Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduction of Experimental Salmonella and Campylobacter Contamination of Chicken Skin by Application of Lytic Bacteriophages

ABSTRACT Lytic bacteriophages, applied to chicken skin that had been experimentally contaminated with Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis or Campylobacter jejuni at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1, increased in titer and reduced the pathogen numbers by less than 1 log10 unit. Phages applied at a MOI of 100 to 1,000 rapidly reduced the recoverable bacterial numbers by up to 2 log10 units over 48 h. When the level of Salmonella contamination was low (< log10 2 per unit area of skin) and the MOI was 105, no organisms were recovered. By increasing the number of phage particles applied (i.e., MOI of 107), it was also possible to eliminate other Salmonella strains that showed high levels of resistance because of restriction but to which the phages were able to attach.
Comparison between dexmedetomidine and propofol for sedation in the intensive care unit: patient and clinician perceptions.

The alpha2 agonist dexmedetomidine is a new sedative and analgesic agent which is licensed in the USA for post-operative intensive care sedation. We compared dexmedetomidine with propofol in patients requiring sedation in intensive care. Twenty adult patients expected to require a minimum of 8 h artificial ventilation after surgery were randomized to receive sedation with either dexmedetomidine or propofol infusions. Additional analgesia, if required, was provided by an alfentanil infusion. Depth of sedation was monitored using both the Ramsay sedation score (RSS) and the bispectral index (BIS). Cardiovascular, respiratory, biochemical and haematological data were obtained. Patients' perceptions of their intensive care stay were assessed using the Hewitt questionnaire. Sedation was equivalent in the two groups [median (interquartile range): RSS, propofol group 5 (4-5), dexmedetomidine group 5 (4-6) (P=0.68); BIS, propofol group 53 (41-64), dexmedetomidine group 46 (36-58); P=0.32], but the propofol group received three times more alfentanil compared with patients sedated with dexmedetomidine [2.5 (2.2-2.9) mg h(-1) versus 0.8 (0.65-1.2) mg h(-1) (P=0.004)]. No differences were found in arterial pressures between the groups, but heart rate was significantly lower in the dexmedetomidine group [mean (SD) 75 (6) vs 90 (4) beats min(-1)]. Extubation times were similar and rapid with the use of both sedative agents [median (range) 28 (20-50) and 29 (15-50) min (P=0.63) respectively for the propofol and dexmedetomidine groups]. No adverse events related to the sedative infusions occurred in either group. Despite ventilation and intubation, patients sedated with dexmedetomidine could be easily roused to cooperate with procedures (e.g. physiotherapy, radiology) without showing irritation. From the clinician's and patient's perspectives, dexmedetomidine is a safe and acceptable sedative agent for those requiring intensive care. The rate pressure product is reduced in patients receiving dexmedetomidine, which may protect against myocardial ischaemia. Dexmedetomidine reduces the requirement for opioid analgesia.
Genetic and environmental effects on offspring alcoholism: new insights using an offspring-of-twins design.

CONTEXT Although there is now considerable evidence that genetic effects play a critical role in the development of alcohol dependence (AD), theoretical and methodological limitations of this literature require caution in describing the etiology and development of this disorder. OBJECTIVE To disentangle genetic and environmental effects on AD by means of the infrequently used, yet potentially powerful, offspring-of-twins design. DESIGN Offspring of twins. PARTICIPANTS Male monozygotic and dizygotic twins concordant or discordant for AD and control pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry were assessed, as were the offspring of these twins and the mothers of these offspring. INTERVENTIONS Structured psychiatric interviews. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Participants' psychiatric, alcohol abuse (AA), and AD histories (DSM-IV). RESULTS Offspring of monozygotic and dizygotic twins with a history of AD were significantly more likely to exhibit AA or AD than were offspring of nonalcoholic fathers. Offspring of an alcohol-abusing monozygotic twin whose co-twin was AD were also more likely to exhibit AD than were offspring of nonalcoholic twins. In contrast, offspring of an unaffected (ie, no history of abuse or dependence) monozygotic twin whose co-twin was AD were no more likely to exhibit AA or AD than were offspring of nonalcoholic twins. CONCLUSIONS These findings support the hypothesis that family environmental effects do make a difference in accounting for offspring outcomes, in particular, that a low-risk environment (ie, the absence of parental alcoholism) can moderate the impact of high genetic risk regarding offspring for the development of alcohol-use disorders.
[Survival rates of the 5 major cancers in Jeju Island residents, 2000-2001].

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to calculate the survival rates of cancer patients in Jeju Island residents from 2000 to 2001, based on their major primary sites of occurrence. METHODS Data were extracted from the database of the Jejudo Cancer Registry (JCR). The eligible population comprised 2,382 cancer cases, whose cancers were diagnosed from 1 January 2000 through 31 December 2001. Of the eligible population, 1,438 patients with 5 major cancers defined by the level of incidence rates were selected as the study participants. The period of survival for each case was calculated from the date of first diagnosis to the date of death, or the end of follow-up, i.e., 31 December 2003. The observed survival rates (OSR) and relative survival rates (RSR) were calculated according to sex, age-group, and primary sites of occurrence. RESULTS The 3-year OSR and RSR in 5 major cancers were higher in women than in men except 75 year-old over group. The 3-year RSR of stomach, colorectum, liver, and lung in both sexes were 61.0%, 62.6%, 24.7%, and 22.8%, respectively. The respective rates in JCR showed some statistically significant differences from those in the Korea Central Cancer Registry (KCCR). CONCLUSIONS These results would suggest some clues about prognostic factors of major cancers in Korean, and could apply to planning and evaluating of cancer control strategies in Jeju Island.
Age, costs of acute and long-term care and proximity to death: evidence for 1987-88 and 1994-95 in British Columbia.

BACKGROUND the consequences of ageing populations for health care costs have become a concern for governments and health care funders in most countries. However, there is increasing evidence that costs are more closely related to proximity to death than to age. This means that projections using age-specific costs will exaggerate the impact of ageing. Previous studies of the relationship of age, proximity to death and costs have been restricted to acute medical care. OBJECTIVE to assess the effects of age and proximity to death on costs of both acute medical care and nursing and social care, and to assess if this relationship was stable in a time of rapid change in health care expenditure. DESIGN AND METHODS we compared all decedents in the chosen age categories for the years 1987-88 and 1994-95 with all survivors in the same age groups. We measured use of health and social care for each individual using the British Columbia linked data, and costs of care assessed by multiplying the number of services by the unit cost of each service. SETTING the Province of British Columbia. SUBJECTS all decedents in 1987-88 and 1994-95 in British Columbia in the chosen age groups, and all survivors in the same age groups. RESULTS costs of acute care rise with age, but the proximity to death is a more important factor in determining costs. The additional costs of dying fall with age. In contrast, costs of nursing and social care rise with age, but additional costs for those who are dying increase with age. Similar patterns were found for the two cohorts. CONCLUSIONS age is less important than proximity to death as a predictor of costs. However, the pattern of social and nursing care costs is different from that for acute medical care. In planning services it is important to take into account the relatively larger impact of ageing on social and nursing care than on acute care.
A Simple Mathematical Model Helps To Explain the Immunodominance of CD8 T Cells in Influenza A Virus Infections

ABSTRACT Understanding immunodominance, the phenomenon of epitope-specific T cells expanding in an often distinctly hierarchical fashion, is important for the design of T-cell-based intervention strategies. Several recent studies have investigated immunodominance of H-2Db-restricted CD8+ T cells specific for the nucleoprotein NP366 and acid polymerase PA224 epitopes during influenza A virus infection of C57BL/6 mice. CD8+ T cells specific for these two epitopes are codominant during primary infection; NP366 dominates during secondary infection. While a number of explanations for this observation have been proposed, none of them can fully account for all the observed data. In this article, we use a simple mathematical model to explain the seemingly inconsistent data. We show that the dynamic interactions between CD8+ T cells and antigen presentation lead to a situation where CD8+ T cells are limiting during the initial response whereas antigen is limiting in the secondary response. This “numbers game” between antigen and CD8+ T cells can reproduce the observed immunodominance of the NP336- and PA224-specific CD8+ T cells, thereby explaining the reported experimental data.
The early development of the optic nerve and chiasm in embryonic rat

To establish the time course and major features of the development of the optic nerve and chiasm in the embryonic rat, the growth of axons from the retina to the brain has been studied by light and electron microscopy. On embryonic dy 14 (E14), the first axons are generated by retinal ganglion cells. Fascicles of axons can be detected in the‐optic stalk at E14.5 and in the diencephalon by E15.0. In the vitreal retina and optic fissure, large extracellular spaces resemble the oriented channels previously described in the mouse. They form approximately 12 hours before the invasion of optic axons and contain hyaluronic acid. In the optic stalk and diencephalon of the rat, similar spaces are not present, but the timed autolysis of neuroepithelial cells could provide a pathway of minimal resistance for the earliest axons. Degenerating cells are prominent in the ventral stalk and rostral diencephalon prior to the arrival of the first optic axons that preferentially invade these regions. The role of pigment in the development of visual pathways is controversial. In one strain of rat, Manchester Hooded, the retinae are heavily pigmented, but little pigment is seen at any stage in the stalk; in albinos, pigment is absent from both retina and stalk. However, the distribution of axons within the developing optic stalk is very similar in both strains, suggesting that the reduction in size of the ipsilateral pathway observed in the albino rat compared with the Manchester Hooded is not due to a lack of pigment in the optic stalk early in development. Several factors previously reported to contribute to the development of retinotopic order in other species are also present in the rat. These include the sequence in which axons grow into the stalk, and fasciculation. Intermembranous contacts observed between growth cones and adjacent tissues suggest one mechanism by which fasciculation occurs. A small group of fascicles, which may represent the ipsilateral projection, diverges from the crossing fibers on E15.5, without evidence of being deflected by any glial or other structures.
Identification of a microglia phenotype supportive of remyelination

In multiple sclerosis, endogenous oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) attempt to remyelinate areas of myelin damage. During disease progression, however, these attempts fail. It has been suggested that modulating the inflammatory environment of the lesion might provide a promising therapeutic approach to promote endogenous remyelination. Microglia are known to play a central role in neuroinflammatory processes. To investigate the microglia phenotype that supports remyelination, we performed genome‐wide gene expression analysis of microglia from the corpus callosum during demyelination and remyelination in the mouse cuprizone model, in which remyelination spontaneously occurs after an episode of toxin‐induced primary demyelination. We provide evidence for the existence of a microglia phenotype that supports remyelination already at the onset of demyelination and persists throughout the remyelination process. Our data show that microglia are involved in the phagocytosis of myelin debris and apoptotic cells during demyelination. Furthermore, they express a cytokine and chemokine repertoire enabling them to activate and recruit endogenous OPCs to the lesion site and deliver trophic support during remyelination. This study not only provides a detailed transcriptomic analysis of the remyelination‐supportive microglia phenotype but also reinforces the notion that the primary function of microglia is the maintenance of tissue homeostasis and the support of regeneration already at the earliest stages in the development of demyelinating lesions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Lignes directrices pour de meilleures pratiques en matière d'inventaire et de suivi des populations de grands singes

Les menaces conjuguees auxquelles font actuellement face les derniers grands singes appellent des mesures de conservation immediates a tous les niveaux -- des initiatives portant sur des sites particuliers aux conventions et plans d'action internationaux, en passant par les strategies nationales et regionales. Le present document decrit les approches actuelles en matiere d'etude et de suivi des grands singes pour les biologistes de terrain, les administrateurs daires protegees, les services gouvernementaux responsables de la faune et la communaute de la conservation dans son ensemble. Il contient des informations supplementaires precises sur la conception d'une etude, les methodes de terrain, les approches analytiques et les considerations pratiques telles que la logistique, les finances et l'etablissement de rapports normalises.
Two-Stage Adaptive Restoration Decision Support System for a Self-Healing Power Grid

Power outages cost American industries and businesses billions of dollars and jeopardize the lives of hospital patients. The losses can be greatly reduced with a fast, reliable, and flexible self-healing tool. This paper is aimed to tackle the challenging task of developing an adaptive restoration decision support system (RDSS). The proposed RDSS determines restoration actions both in planning and real-time phases and adapts to constantly changing system conditions. The comprehensive formulation encompasses practical constraints including ac power flow, dynamic reserve, and load modeling. The combinatorial problem is decomposed into a two-stage formulation solved by an integer L-shaped algorithm. The two stages are then executed online in the RDSS framework employing a sliding window method. The IEEE 39-bus system has been studied under normal and contingency conditions to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed online RDSS.
Molecular characterization and antimicrobial resistance of STEC strains isolated from healthy cattle in 2011 and 2013 in Spain

SUMMARY Prevention of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) foodborne outbreaks is hampered by its complex epidemiology. We assessed the distribution of virulence genes (VGs), main serogroups/serotypes for public health [haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS)-related], antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns in a collection of STEC isolates obtained from cattle hide (n = 149) and faecal (n = 406) samples collected during a national survey conducted in Spain in 2011 and 2013. Isolates were cultured using McConkey and CT-SMAC agar after enrichment, and confirmed as STEC by PCR. STEC prevalence in hides (15·4%) was higher than in faeces (10·7%) and O157:H7 was more frequent in the former (2·7% vs. 0·99%). Non-O157 HUS-related serogroups were present albeit at low frequencies. The non-O157 isolates were more heterogeneous than O157:H7 in their VG patterns, with 25/64 presenting VGs from both STEC and enterotoxigenic pathotypes (hybrid isolates). Of the STEC isolates, 62·5% were resistant at least to one antimicrobial, and no differences in AMR between O157:H7 and non-O157 were detected. All isolates had different profiles by PFGE and did not form a cluster. Overall, our results demonstrated that STEC in the cattle reservoir is still a matter of concern for human health due to the presence of HUS-related serogroups, the occurrence of certain VGs, AMR and the additional risks that hybrid isolates may pose, and thus warrants further investigation.
Exascale science: the next frontier in high performance computing

Scientific computation has come into its own as a mature technology in all fields of science and engineering. Never before have we been able to accurately anticipate, analyze, and plan for complex events in the future --- from the analysis of a human cell to the climate change well into the future. In combination with theory and experiment, scientific computation provides a valuable tool for understanding causes as well as identifying solutions as we look at complex systems containing billions of elements. However, we still cannot do it all and there is a need for more computation capacity especially in areas such as the study of biology and medicine, materials science, climate, and national security. The petascale systems (capable of 1015 floating point operations per second) of today have accelerated studies that were not possible 3 years ago --- and address some of the challenges in the areas mentioned. However, indications from researchers are that they would need far more powerful computing tools to meet the ever increasing challenges of an increasingly complex world. Exascale systems (capable of 1018 floating point operations per second), with a processing capability close to that of the human brain, will enable the unraveling of longstanding scientific mysteries and present new opportunities. The question now is --- What does it take to build an exascale system? The path from Teraflops to Petaflops was driven by the growth of multi-core processors. While it is likely that an exascale system will be comprised of millions of cores, just riding the multi-core trend may not allow us to develop a sustainable exascale system. A number of challenges surface as we start increasing the number of cores in a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The first and most pressing issue is power consumption. Assuming today's technology to build an exascale system, it would consume over a Gigawatt of power. Other issues such as software scalability, memory, IO, and storage bandwidth, and system resiliency stem from the fact that processing power is outpacing the capabilities of all the surrounding technologies. But the sky isn't really falling. While it appears like there are no ideal solutions today, new approaches will emerge that will provide fundamental breakthroughs in hardware technology, parallel programming, and resiliency. In this talk, the speaker addresses the challenges that we face as we take on the task of developing an exascale system along with the technical shifts needed to mitigate some of these challenges.
Differences in the profile of neonatal abstinence syndrome signs in methadone- versus buprenorphine-exposed neonates.

AIMS To compare the profile of signs of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in methadone- versus buprenorphine-exposed infants. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Secondary analysis of NAS data from a multi-site, double-blind, double-dummy, flexible-dosing, randomized clinical trial. Data from a total of 129 neonates born to opioid-dependent women who had been assigned to receive methadone or buprenorphine treatment during pregnancy were examined. MEASUREMENTS For 10 days after delivery, neonates (methadone = 72, buprenorphine = 57) were assessed regularly using a 19-item modified Finnegan scale. Data from neonates who required pharmacological treatment (methadone = 41, buprenorphine = 27) were included up to the time treatment was initiated. The incidence and mean severity of the total NAS score and each individual sign of NAS were calculated and compared between medication conditions, as was the median time until morphine treatment initiation among treated infants in each condition. FINDINGS Two NAS signs (undisturbed tremors and hyperactive Moro reflex) were observed significantly more frequently in methadone-exposed neonates and three (nasal stuffiness, sneezing, loose stools) were observed more frequently in buprenorphine-exposed neonates. Mean severity scores on the total NAS score and five individual signs (disturbed and undisturbed tremors, hyperactive Moro reflex, excessive irritability, failure to thrive) were significantly higher among methadone-exposed neonates, while sneezing was higher among buprenorphine-exposed neonates. Among treated neonates, methadone-exposed infants required treatment significantly earlier than buprenorphine-exposed infants (36 versus 59 hours postnatal, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The profile of neonatal abstinence syndrome differs in methadone- versus buprenorphine-exposed neonates, with significant differences in incidence, severity and treatment initiation time. Overall, methadone-exposed neonates have a more severe neonatal abstinence syndrome.