Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhanced phagocytosis, killing, and serum sensitivity of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus treated with sub-MICs of imipenem

The influence of pretreatment of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with sub-MICs of the new beta-lactam antibiotic imipenem on phagocytosis and killing by murine peritoneal macrophages and the susceptibility of these organisms to serum bactericidal activity were studied. The effects of imipenem, a round form inducer in gram-negative rods, and piperacillin, a filamentous form inducer, were compared. Bacteria grown in the presence of sub-MICs of imipenem or piperacillin were incubated for 30 min with macrophage monolayers in the absence of antibiotic. Phagocytosis, killing, and survival within macrophages were evaluated by microbiological and fluorescence microscope assays. Bacteria grown in the presence of a sub-MIC of imipenem were phagocytized and killed in numbers significantly higher than untreated or piperacillin-treated bacteria were. Intracellular bacteria pretreated with a sub-MIC of imipenem were also readily killed by lymphokine-activated macrophages. Prior treatment with a sub-MIC of imipenem resulted in an increased susceptibility of E. coli but not S. aureus to the bactericidal activity of immune serum. Imipenem treatment and immune serum acted synergistically to enhance phagocytosis and killing. The data indicate that exposure of E. coli and S. aureus to a sub-MIC of imipenem enhances the susceptibility of these potential pathogens to cellular and humoral host defense mechanisms.
Cloning, partial sequence, expression, and antigenic analysis of the filamentous hemagglutinin gene of Bordetella pertussis

The gene coding for the filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA), one of the main factors involved in mediating adherence of Bordetella pertussis to ciliated host cells, was cloned in Escherichia coli, and the 3,500-base-pair nucleotide sequence encoding the amino-terminal region was determined. Molecular cloning, together with the characterization of recombinant FHA-related proteins produced in E. coli, revealed that the primary translation product is a protein of about 370 kilodaltons (kDa). The mature 220-kDa FHA polypeptide secreted by B. pertussis is most probably generated by proteolytic processing that eliminates a carboxy-terminal portion of about 150 kDa. The 1,087 amino-terminal residues of the predicted FHA sequence showed a number of remarkable features. Extensive homology to the Serratia marcescens and Proteus mirabilis hemolysin proteins was found between amino acids 91 and 205 of the FHA sequence, suggesting involvement of this FHA domain in host cell binding or secretion of FHA from B. pertussis. In addition, two regions containing repetitive amino acid sequences were identified. One region, extending from residues 382 to 664, was formed by six repeats, and a second, extending from residues 701 to 912, contained three repeats. The reactivities of several recombinant FHA-derived proteins with a panel of monoclonal antibodies identified at least four epitopes composing an immunoreactive domain present in the carboxy-terminal moiety of the mature FHA.
Accumulation by Decarbonization and the Governance of Carbon Offsets

Abstract This article examines the governance of international carbon offsets, analyzing the political economy of the origins and governance of offsets. We examine how the governance structures of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism and unregulated voluntary carbon offsets differ in regulation and in complexity of the chain that links consumers and reducers of carbon, with specific consequences for carbon reductions, development, and the ability to provide “accumulation by decarbonization. ” We show how carbon offsets represent capital-accumulation strategies that devolve governance over the atmosphere to supranational and nonstate actors and to the market.
An Aging Workforce and the Future Labour Market in Canada

Le vieillissement de la main-d’œuvre pose des défis surprenants en matière de politiques publiques, même au Canada, un pays pourtant démographiquement jeune par rapport à d’autres pays comparables. Dans cet article, nous nous demandons si l’on peut montrer que le vieillissement de la main-d’œuvre entraîne, ou entraînera, des pénuries de main-d’œuvre qualifiée au Canada. En tenant compte des difficultés que posent les tentatives de mesurer une pénurie de main-d’œuvre ou de compétences, nous examinons les études évaluées par des pairs qui ont été faites sur le sujet durant la période 2000–2013. On n’y trouve aucune preuve que le Canada connaîtra une pénurie de main-d’œuvre dans un avenir prévisible. En fait, on prévoit plutôt que la main-d’œuvre croîtra durant les deux prochaines décennies, et que les départs à la retraite entraîneront moins de baisses. Par ailleurs, des pénuries peuvent parfois se produire, dans certaines régions ou dans certains domaines de travail, tout comme des situations de sous-utilisation de compétences.
Pharmacokinetics and its role in small molecule drug discovery research

Pharmacokinetics (PK), which describes the disposition of a drug in the body, should be a primary consideration in the selection of a drug candidate, ultimately contributing to its eventual clinical success or failure. Accordingly, a sound understanding of PK concepts and an appreciation of the judicious use of PK and related (e.g., metabolism, transporter) data in drug discovery can be beneficial to those involved in the process. This review defines important PK parameters (e.g., clearance, volume of distribution, half‐life), describes methods of PK data analysis (noncompartmental vs. compartmental) and provides an overview of additional concepts such as allometric scaling, PK/pharmacodynamic modeling, and nonlinear PK. Furthermore, the role and strategic use of PK screens in drug discovery are discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Med Res Rev, 21, No. 5, 382–396, 2001
A reactive collision avoidance algorithm for nonholonomic vehicles

This paper presents a reactive collision avoidance algorithm for vehicles with unicycle-type nonholonomic constraints. Static and dynamic obstacles are avoided by keeping a constant avoidance angle to the obstacle. The algorithm compensates for the obstacle velocity, which can be time-varying. Conditions are derived under which successful collision avoidance is mathematically proved, and the theoretical results are supported by simulations. The proposed algorithm makes only limited sensing requirements of the vehicle. It is intuitive, has a low computational complexity and is suitable also for vehicles with a limited speed envelope or heavy linear acceleration constraints. This is demonstrated by applying the algorithm to a vehicle with a constant forward speed.
New Statistical Dimensions of Services in Britain

The neglect of the British service sector in statistics is partly re-ymedied here in unpublished extensions, available in computeryform, of published statistics. The Census of Employment nowyallows for disaggregation of workplace establishments by 15 size-ybands. Extracting the one million service sector units which ityidentifies in Britain reveals their great level of heterogeneity, withya median size offive employees, but with 1.6 million employed inyunits of 1000 or more workers. Geographically, the average sizeyof unit varies principally from urban to rural types of area. Theyanalysis of V A T registrations demonstrates both an urban-ruralyand a North-South divide in the increase of businesses from 1981yto 1989.
Marine Pharmacology in 2012–2013: Marine Compounds with Antibacterial, Antidiabetic, Antifungal, Anti-Inflammatory, Antiprotozoal, Antituberculosis, and Antiviral Activities; Affecting the Immune and Nervous Systems, and Other Miscellaneous Mechanisms of Action †

The peer-reviewed marine pharmacology literature from 2012 to 2013 was systematically reviewed, consistent with the 1998–2011 reviews of this series. Marine pharmacology research from 2012 to 2013, conducted by scientists from 42 countries in addition to the United States, reported findings on the preclinical pharmacology of 257 marine compounds. The preclinical pharmacology of compounds isolated from marine organisms revealed antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, antituberculosis, antiviral and anthelmitic pharmacological activities for 113 marine natural products. In addition, 75 marine compounds were reported to have antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory activities and affect the immune and nervous system. Finally, 69 marine compounds were shown to display miscellaneous mechanisms of action which could contribute to novel pharmacological classes. Thus, in 2012–2013, the preclinical marine natural product pharmacology pipeline provided novel pharmacology and lead compounds to the clinical marine pharmaceutical pipeline, and contributed significantly to potentially novel therapeutic approaches to several global disease categories.
Level of kidney function as a risk factor for cardiovascular outcomes in the elderly.

BACKGROUND There is a high prevalence of both reduced kidney function as well as cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the elderly. We evaluated whether the level of kidney function is an independent risk factor for CVD outcomes in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), a cohort of subjects whose age at baseline was 65 years old or older. METHODS Cox proportional-hazards regression was used to evaluate the association of predicted glomerular filtration rate (GFR) with CVD after adjustment for the major CVD risk factors. We searched for nonlinear relationships between GFR and CVD, as well as interactions between level of kidney function and major CVD risk factors on CVD. RESULTS A total of 4893 subjects with predicted GFR of 15 to 130 mL/min/1.73 m2 were included in the analysis. Fifty-six percent were female and the mean age was 73.4 years. Of the subjects, 549 (11.2%) died and 1229 (25.1%) experienced CVD events in 5.05 years of follow-up. Each 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 lower GFR was associated with an adjusted hazard ratio for CVD, de novo CVD, recurrent CVD and all-cause mortality of 1.05 (1.02, 1.09), 1.07 (1.01, 1.12), 1.04 (0.99, 1.09), and 1.06 (1.00, 1.12), respectively. There was no significant interaction between level of GFR and other traditional CVD risk factors on CVD outcomes. A linear model best described the relationship between GFR and CVD. CONCLUSION The level of GFR is an independent risk factor for CVD, de novo CVD, and all-cause mortality in the elderly.
Macroeconomic Stabilisation in the Eurozone: Lessons from Failure

Three forms of macroeconomic stabilisation in the eurozone are considered: national macroeconomic stabilisation, debt discipline and eurozone-wide macroeconomic stabilisation. The eurozone started with an architecture that ignored the first, which it hoped – despite advice to the contrary – would look after itself. This article explores what subsequently happened before the financial crisis, during the Great Recession and after 2010. It argues that the failure to address the issue of national macroeconomic stabilisation was a crucial factor behind what became an existential crisis for the eurozone. However, the crisis has a silver lining. The rationale behind union-wide controls to limit fiscal deficits (the SGP and now the Fiscal Compact) no longer exists. Since 2010 it has become clear that eurozone members face greater market discipline on fiscal deficits than do countries with their own currency. As a result, fiscal controls and institutions to support them can and should reside at the national level, and can therefore focus on national stabilisation as well as the more long-term control of government debt. It is argued that this alternative to the current architecture is both more feasible and more desirable than a move towards fiscal union.
Food Security, Urbanization and Social Stability in China

Chinese development in both the planned economy and reform periods was determined within narrow constraints of food security, agricultural productivity and social organization of production. The reforms and their effects, most prominently rapid urbanization while ensuring food security also caused the loss of cultivable land to agriculture, environmental decline, and new dietary demands on food production. The institutional trajectories and dynamics of these processes are explored in relation to global perspectives on China's global impact.
Robust Localized Multi-view Subspace Clustering

In multi-view clustering, different views may have different confidence levels when learning a consensus representation. Existing methods usually address this by assigning distinctive weights to different views. However, due to noisy nature of real-world applications, the confidence levels of samples in the same view may also vary. Thus considering a unified weight for a view may lead to suboptimal solutions. In this paper, we propose a novel localized multi-view subspace clustering model that considers the confidence levels of both views and samples. By assigning weight to each sample under each view properly, we can obtain a robust consensus representation via fusing the noiseless structures among views and samples. We further develop a regularizer on weight parameters based on the convex conjugacy theory, and samples weights are determined in an adaptive manner. An efficient iterative algorithm is developed with a convergence guarantee. Experimental results on four benchmarks demonstrate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed model.
Women's Experiences of Male Violence: Findings from the Australian component of the International Violence against women survey (IVAWS)

The International Violence Against Women Survey was conducted across Australia between December 2002 and June 2003. A total of 6677 women participated in the survey, and provided information on their experiences of physical and sexual violence. Jenny Mouzos and Toni Makkai describe the type of violence (including threats of violence) by current and former intimate male partners, other known males, such as relatives, friends and acquaintances, and strangers. They also examine women's reported experiences of childhood violence, as well as their perceptions and reactions to the violence they experienced.
The Reform of Teacher Education at the University of New Brunswick: Why and How?

In the fall of 2008, the Faculty of Education at the University of New Brunswick implemented its ‘new’ Bachelor of Education program. This was precipitated by a number of factors including pressure from the education community in New Brunswick, streamlining due to declining faculty numbers, and a drive to incorporate recommendations drawn from recent teacher education literature. Two of the changes made were: (a) the program is now completed in 1 year (formerly 2 years); (b) education students complete a one year practical component at the same time they complete their on campus components. The article concludes with some implications for faculty at other institutions who may be asking themselves – are they ready to make changes in their programs?
Climate change and tourism in Northwestern Europe: impacts and adaptation

Each summer millions of northern Europeans have historically escaped the unfavorable weather conditions in their countries in search of the traditional "sun, sand, and sea" vacation in the Mediterranean region. Climate change may alter this longstanding tourism flow, however. Based on combination of a series of scientific climate change scenarios with the Tourism Climatic Index (TCI), a method of evaluating a location's climate for general tourism activity, this article examines projected changes in climatic suitability for tourism in northwestern Europe. Under all the scenarios considered, peak season conditions throughout northwestern Europe are projected to improve over the course of the coming century. In addition, the length of the peak season is also projected to increase in many regions, encompassing not only summer, but extending also into spring and autumn. Our findings suggest that projected climate change could considerably enhance northwestern Europe's competitive advantage relative to the Mediterranean in the summer season. Such shifts in climatic suitability could potentially have substantial impacts on the volumes, spatial distributions, and timing of travel within and to Europe. Together, these alterations to tourism activity have profound implications for the operation of the European tourism industry, from the planning, location, and development of new accommodations, transportation routes, and attractions, to the staffing and operation of existing enterprises. As discussed further in the article, the ability of tourism businesses to successfully adapt to these new conditions is likely to depend heavily on their recognition of climate change as an issue (i.e., the adoption of a proactive rather than reactive stance); to their organizational flexibility; and to the mobility of their capital investments.
Designing and Building of a Hong Lou Meng Chinese-English Parallel Corpus and its Web-Based Query System

In this paper, an introduction of the designing and building of a Hong Lou Meng Chinese-English parallel corpus and its web-based query system was given in the first place and then the algorithms in the construction of the parallel corpus which contained one source text in Chinese and three target texts in English were analyzed in detail. As an indispensable step in the establishment of the parallel corpus and its web-based query system, database building was investigated elaborately. The building of this Chinese-English parallel corpus and its web-based query system was believed to eventually facilitate translation studies and other relevant linguistic and cultural disciplines on a systematical and comprehensive level.
Adverse effects of the common treatments for polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

CONTEXT Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is common among women of childbearing age and the available pharmacological therapies have different side-effect profiles. OBJECTIVE We summarized the evidence about the side effects of oral contraceptive pills, metformin, and anti-androgens in women with PCOS. DATA SOURCE Sources included Ovid Medline, OVID EMBASE, OVID Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycInfo, and CINAHL from inception through April 2011. STUDY SELECTION We included comparative observational studies enrolling women with PCOS who received the agents of choice for at least 6 months and reported adverse effects. DATA EXTRACTION Using a standardized, piloted, and Web-based data extraction form and working in duplicate, we abstracted data from each study and performed meta-analysis when possible. DATA SYNTHESIS We found 22 eligible studies of which 20 were randomized. No study reported severe side effects (eg, lactic acidosis, thromboembolic episodes, liver toxicity, cancer incidence, or pregnancy loss). Meta-analysis demonstrated no significant change in weight in oral contraceptive pills or flutamide users. Indirect evidence from populations without PCOS demonstrated no increased risk of lactic acidosis with metformin, only case reports of liver toxicity with flutamide (no comparative evidence), and increased relative risk difference of venous thromboembolism with oral contraceptive pills but very low absolute risk. Evidence on mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and cancer was inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS Drugs commonly used to treat PCOS appear to be associated with very low risk of severe adverse effects although data are extrapolated from other populations.
Developing a Typology for Understanding Visiting Friends and Relatives Markets

This study seeks to classify visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel and to explore the linkage between VFR travel types and commercial tourism in an empirical study. The VFR phenomenon is multifaceted, making it hard to integrate research findings. This article proposes an initial typology of VFR travel and positions the major existing studies within this typology. Using data from Queensland, Australia, an examination is made of the relationships between the proposed variables and VFR travel and behavior patterns. The data set gave the researchers the ability to identify VFR as either a prime trip motive or one of a set of activities or regional attractions. The study provides an activities-based segmentation of this type of VFR traveler and attempts to connect different segments to both travel patterns and the variables in the proposed typology.
THE FTAA AS A THREE-LEVEL BARGAINING GAME*

This paper applies Putnam's (1993) seminal work on negotiations as a two level game, to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations process. The paper compares the domestic ratification processes with the existing web of regional and bilateral trade agreements for insights into the relative bargaining strength and key issues for the most important economies in the hemisphere: the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. This paper delivers important insights into how the existing international and domestic legal and political context will affect the dynamic shape of FTAA negotiations, with the aim of finding strategies by which Latin American countries (LACs) can maximize their bargaining power.
The impact of integrating enterprise resource planning systems with business intelligence systems on decision-making performance: an empirical study of the semiconductor industry

There is currently a trend for companies to invest in business intelligence (BI) systems and integrate them with their original enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in order to enhance their management decision-making capability. Even though, much attention has been paid to decision-making benefits of integrated systems in practice, limited academic research has investigated the issue of decision-making improvement. Therefore, the motivation for this paper is to examine the impact of integrated ERP and BI (abbreviated as ERPBI) systems on decision making performance (DMP) and introduce a comprehensive measurement instrument for assessing that impact. A survey was conducted involving 108 companies in the semiconductor industry in Taiwan. The results of the survey indicate firstly, that ERPBI system usage in organisations is positively related to DMP. Secondly, organisations using ERPBI systems achieve higher levels of decision-making performance compared to organisations which only use ERP systems.
ACTIVE CONTROL OF QUARTER-CAR SUSPENSION SYSTEM USING LINEAR QUADRATIC REGULATOR

The automobile is composed of many systems. One of these is the suspension system. The main functions of the automotive suspension system are to provide vehicle support, stability and directional control during handling manoeuvres and to provide effective isolation from road disturbances. The suspension system has to balance the tradeoff between ride comfort and handling performance. This paper analyses the passive suspension system and active suspension system using a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controller. A linear quarter-car model is used for the analysis and simulation. The performance of the LQR controller is compared with the passive suspension system. The simulation results show that the LQR controller improves vehicle ride comfort.
Corporate helix model: the industry and triple helix networks

A different type of university-industry-government relations took place in South Korea. In the triple helix model the entrepreneurial university becomes a key element of the innovation system. However, most universities in the world would not be autonomous in this network relationship. This paper proposes "The Corporate Helix Model", in which the university is established or acquired and transformed into the corporate/entrepreneurial university by the corporation prior to playing as an independent player in the triple network relationship. The model is postulated by a case study of establishment of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) by Pohang Steel Company (POSCO).