Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Symmetry constraints for feedforward network models of gradient systems

This paper concerns the use of a priori information on the symmetry of cross differentials available for problems that seek to approximate the gradient of a differentiable function. We derive the appropriate network constraints to incorporate the symmetry information, show that the constraints do not reduce the universal approximation capabilities of feedforward networks, and demonstrate how the constraints can improve generalization.
Domains of group A streptococcal M protein that confer resistance to phagocytosis, opsonization and protection: implications for vaccine development

Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus) colonizes skin and throat tissues resulting in a range of benign and serious human diseases. Opsonization and phagocytosis are important defence mechanisms employed by the host to destroy group A streptococci. Antisera against the cell‐surface M protein, of which over 150 different types have been identified, are opsonic and contribute to disease protection. In this issue of Molecular Microbiology, Sandin and colleagues have comprehensively analysed the regions of M5 protein that contribute to phagocytosis resistance and opsonization. Human plasma proteins bound to M5 protein B‐ and C‐repeats were shown to block opsonization, an observation that needs to be carefully considered for the development of M protein‐derived vaccines. While safe and efficacious human group A streptococcal vaccines are not commercially available, candidate M protein‐derived vaccines have shown promise in murine vaccine models and a recent phase 1 human clinical trial.
Gendering social mobility: a comparative perspective on the nexus of education and class across Europe

Research on social mobility typically acknowledges the relevance of gender. However, gender-based differences still lack extensive description and explanation. This article starts by reviewing a number of influential contributions on social mobility, educational systems and employment change, as well as important critiques raised in feminist scholarship with regard to these topics of enquiry. We argue that class analysis should not only document asymmetry between men and women in greater detail, but also incorporate it as a piece of explanatory value in the understanding of social mobility at large. This is attempted by examining the data of the European Social Survey covering 22 countries. Drawing on this large-scale data set, we will demonstrate that the transformation of employment structures favours particular forms of upward mobility, which coexist with the resilience of gender inequality in accessing affluent classes. The impact of gender on the nexus between social background, educational attainment and class position is far from uniform in Europe, with significant variation across classes, countries and fields of study.
Performance of Destination-Driven Regenerative Cooperative Diversity Protocol over Nakagami Fading Channels

This paper studies a destination-driven cooperative diversity protocol for multihop wireless networks. The regenerative outage performances of the proposed protocol are developed over independent but not identically distributed (i.n.d) Nakagami fading channels. The numerical results show that the proposed protocol not only provides an effective selection scheme for cooperative nodes but achieves a good tradeoff between the system performance and the processing cost (e.g., power consumption) of the destination receiver.
A new dye uptake assay to test the activity of antibiotics against intracellular Francisella tularensis

Francisella tularensis, a facultative intracellular bacterium, is the aetiological agent of tularaemia. Antibiotic treatment of this zoonosis is based on the administration of a fluoroquinolone or a tetracycline for cases with mild to moderate severity, whereas an aminoglycoside (streptomycin or gentamicin) is advocated for severe cases. However, treatment failures and relapses remain frequent, especially in patients suffering from chronic lymph node suppuration. Therefore, new treatment alternatives are needed. We have developed a dye uptake assay for determination of minimal inhibitory extracellular concentrations (MIECs) of antibiotics against intracellular F. tularensis, and validated the method by comparing the results obtained using a CFU-enumerating method. We also compared MIECs with MICs of the same compounds determined using a CLSI broth microdilution method. We tested the activity of 11 antibiotics against two clinical strains of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica isolated in France. Both strains displayed low MICs (≤1 μg/mL) to fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and moxifloxacin), gentamicin, doxycycline and rifampicin. Higher MICs (≥8 μg/mL) were found for carbapenems (imipenem and meropenem), daptomycin and linezolid. Erythromycin MICs were 4.0 and 16.0 μg/mL, respectively, for the two clinical strains. MIECs were almost the same with the two methods used. They were concordant with MICs, except for erythromycin and linezolid (respectively, four and eight times more active against intracellular F. tularensis) and gentamicin (four to eight times less active against intracellular F. tularensis). This study validated the dye uptake assay as a new tool for determination of the activity of a large panel of antibiotics against intracellular F. tularensis. This test confirmed the intracellular activity of first-line antibiotics used for tularaemia treatment, but also revealed significant activity of linezolid against intracellular F. tularensis.
Perceived exertion and the preferred cycling cadence.

PURPOSE To determine whether an association exists between peripheral comfort level, as reflected by differentiated RPE measures, and the preferred cadences of subjects who differed in cycling experience and fitness level. METHODS Twelve experienced cyclists (C), ten runners (R), and ten less-trained noncyclists (LT), all of whom were male, pedaled at three power outputs (C, R: 100, 150, 200 W; LT: 75, 100, 150 W) and six cadences (50, 65, 80, 95, 110 rpm, and their freely chosen cadence) for 5 min per condition. Differentiated ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded during the fifth minute of the exercise. It was hypothesized that the preferred cadence selected by C, R, and LT would be the same as the cadence at which the peripheral RPE was minimized. Comparison of means failed to support this hypothesis. RESULTS Irrespective of rating scale (peripheral, central, overall), the cadences at which RPE was minimized were lower than the preferred cadences, except for LT at 150 W, where there was no significant difference between the preferred cadence and the cadences at which the peripheral and overall RPE were minimized. C tended toward a more curvilinear RPE-cadence relationship compared with R and LT. Mean data for all groups showed that only the peripheral RPE decreased from 50 to 65 rpm, whereas peripheral, overall, and central RPE remained essentially unchanged from 65 to 80 rpm but increased from 80 to 110 rpm. There was a trend for the cadences at which RPE was minimized for C to be higher than the cadences that minimized RPE in either R or LT. For all groups, the cadences at which peripheral RPE was minimized were significantly higher than the cadences at which either the overall or central ratings were minimized. CONCLUSION The small magnitudes of change in the RPE score across cadence, particularly in C and R, suggest that RPE may not be a critical variable in cadence selection during submaximal power output cycling.
Children and Natural Disasters

Worldwide children are impacted by natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, landslides and sandstorms, winter and severe storms, heat waves, volcanoes and tsunamis. School psychologists should understand natural disaster effects, such as economic loss, relocation and health concerns and mental health issues. While most children are able to cope, a significant minority develops severe symptoms and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). School psychologists should gain trauma mental health training through the American Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the International School Psychology Association. They can also be involved in school and community prevention, mitigation and educational programming. This article presents an overview for school psychologists of the literature on children in natural disasters.
A coding manual for the Link oping dialogue modelNils

This paper describes the coding model and coding conventions used for the LINDA and LINLIN dialogue models developed in Linkk oping. Both dialogue and focus structure are included in the analysis. The model is primarily intended for the dialogue component of natural language interfaces and other similar dialogue situations. The underlying assumptions are described brieey, and the criteria for coding of the diierent categories are described.
Susan Foster. The communicative competence of young children: a modular approach . New York: Longman, Inc., 1990. Pp. v + 238.

Examples 41 and 42 are missing from the text on p. 268 and lines are missing on p. 207. There are, moreover, quite a few distracting typographical errors. Despite these shortcomings, this contribution to the field of bilingual first language acquisition is a timely and welcome volume. It will most certainly be required reading for any scholar interested in how children develop two languages simultaneously. Furthermore, the wealth of insights that this study of a bilingual child can provide will surely interest scholars of monolingual language acquisition.
Imipenem for Treatment of Tuberculosis in Mice and Humans

ABSTRACT Chemotherapy of tuberculosis caused by multiple-drug-resistant (MDR) strains is problematic because of choices limited to relatively inefficacious and toxic drugs. Some beta-lactam antibiotics are active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro. We investigated the efficacy of imipenem in a mouse model of tuberculosis and in humans with MDR tuberculosis. Mice infected with M. tuberculosis strain H37Rv were treated with isoniazid or imipenem. Residual organisms in lung and spleen and survival of imipenem-treated mice were compared to those of untreated or isoniazid-treated mice. Ten patients with MDR tuberculosis also were treated with imipenem in combination with other first- or second-line agents; elimination of M. tuberculosis from sputum samples was measured by quantitative culture. Although it was less effective than isoniazid, imipenem significantly reduced the numbers of M. tuberculosis organisms in lungs and spleens and improved survival of mice. Eight of 10 patients with numerous risk factors for poor outcomes responded to imipenem combination therapy with conversion of cultures to negative. Seven remained culture-negative off of therapy. There were two deaths, one of which was due to active tuberculosis. Organisms were eliminated from the sputa of responders at a rate of 0.35 log10 CFU/ml/week. Relapse upon withdrawal of imipenem and development of resistance to imipenem in a nonresponder suggest that imipenem exerts antimycobacterial activity in humans infected with M. tuberculosis. Imipenem had antimycobacterial activity both in a mouse model and in humans at high risk for failure of treatment for MDR tuberculosis.
Provenance: a future history

Science, industry, and society are being revolutionized by radical new capabilities for information sharing, distributed computation, and collaboration offered by the World Wide Web. This revolution promises dramatic benefits but also poses serious risks due to the fluid nature of digital information. One important cross-cutting issue is managing and recording provenance, or metadata about the origin, context, or history of data. We posit that provenance will play a central role in emerging advanced digital infrastructures. In this paper, we outline the current state of provenance research and practice, identify hard open research problems involving provenance semantics, formal modeling, and security, and articulate a vision for the future of provenance.
A study of the effect of virtual channels on the performance of Network-on-Chip

Network-on-Chip (NoC) is the communication backbone of multi-core and many-core processor architectures. Wormhole flow control is the commonly used flow control mechanism in on-chip interconnection networks, however it causes head-of-line blocking as network load increases which can be solved using virtual channel flow control. In this paper we investigate the effect of Virtual Channels (VC) on the performance of NoC by varying injection rate, traffic pattern and the packet length. We simulate an 8×8 mesh network with dimension order routing. Synthetic workloads are used to find the effect of virtual channels on throughput and latency. We show that as the number of virtual channels is increased there is an improvement in the throughput and latency of the network up to a certain number of virtual channels beyond which the network reaches saturated state. Our work can be used as a guidance to find the optimal number of virtual channels for a given NoC configuration and traffic parameters.
Type I IFN controls chikungunya virus via its action on nonhematopoietic cells

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is the causative agent of an outbreak that began in La Réunion in 2005 and remains a major public health concern in India, Southeast Asia, and southern Europe. CHIKV is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and the associated disease is characterized by fever, myalgia, arthralgia, and rash. As viral load in infected patients declines before the appearance of neutralizing antibodies, we studied the role of type I interferon (IFN) in CHIKV pathogenesis. Based on human studies and mouse experimentation, we show that CHIKV does not directly stimulate type I IFN production in immune cells. Instead, infected nonhematopoietic cells sense viral RNA in a Cardif-dependent manner and participate in the control of infection through their production of type I IFNs. Although the Cardif signaling pathway contributes to the immune response, we also find evidence for a MyD88-dependent sensor that is critical for preventing viral dissemination. Moreover, we demonstrate that IFN-α/β receptor (IFNAR) expression is required in the periphery but not on immune cells, as IFNAR−/−→WT bone marrow chimeras are capable of clearing the infection, whereas WT→IFNAR−/− chimeras succumb. This study defines an essential role for type I IFN, produced via cooperation between multiple host sensors and acting directly on nonhematopoietic cells, in the control of CHIKV.
Open and laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy in Switzerland: a retrospective assessment of clinical outcomes and the motivation to donate.

BACKGROUND Laparoscopic living kidney nephrectomy is thought to be associated with reduced morbidity, when compared to open nephrectomy. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of these techniques on donors' clinical outcomes, satisfaction and motivation to donate. METHODS Clinical outcomes were retrospectively compared in 152 open (n = 71) or laparoscopic (n = 81) donor procedures. Donor satisfaction and motivation were assessed with a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS The complication rate was the same with both procedures and the majority of complications were mild. Laparoscopy was significantly less painful and resulted in an insignificantly faster return to active life. More than 80% of the donors volunteered to donate without pressure. Worries about future health status, pain or scars were not important in the decision to donate. Similarly, only 15% considered the surgical procedure as instrumental for their decision. Few donors currently worried about their health with one kidney and more than 95% of the donors in both groups stated that they would give their kidney again. CONCLUSIONS Living donor nephrectomy is safe, regardless of the procedure used. Although the laparoscopic nephrectomy offers clear short-term benefits over the open nephrectomy, donors' satisfaction was excellent with both surgical approaches. Moreover, the type of procedure did not seem to influence their decision to donate.
Short-term effects of air pollution on daily asthma emergency room admissions

Many time-series studies have shown positive associations between air pollutants and asthma morbidity. However, few studies have included pollen as a potential confounder when examining this relationship. This study analysed the short-term association between air pollutants (sulphur dioxide (SO2), particles measured with a median aerodynamic diameter of <10 µm (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3)) and asthma emergency room admissions in Madrid, Spain, in 1995–1998, adjusting for four types of pollen with allergenic potential (Olea europaea, Plantago sp., Poaceae and Urticaceae). Data were analysed using autoregressive Poisson regression and generalised additive models (GAM). The strongest associations were observed at 1 day lag for O3, and 3 days lag for the remaining pollutants. Using Poisson regression, a single-pollutant model showed that a 10‐µg·m−3 rise in pollutant level led to relative risks of: 1.039 for PM10; 1.029 for SO2; 1.033 for NO2; and 1.045 for O3. Adjustment for the different types of pollen led to no substantial variation in these associations. In the multipollutant models for cold-season pollutants (including PM10, SO2 and the four types of pollen) and photochemical pollutants (including NO2, O3 and the four types of pollen) the associations for PM10, NO2 and O3 held, but no relationship with SO2 was evident. GAM analysis yielded the same results, both in terms of lags and of quantification of the effect for all pollutants. In conclusion, the usual air pollution levels in Madrid were associated with an increase in asthma emergency room admissions, and this association remained controlling for the presence of ambient pollen.
Validity of the mood disorder questionnaire: a general population study.

OBJECTIVE This study tested the validity in the adult general population of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, a screening instrument for bipolar I and II disorders. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire has been validated in a psychiatric outpatient study group. METHOD A total of 711 subjects (stratified by Mood Disorder Questionnaire score) were randomly selected from a group of 85,358 adult respondents in a nationwide epidemiological general population sample that was balanced for key demographic variables. Of these, 695 subjects received a telephone interview involving an abbreviated version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. RESULTS A sensitivity of 0.281 and a specificity of 0.972 were obtained for the Mood Disorder Questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS The Mood Disorder Questionnaire is a useful screening instrument for bipolar I and II disorders in the community. The operating characteristics of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire in the general population differ substantially from its characteristics in outpatient psychiatric settings.
One year follow-up of steroid-free immunosuppression plus everolimus in isolated pancreas transplantation.

Pancreas transplantation (PTx) plays a pivotal role in the management of diabetes mellitus. Despite advances in surgical technique and immunosuppression, the current immunosuppressants account for an increased risk of metabolic complications in the recipients (1). The greater emphasis has been placed on improving long-term wellness posttransplant, particularly in solitary PTx recipients who have higher rejection rates and lower graft survival rates (2). Corticosteroid avoidance after pancreas transplantation has been proved to decrease hyperinsulinemia and reduce long-term diabetic complications without increasing the risk of rejection or graft loss (1– 6). The common maintenance regimen in pancreatic transplantation still consist, after an initial antibody induction, of triple
Implications of Race and Gender in Higher Education Administration: An African American Woman’s Perspective

A qualitative single-case-study approach is used in this study to examine the lived experiences of an African American woman senior-level administrator in a predominantly White research university. The everyday, lived experience of the participant challenges the ideology that education and hard work are combinations that equal success. The findings in the study indicate that despite achieving advanced levels of education and holding high-ranking positions within academia, many African American women in administrative positions encounter social inequity emerging from intersectionality. The dichotomous tension between achievement ideologies, as “the great equalizer,” and the organizational structure as a form of resistance to social equity are continuous threads throughout this article.
Stress induced obesity: lessons from rodent models of stress

Stress was once defined as the non-specific result of the body to any demand or challenge to homeostasis. A more current view of stress is the behavioral and physiological responses generated in the face of, or in anticipation of, a perceived threat. The stress response involves activation of the sympathetic nervous system and recruitment of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. When an organism encounters a stressor (social, physical, etc.), these endogenous stress systems are stimulated in order to generate a fight-or-flight response, and manage the stressful situation. As such, an organism is forced to liberate energy resources in attempt to meet the energetic demands posed by the stressor. A change in the energy homeostatic balance is thus required to exploit an appropriate resource and deliver useable energy to the target muscles and tissues involved in the stress response. Acutely, this change in energy homeostasis and the liberation of energy is considered advantageous, as it is required for the survival of the organism. However, when an organism is subjected to a prolonged stressor, as is the case during chronic stress, a continuous irregularity in energy homeostasis is considered detrimental and may lead to the development of metabolic disturbances such as cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes mellitus and obesity. This concept has been studied extensively using animal models, and the neurobiological underpinnings of stress induced metabolic disorders are beginning to surface. However, different animal models of stress continue to produce divergent metabolic phenotypes wherein some animals become anorexic and lose body mass while others increase food intake and body mass and become vulnerable to the development of metabolic disturbances. It remains unclear exactly what factors associated with stress models can be used to predict the metabolic outcome of the organism. This review will explore a variety of rodent stress models and discuss the elements that influence the metabolic outcome in order to further extend our understanding of stress-induced obesity.