Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of antibiotics on conjugational resistance gene transfer in Staphylococcus aureus in sewage.

The growing rate of microbial pathogens becoming resistant to standard antibiotics is an important threat to public health. In order to assess the role of antibiotics in the environment on the spread of resistance factors, the impact of subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics in sewage on gene transfer was investigated using conjugative gentamicin resistance (aacA-aphD) plasmids of Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, the concentration of antibiotics in hospital sewage was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Several antibiotics were found to be present in sewage, e.g. ciprofloxacin up to 0.051 mgl(-1) and erythromycin up to 0.027 mgl(-1). Resistance plasmid transfer occurred both on solidified (dewatered) sewage and in liquid sewage in a bioreactor with a frequency of 1.1x10(-5)-5.0x10(-8). However, low-level concentrations of antibiotics measured in sewage are below concentrations that can increase plasmid transfer frequencies of gentamicin resistance plasmids of staphylococci.
Lesions in Medial Preoptic Area and Bed Nucleus of Stria Terminalis: Differential Effects on Copulatory Behavior and Noncontact Erection in Male Rats

The goal of these studies was to assess the regulatory roles of the medial preoptic area (MPOA) and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) in sexual arousal, inferred from noncontact erection (NCE) evoked in male rats by remote cues from estrous females. NCE and copulatory behavior were recorded before and after quinolinic acid or radiofrequency (RF) lesions were made in the MPOA (Experiments 1–3) or RF lesions were made in the BST (Experiment 4). All males with MPOA lesions, particularly in the rostral region, displayed severe deficits in copulation but little or no decrement in NCE. In contrast, BST lesions caused relatively moderate deficits in copulation, but they severely impaired NCE. Animals with larger BST lesions, including rostral and caudal medial regions, had more deficits in both copulatory behavior and NCE than did males with smaller lesions confined to the rostral medial BST. These results suggest that (1) the MPOA is critical for copulatory behavior but not for NCE, (2) males that stop copulating after MPOA lesions are still sexually aroused by estrous females, and (3) the BST plays an important role in mediating NCE.
Streptococcus agalactiae infection in domestic rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus.

Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B streptococcus, GBS) has emerged as an important pathogen that affects humans and animals, including aquatic species. In August 2011, a severe infectious disease affecting rabbits, which caused 42% mortality, occurred in Mianyang, Sichuan Province, China. The main clinical signs included acute respiratory distress syndrome, fever, paddling and convulsions. A Gram-positive, chain-forming coccus was isolated from the primary organs and tissues of diseased rabbits and then identified as S. agalactiae by morphology, biochemical and physiological characteristics, 16S rDNA and gyrB gene sequences analysis. All isolates of S. agalactiae showed a similar antibiotic susceptibility, which were sensitive to florfenicol, ampicillin,gentamicin and norfloxacin, as well as being resistant to penicillin, amoxicillin and tetracycline. To our knowledge, this is the first report on S. agalactiae natural infection in domestic rabbits.
MET Exon 14 Alterations in Lung Cancer: Exon Skipping Extends Half-Life

MET exon 14 alterations are a diverse group of mutations, many of which disrupt splice acceptor or donor sites leading to exon 14 skipping, impaired receptor degradation, and oncogenic transformation. These alterations are clinically targetable with MET-directed therapy. Clin Cancer Res; 22(12); 2832–4. ©2016 AACR. See related article by Tong et al., p. 3048
No snakes, but no ladders: Young people, employment, and the low skills trap at the bottom of the contemporary service economy

In recent years, research and policy activity has primarily been concerned with the numbers, experiences and trajectories of apprentices and university students, or with the lives of ‘spectacular’, more obviously economically marginalised groups of young people who are entrenched in issues of social exclusion and deprivation. Many young people with level two and level three qualifications, however, directly enter the labour market. This sizeable but unspectacular group remains overlooked by policymakers as well as researchers. These young people undertake new forms of employment in an increasingly polarized job market, rely on on-the-job training rather than higher education to enhance their human capital and compete more and more with graduates who cannot find jobs to match their own newly acquired high skill levels. The net result is that this middling group ends up becoming trapped, with limited chances of progression, for example in the retail sector where 31 percent of employees are aged 16 to 24. The ongoing policy focus on level 2 qualifications does not serve these young people well. Policy-makers use qualification levels as a proxy for skills, but disregard the negative returns and by extension the lack of genuine progression as a result of obtaining such qualifications. Achieving a qualification – any qualification – it seems has become a proxy measure of successful outcomes over and above what people actually do in their jobs, what they are actually paid, what they can afford, or whether they have genuinely improved their capacity to be more productive. Greater employee engagement in company training and development programmes can better align business needs with individual needs for progression. At the policy level, skills policy needs to place greater emphasis on whether achieving a qualification enables employees to perform better and progress.
Return on investment for open source scientific hardware development

The availability of free and open source hardware designs that can be replicated with low-cost 3D printers provides large values to scientists who need highly-customized low-volume production scientific equipment. Digital manufacturing technologies have only recently become widespread and the return on investment (ROI) was not clear, so funding for open hardware development was historically sparse. This paper clarifies a method for determining an ROI for the development of scientific free and open source hardware (FOSH). By using an open source hardware design that can be manufactured digitally, the relatively minor development costs result in enormous ROIs for the scientific community. A case study is presented of a syringe pump released under open license, which results in ROIs for funders ranging from hundreds to thousands of percent after only a few months. It is clear that policies encouraging FOSH scientific hardware development should be adopted by organizations interested in maximizing return on public investments for science.
Comparison between a Double Excitation Synchronous Machine and a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine according to various constant power speed ranges

This paper presents a comparison between a Double Excitation Synchronous Machine (DESM) and a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM). Optimal designs of both machine types are compared regarding different constant power speed ranges (CPSR). The optimization objectives are to minimize the active material cost and losses. Results show that the DESM is more advantageous over the PMSM counterpart in loss saving at a wide CPSR, and the PMSM is capable of reducing the machine cost.
Technical Note: modification of the standard gain correction algorithm to compensate for the number of used reference flat frames in detector performance studies.

PURPOSE The x-ray performance evaluation of digital x-ray detectors is based on the calculation of the modulation transfer function (MTF), the noise power spectrum (NPS), and the resultant detective quantum efficiency (DQE). The flat images used for the extraction of the NPS should not contain any fixed pattern noise (FPN) to avoid contamination from nonstochastic processes. The "gold standard" method used for the reduction of the FPN (i.e., the different gain between pixels) in linear x-ray detectors is based on normalization with an average reference flat-field. However, the noise in the corrected image depends on the number of flat frames used for the average flat image. The aim of this study is to modify the standard gain correction algorithm to make it independent on the used reference flat frames. METHODS Many publications suggest the use of 10-16 reference flat frames, while other studies use higher numbers (e.g., 48 frames) to reduce the propagated noise from the average flat image. This study quantifies experimentally the effect of the number of used reference flat frames on the NPS and DQE values and appropriately modifies the gain correction algorithm to compensate for this effect. RESULTS It is shown that using the suggested gain correction algorithm a minimum number of reference flat frames (i.e., down to one frame) can be used to eliminate the FPN from the raw flat image. This saves computer memory and time during the x-ray performance evaluation. CONCLUSIONS The authors show that the method presented in the study (a) leads to the maximum DQE value that one would have by using the conventional method and very large number of frames and (b) has been compared to an independent gain correction method based on the subtraction of flat-field images, leading to identical DQE values. They believe this provides robust validation of the proposed method.
Energy turnover during 24 hours and 6 days of adventure racing

Abstract Energy turnover was assessed in two conditions of mixed ultra-endurance exercise. In Study 1, energy expenditure and intake were measured in nine males in a laboratory over 24 h. In Study 2, energy expenditure was assessed in six males during an 800-km Adventure race (mean race time 152.5 h). Individual correlations between heart rate and oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O2) were established during pre-tests when kayaking, cycling, and running. During exercise, energy expenditure was estimated from continuous heart rate recordings. Heart rate and [Vdot]O2 were measured regularly during fixed cycling work rates to correct energy expenditure for drift in oxygen pulse. Mean energy expenditure was 18,050 ± 2,390 kcal (750 ± 100 kcal · h−1) and 80,000 ± 18,000 kcal (500 ± 100 kcal · h−1) in Study 1 and Study 2 respectively, which is higher than previously reported. Energy intake in Study 1 was 8,450 ± 1,160 kcal, resulting in an energy deficit of 9,590 ± 770 kcal. Body mass decreased in Study 1 (−2.3 ± 0.8 kg) but was unchanged in Study 2. Fat mass decreased in Study 2 (−2.3 ± 1.5 kg). In Study 1, muscle glycogen content decreased by only 60%. Adventure racing requires a high energy expenditure, with large inter-individual variation. A large energy deficit is caused by inadequate energy intake, possibly due to suppressed appetite and gastrointestinal problems. The oxygen pulse, comparing start to 12 h of exercise and beyond, increased by 10% and 5% in Study 1 and Study 2 respectively. Hence, estimations of energy expenditure from heart rate recordings should be corrected according to this drift.
Self-Induced Water Intoxication Treated with Risperidone

Objective: To determine whether or not risperidone is efficacious in treating self-induced water intoxication in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Method: We carried out a prospective 11-month open-label study using risperidone to treat 8 men with chronic schizophrenia and self-induced water intoxication. Results: The 8 men were not able to reduce their fluid consumption compared with their baseline intake. Risperidone, however, significantly decreased the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores of this very chronic group. Conclusions: Although risperidone decreased schizophrenic symptoms, it did not have significant efficacy in treating self-induced water intoxication. This study may have implications for the treatment of addictive behaviour.
Intensive fluoride varnish program in Swedish adolescents: economic assessment of a 7-year follow-up study on proximal caries incidence.

The aim of this study was to assess the long-term effect after 7 years of an intensive fluoride varnish program in the age interval 11-14 compared to a standard biannual fluoride varnish program. Special reference was made to factors explaining the individual variance in caries incidence between 11-14 and 11-17 years as well as the net benefit of the intensified fluoride varnish program. Two caries measures, one unweighted (DFS0) and one weighted (DFS1), were used. Besides three caries measures D1-D3 were used to distinguish different grades of decay where D1 is enamel lesion and D3 dentinal lesion. The results show statistically significant differences for the age interval 11-17 years according to mean values of DFS0, DFS1 and D1. Regression analyses for caries incidence in the time interval 11-14 gives only explanation (i.e. significant estimated coefficient value) for caries prevalence at 11 years of age irrespective of caries measure, but in the age interval 11-17 years regression analysis also gives explanation for the variable father's education and the fluoride preventive measures in the age interval 11-14. The cost/benefit analysis shows net total costs of 3,880 SEK and net total benefits of 5,000 SEK over a time span of 10 years discounted to 1982 using an annual discount rate of 5%.
Persistent and Emergent Diversity Policy Concerns in an Evolving Media Environment:Toward a Reflective Research Agenda

This paper illustrate the ongoing evolution of media diversity policy concerns in response to the changing technological, economic, and institutional dynamics of the contemporary media environment. This paper identifies persistent diversity policy concerns (i.e., those that are making the transition from the traditional to the new media policy agenda) and emergent diversity policy concerns (those that have arisen as a result of ongoing technological and institutional changes). Key points of focus for this analysis include the persistence of cultural diversity concerns such as trans-border content flows and emergent policy concerns surrounding the production and consumption dynamics of contemporary media users. This paper then extrapolates from these policy concerns the basic contours of a diversity research agenda that would reflect and inform these concerns.
3-D histomorphometry of the normal and early glaucomatous monkey optic nerve head: lamina cribrosa and peripapillary scleral position and thickness.

PURPOSE To delineate three-dimensionally the anterior and posterior surfaces of the lamina cribrosa, scleral flange, and peripapillary sclera, to determine the position and thickness of these structures within digital three-dimensional (3-D) reconstructions of the monkey optic nerve head (ONH). METHODS The trephinated ONH and peripapillary sclera from both eyes of three monkeys with early glaucoma (EG; one eye normal, one eye given laser-induced EG) were serially sectioned at 3-mum thickness, with the embedded tissue block's face stained and imaged after each cut. Images were aligned and stacked to create 3-D reconstructions, within which Bruch's membrane opening (BMO) and the anterior and posterior surfaces of the lamina cribrosa and peripapillary sclera were delineated in 40 serial radial (4.5 degrees interval) digital sagittal sections. For each eye, a BMO zero reference plane was fit to the 80 BMO points, which served as the reference from which all position measurements were made. Regional laminar, scleral flange, and peripapillary scleral position and thickness were compared between the normal and EG eyes of each monkey and between treatment groups by analysis of variance. RESULTS Laminar thickness varied substantially within the normal eyes and was profoundly thicker within the three EG eyes. Laminar position was permanently posteriorly deformed in all three EG eyes, with substantial differences in the magnitude and extent of deformation among them. Scleral flange and peripapillary scleral thickness varied regionally within each normal ONH with the scleral flange and peripapillary sclera being thinnest nasally. Overall, the scleral flange and peripapillary sclera immediately surrounding the ONH were posteriorly displaced relative to the more peripheral sclera. CONCLUSIONS Profound fixed posterior deformation and thickening of the lamina are accompanied by mild posterior deformation and thinning of the scleral flange and peripapillary sclera at the onset of confocal scanning laser tomography (CSLT)-detected ONH surface change in young adult monkey eyes with early experimental glaucoma.
Internet Adoption by Farmers' Markets and Small Farming Enterprises in South-East Wales

This paper considers Internet adoption by farmers' markets and small farming enterprises in south-east Wales. In particular, the South East Wales Association of Farmers' Markets (SEWAFM) and the Welsh Enterprise Institute's involvement in the construction of the SEWAFM Website is considered. The role of a variety of actors involved is reported, including the National Assembly for Wales, the Food Directorate of the Welsh Development Agency and one of its developments – the Agri-Food Partnership for Wales. The study draws on a number of research methods, including secondary sources (relevant literature), identification of factors regarding the adoption of the Internet and a case study of the Association. It is argued that there is a need for appropriate support for Internet adoption by farmers' markets and small farming enterprises in south-east Wales to make them aware of the importance of the adoption of the Internet and Websites as a critical success factor for their survival. Conclusions indicate that a response to the Internet challenge enables small farming enterprises to gain Internet access, develop ‘user-friendly’ Websites and link to farmers' markets.
Oxytocin and prolactin suppress cortisol responses to acute stress in both lactating and non-lactating sheep

Cortisol response to stress appears to differ between lactating and non- lactating animals. Lactating (14 d post partum) and non-lactating sheep were fitted with probes so that drugs and hormones could be infused directly into the posterior pituitary and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. The animals were also fitted with instruments to allow monitoring of heart rate, body temperature and blood cortisol levels. Their reactions to a source of acute stress (a barking dog) were then followed, with or without drug and hormone manipulation. Results in both lactating and non-lactating animals indicated shortcomings in the use of cortisol as a stress indicator. Infusing prolactin and oxytocin into either the posterior pituitary or the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus suppressed cortisol responsiveness to stress in both lactating and non-lactating animals (the latter to a greater extent). In the absence of drugs, lactating animals had a slightly higher basal level of cortisol and a lower cortisol response to stress than their non-lactating counterparts. Despite suppression of cortisol responses, with or without drugs, other indicators of stress still changed with the presence of a barking dog, suggesting the complexity of control involved in stress responses.
The Role of Vitamin D in HBV infection

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, 30 years later since the launch of its vaccine, is still a global health Problem. The infection by HBV is a multiplex process dependent on host immune response involving the genetic milieu of the host for proliferation. In acute self-limiting hepatitis, a broad T-cell immune response occurs that is strong enough to eradicate the virus or suppress viral replication. The role of T-cell in the immunopathogenesis of HBV is to control HBV replication, destroy hepatocytes infected by HBV and ultimately eradicate infection. Vitamin D (1, 25(OH) D3) with its autocrine, intracrine and endocrine functions, is an important regulator of immune function, affecting both innate and adaptive immunity. T cells are richly provided with vitamin D receptor (VDR) and have been shown to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of viruses. The toll like receptors (TLR-2) activated by HBV attack, stimulates CYP27B1 (1α-hydroxylase) enzyme within macrophages to convert vitamin 25(OH)D2 to 1,25(OH)D3 which increases regulatory T cells and enhances the secretion of IL-10, and decreases the IL-2 release from dendritic cells. In addition it transcribes mRNAs for the synthesis of antimicrobial proteins which help in the phagocytosis of the HBV pathogens. This systematic review of the literature focuses on the role of vitamin D on the course of HBV infection. How vitamin D regulates the development and function of the immune complexes and the phagocytic proteins to control the clearing of the HBV infection is assessed and discussed.
Silent abnormal placentation linkage to peripartum hysterectomy: Thammasat University Hospital 6-year study.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence, indications, types and complications of peripartum hysterectomy at Thammasat University Hospital, Thailand. MATERIAL AND METHOD A retrospective peripartum hysterectomy (PH) study. Data came from parturient who delivered at Thammasat University Hospital, Pathumthani, Thailand between January 2007 and December 2012. RESULTS In the period of 6 years, there were 37 cases of PH among 28,023 parturient. The overall prevalence of PH was 1.32 per 1,000 deliveries with average parturientage of 30. Nineteen hysterectomies were performed after vaginal delivery (1.1/1,000) and the remaining 18 hysterectomies were performed after cesarean section (1.67/1,000). Seven cases (18.9%) were performed as subtotal and the remaining 30 cases (81.1%) as total hysterectomy Major indication of PH was uterine atony (75.7%, 28/37) followed by abnormal placentation (10.8%, 4/37) and uterine rupture (5.4%, 2/37). From hysterectomy specimens, placenta accreta, placenta increta and placenta percreta were found in 5, 3, and 3 cases, respectively. Two cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia were later discovered from hysterectomy specimens. Three cases of placentapercreta were associated with pre-operative diagnosis of placenta adherent, uterine rupture and placenta previa. The average estimated blood loss was 2,416 ml. The overall surgical complication rate was 35.1% (13/37). The rate of reoperation, maternal death, wound infection, gut obstruction and lung complications were 16.2, 8.1, 2.7, 2.7 and 2.7 percent, respectively. CONCLUSION Peripartum hysterectomy is a major hazardous procedure carrying a high mortality and morbidity rate. In this study, maternal mortality was 8.1%. Silent abnormal placentation was found in 21.2 percent (7/33) of hysterectomy specimen.
Industrial Development in an Island Economy: US Trade Policy and Canned Tuna Production in American Samoa

It is widely argued that small states and territories have relied upon the strategic trade and economic policies of larger countries to achieve development goals. Using the case of the export-oriented tuna industry in American Samoa (a territory of the United States), we argue that its status as a sub-national island jurisdiction (SNIJ) has been essential in jumpstarting and supporting industrial development. However, this relationship and its associated benefits are just one set of factors that influence the economic development opportunities and constraints that American Samoa’s tuna industry faces in the contemporary world economy. Moreover, the maintenance and future possibilities for industrial development in both SNIJs and (arguably) more economically vulnerable sovereign small developing island states (SIDS), is increasingly unlikely in the context of a globalizing capitalism and the new international trade regime.