Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Management of the Replication Terminus Regions of the Two Vibrio cholerae Chromosomes during Cell Division

The replication terminus region (Ter) of the unique chromosome of most bacteria locates at mid-cell at the time of cell division. In several species, this localization participates in the necessary coordination between chromosome segregation and cell division, notably for the selection of the division site, the licensing of the division machinery assembly and the correct alignment of chromosome dimer resolution sites. The genome of Vibrio cholerae, the agent of the deadly human disease cholera, is divided into two chromosomes, chrI and chrII. Previous fluorescent microscopy observations suggested that although the Ter regions of chrI and chrII replicate at the same time, chrII sister termini separated before cell division whereas chrI sister termini were maintained together at mid-cell, which raised questions on the management of the two chromosomes during cell division. Here, we simultaneously visualized the location of the dimer resolution locus of each of the two chromosomes. Our results confirm the late and early separation of chrI and chrII Ter sisters, respectively. They further suggest that the MatP/matS macrodomain organization system specifically delays chrI Ter sister separation. However, TerI loci remain in the vicinity of the cell centre in the absence of MatP and a genetic assay specifically designed to monitor the relative frequency of sister chromatid contacts during constriction suggest that they keep colliding together until the very end of cell division. In contrast, we found that even though it is not able to impede the separation of chrII Ter sisters before septation, the MatP/matS macrodomain organization system restricts their movement within the cell and permits their frequent interaction during septum constriction.
Is Disparity of State Domestic Product Stationary in Twenty Indian States?

In this paper an attempt has been made to detect stationarity as well as disparity for the State Domestic Product as well as per capita state domestic product for time series data. Data for the purpose has been taken from Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy (RBI) for the period 1980-2006. The results based on ADF and PP tests reveal that State Domestic Product and per capita SDP on the basis of new series among twenty states are nonstationarity at level and first & second lag. The results here are not consistent with DFGLS (1996) who used detrend time series â€“based unit root tests and determined that the SDP and per capita SDP for is stationary for the states like Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Tripura and West Bengal. Disparity in term of SDP and per capita SDP for the twenty states under the study period, Gini coefficient and Theils index reveal higher values for per capita SDP. And also stationarity of all the measures of disparity reveals the presence of unit root at level and zero lag.
Dietary sodium intake modulates vasodilation mediated by nitroprusside but not by methacholine in the human forearm.

Studies in animals suggest that nitric oxide production is increased under conditions of salt loading and that this increase protects against the development of salt-induced hypertension. To determine the effect of dietary sodium intake on nitric oxide-mediated vascular responses, we studied seven healthy male volunteers twice 4 weeks apart while they were receiving a diet containing 10 or 250 mmol Na+ per 24 hours. Methacholine (0.25 to 8 micrograms/min) and sodium nitroprusside (0.25 to 8 micrograms/min) were infused intra-arterially in incremental doses, and forearm blood flow was measured. The response of forearm blood flow to sodium nitroprusside was greater when subjects received a high sodium diet than when they received a low sodium diet (F = 7.11, P < .05); however, the response to methacholine was not altered by sodium intake (F = 0.57, P = NS). Plasma renin activity was significantly higher (3.99 versus 1.0 ng angiotensin I/mL per hour) when subjects received a low salt diet (P < .05). Systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, heart rate, and baseline forearm blood flow were not affected by sodium status. We conclude that under conditions of salt loading, vasodilation in response to sodium nitroprusside was enhanced, whereas the response to methacholine was not affected, suggesting a differential effect of sodium intake on endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent responses after the administration of methacholine and sodium nitroprusside, respectively.
Duct-to-Duct Biliary Reconstruction in Adult Living-Donor Liver Transplantation

Background. Bile duct-to-duct reconstruction is now used in living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for adult patients. Methods. The results of duct-to-duct reconstruction were retrospectively analyzed. The subjects were 81 adult patients who underwent LDLT at the University of Tokyo Hospital with a follow-up period of at least 1 year. The hilar plate of the recipient was dissected to at least the second-order branch of the bile ducts. Duct-to-duct anastomosis was performed with interrupted sutures, and an external stent tube was inserted from the orifice opposite the hilar plate. Results. During the observation period (median, 664 days), biliary complications were observed in 26 cases (32%). The complications included bile juice leakage at the anastomosis or dissection plane of the graft in 12 patients, anastomotic stenosis in 10 patients, and tube trouble in 6 patients. Two patients had bile juice leakage followed by stenosis. Of the 26 patients, 21 required surgical revision. Conclusions. The current technique did not reduce morbidity as expected. Further technical advancement and refinement are needed for better results.
A multinational study of the factorial structure and other characteristics of the Dartmouth COOP Functional Health Assessment Charts/WONCA.

BACKGROUND The 'Dartmouth COOP Functional Health Assessment Charts/WONCA' constitute a relatively new derived instrument for assessing health status that is specifically intended for use in primary care on a world-wide basis. It needs further validation in its special area of use. OBJECTIVES Over a range of countries, social backgrounds and case mixes, our aim was (i) to examine the factorial structure of the instrument; (ii) to explore how well it was understood; (iii) to check its acceptability; and (iv) to assess the value of the pictures on the charts. METHODS The charts themselves, accompanied by a short questionnaire about the charts, were administered to 1719 patients at eight varied types of treatment centre in Canada, Japan, Nepal and Spain. The responses to the instrument were subjected to standard factor analysis and a special Q-type principal components analysis. The responses to direct questions about the charts were compared with the answers to open-ended questions. RESULTS Factor analysis suggested a shared factorial pattern for all sites, with the first two factors accounting for 88.5% of the variability in correlations between the charts across the sites. The individual questions were understood by most patients, but a substantial minority did not appear to grasp the underlying purpose of the instrument. The instrument was well accepted. The pictures were considered to be helpful by most respondents, especially those at the Nepal sites. The variability in the scores for the individual charts across sites was less than expected and not always in the expected direction. CONCLUSIONS The COOP/WONCA system continues to show promise, but needs more validation.
Strategy of following voriconazole versus amphotericin B therapy with other licensed antifungal therapy for primary treatment of invasive aspergillosis: impact of other therapies on outcome.

BACKGROUND In a previous randomized trial of voriconazole versus amphotericin B deoxycholate for primary therapy of invasive aspergillosis, voriconazole demonstrated superior efficacy and better survival. In that trial, treatment with voriconazole or amphotericin B deoxycholate could be followed with other licensed antifungal therapies (OLAT). Here, we report the impact of OLAT on the outcome of patients with invasive aspergillosis. METHODS Data on dose, duration, and the reason for switching to the first OLAT were analyzed, and outcome at week 12 was assessed. RESULTS Fewer patients in the voriconazole group (52 [36%] of 144) switched to OLAT, compared with patients in the amphotericin B deoxycholate group (107 [80%] of 133). Lipid formulations of amphotericin B were the most common OLAT (38% of patients). Switches were made because of intolerance or insufficient response in 70% for patients in the amphotericin B deoxycholate group, compared with 24% of patients in the voriconazole group. Favorable responses to OLAT in the amphotericin B deoxycholate group occurred in only 19% of patients with initial insufficient response and 38% of patients with intolerance. Salvage therapy with a lipid formulation of amphotericin B after initial treatment with amphotericin B deoxycholate was successful for only 30% of patients (14 of 47). Treatment success among patients randomized to receive amphotericin B, including those whose treatment was switched to OLAT, was 32%, compared with 55% among patients who received voriconazole alone (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS This study highlights the limited efficacy of salvage antifungal therapy, including therapy with lipid formulations of amphotericin B, and demonstrates the importance of effective initial therapy in invasive aspergillosis.
Rule-based middle-level character detection for simplifying Thai document layout analysis

Although research interest in machine printed Thai character recognition has been an intense research area in the past decade, there are only a few results available for Thai document layout analysis. In addition, directly using the method proposed for other languages with Thai documents is not possible since Thai documents have a unique characteristic (i.e., Thai characters can be placed in four different levels). This paper proposed an approach to eliminate that characteristic by removing nonmiddle-level characters from the image based on heuristic rules derived from Thai language properties: nonmiddle-level characters are usually smaller than middle-level characters, and the gap between each level is smaller than the gap between two consecutive lines. After they are removed, one can use any existing methods with Thai documents without any modification. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively remove nonmiddle-level characters from 200 test images with 99.46% accuracy even when the image contains various font sizes.
High plasma levels of factor VIII and the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism.

BACKGROUND A high plasma level of factor VIII is a risk factor for venous thromboembolism. We evaluated the risk of a recurrence of thrombosis after an initial episode of spontaneous venous thromboembolism among patients with high plasma levels of factor VIII. METHODS We studied 360 patients for an average follow-up period of 30 months after a first episode of venous thromboembolism and discontinuation of oral anticoagulants. Patients who had recurrent or secondary venous thromboembolism, a congenital deficiency of an anticoagulant, the lupus anticoagulant, hyperhomocysteinemia, cancer, or a requirement for long-term treatment with antithrombotic drugs or who were pregnant were excluded. The end point was objectively documented, symptomatic recurrent venous thromboembolism. RESULTS Recurrent venous thromboembolism developed in 38 of the 360 patients (10.6 percent). Patients with recurrence had higher mean (+/-SD) plasma levels of factor VIII than those without recurrence (182+/-66 vs. 157+/-54 IU per deciliter, P=0.009). The relative risk of recurrent venous thrombosis was 1.08 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.04 to 1.12; P<0.001) for each increase of 10 IU per deciliter in the plasma level of factor VIII. Among patients with a factor VIII level above the 90th percentile of the values in the study population, the likelihood of recurrence at two years was 37 percent, as compared with a 5 percent likelihood among patients with lower levels (P<0.001). Among patients with plasma factor VIII levels above the 90th percentile, as compared with those with lower levels, the overall relative risk of recurrence was 6.7 (95 percent confidence interval, 3.0 to 14.8) after adjustment for age, sex, the presence or absence of factor V Leiden or the G20210A prothrombin mutation, and the duration of oral anticoagulation. CONCLUSIONS Patients with a high plasma level of factor VIII have an increased risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism.
La END, el plan nacional plurianual del sector público y la sostenibilidad fiscal en la República Dominicana

In this paper we evaluate the fiscal sustainability of the Dominican Republic using the recursive algorithm proposed by Croce and Juan-Ramon (2003). The results indicate that the Dominican economy shows an unsustainable fiscal position in much of the period, but for the years 2014-2016 would be conducting a fiscal policy that is consistent with the convergence of the debt-to-GDP ratio to sustainable levels as required by PNPSP and END.
Drought tolerance and growth in populations of a wide‐ranging tree species indicate climate change risks for the boreal north

Choosing drought‐tolerant planting stock in reforestation programs may help adapt forests to climate change. To inform such reforestation strategies, we test lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Doug. ex Loud. var latifolia Englm.) population response to drought and infer potential benefits of a northward transfer of seeds from drier, southern environments. The objective is addressed by combining dendroecological growth analysis with long‐term genetic field trials. Over 500 trees originating from 23 populations across western North America were destructively sampled in three experimental sites in southern British Columbia, representing a climate warming scenario. Growth after 32 years from provenances transferred southward or northward over long distances was significantly lower than growth of local populations. All populations were affected by a severe natural drought event in 2002. The provenances from the most southern locations showed the highest drought tolerance but low productivity. Local provenances were productive and drought tolerant. Provenances from the boreal north showed lower productivity and less drought tolerance on southern test sites than all other sources, implying that maladaptation to drought may prevent boreal populations from taking full advantage of more favorable growing conditions under projected climate change.
Democracy and Unions: towards a Critical Appraisal

This essay explores the meaning of democracy in unions and the adequacy of indicators of democracy borrowed from the analysis of political systems. Its primary reference point is Italy, where unions are voluntary organizations and multiple confederations have developed along distinct ideological lines. Systems of union representation, unlike systems of political representation, lack clearly defined boundaries and speak for inherently subordinate interests. Voluntary unions, moreover, are by nature both organizations and movements, and depend on consent as political systems do not. In such a context, assessments of democracy must consider both the selection of representatives within each organization (or internal democracy) and the procedures for decision-making among all organizations (or systemic democracy). The essay helps to account for several features of Italian unionism: avoidance of majority rule, leaders' difficulties in controlling the rank-and-file, and cycles of competition among organizations. The essay also hopes to contribute more broadly to a theory of union democracy.
Natural Resources in Economic Growth: The Role of Institutions and Policies

D URING the last ten years, it has become the fashion among econDJ) omists to emphasize the decreasing importance of natural resources in economic growth. This applies especially to the renewable resources used by agriculture [21, 23]. Use of these resources is strongly influenced by economic institutions, both in developed and undeveloped economies. It is not surprising, therefore, that there has been, in recent literature, a de-emphasis of the role of institutions paralleling that of natural resources. In the current mathematical models of economic growth, the role of institutions is not explicitly considered [11, 14, 10]. In a wellknown book on transforming traditional agriculture [24], the author devotes the only two pages on the influence of economic institutions to land tenancy. ' Emphasis has shifted from natural resources and economic institutions to technological change or, in production function terminology, to "new" or "modern" factors of production. If institutions are considered at all, they are treated as factors furnishing services like other factors of production. Changes in the kind and quantity of institutional services are regarded as determined by an economic demand-supply scheme [22]. In accordance with my assignment, I should like to focus on this doctrine of the decreasing importance of natural resources and the relatively insignificant and passive role of institutions in economic growth. I should like to analyze its validity, inquire into its relevancy, and show its implications for policy in developing countries.
Association between cytochrome P4502D6 (CYP2D6) genotype, antipsychotic exposure, and abnormal involuntary movement scale (AIMS) score

&NA; Antipsychotic metabolism cosegregates with the polymorphic cytochrome P4502D6 (CYP2D6) hepatic enzyme. Approximately 5‐10% of Caucasians show impaired metabolism associated with nonfunctional alleles. Genotyping determines the number of functional alleles, which is phenotypically not possible. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between CYP2D6 genotype, antipsychotic exposure, and abnormal involuntary movement scale (AIMS) score. Schizophrenic patients (DSM‐IV) were genotyped for CYP2D6*1, *3, and *4 alleles by nested polymerase chain reaction. A complete history, including psychiatric symptoms, medications and AIMS score was obtained. Antipsychotic exposure was recorded in dose years [(chlorpromazine equivalents × years) / 100]. A linear regression model used AIMS scores as the dependent variable. Genotype, gender, antipsychotic exposure, and interactions were independent variables. The results of the 31 patients studied showed: 20 were homozygous for the *1 allele (*1/*1) and 11 were heterozygous for the *1 allele (i.e. *1/*3 or *4). Age, sex, age of onset, treatment duration, antipsychotic exposure, and AIMS scores did not differ between groups. The interaction between dose years and genotype was significant (P < 0.0055), demonstrating that for (*1/*1) patients, the magnitude of antipsychotic exposure had a greater effect on AIMS score (slope = 0.044) compared with (*1/*3 or *4) patients (slope = 0.001). These results suggest patients with a *3 or *4 allele may have a higher risk for developing antipsychotic induced abnormal movements.
Assessing the association between pesticide exposure and cognitive development in rural Costa Rican children living in organic and conventional coffee farms

We examined the association between pesticide exposure and cognitive development among rural Costa Rican children in a cross-sectional study. Study participants aged 4-10 years included 17 children whose parents worked in La Amistad organic coffee plantation and 18 Las Mellizas children whose parents worked in their own small conventional coffee farms. Two spot-urine samples were collected from each participant and analyzed for organophosphorus and pyrethroids pesticide metabolites. We administered the computerized Behavioral Assessment and Research System (BARS), a figure-drawing task, and a long-term memory test to evaluate study participant's cognitive development. Although urinary pesticide metabolite levels did not vary considerably between these two groups of children, we found that Las Mellizas children performed better in BARS and the figure drawing tests than did La Amistad. The results from the linear mixed-effects models suggested that family socioeconomic status (SES) might be a significant contributor to the variation of the outcomes of the neurobehavioral tests. The effect of pesticide exposure, however, as measured in a snapshot fashion, did not play a significant role to the performance of the cognitive development evaluation. Regardless of the study limitations, needed effort should be devoted to the improvement of the SES on the La Amistad families so that their children's cognitive development would not be compromised further. Additionally, future studies should focus on addressing the limitations imposed on the snapshot assessment of pesticide exposure and on conducting cognitive development evaluation so the link between childhood pesticide exposure and their cognitive development can be thoroughly investigated.
Prolonged shedding of amantadine- and oseltamivir-resistant influenza A(H3N2) virus with dual mutations in an immunocompromised infant

In this study, we report a case of multidrug-resistant influenza A(H3N2) virus isolated from an immunosuppressed patient with prolonged viral shedding. We also describe the genetic characterization of the haemagglutinin, neuraminidase and M2 influenza genes. The virus contained the substitutions E119V in neuraminidase and V27A in M2, which produce resistance to oseltamivir and adamantanes, respectively. This is the first report of this dual mutation pattern in multidrug-resistant influenza A(H3N2) virus.
Public versus private cloud adoption — A case study based on open source cloud platforms

The traditional way of IT in a company can be very problematic. As changes in the business environment occur, so appears the need to implement more efficient enterprise systems. Cloud Computing technology represents the next enterprise computing paradigm and a solution to most current enterprise IT problems. This article examines how Cloud technology has evolved and the way it affects related performances by presenting a case study based on SlapOS open source Cloud platform.
Catheter Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia: Role of the Underlying Etiology and the Site of Energy Delivery

The role of DC catheter ablation (CA) to treat patients with sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) is still debated. To assess the efficacy of VT CA, we studied the follow‐up of 49 patients with VT who underwent CA. There were 33 patients with an old myocardial infarction [MI] (group G I) and 16 patients had noncoronary VT (group G II): CA was performed at the earliest endocardial activation (EEA)(20 patients in G I, 14 patients in G II) or at the area of slow conduction (ASC) (13 patients in GI, 2 patients in GII). During the mean follow‐up of 35 ± 25 (1–79) months, there were 17 patients in G I (52%) and 12 patients in G II (75%) with VT recurrences (P < 0.05). Recurrences of VT was observed in 4 of 15 patients (27%) when CA was performed at the ASC, compared to 25 of 34 patients (74%) with CA at the EEA (P < 0.01). These data show that DC CA is more successful in patients with coronary artery disease, particularly when CA is performed at the ASC.