Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Virulence factors in Escherichia coli urinary tract infection

Uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli are characterized by the expression of distinctive bacterial properties, products, or structures referred to as virulence factors because they help the organism overcome host defenses and colonize or invade the urinary tract. Virulence factors of recognized importance in the pathogenesis of urinary tract infection (UTI) include adhesins (P fimbriae, certain other mannose-resistant adhesins, and type 1 fimbriae), the aerobactin system, hemolysin, K capsule, and resistance to serum killing. This review summarizes the virtual explosion of information regarding the epidemiology, biochemistry, mechanisms of action, and genetic basis of these urovirulence factors that has occurred in the past decade and identifies areas in need of further study. Virulence factor expression is more common among certain genetically related groups of E. coli which constitute virulent clones within the larger E. coli population. In general, the more virulence factors a strain expresses, the more severe an infection it is able to cause. Certain virulence factors specifically favor the development of pyelonephritis, others favor cystitis, and others favor asymptomatic bacteriuria. The currently defined virulence factors clearly contribute to the virulence of wild-type strains but are usually insufficient in themselves to transform an avirulent organism into a pathogen, demonstrating that other as-yet-undefined virulence properties await discovery. Virulence factor testing is a useful epidemiological and research tool but as yet has no defined clinical role. Immunological and biochemical anti-virulence factor interventions are effective in animal models of UTI and hold promise for the prevention of UTI in humans.
A Systematic Review of Treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Refugees and Asylum-Seekers

Recent years have seen a consensus emerge on the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the general population. No such consensus exists for refugees, although the rate of PTSD among refugees is 10 times that of the general population. We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trial of treatment of PTSD among refugees and asylum-seekers. We rated trials with a risk of bias table and drew conclusions about the evidence for individual therapies. Ten randomized, controlled trials (n = 528) met our search criteria. Trials were small, and allocation concealment and blinding were inadequate. No treatment was firmly supported, but there was evidence for narrative exposure therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Future trials should evaluate interventions that are developed within refugees' cultures, based on a local understanding of trauma and psychological distress.
Swapping Policies: Alternative Tax-Benefit Strategies to Support Children in Austria, Spain and the UK

Abstract Three European countries with very different tax-benefit systems have recently substantially increased the level of support for children: Austria, Spain and the UK. Austria mainly makes use of universal benefits; Spain, tax concessions; and the UK means-tested benefits and tax credits. This article addresses the question of whether the chosen strategies are in fact the most effective for each country. It considers what would have happened if these countries had transformed the architecture of their systems in either of the other two directions. It makes use of EUROMOD, the European tax-benefit microsimulation model that is designed for making cross-country comparisons, to explore the distributional and, in particular, child poverty effects of budget-neutral alternatives. The results show that three factors – the level of spending, its structure, and the way it impacts in a particular national context – affect the outcomes to varying degrees.
Productivity change in road transport before and after turnpiking, 1690-1840

R esearch in recent decades on road transport before the railways has restored it to its rightful place as one of the principal modes of transport during the industrial revolution, and has provided much new information about its structure, its rapid growth, and its uses.2 However, the impact of change in road transport on its productivity has remained obscure. Attention has been focused almost exclusively on turnpikes, starting in I972 with Albert's use of the cost of carrying goods to demonstrate the direct effects of turnpike improvements.3 Pawson too, in I977, used the cost of goods transport, but also the speed of passenger transport, and other measures such as the shift from packhorses to waggons and the geographical diffusion of coach services.4 More recently, Szostak has argued that 'a modern system of transportation was necessary for the Industrial Revolution to occur in England'; that 'modern transportation' began when 'an extensive and reliable system which could move bulk goods at low cost or high-value goods at high speed came into existence'; that, as regards land transport, this 'required roads which could support wheeled traffic year-round such that a regular professional carrying system could develop'; and that turnpike improvements enabled this requirement to be met by the mid-eighteenth century.5 The two unresolved problems are to distinguish the effects of better roads from those of other changes and to quantify such effects, thereby determining whether the turnpikes were really as important as has been claimed. Few of the measures of the direct impact of turnpikes used by Albert and Pawson are wholly satisfactory. Carriers' charges, for example, were affected not only by better roads but by improvement in waggon horses and increased economies of scale. Provender prices were another major influence, as Albert recognized, but he did not systematically relate long-term changes in rates of carriage and provender prices in order to discount change in the latter.6 His comparison between rates of carriage on main roads and the more expensive carriage on lesser roads was affected by the greater likelihood of full loads on major roads, as he acknowledged.7 Similarly, the speed of
Distinct Roles of LAFL Network Genes in Promoting the Embryonic Seedling Fate in the Absence of VAL Repression1[W][OPEN]

The B3-type transcription factor genes, LEC1, ABI3, FUS3, and LEC2, that regulate seed maturation, comprise a self-activated network. The transition between seed and seedling phases of development is coordinated by an interaction between the closely related ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3), FUSCA3 (FUS3), and LEAFY COTYLEDON2 (LEC2; AFL) and VIVIPAROUS1/ABI3-LIKE (VAL) clades of the B3 transcription factor family that respectively activate and repress the seed maturation program. In the val1 val2 double mutant, derepression of the LEC1, LEC1-LIKE (L1L), and AFL (LAFL) network is associated with misexpression of embryonic characteristics resulting in arrested seedling development. We show that while the frequency of the embryonic fate in val1 val2 seedlings depends on the developmental timing of seed rescue, VAL proteins repress LAFL genes during germination, but not during seed development. Quantitative analysis of LAFL mutants that suppress the val1 val2 seedling phenotype revealed distinct roles of LAFL genes in promoting activation of the LAFL network. LEC2 and FUS3 are both essential for coordinate activation of the network, whereas effects of LEC1, L1L, and ABI3 are additive. Suppression of the val1 val2 seedling phenotype by the B3 domain-deficient abi3-12 mutation indicates that ABI3 activation of the LAFL network requires the B3 DNA-binding domain. In the VAL-deficient background, coordinate regulation of the LAFL network is observed over a wide range of genetic and developmental conditions. Our findings highlight distinct functional roles and interactions of LAFL network genes that are uncovered in the absence of VAL repressors.
On-Chip Integrated Antennas for 200 GHz Applications

This paper presents four different on-chip antenna elements. They are two bow-tie antennas, one slotted and one fractal version, a half cloverleaf antenna and a stacked Vivaldi antenna. All antenna elements are designed for an operational frequency of 200 GHz for wireless computer board-to-board and chip-to-chip communication. The antenna elements were successfully designed and fabricated in a 130 nm SiGe semiconductor technology. After fabrication, S-parameter and radiation characteristics measurements were conducted on a wafer probe station. The results presented show good agreement with the simulated designs. The gain of the antenna elements is above 0 dBi and all elements achieve a bandwidth larger than 10 GHz.
Neutralization of Smac/Diablo by Inhibitors of Apoptosis (IAPs)

Numerous members of the IAP family can suppress apoptotic cell death in physiological settings. Whereas certain IAPs directly inhibit caspases, the chief proteolytic effectors of apoptosis, the protective effects of other IAPs do not correlate well with their caspase inhibitory activities, suggesting the involvement of alternative cytoprotective abilities. To examine this issue, we have characterized the protective effects of an ancestral, baculoviral IAP (Op-IAP) in mammalian cells. We show that although Op-IAP potently inhibited Bax-mediated apoptosis in human cells, Op-IAP failed to directly inhibit mammalian caspases. However, Op-IAP efficiently bound the IAP antagonist Smac/Diablo, thereby preventing Smac/Diablo-mediated inhibition of cellular IAPs. Whereas reduction of Smac/Diablo protein levels in the absence of Op-IAP prevented Bax-mediated apoptosis, overexpression of Smac/Diablo neutralized Op-IAP-mediated protection, and an Op-IAP variant unable to bind Smac/Diablo failed to prevent apoptosis. Finally, Op-IAP catalyzed the ubiquitination of Smac/Diablo, an activity that contributed to Op-IAP-mediated inhibition of apoptosis. These data show that cytoprotective IAPs can inhibit apoptosis through the neutralization of IAP antagonists, rather than by directly inhibiting caspases.
Agent Orange and the Vietnamese: the persistence of elevated dioxin levels in human tissues.

OBJECTIVES The largest known dioxin contamination occurred between 1962 and 1970, when 12 million gallons of Agent Orange, a defoliant mixture contaminated with a form of the most toxic dioxin, were sprayed over southern and central Vietnam. Studies were performed to determine if elevated dioxin levels persist in Vietnamese living in the south of Vietnam. METHODS With gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy, human milk, adipose tissue, and blood from Vietnamese living in sprayed and unsprayed areas were analyzed, some individually and some pooled, for dioxins and the closely related dibenzofurans. RESULTS One hundred sixty dioxin analyses of tissue from 3243 persons were performed. Elevated 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) levels as high as 1832 ppt were found in milk lipid collected from southern Vietnam in 1970, and levels up to 103 ppt were found in adipose tissue in the 1980s. Pooled blood collected from southern Vietnam in 1991/92 also showed elevated TCDD up to 33 ppt, whereas tissue from northern Vietnam (where Agent Orange was not used) revealed TCDD levels at or below 2.9 ppt. CONCLUSIONS Although most Agent Orange studies have focused on American veterans, many Vietnamese had greater exposure. Because health consequences of dioxin contamination are more likely to be found in Vietnamese living in Vietnam than in any other populations, Vietnam provides a unique setting for dioxin studies.
Parathyroid hormone‐related protein measured at the time of first visit is an indicator of bone metastases and survival in lung carcinoma patients with hypercalcemia

Parathyroid hormone‐related protein (PTH‐rP) is a major cause of tumor‐induced hypercalcemia (TIH) and frequently is found to be elevated in serum of patients with TIH. In the current study, the authors examined the usefulness of PTH‐rP measurement at the time of first presentation in the follow‐up of lung carcinoma patients with TIH.
Impact of Cethromycin (ABT-773) Therapy on Microbiological, Histologic, Immunologic, and Respiratory Indices in a Murine Model of Mycoplasma pneumoniae Lower Respiratory Infection

ABSTRACT Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a major etiologic agent of acute lower respiratory infections. We evaluated the antimicrobial and immunologic effects of cethromycin (ABT-773), a ketolide antibiotic, for the treatment of M. pneumoniae pneumonia in a mouse model. Eight-week-old BALB/c mice were inoculated intranasally once with 106 CFU of M. pneumoniae on day 0. Treatment was started 24 h after inoculation. Groups of mice were treated subcutaneously with cethromycin at 25 mg/kg of body weight or with placebo daily until sacrifice. Five to ten mice per group were evaluated at days 1, 4, 7, and 10 after inoculation. Outcome variables included bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) for M. pneumoniae quantitative culture and cytokine and chemokine concentration determinations by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α], gamma interferon [IFN-γ], interleukin-1β [IL-1β], IL-2, IL-4, IL-12, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, IL-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 [MCP-1], and macrophage inflammatory protein 1α [MIP-1α]), histopathologic score of the lungs (HPS), and pulmonary function tests (PFT) using whole-body, unrestrained plethysmography at the baseline and post-methacholine exposure as indicators of airway obstruction (AO) and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), respectively. The cethromycin-treated mice had a greater reduction in M. pneumoniae culture titers than placebo-treated mice, reaching statistical significance on days 7 and 10 (P < 0.05). HPS was significantly reduced in cethromycin-treated mice compared with placebo-treated mice on days 4, 7, and 10 (P < 0.05). Cytokine concentrations in BAL samples were reduced in mice that received cethromycin, and the differences were statistically significant for 7 of the 10 cytokines measured (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-8, IL-12, MCP-1, and MIP-1α) on day 4 (P < 0.05). PFT values were improved in the cethromycin-treated mice, with AO and AHR significantly reduced on day 4 (P < 0.05). In this mouse model, treatment with cethromycin significantly reduced M. pneumoniae culture titers in BAL samples, cytokine and chemokine concentrations in BAL samples, histologic inflammation in the lungs, and disease severity as defined by AO and AHR.
The Wages of Capital: The Rise and Rise of ‘Corporate Governance’

Key Texts Reviewed: Corporate Governance and Chairmanship: a Personal View A. Cadbury Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002, 0199252009.m Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage P. Hall & D. Soskice (Eds) Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001, 01992477249.m Contests for Corporate Control: Corporate Governance and Economic Performance in the United States and Germany Mary O’Sullivan Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000, 0198293461.m
Why TQM programmes fail? A pathology approach

Purpose – Implementing total quality management (TQM) is not without difficulties and achieving its promised benefits is not easy. The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers to TQM successful implementation. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review has been done to explore the major reasons for the failure of TQM programmes. Findings – An examination of 54 TQM empirical studies identified 54 obstacles to successful TQM implementation. There are both theoretical and practical difficulties in applying TQM in organisations. An ineffective TQM package, inappropriate TQM implementation methods and an inappropriate environment for implementing TQM are the main reasons for TQM failure. The most frequently mentioned reasons for TQM implementation failures include insufficient education and training, lack of employees’ involvement, lack of top management support, inadequate resources, deficient leadership, lack of a quality-oriented culture, poor communication, lack of a plan for change and emp.
Is Resident Valuation of Ranch Open Space Robust in a Growing Rural Community? Evidence From the Rocky Mountains

The conversion of ranch open space to development uses is common in rural areas experiencing rapid growth, often due to in-migration. There is concern that a growing and changing population could alter community preferences regarding development, permanently changing the physical and social landscape. This study investigates the nonmarket value of ranch open space to residents of an amenity-rich county in the Rocky Mountains (USA) using survey data from 1994 and 2004. We find that on that, on average, there was no difference in what residents were willing to pay for ranch open space conservation between the two years, and that income has a positive effect on willingness to pay. Because the population of the county is growing and average willingness to pay has stayed constant, aggregate willingness to pay for public ranch open space has increased, leading to greater total social benefits of public conservation initiatives.
Macro-economic linkages to agriculture: a general equilibrium model for Sudan

Unfavourable macro-economic conditions are often blamed for the failure of devaluation and liberalisation policies to correct the bias against agricultural exports in Sudan. A general equilibrium model, with an endogenous money creation mechanism, is constructed and econometrically estimated to analyse macro-economic linkages to agriculture in Sudan. Stronger economic performance is achieved when exchange rate adjustments and liberalisation are supported with fiscal and monetary control and less indirect taxation.
Modelling the Probability of Leaving Unemployment: Competing Risks Models with Flexible Base‐Line Hazards

Unemployment durations are generally modelled by using survival analysis. In the past, in Britain, all such studies have not only used very restrictive parametric specifications of the hazard functions, most commonly Weibull in form, but also only modelled unemployment durations without distinguishing the nature of the exit. These restrictions potentially bias the estimated effects, particularly those of the time varying economic variables and the base-line hazard. When we use semiparametric methods to estimate models with completely unrestricted base-line hazards, we find the restrictions implied by the Weibull specification to be rejected for Britain. We then use a competing risks model to distinguish exit into a job from other exits
Multi-antenna based one-bit spatio-temporal wideband sensing for cognitive radio networks

Cognitive Radio (CR) communication has been considered as one of the promising technologies to enable dynamic spectrum sharing in the next generation of wireless networks. Among several possible enabling techniques, Spectrum Sensing (SS) is one of the key aspects for enabling opportunistic spectrum access in CR Networks (CRN). From practical perspectives, it is important to design low-complexity wideband CR receiver having low resolution Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) working at a reasonable sampling rate. In this context, this paper proposes a novel spatio-temporal wideband SS technique by employing multiple antennas and one-bit quantization at the CR node, which subsequently enables the use of a reasonable sampling rate. In our analysis, we show that for the same sensing performance requirements, the proposed wideband receiver can have lower power consumption than the conventional CR receiver equipped with a single-antenna and a high-resolution ADC. Furthermore, the proposed technique exploits the spatial dimension by estimating the direction of arrival of Primary User (PU) signals, which is not possible by the conventional SS methods and can be of a significant benefit in a CRN. Moreover, we evaluate the performance of the proposed technique and analyze the effects of one-bit quantization with the help of numerical results.
Incidence of cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer in Korea, 1999-2010

Objective To investigate the recent incidence of and trends in cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer in Korean females. Methods Data from the Korea Central Cancer Registry between 1999 and 2010 were analyzed. Age-standardized rates (ASRs) and annual percent changes (APCs) were calculated. Results The absolute incidence rates of the three major gynecologic cancers increased: 6,394 in 1999 to 7,454 in 2010. The ASR for gynecologic cancer was 23.7 per 100,000 in 1999 and decreased to 21.0 in 2010 (APC, -1.1%; 95% confidence interval [CI], -1.53 to -0.70) due to a definitive decrease in the incidence of cervical cancer (APC, -4.3%). Endometrial cancer has been definitively increasing (APC, 6.9% during 1999-2010), especially in females <30 years old (APC, 11.2%) and in females ≥80 years old (APC, 9.5%). The incidence of ovarian cancer is increasing gradually (APC, 1.5%). Conclusion ASRs and APC for gynecologic cancers overall are decreasing due to the decrease in the incidence of cervical cancer. However, the incidence of endometrial and ovarian cancer has been increasing.
Managing protected areas for sustainable tourism: prospects for adaptive co-management

This paper looks at the challenging enterprise of managing protected areas for sustainable tourism. It notes that during the past 25 years multistakeholder conflicts, complexity and uncertainty have emerged and persisted as important issues requiring managerial responses. These issues reflect substantial paradigmatic shifts in pursuing and understanding sustainability. Governance directs attention to broad participatory approaches, and complex systems theory emphasises transformative changes and an integrative perspective that couples human and natural systems (a social–ecological system). The paper envisions the prospects of adaptive co-management as an alternative approach to protected areas management for sustainable tourism. It also makes the case for an interdisciplinary approach by highlighting important and informative developments outside tourism studies. Adaptive co-management bridges governance and complex systems by bringing together cooperative and adaptive approaches to management. In appraising the potential for adaptive co-management attention is systematically directed to conceptual, technical, ethical and practical dimensions. While adaptive co-management is clearly not a universal answer, experiences and knowledge from natural resource management raise salient prospects for the approach to be insightfully applied to protected areas for sustainable tourism.
Multiple basaloid follicular hamartomas associated with acrochordons, seborrhoeic keratoses and chondrosarcoma

Summary Basaloid follicular hamartoma is an uncommon neoplasm with distinctive histopathological findings. It presents as four distinctive clinical forms: a solitary papule, a localized plaque of alopecia, a localized linear and unilateral type, and generalized papules with associated alopecia and myasthenia gravis. Histologically, basaloid follicular hamartomas are characterized by thin branching strands and thick cords of basaloid or squamoid cells extending from a follicle into a loose, fibrillar, fibrocytic or mucinous connective tissue stroma. We report a case of long‐standing, generalized basaloid follicular hamartomas associated with acrochordons, seborrhoeic keratoses, and a history of chondrosarcoma. In general, solitary tumours are sporadic; multiple tumours are inherited and frequently associated with a syndrome. Further surveillance is warranted to determine if the association of multiple basaloid follicular hamartomas and chondrosarcoma constitutes an inherited syndrome.