Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Vitro Activities of Terbinafine against Cutaneous Isolates of Candida albicans and Other Pathogenic Yeasts

ABSTRACT Terbinafine is active in vitro against a wide range of pathogenic fungi, including dermatophytes, molds, dimorphic fungi, and some yeasts, but earlier studies indicated that the drug had little activity against Candida albicans. In contrast, clinical studies have shown topical and oral terbinafine to be active in cutaneous candidiasis and Candida nail infections. In order to define the anti-Candida activity of terbinafine, we tested the drug against 350 fresh clinical isolates and additional strains by using a broth dilution assay standardized according to the guidelines of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) M27-A assay. Terbinafine was found to have an MIC of 1 μg/ml for reference C. albicans strains. For 259 clinical isolates, the MIC at which 50% of the isolates are inhibited (MIC50) of terbinafine was 1 μg/ml (fluconazole, 0.5 μg/ml), and the MIC90 was 4 μg/ml (fluconazole, 1 μg/ml). Terbinafine was highly active against Candida parapsilosis(MIC90, 0.125 μg/ml) and showed potentially interesting activity against isolates of Candida dubliniensis,Candida guilliermondii, Candida humicola, andCandida lusitaniae. It was not active against theCandida glabrata, Candida krusei, andCandida tropicalis isolates in this assay.Cryptococcus laurentii and Cryptococcus neoformans were highly susceptible to terbinafine, with MICs of 0.06 to 0.25 μg/ml. The NCCLS macrodilution assay provides reproducible in vitro data for terbinafine against Candidaand other yeasts. The MICs for C. albicans and C. parapsilosis are compatible with the known clinical efficacy of terbinafine in cutaneous infections, while the clinical relevance of its activities against the other species has yet to be determined.
The evolution of ecological tolerance in prokaryotes

ABSTRACT The ecological ranges of Archaeobacteria and Eubacteria are constrained by a requirement for liquid water and the physico-chemical stability limits of biomolecules, but within this broad envelope, prokaryotes have evolved adaptations that permit them to tolerate a remarkable spectrum of habitats. Laboratory experiments indicate that prokaryotes can adapt rapidly to novel environmental conditions, yet geological studies suggest early diversification and long-term stasis within the prokaryotic kingdoms. These apparently contradictory perspectives can be reconciled by understanding that, in general, rates and patterns of prokaryotic evolution reflect the developmental history of the Earth's surface environments. Our understanding of modern microbial ecology provides a lens through which our accumulating knowledge of physiology, molecular phylogeny and the Earth's history can be integrated and focussed on the phenomenon of prokaryotic evolution.
Force Multiplier: People as a Policing Resource

Voluntary citizen participation in law enforcement may be carried out within public police organisations, in cooperation with police or purely as a citizen initiative. In any of its diverse forms, it is a gift of resources to police that carries with it both benefits and risks for them. Harnessing these resources in a way that maximizes benefits and minimizes risks presents police with a real challenge. This article surveys varieties of gifts of the person, explores some of their benefits, costs and risks, and considers ways in which identified risks might be minimized. The key to minimizing risks lies in carefully defining the nature and limits of these gifts, and in their oversight or monitoring by police. Finally, the article examines some possible implications of this burgeoning resource for the future compass of the public police role in security provision.
Sense of Entitlement to Support for the Reconciliation of Employment and Family Life

This article explores young European women and men’s expectations of support - from the state and employers - for reconciling paid employment and family life. It is based on a qualitative study employing focus groups with young women and men in Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Ireland and the UK. Drawing on the concept of sense of entitlement, derived from social justice theory, it was expected that the type of welfare state and ‘gender contract’ that young adults have experienced will influence their sense of entitlement to support for work and family life. Findings indicate that participants perceived their entitlement to state and employer support differently across national context. However this is moderated by gender, parental and occupational status, and particularly by awareness of provisions in other countries in the case of state support, while perceived entitlement to employer support varies according to the specific policy considered, gender and perception of benefits to employers. Some implications for public policy makers and employers are discussed.
Informational and normative routes to conformity: The effect of faction size as a function of norm extremity and attention to the stimulus.

Etude experimentale des effets de la taille des minorites sur l'influence (conformite mesuree par le changement en direction de la norme, rapidite de la decision, persistance en-dehors de la source), en fonction de l'extremisme de la norme (plausibilite) et de l'attention portee au stimulus (possibilite de verification) tenant de distinguer des mecanismes de dependance informative et normative
eRAID: Conserving Energy in Conventional Disk-Based RAID System

Recently, high-energy consumption has become a serious concern for both storage servers and data centers. Recent research studies have utilized the short transition times of multispeed disks to decrease energy consumption. Manufacturing challenges and costs have so far prevented commercial deployment of multispeed disks. In this paper, we propose an energy saving policy, eRAID (energy-efficient RAID), for conventional disk-based mirrored and parity redundant disk array architectures. eRAID saves energy by spinning down partial or the entire mirror disk group with constraints of acceptable performance degradation. We first develop a multiconstraint energy-saving model for the RAID environment by considering both disk characteristics and workload features. Then, we develop a performance (response time and throughput) control scheme for eRAID based on the analytical model. Experimental results show that eRAID can save up to 32 percent energy while satisfying the predefined performance requirement.
Host-Brucella interactions and the Brucella genome as tools for subunit antigen discovery and immunization against brucellosis

Vaccination is the most important approach to counteract infectious diseases. Thus, the development of new and improved vaccines for existing, emerging, and re-emerging diseases is an area of great interest to the scientific community and general public. Traditional approaches to subunit antigen discovery and vaccine development lack consideration for the critical aspects of public safety and activation of relevant protective host immunity. The availability of genomic sequences for pathogenic Brucella spp. and their hosts have led to development of systems-wide analytical tools that have provided a better understanding of host and pathogen physiology while also beginning to unravel the intricacies at the host-pathogen interface. Advances in pathogen biology, host immunology, and host-agent interactions have the potential to serve as a platform for the design and implementation of better-targeted antigen discovery approaches. With emphasis on Brucella spp. , we probe the biological aspects of host and pathogen that merit consideration in the targeted design of subunit antigen discovery and vaccine development.
Participación individual: necesidad, dificultades y estrategias

Diversos autores han destacado la importancia de la existencia de un extenso y dinamico tejido asociativo para conseguir mejorar el funcionamiento del sistema democratico. Sin embargo el modelo de participacion ciudadana basado solo en asociaciones evidencia tambien deficits y carencias. Por ejemplo deficiencias organizativas de las mismas entidades. Por otro lado el bajo nivel de asociacionismo existente en nuestro pais contrasta con un aumento de la movilizacion de caracter informal protagonizada por ciudadanos mas formados e informados que no se conforman con un rol pasivo limitado a votar cada cuatro anos. Existen argumentos de peso para incorporar al individuo como tal en los procesos de torna de decisiones publicas. Aunque tampoco este modelo esta exento de dificultades. Especialmente como conseguir aumentar el numero de participantes, garantizando su informacion y espacios para la deliberacion, sin excluir por ello a las personas con menos tiempo y recursos para poder implicarse. Se han propuesto diversos mecanismos para tal fin, entre los que hemos querido destacar finalmente, los mas ambiciosos: los procesos participativos. Para evitar errores y paliar las insuficiencias evidenciadas proponemos algunos elementos a tener en cuenta y a potenciar. La profundizacion democratica no es un objetivo facil ni responde ci recetas infalibles. Estar convencido de su importancia, ser flexibles y saber dialogar y consensuar con multitud de actores son componentes esenciales para su adecuada realizacion.
DNA methyltransferase expression in the mouse germ line during periods of de novo methylation

DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) 3A and DNMT3B are both active de novo DNA methyltransferases required for development, whereas DNMT3L, which has no demonstrable methyltransferase activity, is required for methylation of imprinted genes in the oocyte. We show here that different mechanisms are used to restrict access by these proteins to their targets during germ cell development. Transcriptional control of the Dnmt3l promoter guarantees that message is low or absent except during periods of de novo activity. Use of an alternative promoter at the Dnmt3a locus produces the shorter Dnmt3a2 transcript in the germ line and postimplantation embryo only, whereas alternative splicing of the Dnmt3b transcript ensures that Dnmt3b1 is absent in the male prospermatogonia. Control of subcellular protein localization is a common theme for DNMT3A and DNMT3B, as proteins were seen in the nucleus only when methylation was occurring. These mechanisms converge to ensure that the only time that functional products from each locus are present in the germ cell nuclei is around embryonic day 17.5 in males and after birth in the growing oocytes in females. Developmental Dynamics 232:992–1002, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Integration of 2D and 3D reasoning for building reconstruction using a generic hierarchical model

We propose a model-based approach to automated 3D extraction of buildings from aerial images. The semantics of the concept building is used to control and to evaluate building extraction in all stages of the process. The semantics is encoded by means of generic 3D object modeling, which describes thematic and geometric constraints on the spatial structure of buildings, and of 2D image modeling, which integrates sensor and illumination modeling to describe the appearance of buildings specific for the given aerial imagery. 3D object and 2D image modeling are tightly coupled within a multi-layered framework which contains an is-part-of-hierarchy of 3D building parts and their corresponding image descriptions. The overall strategy follows the paradigm of hypotheses generation and verification and combines bottom-up and top-down processes. Due to the explicit representation of well defined processing states in terms of model-based 2D and 3D descriptions at all levels of modeling and data aggregation our approach reveals a great potential for a reliable building extraction.
The effect of Ai Chi aquatic therapy on individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a pilot study

[Purpose] To examine the efficacy of Ai Chi in relieving the pain and stiffness of knee osteoarthritis and improving, physical functioning, proprioception and quality of life. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-five persons with knee osteoarthritis completed 5 weeks Ai Chi practice (60 minutes per session, twice per week, 10 sessions in total). Knee pain and stiffness were measured before and after the intervention program. [Results] Significant improvements in pain, self-perceived physical functioning and self-perceived stiffness were observed after the Ai-Chi intervention. On average, no significant change in knee range of motion, 6-minute walk test distances or proprioception was observed. [Conclusion] A five-week Ai Chi intervention can improve the pain and stiffness of knee osteoarthritis and self-perceived physical functions and quality of life improvement. Ai Chi may be another treatment choice for people with knee OA to practice in the community.
GA-based approach to discover meaningful biclusters

Since the development of the microarray technique in 1995, the interest in extracting meaningful biological knowledge from gene expression data has experimented an enormous increase. In particular, data mining researchers have developed ad–hoc techniques for many task, such as clustering or classification. Clustering has been applied to gene expression data, which usually refers to conditions or patients, although genes can also be grouped in order to search for functional similarities. However, relevant genes are not necessarily related to every condition, or in other words, there are genes that can be relevant for a subset of conditions. From this point of view, clustering can not only be addressed in one dimension (over genes or conditions), but also in the two dimensions simultaneously. This approach, named biclustering, identify groups of genes that show “similar” level expression under a specific subset of experimental conditions. A bicluster is defined on a gene–expression matrix. Let G = {g1, . , gN} be a set of genes and C = {c1, . , cM} a set of conditions. The data can be viewed as an N × M expression matrix EM . EM is a matrix of real numbers, with possible null values, where each entry eij corresponds to the logarithm of the relative abundance of the mRNA of a gene gi under a specific condition cj . Thus a bicluster can be seen as a sub-matrix IJ of EM . Cheng and Church [1] proposed the biclustering of geneexpression matrices, introducing the residue (rij = eij − eiJ − eIj + eIJ ) of an element in the bicluster and the mean squared residue (rIJ = P i∈I,j∈J r 2 ij |I|·|J| ) of a sub-matrix. In the above formulas eiJ , eIj and eIJ are the mean of the ith row, of the jth column and of the sub-matrix IJ identifying the bicluster, respectively. The residue is an indicator of the degree of coherence of an element with respect to the remaining ones in the bicluster, given the tendency of the relevant gene and the relevant condition. The lower the
Sex‐Specific Determinants of Increased Left Ventricular Mass in the Tecumseh Blood Pressure Study

BackgroundLeft ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) defined by either ECG or echocardiographic criteria is a risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. A number of determinants of LVH have been described in previous studies, principally male sex, hypertension, obesity, and aortic valvular stenosis. We examined the distribution of LV mass (LVM) in a population of 18- to 42-year-old normotensive men and women who were free of valvular heart disease to establish sex-specific normal values for LVM index (LVMI) and to determine the correlates of LVMI. Methods and ResultsLVM was derived from measurements obtained by M-mode echocardiography. Average LVMI is significantly greater in men (102.9±0.7 g/m2) than women (88.2±0.7 g/m2). By defining LVH as an LVMI greater than the 90th percentile, we developed sex-specific criteria for LVH: men, >125.4 g/m2; women, >110 g/m2. We found that LVH in men is associated with indices of enhanced sympathetic nervous system reactivity and with elevated fasting insulin and triglyceride levels, which may be caused by insulin resistance. In women, LVH was associated with higher body weight and obesity. ConclusionsBefore the onset of hypertension, increased LVMI appears to have different determinants in men and women. We suggest that early LVH in young men is a manifestation of hyperkinetic borderline hypertension, a state previously shown to be associated with increased sympathetic nervous system activity and insulin resistance. The hyperkinetic state is less prevalent in young women, in whom increased adiposity seems to be the predominant factor associated with LVH.
Dynamics of GB Virus C viremia early after orthotopic liver transplantation indicates extrahepatic tissues as the predominant site of GB virus C replication

The principal site of GB virus C (GBV‐C) replication is unknown. To determine whether hepatic GBV‐C replication is important for the maintenance of a measurable viremia level in GBV‐C infection, the influence of hepatectomy followed by liver transplantation on GBV‐C viremia was investigated. GBV‐C RNA levels were determined by a quantitative TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 12 patients with pretransplantation GBV‐C infection before and daily after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for 25 to 28 days. Compared with the pretransplantation values (mean, 12.4 ± 3.9 × 107 copies/mL), mean GBV‐C RNA levels declined significantly by 1 log by day 1 after OLT (mean, 3.5 ± 1.6 × 107 copies/mL), but subsequently remained relatively stable on this high level for the entire observation period, indicating ongoing high‐level virus replication (mean GBV‐C RNA levels on days 7 and 28 were: 1.7 ± 0.5 × 107 and 2.8 ± 0.7 × 107 copies/mL; P = ns). Thus, at the end of the follow‐up, mean GBV‐C RNA levels were not significantly different from that of the 1st and 7th postoperative day and remained significantly lower compared with the pretransplantation values. However, in 2 of the 12 patients, different kinetics were observed. Both already had low‐level viremia pre‐OLT (0.02 and 0.002 × 107 copies/mL) and became persistently GBV‐C RNA–negative 2 days after OLT. In 5 patients, liver tissues were collected 6 to 9 days after OLT and investigated for GBV‐C RNA. All but 1 were GBV‐C RNA–negative in the liver, although 2 of them had rather high serum GBV‐C RNA levels at this time. The kinetics of GBV‐C viremia observed in our study were neither influenced by the immunosuppressive therapy nor by the number of blood and blood product transfusions given after OLT. In addition, they were quite different from those observed in patients with chronic hepatitis C in whom early reinfection of the graft could be demonstrated by a steady increase in HCV RNA levels starting 3 days after OLT and exceeding preoperative levels by day 8. From our data, one can conclude that the liver is certainly not the major site of GBV‐C replication in most patients. However, one cannot exclude that host or viral factors exist that predispose GBV‐C replication predominantly in the liver.
Bootstrap frequency equalisation for MIMO wireless systems

The paper reports on a new class of equalisation/detection for wideband multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) communications systems. The proposed scheme is somewhat akin to a multi-carrier MIMO system, and more precisely, builds upon a single carrier frequency domain equalised (SCFDE) MIMO system. At the core of our system lies a novel concept of iterative self-reused equalisation/detection (bootstrapping) combined with semi-hard decision making. The bootstrapping concept is derived from a new formulation of Tikhonov regularisation. The proposed scheme achieves a remarkable performance/complexity trade-off. In particular we show that our system approaches the performance of ML-MIMO-OFDM while being only slightly more complex than MMSE-MIMO-OFDM. The coded version achieves virtually the same performance as turbo MIMO-OFDM at a fraction of the complexity. The resulting system is termed zero tailed bootstrap frequency equalised (ZTBFE) MIMO system.
Secondary pre-service teacher education in Ethiopia: its impact on teachers' competence and confidence to teach practical work in science

The government of Ethiopia has espoused a practical problem-solving approach to teaching and learning science. The challenge facing the Ministry of Education is how to implement its objectives in a country which has been described as among the poorest in the world. The study reported here focuses on teacher education. It gives a description of science studentteachers' experience of pre-service education and the factors affecting their professional development with regard to practical work. It examines the structure of teacher education programmes, the content of the teacher-training curriculum and student-teachers' classroom practice in order to provide a fuller account of teacher education. The study advances this agenda further, revealing the practice of experienced teachers in schools. The conclusion uses the findings to propose ways in which the Ministry might implement changes to practice in initial teacher education to meet the objectives of the new reforms in Ethiopia.
Direct-coupled microwave filters with single and dual stopbands

This paper presents new ideas for the design and implementation of microwave filters with single and dual stopbands. They can be realized with waveguide, coaxial, dielectric resonators, or in a planar technology. The new methods represent an advance over present methods in that the resonators are direct coupled, thus avoiding the need for transmission line phase lengths between resonator stubs that tend to degrade performance due to their dispersion and are difficult to adjust during tuning. Three bandstop (BS) configurations are presented. The first will accommodate even or odd characteristics and also asymmetric responses, although some negative or diagonal cross-couplings will be needed. The second resembles the cul-de-sac configuration for bandpass filters and needs no diagonal or negative couplings even for asymmetric characteristics. The third is an application of the cul-de-sac synthesis technique to dual-band bandstop (DBBS) filters. All these BS designs are very similar to regular bandpass filters in their design and realization. The design of a DBBS filter is presented and compared with an equivalent bandpass filter to demonstrate its advantages. Finally, the simulated and measured results of a fourth-degree BS filter design in the novel cul-de-sac configuration are presented.
Biochemical Characterization and Ligand Binding Properties of Neuroglobin, a Novel Member of the Globin Family*

Neuroglobin is a recently discovered member of the globin superfamily that is suggested to enhance the O2 supply of the vertebrate brain. Spectral measurements with human and mouse recombinant neuroglobin provide evidence for a hexacoordinated deoxy ferrous (Fe2+) form, indicating a His-Fe2+-His binding scheme. O2 or CO can displace the endogenous protein ligand, which is identified as the distal histidine by mutagenesis. The ferric (Fe3+) form of neuroglobin is also hexacoordinated with the protein ligand E7-His and does not exhibit pH dependence. Flash photolysis studies show a high recombination rate (k on) and a slow dissociation rate (k off) for both O2 and CO, indicating a high intrinsic affinity for these ligands. However, because the rate-limiting step in ligand combination with the deoxy hexacoordinated form involves the dissociation of the protein ligand, O2 and CO binding is suggested to be slowin vivo. Because of this competition, the observed O2 affinity of recombinant human neuroglobin is average (1 torr at 37 °C). Neuroglobin has a high autoxidation rate, resulting in an oxidation at 37 °C by air within a few minutes. The oxidation/reduction potential of mouse neuroglobin (E′o = −129 mV) lies within the physiological range. Under natural conditions, recombinant mouse neuroglobin occurs as a monomer with disulfide-dependent formation of dimers. The biochemical and kinetic characteristics are discussed in view of the possible functions of neuroglobin in the vertebrate brain.