Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cumulative antibiotic exposures over time and the risk of Clostridium difficile infection.

BACKGROUND Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a major cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea and is most commonly associated with changes in normal intestinal flora caused by administration of antibiotics. Few studies have examined the risk of CDI associated with total dose, duration, or number of antibiotics while taking into account the complex changes in exposures over time. METHODS A retrospective cohort study conducted from 1 January to 31 December 2005 among hospitalized patients 18 years or older receiving 2 or more days of antibiotics. RESULTS The study identified 10,154 hospitalizations for 7,792 unique patients and 241 cases of CDI, defined as the detection of C. difficile toxin in a diarrheal stool sample within 60 days of discharge. We observed dose-dependent increases in the risk of CDI associated with increasing cumulative dose, number of antibiotics, and days of antibiotic exposure. Compared to patients who received only 1 antibiotic, the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for those who received 2, 3 or 4, or 5 or more antibiotics were 2.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6-4.0), 3.3 (CI 2.2-5.2), and 9.6 (CI 6.1-15.1), respectively. The receipt of fluoroquinolones was associated with an increased risk of CDI, while metronidazole was associated with reduced risk. CONCLUSIONS Cumulative antibiotic exposures appear to be associated with the risk of CDI. Antimicrobial stewardship programs that focus on the overall reduction of total dose as well as number and days of antibiotic exposure and the substitution of high-risk antibiotic classes for lower-risk alternatives may reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired CDI.
Critical Cerebral Perfusion Pressure at High Intracranial Pressure Measured by Induced Cerebrovascular and Intracranial Pressure Reactivity

Objectives:The lower limit of cerebral blood flow autoregulation is the critical cerebral perfusion pressure at which cerebral blood flow begins to fall. It is important that cerebral perfusion pressure be maintained above this level to ensure adequate cerebral blood flow, especially in patients with high intracranial pressure. However, the critical cerebral perfusion pressure of 50 mm Hg, obtained by decreasing mean arterial pressure, differs from the value of 30 mm Hg, obtained by increasing intracranial pressure, which we previously showed was due to microvascular shunt flow maintenance of a falsely high cerebral blood flow. The present study shows that the critical cerebral perfusion pressure, measured by increasing intracranial pressure to decrease cerebral perfusion pressure, is inaccurate but accurately determined by dopamine-induced dynamic intracranial pressure reactivity and cerebrovascular reactivity. Design:Cerebral perfusion pressure was decreased either by increasing intracranial pressure or decreasing mean arterial pressure and the critical cerebral perfusion pressure by both methods compared. Cortical Doppler flux, intracranial pressure, and mean arterial pressure were monitored throughout the study. At each cerebral perfusion pressure, we measured microvascular RBC flow velocity, blood-brain barrier integrity (transcapillary dye extravasation), and tissue oxygenation (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) in the cerebral cortex of rats using in vivo two-photon laser scanning microscopy. Setting:University laboratory. Subjects:Male Sprague-Dawley rats. Interventions:At each cerebral perfusion pressure, dopamine-induced arterial pressure transients (~10 mm Hg, ~45 s duration) were used to measure induced intracranial pressure reactivity (&Dgr; intracranial pressure/&Dgr; mean arterial pressure) and induced cerebrovascular reactivity (&Dgr; cerebral blood flow/&Dgr; mean arterial pressure). Measurements and Main Results:At a normal cerebral perfusion pressure of 70 mm Hg, 10 mm Hg mean arterial pressure pulses had no effect on intracranial pressure or cerebral blood flow (induced intracranial pressure reactivity = –0.03 ± 0.07 and induced cerebrovascular reactivity = –0.02 ± 0.09), reflecting intact autoregulation. Decreasing cerebral perfusion pressure to 50 mm Hg by increasing intracranial pressure increased induced intracranial pressure reactivity and induced cerebrovascular reactivity to 0.24 ± 0.09 and 0.31 ± 0.13, respectively, reflecting impaired autoregulation (p < 0.05). By static cerebral blood flow, the first significant decrease in cerebral blood flow occurred at a cerebral perfusion pressure of 30 mm Hg (0.71 ± 0.08, p < 0.05). Conclusions:Critical cerebral perfusion pressure of 50 mm Hg was accurately determined by induced intracranial pressure reactivity and induced cerebrovascular reactivity, whereas the static method failed.
Interaction between glucocorticoid hormones, stress and psychostimulant drugs *

In this review we summarize data obtained from animal studies showing that glucocorticoid hormones have a facilitatory role on behavioural responses to psychostimulant drugs such as locomotor activity, self‐administration and relapse. These behavioural effects of glucocorticoids involve an action on the meso‐accumbens dopamine system, one of the major systems mediating the addictive properties of drugs of abuse. The effects of glucocorticoids in the nucleus accumbens are site‐specific; these hormones modify dopamine transmission in only the shell of this nucleus without modifying it in the core. Studies with corticosteroid receptor antagonists suggest that the dopaminergic effects of these hormones depend mostly on glucocorticoid, not on mineralocorticoid receptors. These data suggest that an increase in glucocorticoid hormones, through an action on mesolimbic dopamine neurons, could increase vulnerability to drug abuse. We also discuss the implications of this finding with respect to the physiological role of glucocorticoids. It is proposed that an increase in glucocorticoids, by activating the reward pathway, could counteract the aversive effects of stress. During chronic stress, repeated increases in glucocorticoids and dopamine would result in sensitization of the reward system. This sensitized state, which can persist after the end of the stress, would render the subject more responsive to drugs of abuse and consequently more vulnerable to the development of addiction.
Different expression of low density lipoprotein receptor and ApoE between young adult and old rat brains after ischemia

Abstract Objectives: Reduction of brain plasticity underlies the poor outcome of aged stroke patients. The molecular mechanism of plasticity reduction by aging is uncertain, but disturbed lipid metabolism may be implicated. Methods: We investigated the expression of low density lipoprotein receptors (LDL-R) and apolipoprotein E (ApoE), both of which play active roles in lipid metabolism in young adult and old rat brains after ischemia. Results: LDL-R, trivially expressed in the sham-operated brain neurons, was increased from day 1 and became prominent at days 7 and 21 at the peri-ischemic cortex. The magnitude was smaller in the old than in the young adult rats. ApoE was increased in the astrocytes and neurons of the peri-ischemic cortex at day 1, which became further pronounced in the neurons but not in the astrocytes at days 7 and 21. ApoE expression was again less prominent in the old animals at days 7 and 21. Discussion: As ApoE-containing lipoprotein is recruited via LDL-R, the present results suggest that old brains had less capability to induce LDL-R, which resulted in impaired recruitment of lipoprotein after the ischemic injury. Impaired lipid recruitment causes disturbance of synaptogenesis and thus brain plasticity reduction. This molecular mechanism may result in poor functional recovery of aged stroke patients.
The role of apical cell–cell junctions and associated cytoskeleton in mechanotransduction

Tissues of multicellular organisms are characterised by several types of specialised cell–cell junctions. In vertebrate epithelia and endothelia, tight and adherens junctions (AJ) play critical roles in barrier and adhesion functions, and are connected to the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons. The interaction between junctions and the cytoskeleton is crucial for tissue development and physiology, and is involved in the molecular mechanisms governing cell shape, motility, growth and signalling. The machineries which functionally connect tight and AJ to the cytoskeleton comprise proteins which either bind directly to cytoskeletal filaments, or function as adaptors for regulators of the assembly and function of the cytoskeleton. In the last two decades, specific cytoskeleton‐associated junctional molecules have been implicated in mechanotransduction, revealing the existence of multimolecular complexes that can sense mechanical cues and translate them into adaptation to tensile forces and biochemical signals. Here, we summarise the current knowledge about the machineries that link tight and AJ to actin filaments and microtubules, and the molecular basis for mechanotransduction at epithelial and endothelial AJ.
Homogeneous crystal nucleation in polymers

The pathway of crystal nucleation significantly influences the structure and properties of semi-crystalline polymers. Crystal nucleation is normally heterogeneous at low supercooling, and homogeneous at high supercooling, of the polymer melt. Homogeneous nucleation in bulk polymers has been, so far, hardly accessible experimentally, and was even doubted to occur at all. This topical review summarizes experimental findings on homogeneous crystal nucleation in polymers. Recently developed fast scanning calorimetry, with cooling and heating rates up to 106 K s−1, allows for detailed investigations of nucleation near and even below the glass transition temperature, including analysis of nuclei stability. As for other materials, the maximum homogeneous nucleation rate for polymers is located close to the glass transition temperature. In the experiments discussed here, it is shown that polymer nucleation is homogeneous at such temperatures. Homogeneous nucleation in polymers is discussed in the framework of the classical nucleation theory. The majority of our observations are consistent with the theory. The discrepancies may guide further research, particularly experiments to progress theoretical development. Progress in the understanding of homogeneous nucleation is much needed, since most of the modelling approaches dealing with polymer crystallization exclusively consider homogeneous nucleation. This is also the basis for advancing theoretical approaches to the much more complex phenomena governing heterogeneous nucleation.
Clinical performance of the Food and Drug Administration–Approved high‐risk HPV test for the detection of high‐grade cervicovaginal lesions

In recent years, high‐risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) testing for triaging atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and cotesting with cytology have been implemented in clinical practice. However, clinical data for primary screening with human papillomavirus (HPV) testing alone are currently lacking.
Linking Crude Oil Prices and Middle East Stock Markets

This study investigates the effects of oil prices (OPs) on stock markets in the Middle Eastern (ME) economies. The focus is on the dynamic relationship between crude OPs and stock market capitalisation (MC) in the ME. We use daily data from nine countries between the years 2001 and 2015 to examine the relationships based on Vector Autoregression (VAR), Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and Impulse Response Function (IRF). VECM results indicate that there are long&#8208;run linkages between OP and MC in seven ME economies from 2001 to 2015, three countries in the pre&#8208;shale (2001&#8211;2008) and four countries in the post&#8208;shale (2009&#8211;2015) periods. The VAR models show short&#8208;run causality running from OP to MC in two countries from 2001 to 2015, five countries in pre&#8208;shale and six countries in post&#8208;shale periods. The IRFs verify the relationships between OPs and stock market value for most of the ME markets.
Proteasome inhibitor MG132 induces BAG3 expression through activation of heat shock factor 1

BAG3 protein, a member of the BAG co‐chaperones family, sustains cell survival in a variety of normal and neoplastic cell types, via its interaction with a variety of partners, such as the heat shock protein (HSP) 70, Bcl‐2, Raf‐1 and others. Expression of BAG3 is induced by some stressful stimuli, such as heat shock, heavy metal exposure. We have reported that proteasome inhibitors can also induce BAG3 expression at the transcriptional level and the induction of BAG3 compromises proteasome inhibitors‐mediated apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanism of BAG3 upregulation has not been elucidated. In the current study, we provide evidence that heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) is involved in BAG3 induction by proteasome inhibitor MG132. Using a series of varying lengths of 5′‐flanking region of the BAG3 gene into luciferase reporter vectors, we found that MG132 stimulated the promoter activity via the −326/−233 and −825/−689 regions, which contains one putative heat shock‐responsive element (HSE) for HSF1‐binding, respectively. Site‐directed deletion of the sites abrogated the enhanced reporter activity in response to MG132 treatment. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that HSF1 directly bound to the MG132‐responsive site on the BAG3 promoter. Activation of HSF1 occurred with MG132 along with BAG3 upregulation. Furthermore, knockdown HSF1 by small interfering RNA attenuated the BAG3 upregulation due to MG132.These results indicate that the proteasome inhibitor MG132 induces BAG3 expression through HSF1 activation. J. Cell. Physiol. 218: 631–637, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An Efficient MAC Layer Access Protocol for White Space Standard IEEE 802.11af

With the rapid development of WLAN, Ultra High Frequency(UHF) spectrum gradually attracts peoples attention. Due to its low utilization and good propagation property, FCC has issued two white space standards named IEEE 802.22 and IEEE 802.11af for cognitive radio to operate in the UHF TeleVision(TV) bands. This paper aims to build an efficient and relatively simple MAC layer access protocol for white space standard 802.11af, which adopts DCF protocol as its MAC layer access protocol. To this end, channel resources are allocate by the base station, which is the common approach to improving utilization and stability in multi-user networks. Channel structure and frame structure are optimized to increase the proportion of data channel and ensure avoidance of collisions. Simulation results show that the proposed design offers significant benefits compared with DCF protocol. The channel utilization can be up to 81 percent without considering frame efficiency, and end-to-end delay decreases sharply as compared to DCF protocol. With the growth of the number of terminal users, the decrease of throughput is negligible.
Pethidine pharmacokinetics after intramuscular dose: a comparison in Caucasian, Chinese and Nepalese patients.

The pharmacokinetics of pethidine after a single intramuscular injection were studied in 30 male patients of Caucasian, Chinese and Nepalese extraction. There were no significant differences between the three ethnic groups in the mean time for maximum absorption (tmax) and peak plasma concentration (Cmax) of pethidine. The mean (+/- S.D.) elimination half life (t1/2) of pethidine was shorter in Caucasians (4.5 +/- 1.3 h) compared with Nepalese (6.3 +/- 1.6 h) and Chinese (8.1 +/- 3.1 h) (p < 0.01). The plasma clearance of pethidine was greater in Caucasians (14.2 +/- 4.8 ml.min-1.kg-1) than in Nepalese (12.6 +/- 2.9 ml.min-1.kg-1) and Chinese (10.0 +/- 2.9 ml.min-1.kg-1) (p < 0.05); yet the apparent renal clearance was similar (64.1 +/- 22.9, 86.7 +/- 44.5 and 61.4 +/- 30.1 ml.min-1.kg-1, respectively, for the Chinese (n = 6), Caucasian (n = 6) and Nepalese (n = 9) patients). No apparent ethnic differences were found in the tmax and Cmax of norpethidine which emerged as the major metabolite in the plasma in the three races. An apparently higher area under plasma concentration-time curve (AUC infinity [symbol: see text]) and longer elimination t1/2 of the metabolite were observed in the two Asian patient groups. It appears that both the Chinese and Indian groups did not eliminate pethidine as effectively as the Caucasians after a single intramuscular injection, which may be the result of interethnic variability in the metabolism of pethidine. Caution may be required on multiple dosing of pethidine in Asian patients due to the possible accumulation of the parent drug and its toxic metabolite, norpethidine.
An approach to prioritize quality dimensions of IT enabled small service firms: A study of Indian SMEs

In today's globally competitive market it is important to adopt quality management principles not only for making profits but also for survival. In India small and midsized enterprises dictate market in terms of sheer number of organizations characterized by dynamics of entrepreneurial fortitude while suffered failure due to poor service quality. With rise of e-business introduced by ICT, service delivery of enterprises grew. However it is seen in practice that many IT projects have suffered missed deadlines, budget overruns, and unsatisfactory quality or unmet performances whereby organizations often go through frustrations and may have serious impact on their operations. In response to the context it is vital for small firms to adopt effective quality orientation approach. Taking scenario into consideration there is a need for deeper investigation to identify context specific dimensions of quality attributes pertaining to IT enabled Indian small service firms. This paper thus attempts to identify and prioritize quality management dimensions based on comprehensive compilation and subsequent analysis of literature followed by data collection and in-depth interview. Further, TOPSIS as multi criteria decision making technique has been deployed to prioritize the same. Paper provide rich conjectural understanding of antecedents to service ventures and start-up survivals which can provide entrepreneurial insights to service managers as well as entrepreneurs who can better apportion their scarce resources to build quality and scalability in an efficient and effective manner.
Réinventer l’agence bancaire de demain

Dans sa dimension la plus aboutie, l’innovation collaborative est une demarche d’innovation ouverte. Elle vise a impliquer diverses parties prenantes a la creation de valeur des la conception. C’est un processus particulier de participation extraordinaire, d’apprentissage de nouvelles pratiques et d’ajustement encore peu observe. Le processus d’innovation collaborative adopte par une banque mutualiste apporte ici un eclairage sur la maniere dont il se met en oeuvre, les mutations auxquelles il donne lieu, la plasticite et l’agilite necessaires a son succes.
Invasive Candidiasis in the Intensive Care Unit

Abstract Invasive fungal disease by Candida spp. is on the rise in the modern era of prolonged patient survival by virtue of improved critical care measures, novel chemotherapy regimens, and increasing immunosuppression following organ transplants. Invasive candidiasis (IC) in the setting of an intensive care unit results in prolonged hospital stay and increased morbidity. Clinical suspicion plays a major role in the diagnosis of IC, as current laboratory methods are not very sensitive. Various serum markers and molecular techniques are under development to improve diagnostic strategies. Treatment options involve an expanding spectrum of antifungals. Knowledge of local epidemiology and the risk factors that predispose patients to this disease are essential for effective patient care in an intensive care setting.
Quality control technique to reduce the variability of longitudinal measurement of hemoglobin mass

The sensitivity of the athlete blood passport to detect blood doping may be improved by the inclusion of total hemoglobin mass (Hbmass), but the comparability of Hbmass from different laboratories is unknown. To optimize detection sensitivity, the analytical variability associated with Hbmass measurement must be minimized. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of using quality controls to minimize the variation in Hbmass between laboratories. Three simulated laboratories were set up in one location. Nine participants completed three carbon monoxide (CO) re‐breathing tests in each laboratory. One participant completed two CO re‐breathing tests in each laboratory. Simultaneously, quality controls containing Low (1–3%) and High (8–11%) concentrations of percent carboxyhemoglobin (%HbCO) were measured to compare hemoximeters in each laboratory. Linear mixed modeling was used to estimate the within‐subject variation in Hbmass, expressed as the coefficient of variation, and to estimate the effect of different laboratories. The analytic variation of Hbmass was 2.4% when tests were conducted in different laboratories, which reduced to 1.6% when the model accounted for between‐laboratory differences. Adjustment of Hbmass values using quality controls achieved a comparable analytic variation of 1.7%. The majority of between‐laboratory variation in Hbmass originated from the difference between hemoximeters, which could be eliminated using appropriate quality controls.
Sentiment analysis of economic news in Bahasa Indonesia using majority vote classifier

Internet acts as a media to publicite news, which divided into various categories, such as politics, economics, sports, and health. Each has tendency to publish the news with positive or negative sentiment. News sentiment has ability to affect people's opinion about a topic or government policy. Economy is one interesting topic which has direct impact to Indonesian citizen. Hence, this research focused on economic news from Indonesian online media. This research tested the performance of some classifiers to classify the news in Bahasa Indonesia from various online news media. Popular classifiers such as decision tree, random forests, and support vector machine will be compared each other. After that, they will be combined using majority vote classifier. Majority vote classifier votes the result between them, the voted result then compared again with the other three classifiers. Experiments has been made by this research by combining parameters and classifiers, concluded that combining multiple classifier using Majority Vote scoring better precision and accuracy than decision tree, random forests, and support vector machine alone.
Bacteriocin-Producing Strain of Lactococcus lactis subsp. diacitilactis S50

Lactococcus lactis subsp. diacitilactis S50 produces a bacteriocin, designated bacteriocin S50, which has a narrow antibacterial spectrum. It was active only against Lactococcus species, including a nisin producer exhibiting a bactericidal effect. The activity of bacteriocin S50 was sensitive to proteases. It retained antimicrobial activity after being heated to 100°C for up to 60 min and in the pH range 2 to 11.