Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Turning the tide or riding the waves? Impacts of antibiotic stewardship and infection control on MRSA strain dynamics in a Scottish region over 16 years: non-linear time series analysis

Objectives To explore temporal associations between planned antibiotic stewardship and infection control interventions and the molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Design Retrospective ecological study and time-series analysis integrating typing data from the Scottish MRSA reference laboratory. Setting Regional hospital and primary care in a Scottish Health Board. Participants General adult (N=1 051 993) or intensive care (18 235) admissions and primary care registrations (460 000 inhabitants) between January 1997 and December 2012. Interventions Hand-hygiene campaign; MRSA admission screening; antibiotic stewardship limiting use of macrolides and ‘4Cs’ (cephalosporins, coamoxiclav, clindamycin and fluoroquinolones). Outcome measures Prevalence density of MRSA clonal complexes CC22, CC30 and CC5/Other in hospital (isolates/1000 occupied bed days, OBDs) and community (isolates/10 000 inhabitant-days). Results 67% of all clinical MRSA isolates (10 707/15 947) were typed. Regional MRSA population structure was dominated by hospital epidemic strains CC30, CC22 and CC45. Following declines in overall MRSA prevalence density, CC5 and other strains of community origin became increasingly important. Reductions in use of ‘4Cs’ and macrolides anticipated declines in sublineages with higher levels of associated resistances. In multivariate time-series models (R2=0.63–0.94) introduction of the hand-hygiene campaign, reductions in mean length of stay (when >4 days) and bed occupancy (when >74 to 78%) predicted declines in CC22 and CC30, but not CC5/other strains. Lower importation pressures, expanded MRSA admission screening, and reductions in macrolide and third generation cephalosporin use (thresholds for association: 135–141, and 48–81 defined daily doses/1000 OBDs, respectively) were followed by declines in all clonal complexes. Strain-specific associations with fluoroquinolones and clindamycin reflected resistance phenotypes of clonal complexes. Conclusions Infection control measures and changes in population antibiotic use were important predictors of MRSA strain dynamics in our region. Strategies to control MRSA should consider thresholds for effects and strain-specific impacts.
Color image segmentation using edge detection and seeded region growing approach for CIELab and HSV color spaces

Image segmentation is one of the important tasks in image processing. The paper presents a simple and efficient method for segmentation of color images. Segmentation is performed for CIELab and HSV color spaces. The paper presents an integrated approach which uses edge detection and region growing for segmentation of color image. The proposed method involves automatic seed selection based on edge information. According to the selected seed pixels, region growing based on color similarity and connectivity of pixels is performed. This process is followed by region merging based on similarity and size to reduce over-segmentation. The proposed method provides efficient and effective results for many color images.
Higgs bosons at the Fermilab Tevatron.

We study the production and detection of the standard-model Higgs boson at the Fermilab Tevatron. The most promising mode is [ital WH] and [ital ZH] associated production followed by leptonic decay of the weak vector bosons and [ital H][r arrow][ital b[bar b]]. It may be possible to detect a Higgs boson of mass [ital m][sub [ital H]]=60--80 GeV with 1000 pb[sup [minus]1] of integrated luminosity. We also study the signature for a nonstandard bosonic'' Higgs boson whose dominant decay is to two photons. A signal is easily established with 100 pb[sup [minus]1] in the [ital WH] and [ital ZH] channels, with the weak vector bosons decaying leptonically or hadronically, up to [ital m][sub [ital H]]=100 GeV.
Nucleotide-promoted Release of hMutSα from Heteroduplex DNA Is Consistent with an ATP-dependent Translocation Mechanism*

ATP hydrolysis by bacterial and eukaryotic MutS activities is required for their function in mismatch correction, and two different models for the role of ATP in MutS function have been proposed. In the translocation model, based on study of bacterial MutS, ATP binding reduces affinity of the protein for a mismatch and activates secondary DNA binding sites that are subsequently used for movement of the protein along the helix contour in a reaction dependent on nucleotide hydrolysis (Allen, D. J., Makhov, A., Grilley, M., Taylor, J., Thresher, R., Modrich, P., and Griffith, J. D. (1997)EMBO J. 16, 4467–4476). The molecular switch model, based on study of human MutSα, invokes mismatch recognition by the MutSα·ADP complex. After recruitment of downstream repair activities to the MutSα·mismatch complex, ATP binding results in release of MutSα from the heteroduplex (Gradia, S., Acharya, S., and Fishel, R.(1997) Cell 91, 995–1005). To further clarify the function of ATP binding and hydrolysis in human MutSα action, we evaluated the effects of ATP, ADP, and nonhydrolyzable ATP analogs on the lifetime of protein·DNA complexes. All of these nucleotides were found to increase the rate of dissociation of MutSα from oligonucleotide heteroduplexes. These experiments also showed that ADP is not required for mismatch recognition by MutSα, but that the nucleotide alters the dynamics of formation and dissociation of specific complexes. Analysis of the mechanism of ATP-promoted dissociation of MutSα from a 200-base pair heteroduplex demonstrated that dissociation occurs at DNA ends in a reaction dependent on ATP hydrolysis, implying that release from this molecule involves movement of the protein along the helix contour as predicted for a translocation mechanism. In order to reconcile the relatively large rate of movement of MutS homologs along the helix with their modest rate of ATP hydrolysis, we propose a novel mechanism for protein translocation along DNA that supports directional movement over long distances with minimal energy input.
Increasing use of gonadotropin‐releasing hormone agonists for the treatment of localized prostate carcinoma

The role of androgen deprivation therapy in prostate carcinoma is controversial in earlier stages of disease. The authors examined the time trends and patterns of use for androgen deprivation in the form of gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists or orchiectomy, in population‐based tumor registries.
Single-dose cefuroxime axetil versus multiple-dose cefaclor in the treatment of acute urinary tract infections

Eighty-nine college women with acute urinary tract infections were treated orally with either 1,000 mg of cefuroxime axetil in a single dose (n = 59) or 250 mg of cefaclor three times a day for 7 days (n = 30). At 1 week posttherapy, 88% of the patients in the cefuroxime axetil group and 97% in the cefaclor group were clinically and bacteriologically cured (P greater than 0.10). There was no statistically significant difference between the cure rates of the two treatment groups. However, this study has only a 50% power to detect a 10% difference. Therefore, there is a substantial possibility of a type II error, i.e., failing to find a difference that is actually present. At 4 weeks posttherapy, 78% of the patients in the cefuroxime group and 80% in the cefaclor group remained cured. By 36 weeks posttherapy, the cumulative rate of recurrence in both treatment groups was 60%. Of the patients with a positive antibody-coated bacteria test, fewer achieved a short-term cure after single-dose treatment with cefuroxime axetil than those with a negative antibody-coated bacteria test (67 versus 96%; P less than 0.01).
Quality of Life of Formerly Preterm and Very Low Birth Weight Infants From Preschool Age to Adulthood: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE. The goal of this systematic review was to synthesize studies that examined the health-related quality of life of preschool- and school-aged children, adolescents, and young adults who were born preterm and/or at very low birth weight. METHODS. We searched 7 databases up to September 2006 (Medline, PubMed, Embase, EBM Reviews, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and the Educational Resource Information Center) as well as gray literature sources. We independently screened studies and included them only if a quality-of-life outcome measure was used and findings compared preterm, very low birth weight, or extremely low birth weight infants with term or normal birth weight peers. We independently assessed the methodologic quality of each study by using criteria adapted from the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. RESULTS. Fifteen cohort or cross-sectional studies met the review criteria. In 6 studies of preschool-aged children, differences were found between study and control groups, suggesting that many preschool children born preterm or at very low birth weight perform more poorly than their peers in physical, emotional, and/or social functioning. Extremely low birth weight school-aged children had lower health utility scores compared with their peers, and similar results were found for adolescents. Parents of preterm and very low birth weight teens noted significantly poorer performance in their child's global health, behavior, and physical functioning, whereas the teenagers themselves did not. In young adulthood, differences in physical functioning remained, but subjective quality of life was similar to normal birth weight peers. CONCLUSIONS. The effects of preterm birth/very low birth weight on health-related quality of life seem to diminish over time, which possibly reflects issues related to a child's report versus a parent-proxy report, differing definitions of health-related quality of life, and adaptation of individuals over time, versus true change in health-related quality of life.
The Relative Contributions of MRI, SPECT, and PET Imaging in Epilepsy

Summary: Functional and structural neuroimaging techniques are increasingly indispensable in the evaluation of epileptic patients for localization of the epileptic area as well as for understanding pathophysiology, propagation, and neurochemical correlates of chronic epilepsy. Although interictal single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging of cerebral blood flow is only moderately sensitive, ictal SPECT markedly improves yield. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of interictal cerebral metabolism is more sensitive than measurement of blood flow in temporal lobe epilepsy. Furthermore, PET has greater spatial resolution and versatility in that multiple tracers can image various aspects of cerebral function. Interpretation of all types of functional imaging studies is difficult and requires knowledge of time of most recent seizure activity and structural correlates. Only magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can image the structural changes associated with the underlying epileptic process, and quantitative evidence of hippocampal volume loss has been highly correlated with seizure onset in medial temporal structures. Improved resolution and interpretation have made quantitative MRI more sensitive in temporal lobe epilepsy, as judged by pathology. When judged by electroencephalography (EEG), ictal SPECT and interictal PET have the highest sensitivity and specificity for temporal lobe epilepsy; these neuroimaging techniques have lower sensitivity and higher specificity for extratemporal EEG abnormalities. Regardless of the presence of structural abnormalities, functional imaging by PET or SPECT provides complementary information. Ideally these techniques should be used and interpreted together to improve the localization and understanding of epileptic brain.
Ion Homeostasis in NaCl Stress Environments

Homeostasis can be defined as the tendency of a cell or an organism to maintain internal steady state, even in response to any environmental perturbation or stimulus tending to disturb normality, because of the coordinate responses of its constituent components. Typically, ions constantly flux in and out of cells in a controlled fashion with net flux adjusted to accommodate cellular requirements, thus creating an ionic homeostasis. When plant cells are exposed to salinity, mediated by high NaCl concentrations, kinetic steady states of ion transport for Na+ and Cland other ions, such as K+ and Ca2+, are disturbed (Binzel et al., 1988). High apoplastic levels of Na+ and Clalter aqueous and ionic thermodynamic equilibria, resulting in hyperosmotic stress, ionic imbalance, and toxicity. Thus, it is vital for the plant to re-establish cellular ion homeostasis for metabolic functioning and growth, that is, to adapt to the saline environment. Comparisons of what have been interpreted to be adaptive responses among various species lead to the conclusion that some salt-tolerant plants have evolved specialized complex mechanisms that allow adaptation to saline stress conditions. In fact, these unique mechanisms, such as salt glands, exist in few plant species and cannot be presumed to be ubiquitously functional for salt adaptation of all plants. However, intrinsically cellular-based mechanisms appear to be common to all genotypes and are a requisite for salt tolerance. Of paramount importance are those mechanisms that function to regulate ion homeostasis while mediating osmotic adjustment through the accumulation and intracellular compartmentation of ions that are predominant in the external environment. In this update we will focus principally on Na+ homeostasis in sodic environments; however, we also include discussions of H+, K+, Ca2+, and Clbecause of the interrelationship of these ions with Na+ homeostasis. Ion transport processes across the plasma membrane and the tonoplast will be emphasized because these are presumed to be most essential for the control of intracellular Na+ uptake and vacuolar compartmentation.
Food Science of Animal Resources

The present study aimed at evaluating effects of traditional sauce type and storage time on shelf-life and flavor compounds of marinated pork cooked by Sous-Vide method. Five different traditional sauces (Meju soy sauce, Brewed soy sauce, Fish-soy sauce, Ishiru fish sauce and Anchovy fish sauce) purchased from Asian countries were used. After marination with the sauces, polyvinylchloride film bags containing the marinated pork samples were cooked using Sous-Vide method for 55°C for 5 h and 60°C for 30 min, and were then stored for 8 wk at 10°C. Results showed that the pork samples marinated with the sauces retarded the growth of total plate counts (TPC) during storage. At 8th wk storage, TPC counts were significantly lower in all samples marinated with the sauces compared to control (p<0.05). Lipid oxidation level was significantly lower in the T2 (Meju soy sauce) and T6 (Anchovy fish sauce) compared to those of T3 (Brewed soy sauce) and T5 (Ishiru fish sauce) or control after 8 wk storage (p>0.05). Forty volatile flavor compounds were detected from the control and marinated samples at 4th wk of storage. The pork marinated with Anchovy fish sauce presented significantly higher amounts of importantly pleasant flavor compounds such as; pyrazines and sulfurcontaining compounds than those marinated with other remaining sauces and control. It is concluded that the marination with Anchovy fish sauce partly improved the shelf-life and increased amounts of pleasant flavor compounds of Sous-Vide cooked pork products during storage in comparison to the other remaining sauces.
Controlling the beam scanning limits of a microstrip leaky-wave antenna

An electronically controlled half-width microstrip leaky-wave antenna (HW-MLWA) that can scan the main beam at a fixed frequency is presented. A technique is described to change the upper and lower limits of the beam direction without changing the scanning range itself. By varying the reactance profile at the free edge, the main beam of the proposed antenna can scan a range of 23° in discrete steps. There are 30 stubs positioned at the free edge of the antenna that gives the freedom to the designer to change the upper and lower scanning limits of the antenna without changing the scanning range itself.
Unfolded protein response‐induced ERdj3 secretion links ER stress to extracellular proteostasis

The Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) indirectly regulates extracellular proteostasis through transcriptional remodeling of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteostasis pathways. This remodeling attenuates secretion of misfolded, aggregation‐prone proteins during ER stress. Through these activities, the UPR has a critical role in preventing the extracellular protein aggregation associated with numerous human diseases. Here, we demonstrate that UPR activation also directly influences extracellular proteostasis through the upregulation and secretion of the ER HSP40 ERdj3/DNAJB11. Secreted ERdj3 binds misfolded proteins in the extracellular space, substoichiometrically inhibits protein aggregation, and attenuates proteotoxicity of disease‐associated toxic prion protein. Moreover, ERdj3 can co‐secrete with destabilized, aggregation‐prone proteins in a stable complex under conditions where ER chaperoning capacity is overwhelmed, preemptively providing extracellular chaperoning of proteotoxic misfolded proteins that evade ER quality control. This regulated co‐secretion of ERdj3 with misfolded clients directly links ER and extracellular proteostasis during conditions of ER stress. ERdj3 is, to our knowledge, the first metazoan chaperone whose secretion into the extracellular space is regulated by the UPR, revealing a new mechanism by which UPR activation regulates extracellular proteostasis.
Improving long-term outcome of major depression in primary care: the role of recurrence prevention

Depressie is een veel voorkomende psychische aandoening die sterk ingrijpt in iemands leven. Bovendien blijkt het vaak een chronische of terugkerende aandoening te zijn: veel mensen herstellen niet volledig van een depressie en naar schatting wordt ongeveer de helft van degenen die eenmaal depressief zijn geweest, dat vaker. Het is dus van belang behandelingen te vinden die dit patroon helpen doorbreken. Hiervoor is in deze studie een speciaal behandelprogramma dat gericht is op het voorkomen van terugval en nieuwe depressies op werkzaamheid onderzocht. Dit programma bestond uit een gestructureerde, psycho-educatieve zelfmanagement interventie ( met boek en video), waarin deelnemers in drie individuele bijeenkomsten met een preventiewerkster een persoonlijk Terugval Preventie Plan maakten. In de drie jaar daarna, hadden zij eens per drie maanden telefonische ‘vinger aan de pols’ gesprekken met deze preventiewerkster, over hun eventuele depressieve symptomen en gebruik van het Preventieplan. Omdat in Nederland de meerderheid van mensen met een depressie daarvoor door hun huisarts wordt behandeld, is deze studie uitgevoerd in de huisartspraktijk. In totaal hebben zo’n 55 huisartsen patienten die volgens hen depressief waren naar het project verwezen. Deze (267) patienten werden vervolgens ‘at random”, op basis van toeval, toegewezen aan een van de volgende 4 behandelingen: 1: Depressie Terugval Preventie (DTP)–Programma; 2: combinatie van het DTP programma met psychiatrische consultatie; 3: combinatie van het DTP met kortdurende cognitieve gedragstherapie; en 4: gebruikelijke huisartszorg. De belangrijkste conclusie is dat toevoeging van het preventie programma aan de gangbare huisartszorg voor depressie geen toegevoegde waarde had. Over de gehele onderzoeksperiode gekeken bleek namelijk dat de patientuitkomsten ongeveer hetzelfde waren voor alle deelnemers, ongeacht de behandeling die zij hadden ontvangen. Tweederde van deze patienten maakte binnen deze drie jaar een terugval of een volgende depressie mee.
Evaluating the Scaling of Graph-Algorithms for Big Data Using GraphX

Graph processing has achieved a lot of attention in different big data scenarios. In this paper, we present the design, implementation, and experimental evaluation of graph processing algorithms in two different application areas. First, we use semi-clustering as an example of an algorithm typically used social network analysis. Then, we examine an algorithm for collaborative filtering as typically used in E-Commerce scenarios. For both algorithms, we make use of Apache GraphX as an existing distributed graph processing framework based on Apache Spark. As GraphX does not include these two algorithms, we describe how to implement them using a combination of GraphX and the underlying Spark Core. Based on our implementation, we perform experiments to test the scalability of both the algorithms and the GraphX processing framework. The experiments show that different kinds of graph algorithms can be supported within the Spark framework. Furthermore, we show that for our test data the algorithms scale almost linearly when properly designed.
Griassdi: Mutually Assisted Slotless Neighbor Discovery

Recent results show that slotless, purely-interval based neighbor discovery protocols, in which time is assumed to be continuous, achieve significantly lower worst-case discovery latencies than time-slotted protocols. In slotted protocols, the discovery of device A by B and vice-versa occurs within the same slot, and hence the latencies for one-way and two-way discovery are identical.However, in purely interval-based protocols, these latencies are independent from each other, leading to longer mean latencies for two-way discovery. In this paper, we propose a cooperative approach to reduce this two-way discovery latency. In particular, each side broadcasts information on the time-period until its next reception phase takes place. The remote device adjusts its beacon schedule accordingly once a first packet is received. Compared to non-cooperative slotless protocols, this technique can reduce the two-way discovery latency by up to 43 %. We propose a theory to model such protocols and show that with an optimized schedule, our proposed protocol achieves considerably shorter mean latencies than all known protocols, while still guaranteeing worst-case latencies that are similar to the best known solutions. For example, compared to Searchlight-Striped, our proposed protocol achieves by up to 89 % lower mean latencies and by up to 86 % lower worst-case latencies.
Therapeutic Potential of IL-17-Mediated Signaling Pathway in Autoimmune Liver Diseases

Emerging evidence reveals that various cytokines and tissue microenvironments contribute to liver inflammation and autoimmunity, and IL-17 family is one of highlights acknowledged. Although the implication of IL-17 family in most common autoimmune diseases (such as psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, and rheumatoid arthritis) has been extensively characterized, the role of this critical family in pathophysiology of autoimmune liver diseases (AILD) still needs to be clarified. In the review, we look into the intriguing biology of IL-17 family and further dissect on the intricate role of IL-17-mediated pathway in AILD. Considering encouraging data from preclinical and clinical trials, IL-17 targeted therapy has shown promises in several certain autoimmune conditions. However, blocking IL-17-mediated pathway is just beginning, and more fully investigation and reflection are required. Taking together, targeting IL-17-mediated responses may open up new areas of potential clinical treatment for AILD.