Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differentiation of slowly growing Mycobacterium species, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, by gene amplification and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis

A two-step assay combining a gene amplification step and a restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was developed to differentiate the Mycobacterium species that account for greater than 90% of potentially pathogenic isolates and greater than 86% of all isolates in clinical laboratories in the United States. These species are M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. avium, M. intracellulare, M. kansasii, and M. gordonae. With lysates of pure cultures as the template, two oligonucleotide primers that amplified an approximately 1,380-bp portion of the hsp65 gene from all 139 strains of 19 Mycobacterium species tested, but not from the 19 non-Mycobacterium species tested, were identified. Digestion of the amplicons from 126 strains of the six most commonly isolated Mycobacterium species with the restriction enzymes BstNI and XhoI in separate reactions generated restriction fragment patterns that were distinctive for each of these species, except for those of M. tuberculosis and M. bovis, which were not distinguishable. By including size standards in each sample, the restriction fragment profiles could be normalized to a fixed distance and the similarities of patterns could be calculated by using a computer-aided comparison program. The availability of this data base should enable the identification of an unknown Mycobacterium strain to the species level by a comparison of the restriction fragment pattern of the unknown with the data base of known patterns.
Prospective study of the incidence and complications of bacterial contamination of enteral feeding in neonates.

PURPOSE The goal of this study was to determine incidence of, and complications resulting from, bacterial contamination of enteral feedings in neonates. METHODS A prospective study of 50 tube-fed neonates was conducted. Infants were bolus fed via an open gravity drained system; demographic and clinical data were gathered. The lumen of the tube was cultured quantitatively after 7 days. All organisms were isolated, identified, frozen, and stored to correlate with clinical cultures. RESULTS The 50 neonates were fed for a mean of 17.6 days each and represent 125 patient weeks (1 tube per patient per week). A total of 71 of 125 tubes were "contaminated" (>1,000 colony forming units [CFU]/mL), with a mean 908,173 CFU and 3 different bacteria types. Among formula-fed infants, feeding intolerance occurred in 24 of 32 weeks with contaminated tubes versus 0 of 44 weeks with noncontaminated tubes (P <.05). Contamination occurred in 41 of 48 weeks in patients on H2 antagonists versus 32 of 66 weeks in patients with normal gastric acidity (P <.05). Necrotizing enterocolitis developed in 7 patients; all were fed formula contaminated with greater than 100,000 CFU/mL of Gram-negative bacteria. Four required operation; intraoperative cultures found the same organism as cultured previously in the tube in all 4 infants. CONCLUSION Bacterial contamination of enteral feeding occurs frequently, causes significant feeding intolerance, and may contribute to NEC.
A Proposal for an ISO Standard for Public Key Encryption

This document should be viewed less as a first draft of a standard for public-key encryption, and more as a proposal for what such a draft standard should contain. It is hoped that this proposal will serve as a basis for discussion, from which a consensus for a standard may be formed. Summary of Changes from version 1.1 (February 13, 2001) to version 2.0 (September 17, 2001) • Some new and quite severe criticisms of the security of ECIES in certain modes of operation have been added. Specifically, it is shown that in certain modes of operation, the scheme is malleable in a very strong and quite non-trivial sense. See §15 and in particular §15.6. 4. • The implementation of “cofactor mode” for ECIES is now based on the notion of “compatible cofactor mode” in IEEE P1363a, and the “old cofactor mode” is no longer recommended. See §15 as well as §15.6. 5. • A new “primitive” called a data encapsulation mechanism has been introduced (see §4). This primitive was implicit in previous versions, but now it has been made explicit. This is mainly just a conceptual change. Note, however, that there is one slight change in the recommended implementation of the primitive (which we call DEM1); namely, the way in which the length of the label is formatted when passed to the MAC. This is done so as to align with IEEE P1363a. This change affects ECIES, as well as other hybrid schemes. See §10. • A new section has been added that details all the differences between our recommended version of ECIES and that recommended in the IEEE P1363a standard. Note that our recommended version of ECIES is consistent with the IEEE P1363a version — the only differences between the two are that our recommended version does not allow several options and modes of operations allowed by the IEEE P1363a version. See §15.6. • Two changes were made to ACE-KEM (formerly ACE-Encrypt ′). First, the value of v is now encoded in the ciphertext using the group encoding function, rather than the partial encoding function as in previous versions. This was done mainly for aesthetic reasons. Second, the implementation of “cofactor mode” has been changed to align with the IEEE P1363a notion of “compatible cofactor mode. ” See §17. • It is now recommended that all Diffie-Hellman-based schemes use prime order subgroups. This is done mainly for alignment with other standards, as well overall consistency. • Following discussions in Santa Barbara, this report now recommends inclusion of EPOC-2 in the standard, although this report does not yet include a detailed specification of EPOC-2. • A new final section has been added that recommends the next steps to be taken toward an ISO standard. See §21. • A number of names have been changed. Some of these name changes were suggested by working group members, while others were made to increase overall consistency. old name new name ECIES ′ ECIES-KEM PSEC-2 ′ PSEC-KEM ACE-Encrypt ′ ACE-KEM Simple RSA RSA-KEM EME-OAEP OAEP-EME XEME-OAEP+ OAEP+XEME • A number of other, essentially aesthetic, changes.
Norms, Institutions, and National Identity in Contemporary Europe

The constructivist study of norms faces two central challenges—reintegrating agency into its largely structural accounts and unpacking its arguments at the national level. This article addresses these issues, and does so in four parts. First, I briefly review the burgeoning constructivist literature, exploring the ontological and theoretical reasons for its neglect of agency. Second, by adding social content to the concept of diffusion, the transmission mechanism linking international norms to domestic change, I explain the motivation of domestic actors to accept new normative prescriptions, thus making a start at restoring agency to constructivist accounts. Third, I argue these key actors will vary cross-nationally as a function of state-society relations (“domestic structure”). Fourth, the argument is applied to the politics of national identity in post—Cold War Europe. In particular, I examine the degree to which international norms are affecting debates over citizenship and national minorities in contemporary Germany, with empirical data drawn from the European human rights regime centered on the Council of Europe.
Sensation seeking as a moderator of the processing of anti‐heroin PSAs

Anti‐drug media campaigns have changed the drug‐consumption behaviors of high sensation seekers in part through a campaign strategy called SENTAR. This strategy relies largely on high sensation value messages, which contain structural and content features that elicit sensory, affective, and arousal responses. To learn more about the persuasiveness of high sensation value ads, this investigation focused on the processing of anti‐heroin PSAs by 200 young adults. Of specific interest was the influence of perceived message sensation value on three types of processing (argument‐based, narrative, and sensory), two affect variables (sympathetic distress and stimulated excitation), and anti‐heroin attitudes. Sensation seeking was examined as a moderator of these effects. In general, sensation seeking moderated the effects of perceived message sensation value and sensory processing on sympathetic distress and anti‐heroin attitudes. Additionally, high sensation seekers’ anti‐heroin attitudes were largely influenced by narrative and sensory processing, while low sensation seekers’ anti‐heroin attitudes were relatively unaffected by the anti‐heroin ads.
Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Prostate Cancer Incidence

While early studies demonstrated a positive association between testosterone and prostate cancer, evidence on the nature of the relationship has evolved with time and newer data. Studies examining links between baseline testosterone levels as well as testosterone therapy and incident prostate cancer, reveal a more complex relationship. Moreover, investigators have reported their initial experiences with supplementing testosterone in men with a history of both treated and untreated prostate cancer.
Genetic Polymorphisms in the Apoptosis-Associated Gene CASP3 and the Risk of Lung Cancer in Chinese Population

Caspase-3 (CASP3) plays a central role in executing cell apoptosis and thus in carcinogenesis. We previously investigated the relationship between functional polymorphisms in CAPS3 829 A>C and 20541 C>T and risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. However little is known about the role of CASP3 variants in susceptibility to lung cancer. To figure out the contribution of CASP3 polymorphisms to lung cancer risk, genotypes of 1000 lung cancer patients and 1000 controls were conducted by RFLP-PCR (restriction fragment length polymorphism PCR). The transcriptional activity of CASP3 829 A>C was examined by dual luciferase reporter assay. Logistic regression was applied to calculate Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Compared with CASP3 829 AA genotype, AC and CC genotype had significantly increased risk of lung cancer with OR (95% CI) of 1.33 (1.09–1.63) and 1.55 (1.19–2.01), respectively. To further explore the possible impact of 829 A>C SNP on CASP3 transcriptional activity, we detected the dual luciferase activity of PGL3-promoter vectors containing 829A or 829C alleles in lung cancer cell lines and found that report gene expressions driven by 829A containing CASP3 promoter were 1.64-fold, 1.94-fold greater than those driven by CASP3 829C containing counterparts in A549 and NCI-H1975 cells (P<0.001). When stratified by sex, the significantly increased risk associated with CASP3 829 AC or CC genotype was obviousl in males with OR (95% CI) of 1.42 (1.11–1.81) and 1.51 (1.11–2.05), but not in females. When stratified by age, we found that CASP3 829 AC or CC genotype contributed to the risk of lung cancer in youngers with OR (95% CI) of 2.73 (1.71–4.34) and 4.02 (2.20–7.32), but not in elder group. We also found that 829AC or 829CC genotype increased adenocarcinoma risk compared with the AA genotype with OR (95%CI) of 1.33 (1.04–1.70) and 1.51(1.09–2.07). CASP3 polymorphism and smoking interaction was demonstrated related with higher risk of lung cancer. We achieved that the CASP3 829AC or 829CC genotypes was associated with increased risk of lung cancer in both non-smoker and smoker group, with OR (95%CI) of 1.48 (1.08–2.02) and OR (95%CI) of 1.64 (1.09–2.48) among non-smokers and OR (95%CI) of 2.68 (1.89–3.81) and OR (95%CI) of 3.23 (2.21–4.92) among smokers, respectively. Among carriers with 20541CT genotype, the ORs (95%CI) of risk with lung cancer for smoking <16, 16–28, or > 28 pack-years were 1.16(0.65–2.07), 1.66(0.98–2.82) and 5.01(3.31–7.58) compared with the 20541CC carriers. And among carriers with 20541CT genotype, the ORs (95%CI) were 0.86(0.33–2.20), 2.12(0.83–5.41) and 5.71(2.68–12.16). These results highlight apoptosis-related CASP3 as an important gene in human carcinogenesis and further support the CASP3 polymorphisms confer to the lung cancer susceptibility.
THE IMPACT OF FLEXIBLE BENEFITS ON EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION: A FIELD STUDY

This study examines the attitudes of 110 employees of a financial service organization before and after the introduction of a flexible benefit plan. A large, statistically significant increase in benefit satisfaction was observed following implementation, as was a smaller significant increase in overall satisfaction. Employee understanding of the benefit package also increased significantly. No significant relationships were found between demographic characteristics and responses to the flexible plan. Potential confounds due to the complexity of the intervention are discussed. Future research is called for to examine the processes through which flexible benefits impact worker reactions and to examine the impact of flexible benefits on behavioral responses such as attraction and retention.
Indications of the Protective Role of Natural Killer Cells in Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in an Area of Endemicity

ABSTRACT The role of natural versus acquired immunity to Leishmania aethiopica infection in humans is the focus of our studies. We found in previous studies that mononuclear cells from nonexposed healthy Swedish donors responded to Leishmania antigen stimulation by proliferation and gamma interferon production. The main cell type responding was CD3− CD16/56+ natural killer (NK) cells. These findings led us to suggest that the potential to produce a rapid, nonacquired NK cell response may be a protective phenotype. In order to test this hypothesis, an area in Ethiopia whereLeishmania is endemic was selected, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained from individuals who had lived in the area most of their lives but had no evidence of past or present leishmaniasis. Their responses were compared with those of confirmed leishmaniasis patients from the same region with active lesions or cured leishmaniasis lesions. Cells from these donors were stimulated in vitro with L. aethiopica antigen. Responses were measured by proliferation, cytokine production, and phenotype analysis by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. The association ofNRAMP1 alleles with the studied phenotype and susceptibility to L. aethiopica-induced leishmaniasis was also evaluated. The results show that Leishmania antigens can induce NK cell and CD8+-T-cell responses in vitro. This is clearly seen in proliferating cells from the cured (immune) individuals and the apparently protected controls from the area of endemicity. It contrasted with the reactivity of the patients, where some NK proliferation was coupled with enhanced CD4+-T-cell proliferation. We conclude from these observations that NK cells and CD8+ cells proliferating in response toLeishmania stimulation are involved in protection from and healing of (Ethiopian) cutaneous leishmaniasis; however, such mechanisms appear to be unrelated to the NRAMP1 host resistance gene.
Mechanisms of desmosome assembly and disassembly

Summary In skin, desmosomes constitute critical adhesion complexes between adjacent keratinocytes that help maintain an intact epidermis. However, individual keratinocytes need to migrate and differentiate and therefore desmosomes must have an inherent dynamic capacity to assemble and disassemble. This review highlights the role of the different structural junctional components involved in desmosome formation and turnover, as well as the possible signalling processes and pathways that may be implicated in desmosome homeostasis. Clues to the intricate nature of desmosome assembly and disassembly have been derived from human inherited and acquired blistering skin diseases as well as animal models and basic cell biology studies. The key implications for understanding desmosome dynamics from these findings are summarized in this review.
Who Is Qualified To Teach Citizenship?

Among the oldest objectives of the American educational system is the teach ing of citizenship. Only occasionally do we find an institution plunging boldly into uncharted seas in pursuit of this ob jective. Mr. Biddle, Director, Program of Community Dynamics, Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, describes here a plan which is exciting the enthusiasm of a growing number of students-and college staff members.
Buried Silicon-Germanium pMOSFETs: Experimental Analysis in VLSI Logic Circuits Under Aggressive Voltage Scaling

In this paper, the potential of Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) technology for VLSI logic applications is investigated from a circuit perspective for the first time. The study is based on experimental measurements on 45-nm SiGe pMOSFETs with a high- κ/metal gate stack, as well as on 45-nm Si pMOSFETs with identical gate stack for comparison. In the reference SiGe technology, an innovative technological solution is adopted that limits the SiGe material only to the channel region. The resulting SiGe device merges the higher speed of the Ge technology with the lower leakage of the Si technology. Appropriate circuit- and system-level metrics are introduced to identify the advantages offered by SiGe technology in VLSI circuits. Analysis is performed in the context of next-generation VLSI circuits that fully exploit circuit- and system-level techniques to improve the energy efficiency through aggressive voltage scaling, other than low-leakage techniques. Analysis shows that the SiGe technology has more efficient leakage-delay and dynamic energy-delay trade-offs at nominal supply, compared to Si technology. Moreover, it is shown that the traditional analysis performed at nominal supply actually underestimates the benefits of SiGe pMOSFETs, since the speed advantage of SiGe VLSI circuits is further emphasized at low voltages. This demonstrates that SiGe VLSI circuits benefit from aggressive voltage scaling significantly more than Si circuits, thereby making SiGe devices a very promising alternative to Si transistors in next-generation VLSI systems.
A Live-Attenuated Pseudomonas aeruginosa Vaccine Elicits Outer Membrane Protein-Specific Active and Passive Protection against Corneal Infection

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause sight-threatening corneal infections in humans, particularly those who wear contact lenses. We have previously shown that a live-attenuated P. aeruginosa vaccine given intranasally protected mice against acute lethal pneumonia in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) serogroup-specific manner. In the current study, we evaluated the protective and therapeutic efficacies, as well as the target antigens, of this vaccine in a murine corneal infection model. C3H/HeN mice were nasally immunized with the vaccine (an aroA deletion mutant of strain PAO1, designated PAO1ΔaroA) or with Escherichia coli as a control and were challenged 3 weeks later by inoculating the scratch-injured cornea with P. aeruginosa. For passive prophylaxis and therapy, we utilized a serum raised in rabbits nasally immunized with PAO1ΔaroA or E. coli. Outcome measures included corneal pathology scores and, in some experiments, reductions in total and internalized bacterial CFU. We found that both active and passive immunization reduced corneal pathology scores after challenge with a variety of P. aeruginosa strains, including several serogroup-heterologous strains. Even when given therapeutically starting as late as 24 h after infection, the rabbit antiserum to PAO1ΔaroA was effective at reducing corneal pathology scores. Immunotherapy of established infections also reduced the numbers of total and internalized corneal P. aeruginosa bacteria. Experiments using absorbed sera showed that the protective antibodies are specific to outer membrane proteins. Thus, live-attenuated P. aeruginosa vaccines delivered nasally protect against corneal infections in mice and potentially can be used to prepare passive therapy reagents for the treatment of established P. aeruginosa corneal infections caused by diverse LPS serogroups.
Surgical Management of the Newborn with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

Despite advances in the surgical treatment and medical management over the last 20 years, neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) remain one of the most challenging patient groups for all clinicians. Treatment strategies have shifted from emergent surgical repair and maximum ventilatory support to delayed repair and preoperative hemodynamic stabilization with lung-sparing ventilation strategies and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Subsequently, overall survival has improved to as high as 80% in some centers. However, specific treatment criteria are vague and highly variable amongst centers. This lack of consensus of these treatment modalities remains elusive due to the heterogeneity in disease severity as well as heterogeneity in patient care amongst centers. As a result of the rare incidence of disease and limited experience of individual centers, the evidence for CDH is typically reported as a homogenous disease largely supported by case series and networked-based studies. To better evaluate the data and compare treatment strategies, a classification and stratification of disease and centers is needed.
Experienced and Novice Teachers’ Concepts of Spatial Scale

Scale is one of the thematic threads that runs through nearly all of the sciences and is considered one of the major prevailing ideas of science. This study explored novice and experienced teachers’ concepts of spatial scale with a focus on linear sizes from very small (nanoscale) to very large (cosmic scale). Novice teachers included undergraduates in science teacher education and students enrolled in a Masters of Arts in Science Teaching Program. Experienced teachers included students enrolled in a Master of Science Program. Participants’ knowledge of conceptual categories of size, scale accuracy, and experiences learning scale were assessed. Results showed both experienced and novice teachers were most accurate in their knowledge of human scale (1 m or body length) and both groups were more accurate with large scale than small scale. Experienced teachers held more accurate concepts of small‐scale measurements such as the nanometre than novice teachers. There was evidence that being able to directly experience objects and distances influenced concepts of size and scale. The role of in‐school and out‐of‐school experiences in developing concepts of scale is discussed.