Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Production Is Associated with an Increase in Cell Invasion and Expression of Fimbrial Adhesins in Klebsiella pneumoniae

ABSTRACT Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strains are suggested to possess higher pathogenic potential than non-ESBL producers. Microbial adherence to and invasion of host cells are critical steps in the infection process, so we examined the expression of type 1 and 3 fimbrial adhesins by 58 ESBL-producing and 152 nonproducing isolates of K. pneumoniae and their abilities to invade ileocecal and bladder epithelial cells. Mannose-sensitive hemagglutination of guinea pig erythrocytes and mannose-resistant hemagglutination of ox erythrocytes were evaluated to determine the strains’ abilities to express type 1 and type 3 fimbriae, respectively. Bacterial adhesion to and invasion of epithelial cells were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and imipenem killing assay, respectively. The adherence of ESBL- and non-ESBL-producing strains to epithelial cells did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). In contrast, the proportion of strains capable of invading (>5% relative invasion) ileocecal and bladder epithelial cells was significantly higher among ESBL producers (81%, n = 47/58, and 27.6%, n = 16/58, respectively) than among non-ESBL producers (61%, n = 93/152, and 10%, n = 15/152, respectively) (P = 0.0084, odds ratio [OR] = 2.711, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.302 to 5.643 and P = 0.0021, OR = 4.79, 95% CI = 1.587 to 7.627). The mean invasion by ESBL producers (5.5% ± 2.8% and 3.3% ± 2.7%, respectively) was significantly higher than that by non-ESBL producers (2.9% ± 2.6% and 1.8% ± 2%, respectively) (P < 0.0001). Likewise, the proportion of ESBL producers coexpressing both fimbrial adhesins was significantly higher (79.3%; n = 46/58) than that of non-ESBL producers (61.8%; n = 94/152) (P = 0.0214; OR = 2,365; 95% CI = 1.157 to 4.834). Upon acquisition of SHV-12-encoding plasmids, two transconjugants switched on to produce type 3 fimbriae while expression of type 1 fimbriae was not affected. The acquisition of an ESBL plasmid appeared to upregulate the phenotypic expression of one or more genes, resulting in greater invasion ability.
Panax notoginseng (Burk.) effects on fibrinogen and lipid plasma level in rats fed on a high‐fat diet

Several studies have shown that notoginsenoides improve diastolic function in hypertensive subjects, induce the fibrinolytic system in in vitro models and act as antiproliferative agents on vessel leiomyocytes. Our aim was to evaluate their effect on fibrinogen and lipid plasma levels compared with a well‐known HMGCoA reductase inhibitor. Seventy Wistar male adult rats on a fat‐enriched diet were treated orally with P. notoginseng pulverized root (43 mg/kg/day or 86 mg/kg/day; 20 animals per group), fluvastatin (3 mg/kg/day; 20 animals) or physiological saline (5 mL/kg/day; 10 animals). The ten rats on a normocaloric diet were also treated with 5 mL/kg/day of physiological saline. After a 28‐day treatment, the rats were killed and their blood analysed with standard procedures. Treatment with 43 mg/kg/day of P. notoginseng or 3 mg/kg/day of fluvastatin showed similar activity in decreasing total cholesterol (−23.70%, −19.29%, respectively) and triglycerides (−21.59%, −18.55%). The most evident effect of P. notoginseng was the reduction of fibrinogenaemia in treated rats compared with the control values (−38.10%; p < 0.001), no dose‐relationship being shown in this effect. Moreover, no significant variation in HDL cholesterol and glucose levels was observed nor did relevant behavioural changes occur in association with the root intake. Besides a moderate, non dose‐related decrease in the plasma lipid levels, P. notoginseng appeared to induce a significant reduction in the rat fibrinogenaemia. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
WIKIPARQ: A Tabulated Wikipedia Resource Using the Parquet Format

Wikipedia has become one of the most popular resources in natural language processing and it is used in quantities of applications. However, Wikipedia requires a substantial pre-processing step before it can be used. For instance, its set of nonstandardized annotations, referred to as the wiki markup, is language-dependent and needs specific parsers from language to language, for English, French, Italian, etc. In addition, the intricacies of the different Wikipedia resources: main article text, categories, wikidata, infoboxes, scattered into the article document or in different files make it difficult to have global view of this outstanding resource. In this paper, we describe WikiParq, a unified format based on the Parquet standard to tabulate and package the Wikipedia corpora. In combination with Spark, a map-reduce computing framework, and the SQL query language, WikiParq makes it much easier to write database queries to extract specific information or subcorpora from Wikipedia, such as all the first paragraphs of the articles in French, or all the articles on persons in Spanish, or all the articles on persons that have versions in French, English, and Spanish. WikiParq is available in six language versions and is potentially extendible to all the languages of Wikipedia. The WikiParq files are downloadable as tarball archives from this location: http://semantica.cs. lth.se/wikiparq/.
ROBOCAST and ACTIVE: Advanced Robotic Systems for Neurosurgery

During functional neurosurgery procedures, small probes or electrodes are inserted in the brain through a small aperture in the skull (e.g. biopsy, deep brain stimulation, stereo-EEG). Robotic systems can help such insertion with passive, active or semi-active operation. The goal of the ROBOCAST project (FP7 ICT-2007-215190) is to provide a system for the semi-active assistance of keyhole neurosurgery. The system envisages a human-computer interface (HCI), with an intelligent context-sensitive communication and an hapticdriven capability, a multiple-robot chain with redundant degrees of freedom and a hierarchical structure, an intelligent autonomous trajectory planner, a high level controller and a set of field sensors. In order to allow brain mapping, i.e. the topological definition of functional areas, the patient is awakened and electrically stimulated during the operation. The ACTIVE project (FP7 270460) was therefore conceived, where three robots cooperate in assisting the neurosurgeon during the intervention.
Anxiety and Related Symptoms in Older Persons With Dementia: Directions for Practice

Anxiety disorders and related symptoms commonly occur in older people with cognitive impairment or dementia, significantly worsening functioning and reducing quality of life. This review of the literature outlines the extent of the problem, and focuses on current best practices in psychosocial interventions anxiety in persons with dementia. Discussion follows on promising nonpharmacological interventions that are recommended for further consideration and future research.
Distribution of ferrocyanide along the proximal tubular lumen of the rat kidney: its implications upon hydrodynamics.

1. Simultaneous determination of the single nephron glomerular filtration rate (s.n.g.f.r.) and the amount of [14C]ferrocyanide contained per unit length (Fe/mm) of the proximal tubule makes it possible to calculate the tubular radius and flow velocity along this structure. These measurements were made in normal rats, chronically salt‐loaded rats, and rats rendered hypotensive by controlled haemorrhage or aortic constriction. 2. In normal rats, Fe/mm remains constant along the proximal tubule, indicating a gradual decrease in tubular radius and constant flow velocity. 3. In salt‐loaded rats, with high s.n. g.f. r.s, Fe/mm also remains constant along the proximal tubule, but at a higher level than in normal rats. This indicates larger tubular radii, but the same evolutionary pattern for tubular radius and flow velocity along the proximal tubule, as in normal rats. 4. In rats with controlled haemorrhage, Fe/mm values are low but rise slightly along the proximal tubule. Tubular radius is reduced, and again, gradually decreases along the length. Considering the very low s.n. g.f. r.s, this implies that a large drop in reabsorption along the proximal tubule accompanies the reduction in s.n. g.f. r. 5. In rats with aortic construction, Fe/mm exhibits a large increase along the proximal tubule, suggesting a huge Fe concentration along the tubule, which in turn would indicate that water reabsorption may not diminish in proportion to the reduction in s.n. g.f. r. In some cases, this disruption of the glomerulo‐tubular balance led to the cessation of tubular flow in the proximal tubule. 6. In all cases, Fe/mm and the calculated radius in the initial portion of the proximal tubule were correlated to the s.n. g.f. r. , suggesting passive adaptation of tubular radius to fluid delivery.
Bioequivalence of a Dolutegravir, Abacavir, and Lamivudine Fixed-Dose Combination Tablet and the Effect of Food

Background:The integrase inhibitor dolutegravir and nucleoside analogues abacavir and lamivudine are once-daily treatment options for HIV. This study (NCT01622790) evaluated, first, the bioequivalence (BE) of a fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablet containing dolutegravir 50 mg, abacavir 600 mg, and lamivudine 300 mg (dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine FDC) vs coadministered dolutegravir 50 mg and abacavir/lamivudine combination tablets (Epzicom) and, second, the effect of food on the dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine FDC tablet. Methods:Study part A (66 healthy subjects) was a single-dose, open-label, randomized, 2-period crossover study to evaluate the BE of the dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine FDC tablet and dolutegravir + abacavir/lamivudine tablets in the fasted state. In study part B, 12 subjects from part A received the dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine FDC tablet with a high-fat meal. BE and food effect were assessed by analysis of variance to determine the ratio of geometric least squares means and associated 90% confidence intervals for key pharmacokinetic parameters for each of dolutegravir, abacavir, and lamivudine. Results:Sixty-two subjects completed part A. The dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine tablet was bioequivalent to the dolutegravir + abacavir/lamivudine tablets; 90% confidence intervals for the geometric least squares mean ratios fell within the 0.8–1.25 BE criteria. The effect of food on the dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine FDC tablet was similar to previous food effects observed with the separate formulations. The safety profile was comparable between treatments, with no observed serious or grade 3/4 adverse events. Conclusions:The BE of the dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine FDC tablet was demonstrated; it may be administered without regard to meals.
The Internationalization of Vietnamese Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Since 1986, when Vietnam started to implement its open-door policies, the barriers that traditionally segmented local business opportunities and local firms from their international counterparts have been being dismantled. Thus, the degree of internationalization of the Vietnamese economy has been steadily increasing, especially after the official normalization of relations with the United States in 1994, membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 1995, membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum in 1998, and membership in the World Trade Organization in 2007. Swept into this international economic integration process, Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been increasingly active in the international market. However, how and why these firms internationalize is not known. This phenomenon cannot be explained by the existing internationalization theories, most of which have been developed from studies on firms from developed economies, because their underlying assumptions about national economic and institutional development do not hold in this newly-opened developing country.Driven by this gap in current research, the study at hand was designed to contribute to internationalization research by providing an understanding of the nature of the internationalization process of Vietnamese SMEs as a business strategy in both theoretical and empirical aspects. A practical contribution of this study is the insightful information provided, which can assist the Vietnamese government and international organizations in making more informed decisions when designing their SME-support programs. At the same time, this study serves SME managers in their quest to learn how other SMEs internationalize.
Transferts négociés de blocs de contrôle, bénéfices privés et protection des actionnaires minoritaires

Control blocks transfers offer a particularly interesting framework to estimate private benefits of control. In addition, these operations can have important consequences on the various parties (the target firm, the acquirer, the minority shareholders) particularly in the presence of a legal mechanism of protection of minority shareholders such as the price guarantee (adopted in France). We estimate the extent of the private benefit of control through the premium paid in private block negotiations, then, we evaluate the effectiveness of the equal opportunity rule to protect the minority shareholder interests. Empirical estimates show high level of private benefits since the premium paid by control block acquirer is about 20%. Our study reveals that the mechanism of price guarantee contributes to protect the minority shareholders, in particular, the utility of this regulation is more justified for transfers that modify the ownership structure of the target firm; on the other hand, the choice of the minority shareholders to exercise their exit option can be directed by the initiator through communicated information.
Targeted Twitter Sentiment Analysis for Brands Using Supervised Feature Engineering and the Dynamic Architecture for Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract Social media communications offer valuable feedback to firms about their brands. We present a targeted approach to Twitter sentiment analysis for brands using supervised feature engineering and the dynamic architecture for artificial neural networks. The proposed approach addresses challenges associated with the unique characteristics of the Twitter language and brand-related tweet sentiment class distribution. We demonstrate its effectiveness on Twitter data sets related to two distinctive brands. The supervised feature engineering for brands offers final tweet feature representations of only seven dimensions with greater feature density. Reducing the dimensionality of the representations reduces the complexity of the classification problem and feature sparsity. Two sets of experiments are conducted for each brand in three-class and five-class tweet sentiment classification. We examine five-class classification to target the mild sentiment expressions that are of particular interest to firms and brand management practitioners. We compare the proposed approach to the performances of two state-of-the-art Twitter sentiment analysis systems from the academic and commercial domains. The results indicate that it outperforms these state-of-the-art systems by wide margins, with classification F1-measures as high as 88 percent and excellent recall of tweets expressing mild sentiments. Furthermore, they demonstrate the tweet feature representations, though consisting of only seven dimensions, are highly effective in capturing indicators of Twitter sentiment expression. The proposed approach and vast majority of features identified through supervised feature engineering are applicable across brands, allowing researchers and brand management practitioners to quickly generate highly effective tweet feature representations for Twitter sentiment analysis on other brands.
Meso-scale actuator design for the integrated dynamic alignment of a lenslet array within a package

This paper describes the design of an LTCC-process compatible meso-scale actuator for the six degrees of freedom dynamic adjustment of micro-optical components, in particular the alignment of a microlens array on top of a UV-LED array. The lens array is specified to have an active area of 3mm × 3mm, the GaN array is 5mm × 5mm × 450µm. The focal length is 65µm. The actuator must enable the collimation or the focusing of the optical beams emanating from the LED array.
Ownership structure and ® rm performance: evidence from the UK ® nancial services industry

Theory tells us that managerial ownership of shares in a ® rm generates two conicting eA ects on management behaviour, i.e. the convergence eA ect whereby increased managerial ownership can improve corporate performance, and the entrenchment eA ect which counters it. A number of studies have sought to evaluate these eA ects empirically. The results in the literature are not uniformly in agreement. In this paper, we distinguish between measures of ownership and measures of control implied by this ownership. Furthermore, we provide evidence supporting the entrenchment and convergence eA ects using UK data.
The optimization of transactional emails in a marketing perspective : Incomedia case

Aim: Optimize the usage of transactional emails, going beyond their communicative nature and combining it with marketing purposes. The project has been developed in collaboration with Incomedia, Italian software developer and vendor.Objective: Understand how Incomedia can exploit the benefits of transactional emails in a marketing perspective in order to increase the sales of its software.Limitation: The specificity of the topic, strictly related to Incomedia’s activities, products and consumers. Limits of time and variables tested with the A/B experiment.Theory/Methodology : It helped us to leverage the potential of transactional emails through the improvement of one particular element, the price discount offers. Due to the particularity of the software “medium-price” level, we have choose to do an A/B test experiment of the new transactional email by presenting the discount in two different ways: monetary and percentage terms.Result: The new transactional email, with the price discount, drove us to satisfactory results. The price discount expressed in percentage was better perceived and accepted by consumers; thanks to this, Incomedia during the experiment could highly increase its sales.
Maturity‐onset diabetes of the young: clinical heterogeneity explained by genetic heterogeneity

Maturity‐onset diabetes of the young (MODY) can be defined by the clinical characteristics of early‐onset Type 2 (non‐insulin‐dependent) diabetes and autosomal dominant inheritance. Mutations in four genes have been shown to cause MODY: glucokinase, hepatic nuclear factor 1 alpha (HNF1α), hepatic nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4α) and insulin protein factor 1 (IPF1). In white Caucasians it is now possible to define the gene in most patients with a clinical diagnosis of MODY. Each gene involved in MODY has its own specific clinical and physiological characteristics. Patients with mutations of the glucokinase gene have mild fasting hyperglycaemia throughout life, and rarely require medication or develop microvascular complications. The principle pathophysiology is stable beta‐cell dysfunction characterized by reduced sensing of glucose by the pancreas. Patients with mutations in HNF1α have normal glucose tolerance in early childhood and usually present with symptomatic diabetes in their late teens or early adulthood. They show increasing hyperglycaemia and treatment requirements with frequent microvascular complications. The underlying defect is progressive beta‐cell failure, with the early lesion characterized by failure to increase insulin secretion with increasing glucose levels. Patients with HNF4α and IPF1 mutations show a similar clinical picture to HNF1α although diabetes may be diagnosed later. There are other patients with MODY in whom the genetic defect is still unknown. Molecular genetic testing in patients with diabetes offers the possibility of making a firm diagnosis of MODY and allows prediction of the future clinical course. The role of predictive testing in non‐diabetic subjects within families is uncertain at present. Preliminary evidence suggests that maintaining insulin sensitivity by avoiding obesity and regular physical exercise may help delay the onset of diabetes © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Blog marketing : the revolutionary new way to increase sales, build your brand, and get exceptional results

With an exclusive look inside Google, Disney, Yahoo, IBM, and others, this book shows how your company can use blogs to raise its visibility and transform internal communications All companies, large and small, know that reaching customers directly and influencing - and being influenced by - them is essential to success. "Blog Marketing" shows marketing and PR professionals as well small business owners how to do just that without spending a lot of money. Readers will learn how to tap into the power of blogs to create a direct line of communication with customers, raise the company's visibility, and position their organizations as industry thought leaders. 'Blogs will soon become a staple in the information diet of every serious businessperson . Blogs offer an accelerated and efficient approach to acquiring and understanding the kind of information all of us need to make business decisions' - John Battelle, Business 2.0.
An Investigation Of The Dinig-Out Behavior Of Romanian Young People

Food services are basic services of the tourism offer. Unlike the other elements of the tourism product sold to a visitor, the offer of food units target to a high extent the residents. The habit to satisfy the need of food & beverage in specialized units, concept known under the name of “dining-out”, records in Romania a lower spread in comparison with developed states. This situation is determined by the low level of incomes, the lack of the lunch break with a duration of at least one hour in the working program of many companies which could favor serving the meal in a food unit, etc, but also the concern of the restaurants to satisfy the demand for events (weddings, baptisms, etc) or satisfying the needs of socialization and amusement of population during evenings. The article aims to highlight the opinions and attitudes of young consumers from Romania regarding the food service consumption, the elements which determine the decision to eat in a restaurant and the issues that might favor this action.
Effect of Brimonidine on Intraocular Pressure in Normal Tension Glaucoma: A Short Term Clinical Trial

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy and safety of 0.2% brimonidine eye drops given twice daily in normal tension glaucoma. Patients and Methods Sixteen consecutive patients fulfilling eligibility criteria (glaucomatous optic neuropathy associated with visual field defect in at least one eye, intraocular pressure (IOP) = 18 mmHg (average of the two highest readings of the round-the-clock curve, including one reading at midnight in supine position), no prior glaucoma therapy, angle wide open, visual acuity 20/40 or better) were enrolled in this prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial with crossover design, lasting 30 days for each treatment phase plus 15-day washout in between. Main outcome was IOP (average of the two highest readings of the round-the-clock curve). Results Mean IOP was significantly reduced by brimonidine (from 17.1 ± 0.7 mm Hg to 13.9 ± 2.2 mmHg, p<0.001 (paired Student t-test)). At the end of the 30-day brimonidine phase, 4 of 16 subjects showed a ≥30% IOP decrease over baseline. Conclusions In the short term, 0.2% brimonidine eye drops can induce a significant IOP decrease in eyes with normal tension glaucoma.