Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nasopharyngeal Carriage, Capsular and Molecular Serotyping and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae among Asymptomatic Healthy Children in Egypt.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide with increasing antimicrobial resistance. 600 randomly chosen asymptomatic healthy children aged 2-60 months attending Alexandria University Children's Hospital were evaluated for prevalence of nasopharyngeal (NP) carriage of S. pneumoniae. Prevalence of NP carriage was 29.2% (n = 175/600) Capsular serotyping was done using Quellung reaction. Vaccine covered serotypes (VST) represented 67.4% while non-vaccine serotypes (NVST) were 32.6%. The most common VST isolated were 19F (24.6%), 6B (14.3%) and 6A (10.9%). Confirmation of serotyping was performed by multiplex PCR which showed 100% concordance with the Quellung reaction. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed penicillin non-susceptibility of 15% (using non-meningitis penicillin MIC breakpoints) and 55% (using meningitis penicillin MIC breakpoints). Highest resistance was found in sulphamethoxazole-trimethoprim (55%), tetracyclins (49%), erythromycin (40%) and clindamycin (25%). This study revealed the epidemiological importance to evaluate regularly the prevalence, serotypes and the increasing antimicrobial resistance of S. pneumoniae in the community.
Psychometric investigation of the specific phobia of vomiting inventory: A new factor model

Well‐validated, standardized measures are lacking for the assessment of emetophobia, the specific phobia of vomiting. The Specific Phobia of Vomiting Inventory (SPOVI) was recently developed and shows promise as a useful measure of emetophobia. The goal of the present study was to further examine and investigate the psychometric properties of the SPOVI in a large student sample (n = 1626), specifically focusing on its factor structure, measurement invariance across gender, and convergent/divergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis results provide support for a one‐factor model of the SPOVI, in contrast to the previously proposed two‐factor model. Internal consistency of the SPOVI was good (α = 0.89) and measurement invariance across gender invariance was supported. The SPOVI also demonstrated good psychometric properties with respect to convergent and divergent validity. The present study's demonstration of the reliability and validity of the SPOVI suggests that the instrument may be a valuable tool for assessing emetophobia symptoms based on its one‐factor structure.
Quantum Logical Operations on Encoded Qubits.

We show how to carry out quantum logical operations (controlled-not and Toffoli gates) on encoded qubits for several encodings which protect against various 1-bit errors. This improves the reliability of these operations by allowing one to correct for 1-bit errors which either preexisted or occurred in the course of operation. The logical operations we consider allow one to carry out the vast majority of the steps in the quantum factoring algorithm. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society. }
A multi-band 2×1 MIMO antenna system consisting of CSRR loaded patch elements

A miniaturized printed 2×1 MIMO antenna system is designed and fabricated. The antenna has resonant frequencies at 750 MHz, 1.18 GHz, 1.7 GHz and 2.26 GHz. The elements of the MIMO antenna system are patch antennas loaded with CSRR. The CSRR loading is used for patch antenna miniaturization and to obtain multiple resonant frequencies. The overall dimensions of the MIMO antenna system are 120×60×0.8 mm3 while the area of individual patch element is 44×35 mm2. The bandwidth, isolation and correlation coefficient of the MIMO antenna system are evaluated from its measured s-parameters while the MEG of the antenna elements are evaluated from the radiation pattern of the antenna elements.
Relational database schema integration by overlay and redundancy elimination methods

Relational database schemas integration is important in various areas such as merging information systems of two or more companies, merging database systems of two or more departments of one company. This paper illustrates a relational database schema integration methods called dasiaoverlay and redundancy elimination methodspsila. There are many different methods in overlaying different relational database schemas and there are many different methods in eliminating redundancies in relational database schemas. This paper presents the particular methods on overlaying relational database schemas and eliminating redundancies in relational database schemas. These methods are novel and efficient in relational database schema integrations.
Compressed Domain Texture Retrieval Based on I-Frame Coding in H.264

In this paper a new texture descriptor is introduced for visual data. The proposed descriptor is based on the information of I-frame coding in H.264 video coding standard. In I-frame coding different prediction modes can be used for predicting a block from upper or left side neighboring pixels. The selected prediction mode for a block in an I-frame indicates the way that the block depends on the neighboring parts. In this paper, we use the prediction mode histogram of a compressed I-frame picture, as a texture descriptor for image or video retrieval. Simulation results comparing the proposed method with Gabor filter show that the proposed method is an efficient texture descriptor in compressed domain.
Modeling of the post-breakdown IG-VG-VD characteristics of La2O3-based MOS transistors

A simple analytic model for the post-breakdown conduction characteristics in W/La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/p-type Si MOSFETs is reported. The model is based on the solution of the generalized diode equation and captures the behavior of the gate current (I<sub>G</sub>) as a function of the gate (V<sub>G</sub>) and drain (V<sub>D</sub>) voltages including both positive and negative biases. The devices were subjected to ramped voltage stress so as to induce the dielectric breakdown close to or at the transistor drain region.
Dynamic compressive loading influences degradation behavior of PEG‐PLA hydrogels

Biodegradable hydrogels are attractive 3D environments for cell and tissue growth. In cartilage tissue engineering, mechanical stimulation has been shown to be an important regulator in promoting cartilage development. However, the impact of mechanical loading on the gel degradation kinetics has not been studied. In this study, we examined hydrolytically labile gels synthesized from poly(lactic acid)‐b‐poly(ethylene glycol)‐b‐poly‐(lactic acid) dimethacrylate macromers, which have been used for cartilage tissue engineering. The gels were subject to physiological loading conditions in order to examine the effects of loading on hydrogel degradation. Initially, hydrogels were formed with two different cross‐linking densities and subject to a dynamic compressive strain of 15% at 0.3, 1, or 3 Hz. Degradation behavior was assessed by mass loss, equilibrium swelling and compressive modulus as a function of degradation time. From equilibrium swelling, the pseudo‐first‐order reaction rate constants were determined as an indication of degradation kinetics. The application of dynamic loading significantly enhanced the degradation time for the low cross‐linked gels (P < 0.01) while frequency showed no statistical differences in degradation rates or bulk erosion profiles. In the higher cross‐linked gels, a 3 Hz dynamic strain significantly increased the degradation kinetics resulting in an overall faster degradation time by 6 days compared to gels subject to the 0.3 and 1 Hz loads (P < 0.0001). The bioreactor set‐up also influenced overall degradation behavior where the use of impermeable versus permeable platens resulted in significantly lower degradation rate constants for both cross‐linked gels (P < 0.001). The compressive modulus exponentially decreased with degradation time under dynamic loading. Together, our findings indicate that both loading regime and the bioreactor setup influence degradation and should be considered when designing and tuning a biodegradable hydrogel where mechanical stimulation is employed. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009; 102: 948–959. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sample Size Needed to Detect Gene‐Gene Interactions Using Linkage Analysis

Gene‐gene interactions have received much attention recently because most human traits may be under the control of several genetic factors, as well as environmental factors, and these factors likely interact among each other to influence these traits. Gauderman (2002) and Wang & Zhao (2003) have reported systematic studies on the statistical power to detect gene‐gene interactions through association studies. In this article we investigated the power of the affected sib pair (ASP) design to detect gene‐gene interaction at two disease loci. Different definitions of gene‐gene interaction were considered and different disease models (including both logistic models considered in previous studies and several two‐locus models with fixed penetrances) were examined. Our results indicate that comparisons between power to detect gene‐gene interaction using ASP designs and association designs heavily depend on the definition of gene‐gene interaction. Under the definition of gene‐gene interaction with departure from independence between two marginal IBD sharings, the association design is much more powerful than the ASP design, and the additive model is more powerful than dominant and recessive models for rare diseases, while for common diseases for example with a population prevalence of 10%, the recessive model is more powerful than the additive and dominant models. Under the definitions of departure from a multiplicative model, additive model, and heterogeneity model ( Risch, 1990 ), the ASP design is as powerful as, or more powerful than, both family‐based and population‐based association designs for rare disease,, but less powerful for more common diseases. Under the definition of correlation between two marginal IBD sharings, the association design is much more powerful than the ASP design.
Revisiting Carroll's CSR Pyramid: An African Perspective

Nevertheless, Africa remains a marginal region in global terms: With 12% of the world’s population (around 750 million people) in 53 countries, Africa accounts for less than 2% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and FDI, and less than 10% of FDI to all developing countries. Of the 81 poorest countries prioritised by the International Development Association, almost half are in Africa. And even within Africa, there is highly skewed development, with the largest ten economies accounting for 75% of the continent’s GDP. The extent of the challenge for CSR in Africa becomes even clearer when we are reminded of the scale of social needs that still exist, despite decades of aid and development effort: Life expectancy in Africa is still only 50 years on average (and as low as 38 years in some countries), Gross National Income per capita averages $650 (and drops as low as $90 in some countries) and the adult literacy rate is less than 20% in some countries. At the current pace of development, Sub-Saharan Africa would not reach the Millennium Development Goals for poverty reduction until 2147 and for child mortality until 2165; and as for HIV/Aids and hunger, trends in the region are heading up, not down. The Role of Business The track record of big business in Africa is mixed at best. There is certainly no shortage of examples of corporate complicity in political corruption, environmental destruction, labour exploitation and social disruption, stretching back more than 100 years. Equally, however, there is voluminous evidence of the benefits of business bringing capital investment, job creation, skills transfer, infrastructure development, knowledge sharing and social responsibility programmes to countries throughout Africa.
Selective disconnection of the hippocampal formation projections to the mammillary bodies produces only mild deficits on spatial memory tasks: Implications for fornix function

It is now clear that the integrity of the fornix is important for normal mnemonic function. The fornix, however, is a major white matter tract, carrying numerous hippocampal formation afferents and efferents, and it is not known which specific components support memory processes. Established theories of extended hippocampal function emphasize the sequential pathway from the hippocampal formation (i.e., subicular complex) to the mammillary bodies and, thence, to the anterior thalamus, as pathology in each of these structures is implicated in anterograde amnesia in humans and spatial memory deficits in rats. The specific importance of the hippocampal formation projections that just innervate the mammillary bodies has, however, never been tested. This study isolated these specific projections in the rat by selectively cutting the descending component of the postcommissural fornix. Two successive, cohorts of rats with these tract lesions were tested on working memory tasks in the water‐maze, T‐maze, and radial‐arm maze. Disconnecting the descending postcommissural fornix had only a mild effect or sometimes no apparent effect on the performance of these spatial memory tasks, even though tracing experiments confirmed the loss of hippocampal formation‐mammillary projections. One implication is that the spatial deficits found in rats following standard fornix lesions are only partly attributable to the loss of projections from the hippocampal formation to the mammillary bodies. Perhaps more surprising, the behavioral impact of cutting the descending postcommissural fornix in rats appeared appreciably less than the effect of either mammillary body or mammillothalamic tract lesions. The present experiments show that the mammillary bodies can still effectively support spatial memory in the absence of their dense subicular complex inputs, so revealing the importance of the other afferents for sustaining mammillary body function. This new evidence for independent functions shows that the mammillary bodies are more than just a hippocampal relay. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Automatic high‐order shimming using parallel columns mapping (PACMAP)

This work presents a new automatic high‐order shimming method that maps the B0 field using a group of parallel columns. We found that a pair of four columns in two separate slices could determine an optimal correction field comprising the spherical harmonic terms up to the third‐order. The technique of multiple stimulated echoes was incorporated into the method, allowing the use of at least eight shots to accomplish field mapping. The shim currents were first determined in the logic frame by assuming that the slices were in axial planes, and then uniquely converted into the physical frame where the slices could be at any oblique angle, by using a spherical harmonics rotation transformation. This method thus works regardless of slice orientation. It was demonstrated on a 3T scanner equipped with a complete set of second‐order harmonic shim coils. Both phantom and in vivo experiments showed that this newly introduced high‐order shimming method is an effective and efficient way to reduce field inhomogeneity for a region of imaging slices. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Alexithymia, Human Relationships, and Mobile Phone Use

Alexithymia is a personality trait associated with difficulties in identifying feelings, difficulties in describing feelings to other people, constricted imaginal processes, and an externally oriented cognitive style. It has been found to be associated with personality features that may cause interpersonally avoidant behavior and other interpersonal problems. The present study explored, in a sample of primary care patients (N = 491), whether alexithymia is associated with mobile phone usage, and whether the perceived quality and quantity of human relationships mediate its effect. Even controlling for sociodemographic variables and symptoms of depression, mania and psychoses, alexithymia, measured by the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, was associated with less frequent mobile phone use. Not having enough relationships or a close friend, and relationships being less satisfactory mediated the effect of alexithymia on less frequent mobile phone use. The results support the findings of earlier studies that have linked interpersonal problems with alexithymia.
Neural correlates of symbolic number processing in children and adults

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined developmental differences in the functional neuroanatomy underlying symbolic number processing. Twelve adults and 12 children had to judge the relative magnitude of two single-digit Arabic numerals. We investigated which brain areas were significantly (P<0.005, uncorrected) more activated during processing of number pairs with small relative to large numerical distances. In the adult group, symbolic distance modulated bilateral parietal regions. In contrast, the group of children primarily engaged frontal regions. We conclude that the functional neuroanatomy underlying symbolic numerical magnitude processing undergoes an ontogenetic shift towards greater parietal engagement. This change may reflect maturation of underlying representations and increasing automaticity in mapping between numerical symbols and the magnitudes they represent.
Graft dysfunction mimicking autoimmune hepatitis following liver transplantation in adults

In children, a type of graft dysfunction associated with autoimmune features has been described. We have identified 7 adult liver‐transplant (LT) recipients from a series of over 1,000 consecutive transplant recipients who presented between 0.3 years and 7.2 years following transplantation with characteristic symptoms, autoantibody profiles, and histologic findings of autoimmune disease. The indications for transplantation were Ecstasy overdose, alcohol‐related cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) (2), primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), hepatitis C cirrhosis, and cryptogenic cirrhosis. Two patterns of de novo autoantibody development were noted; anti–liver‐kidney‐microsome (LKM) antibody development at high titer in association with an aspartate transaminase (AST) > 500 and antinuclear (ANA) and antismooth muscle (AMA) antibody development at titers >1/80 with lower AST levels. All cases had elevated IgG. Liver biopsies showed changes of an autoimmune‐type hepatitis with portal and periportal hepatitis in association with a marked infiltrate of plasma cells, lymphocytes, and bridging collapse. Two patients lost their grafts because of the disease. Patients were treated with reintroduction of steroids and azathioprine in cases in which it had been withdrawn. Major histocompatibility class I and II mismatching did not incur risk. Eight of 12 liver allografts were acquired from either DRB*0301‐ or DRB*0401‐positive donors, and 4 recipients were DRB*0301‐positive. This series illustrates that both symptoms and histologic findings of graft dysfunction compatible with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) exist in adult LT recipients. Graft loss may be a consequence. This entity may represent a specific type of rejection that should currently be classified as “graft dysfunction mimicking autoimmune hepatitis. ” (HEPATOLOGY 2001;34:464‐470.)
Identification of Salivary Microbiota and Its Association With Host Inflammatory Mediators in Periodontitis

Periodontitis is a microbial-induced chronic inflammatory disease, which may not only result in tooth loss, but can also contribute to the development of various systemic diseases. The transition from healthy to diseased periodontium depends on microbial dysbiosis and impaired host immune response. Although periodontitis is a common disease as well as associated with various systemic inflammatory conditions, the taxonomic profiling of the salivary microbiota in periodontitis and its association with host immune and inflammatory mediators has not been reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify key pathogens and their potential interaction with the host's inflammatory mediators in saliva samples for periodontitis risk assessment. The microbial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and the levels of inflammatory mediators were performed in saliva samples from patients with chronic periodontitis and periodontally healthy control subjects. The salivary microbial community composition differed significantly between patients with chronic periodontitis and healthy controls. Our analyses identified a number of microbes, including bacteria assigned to Eubacterium saphenum, Tannerella forsythia, Filifactor alocis, Streptococcus mitis/parasanguinis, Parvimonas micra, Prevotella sp. , Phocaeicola sp. , and Fretibacterium sp. as more abundant in periodontitis, compared to healthy controls. In samples from healthy individuals, we identified Campylobacter concisus, and Veillonella sp. as more abundant. Integrative analysis of the microbiota and inflammatory mediators/cytokines revealed associations that included positive correlations between the pathogens Treponema sp. and Selenomas sp. and the cytokines chitinase 3-like 1, sIL-6Rα, sTNF-R1, and gp130/sIL-6Rβ. In addition, a negative correlation was identified between IL-10 and Filifactor alocis. Our results reveal distinct and disease-specific patterns of salivary microbial composition between patients with periodontitis and healthy controls, as well as significant correlations between microbiota and host-mediated inflammatory cytokines. The positive correlations between the pathogens Treponema sp. and Selenomas sp. and the cytokines chitinase 3-like 1, sIL-6Rα, sTNF-R1, and gp130/sIL-6Rβ might have the future potential to serve as a combined bacteria-host salivary biomarker panel for diagnosis of the chronic infectious disease periodontitis. However, further studies are required to determine the capacity of these microbes and inflammatory mediators as a salivary biomarker panel for periodontitis.
Relation between Erectile Dysfunction and Urinary Incontinence after Nerve-Sparing and Non-Nerve-Sparing Radical Prostatectomy

Introduction: We investigated the status of erectile function and urinary continence after radical prostatectomy to investigate a possible relation between them and then determined whether the status of postoperative urinary continence affected erectile function. Patients and Methods: Seventy-six patients who had no symptoms of erectile dysfunction or urinary incontinence preoperatively were included in this study. The postoperative status of erectile function and urinary continence was investigated using a self-reported patient questionnaire. Results: Thirteen of 27 patients (48.1%) who underwent nerve-sparing procedures maintained erectile function, while 7 of 49 patients (14.2%) who underwent non-nerve-sparing procedures maintained it postoperatively. None of the 27 patients in the nerve-sparing procedure group reported incontinence, whereas 3 of the 49 patients (6.1%) who underwent non-nerve-sparing procedures reported moderate incontinence. However, no significant correlation between the International Index of Erectile Function-5 score and the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire score was seen. Conclusion: No relation between the status of urinary continence and erectile function was shown, regardless of the nerve-sparing nature of the prostatectomy.