enhance its own throughput is studied. Cooperative relaying is a new technique to enhance spectral efficiency by using multiple stations. However, when multiple stations transmit simultaneously, it also increases the number of interference signals. For this reason, if each source independently and selfishly transmits, it is not clear whether cooperative relaying always increases the network capacity. In order to investigate the capacity of cooperative relaying under the decentralized adaptive route selection, the game-theoretic approach is applied. Simulation results reveal that the introduction of the cooperative relaying always increases the capacity under centralized control, however that it may reduce the capacity under decentralized control due to the increase in the number of interference signals.
Managers' perception of dividend policy: Evidence from companies listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

The aim of the current study is to explore the perception of managers of companies listed on Abu Dhabi exchange about dividend policy. Thirty-four out of fify-nine managers of companies listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange were asked to reflect their experience about different aspects of dividend policy. The bird- in- hand theory received the highest support. The current study extends limited previous research based on questionnaire and survey related dividend policy. It thus provides new evidence from an emerging and fast growing economy.
Driver fatigue detection through multiple entropy fusion analysis in an EEG-based system

Driver fatigue is an important contributor to road accidents, and fatigue detection has major implications for transportation safety. The aim of this research is to analyze the multiple entropy fusion method and evaluate several channel regions to effectively detect a driver's fatigue state based on electroencephalogram (EEG) records. First, we fused multiple entropies, i.e., spectral entropy, approximate entropy, sample entropy and fuzzy entropy, as features compared with autoregressive (AR) modeling by four classifiers. Second, we captured four significant channel regions according to weight-based electrodes via a simplified channel selection method. Finally, the evaluation model for detecting driver fatigue was established with four classifiers based on the EEG data from four channel regions. Twelve healthy subjects performed continuous simulated driving for 1–2 hours with EEG monitoring on a static simulator. The leave-one-out cross-validation approach obtained an accuracy of 98.3%, a sensitivity of 98.3% and a specificity of 98.2%. The experimental results verified the effectiveness of the proposed method, indicating that the multiple entropy fusion features are significant factors for inferring the fatigue state of a driver.
The fate of heterotopically grafted neural precursor cells in the normal and dystrophic adult mouse retina.

PURPOSE To study the integration and differentiation of heterotopically transplanted neural precursor cells in the retina of adult mouse mutants displaying apoptotic degeneration of photoreceptor cells. METHODS Neural precursor cells were isolated from the spinal cord of transgenic mouse embryos ubiquitously expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein. Cells were expanded in vitro and transplanted into the retina of adult wild-type and age-matched beta2/beta1 knock-in mice. Beta2/beta1 knock-in mutants display apoptotic death of photoreceptor cells and were generated by placing the cDNA of the beta1 subunit into the gene of the beta2 subunit of Na,K-ATPase. The integration and differentiation of grafted cells in recipient retinas was studied 1 or 6 months after transplantation. RESULTS Mutant retinas contained more donor-derived cells than wild-type hosts. Moreover, in mutants, donor cells integrated into deeper retinal layers. In both genotypes, grafted cells differentiated into astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Only a few ganglion cell axons were myelinated by donor-derived oligodendrocytes 1 month after transplantation, whereas extensive myelination of the nerve fiber layer was observed 6 months after transplantation. Unequivocal evidence for differentiation of grafted cells into neurons was not obtained. CONCLUSIONS Heterotopically transplanted neural precursor cells are capable of integrating, surviving, and differentiating into neural cell types in normal and dystrophic retinas of adult mice. The particular environment of a pathologically altered retina facilitates integration of transplanted precursor cells. In principle, neural precursors may thus be useful to substitute for or replace dysfunctional or degenerated cell types. Results of the present study also indicate that replacement of retinal cell types is likely to require more appropriate donor cells, such as retinal precursor cells.
Innovation Management in technology-based Knowledge-Intensive Business Services

The purpose of this paper is to identify those innovation practices that impact on business performance in technology-based Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (t-KIBS) in Catalonia. The paper uses a quantitative research methodology and we observe that innovation expenses affect positively business results, while specific R+D expenditure shows worst results; negative correlations have been found on companies where ideas for the innovation process only come from one department and on externalizing R+D activities; finally, we find that having high sales through non innovative services also affect negatively business results. The paper reports the relationship between innovation management practices and business performance. This paper represents one of the first research projects about innovation management in t-KIBS, from which future research could be done in order to study ways to foster innovation through this kind of companies, as well as their role on the innovation system.
erbB-2 (HER-2) and Breast Cancer Progression

The purpose of this study was to explore differences in erbB-2 alterations in recurrent or metastatic disease, as compared with the primary tumor. Primary invasive breast cancers and subsequent local, regional, or distant metastases from 113 patients were examined. Primary and all metastatic or recurrent tumors were evaluated for erbB-2 expression using immunohistochemistry (with CB11, TAB 250, DAKO anti-erbB-2, HercepTest) and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Immunohistochemical data derived from the 4 reagents on the same tumor sample were highly correlated (pair-wise correlation range, 78–90%). Immunohistochemical and fluorescence in situ hybridization erbB-2 data were also generally concordant (average agreement, 82%; range, 75–87%). Approximately 80% of the primary and recurrent or metastatic tissues from the same patient had similar patterns of erbB-2 protein expression and gene copy number, although in approximately 20%, disagreement was observed. Discordant cases were mostly erbB-2 normal primary tumors with altered metastases, although the opposite pattern was also observed. Interestingly, erbB-2 discordance, based on CB11 data, was associated with subsequent survival, whereas there were no similar associations with other erbB-2 stains. In approximately 80% of patients, erbB-2 protein expression and gene copy number were similar in the primary tumor and locally recurrent or distant metastases. The lack of complete concordance suggests clonal selection or genetic drift in some cases.
Self‐reported and observed behavior of primary meal preparers and adolescents during preparation of frozen, uncooked, breaded chicken products

Purpose – The purpose of the present study was to observe the preparation practices of both adult and young consumers using frozen, uncooked, breaded chicken products, which were previously involved in outbreaks linked to consumer mishandling. The study also sought to observe behaviors of adolescents as home food preparers. Finally, the study aimed to compare food handler behaviors with those prescribed on product labels.Design/methodology/approach – The study sought, through video observation and self‐report surveys, to determine if differences exist between consumers' intent and actual behavior.Findings – A survey study of consumer reactions to safe food‐handling labels on raw meat and poultry products suggested that instructions for safe handling found on labels had only limited influence on consumer practices. The labels studied by these researchers were found on the packaging of chicken products examined in the current study alongside step‐by‐step cooking instructions. Observational techniques, as me.
Protection of Retinal Ganglion Cells from Natural and Axotomy-Induced Cell Death in Neonatal Transgenic Mice Overexpressing bcl-2

Approximately half of the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) present in the rodent retina at birth normally die during early development. Overexpression of the proto-oncogene bcl-2 recently has been shown to rescue some neuronal populations from natural cell death and from degeneration induced by axotomy of nerves within the peripheral nervous system. Here we study in vivo the role of the overexpression of bcl-2 in the natural cell death of RGCs and in the degenerative process induced in these cells by transection of the optic nerve. We find that in newborn bcl-2 transgenic mice, the number of RGCs undergoing natural cell death is considerably lower than in wild-type pups. Consistently, a vast majority (90%) of the ganglion cells found in the retina of neonatal transgenics are maintained in adulthood, whereas only 40% survive in wild-type mice. After transection of the optic nerve, the number of degenerating ganglion cells, determined by counting pyknotic nuclei or nuclei with fragmented DNA, is substantially reduced in transgenic mice. In wild-type animals, almost 50% of ganglion cells degenerate in the 24 hr after the lesion, whereas almost the entire ganglion cell population survives axotomy in transgenic mice. Therefore, overexpression of bcl-2 is effective in preventing degeneration of this neuronal population, raising the possibility that ganglion cells are dependent on the endogenous expression of bcl-2 for survival. The remarkable rescue capacity of bcl-2 overexpression in these neurons makes it an interesting model for studying natural cell death and responses to injury in the CNS.