Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus, Including Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Isolated from Bulk Tank Milk from Minnesota Dairy Farms

ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus is a common causative agent of bovine mastitis in dairy herds. The emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals as well as the community is a significant and costly public health concern. S. aureus-related bovine mastitis is a common reason for therapeutic and/or prophylactic use of antibiotics on dairy farms. In this study, herd prevalence of S. aureus, including MRSA, was estimated from bulk tank milk (BTM) from Minnesota farms. A total of 150 pooled BTM samples from 50 farms, collected over 3 seasons (spring, summer, and fall of 2009), were assessed. Herd prevalence of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) was 84%, while MRSA herd prevalence was 4%. A total of 93 MSSA isolates and 2 MRSA isolates were recovered from 150 BTM samples. Antibiotic susceptibility testing of S. aureus isolates showed pansusceptibility in 54 isolates, resistance to a single antibiotic class in 21 isolates, resistance to two antibiotic classes in 13 isolates, and resistance to ≥3 antibiotics classes and thus multidrug resistance in 5 isolates. The two MRSA isolates displayed resistance to β-lactams, cephalosporins, and lincosamides and were multiresistant. Staphylococcal protein A gene (spa) typing identified spa types t529 and t034 most frequently among methicillin-susceptible isolates, while t121 was observed in MRSA isolates. Seven isolates, including the two MRSA isolates, produced staphylococcal enterotoxins B, C, D, and E on overnight culture. MRSA isolates were further genotyped using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Of the 2 MRSA isolates, one had a composite genotype profile of MLST ST 5-PFGE USA100-unknown spa type, which has been reported among hospital-associated MRSA isolates, while the second isolate carried the MLST ST 8-PFGE USA300-spa type t121 genotype, commonly identified among community-associated MRSA isolates. These results suggest that MRSA genotypes associated with hospitals and community can be isolated from milk at very low rates.
Osteopontin inhibits osteoblast responsiveness through the down-regulation of focal adhesion kinase mediated by the induction of low–molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase

Osteopontin (OPN), a major marker of osteogenic differentiation, suppresses osteoblast responses to mechanical stress and cytokines, including HGF and PDGF. These OPN-induced effects are mediated through focal adhesion kinase inactivation by the induction of low–molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase.
Studying the relationship between a woman's reproductive lifespan and age at menarche using a Bayesian multivariate structured additive distributional regression model

Studies addressing breast cancer risk factors have been looking at trends relative to age at menarche and menopause. These studies point to a downward trend of age at menarche and an upward trend for age at menopause, meaning an increase of a woman's reproductive lifespan cycle. In addition to studying the effect of the year of birth on the expectation of age at menarche and a woman's reproductive lifespan, it is important to understand how a woman's cohort affects the correlation between these two variables. Since the behavior of age at menarche and menopause may vary with the geographic location of a woman's residence, the spatial effect of the municipality where a woman resides needs to be considered. Thus, a Bayesian multivariate structured additive distributional regression model is proposed in order to analyze how a woman's municipality and year of birth affects a woman's age of menarche, her lifespan cycle, and the correlation of the two. The data consists of 212,517 postmenopausal women, born between 1920 and 1965, who attended the breast cancer screening program in the central region of Portugal.
Optical Parametric Fluorescence In Ti:LiNbO3 Channel Waveguides

The optical parametric fluorescence was observed for the first time in a guided wave structure. In contrast to bulk optics three processes occur: signal and idler photons belong both to guided modes or both to radia-ting substrate modes or one to a guided mode and the other to substrate modes. These processes were investigated experimentally in Ti:LiNb03-channel waveguides. Using a cw-argon laser (λ = 514 nm) or a pulsed dye laser (580 nm < λ < 615 nm) as pump source, the fluorescence was studied as function of the pump wavelength, the pump power, the waveguide temperature and of spatial filtering.
HEMASL: A Flexible Language to Specify Heterogeneous Agents

In the realization of agent-based applications the developer generally needs to use heterogeneous agent architectures, so that each application component can optimally perform its task. Languages that easily model the heterogeneity of agents’ architectures are very useful in the early stages of the application development. This paper presents HEMASL, a simple meta-language used to specify heterogeneous agent architectures, and sketches how HEMASL should be implemented in an object-oriented commercial programming language as Java. Moreover, the paper briefly discusses the benefits of addingHEMASL to CaseLP, a LP-based specification and prototyping environment for multi-agent systems, in order to enhance its flexibility and usability.
Deploying PAWS: Field Optimization of the Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security

Poaching is a serious threat to the conservation of key species and whole ecosystems. While conducting foot patrols is the most commonly used approach in many countries to prevent poaching, such patrols often do not make the best use of limited patrolling resources. To remedy this situation, prior work introduced a novel emerging application called PAWS (Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security); PAWS was proposed as a game-theoretic (“security games”) decision aid to optimize the use of patrolling resources.This paper reports on PAWS’s significant evolution from a proposed decision aid to a regularly deployed application, reporting on the lessons from the first tests in Africa in Spring 2014, through its continued evolution since then, to current regular use in Southeast Asia and plans for future worldwide deployment. In this process, we have worked closely with two NGOs (Panthera and Rimba) and incorporated extensive feedback from professional patrolling teams. We outline key technical advances that lead to PAWS’s regular deployment: (i) incorporating complex topographic features, e.g., ridgelines, in generating patrol routes; (ii) handling uncertainties in species distribution (game theoretic payoffs); (iii) ensuring scalability for patrolling large-scale conservation areas with fine-grained guidance; and (iv) handling complex patrol scheduling constraints.
Intracellular Delivery of Quantum Dots for Live Cell Labeling and Organelle Tracking

Experimental PEI (MW 5000 g/mol) was purchased from Hyperpolymers (Frei-burg, Germany). All other chemicals, if not stated otherwise, were from Fluka and used without further purification. One gram of PEI was suspended in 50 mL acetone and the mixture was cooled to 0 C. Methacryloyl chloride (0.83 mL dissolved in 35 mL acetone) was added dropwise to the stirred suspension within 20 min. After 30 min at 0 C, 150 mL of methanol and 20.4 mL of HEA were added to give a clear solution. The solvents were removed under reduced pressure, the PEI-MA/HEA stock solution was further diluted with HEA to control the PEI content, and 1 mg of the photoinitiator Irgacure 651 (Ciba) was dissolved in 1 mL of the solution. 20 lL of the this mixture was spread on a commercial glass slide previously modified with methacryloyloxy-propyltrimethoxysilane using a standard procedure [20]. The slide was then covered with another glass slide, previously coated with a polypropylene film. The liquid layer between the two slides was UV cured in the UV reactor Heraflash from Heraeus-Kul-zer (Hanau, Germany) for 180 s to give a transparent film. The films were then washed with water/methanol/triethylamine (TEA) (1:1:1 v/v/v), water/methanol (1:1 v/v), and water, than immersed in a solution of 250 mg AgNO 3 in 8 mL water for 30 s, washed with water, and finally added to 50 mL of an aqueous solution of ascorbic acid (10 mg mL ±1). The modification of the films with PEG was performed as follows: The samples were washed with the water/methanol/TEA mixture, methanol, and acetone, then immersed into a solution of 2 g cyanuric chloride in 10 mL acetone at room temperature overnight, rinsed with acetone and chloroform, and finally left in a solution of 2 g O-2-aminoethyl-O¢-methoxy polyethylene glycol (MW 5000 g/ mol) in 10 mL chloroform for 24 h at room temperature. Prior to use the films were thoroughly rinsed with chloroform and immersed in a large amount of water for at least 24 h. UV-vis measurements were carried out with the photospectrometer Lambda 11 from Perkin Elmer. AFM images were recorded with a Nanoscope III scanning probe microscope using Si cantilevers with a fundamental resonance frequency of around 200 kHz. TEM measurements were carried out using a LEO 912 transmission electron microscope applying an acceleration voltage of 120 kV. The silver content was determined using the flame-atom absorption spectrometer Var-io 6 …
Individually adapted examination protocols for reduction of radiation exposure for 16-MDCT chest examinations.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of our study was to develop a simple protocol for reduction of radiation exposure without loss of diagnostic information in chest 16-MDCT. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred and four patients underwent MDCT of the thorax (Somatom Sensation 16, Siemens). Group 1 was scanned using a standard protocol with 100 mAs(effective) (mAs(eff)). Group 2 was scanned using a dose modulation template (CareDose). Group 3 was scanned with mAs(eff) = body weight (kg). Group 4 was scanned with a combination of weight-adapted mAs(eff) and dose modulation. All other parameters were kept constant. Signal-to-noise ratio was assessed as an objective measurement for image quality, and subjective image quality was rated by three experienced radiologists on a 4-point scale. Effective dose was calculated using dedicated software. RESULTS The mean noise measurement values were 8.31 H for the 100 mAs(eff) protocol for the regression between weight and signal-to-noise (p < 0.0001), 9.08 H for group 2 (p < 0.0001), 9.0 H for group 3 (p = 0.5051), and 9.98 H for group 4 (p = 0.0152). The median image quality was 1 (1 = highest quality) in all subgroups. The mean effective dose was 6.83 mSv, 5.92 mSv, 4.73 mSv, and 3.97 mSv, respectively. The least correlation between weight and image noise was achieved for the individually weight-adapted protocol and in the weight-adapted with CareDose combination. CONCLUSION By tube current time product adaptation (kg = mAs(eff)) combined with an online tube current modulation template, a well-balanced examination without significant loss of information was achieved for this specific scanner. Thus, individually adapted protocols for chest 16-MDCT can be recommended.
I Wish I Didn't Say That! Analyzing and Predicting Deleted Messages in Twitter

Twitter has become a major source of data for social media researchers. One important aspect of Twitter not previously considered are {\em deletions} -- removal of tweets from the stream. Deletions can be due to a multitude of reasons such as privacy concerns, rashness or attempts to undo public statements. We show how deletions can be automatically predicted ahead of time and analyse which tweets are likely to be deleted and how.
Related Factors of Insulin Resistance in Korean Children: Adiposity and Maternal Insulin Resistance

Increased adiposity and unhealthy lifestyle augment the risk for type 2 diabetes in children with familial predisposition. Insulin resistance (IR) is an excellent clinical marker for identifying children at high risk for type 2 diabetes. This study was conducted to investigate parental, physiological, behavioral and socio-economic factors related to IR in Korean children. This study is a cross-sectional study using data from 111 children aged 7 years and their parents. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated using fasting glucose and insulin level as a marker of IR. All children’s adiposity indices (r = 0.309–0.318, all P-value = 0.001) and maternal levels of fasting insulin (r = 0.285, P-value = 0.003) and HOMA-IR (r = 0.290, P-value = 0.002) were positively correlated with children’s HOMA-IR level. There was no statistical difference of children’s HOMA-IR level according to children’s lifestyle habits and socioeconomic status of families. An increase of 1 percentage point in body fat was related to 2.7% increase in children’s HOMA-IR (P-value < 0.001) and an increase of 1% of maternal level of HOMA-IR was related to 0.2% increase in children’s HOMA-IR (P-value = 0.002). This study shows that children’s adiposity and maternal IR are positively associated with children’s IR.
Motor Contributions to the Perception of Relative Phase

The extent to which different stimulus elements move together, namely their relative phase, is a central visual feature of many social and physical systems; characterizing everything from the oscillations of a walker’s limbs to the alternating lights at pedestrian crossings. The experiments described here provide the first evidence of a motor contribution to the representation of relative phase. Using an interference paradigm, we demonstrate that a motor load dramatically impairs discrimination of relative phase. Comparable interference effects were observed for biological and mechanical stimuli, indicative of a domain-general mechanism. In addition, we show that the same motor load has little effect on a similar static-angle matching task, and that an auditory rhythmic load did not interfere with phase discriminations in the same way as the motor load. These results suggest that the motor system contributes to the perception of relative phase; information crucial for interpreting our social and physical environments.
An extended de-embedding method for on-wafer components

On-wafer de-embedding method has been proposed for different method up to millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequency range. An extended de-embedding method for on wafer devices up to 65 GHz is proposed. Using Vertical connection of L-2L (VL2L) is presented in this paper, with a calibrated loss tangent value in mm-wave. It shows significant good and accurate results for on-wafer modeling up to 65 GHz. VL2L are considered to be a good method for different kind of devices, such as capacitors. Also, the results by different CMOS process and EM simulation are with good agreement.
JCAT : An environment for attack and test on Java Card

Till recently it was only possible to have one single application running on a smart card. Multi-applicative cards, and especially Java Cards, now makes it possible to have several applications sharing the same physical piece of plastic. This causes security problems and security assessment has to be provided. Therefore we have developed the JCAT environment for attack and test on Java Card. This environment is the topic of this paper.
Critical Risk Factors for Information System ( IS ) Projects ( IS ) Projects between Sink and Swim

Risk management is very important for Information System (IS) projects. When IS professionals making the project plans, they usually assume that everything will go exactly as planned. However, surprises often arise here and there. These surprises are the factors which effect IS projects and take them between success and failure. Some questions: what factors are associated with transition from escalation to de-escalation of IS projects in Jordan? How to avoid surprises and keep IS on track (under control) as much as possible? Which factors must select more in order to improve quality and reduce cost? Well; some people think that surprises are unavoidable because of the creative nature of IS. Others are seeking resolutions to reduce surprises. This research is concerned with the second type of people, it analyses several factors that contribute to effects in IS projects and arranged them according to high consideration, this consideration can be: identify, control and avoid as possible to enter the risk area. In addition, the risk assessment steps must be kept on face by IS professional, this will contribute to avoid as much as possible surprises and keep IS on track, this avoidance is the most important thing to improve quality and reduce cost of Jordanian IS projects.
Maternal height and risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy

Abstract Purpose: The relationship between maternal height and gestational hypertensive disorders was examined in a cohort of Chinese gravidae managed in 1997–2013 to clarify the association between short stature with preeclampsia (PE) and gestational hypertension (GH). Materials and methods: Retrospective study of 87 290 gravidae categorized by their height into four quartile groups. The impact of short stature, defined as height in the lowest quartile, on incidence of PE and GH was studied in relation to the presence of risk factors. The independent role of short stature was determined by regression analysis. Results: The 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile values of height were 154 cm, 158 cm, and 161 cm respectively. The incidence of PE, but not GH, was inversely correlated with height (p = .025). Short stature altered the impact of parity status, advanced age, high body mass index, infant gender, and medical history, on incidence of PE but not GH. On regression analysis, short stature increased risk of PE (adjusted RR 1.134, 95%CI 1.005–1.279) but reduced GH (adjusted RR 0.836, 95%CI 0.718–0.974). Conclusions: Maternal short stature should be defined according to distribution in a specific ethnic group, and it exerts a significant but opposite effect on the incidence of PE versus GH.
General stochastic hybrid systems: modelling and optimal control

We develop a model for general stochastic hybrid systems (GSHS) which is a generalization of piecewise-deterministic Markov processes (PDMP), introduced by Davis and stochastic hybrid systems proposed by Hu, Lygeros and Sastry. This model possesses certain desirable properties, as the strong Markov property and the cadlag property. Extending results available for PDMP, we develop the extended generator formula and the differential formula for GSHS. Then we investigate the dynamic programming for GSHS, using the differential formula.
The Golgi-Localized γ-Ear-Containing ARF-Binding (GGA) Proteins Alter Amyloid-β Precursor Protein (APP) Processing through Interaction of Their GAE Domain with the Beta-Site APP Cleaving Enzyme 1 (BACE1)

Proteolytic processing of amyloid-β precursor protein (APP) by beta-site APP cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) is the initial step in the production of amyloid beta (Aβ), which accumulates in senile plaques in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Essential for this cleavage is the transport and sorting of both proteins through endosomal/Golgi compartments. Golgi-localized γ-ear-containing ARF-binding (GGA) proteins have striking cargo-sorting functions in these pathways. Recently, GGA1 and GGA3 were shown to interact with BACE1, to be expressed in neurons, and to be decreased in AD brain, whereas little is known about GGA2. Since GGA1 impacts Aβ generation by confining APP to the Golgi and perinuclear compartments, we tested whether all GGAs modulate BACE1 and APP transport and processing. We observed decreased levels of secreted APP alpha (sAPPα), sAPPβ, and Aβ upon GGA overexpression, which could be reverted by knockdown. GGA-BACE1 co-immunoprecipitation was impaired upon GGA-GAE but not VHS domain deletion. Autoinhibition of the GGA1-VHS domain was irrelevant for BACE1 interaction. Our data suggest that all three GGAs affect APP processing via the GGA-GAE domain.
The JAK2 exon 12 mutations: A comprehensive review

A variety of acquired mutations targeting JAK2 exon 12 are present in those patients with the myeloproliferative neoplasm, polycythemia vera, that lack the more common JAK2V617F mutation. Both mutation types perturb erythropoiesis, with individuals presenting with a raised hematocrit, reduced serum erythropoietin levels, and erythropoietin‐independent erythroid progenitor cells. However, there are also phenotypic differences that, until recently, precluded a significant proportion of patients with a JAK2 exon 12 mutation from receiving an appropriate diagnosis. Here, we review the literature published on the JAK2 exon 12 mutations and compare the biology associated with these mutations with that of JAK2V617F. Am. J. Hematol. 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mechanisms of Zero-Lag Synchronization in Cortical Motifs

Zero-lag synchronization between distant cortical areas has been observed in a diversity of experimental data sets and between many different regions of the brain. Several computational mechanisms have been proposed to account for such isochronous synchronization in the presence of long conduction delays: Of these, the phenomenon of “dynamical relaying” – a mechanism that relies on a specific network motif – has proven to be the most robust with respect to parameter mismatch and system noise. Surprisingly, despite a contrary belief in the community, the common driving motif is an unreliable means of establishing zero-lag synchrony. Although dynamical relaying has been validated in empirical and computational studies, the deeper dynamical mechanisms and comparison to dynamics on other motifs is lacking. By systematically comparing synchronization on a variety of small motifs, we establish that the presence of a single reciprocally connected pair – a “resonance pair” – plays a crucial role in disambiguating those motifs that foster zero-lag synchrony in the presence of conduction delays (such as dynamical relaying) from those that do not (such as the common driving triad). Remarkably, minor structural changes to the common driving motif that incorporate a reciprocal pair recover robust zero-lag synchrony. The findings are observed in computational models of spiking neurons, populations of spiking neurons and neural mass models, and arise whether the oscillatory systems are periodic, chaotic, noise-free or driven by stochastic inputs. The influence of the resonance pair is also robust to parameter mismatch and asymmetrical time delays amongst the elements of the motif. We call this manner of facilitating zero-lag synchrony resonance-induced synchronization, outline the conditions for its occurrence, and propose that it may be a general mechanism to promote zero-lag synchrony in the brain.
ElastiStore: An elastic buffer architecture for Network-on-Chip routers

The design of scalable Network-on-Chip (NoC) architectures calls for new implementations that achieve high-throughput and low-latency operation, without exceeding the stringent area-energy constraints of modern Systems-on-Chip (SoC). The router's buffer architecture is a critical design aspect that affects both network-wide performance and implementation characteristics. In this paper, we extend Elastic Buffer (EB) architectures to support multiple Virtual Channels (VC) and we derive ElastiStore, a novel lightweight elastic buffer architecture that minimizes buffering requirements, without sacrificing performance. The integration of the proposed elastic buffering scheme in the NoC router enables the design of new router architectures - both single-cycle and two-stage pipelined - which offer the same performance as baseline VC-based routers, albeit at a significantly lower area/power cost.