Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potential Benefits, Limitations and Target Product-Profiles of Odor-Baited Mosquito Traps for Malaria Control in Africa

Background Traps baited with synthetic human odors have been proposed as suitable technologies for controlling malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. We investigated the potential benefits of such traps for preventing malaria transmission in Africa and the essential characteristics that they should possess so as to be effective. Methods and Principal Findings An existing mathematical model was reformulated to distinguish availability of hosts for attack by mosquitoes from availability of blood per se. This adaptation allowed the effects of pseudo-hosts such as odor-baited mosquito traps, which do not yield blood but which can nonetheless be attacked by the mosquitoes, to be simulated considering communities consisting of users and non-users of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), currently the primary malaria prevention method. We determined that malaria transmission declines as trap coverage (proportion of total availability of all hosts and pseudo hosts that traps constitute) increases. If the traps are more attractive than humans and are located in areas where mosquitoes are most abundant, 20–130 traps per 1000 people would be sufficient to match the impact of 50% community-wide ITN coverage. If such traps are used to complement ITNs, malaria transmission can be reduced by 99% or more in most scenarios representative of Africa. However, to match cost-effectiveness of ITNs, the traps delivery, operation and maintenance would have to cost a maximum of US$4.25 to 27.61 per unit per year. Conclusions and Significance Odor-baited mosquito traps might potentially be effective and affordable tools for malaria control in Africa, particularly if they are used to complement, rather than replace, existing methods. We recommend that developers should focus on super-attractive baits and cheaper traps to enhance cost-effectiveness, and that the most appropriate way to deploy such technologies is through vertical delivery mechanisms.
IGS Minisatellites Useful for Race Differentiation in Colletotrichum lentis and a Likely Site of Small RNA Synthesis Affecting Pathogenicity

Colletotrichum lentis is a fungal pathogen of lentil in Canada but rarely reported elsewhere. Two races, Ct0 and Ct1, have been identified using differential lines. Our objective was to develop a PCR-probe differentiating these races. Sequences of the translation elongation factor 1α (tef1α), RNA polymerase II subunit B2 (rpb2), ATP citrate lyase subunit A (acla), and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were monomorphic, while the intergenic spacer (IGS) region showed length polymorphisms at two minisatellites of 23 and 39 nucleotides (nt). A PCR-probe (39F/R) amplifying the 39 nt minisatellite was developed which subsequently revealed 1–5 minisatellites with 1–12 repeats in C. lentis. The probe differentiated race Ct1 isolates having 7, 9 or 7+9 repeats from race Ct0 having primarily 2 or 4 repeats, occasionally 5, 6, or 8, but never 7 or 9 repeats. These isolates were collected between 1991 and 1999. In a 2012 survey isolates with 2 and 4 repeats increased from 34% to 67%, while isolated with 7 or 9 repeats decreased from 40 to 4%, likely because Ct1 resistant lentil varieties had been grown. The 39 nt repeat was identified in C. gloeosporioides, C. trifolii, Ascochyta lentis, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea. Thus, the 39F/R PCR probe is not species specific, but can differentiate isolates based on repeat number. The 23 nt minisatellite in C. lentis exists as three length variants with ten sequence variations differentiating race Ct0 having 14 or 19 repeats from race Ct1 having 17 repeats, except for one isolate. RNA-translation of 23 nt repeats forms hairpins and has the appropriate length to suggest that IGS could be a site of small RNA synthesis, a hypothesis that warrants further investigation. Small RNA from fungal plant pathogens able to silence genes either in the host or pathogen thereby aiding infection have been reported.
The Galactic plane at faint X-ray fluxes – II. Stacked X-ray spectra of a sample of serendipitous XMM–Newton sources

We have investigated the X-ray spectral properties of a sample of 138 X-ray sources detected serendipitously in $XMM-Newton$ observations of the Galactic plane, at an intermediate to faint flux level. We divide our sample into 5 subgroups according to the spectral hardness of the sources, and stack (i.e. co-add) the individual source spectra within each subgroup. As expected these stacked spectra show a softening trend from the hardest to the softest subgroups, which is reflected in the inferred line-of-sight column density. The spectra of the three hardest subgroups are characterized by a hard continuum plus superimpose Fe-line emission in the 6--7 keV bandpass. The average equivalent width (EW) of the 6.7-keV He-like Fe-K$\alpha$ line is 170$^{+35}_{-32}$ eV, whereas the 6.4-keV Fe-K fluorescence line from neutral iron and the 6.9-keV H-like Fe-Ly$\alpha$ line have EWs of 89$^{+26}_{-25}$ eV and 81$^{+30}_{-29}$ eV respectively, i.e. roughly half that of the 6.7-keV line. The remaining subgroups exhibit soft thermal spectra. Virtually all of the spectrally-soft X-ray sources can be associated with relatively nearby coronally-active late-type stars, which are evident as bright near-infrared (NIR) objects within the X-ray error circles. On a similar basis only a minority of the spectrally-hard X-ray sources have likely NIR identifications. The average continuum and Fe-line properties of the spectrally-hard sources are consistent with those of magnetic cataclysmic variables but the direct identification of large numbers of such systems in Galactic X-ray surveys, probing intermediate to faint flux levels, remains challenging.
Differences in TP53 Mutation Carrier Phenotypes Emerge From Panel-Based Testing

Background Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) has traditionally been identified by single-gene testing (SGT) of TP53 triggered by clinical criteria, but the widespread use of multigene panel tests (MGPTs) has upended this paradigm. We sought to compare the personal and family cancer histories of TP53-positive result (TP53+) carriers who were identified by either MGPT or SGT. Methods Of 44 310 individuals who underwent testing of TP53 in a single clinical diagnostic laboratory between 2010 and 2014, 44 086 (40 885 MGPT and 3201 SGT) met study eligibility criteria. Personal cancer histories were available for 38 938 subjects. The frequency of germline TP53 results and various phenotypic manifestations were compared according to test type. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results MGPT TP53+ individuals (n = 126) had an older median age at first cancer than SGT TP53+ carriers (n = 96; women: median = 36 vs 28 years, P < .001; and men: median = 40 vs 15 years, P = .004). The median age of breast cancer diagnosis was 40 years in MGPT TP53+ women vs 33 years in SGT TP53+ women (P < .001). In both cohorts, childhood and LFS core cancers, and for women, multiple primary cancers (not multiple breast tumors), were associated with TP53+ results. Established LFS testing criteria were less often met by MGPT TP53+ individuals. Conclusions MGPT TP53+ individuals differ in phenotype from those ascertained through SGT and are notably older at cancer diagnosis and less likely to meet LFS clinical criteria. These findings suggest that LFS may have a greater phenotypic spectrum than previously appreciated. This has implications for the counseling of MGPT TP53+ individuals. Prospective follow-up of these individuals and families is needed to re-evaluate cancer risks.
Intraspecific Correlations of Basal and Maximal Metabolic Rates in Birds and the Aerobic Capacity Model for the Evolution of Endothermy

The underlying assumption of the aerobic capacity model for the evolution of endothermy is that basal (BMR) and maximal aerobic metabolic rates are phenotypically linked. However, because BMR is largely a function of central organs whereas maximal metabolic output is largely a function of skeletal muscles, the mechanistic underpinnings for their linkage are not obvious. Interspecific studies in birds generally support a phenotypic correlation between BMR and maximal metabolic output. If the aerobic capacity model is valid, these phenotypic correlations should also extend to intraspecific comparisons. We measured BMR, Msum (maximum thermoregulatory metabolic rate) and MMR (maximum exercise metabolic rate in a hop-flutter chamber) in winter for dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), American goldfinches (Carduelis tristis; Msum and MMR only), and black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus; BMR and Msum only) and examined correlations among these variables. We also measured BMR and Msum in individual house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in both summer, winter and spring. For both raw metabolic rates and residuals from allometric regressions, BMR was not significantly correlated with either Msum or MMR in juncos. Moreover, no significant correlation between Msum and MMR or their mass-independent residuals occurred for juncos or goldfinches. Raw BMR and Msum were significantly positively correlated for black-capped chickadees and house sparrows, but mass-independent residuals of BMR and Msum were not. These data suggest that central organ and exercise organ metabolic levels are not inextricably linked and that muscular capacities for exercise and shivering do not necessarily vary in tandem in individual birds. Why intraspecific and interspecific avian studies show differing results and the significance of these differences to the aerobic capacity model are unknown, and resolution of these questions will require additional studies of potential mechanistic links between minimal and maximal metabolic output.
Asymptotics for Rough Stochastic Volatility Models

Using the large deviation principle (LDP) for a rescaled fractional Brownian motion $B^H_t$, where the rate function is defined via the reproducing kernel Hilbert space, we compute small-time asymptotics for a correlated fractional stochastic volatility model of the form $dS_t=S_t\sigma(Y_t) (\bar{\rho} dW_t +\rho dB_t), \,dY_t=dB^H_t$, where $\sigma$ is $\alpha$-Holder continuous for some $\alpha\in(0,1]$; in particular, we show that $t^{H-\frac{1}{2}} \log S_t $ satisfies the LDP as $t\to0$ and the model has a well-defined implied volatility smile as $t \to 0$, when the log-moneyness $k(t)=x t^{\frac{1}{2}-H}$. Thus the smile steepens to infinity or flattens to zero depending on whether $H\in(0,\frac{1}{2})$ or $H\in(\frac{1}{2},1)$. We also compute large-time asymptotics for a fractional local-stochastic volatility model of the form $dS_t= S_t^{\beta} |Y_t|^p dW_t,dY_t=dB^H_t$, and we generalize two identities in Matsumoto and Yor [Probab. Surv. , 2 (2005), pp. 312--347] to show that $\frac{1}{t^{2H}}\l.
An exotic herbivorous insect drives the evolution of resistance in the exotic perennial herb Solidago altissima

Invasive plants often experience rapid changes in biological interactions by escaping from their original herbivores at their new habitats, and sometimes re-associating with those herbivores afterwards. However, little is known about whether the temporal changes in herbivorous impact work as a selective agent for defensive traits of invaded plants. Solidago altissima (goldenrod) is a North American perennial that has widely invaded abandoned fields in Japan. Recently, an herbivorous insect Corythucha marmorata (lace bug), an exotic insect also from North America, which was first recorded in 2000 in Japan, has been expanding its habitat on S. altissima populations in Japan. In this study, we investigated whether the invasion of C. marmorata had a selective impact on the defensive traits of S. altissima, by conducting a field survey, a common garden experiment and microsatellite analysis. We compared quantitative genetic differentiation of traits (resistance, growth, and reproduction) and neutral molecular .
Study of materials using Mössbauer spectroscopy

A comprehensive review is presented of the recent contributions Mössbauer spectroscopy has made in materials science and engineering. After a brief introduction to the basic methodology, examples of the application of 57Fe and 119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy in both transmission and back-scattering mode are presented and discussed. Recent technological and software developments of this technique are also included. Coverage is further extended to recent, pertinent developments in space research and also in biological science and technology where Mössbauer techniques are very widely used. Efforts have also been made to cover applications to archaeological samples where Mössbauer spectroscopy is an important analytical tool.
Individual Differences in Learning a Novel Discrete Motor Task

Many motor learning studies focus on average performance while it is known from everyday life experience that humans differ in their way of learning new motor tasks. This study emphasises the importance of recognizing individual differences in motor learning. We studied individual tool grasping profiles of individuals who learned to pick up objects with a novel tool, a pair of pliers. The pair of pliers was attached to the thumb and the index finger so that the tip of the thumb and the tip of the index finger were displaced to the beaks of the pair of pliers. The grasp component was manipulated by varying the location of the hinge of the pair of pliers, which resulted in different relations between beak opening and closing and finger opening and closing. The Wider Beak group had the hinge at 7 cm, the Same Beak group had the hinge at 10 cm (i.e., in the middle), and the Smaller Beak group had the hinge at 13 cm from the digits. Each group consisted of ten right-handed participants who picked up an object with one of the pairs of pliers 200 times on two subsequent days. Hand opening, plateau phase, hand closing, grasping time and maximum aperture were analyzed. To characterize individual changes over practice time, a log function was fitted on these dependent variables and the ratio of improvement was determined. Results showed that at the beginning stage of tool use learning the characteristic grasping profile consisted of three phases; hand opening, plateau phase and hand closing. Over practicing individual participants differed in the number of phases that changed, the amount of change in a phase and/or the direction of change. Moreover, with different pliers different learning paths were found. The importance of recognizing individual differences in motor learning is discussed.
Surveys of Informal Sector Enterprises - Some Measurement Issues

The informal sector represents an important part of the economy and the labor market in many countries, especially developing countries. Measurements of the informal sector are of intrinsic interest in their own right and contribute toward exhaustive measures of gross domestic product (GDP). Considering that the informal sector provides employment for income creation to a large number of poor and contributes significantly to the GDP of many developing countries, collecting statistics through surveys for accurate measurement of output, net surplus, and value added is critical for national accountants, other users, and for researchers working on policy-related issues. As most of the informal sector enterprises do not maintain business accounts, the survey responses depend highly on the recall by the respondent and the skills of the interviewer. Thus, a very important aspect of the surveys of informal sector enterprises is the design of the survey questionnaire and the details to be captured in data collection in order to accurately measure the characteristics of these enterprises. The details sought in the survey questionnaire have implications on the accuracy of data and hence in the measurement of expenditure, receipts, profits, and gross value added (GVA) of these enterprises. In this paper we examine the differences in the measures of: (i) profits of an enterprise derived from a detailed set of questions on incomes and expenses, versus profits obtained through a single direct question; and (ii) GVA obtained using the production approach as the difference of output and intermediate consumption from a detailed set of questions on incomes and expenses, versus GVA using the income approach by asking a few questions on factor incomes, and a single direct question on profits. We use data from the 56th round survey of unorganized manufacturing conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization of India during the period July 2000–June 2001. We also examine if the differences vary with the characteristics of the enterprises, and suggest further empirical research to develop suitable tools for providing accurate measurements of informal sector enterprises.
Effect of serum vitamin D level on endometrial thickness and parameters of follicle growth in infertile women undergoing induction of ovulation

Abstract In this paper, 153 infertile women undergoing induction of ovulation at an academic tertiary care centre were included in a cross-sectional study. Serum Vitamin D level was measured and the rate of clinical pregnancy (defined as a sonographic presence of FHR of an intrauterine gestational sac) and patient and cycle parameters were determined. The results showed that a correlation exists between endometrial thickness as well as the number of antral follicles and replete level of Vitamin D. Interestingly, the median level of these two parameters was of upmost level in the most replete tertile of serum Vitamin D level. There was no correlation between the serum level of Vitamin D and pregnancy rate. Vitamin D status was associated with endometrial thickness and number of antral follicles, but this study did not find a pivotal effect of serum Vitamin D level on pregnancy rate. Impact statement What is already known on this subject? Literature reviews have indicated that a Vitamin D deficiency is directly responsible for a reduced fertility and reproduction capacity. Women with higher level of Vitamin D in serum and follicular fluid are more likely to become pregnant. What do the results of this study add? This study, assessing the effect of serum level of Vitamin D on endometrial thickness and parameters of follicle growth in infertile women undergoing induction of ovulation showed that a correlation exists between endometrial thickness as well as the number of antral follicles and replete level of Vitamin D. It can be concluded that a replete Vitamin D status is associated with a better state of endometrial thickness and a number of antral follicles, but this study did not find a pivotal effect of serum Vitamin D level on the pregnancy rate. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and further research? If a relationship would be proved between Vitamin D deficiency and endometrial thickness and parameters of follicle growth it is possible that with prescribing supplemental Vitamin D as a relatively inexpensive and safe way along with the other more complex and costly infertility treatments, achieving the pregnancy would be easier.
Differences in Disease Severity but Similar Telomere Lengths in Genetic Subgroups of Patients with Telomerase and Shelterin Mutations

The bone marrow failure syndrome dyskeratosis congenita (DC) has been considered to be a disorder of telomere maintenance in which disease features arise due to accelerated shortening of telomeres. By screening core components of the telomerase and shelterin complexes in patients with DC and related bone marrow failure syndromes we have identified 24 novel mutations: 11 in the RNA component of telomerase (TERC), 8 in the reverse transcriptase component (TERT), 4 in dyskerin (DKC1) and 1 in TRF1-interacting nuclear factor 2 (TINF2). This has prompted us to review these genetic subtypes in terms of telomere length, telomerase activity and clinical presentation among 194 genetically characterised index cases recruited onto the registry in London. While those with DKC1 and TINF2 mutations present at a younger age and have more disease features than those with TERC or TERT mutations, there is no difference in telomere length between these groups. There is no difference in the age of onset and numbers of disease features seen in those with TERC and TERT mutations despite the fact that the latter show higher levels of telomerase activity in vitro. The incidence of aplastic anaemia is greater in patients with TERC or TINF2 mutations compared to patients with DKC1 mutations, and cancer incidence is highest in patients with TERC mutations. These data are the first to provide robust comparisons between different genetic subtypes of telomerase and shelterin mutations (the “telomereopathies”) and clearly demonstrate that disease severity is not explained by telomere length alone.
Guidelines for prophylaxis of Pneumocystis pneumonia cannot rely solely on CD4-cell count in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

OBJECTIVES Guidelines for preventing Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in HIV patients are based on CD4 below 200/mm3. Such cut-off value is suggested to guide prophylaxis in non-HIV conditions (NHIV) especially in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases (AD). We aimed to determine if CD4 could be used to guide PCP prophylaxis in AD. METHODS CD4 and lymphocyte-count were retrospectively studied in patients diagnosed with PCP between January 2013 and February 2016. RESULTS 129 patients were included. The median CD4-count was 302/mm3 in AD, which was significantly higher than in HIV patients (19/mm3; p<0.0001). Fifty percent (n=10) of AD patients had CD4 counts greater than 300/mm3. CONCLUSIONS Prophylaxis for PCP cannot rely solely on CD4-count in NHIV patients especially in AD.
Stable and Consistent Membership at Scale with Rapid

We present the design and evaluation of Rapid, a distributed membership service. At Rapid's core is a scheme for multi-process cut detection (CD) that revolves around two key insights: (i) it suspects a failure of a process only after alerts arrive from multiple sources, and (ii) when a group of processes experience problems, it detects failures of the entire group, rather than conclude about each process individually. Implementing these insights translates into a simple membership algorithm with low communication overhead. We present evidence that our strategy suffices to drive unanimous detection almost-everywhere, even when complex network conditions arise, such as one-way reachability problems, firewall misconfigurations, and high packet loss. Furthermore, we present both empirical evidence and analyses that proves that the almost-everywhere detection happens with high probability. To complete the design, Rapid contains a leaderless consensus protocol that converts multi-process cut detections into a view-change decision. The resulting membership service works both in fully decentralized as well as logically centralized modes. We present an evaluation of Rapid in moderately scalable cloud settings. Rapid bootstraps 2000 node clusters 2-5.8x faster than prevailing tools such as Memberlist and ZooKeeper, remains stable in face of complex failure scenarios, and provides strong consistency guarantees. It is easy to integrate Rapid into existing distributed applications, of which we demonstrate two.
Respiratory function in healthy Emirati children using forced oscillations

The forced oscillation technique (FOT) allows the quantification of respiratory function, does not require active cooperation and as such is ideally suited for use in young children. The application of the FOT in non‐Caucasian populations is limited and it remains unclear if current reference ranges for the FOT in Caucasian children are appropriate for children in the Arabian Peninsula. This study explored the use of the FOT in healthy school‐aged children in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).