Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Large‐scale seasonal variation in the prevalence and severity of chytridiomycosis

The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has been implicated as the causative agent of mass mortalities, population declines and the extinctions of studies have shown that the prevalence of chytridiomycosis (the disease caused by the fungus) increases in cooler months, the magnitude and timing of these seasonal fluctuations have yet to be accurately quantified. We conducted disease sampling in a single population of stony creek frogs Litoria wilcoxii on 13 occasions over a 21-month period and used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to detect and quantify the number of B. dendrobatidis zoospores present on samples. Disease prevalence varied significantly across sampling sessions, peaking at 58.3% (in early spring) and dropping to as low as 0% on two occasions (late summer and early autumn). There was a significant negative relationship between disease prevalence and mean air temperature in the 30 days prior to sampling. These large-scale seasonal fluctuations in chytridiomycosis levels will strongly influence conservation programs and amphibian disease research.
Conventional Bone Marrow-Derived Dendritic Cells Contribute to Toll-Like Receptor-Independent Production of Alpha/Beta Interferon in Response to Inactivated Parapoxvirus Ovis

ABSTRACT Parapoxvirus ovis (PPVO) is a member of the Poxviridae family and belongs to the genus Parapoxvirus. It displays only limited homology with orthopoxviruses and has some molecular features such as an unusual high GC content distinct from orthopoxviruses. Inactivated PPVO (iPPVO) displays strong immunostimulatory capacities mediating antiviral activity in vivo. The role of dendritic cells (DC) and the pattern recognition receptors and signaling requirements responsible for immunostimulation by iPPVO are unknown. We demonstrate here that bone marrow-derived plasmacytoid DC (BM-pDC) and bone marrow-derived conventional DC (BM-cDC) secrete alpha/beta interferon (IFN-α/β) in response to iPPVO. Furthermore, iPPVO induces tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-12/23p40 (IL-12/23p40) release and major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II), MHC-I, and CD86 upregulation by bone marrow-derived DC (BMDC). After engulfment, iPPVO is located in endosomal compartments and in the cytosol of BMDC. iPPVO elicits IFN-α/β by Toll-like receptor (TLR)-independent pathways in BM-cDC, since IFN-α/β release does not require myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) or TIR-domain containing adaptor protein inducing interferon (TRIF). In contrast, iPPVO-induced TNF-α release and enhanced expression of MHC-I and CD86 but not of MHC-II by BMDC chiefly requires MyD88 but not TLR2 or TLR4. Induction of IFN-α by iPPVO in BM-cDC occurred in the absence of IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) but required the presence of IRF7, whereas iPPVO-triggered IFN-β production required the presence of either IRF7 or IRF3. These results provide the first evidence that iPPVO mediates its immunostimulatory properties by TLR-independent and TLR-dependent pathways and demonstrate an important role of cDC for IFN-α/β production.
Simultaneous quantification of fat content and fatty acid composition using MR imaging

Not only the fat content but also the composition of fatty acids (FAs) in stored triglycerides might be of interest in the research on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. In this study, a novel reconstruction approach is proposed that uses theoretical knowledge of the chemical structure of FAs to simultaneously quantify the fat fraction (FF) and the FAs composition (chain length cl, number of double bonds ndb, and number of methylene‐interrupted double bonds nmidb) from multiple gradient echo images. Twenty phantoms with various fat contents (FF = 9–100%) and FA compositions (cl = 12.1–17.9, ndb = 0.23–5.10, and nmidb = 0.04–2.39) were constructed and imaged in a 3‐T Siemens scanner. In addition, spectra were acquired in each phantom. Slopes and “standard deviations from true values” were used to investigate the accuracy of the two methods. The imaging method holds well in a comparison to the previously suggested spectroscopy method and showed similar overall accuracy. The in vivo feasibility was demonstrated in the thigh adipose tissue of a healthy volunteer. In conclusion, our developed method is a promising tool for FF and FA composition quantification. Magn Reson Med, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Predicting Relational Outcomes : An Investigation of Thin Slice Judgments in Speed Dating

Many relational scholars suggest relational closeness may be determined during initial interaction (Berg & Clark, 1986; Duck, 1995). Speed dating (Deyo & Deyo, 2002) creates opportunities for rapid evaluations and thin slicing (Ambady, Bernieri, & Richeson, 2000) supports the notion that mere moments can predict relational outcomes and provides opportunities to understand relational components determining positive/negative assessments in speed-dating. Predicted outcome value (POV) offers a lens for understanding evaluations determining the most rewarding relationships (Sunnafrank, 1986). Actual speed dating participants (n=157) evaluated and provided descriptive rationale for their evaluations according to the valence of their predicted outcomes. 73 Marian L. Houser, Sean . Horan & Lisa A. Furler
Recent Progress in Preparation of Superhydrophobic Surfaces: A Review

In nature, water-repellency (superhydrophobicity) is found, besides in plants, in insects and bird feathers. The booming field of biomimetics allows one to mimic nature to develop nanomaterials, nanodevices, and processes which offer desirable properties. Biomimetics means mimicking biology or nature. Inspired from nature, which reveals excellent superhydrophobicity, researchers have recently developed and implemented biomimetic superhydrophobic surfaces in a variety of smart and simple ways. Superhydrophobicity is an effect where surface roughness and chemical composition combine to generate unusual water repellent surface, causing water to bounce and roll off the surface. This review article provides the overview of the recent progress (within the last four years) in the synthesis, characterization, theoretical modelling, and applications of superhydrophobic surfaces, with focus on the different techniques used and how they have developed over the years. At last, the difficulties related to implementation of superhydrophobic surfaces in day to day life are discussed. This review can find interesting for students, scientists and industrial companies working especially on superhydrophobic surfaces.
AutoSecSDNDemo: Demonstration of automated end-to-end security in software-defined networks

The complexity of modern communication networks and innovative cyber-attacking methods make it difficult to automatically detect and prevent attacks. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) separates the forwarding of network traffic from the decision plane of the network and offers a central and programmable interface for the configuration of the network. In this paper, a novel approach to integrate end-to-end security into an SDN is developed which improves the security of a network through automated defense mechanisms and reduces the time needed for a response to a threat.
Design of novel compact filtering power divider with high selectivity and wide stopband

In this paper, a dual-functional device with power divider and filtering is designed with high selectivity and wide stopband in a compact size. A filter is used to replace the quarter-wavelength line of the traditional power divider. The filter consists of two half-wavelength resonators with same fundamental frequency and different harmonics. Thus, the out-of-band rejection is enhanced. To verify the proposed idea, a filtering power divider with the operating frequencies of 2.4 GHz (f<sub>0</sub>) is designed. Good power division and bandpass responses are obtained. The total size of the circuit is 0. 21λ<sub>g</sub> × 0. 33λ<sub>g</sub>, the stopband can extend to 3.9f<sub>0</sub> under -20 dB, where λ<sub>g</sub> is the guided wavelength of 2.4 GHz.
Analysis of the Recovery of Edges in Images and Signals by Minimizing Nonconvex Regularized Least-Squares

We consider the restoration of discrete signals and images using least-squares with nonconvex regularization. Our goal is to find important features of the (local) minimizers of the cost function in connection with the shape of the regularization term. This question is of paramount importance for a relevant choice of regularization term. The main point of interest is the restoration of edges. We show that the differences between neighboring pixels in homogeneous regions are smaller than a small threshold, while they are larger than a large threshold at edges: we can say that the former are shrunk, while the latter areenhanced. This naturally entails a neat classification of differences as belonging to smooth regions or to edges. Furthermore, if the original signal or image is a scaled characteristic function of a subset, we show that the global minimizer is smooth everywhere if the contrast is low, whereas edges are correctly recovered at higher (finite) contrast. Explicit expressions are derived for the .
Kernel subspace LDA with optimized kernel parameters on face recognition

This work addresses the problem of selection of kernel parameters in kernel fisher discriminant for face recognition. We propose a new criterion and derive a new formation in optimizing the parameters in RBF kernel based on the gradient descent algorithm. The proposed formulation is further integrated into a subspace LDA algorithm and a new face recognition algorithm is developed. FERET database is used for evaluation. Comparing with the existing kernel LDA-based methods with kernel parameter selected by experiment manually, the results are encouraging.
Ytterbium optical lattice clock at INRIM

We present an optical lattice clock based on ytterbium 171Yb atoms developed in the laboratories of INRIM. In the experiment, we cool and trap ytterbium atoms in a two stage magneto-optical trap (MOT) (at 399nm and 556nm for the first and second stage, respectively). Atoms are then transferred in a horizontal, one-dimensional optical lattice at the magic wavelength (759 nm). Here the clock transition at 578nm is probed by a laser stabilized on an ultra-stable cavity. We describe the generation of all the laser sources, the physic package and the operation of the clock. Lasers at 399 nm, 556nm and 578nm are obtained, with different techniques, using non-linear crystals starting from infrared sources. The clock laser is stabilized using a high finesse notched ULE cavity. The lattice is made with a titanium-sapphire laser. The aluminum vacuum chamber is designed for wide optical access and its temperature is measured by 8 thermistors for blackbody shift evaluation. Our system allows for fast loading of the lattice with 1 × 104 atoms trapped in the lattice in 250 ms. We obtained preliminary spectroscopy results and we locked the clock laser to the atomic line. Future perspectives are discussed.
Clinical correlation with biochemical status in polycystic ovarian syndrome

:RESULTS : Mean body mass index (BMI) was 21.6 kg/m 2 in normal women, 27.44 kg/m 2 in overweight subjects(n=44) and 31.86 kg/m 2 in obese subjects (n=21). Mean waist : hip ratio (WHR) was 0.82 in normal women and 0.83 in subjects. Seventy percent subjects were overweight, among whom 46.93% had high LH: FSH ratio, 59.18% had hyperandrogenism and 44.2% were hirsute, having significantly high BMI and total testosterone (TT). Sixty percent subjects were hyperandrogenic with high basal insulin BI in 35.7%. 62.8% fulfilled sonographic criteria for diagnosing PCOS - 70.45% of them bilateral , 22.72% only left-sided and 6.81% only right sided. 59.3% were hirsute and 38.6% hyperinsulinemic (BMI and TT were significantly high). A positive predictive value for TT was 64.44% and for LH: FSH 55.55%. CONCLUSION(S) : High TT level is the single most diagnostic criterion. Hyperinsulinemia is related to hyperandrogenism. Bodyweight was related to ovarian stroma and hirsutism. Bengali women have lower bodyweight, but have more abdominal obesity. Ultrasonography is sensitive, but not specific for diagnosis of PCOS. Left ovary is affected more often in unilateral involvement.
Ten Commandments for Implementing Clinical Information Systems

The need for electronic health care information systems is entering into public debate. In his 2004 State of the Union address, President George Bush called on the health care industry to adopt electronic medical records, stating that such technology could “avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs, and improve care” (1). With its plans to spend $119 million over the next 7 years on information systems, Baylor Health Care System is joining a number of other systems around the nation that are currently involved in such efforts. For example, the Fremont Area Medical Center began implementing computerized physician order entry (CPOE) in January 2004 (2); the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System began implementing CPOE in October 2003 (3); Aurora Health Care of Milwaukee is investing $75 million over the next 3 years in technology including CPOE (4); and Athens Regional Medical Center is making CPOE a component of a decade-long technology effort (5). Overall, information technology expenditures in health care totaled $21.6 billion in 2002. Expenditures are projected to increase every year: to $23.6 billion in 2003, $25.8 billion in 2004, $28.0 billion in 2005, and $30.5 billion in 2006 (6). At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, I have been involved in implementing clinical information systems for 10 intensive care units (ICUs), labor and delivery, and the emergency department (between 1991 and 2002), as well as a web-viewing system containing all inpatient and outpatient medical record information (in 1998). Cedars-Sinai was an early implementor of the first wireless personal digital assistant devices in 1999. All clinical data can be accessed remotely. The hospital is totally wireless with a securely encrypted system. While the hospital made an investment in technology that is very similar to what Baylor is planning, it does expect to see a cost savings from the efficiencies obtained. Nevertheless, components such as clinical information systems are planned not as cost-saving measures but as quality improvement measures. In this article, I share a summary of our experience and focus on 10 of the most important lessons, or “commandments,” learned during the implementation of our clinical systems (Table ​(Table11). Table Ten commandments for clinical information systems
A fully integrated SOI RF MEMS technology for system-on-a-chip applications

In this paper, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) radio-frequency (RF) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology compatible with CMOS and high-voltage devices for system-on-a-chip applications is experimentally demonstrated for the first time. This technology allows the integration of RF MEMS switches with driver and processing circuits for single-chip communication applications. The SOI high-voltage device (0.7-/spl mu/m channel length, 2-/spl mu/m drift length, and over 35-V breakdown voltage), CMOS devices (0.7-/spl mu/m channel length and 1.3/-1.2 V threshold voltage), and RF MEMS capacitive switch (insertion loss 0.14 dB at 5 GHz and isolation 9.5 dB at 5 GHz) are designed and fabricated to show the feasibility of building fully integrated RF systems. The performance of the fabricated RF MEMS capacitive switches on low-resistivity and high-resistivity SOI substrates will also be compared.
Robust Constrained Control for MIMO Nonlinear Systems Based on Disturbance Observer

In this note, a robust constrained control scheme is proposed for multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) cascade nonlinear systems with unknown external disturbance and input saturation. To efficiently observe unknown external disturbance, a novel sliding mode disturbance observer (SMDO) with finite time convergence performance is presented. A robust constrained control scheme is developed for MIMO nonlinear systems based on backstepping control techniques and the disturbance estimate of the SMDO. With the first-order sliding mode differentiator introduced to compute the derivatives of virtual control laws, the computational burden in backstepping control is reduced for a MIMO cascade nonlinear system. Numerical simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed robust constrained control scheme.
Comparison of Mg/Ca‐ and alkenone‐based sea surface temperature estimates in the fresh water–influenced Gulf of Guinea, eastern equatorial Atlantic

This study presents a comparison of sea surface temperature (SST) estimates based on Mg/Ca ratios of Globigerinoides ruber and alkenone unsaturation index (U37K′) in core sediment recovered from the Gulf of Guinea, eastern equatorial Atlantic. Mg/Ca‐ and U37K′‐based SST estimates yield fairly comparable results for the time interval 21,000–14,500 years and for the late Holocene. The early and middle Holocene, however, are largely characterized by a discrepant trend, with warm Mg/Ca and cold U37K′ based SST estimates. This discrepant SST trend is accompanied by low sea surface salinity estimates (high riverine runoff) and biogenic sediment, which is characterized by high biogenic opal content, low carbonate content, and relatively low alkenone concentration. We hypothesize that the discrepancy in the reconstructed SSTs during the middle and early Holocene presumably suggests a period of elevated riverine input of dissolved silica and dominantly siliceous phytoplankton bloom in a low saline and warm surface water, while alkenone producers were likely prevalent in a season of cold SST and low riverine silica input. This study suggests that changes in the local hydrography and nutrient input have strong influence on the U37K′‐based SST estimate that may be unraveled by combining different SST proxies.
Liquidity , Collateral Constraint and Financial Intermediation ∗

This paper constructs a general theoretical model to consider two kinds of financial frictions in the economy with financial intermediaries. One is the classical principal-agent problem between financial intermediaries and households, which limits the bankers’ ability to obtain assets indefinitely by borrowing additional funds from households. The other financial friction is a collateral constraint when firms borrow external funds from banks. By formulating households, bankers and entrepreneurs’ decisions in a monetary DSGE framework with nominal rigidities and determining the competitive equilibrium, this model supplies the environment in which we can simulate the production shocks and liquidity shocks to analyze the effects of monetary policies. In a quantitative analysis with three separate shocks, a negative collateral shock, a negative productivity shock and a positive shock to bankers’ diverting rate, this paper finds that a negative collateral shock which tightens firms’ financing constraints on investment can generate an equity price boom which is different from that observed in recessions. This suggests that a collateral shock is not the main driving force of the business cycle, while a negative productivity shock and bankers’ moral hazard problem are important aspects for modeling the economy. ∗For helpful discussions and comments, we thank Ryo Jinnai, Hwagyun Kim, Anastasia Zervou, Yuzhe Zhang as well as participants at many conferences and seminars. †Department of Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Email: dennisjansen@tamu.edu. Tel:(979) 845-7358 ‡Department of Economics, Sam M. Walton College of Business, Fayetteville, AR 72701. Email:pengyulei@gmail.com. Tel:(479)575-6231
Analytical and Clinical Implications of Soluble Transferrin Receptors in Serum

In this study the analytical performances of two recently introduced assays for soluble transferrin receptors in serum were tested. The Ramco transferrin assay was compared with the Eurogenetics assay. In a small clinical study serum samples from patients with anaemia of chronic disease, iron deficiency and myelodysplastic syndrome were analysed, as well as sera from healthy volunteers. The analytical performances of the Ramco assay were found to be acceptable. In the Eurogenetics test however, inter-assay imprecision and the end of run drift were unacceptably high. We were able to confirm that in patients with uncomplicated iron deficiency the concentration of soluble transferrin receptors is higher than in healthy volunteers. In cases of anaemia of chronic and inflammatory disease, the levels of soluble transferrin receptors in serum are slightly, but not significantly, higher than in normal subjects. Measurement of soluble transferrin receptors in serum provides a good differentiation between anaemia of chronic disease and iron deficiency.
Research Article Comparing covariance matrices: random skewers method compared to the common principal components model

Comparisons of covariance patterns are becoming more common as interest in the evolution of relationships between traits and in the evolutionary phenotypic diversification of clades have grown. We present parallel analyses of covariance matrix similarity for cranial traits in 14 New World Monkey genera using the Random Skewers (RS), T-statistics, and Common Principal Components (CPC) approaches. We find that the CPC approach is very powerful in that with adequate sample sizes, it can be used to detect significant differences in matrix structure, even between matrices that are virtually identical in their evolutionary properties, as indicated by the RS results. We suggest that in many instances the assumption that population covariance matrices are identical be rejected out of hand. The more interesting and relevant question is, How similar are two covariance matrices with respect to their predicted evolutionary responses? This issue is addressed by the random skewers method described here.
Accessing Vulnerable Populations for Research

Nurses provide care daily to the most vulnerable of our society: the home less, the abused, the ill, the old, and the young. Each group includes persons of all racial, ethnic, and sexual orientation backgrounds. Nursing care depends on the nurse’s ability to meet the needs of these at-risk groups. Paramount to meeting these needs is an understanding of them from the perspective of the population served. This presents a significant challenge to nurse researchers because circumstances can make it difficult to recruit vulnerable individuals into a study, to ensure their informed consent, and to contend with the data obtained. The purpose of this article is to discuss methods of accessing vulnerable populations for research. More specifically, we consider (a) how to invite participants into a research project and respect their input, (b) how to care for oneself as a researcher, (c) how to reciprocate with staff and organizations where studies take place, and (d) how to obtain approval from an institu tional review board. The authors draw on their experiences as researchers and practitioners with homeless persons and with abused women (Anderson, 1996; Hatton, 1997).