Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence of Latitudinal Migration in Tri-colored Bats, Perimyotis subflavus

Background Annual movements of tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) are poorly understood. While this species has been considered a regional migrant, some evidence suggests that it may undertake annual latitudinal migrations, similar to other long distance North American migratory bat species. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated migration in P. subflavus by conducting stable hydrogen isotope analyses of 184 museum specimen fur samples and comparing these results (δDfur) to published interpolated δD values of collection site growing season precipitation (δDprecip). Results suggest that the male molt period occurred between June 23 and October 16 and 33% of males collected during the presumed non-molt period were south of their location of fur growth. For the same time period, 16% of females were south of their location of fur growth and in general, had not travelled as far as migratory males. There were strong correlations between δDfur from the presumed molt period and both growing season δDprecip (males – r 2 = 0.86; p<0.01; females – r 2 = 0.75; p<0.01), and latitude of collection (males – r 2 = 0.85; p<0.01; females – r 2 = 0.73; p<0.01). Most migrants were collected at the northern (>40°N; males and females) and southern (<35°N; males only) extents of the species' range. Conclusions/Significance These results indicate a different pattern of migration for this species than previously documented, suggesting that some P. subflavus engage in annual latitudinal migrations and that migratory tendency varies with latitude and between sexes. We suggest that this species' hibernation ecology makes it particularly susceptible to long winters, making migration from the northern extent of the species' range to more southern hibernacula preferable for some individuals. Fur δD values for some of the northern individuals may indicate an increase in the currently accepted northern range of this species. Sex-biased differences in migration may be the result of differences in reproductive pressures.
Effectiveness of individualized, integrative outpatient treatment for females with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

ABSTRACT The effectiveness of an individualized outpatient program was investigated in the treatment of bulimia nervosa (BN) and anorexia nervosa (AN). Participants included 151 females who received outpatient eating disorder treatment in the partial hospitalization program, the intensive outpatient program, or a combination of the two programs. Outcome measures included the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-2), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), frequency of binge eating and purging, and mean body weight. Findings included significant increases in weight for the AN group, reductions in binge eating frequency for the BN group, and reductions in EDI-2 and BDI-II scores and purging frequency for both groups. This study provides preliminary support for the efficacy of a multimodal program for the treatment of both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
First-trimester or second-trimester screening, or both, for Down's syndrome.

BACKGROUND It is uncertain how best to screen pregnant women for the presence of fetal Down's syndrome: to perform first-trimester screening, to perform second-trimester screening, or to use strategies incorporating measurements in both trimesters. METHODS Women with singleton pregnancies underwent first-trimester combined screening (measurement of nuchal translucency, pregnancy-associated plasma protein A [PAPP-A], and the free beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin at 10 weeks 3 days through 13 weeks 6 days of gestation) and second-trimester quadruple screening (measurement of alpha-fetoprotein, total human chorionic gonadotropin, unconjugated estriol, and inhibin A at 15 through 18 weeks of gestation). We compared the results of stepwise sequential screening (risk results provided after each test), fully integrated screening (single risk result provided), and serum integrated screening (identical to fully integrated screening, but without nuchal translucency). RESULTS First-trimester screening was performed in 38,167 patients; 117 had a fetus with Down's syndrome. At a 5 percent false positive rate, the rates of detection of Down's syndrome were as follows: with first-trimester combined screening, 87 percent, 85 percent, and 82 percent for measurements performed at 11, 12, and 13 weeks, respectively; with second-trimester quadruple screening, 81 percent; with stepwise sequential screening, 95 percent; with serum integrated screening, 88 percent; and with fully integrated screening with first-trimester measurements performed at 11 weeks, 96 percent. Paired comparisons found significant differences between the tests, except for the comparison between serum integrated screening and combined screening. CONCLUSIONS First-trimester combined screening at 11 weeks of gestation is better than second-trimester quadruple screening but at 13 weeks has results similar to second-trimester quadruple screening. Both stepwise sequential screening and fully integrated screening have high rates of detection of Down's syndrome, with low false positive rates.
Numerical Simulation of Reinforced Concrete Deterioration: Part 2—Steel Corrosion and Concrete Cracking

Within the context of a numerical study of concrete bridge deck deterioration, simulation of steel corrosion and concrete cracking are investigated. Corrosion is shown to be easily modeled through the diffusion model generally available in most commercial finite element codes, whereas cracking is handled by a special nonlinear fracture mechanics program. When combined with the chloride diffusion analyses presented in a companion paper, it is shown tht a rigorous mechanics-based model can be developed to quantify spalling in bridge decks.
Seamless image stitching by minimizing false edges

Various applications such as mosaicing and object insertion require stitching of image parts. The stitching quality is measured visually by the similarity of the stitched image to each of the input images, and by the visibility of the seam between the stitched images. In order to define and get the best possible stitching, we introduce several formal cost functions for the evaluation of the stitching quality. In these cost functions the similarity to the input images and the visibility of the seam are defined in the gradient domain, minimizing the disturbing edges along the seam. A good image stitching will optimize these cost functions, overcoming both photometric inconsistencies and geometric misalignments between the stitched images. We study the cost functions and compare their performance for different scenarios both theoretically and practically. Our approach is demonstrated in various applications including generation of panoramic images, object blending and removal of compression artifacts. Comparisons with existing methods show the benefits of optimizing the measures in the gradient domain.
A 6-Year Posttreatment Follow-up of Panic Disorder Patients: Treatment With Clonazepam Predicts Lower Recurrence Than Treatment With Paroxetine

Background The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with relapse in panic disorder (PD). Methods This was an observational study conducted in the outpatient clinic of a psychiatric hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In a previous study, 120 patients diagnosed as having PD according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria were randomized to receive clonazepam or paroxetine. After 3 years, treatment was discontinued in patients who had achieved remission. These subjects were included in the current study and were followed up for 6 years. The follow-up assessments were made at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 years after treatment discontinuation. Assessment included the number of panic attacks per month, Clinical Global Impression–Severity, and other measures. Patients who had initiated psychotherapy or pharmacological treatment because of PD symptoms or who had Clinical Global Impression–Severity scores greater than 1 or panic attacks in the month preceding the assessment were considered relapse cases. Data were collected from January 2003 to August 2012. Results Eighty-five patients completed the follow-up. Cumulative relapse rates were 50% (n = 33) at 1 year and 89.4% (n = 76) at 6 years. One-year relapse rates were lower in patients previously treated with clonazepam (P = 0.001) compared with those treated with paroxetine. Low 6-year relapse rates were associated with high Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores before treatment (P = 0.016) and previous treatment with clonazepam. Conclusions Relapse is a frequent problem in PD, and long-term treatment does not protect these patients in the long run. Treatment with clonazepam predicts lower relapse when compared with paroxetine.
Dependence of Early Cerebral Reperfusion and Long-Term Outcome on Resuscitation Efficiency After Cardiac Arrest in Rats

Background and Purpose— While it is well known that longer duration of cardiac arrest (CA) is often associated with poorer long-term outcome, the influence of resuscitation efficacy on postischemia recovery is less clear. The objective of the present study is to investigate whether an inadequate and prolonged resuscitation after a shorter CA can lead to worse long-term outcomes than an effective resuscitation after a longer CA, provided that the total time from the onset of CA to the return of spontaneous circulation is comparable. Methods— Thirty-eight rats were randomized into 2 groups with nominal 9 minutes (group 1) and 15 minutes (group 2) of normothermic asphyxial CA. Each group was further divided into 2 subgroups on the basis of the duration of resuscitation efforts (labeled as S and L for short and long, respectively). Thus, the asphyxia and nominal resuscitation times were 8 and 1 minute, respectively, for group 1S, 5 and 4 minutes for group 1L, 14 and 1 minute for group 2S, and 11 and 4 minutes for group 2L. Cerebral perfusion was measured continuously at the dorsal hippocampus level before, during, and after the CA, with the use of the arterial spin labeling MRI technique. The survival time, histological damage, and neurological deficit were evaluated 5 days after resuscitation. Results— Groups 1S and 1L had nearly the same duration of CA (9.02±0.17 minutes, n=6 versus 8.58±0.80 minutes, n=6). The same is true for groups 2S and 2L (15.51±0.59 minutes, n=11 versus 15.65±1.25 minutes, n=15). Despite longer asphyxia, shorter and more effective resuscitation was associated with significantly improved long-term outcomes and higher cerebral perfusion at the early stage of reperfusion. Conclusions— Effective resuscitation increased early reperfusion and improved survival after CA. The clinical implication is that inadequate and prolonged resuscitation may have detrimental effects on the recovery of CA patients.
Characterizing sampling aperture of clocked comparators

Practical simulation and measurement methods based on impulse sensitivity functions to characterize the sampling aperture of clocked comparators are demonstrated on a 90 nm CMOS testchip. The results comparing a StrongARM latch and a CML latch suggest that the StrongARM latch has a narrower aperture of 23 ps but its aperture center is more sensitive to supply (65 ps/V). The CML latch has a higher sampling gain of 88.8 dB but a lower bandwidth of 6.8 GHz.
Quantifying the Impact of Accessibility on Preventive Healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Mobile Phone Data

Background: Poor physical access to health facilities has been identified as an important contributor to reduced uptake of preventive health services and is likely to be most critical in low-income settings. However, the relation among physical access, travel behavior, and the uptake of healthcare is difficult to quantify. Methods: Using anonymized mobile phone data from 2008 to 2009, we analyze individual and spatially aggregated travel patterns of 14,816,521 subscribers across Kenya and compare these measures to (1) estimated travel times to health facilities and (2) data on the uptake of 2 preventive healthcare interventions in an area of western Kenya: childhood immunizations and antenatal care. Results: We document that long travel times to health facilities are strongly correlated with increased mobility in geographically isolated areas. Furthermore, we found that in areas with equal physical access to healthcare, mobile phone-derived measures of mobility predict which regions are lacking preventive care. Conclusions: Routinely collected mobile phone data provide a simple and low-cost approach to mapping the uptake of preventive healthcare in low-income settings.
Update of EULAR recommendations for the treatment of systemic sclerosis

The aim was to update the 2009 European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommendations for the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc), with attention to new therapeutic questions. Update of the previous treatment recommendations was performed according to EULAR standard operating procedures. The task force consisted of 32 SSc clinical experts from Europe and the USA, 2 patients nominated by the pan-European patient association for SSc (Federation of European Scleroderma Associations (FESCA)), a clinical epidemiologist and 2 research fellows. All centres from the EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research group were invited to submit and select clinical questions concerning SSc treatment using a Delphi approach. Accordingly, 46 clinical questions addressing 26 different interventions were selected for systematic literature review. The new recommendations were based on the available evidence and developed in a consensus meeting with clinical experts and patients. The procedure resulted in 16 recommendations being developed (instead of 14 in 2009) that address treatment of several SSc-related organ complications: Raynaud's phenomenon (RP), digital ulcers (DUs), pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), skin and lung disease, scleroderma renal crisis and gastrointestinal involvement. Compared with the 2009 recommendations, the 2016 recommendations include phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors for the treatment of SSc-related RP and DUs, riociguat, new aspects for endothelin receptor antagonists, prostacyclin analogues and PDE-5 inhibitors for SSc-related PAH. New recommendations regarding the use of fluoxetine for SSc-related RP and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for selected patients with rapidly progressive SSc were also added. In addition, several comments regarding other treatments addressed in clinical questions and suggestions for the SSc research agenda were formulated. These updated data-derived and consensus-derived recommendations will help rheumatologists to manage patients with SSc in an evidence-based way. These recommendations also give directions for future clinical research in SSc.
Reducing Cross-Coupling in a Compliant XY Nanopositioner for Fast and Accurate Raster Scanning

A compliant XY nanopositioner is presented in this brief. The device is designed to have a very low cross-coupling between the X- and Y-axis. Despite this, during high-speed raster scans, the cross-coupling effect can not be ignored. In this brief, a H∞ controller is designed and implemented to minimize the X-to- <;i>Y<;/i> cross-coupling of the nanoscale positioning stage, particularly at its mechanical resonance frequencies. The controller is augmented with integral action to achieve accurate tracking, as well as sufficient damping. Raster scan results over an area of 10 μm × 10 μm with small positioning errors are demonstrated. High-speed accurate raster scans of up to 100 Hz, with nanoscale resolution are also illustrated.
SecureArray: improving wifi security with fine-grained physical-layer information

Despite the important role that WiFi networks play in home and enterprise networks they are relatively weak from a security standpoint. With easily available directional antennas, attackers can be physically located off-site, yet compromise WiFi security protocols such as WEP, WPA, and even to some extent WPA2 through a range of exploits specific to those protocols, or simply by running dictionary and human-factors attacks on users' poorly-chosen passwords. This presents a security risk to the entire home or enterprise network. To mitigate this ongoing problem, we propose SecureArray, a system designed to operate alongside existing wireless security protocols, adding defense in depth against active attacks. SecureArray's novel signal processing techniques leverage multi-antenna access point (AP) to profile the directions at which a client's signals arrive, using this angle-of-arrival (AoA) information to construct highly sensitive signatures that with very high probability uniquely identify each client. Upon overhearing a suspicious transmission, the client and AP initiate an AoA signature-based challenge-response protocol to confirm and mitigate the threat. We also discuss how SecureArray can mitigate direct denial-of-service attacks on the latest 802.11 wireless security protocol. We have implemented SecureArray with an eight-antenna WARP hardware radio acting as the AP. Our experimental results show that in a busy office environment, SecureArray is orders of magnitude more accurate than current techniques, mitigating 100% of WiFi spoofing attack attempts while at the same time triggering false alarms on just 0.6% of legitimate traffic. Detection rate remains high when the attacker is located only five centimeters away from the legitimate client, for AP with fewer numbers of antennas and when client is mobile.
17β‐Estradiol attenuates oxidative impairment of synaptic Na+/K+‐ATPase activity, glucose transport, and glutamate transport induced by amyloid β‐peptide and iron

Synapse loss, deposits of amyloid β‐peptide (Aβ), impaired energy metabolism, and cognitive deficits are defining features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Estrogen replacement therapy reduces the risk of developing AD in postmenopausal women. Because synapses are likely sites for initiation of neurodegenerative cascades in AD, we tested the hypothesis that estrogens act directly on synapses to suppress oxidative impairment of membrane transport systems. Exposure of rat cortical synaptosomes to Aβ25‐35 (Aβ) and FeSO4 induced membrane lipid peroxidation and impaired the function of the plasma membrane Na+/K+‐ATPase, glutamate transporter, and glucose transporter. Pretreatment of synaptosomes with 17β‐estradiol or estriol largely prevented impairment of Na+/K+‐ATPase activity, glutamate transport, and glucose transport; other steroids were relatively ineffective. 17β‐Estradiol suppressed membrane lipid peroxidation induced by Aβ and FeSO4, but did not prevent impairment of membrane transport systems by 4‐hydroxynonenal (a toxic lipid peroxidation product), suggesting that an antioxidant property of 17β‐estradiol was responsible for its protective effects. By suppressing membrane lipid peroxidation in synaptic membranes, estrogens may prevent impairment of transport systems that maintain ion homeostasis and energy metabolism, and thereby forestall excitotoxic synaptic degeneration and neuronal loss in disorders such as AD and ischemic stroke. J. Neurosci. Res. 50:522–530, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Anatomical variation of arterial supply to the rabbit spleen

The rabbit, which is widely used as an experimental animal and is also popular as a companion animal, has a flat and elongated spleen with the longitudinal hilus running along its visceral surface. The spleen receives via the hilus an arterial supply that is essential for splenic nutrition and normal functioning. However, the distribution and variation of the arteries to the spleen have not been studied in detail. This study investigated anatomical variations of splenic arterial supply in 33 New Zealand White rabbits with a colored latex injection into arteries. We also examined whether the length of the spleen correlated with the number of the splenic branches of the splenic artery. The splenic artery always arose as the first independent branch of the celiac artery and ran along the splenic hilus to usually provide 6 (range, 3 to 10) splenic branches to the spleen. There was a moderate correlation (R=0.6) between the number of splenic branches and the longitudinal length of the spleen. The splenic branches often arose as a trunk or trunks in common with short gastric arteries. The number of common trunk(s) was usually 1 (range, 0 to 4). The data showed that the pattern and number of arterial branches to the spleen varied according to the individual animal, suggesting that such variations should be considered when performing experimental and veterinary surgical treatments in rabbits.
Isolation of Anaerobes in Bacterial Vaginosis

Anaerobic bacteria causing Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) have been linked to a wide variety of upper genital tract infections, particularly in child bearing age. The aim of the study is to know the prevalence of anaerobic organisms in vaginal discharge of women with bacterial vaginosis attending STI clinic at a tertiary care hospital. The material for the study includes vaginal discharge specimens collected in duplicates using sterile pipettes from 100 women attending STI clinic with the complaint of foul smelling vaginal discharge. BV was diagnosed using clinical composite criteria and Nugent's scoring. Anaerobic culture was done to isolate and identify anaerobes. Out of 100 cases studied, 52 had Nugent's score of ≥7 and 20 had an intermediate score of 4-6. Anaerobic culture was positive in 68 specimens. Gram positive anaerobic bacteria (61.8%) outnumbered the Gram negative isolates (35.3%). Anaerobic bacteria are important pathogens in causation of Bacterial vaginosis. Isolation of anaerobes from samples with intermediate Nugent's score
Wavesurfer - an open source speech tool

In the speech technology research community there is an increasing trend to use open source solutions. We present a new tool in that spirit, WaveSurfer, which has been developed at the Centre for Speech Technology at KTH. It has been designed for tasks such as viewing, editing, and labeling of audio data. WaveSurfer is built around a small core to which most functionality is added in the form of plug-ins. The tool has been designed to work on most common platforms and with the aims that it should be easy to configure and extend. WaveSurfer is provided as open source, under the GPL license with the explicit goal that the speech community jointly will improve and expand its scope and capabilities.
Bioinformatics Applications Note Genetics and Population Analysis Varld: a Program for Quantifying Variation in Linkage Disequilibrium Patterns between Populations

Motivation: Linkage disequilibrium (LD) differences between populations can potentially result in failure to replicate primary signals of trait association in independent genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, such inter-population LD differences can be leveraged to narrow the search for common causal variants responsible for the association signals observed. The ability to assess and quantify LD variations among populations is thus expected to contribute to both replication and fine-mapping stages of GWAS. Availability: The program varLD is available for download from