Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Baseline Activity of Telavancin against Gram-Positive Clinical Isolates Responsible for Documented Infections in U.S. Hospitals (2011-2012) as Determined by the Revised Susceptibility Testing Method

ABSTRACT Telavancin had MIC50 and MIC90 values of 0.03 and 0.06 μg/ml (100.0% susceptible), respectively, against methicillin-resistant and -susceptible Staphylococcus aureus. Telavancin was active against vancomycin-susceptible Enterococcus faecalis (MIC50/90, 0.12/0.12 μg/ml; 100% susceptible) and Enterococcus faecium (MIC50/90, 0.03/0.06 μg/ml), while higher MIC values were obtained against vancomycin-resistant E. faecium (MIC50/90, 1/2 μg/ml) and E. faecalis (MIC50/90, >2/>2 μg/ml). Streptococci showed telavancin modal MIC results of ≤0.015 μg/ml, except against Streptococcus agalactiae (i.e., 0.03 μg/ml). This study reestablishes the telavancin spectrum of activity against isolates recovered from the United States (2011-2012) using the revised broth microdilution method.
Premovement activities in the subthalamic area of patients with Parkinson's disease and their dependence on task

Movement preparation and execution are associated with a reduction in oscillatory synchrony over 6–35 Hz (event‐related desynchronization; ERD) and increases in oscillatory synchrony at higher frequencies (event‐related synchronization; ERS) in the human parkinsonian subthalamic nucleus (STN). The timing of the ERD < 35 Hz in STN correlates with, but precedes, the timing of voluntary movement, in line with a role in motor processing. Here, we explore how directly the synchrony manifest in local field potential (LFP) activities depends on the details of motor processing. To this end, we recorded local field potentials from the STN area of parkinsonian subjects while they performed internally paced single movements or double movements with one hand. Analysis was limited to time periods that were unequivocally premovement, so as to avoid the confounding effects of sensory afferance during movement. LFP power differed from baseline activity as early as 2.1–1.1 s prior to movement over 6–18 Hz and 56–70 Hz. However, only the early changes in LFP power in the 56–70 Hz band depended on task type. Later on, within 0.5 s of the forthcoming movement, the behaviour of both the 6–18 and 56–70 Hz bands differed according to movement type. In addition, a change was seen in LFP activity over 23–35 Hz, although the ERD in this band remained similar across movement types. The findings further implicate the human STN in the feedforward organization of movement in premotor circuits. Different aspects of this organization may be preferentially reflected in changes in synchrony at different frequencies.
Protein Dynamism and Evolvability

The traditional view that proteins possess absolute functional specificity and a single, fixed structure conflicts with their marked ability to adapt and evolve new functions and structures. We consider an alternative, “avant-garde view” in which proteins are conformationally dynamic and exhibit functional promiscuity. We surmise that these properties are the foundation stones of protein evolvability; they facilitate the divergence of new functions within existing folds and the evolution of entirely new folds. Packing modes of proteins also affect their evolvability, and poorly packed, disordered, and conformationally diverse proteins may exhibit high evolvability. This dynamic view of protein structure, function, and evolvability is extrapolated to describe hypothetical scenarios for the evolution of the early proteins and future research directions in the area of protein dynamism and evolution.
Analyse et reconnaissance de séquences vidéos d'activités humaines dans l'espace sémantique. (Analysis and recognition of human activities in video sequences in the semantic space)

Dans cette these, nous nous interessons a la caracterisation et la reconnaissance d'activites humaines dans des videos. L'interet grandissant en vision par ordinateur pour cette thematique est motive par une grande variete d'applications telles que l'indexation automatique de videos, la video-surveillance, ou encore l'assistance aux personnes âgees. Dans la premiere partie de nos travaux, nous developpons une methode de reconnaissance d'actions elementaires basee sur l'estimation du mouvement dans des videos. Les points critiques du champ vectoriel obtenu, ainsi que leurs trajectoires, sont estimes a differentes echelles spatio-temporelles. La fusion tardive de caracteristiques d'orientation de mouvement et de variation de gradient, dans le voisinage des points critiques, ainsi que la description frequentielle des trajectoires, nous permet d'obtenir des taux de reconnaissance parmi les meilleurs de la litterature. Dans la seconde partie, nous construisons une methode de reconnaissance d'activites en considerant ces dernieres comme un enchainement temporel d'actions elementaires. Notre methode de reconnaissance d'actions est utilisee pour calculer la probabilite d'actions elementaires effectuees au cours du temps. Ces sequences de probabilite evoluent sur une variete statistique appelee simplexe semantique. Une activite est finalement representee comme une trajectoire dans cet espace. Nous introduisons un descripteur frequentiel de trajectoire pour classifier les differentes activites humaines en fonction de la forme des trajectoires associees. Ce descripteur prend en compte la geometrie induite par le simplexe semantique.
Vegetation response to grazing management in a Mediterranean herbaceous community: a functional group approach

Summary 1. A 4-year study was conducted in a Mediterranean herbaceous community in north-eastern Israel to investigate the effects of cattle grazing management on the structure and composition of the community. Understanding the effects of grazing on the dynamics of Mediterranean herbaceous communities is important in formulating rational management plans for both conservation and sustainable animal production. 2. The relationships among plant functional groups were studied in the context of inter-annual variation in rainfall. Treatments included manipulations of stocking rates (moderate, heavy and very heavy) and grazing regimes (continuous vs. seasonal), in a factorial design. 3. The herbaceous community was rich in species, with 166 species recorded at the site, of which 74% were annuals. Plant cover was dominated by 10 species that accounted for 75% of the total cover. 4. Inter-seasonal rainfall variation was a dominant factor in the expression of different grazing treatments on the structure of the plant community. Grazing effects were stronger in wet years than in dry years. 5. Paddocks under continuous grazing were higher in number of species compared with paddocks subjected to seasonal grazing, independently of grazing intensity. 6. Functional group analyses showed that reduction in cover of tall grasses was correlated with an increase in cover of prostrate annual legumes and less palatable groups such as annual and perennial thistles, crucifers and forbs. 7. Cover of functional groups composed of hemicryptophytic species was less variable (lower coefficient of variation) in response to grazing treatments and inter-annual variation in climatic conditions compared with functional groups with annual species. 8. The persistence of the dominant species and the relatively small amplitude of change in plant cover of the functional groups suggest that the community was rather stable in spite of wide variation in grazing regimes and climatic conditions. East-Mediterranean grasslands appear to be adapted to grazing due to their long history of human association.
Phase I pharmacokinetic and biologic correlative study of mapatumumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody with agonist activity to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor-1.

PURPOSE To assess the safety, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary evidence of antitumor activity of mapatumumab (HGS-ETR1, TRM-1), a fully human agonist monoclonal antibody directed to the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor-1 (TRAIL-R1). PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with advanced solid malignancies were treated with escalating doses of mapatumumab intravenously (IV) administered over 30 to 120 minutes, initially as a single dose and then repetitively. Plasma mapatumumab concentrations were measured and serum was assayed to detect human antimapatumumab antibody formation. Archival tumor specimens were collected to detect the presence of TRAIL-R1 by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS Forty-nine patients received 158 courses at doses ranging from 0.01 to 10 mg/kg IV. Initially, patients received mapatumumab as a single dose, then every 28 days repetitively, and then 10 mg/kg every 14 days. Mild (grade 1 or 2) fatigue, fever, and myalgia were the most frequently reported nonhematologic adverse events related to mapatumumab, whereas hematologic toxicity was not clinically significant. The mean (+/- standard deviation) clearance and terminal elimination half-life values for mapatumumab at 10 mg/kg every 14 days were 3.7 mL/d/kg (+/- 1.5 mL/d/kg) and 18.8 days (+/- 10.1 days), respectively. TRAIL-R1 was documented in 68% of patients' tumors assayed. Nineteen patients had stable disease, with two lasting 9 months. CONCLUSION Mapatumumab can be administered safely and feasibly at 10 mg/kg IV every 14 days. The absence of severe toxicities and the attainment of plasma mapatumumab concentrations that are active in preclinical models warrant further disease-directed studies of this agent alone and in combination with chemotherapy in a broad array of tumors.
The completely endoscopic treatment of atrial fibrillation: report on the first 14 patients with early results.

UNLABELLED We report the early results of a new completely endoscopic technique for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS Fourteen patients underwent surgery solely for the treatment of AF. The thoracoscopic technique delivered microwave energy to the epicardial surface of the beating heart. Access was obtained through 3 right-sided and 3 left-sided thoracic ports. The AFx/Guidant Flex-10 catheter was employed to produce a box lesion around the pulmonary veins along with additional right- and left-sided lesions. The left atrial appendage was amputated. RESULTS Ten patients had paroxysmal fibrillation, 1 had persistent fibrillation, and 3 were in permanent AF. Mean age of the group was 60 years, and their mean duration of AF was 74 months. Half had undergone unsuccessful attempts at chemical and/or electrical cardioversion. There were no deaths. Two patients required conversion to open procedure to control bleeding from the left atrial appendage. Average procedure time was 221 minutes, with the last 2 procedures taking less than 2 hours. Median length of hospital stay was 6 days, with 7 patients staying less than 3 days. Seventy-one percent of patients were in sinus rhythm at discharge, 100% at 6 months follow-up, and 67% at 12 months. CONCLUSION Totally endoscopic microwave ablation of atrial fibrillation appears to be safe and truly minimally invasive. It is associated with a short length of stay, short procedure time, and acceptable rhythm results. This procedure has the potential to greatly expand the indications for surgery in patients suffering from AF and deserves longer-term investigation.
Instance Specific Metric Subspace Learning: A Bayesian Approach

Instead of using a uniform metric, instance specific distance learning methods assign multiple metrics for different localities, which take data heterogeneity into consideration. Therefore, they may improve the performance of distance based classifiers, e.g., kNN. Existing methods obtain multiple metrics of test data by either transductively assigning metrics for unlabeled instances or designing distance functions manually, which are with limited generalization ability. In this paper, we propose isMets (Instance Specific METric Subspace) framework which can automatically span the whole metric space in a generative manner and is able to inductively learn a specific metric subspace for each instance via inferring the expectation over the metric bases in a Bayesian manner. The whole framework can be solved with Variational Bayes (VB). Experiment on synthetic data shows that the learned results are with good interpretability. Moreover, comprehensive results on real world datasets validate the effectiveness and robustness of isMets.
A Comparative Genome Analysis Identifies Distinct Sorting Pathways in Gram-Positive Bacteria

ABSTRACT Surface proteins in gram-positive bacteria are frequently required for virulence, and many are attached to the cell wall by sortase enzymes. Bacteria frequently encode more than one sortase enzyme and an even larger number of potential sortase substrates that possess an LPXTG-type cell wall sorting signal. In order to elucidate the sorting pathways present in gram-positive bacteria, we performed a comparative analysis of 72 sequenced microbial genomes. We show that sortase enzymes can be partitioned into five distinct subfamilies based upon their primary sequences and that most of their substrates can be predicted by making a few conservative assumptions. Most bacteria encode sortases from two or more subfamilies, which are predicted to function nonredundantly in sorting proteins to the cell surface. Only ∼20% of sortase-related proteins are most closely related to the well-characterized Staphylococcus aureus SrtA protein, but nonetheless, these proteins are responsible for anchoring the majority of surface proteins in gram-positive bacteria. In contrast, most sortase-like proteins are predicted to play a more specialized role, with each anchoring far fewer proteins that contain unusual sequence motifs. The functional sortase-substrate linkage predictions are available online (http://www.doe-mbi.ucla.edu/Services/Sortase/ ) in a searchable database.
L'écosystème décisionnel du manager : une contribution au défi d'anticipation de la crise

L’accident industriel majeur compte parmi les crises les plus destructrices et insupportables. Dans de nombreux cas, les retours d’experience constatent que la catastrophe aurait probablement pu etre evitee. La problematique posee est alors celle de l’anticipation. Au sein de systemes sociotechniques a hauts risques, quelles sont les voies a suivre pour devancer le declenchement d’une sequence accidentelle ? Pour repondre a cette problematique, notre approche s’est focalisee sur la prise de decision. Place dans un environnement contraignant, le manager operationnel constitue un acteur particulier. Une analyse historique realisee sur des accidents majeurs montre un decalage entre la vision qu’a le manager du systeme, et la realite des operations. Celui-ci se trouve en situation d’ambiguite, car il doit assurer le compromis entre la rupture demandee par l’obligation de securite, et l’absence de rupture imposee par la continuite d’activites. Les defis de la complexite, du temps, et de la decision alors degradent peu a peu l’environnement decisionnel, et bloquent la prise de decision. La these soutenue s’interesse a comprendre la maniere dont l’environnement influe sur sa prise de decision, dans le but de permettre au manager de passer d’une situation contrainte a une situation d’initiative. En decidant un arret momentane et prepare, sans rupture subie, il renforce ainsi la capacite d’anticipation des accidents industriels majeurs. Ainsi, en comprenant son ecosysteme decisionnel, le manager operationnel peut donc prendre des initiatives assurant le principe de continuite d’activites.
Does migration equalize regional unemployment rates? Evidence from Australia.

Whether inter-regional migration equilibrates regional economic performance is a question which has received considerable attention in recent literature. The author examines that question, focusing upon regional unemployment rates and real wages within the context of a 24-hour equation econometric model of the interaction between regional wages, regional unemployment, and inter-regional migration in Australia. Used to solve for steady-state values of wage and unemployment differences, the model determined that the steady state involves non-zero unemployment rate differences and non-zero wage differences. The model is also used to investigate the stability of the equilibrating mechanism and to simulate the effects upon unemployment, migration, and wage rates of a shock to employment growth. The main findings are that inter-regional equilibrating forces are slow and do not help equalize regional unemployment rates or wages.
Pelage and Molting in Wild Mammals with Special Reference to Aquatic Forms

Hairs are epidermal derivatives, the type, structure, and arrangement of which are related to the role of the mammalian pelage. Hair follicles probably evolved from amphibian apidermal excrescences which became modified into sensory pits of the reptilelike ancestors of mammals. Pelage affords insulation, is sensitive to external stimuli, may be modified for defense or display, assists in buoyancy and streamlining in water, and aids concealment on land. The basic grouping of hair follicles by threes (trio group) appears almost to have been lost in the Pinnipedia, in which other anatomical adaptations to an aquatic habit include flattened guard hairs, loss of erector (arrector pili) muscles and modified cutaneous glands. Periodic growth and replacement of the pelage is essential to survival. The pelage cycle is closely related to the annual cycle with respect to seasonal requirements dictated by the environment, such as climate and life processes, particularly reproduction. Different pelages occur at different stages of the life history and also according to varying seasonal demands, especially in arctic and subarctic terrestrial species. Hair growth and molting are established before sexual maturity,or even prenatally, and are inherent features in the biology of mammals. Nevertheless, pelage cycles are coordinated with respect to season (and hence the annual cycle) by the direct proximate stimulus of light acting through neuro-endocrine pathways. Pelage growth may also be regulated directly by nutritional status and, to some extent, indirectly by temperature and behavior. The pelage cycle must be regarded from the point of view of the whole process of follicular activity and fiber production, rather than simply the externally visible molt, if that unique mammalian characteristic, hair, is to be understood in its true biological perspective.
STELLAR POPULATIONS IN THE CENTRAL 0.5 pc OF THE GALAXY. I. A NEW METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTING LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS AND SURFACE-DENSITY PROFILES

We present new high angular resolution near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the nuclear star cluster surrounding the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. Using the integral-field spectrograph OSIRIS on Keck II behind the laser-guide-star adaptive optics system, this spectroscopic survey enables us to separate early-type (young, 4–6 Myr) and late-type (old, >1 Gyr) stars with a completeness of 50% down to K′ = 15.5 mag, which corresponds to ∼10 M☉ for the early-type stars. This work increases the radial extent of reported OSIRIS/Keck measurements by more than a factor of three from 4″ to 14″ (0.16 to 0.56 pc), along the projected disk of young stars. For our analysis, we implement a new method of completeness correction using a combination of star-planting simulations and Bayesian inference. We assign probabilities for the spectral type of every source detected in deep imaging down to K′ = 15.5 mag using information from spectra, simulations, number counts, and the distribution of stars. The inferred radial surface-density profiles, Σ(R)∝R−Γ, for the young stars and late-type giants are consistent with earlier results (Γearly = 0.93 ± 0.09, Γlate = 0.16 ± 0.07). The late-type surface-density profile is approximately flat out to the edge of the survey. While the late-type stellar luminosity function is consistent with the Galactic bulge, the completeness-corrected luminosity function of the early-type stars has significantly more young stars at faint magnitudes compared with previous surveys with similar depth. This luminosity function indicates that the corresponding mass function of the young stars is likely less top-heavy than that inferred from previous surveys.
The Relative Roles of Aggressive Wound Care versus Revascularization in Salvage of the Threatened Lower Extremity in the Renal Failure Diabetic Patient

&NA; Current literature indicates poor survival and limb salvage rates in renal failure diabetic patients who present with ulcerated or gangrenous lower extremities. Even in those limbs that were successfully revascularized, the amputation rate was as high as 37 percent. This has led some to advocate immediate amputation when treating the threatened limb of a renal failure diabetic patient. The authors reviewed all renal failure diabetic patients in their wound registry to determine whether such pessimism was warranted. The authors then analyzed the relative roles of revascularization and aggressive wound care on long‐term limb salvage. Forty‐five consecutive renal failure diabetic patients with 71 wounds in 54 limbs were identified. Twenty‐seven patients had chronic renal insufficiency, 15 patients had end‐stage renal disease, and three patients received kidney transplants. The revascularization procedures (46 percent of all limbs) included angioplasty, femoral‐popliteal, femoral‐distal, and popliteal‐distal bypasses. Forty‐three amputations in combination with 67 soft‐tissue repairs (delayed primary wound closure, skin grafts, local flaps, pedicled flaps, and free flaps) were necessary to close the defects. After a mean follow‐up of over 3 years, the data indicate that 79 percent of wounds healed, 89 percent of all limbs were salvaged, and 49 percent of patients survived. Revascularization improved the threatened limb's salvage rate from negligible to a level similar to that of the adequately vascularized limb. Fifteen out of 71 wounds did not heal because of the patient's early postoperative death, ischemia not amenable to revascularization, or noncompliance. Six below‐knee amputations were performed (one despite a patent bypass and five in adequately vascularized patients). The average time for wounds to heal in the revascularized patients was 79 days versus 71 days in adequately vascularized patients. There was an overall 43 percent complication rate. Of the patients who were alive after the 3‐year follow‐up, 73 percent were independently ambulating, whereas 27 percent were bound to wheelchair or bed. Eighty‐two percent of patients were very satisfied with the salvage attempt, 18 percent were moderately satisfied, and all patients said they would go through the process again. The authors believe that salvaging the threatened extremity in the renal failure diabetic patient is justified whether or not the limb requires revascularization. Revascularization improved the limb salvage rate, patient survival, and days for wounds to heal to a level comparable to that of the adequately vascularized limb. The key to subsequently achieving high salvage rates is the quality of perioperative wound care (e.g., serial debridements, antibiotics, dressings) and the timing and selection of appropriate soft‐tissue coverage. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 109: 1281, 2002.)