Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Domestic Animal Hosts Strongly Influence Human-Feeding Rates of the Chagas Disease Vector Triatoma infestans in Argentina

Background The host species composition in a household and their relative availability affect the host-feeding choices of blood-sucking insects and parasite transmission risks. We investigated four hypotheses regarding factors that affect blood-feeding rates, proportion of human-fed bugs (human blood index), and daily human-feeding rates of Triatoma infestans, the main vector of Chagas disease. Methods A cross-sectional survey collected triatomines in human sleeping quarters (domiciles) of 49 of 270 rural houses in northwestern Argentina. We developed an improved way of estimating the human-feeding rate of domestic T. infestans populations. We fitted generalized linear mixed-effects models to a global model with six explanatory variables (chicken blood index, dog blood index, bug stage, numbers of human residents, bug abundance, and maximum temperature during the night preceding bug catch) and three response variables (daily blood-feeding rate, human blood index, and daily human-feeding rate). Coefficients were estimated via multimodel inference with model averaging. Findings Median blood-feeding intervals per late-stage bug were 4.1 days, with large variations among households. The main bloodmeal sources were humans (68%), chickens (22%), and dogs (9%). Blood-feeding rates decreased with increases in the chicken blood index. Both the human blood index and daily human-feeding rate decreased substantially with increasing proportions of chicken- or dog-fed bugs, or the presence of chickens indoors. Improved calculations estimated the mean daily human-feeding rate per late-stage bug at 0.231 (95% confidence interval, 0.157–0.305). Conclusions and Significance Based on the changing availability of chickens in domiciles during spring-summer and the much larger infectivity of dogs compared with humans, we infer that the net effects of chickens in the presence of transmission-competent hosts may be more adequately described by zoopotentiation than by zooprophylaxis. Domestic animals in domiciles profoundly affect the host-feeding choices, human-vector contact rates and parasite transmission predicted by a model based on these estimates.
GABAA receptor subunit interactions important for benzodiazepine and zinc modulation: a patch‐clamp and single cell RT‐PCR study

The expression of mRNAs for the GABAA receptor subunits α1, α6, β2, β3, γ2 and δ in single mouse cerebellar granule cells and cortical interneurons were analysed by RT‐PCR and correlated to their midazolam and zinc modulation of agonist‐induced receptor currents. The registration of molecular and electrophysiological data from each cell allowed us to estimate the significance of individual subunits and their two‐factor interaction for modulation. The presence of α6 decreased midazolam modulation, but statistical analysis also suggested interactions of α6 with β3 and γ2 with respect to midazolam modulation. Zinc modulation was decreased by the presence of γ2, and analysis points to an β3 effect as well as an interaction between γ2 and δ in zinc modulation. Thus, our model confirmed, in single native cells, the known effects of α6 in midazolam and γ2 in zinc modulation, and additionally pointed to significant subunit interactions that need to be further tested in recombinant receptors. The present study offers a method to identify subunit interactions in heteromeric receptor complexes.
A Preliminary Model of Motivation for Pornography Consumption Among Men Participating in Zoophilic Virtual Environments

Although zoophilic blogs and websites attract the attention of zoophiles and others who are curious about this sexual activity, the motivations for consuming this type of pornography are not clear. This study aimed to confirm the factorial validity of the Pornography Consumption Inventory in an online sample of men with sexual interest in animals, and to construct an association model between motivations for pornography consumption and the following psychological variables: depression, sexual impulsiveness, and strength of sexual interest in animals. In this cross-sectional study, we located a website that catered to a network of people with a sexual interest in animals. Subsequently, a questionnaire was made available online to members of this network. Results support the 4-factor model of the Pornography Consumption Inventory. Depression and strength of sexual interest in animals were negatively and positively correlated with the sexual curiosity factor, respectively. Sexual impulsiveness was positively associated with the emotional avoidance, excitement seeking, and sexual pleasure factors. Depression and sexual impulsiveness were positively correlated. Psychological factors can differently motivate the consumption of pornography among men who visit zoophilic blogs and websites. With these preliminary data, we can identify some characteristics of this population.
Thermal performance of collector-up HBTs for small high-power amplifiers with a novel thermal via structure underneath the HBT fingers

We will describe the thermal performance of a special heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) structure for mobile communication systems, called a collector-up HBT. We calculated the thermal resistance between the HBT fingers and the bottom surface of a GaAs substrate using a finite element method (FEM). The results suggest that the thermal resistance of collector-up HBTs with thermal via structures can be reduced by 64% compared to the thermal resistance of ordinary emitter-up HBTs. They also show that the thickness of the InGaP emitter layer effects the thermal resistance of, and the temperature distribution in, the collector fingers of collector-up HBTs. Even though the thermal resistance of collector-up HBTs can be much smaller than that of emitter-up HBTs, a thermal interaction between the collector fingers still exists in multi-finger structures. We analyzed the temperature distribution in the collector fingers of a four-finger HBT structure and found that the thickness of the plated heat sink (PHS) was not sufficient to reduce the thermal interaction between the HBT fingers, and that optimization of the HBT location was needed to minimize the thermal interaction. We also found that the thickness of the InGaP emitter layer was the most important parameter for reducing thermal resistance, even in four-finger HBT structures. These calculation results can be used to reduce the temperature of collector-up HBTs and the temperature differences between the HBT fingers in the development of power amplifiers with collector-up HBTs.
Review: Computer-based Guideline Implementation Systems: A Systematic Review of Functionality and Effectiveness

In this systematic review, the authors analyze the functionality provided by recent computer-based guideline implementation systems and characterize the effectiveness of the systems. Twenty-five studies published between 1992 and January 1998 were identified. Articles were included if the authors indicated an intent to implement guideline recommendations for clinicians and if the effectiveness of the system was evaluated. Provision of eight information management services and effects on guideline adherence, documentation, user satisfaction, and patient outcome were noted. All systems provided patient-specific recommendations. In 19, recommendations were available concurrently with care. Explanation services were described for nine systems. Nine systems allowed interactive documentation, and 17 produced paper-based output. Communication services were present most often in systems integrated with electronic medical records. Registration, calculation, and aggregation services were infrequently reported. There were 10 controlled trials (9 randomized) and 10 time-series correlational studies. Guideline adherence improved in 14 of 18 systems in which it was measured. Documentation improved in 4 of 4 studies.
Exocytosis Precedes and Predicts the Increase in Growth in Oscillating Pollen Tubes[W]

We examined exocytosis during oscillatory growth in lily (Lilium formosanum and Lilium longiflorum) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) pollen tubes using three markers: (1) changes in cell wall thickness by Nomarski differential interference contrast (DIC), (2) changes in apical cell wall fluorescence in cells stained with propidium iodide (PI), and (3) changes in apical wall fluorescence in cells expressing tobacco pectin methyl esterase fused to green fluorescent protein (PME-GFP). Using PI fluorescence, we quantified oscillatory changes in the amount of wall material from both lily and tobacco pollen tubes. Measurement of wall thickness by DIC was only possible with lily due to limitations of microscope resolution. PME-GFP, a direct marker for exocytosis, only provides information in tobacco because its expression in lily causes growth inhibition and cell death. We show that exocytosis in pollen tubes oscillates and leads the increase in growth rate; the mean phase difference between exocytosis and growth is –98° ± 3° in lily and –124° ± 4° in tobacco. Statistical analyses reveal that the anticipatory increase in wall material predicts, to a high degree, the rate and extent of the subsequent growth surge. Exocytosis emerges as a prime candidate for the initiation and regulation of oscillatory pollen tube growth.
Generating Complementary Systems for Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognition

Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognition (LVCSR) systems often use a multi-pass recognition framework where the final output is obtained from a combination of multiple models. Previous systems within this framework have normally built a number of independently trained models, before performing multiple experiments to determine the optimal combination. For two models to give improvements upon combination, it is clear that they must be complementary, i.e. they must make different errors. While independently trained models often do give improvements when they are combined, it is not guaranteed that they will be complementary. This paper presents a new algorithm, Minimum Bayes Risk Leveraging (MBRL), for explicitly generating systems that are complementary to each other. This algorithm is based on Minimum Bayes Risk training, but within a boosting-like iterative framework. Experimental results are reported on a Broadcast News Mandarin task. These experiments show small but consistent gains when combining complementary systems using confusion network combination.
A Two-Year Longitudinal Study of Post-Stroke Mood Disorders: Dynamic Changes in Associated Variables Over the First Six Months of Follow-Up

We are prospectively studying a group of 103 stroke patients over the first 2 years after infarction to determine the variables which are associated with the development of depression. At both 3 and 6 months post-stroke, patients with left hemisphere infarcts showed a strong relationship between severity of depression and distance of the lesion on CT scan from the frontal pole. The strength of this association was unchanged from the immediate post-infarction period. In contrast, the correlation between degree of functional physical impairment and severity of depression steadily increased over the 6 month follow-up. The correlation between severity of depression and Mini-Mental score or between depression and social functioning score dropped between in-hospital and 3 months but then increased significantly between 3 and 6 months post-stroke. Age did not correlate with depression beyond the acute post-stroke period. Whether the increasing strength of the relationships between impairment and depression over the first 6 months post- stroke indicates that continued depression led to delayed recovery or whether continued severe impairments led to depression is not known, however, this issue will be addressed in further data evaluation from this prospective study. Stroke Vol 15, No 3, 1984
Changes in Gene Transcription Underlying the Aberrant Citrate and Choline Metabolism in Human Prostate Cancer Samples

Purpose: Low concentrations of citrate and high concentrations of choline-containing compounds (ChoCC) are metabolic characteristics observed by magnetic resonance spectroscopy of prostate cancer tissue. The objective was to investigate the gene expression changes underlying these metabolic aberrations to find regulatory genes with potential for targeted therapies. Experimental design: Fresh frozen samples (n = 133) from 41 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy were included. Histopathologic evaluation was carried out for each sample before a metabolic profile was obtained with high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) spectroscopy. Following the HR-MAS, RNA was extracted from the same sample and quality controlled before carrying out microarray gene expression profiling. A partial least square statistical model was used to integrate the data sets to identify genes whose expression show significant covariance with citrate and ChoCC levels. Results: Samples were classified as benign, n = 35; cancer of low grade (Gleason score 6), n = 24; intermediate grade (Gleason score 7), n = 41; or high grade (Gleason score ≥8), n = 33. RNA quality was high with a mean RNA Integrity Number score of 9.1 (SD 1.2). Gene products predicting significantly a reduced citrate level were acetyl citrate lyase (ACLY, P = 0.003) and m-aconitase (ACON, P < 0.001). The two genes whose expression most closely accompanied the increase in ChoCC were those of phospholipase A2 group VII (PLA2G7, P < 0.001) and choline kinase α (CHKA, P = 0.002). Conclusions: By integrating histologic, transcriptomic, and metabolic data, our study has contributed to an expanded understanding of the mechanisms underlying aberrant citrate and ChoCC levels in prostate cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 18(12); 3261–9. ©2012 AACR.
Local Capacity $H_{\infty}$ Control for Production Networks of Autonomous Work Systems With Time-Varying Delays

This paper considers the problem of local capacity H∞ control for a class of production networks of autonomous work systems with time-varying delays in the capacity changes. The system under consideration is modeled in a discrete-time singular form. Attention is focused on the design of a controller gain for the local capacity adjustments which maintains the work-in-progress (WIP) in each work system in the vicinity of planned levels and guarantees the asymptotic stability of the system and reduces the effect of the disturbance input on the controlled output to a prescribed level. In terms of a matrix inequality, a sufficient condition for the solvability of this problem is presented using an appropriate Lyapunov function, which depends on the size of the delay and is solved by existing convex optimization techniques. When this matrix inequality is feasible, the controller gain can be found by using LMI Toolbox Matlab. Finally, numerical results are provided to demonstrate the proposed approach.
Neurological and functional outcomes of subdural hematoma evacuation in patients over 70 years of age

Background: Subdural hematoma (SDH) is a common disease entity treated by neurosurgical intervention. Although the incidence increases in the elderly population, there is a paucity of studies examining their surgical outcomes. Objectives: To determine the neurological and functional outcomes of patients over 70 years of age undergoing surgical decompression for subdural hematoma. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data on 45 patients above 70 years who underwent craniotomy or burr holes for acute, chronic or mixed subdural hematomas. We analyzed both neurological and functional status before and after surgery. Results: Forty-five patients 70 years of age or older were treated in our department during the study period. There was a significant improvement in the neurological status of patients from admission to follow up as assessed using the Markwalder grading scale (1.98 vs. 1.39; P =0.005), yet no improvement in functional outcome was observed as assessed by Glasgow Outcome Score. Forty-one patients were admitted from home, however only 20 patients (44%) were discharged home, 16 (36%) discharged to nursing home or rehab, 6 (13%) to hospice and 3 (7%) died in the postoperative period. Neurological function improved in patients who were older, had a worse pre-operative neurological status, were on anticoagulation and had chronic or mixed acute and chronic hematoma. However, no improvement in functional status was observed. Conclusion: Surgical management of SDH in patients over 70 years of age provides significant improvement in neurological status, but does not change functional status.
Compressing dynamic meshes with geometric laplacians

This paper addresses the problem of representing dynamic 3D meshes in a compact way, so that they can be stored and transmitted efficiently. We focus on sequences of triangle meshes with shared connectivity, avoiding the necessity of having a skinning structure. Our method first computes an average mesh of the whole sequence in edge shape space. A discrete geometric Laplacian of this average surface is then used to encode the coefficients that describe the trajectories of the mesh vertices. Optionally, a novel spatio‐temporal predictor may be applied to the trajectories to further improve the compression rate. We demonstrate that our approach outperforms the current state of the art in terms of low data rate at a given perceived distortion, as measured by the STED and KG error metrics.
Long-term administration of intranasal oxytocin is a safe and promising therapy for early adolescent boys with autism spectrum disorders.

OBJECTIVE Oxytocin (OT) has been a candidate for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and the impact of intranasally delivered OT on ASD has been investigated. However, most previous studies were conducted by single-dose administration to adults; and, therefore, the long-term effect of nasal OT on ASD patients and its effect on children remain to be clarified. METHODS We conducted a singled-armed, open-label study in which OT was administered intranasally over the long term to eight male youth with ASD (10-14 years of age; intelligence quotient [IQ] 20-101). The OT administration was performed in a stepwise increased dosage manner every 2 months (8, 16, 24 IU/dose). A placebo period (1-2 weeks) was inserted before each step. The outcome measures were autism diagnostic observation schedule--generic (ADOS-G), child behavior checklist (CBCL), and the aberrant behavior checklist (ABC). In addition, side effects were monitored by measuring blood pressure and examining urine and blood samples. RESULTS Six of the eight participants showed improved scores on the communication and social interaction domains of the ADOS-G. However, regarding the T-scores of the CBCL and the scores of the ABC, we could not find any statistically significant improvement, although several subcategories showed a mild tendency for improvement. Caregivers of five of the eight participants reported certain positive effects of the OT therapy, especially on the quality of reciprocal communication. All participants showed excellent compliance and no side effects. CONCLUSIONS Although our results on the efficacy of long-term nasal OT therapy still remain controversial, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report documenting the safety of long-term nasal OT therapy for children with ASD. Even though our data are too preliminary to draw any definite conclusions about efficacy, they do suggest this therapy to be safe, promising, and worthy of a large-scale, double-blind placebo-controlled study.
The Recognition of Human Movement Using Temporal Templates

A view-based approach to the representation and recognition of human movement is presented. The basis of the representation is a temporal template-a static vector-image where the vector value at each point is a function of the motion properties at the corresponding spatial location in an image sequence. Using aerobics exercises as a test domain, we explore the representational power of a simple, two component version of the templates: The first value is a binary value indicating the presence of motion and the second value is a function of the recency of motion in a sequence. We then develop a recognition method matching temporal templates against stored instances of views of known actions. The method automatically performs temporal segmentation, is invariant to linear changes in speed, and runs in real-time on standard platforms.
An empirical investigation of fault repairs and mitigations in space mission system software

Faults in software systems can have different characteristics. In an earlier paper, the anomaly reports for a number of JPL/NASA missions were analyzed and the underlying faults were classified as Bohrbugs, non-aging-related Mandelbugs, and aging-related bugs. In another paper the times to failure for each of these fault types were examined to identify trends within missions as well as across the missions. The results of those papers are now starting to provide guidance to improve the dependability of space mission software. Just as there are different types of faults, there are different kinds of mitigations of faults and failures. This paper analyzes the mitigations associated with each fault studied in our previous papers. We identify trends of mitigation type proportions within missions as well as from mission to mission. We also look for relationships between fault types and mitigation types. The results will be used to increase the reliability of space mission software.
An examination of the association of cognitive functioning, adherence to sodium restriction and Na/K ratios in Korean heart failure patients.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Maintaining adequate ratios of sodium-to-potassium requires heart failure patients to be adherent to recommended dietary guidelines. A potential deterrent to adherence is poor cognitive functioning. The aims of this study were to (1) estimate dietary sodium and potassium intake and sodium-to-potassium ratios and (2) examine the associations between cognitive functioning and sodium-to-potassium ratios. BACKGROUND Cognitive impairment may impact levels of adherence and subsequently sodium-to-potassium ratios; however, little is known about the relationship of cognitive functioning, adherence to dietary restrictions and sodium-to-potassium ratios. DESIGN This study used a descriptive correlational design. METHODS Face-to-face interviews were conducted with heart failure patients with preserved or reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Standard cognitive measures were used and included neuropsychological tests of global cognition, immediate and delayed recall, and executive function. Further, patients were instructed to complete a three-day food diary as an indirect measure of sodium-to-potassium intake. RESULTS Ninety-one Korean patients with heart failure participated in this study (age 57 years, women 33%, education 10 years). A major underlying cause for heart failure was dilated cardiomyopathy (40%), followed by ischaemic cause (24%); the mean heart failure duration was 37 months. Average sodium intake was 3982 mg/day, with men consuming a significantly higher amount than women (4207 vs. 3523 mg). Potassium intake was 2583 mg/day, with both men and women consuming similarly insufficient amounts. Sodium-to-potassium ratio was 1·60, with men having a significantly elevated ratio compared with women (1·68 vs. 1·44). Cognitive function by sodium-to-potassium quartile groups showed nonlinear associations. CONCLUSION Participants in the study consumed excessive sodium and insufficient potassium; correspondingly, elevated sodium-to-potassium ratios showed significant associations with cognitive function (memory). RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Dietary guidelines tailored to levels of cognitive function as well as Korean dining culture may be important in ensuring sodium-to-potassium balance in these heart failure patients.