Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of Ehrlichia chaffeensis DNA inAmblyomma americanum Ticks in Connecticut and Rhode Island

ABSTRACT Ehrlichia chaffeensis, the causative agent of human monocytic ehrlichiosis, is transmitted by Amblyomma americanum ticks, which are most abundant in the southern United States. Because serologic evidence suggests that residents of Connecticut are exposed to E. chaffeensis, A. americanum ticks were collected in Connecticut and Rhode Island for PCR analysis to detect E. chaffeensis DNA. Eight of 106 (7.6%) A. americanum ticks from Connecticut and 6 of 52 (11.5%) from Rhode Island contained E. chaffeensis DNA. Thus, E. chaffeensis is present in ticks in southern New England and transmission of E. chaffeensis may occur there.
Risk Score for Intracranial Hemorrhage in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke Treated With Intravenous Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator

Background and Purpose— There are few validated models for prediction of risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) after intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator treatment for ischemic stroke. We used data from Get With The Guidelines–Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) to derive and validate a prediction tool for determining sICH risk. Methods— The population consisted of 10 242 patients from 988 hospitals who received intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator within 3 hours of symptom onset from January 2009 to June 2010. This sample was randomly divided into derivation (70%) and validation (30%) cohorts. Multivariable logistic regression identified predictors of intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator-related sICH in the derivation sample; model &bgr; coefficients were used to assign point scores for prediction. Results— sICH within 36 hours was noted in 496 patients (4.8%). Multivariable adjusted independent predictors of sICH were increasing age (17 points), higher baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (42 points), higher systolic blood pressure (21 points), higher blood glucose (8 points), Asian race (9 points), and male sex (4 points). The C-statistic was 0.71 in the derivation sample and 0.70 in the independent internal validation sample. Plots of observed versus predicted sICH showed good model calibration in the derivation and validation cohorts. The model was externally validated in National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke trial patients with a C-statistic of 0.68. Conclusions— The GWTG-Stroke sICH risk “GRASPS” score provides clinicians with a validated method to determine the risk of sICH in patients treated with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator within 3 hours of stroke symptom onset.
Extended-Release Guanfacine for Hyperactivity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

OBJECTIVE Hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and distractibility are common problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Extended-release guanfacine is approved for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder but not well studied in ASD. METHOD In a multisite, randomized clinical trial, extended-release guanfacine was compared with placebo in children with ASD accompanied by hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and distractibility. RESULTS Sixty-two subjects (boys, N=53; girls, N=9; mean age=8.5 years [SD=2.25]) were randomly assigned to guanfacine (N=30) or placebo (N=32) for 8 weeks. The guanfacine group showed a 43.6% decline in scores on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-hyperactivity subscale (least squares mean from 34.2 to 19.3) compared with a 13.2% decrease in the placebo group (least squares mean from 34.2 to 29.7; effect size=1.67). The rate of positive response (much improved or very much improved on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale) was 50% (15 of 30) for guanfacine compared with 9.4% (3 of 32) for placebo. A brief cognitive battery tapping working memory and motor planning showed no group differences before or after 8 weeks of treatment. The modal dose of guanfacine at week 8 was 3 mg/day (range: 1-4 mg/day), and the modal dose was 3 mg/day (range: 2-4 mg/day) for placebo. Four guanfacine-treated subjects (13.3%) and four placebo subjects (12.5%) exited the study before week 8. The most common adverse events included drowsiness, fatigue, and decreased appetite. There were no significant changes on ECG in either group. For subjects in the guanfacine group, blood pressure declined in the first 4 weeks, with return nearly to baseline by endpoint (week 8). Pulse rate showed a similar pattern but remained lower than baseline at endpoint. CONCLUSIONS Extended-release guanfacine appears to be safe and effective for reducing hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and distractibility in children with ASD.
Tests for covariate‐associated heterogeneity in IBD allele sharing of affected relatives

Linkage studies that aim to map susceptibility genes for complex diseases commonly test for excess allele sharing among affected relatives. Conventional methods based on identical‐by‐descent IBD allele sharing do not allow for possible differences among families, such as arise in the case of locus heterogeneity, and thus have reduced ability to detect linkage in the presence of such heterogeneity. We investigated two approaches to test for heterogeneity in allele sharing, using a family‐level covariate that may be associated with different disease mechanisms leading to differences in allele sharing. Likelihood ratio tests for heterogeneity were formulated based on an extension of the linear and exponential likelihood models developed by Kong and Cox ([1997] Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:1179–1188). Alternatively, we examined the asymptotic and permutation distributions of T‐tests for differences between mean allele‐sharing linkage scores from two covariate‐defined family subgroups, assuming exchangeability. The size and power of heterogeneity tests were evaluated for Sall and Spairs allele‐sharing scoring functions using data sets of families with affected sibling and cousin pairs, generated under a model of locus heterogeneity. In certain simulation scenarios, the likelihood ratio test statistics did not follow the expected asymptotic distributions. The type I error estimates for the T‐statistics conformed to nominal 5 and 1% levels in all scenarios considered, and corresponding power was comparable to that of the likelihood ratio tests. Application of these tests for heterogeneity detected significant differences in allele sharing between subgroups of families with inflammatory bowel disease. Genet Epidemiol 26:44–60, 2004. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The future is now--using personal cellphones to gather data on substance use and related factors.

Most of what is known in substance use research is based on retrospective answers in paper-and-pencil questionnaires or given online or in telephone interviews. Current smartphone technology, however, opens virtually unlimited possibilities for collecting data in real-time and real-life situations, including sounds, pictures or locations, and with (almost) no recall bias.
Application of Taguchi Experiment Design for Decrease of Cogging Torque in Permanent Magnet motors

GENICHI TAGUCHI developed statistical methods for quality improvement of engineering products, marketing, etc. This method is called Taguchi method that more recently applied to engineering and applied science. The Taguchi experiment design method for optimal design to mitigate cogging torque of a surface permanent magnet (SPM) motor is used in this article. In this paper, an efficient algorithm to the solutions for shape of PM is proposed and applied to optimize the shape of PMs in a surface-mounted PM motor to reduce the cogging torque. Finally, Simulation results are presented that indicates the reduction of magnitude of cogging torque.
Smart thermostats: an experimental facility to test their capabilities and savings potential

The European Commission has explained how heating and cooling in buildings and industry account for half of the energy consumption of the EU. Several studies explain how to achieve an energy saving at home, and the use of smart thermostats will help to reduce energy consumption while increasing the efficiency of households. In this article, a comparative evaluation was carried out between four smart thermostats that are now on the market, whose characteristics vary in terms of price, precision of measurements and set temperature, algorithms, etc. A thermal test chamber was designed and constructed from a refrigerator, a thermal blanket, a Raspberry Pi and the necessary electronic components for its control and data collection. From the tests carried out in the thermal chamber, data on the operation of the four thermostats such as the maintenance and the anticipation of the setpoint temperature, were obtained. It was necessary to run the system enough times for each thermostat to memorize the housing characteristics, such as its inertia and its thermal insulation. This would also allow for the generation of a better algorithm to regulate the temperature, which would create a lower oscillation with respect to the setpoint temperature. The learning of the thermostats was not demonstrated and for the anticipation mode it was seen that the thermostats failed to improve or learn in this aspect, as they did not improve the start-up times of the heating system, with the consequent increase in energy consumption.
Relative localization without beacon nodes based on TDOA distance measurement

In the scenarios of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) and other on-site face-to-face communications, one requirement is to conveniently discover surrounding PoI (People-of-Interest). In this paper, one relative localization method is proposed to accurately obtain the distances and azimuths from any person (one node) to his/her PoI (another node) in proximity. Specifically, the distances are firstly measured based on TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival), and the azimuths among nodes are calculated subsequently. Using the proposed method, the relative locations (distances and azimuths) of PoI can be derived for all individual PoI in the system, without using pre-deployed beacons or fixed infrastructures with known coordinates. Finally, the performances are evaluated via a field test in office environment with obstacles, moving-around people and random noises, which demonstrates a relative localization error within 20cm.
A Comparison of Three Pre-processing Methods for Improving Main Content Extraction from Hyperlink Rich Web Documents

Most HTML web documents on the World Wide Web contain a lot of hyperlinks in the body of main con- tent area and additional areas. As extraction of the main content of such hyperlink rich web documents is rather complicated, three simple and language-independent pre-processing main content extraction methods are addressed in this paper to deal with the hyperlinks for identifying the main content accurately. To evaluate and compare the presented methods, each of these three methods is combined with a prominent main con- tent extraction method, called DANAg. The obtained results show that one of the methods delivers a higher performance in term of effectiveness in comparison with the other two suggested methods.
Divergent molecular pathways of productive and latent infection with a virulent strain of herpes simplex virus type 1

Mutants of herpes simplex virus (HSV) have been used to show that a variety of key genes associated with initiation of lytic infection or replication of viral DNA are not essential for establishment of latency. These observations are extended in the present study, in which a virulent strain of HSV type 1 that is not compromised in its ability to productively infect neurons under favorable conditions was used to demonstrate early divergence of molecular pathways leading to productive and latent infection. Our experimental strategy made unique use of the segmental innervation of the vertebrate trunk to study the spread of virus throughout the peripheral nervous system after inoculation of mouse flanks. Evidence of viral gene expression, including that of immediate-early genes, was transient, confined to ganglia directly innervating the inoculated skin (8th through 12th thoracic segments), and seen only at sites from which infectious virus could be recovered. In contrast, neurons containing latency-associated transcripts and reactivatable virus were more widely distributed (sixth thoracic through first lumbar segments), from which we conclude that replication-competent HSV type 1 can establish latency without initiating productive infection.
The usefulness of diffusion‐weighted readout‐segmented EPI and fast spin echo with BLADE (PROPELLER) k‐space sampling: A comparison with single‐shot EPI for diffusion‐weighted imaging in ischemic stroke patients

We evaluated the value of diffusion‐weighted readout‐segmented EPI (DW rs‐EPI) and diffusion‐weighted fast spin echo images with BLADE (PROPELLER) k‐space sampling (DW BLADE) in patients with ischemic stroke through intra‐individual comparisons with diffusion‐weighted single‐shot EPI (DW ss‐EPI). Forty‐four patients with acute ischemic stroke who had undergone three different types of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) (b = 1000 s/mm2) were included. Two reviewers assessed the three types of DWI for diagnostic confidence based on a five‐point confidence score (CS). The inter‐ and intra‐observer agreements for the CS were assessed. The DWI signal ratio to the contralateral normal area and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of DWI lesions were compared. The CSs of the three DWI methods were significantly different (P < 0.001). A post hoc analysis showed a significantly higher CS with DW rs‐EPI than with DW ss‐EPI (P = 0.022). There were significant increases in the CSs for DW rs‐EPI compared to DW ss‐EPI, for patients who underwent DWI within 24 h of symptom onset, and for patients with DWI lesions ≤ 50 mm2. The inter‐observer and intra‐observer agreements of the CS were good. DW rs‐EPI increased the diagnostic confidence of ischemic stroke compared to DW ss‐EPI, particularly for patients with small lesions and for those who underwent DWI within 24 h of symptom onset. DW BLADE showed a similar level of diagnostic confidence to DW ss‐EPI. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 26, 216–224, 2016
A legacy of contrasting spatial genetic structure on either side of the Atlantic–Mediterranean transition zone in a marine protist

The mechanisms that underpin the varied spatial genetic structures exhibited by free-living marine microorganisms remain controversial, with most studies emphasizing a high dispersal capability that should redistribute genetic diversity in contrast to most macroorganisms whose populations often retain a genetic signature of demographic response to historic climate fluctuations. We quantified the European phylogeographic structure of the marine flagellate Oxyrrhis marina and found a marked difference in spatial genetic structure, population demography, and genetic diversity between the northwest Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea that reflects the persistent separation of these regions as well as context-dependent population responses to contrasting environments. We found similar geographic variation in the level of genetic diversity in the sister species Oxyrrhis maritima. Because the capacity for wide dispersal is not always realized, historic genetic footprints of range expansion and contraction persist in contemporary populations of marine microbes, as they do in larger species. Indeed, the well-described genetic effects of climatic variation on macroorganisms provide clear, testable hypotheses about the processes that drive genetic divergence in marine microbes and thus about the response to future environmental change.
L'indicateur de fréquence de traitements (IFT) : un indicateur pour une utilisation durable des pesticides.

En automne 2007, lors du Grenelle de l’Environnement, dans un contexte de prise de conscience forte des risques lies aux pesticides, le president de la Republique a annonce un objectif ambitieux de reduction de « l’usage des pesticides d’ici 10 ans si possible ». Un groupe de travail s’est constitue depuis, sous la presidence de M. Paillotin, pour mettre en place ce plan baptise Ecophyto 2018.Concevoir des mesures qui permettent d’atteindre cet objectif suppose de connaitre, dans des delais suffisamment brefs, les pratiques mises en œuvre par les agriculteurs. Or, fin 2005, l’expertise scientifique collective Pesticide realisee par l’INRA (Institut national de la recherche agronomique) et le CEMAGREF (Centre national du machinisme agricole du genie rural des eaux et des forets) faisait les constats suivants : – malgre des dispositifs de recueil de donnees relatifs a l’agriculture riches et varies (Durand, 2003), la connaissance reelle des pratiques des agriculteurs en matiere de protection des cultures est assez limitee (Aubertot et al., 2005) ; – les indicateurs traditionnels mis en œuvre jusqu’a cette date (quantite de substance active vendue ou nombre de produits phytosanitaires appliques sur une parcelle durant une campagne) manquent de pertinence pour assurer une lisibilite de l’evolution de l’utilisation des pesticides en agriculture.
Evolutionary morphology of the organ systems in squat lobsters and porcelain crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomala): An insight into carcinization

Porcelain crabs (Porcellanidae) are one of three taxa within anomuran crustaceans (Anomala) which possess a crab‐like body form. Curiously, these three lineages evolved this shape independently from true crabs (Brachyura) in the course of the evolutionary process termed carcinization. The entire pleon in porcelain crabs is flexed under the cephalothorax and the carapace is approximately as broad as long. Despite their crab‐like habitus, porcelain crabs are phylogenetically nested within squat lobsters (Munidopsidae, Munididae, Galatheidae). With a pleon which is only partly flexed under the cephalothorax and a cephalothorax which is longer than it is broad, squat lobsters represent morphologically intermediate forms between lobster‐like and crab‐like body shapes. Carcinization has so far mostly been studied with respect to outer morphology; however, it is evident that internal anatomical features are influenced through this change of body shape too. In this paper, the situation in Galatheoidea is elucidated by adding more taxa to existing descriptions of the hemolymph vascular systems and associated structures and organs. Micro‐computer tomography and 3D reconstruction provide new insights. Autapomorphic states of various internal anatomical characters are present in nearly all the studied species, also reflecting some degree of anatomical disparity found within Galatheoidea. The ventral vessel system of porcelain crabs differs distinctly from that of squat lobsters. The differences in question are coherent (i.e. structural dependent) with morphological transformations in the integument, such as the shortening of the sternal plastron, which evolved in the course of carcinization. Shifts in the gonads and the pleonal neuromeres are coherent with the loss of the caridoid escape reaction, which in turn is a consequence of carcinization. The arterial transformations, however, are minor compared to other instances of carcinization in anomuran crustaceans since the last common ancestor of squat lobsters and porcelain crabs was already “half carcinized”. J. Morphol. 276:1–21, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An overlay network construction method using swarm intelligence for an application-level multicast service

In an overlay network, each peer participating a session forwards messages requested by other peers to embody a multicast service at an application layer. Therefore, the topology of an overlay network influences on the quality of service provided to each peer as well as on the number of participants that the overlay network can support. As the capacity of a peer increases, it should support more children peers and be located closer to a multicast source to increase the resource efficiency of an overlay network. However, since a peer uses its local information when it chooses a parent peer that it requests data from, it is unlikely that the resulting topology of an overlay network is optimal. To resolve this problem, we propose an overlay construction method using the swarm intelligence of peers. In our method, a peer maintains the states information of a small set of peers, and a new peer uses the swarm intelligence provided by a set of peers to search for a desirable parent peer in terms of the distance from a multicast source and the capacity of a peer. The simulation results show that a peer support more children peers as the capacity of a peer increases. Therefore, it helps to prevent a high capacity peer from being limited by a low capacity parent peer. In addition, the proposed method is superior to the other methods in terms of the maximum distance from a multicast source to a peer.
Withholding a Reward-driven Action: Studies of the Rise and Fall of Motor Activation and the Effect of Cognitive Depletion

Controlling an inappropriate response tendency in the face of a reward-predicting stimulus likely depends on the strength of the reward-driven activation, the strength of a putative top–down control process, and their relative timing. We developed a rewarded go/no-go paradigm to investigate such dynamics. Participants made rapid responses (on go trials) to high versus low reward-predicting stimuli and sometimes had to withhold responding (on no-go trials) in the face of the same stimuli. Behaviorally, for high versus low reward stimuli, responses were faster on go trials, and there were more errors of commission on no-go trials. We used single-pulse TMS to map out the corticospinal excitability dynamics, especially on no-go trials where control is needed. For successful no-go trials, there was an early rise in motor activation that was then sharply reduced beneath baseline. This activation–reduction pattern was more pronounced for high- versus low-reward trials and in individuals with greater motivational drive for reward. A follow-on experiment showed that, when participants were fatigued by an effortful task, they made more errors on no-go trials for high versus low reward stimuli. Together, these studies show that, when a response is inappropriate, reward-predicting stimuli induce early motor activation, followed by a top–down effortful control process (which we interpret as response suppression) that depends on the strength of the preceding activation. Our findings provide novel information about the activation–suppression dynamics during control over reward-driven actions, and they illustrate how fatigue or depletion leads to control failures in the face of reward.
Time-resolved photoelectron imaging of large anionic methanol clusters: (Methanol)n−(n∼145–535)

The dynamics of an excess electron in size-selected methanol clusters is studied via pump-probe spectroscopy with resolution of ∼120fs. Following excitation, the excess electron undergoes internal conversion back to the ground state with lifetimes of 260–175fs in (CH3OH)n−(n=145–535) and 280–230fs in (CD3OD)n−(n=210–390), decreasing with increasing cluster size. The clusters then undergo vibrational relaxation on the ground state on a time scale of 760±250fs. The excited state lifetimes for (CH3OH)n− clusters extrapolate to a value of 157±25fs in the limit of infinite cluster size.