Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Double and Triple Combinations of Antifungal Drugs in a Murine Model of Disseminated Infection by Scedosporium prolificans

ABSTRACT We have evaluated the efficacies of micafungin, amphotericin B, and voriconazole, alone and in double and triple combinations, in a murine model of systemic infection by Scedosporium prolificans. Micafungin combined with voriconazole or amphotericin B was the most effective, these being the only treatments able to prolong survival and to reduce the fungal load in the kidneys and brain. Triple combinations of these drugs did not improve the results obtained with double combinations.
Chronic Invasive Aspergillus Sinusitis and Otitis with Meningeal Extension Successfully Treated with Voriconazole

ABSTRACT Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a severe disseminated fungal disease that occurs mostly in immunocompromised patients. However, central nervous system IA, combining meningitis and skull base involvement, does not occur only in groups with classic risk factors for IA; patients with chronic renal failure and diabetes mellitus are also at risk for more chronic forms. In both of our proven IA cases, voriconazole monotherapy was effective without surgery, and cerebrospinal fluid and serum 1,3-β-d-glucan test results were initially positive, in contrast to galactomannan antigen results.
MIV-150-Containing Intravaginal Rings Protect Macaque Vaginal Explants against SHIV-RT Infection

ABSTRACT Recent studies demonstrated that intravaginal rings (IVRs) containing 100 mg of the nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) MIV-150 significantly protect macaques against a chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency virus that expresses the HIV-1 HxB2 reverse transcriptase (SHIV-RT) when present before and after vaginal challenge. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the pharmacodynamics (PD) of MIV-150 in vaginal fluids (VF) and in ectocervical and vaginal tissues following 100-mg MIV-150 IVR exposure and to (ii) gain more insight whether pharmacokinetics (PK) of MIV-150 can predict PD. MIV-150 in VF collected at 1 day and 14 days post-MIV-150 IVR insertion inhibited ex vivo SHIV-RT infection in vaginal biopsy specimens from untreated animals (not carrying IVRs) in a dose-dependent manner. Previous PK studies demonstrated a significant increase of ectocervical and vaginal tissue MIV-150 concentrations 14 days versus 1 day post-IVR insertion, with the highest increase in vaginal tissue. Therefore, we tested PD of MIV-150 in tissues 14 days post-MIV-150 IVR insertion. Ex vivo SHIV-RT infection of vaginal, but not ectocervical, tissues collected 14 days post-MIV-150 IVR insertion was significantly inhibited compared to infection at the baseline (prior to MIV-150 IVR exposure). No changes in vaginal and ectocervical tissue infection were observed after placebo IVR exposure. Overall, these data underscore the use of the ex vivo macaque explant challenge models to evaluate tissue and VF PK/PD of candidate microbicides before in vivo animal efficacy studies. The data support further development of MIV-150-containing IVRs.
Modified ZNN for Time-Varying Quadratic Programming With Inherent Tolerance to Noises and Its Application to Kinematic Redundancy Resolution of Robot Manipulators

For quadratic programming (QP), it is usually assumed that the solving process is free of measurement noises or that the denoising has been conducted before the computation. However, time is precious for time-varying QP (TVQP) in practice. Preprocessing for denoising may consume extra time, and consequently violates real-time requirements. Therefore, a model with inherent noise tolerance is urgently needed to solve TVQP problems in real time. In this paper, we make progress along this direction by proposing a modified Zhang neural network (MZNN) model for the solution of TVQP. The original Zhang neural network model and the gradient neural network model are employed for comparisons with the MZNN model. In addition, theoretical analyses show that, without measurement noise, the proposed MZNN model globally converges to the exact real-time solution of the TVQP problem in an exponential manner and that, in the presence of measurement noises, the proposed MZNN model has a satisfactory performance. Finally, two illustrative simulation examples as well as a physical experiment are provided and analyzed to substantiate the efficacy and superiority of the proposed MZNN model for TVQP problem solving.
Knowledge in Software-Maintenance Outsourcing Projects: Beyond Integration of Business and Technical Knowledge

Knowledge processes are critical to outsourced software projects. According to outsourcing research, outsourced software projects succeed if they manage to integrate the client's business knowledge and the vendor's technical knowledge. In this paper, we submit that this view may not be wrong, but incomplete in a significant part of outsourced software work, which is software maintenance. Data from six software-maintenance outsourcing transitions indicate that more important than business or technical knowledge can be application knowledge, which vendor engineers acquire over time during practice. Application knowledge was the dominant knowledge during knowledge transfer activities and its acquisition enabled vendor staff to solve maintenance tasks. We discuss implications for widespread assumptions in outsourcing research.
Education and Alzheimer's disease: A review of recent international epidemiological studies

A review of epidemiological studies has been undertaken to examine the relationship between limited education and the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in later life. On the basis of a large number of international studies of prevalence and incidence, as well as clinic- and community-based case-control studies, it seems that the relationship is strongest when the diagnostic criteria applied emphasize 'cognitive impairment'. It is least evident in longer-term prospective studies of incidence based upon clinically verified caseness. Education is considered as a socializing process promoting certain lifelong learning strategies, encouraging children to develop forms of decontextualized thinking. These learned habits of 'thinking on demand' enable educated people to adapt to and perform more competently on the neuropsychological and mental state tests that make up screening batteries and case ascertainment methodologies in epidemiological research on Alzheimer's disease. As a result, surveys of elderly p.
Direct and rapid diagnosis of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis in archival tissue by nested and touchdown PCR.

Aims: To identify and differentiate mycobacterium spp. in archival formalin-fixed, paraffinembedded tissue by PCR to supply additional differential diagnostic method for Mycobacterium infections, where tuberculosis had been tested for by histopathological methods but without culturing. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Department of Pathology and Microbiology (Faculty of Medicine) and King Abdulla University Hospital, between January 2004 and July 2010. Methodology: Fifty-six extra-pulmonary specimens of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue obtained from patients showing granulomatus inflammation and/or other histopathologic features. Specimens were analyzed by a hemi-nested PCR assay targeting the gene encoding for 16S ribosomal RNA, which is common to all mycobacteria spp. The PCR positive specimens were amplified by a touch-down PCR targeting a fragment in the insertion sequence IS6110 specific to Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Results were compared to acid fast bacilli stain and with histopathology of each specimen. Results: M. tuberculosis complex DNA was detected in 27 (48.2%) specimens, and nonOriginal Research Article Article British Microbiology Research Journal, 4(5): 530-539, 2014 531 tuberculous mycobacteria in four specimens, compared to 10 (18%) specimens that were positive by acid fast staining. The positive cases were observed more in the lymph nodes, and pleural specimens. Conclusions: This study is among few studies to use the touch-down PCR assay as a promising auxiliary tool for the diagnosis of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis in archival tissue specimens. It could be used in conjunction with routine laboratory tests (e.g., cultures, acid fast staining) and clinical criteria of the patient to increase the accurate diagnosis of such cases. It is also recommended that culture be routinely done for all tuberculosis suspected cases.
Cracked tooth syndrome—Incidence, clinical findings and treatment

Cracked tooth syndrome (CTS) is a common occurrence in modern general practice. This article reviews the forces placed on the human dentition and the effect restorative dentistry has on the strength of tooth structure. The study reports on the incidence of CTS in a general practice, finding a far higher incidence in teeth which have not. marginal ridge restored than those which have had the marginal ridge restored those which have not. The various types of treatment modalities advocated and their relative merits are discussed.
Parents’ difficulties as co-therapists in CBT among non-responding youths with anxiety disorders: Parent and therapist experiences

No increased effect has been associated with parent involvement in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for youths with anxiety disorders. The purpose of this study was to explore parent and therapist experiences of CBT among non-responding youths with anxiety disorders, with a primary focus on parent involvement in therapy. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was applied to 24 sets of semi-structured interviews with families and therapists of anxiety-disordered youths who had not profited from CBT with parental inclusion. From the superordinate theme parents’ difficulties acting as co-therapists, which emerged from the analyses, two master themes represented the perspectives of parents (difficulty working together with the youth and feeling unqualified, with limited resources), and two represented the perspectives of therapists (family dynamics stood in the way of progress and difficulty transferring control to parents). Parent and therapist experiences complemented each other, offering two different perspectives on parent difficulties as co-therapists. However, the two groups’ views on their respective roles in therapy were in conflict. Parents wished to remain being “just the parents” and for the experts to take over, while therapists wished to act as facilitators transferring the control to parents. Clinical implications are drawn for parental involvement and enhancement of treatment outcomes for likely non-responders.
Bacterial Replication Rate Modulation in Combination with Antimicrobial Therapy: Turning the Microbe against Itself

ABSTRACT A major clinical challenge for treating infectious diseases is the duration of antimicrobial therapy required to eradicate the pathogen. We hypothesized that modulation of the bacterial replication rate in the context of an antimicrobial exposure is coupled with the rate and extent of bactericidal effects. Herein we describe results from in vitro infection model (one compartment, 24-h model; hollow fiber, 10-day model) studies designed to probe the relationship between the bacterial replication rate and the rate and extent of bactericidal effects in the context of an effective antibiotic exposure. The bacterial replication rate was modulated by adjusting the sodium chloride concentration (0 to 8%) in the growth media (Mueller-Hinton II broth). The study drug selected was levofloxacin, and the challenge isolate was Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 (levofloxacin MIC, 0.125 mg/liter). Within each in vitro infection model, human levofloxacin concentration-time profiles (half-life, 7 h) were simulated and the challenge isolate was subjected to an effective exposure (free-drug area under the concentration-time curve over 24 h divided by the MIC [AUC/MIC ratio], 65; administered as a single dose or daily for 10 days). Over the course of each study, samples were taken from each model for bacterial density determinations and drug concentration assay using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In the 24-h one-compartment in vitro infection model studies, as the bacterial replication rate increased, so too did the rate (slope, 0 to 4 h) and extent (24-h CFU count per milliliter) of bacterial killing. In the 10-day hollow-fiber infection model studies, the times until a reduction of bacterial density to 1 × 102 CFU/ml occurred were 10 days in the media in which the challenge isolate grew slowly and approximately 2 days in the media in which the challenge isolate grew rapidly. Together, these data provide a proof of concept for new adjunctive therapeutic options with respect to the use of antimicrobial agents alone that reduce treatment durations. Such adjunctive therapies hold promise for marked reductions in the tonnage of antimicrobial agents administered to patient populations and selection pressure toward antimicrobial resistance.
Is There a Hidden Group of Older People with Intellectual Disability and from Whom Are They Hidden? Lessons from a Recent Case-Finding Study.

Overseas research suggests that a high proportion of older people with intellectual disability may be “hidden” and out of touch with specialist service systems. This paper discusses the results and implications for service planning of a case-finding process which sought to establish the sampling frame for an in-depth study of older people with intellectual disability who had remained at home till mid-life. Through contact with generic aged and specialist disability services in two metropolitan regions of Victoria, 215 people were located, of whom 72% were known to the State's disability service system. All of the older people unknown to the specialist system were using some form of generic aged services and a significant proportion of both groups was living in generic aged supported accommodation. Although they were not registered with specialist services, they were certainly known to the generic system. This suggests that there is a case for much greater collaboration between the two service systems in r.
Estimating the levels of acute drug-related deaths in France, 2001–2002: A simple technique to measure bias in overdoses recording

Objective: To estimate under-recording of drug-related deaths in France. Materials: A capture-recapture indicator is proposed with a view to estimating the number of drug-related deaths. The indicator is applied when cross-checking general mortality registry and police data sources. Results: The under-recording of drug-related deaths was reaching 40% for the 2 years considered on the basis of the estimator. Conclusion: The hypothesis adopted is that the deaths were subject to erroneous coding, and the causes classified as unknown or ill-defined. Official data should be interpreted with caution. Nevertheless, this issue should not hide the effects of an early implemented harm reduction policy. Further analysis is required to confirm and extrapolate the findings.
Identification of Vancomycin Exposure-Toxicity Thresholds in Hospitalized Patients Receiving Intravenous Vancomycin

ABSTRACT Evidence supports vancomycin therapeutic-drug monitoring by area under the concentration-time curve (AUC), but data to establish an AUC upper limit are limited and published nephrotoxicity thresholds range widely. The objective of this analysis was to examine the association between initial vancomycin AUC and nephrotoxicity. This was a multicenter, retrospective cohort study of adult patients receiving intravenous vancomycin from 2014 to 2015. Nephrotoxicity was defined as a serum creatinine increase of 0.5 mg/liter and 50% from baseline on consecutive measurements. Vancomycin exposure profile during the initial 48 h of therapy was estimated using maximum a posteriori probability Bayesian estimation. Vancomycin AUC and minimum-concentration (Cmin) thresholds most strongly associated with nephrotoxicity were identified via classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. Predictive performances of CART-derived and other candidate AUC thresholds was assessed through positive and negative predictive value and receiver operating characteristic curves. Poisson regression was used to quantify the association between exposure thresholds and nephrotoxicity while adjusting for confounders. Among 323 patients included, nephrotoxicity was significantly higher in patients with AUCs from 0 to 48 h (AUC0–48) of ≥1,218 mg · h/liter, AUC0–24 of ≥677 mg · h/liter, AUC24–48 of ≥683 mg · h/liter, and day 1 Cmin (Cmin24) of ≥18.8 mg/liter. Vancomycin exposure in excess of these thresholds was associated with a 3- to 4-fold-increased risk of nephrotoxicity in Poisson regression. The predictive performance of AUC for nephrotoxicity was maximized at daily AUC values between 600 and 800 mg · h/liter. Although these data support an AUC range for vancomycin-associated nephrotoxity rather than a single threshold, available evidence suggests that a daily AUC limit of 700 mg · h/liter is reasonable.
Dynamic Organizational Learning with IoT and Retail Social Network Data

We propose an effective mechanism based on mixed retail social network and Internet of Things (IoT) data for optimal organizational learning. Based on the classical routine-based knowledge presumption in traditional organizational learning that is sub-optimal, we propose a self-adaptive knowledge base for dynamic organizational learning through IoT and social network data. We use a Bayesian network model to visualize and manage knowledge formation of all relevant dimensions for organizational learning. Our preliminary results show that IoT and retail social network data analytics have a profound impact on firms from marketing to everyday organizational management and organizational knowledge accumulation.
How and Why Users Use Social TV Systems? A Systematic Review of User Studies

The development of social TV systems has gained momentum in the past decade. However, it is unclear how and why users use social TV. The goal of this systematic review is to identify trends in social TV user studies and understand how and why users use it following Geerts and De Grooff's social TV features. After searching for articles in major engineering and social science databases, we found 10 user studies that are mainly exploratory. They are predominantly qualitative and lack theory-based research and system design rationale. In general, users have positive reception on the usability and sociability of social TV systems despite expressing privacy concerns and insufficient control. Text chat is preferred than voice chat as a mode of communication. TV show genre and plot structures influence system usage. This review contributes to social TV research by offering a comprehensive understanding of social TV features that influence system usage.
Detecting Knowledge Innovation through Automatic Topic Labeling on Scholar Data

Knowledge innovation can be detected by scientific and technology production. A challenge on knowledge innovation analysis is the identification of knowledge areas in text documents - called topic modeling - and presenting the related concepts in an understandable way. The most used and reliable approaches are based on manual labeling, which is impracticable when we analyze a huge period of time, a large number of documents or different domains. We propose a method of automatic labeling. Evaluation results pointed that the proposed method can effectively generate labels for topics with a similar efficiency of human generated labels.
Accounts of Quitting among Older Ex-smokers with Smoking-related Disease

This article uses a discourse analytic method to explore how a sample of ex-smokers with smoking-related illness position themselves, and are positioned by, the language they use in their accounts of quitting. The article suggests that discursive constructions (having ‘no choice’ and getting ‘another chance’) used by the respondents position them in a way that constrains behaviour by closing down the option of smoking and/or opening up the possibility of change. In each telling, the respondents' (non-smoking) identities are confirmed anew and this affirmation may assist in sustaining the change and provide protection against relapse. Moreover, the article suggests that the development and exchange of these stories may contribute to the growth of shared beliefs about the experience of quitting, opening up the option of quitting for current smokers. In so doing, accounts of quitting provided by ex-smokers undermine or resist dominant social understandings that even among those highly motivated to stop smoking, quitting is a difficult, if not impossible, endeavour.
Modeling, Analysis, and Experimental Validation of Clock Drift Effects in Low-Inertia Power Systems

Clock drift in digital controllers is of great relevance in many applications. Since almost all real clocks exhibit drifts, this applies in particular to networks composed of several individual units, each of which being operated with its individual clock. In the present paper, we demonstrate via extensive experiments on a microgrid in the megawatt range that clock drifts may impair frequency synchronization in low-inertia power systems. The experiments also show that—in the absence of a common clock—the standard model of an inverter as an ideal voltage source does not capture this phenomenon. As a consequence, we derive a suitably modified model of an inverter-interfaced unit that incorporates the phenomenon of clock drifts. By using the derived model, we investigate the effects of clock drifts on the performance of droop-controlled grid-forming inverters with regard to frequency synchronization and active power sharing. The modeling and analysis is validated via extensive experiments on a microgrid in the megawatt range.
The Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site: Providing regulated and structured white water rafting practice towards a sustainable adventure tourism resource

The Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site, the largest, oldest and deepest eroded meteorite structure near the town of Parys (Free State Province), offers an almost unlimited range of outdoor and adventurous activities. This area is of exceptional value not only in terms of its geological, cultural and natural attributes, but also because of its recreational potential, which forms a large part of the local tourism industry. Being relatively close to densely populated areas like Johannesburg and Pretoria, whitewater rafting on the Vaal River quickly became most popular in terms of numbers of participants. Operators started to emerge on their own account and, as a result, a need emerged for an appropriate management strategy to protect the client, environment, operators, and to reduce and/or eliminate probabilities of loss. The aim of this study was therefore to develop a management tool. In collaboration with the whitewater rafting operators (n=11) operating on the Vaal River in the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site, and three knowledgeable and key role players in this industry, the researchers created a self-structured questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions to obtain information about acceptable standards of whitewater rafting practice. The results reveal that not all participants cohere fully to the proposed guidelines. For sustainable adventure tourism, especially for this attraction, it is recommended that the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site whitewater rafting operators should strive to adopt and apply these guidelines. Clients will continue to seek more challenging adventure experiences and, simultaneously, operators will need to become more professional and proficient. A further recommendation is also to create national standards for all commercial and private operations on South African rivers. Key words: Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site, white water rafting, operating procedures, adventure tourism.