Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology and control of acute respiratory diseases with emphasis on group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus: a decade of U.S. Army experience.

OBJECTIVE To summarize the experiences of the U.S. Army regarding prevention and control, and frequencies, rates, trends, and determinants of febrile acute respiratory diseases (ARDs), particularly Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS). METHODOLOGY Since 1966, the U.S. Army has conducted routine surveillance of ARDs among basic trainees. Since 1985, all trainees with fever and respiratory tract symptoms have been cultured for GABHS: Field investigations were conducted when outbreaks of acute respiratory or GABHS-associated illnesses were detected. Mass plus tandem benzathine penicillin prophylaxis were used to interdict and control training center GABHS outbreaks. RESULTS During the period 1985 to 1994, there were 65,184 hospitalizations for acute febrile respiratory illnesses among Army trainees. The crude hospitalization rate was 0.45 per 100 trainees per week. The rate consistently declined over the period. Incremental declines were temporally associated with increased use of adenovirus immunizations and broader use of benzathine penicillin prophylaxis. During the period, 10,789 of 59,818 (18%) pharyngeal cultures were positive for GABHS: GABHS outbreaks were associated with diverse clinical manifestations including streptococcal toxic shock, acute rheumatic fever, and pneumonia. The emergence of mucoid colony morphology in clinical isolates was a consistent indicator of circulating virulent strains with epidemic potential. Outbreak-associated M types were M1, M3, M5, and M18. In response to six GABHS outbreaks, mass plus tandem benzathine penicillin chemoprophylaxis produced rapid and sustained GABHS control. ARD and GABHS recovery rates were lowest when benzathine penicillin prophylaxis was widely used. CONCLUSIONS ARD rates among Army trainees have consistently declined to unprecedented levels. GABHS has reemerged as an important threat to military trainees. Benzathine penicillin chemoprophylaxis is safe and effective for interdicting and preventing GABHS outbreaks in closed, healthy young adult populations.
Une étrange absence. La faible prise en compte des sorties dans les statistiques migratoires

Figure n°1 : Une divergence croissante. Source : Luc Legoux. L’objectif de cette communication est d’explorer la quasi absence de l’emigration dans les statistiques publiques francaises. Les sorties du territoire, sans lesquelles il ne peut exister de migrations circulaires, sont laissees dans l’ombre alors meme que le concept de « migrations circulaires », etudie au sein du laboratoire Migrinter a la fin des annees 1990 (Ma Mung, Dorai et alii, 1998), est reintroduit dans le milieu scientif.
Straight driving control for electric tiller considering human driving input

In the recent times, the number of amateur farmers has been increasing. Although amateur farmers use tillers, they may find it difficult to drive the tiller along a straight line. There is a need for electric tillers with independent drive wheels. This paper proposes straight control incorporating human driving input by using a disturbance observer. Numerical simulation results and experimental results confirm the validity of the proposed method.
Reconstruction of gene regulatory networks using state space model

State Space Model (SSM) is an approach to inferring gene regulatory networks. It requires less computational time than Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN). There are two types of variables in the linear SSM, observed variables and hidden variables. SSM uses an iterative method, namely Expectation-Maximization, to infer regulatory relationships from microarray datasets. The hidden variables cannot be directly observed from experiments. How to determine the number of hidden variables has a significant impact on the accuracy of network inference. In this study, we investigated the effect of hidden variables in the state space model and their impact on inference accuracy. Ten different gene regulatory networks (GRNs) and synthetic gene expression datasets were generated using GeneNetWeaver. Both DBN and linear SSM were used to infer GRNs from the synthetic datasets and the inferred networks were compared with the true networks. The results show that inference accuracy varied with the change of the number of hidden variables. For some true networks, the inference accuracy of DBN is higher but in other cases SSM performs better. In the tested cases, the overall performance of SSM and DBN are compatible. However, SSM was much faster than DBN and can infer large networks that DBN cannot handle because of its significant computational cost. This study provides useful information in handling the hidden variables and improving the inference accuracy.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND JOB SATISFACTION: THE ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING CAPABILITY

Emotional intelligence is becoming one of the most important individual competencies for organizations, which has been theoretically related to organizational performance and to individual variables like job satisfaction. However, some emotionally intelligent people seem to be satisfied with their jobs while others do not. This paper proposes that organizational learning capability plays a significant role in determining the effects of emotional intelligence on job satisfaction. We assess this empirically through the responses of 157 employees from 8 companies in the Spanish ceramic tile sector. Implications of the findings for both academic and practitioners are examined.
Pre-treatment carbohydrate antigen 19-9 does not predict the response to neoadjuvant therapy in patients with localized pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND The prognostic value of CA19-9 in patients with pancreatic cancer (PC) treated with neoadjuvant therapy has not been well described. METHODS Pre-treatment CA19-9 levels (with concomitant normal bilirubin level) in patients with localized PC were categorized as normal (≤35), low (36-200), moderate (201-1000), or high (>1000). Post-treatment CA19-9 was measured after neoadjuvant therapy, prior to surgery. RESULTS Pre-treatment CA19-9 levels were evaluable in 235 patients, levels were normal in 60 (25%) patients, low in 78 (33%) patients, moderate in 69 (29%) and high in 28 (12%). After neoadjuvant therapy, post-treatment CA19-9 normalized (≤ 35) in 40 (51%) of the patients in the low group, 14 (21%) of the moderate and 5 (19%) of the high group (P < 0.001). Of the 235 patients, 168 (71%) completed all intended therapy including a pancreatectomy; 44 (73%), 62 (79%), 46 (67%) and 16 (57%) of the normal, low, moderate and high groups (P = 0.10). Among these 168 patients, the median overall survival was 38.4, 43.6, 44.7, 27.2 and 26.4 months for normal, low, moderate and high CA19-9 groups (log rank P = 0.72). Among resected patients, an elevated pre-treatment CA19-9 was of little prognostic value; instead, it was the CA19-9 response to neoadjuvant therapy that was prognostic [hazard ratio (HR): 1.80, P = 0.02]. CONCLUSIONS Among patients who completed neoadjuvant therapy and surgery, pre-treatment CA19-9 obtained at the time of diagnosis was not predictive of overall survival, but normalization of post-treatment CA19-9 in response to neoadjuvant therapy was highly prognostic.
Relative effects of different non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants on global thrombotic status in atrial fibrillation

Abstract Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) reduce the risk of thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). There has been no head-to-head comparison of the effect of these agents on ex vivo thrombotic and thrombolytic status. Enhanced platelet reactivity and impaired endogenous thrombolysis are risk factors for recurrent thrombotic events. We aimed to assess the comparative effect of NOACs and warfarin using an ex vivo test of thrombosis and thrombolysis. Eighty patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular AF were tested before, and after being established on apixaban (n = 20), dabigatran (n = 20), rivaroxaban (n = 20), or warfarin (n = 20). Thrombotic status was assessed with the automated, point-of-care Global Thrombosis Test (GTT) that assesses both platelet reactivity and endogenous thrombolysis from native blood. The time taken to form an occlusive thrombus (occlusion time, OT) and the time required to restore flow through endogenous thrombolysis (lysis time, LT) were measured. All anticoagulants caused OT prolongation compared to baseline (apixaban 403 ± 102s vs. 496 ± 125s, p = 0.006; dabigatran 471 ± 106s vs. 656 ± 165s, p < 0.00001; rivaroxaban 381 ± 119s vs. 579 ± 158, p < 0.00001; warfarin 420 ± 145s vs. 604 ± 124s, p < 0.00001). Apixaban reduced LT from baseline (1895[1702–2167]s vs. 1435[347–1990]s; p = 0.006). A trend for LT reduction was seen with other NOACs (dabigatran 1594[1226–2069]s vs. 1539[561–2316]s, p = 0.499; rivaroxaban 2085[1366–2428]s vs. 1885[724–2420]s, p = 0.295) but not with warfarin (1490[1206–1960]s vs. 1776[1545–2334], p = 0.601). Our results suggest that NOACs and warfarin have a similar favorable effect on reducing platelet reactivity. All NOACs exhibited a trend toward enhancing endogenous thrombolytic status, although this was significant only for apixaban. This raises the possibility of using NOACs to enhance impaired endogenous fibrinolysis in patients at high-thrombotic risk.
Energy metabolism and energy-sensing pathways in mammalian embryonic and adult stem cell fate

Summary Metabolism is influenced by age, food intake, and conditions such as diabetes and obesity. How do physiological or pathological metabolic changes influence stem cells, which are crucial for tissue homeostasis? This Commentary reviews recent evidence that stem cells have different metabolic demands than differentiated cells, and that the molecular mechanisms that control stem cell self-renewal and differentiation are functionally connected to the metabolic state of the cell and the surrounding stem cell niche. Furthermore, we present how energy-sensing signaling molecules and metabolism regulators are implicated in the regulation of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Finally, we discuss the emerging literature on the metabolism of induced pluripotent stem cells and how manipulating metabolic pathways might aid cellular reprogramming. Determining how energy metabolism regulates stem cell fate should shed light on the decline in tissue regeneration that occurs during aging and facilitate the development of therapies for degenerative or metabolic diseases.
A new method of robotic motion control near singularities

A new method of controlling robotic manipulators near singularities is introduced. In traditional rate control, a local first-order approximation of the robot kinematics is used, which may fail at a singularity. However, if the approximation is extended to the second-order, it becomes possible to solve for the joint rates. The method presented uses a multidimensional Newton-Raphson technique to solve the resulting set of coupled quadratic equations. The method is presented in conjunction with a description of rate control in the complex domain, which allows for end effector locations outside the manipulator's workspace. Examples are presented for a 6R robot in a singular configuration and for a closed trajectory. <<ETX>>
An antiport mechanism for a member of the cation diffusion facilitator family: divalent cations efflux in exchange for K+ and H+

Members of the cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) family of membrane transport proteins are found in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The family encompasses transporters of zinc ions, with cobalt, cad‐mium and lead ions being additional substrates for some prokaryotic examples. No transport mechanism has previously been established for any CDF protein. It is shown here that the CzcD protein of Bacillus subtilis, a CDF protein, uses an antiporter mechanism, catalysing active efflux of Zn2+ in exchange for K+ and H+. The exchange is probably electroneutral, energized by the transmembrane pH gradient and oppositely oriented gradients of the other cation substrates. The data suggest that Co2+ and Cd2+ are additional cytoplasmic substrates for CzcD. A second product of the same operon that encodes czcD has sequence similarity to oxidoreductases and is here designated CzcO. CzcO modestly enhances the activity of CzcD but is not predicted to be an integral membrane protein and has no antiport activity of its own.
Mass tourim in historic cities. Effects on the tourists´experience and possible risks for future development

Le tourime de masse dans les villes historiques. Effets sur l'experience touristique et risques eventuels pour le developpement futur. - La croissance de la frequentation touristique devient un probleme majeur pour beaucoup de villes historiques. Il est de plus en plus evident que la forte proportion des excursionnistes joue un role cle dans ce contexte (Becheri 2005, Loda 2006, Russo 2002). Cet article se concentre sur l'analyse des relations entre les excursionnistes et les touristes de long sejour dans la ville de Florence, l'une des plus importantes destinations du tourisme urbain en Europe. L'etude se fonde sur des entretiens approfondis realises aupres des touristes de long sejour germanophones. Les entretiens montrent que l'experience des touristes de long sejour est affectee negativement de differentes manieres et que cela n'est pas sans consequence. Une attention particuliere est pretee aux strategies developpees par les interviewes afin de mieux vivre leur sejour dans la vil1e malgre le tourisme de masse ainsi qu'aux politiques d'intervention susceptibles de les encourager
Matrix Metalloproteinases in the Normal Human Central Nervous System, Microglial Nodules, and Multiple Sclerosis Lesions

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) comprise a family of proteolytic enzymes that are involved in remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of many tissues. They have been implicated in degradation of vascular basement membranes thereby facilitating leukocyte migration into inflammatory sites. To determine the cellular localization and levels of MMPs in the normal human central nervous system (CNS), multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions, and other conditions, cryostat sections of CNS samples were immunostained with antisera to MMP-1, −2, −3 and −9. In control white matter the principal cells that express the MMPs were perivascular and parenchymal microglia. Cellular MMP expression was also found in sporadic microglial nodules in MS white matter. Most CNS microvessel endothelial cells expressed MMP-3 and −9 but not MMP-1 or −2. The majority of macrophages in active MS and necrotic lesions were MMP-1-, −2-, −3-, and −9-positive whereas chronic MS lesions had fewer MMP-positive macrophages. Small numbers of astrocytes were MMP-2-, −3− and −9-positive in acute and chronic MS lesions. These data suggest that microglia-derived MMPs may mediate turnover of the CNS ECM under normal conditions and in microglial nodules. In sites of CNS tissue injury there is complex and dynamic regulation of MMP expression by different cell populations. In MS lesions MMP-mediated proteolysis may contribute to breakdown of the blood- brain barrier and leukocyte migration into the CNS, in situ immune activation, demyelination, metabolism of bioactive peptides, and the formation of an ECM that does not promote remyelination or axonal repair
Multimodal Medical Image Fusion Based On SVD

Image fusion is a promising process in the field of medical image processing, the idea behind is to improve the content of medical image by combining two or more multimodal medical images. In this paper a novel fusion framework based on singular value decomposition based image fusion algorithm is proposed. SVD is an image adaptive transform, it transforms the matrix of the given image into product USV T , which allows to refactor a digital image into three matrices called tensors. The proposed algorithm picks out informative image patches of source images to constitute the fused image by processing the divided subtensors rather than the whole tensor and a novel sigmoid-function-like coefficient-combining scheme is applied to construct the fused result. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is an alternative image fusion approach.
A 3-PRS parallel manipulator for ankle rehabilitation: towards a low-cost robotic rehabilitation

SUMMARY This paper presents the design, kinematics, dynamics and control of a low-cost parallel rehabilitation robot developed at the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia. Several position and force controllers have been tested to ensure accurate tracking performances. An orthopedic boot, equipped with a force sensor, has been placed over the platform of the parallel robot to perform exercises for injured ankles. Passive, active-assistive and active-resistive exercises have been implemented to train dorsi/plantar flexion, inversion and eversion ankle movements. In order to implement the controllers, the component-based middleware Orocos has been used with the advantage over other solutions that the whole scheme control can be implemented modularly. These modules are independent and can be configured and reconfigured in both configuration and runtime. This means that no specific knowledge is needed by medical staff, for example, to carry out rehabilitation exercises using this low-cost parallel robot. The integration between Orocos and ROS, with a CAD model displaying the actual position of the rehabilitation robot in real time, makes it possible to develop a teleoperation application. In addition, a teleoperated rehabilitation exercise can be performed by a specialist using a Wiimote (or any other Bluetooth device).
O relacionamento entre a incerteza ambiental e o comportamento estratégico na percepção dos gestores de pequenas empresas

El objetivo del estudio es examinar el relacionamiento entre el comportamiento estrategico y la incerteza ambiental. Para ello, los datos relativos al constructo incerteza fueron obtenidos usando un taxonomia que comprende 29 factores en seis clusters. Para el comportamiento estrategico se utilizo el modelo que caracteriza las estrategias adoptadas en cuatro tipos: prospectoras, analistas, defensoras y reactivas. La investigacion presenta abordaje cuantitativo y finalidad descriptiva, correlacional y explicativa. Los datos fueron colectados a traves de un survey con cuestionario, que se entrego a los 203 representantes de las empresas de Tapejara, representando la poblacion. De esos, 53 cuestionarios (26,1%) fueron respondidos. El analisis de la relacion entre incerteza y comportamiento estrategico fue realizado a traves de la tecnica ANOVA, precedida de los tests de normalidad y de homocedasticidad a fin de verificar el cumplimiento de los presupuestos. Con respecto a la percepcion de incerteza, 64% de los administradores consideran al ambiente con baja incerteza. En relacion al comportamiento estrategico de las empresas participantes de la muestra, 40% adoptan una postura prospectora. En cuanto a la relacion entre la incerteza y el comportamiento se puede concluir que no hubo significancia en los resultados de los tests que posibilite afirmar que la percepcion de la incerteza lleva a la adopcion de determinado comportamiento estrategico.
Fractionation of Sulfur and Carbon Isotopes in a Meromictic Lake

In the permanently stagnant depths of Green Lake (near Syracuse, N.Y.), sulfide made by bacteria is depleted in heavy sulfur (S34), and sulfate is enriched. The fractionation factor, 1.0575, is the greatest yet observed. Isotopic resemblance to salt-dome sulfur deposits is evident, and, like saltdome calcite, the lake's carbon dioxide is depleted in heavy carbon (C13).
A new familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis locus on chromosome 16q12.1-16q12.2.

Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS) affects 5%-10% of cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and is inherited as an autosomal dominant condition with incomplete penetrance. One-fifth of these cases of FALS are associated with mutations in copper/zinc-dependent superoxide dismutase (SOD1), but the gene defect in the remaining 80% of familial cases is, as yet, unknown. We have carried out a preliminary genome screen, using a U.K. resource of families lacking SOD1 mutations, to identify other potential disease loci and have identified a putative locus on chromosome 16q12.1-q12.2. The region associated with disease was further refined in the major family that contributed to this result and was localized to D16S409-D16S3032, a 14.74-cM genetic interval that corresponds to a physical distance of 6.6 Mb, which coincides with a region independently identified by two further research groups in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Body mass index and mortality in 'healthier' as compared with 'sicker' haemodialysis patients: results from the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS).

BACKGROUND Haemodialysis (HD) patients with lower body mass index (BMI) have a higher relative mortality risk (RR), irrespective of race. However, only Asian Americans treated with HD have been found to have an elevated RR with higher BMI. Asian Americans on HD are 'healthier' than other race groups (i.e. have better overall survival). We hypothesized that an increased mortality risk might be associated with high BMI in a variety of other 'healthier' subgroups of HD patients. METHODS The prospective Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) provided baseline demographic, comorbidity and BMI data on 9714 HD patients in the US and Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK) from 1996-2000. Using multivariate survival analyses, we evaluated BMI-mortality relationships in HD subpopulations defined by continent, race (black and white), gender, tertiles of severity of illness (based on a score derived from comorbid conditions and serum albumin concentration), age (<45, 45-64, >or=65), smoking, and diabetic status. RESULTS Relative mortality risk decreased with increasing BMI. This was statistically significant (P<0.007) except for the smallest subgroup of patients who were <45 years old and were also in the healthiest tertile of comorbidity. All else equal, BMI <20 was consistently associated with the highest relative mortality risk. Overall a lower relative mortality risk (RR) as compared with BMI 23-24.9, was found for overweight (BMI 25-29.9; RR 0.84, P=0.008), for mild obesity (BMI 30-34.9; RR 0.73, P=0.0003), and for moderate obesity (BMI 35-39.9; RR 0.76, P=0.02). CONCLUSION In a wide variety of HD patient subgroups, differing with respect to their baseline health status, increasing body size correlates with a decreased mortality risk. This contrasts with the association between BMI and mortality in the general population, and deserves further study.
Time‐resolved three‐dimensional phase‐contrast MRI

To demonstrate the feasibility of a four‐dimensional phase contrast (PC) technique that permits spatial and temporal coverage of an entire three‐dimensional volume, to quantitatively validate its accuracy against an established time resolved two‐dimensional PC technique to explore advantages of the approach with regard to the four‐dimensional nature of the data.