Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of indoor residual spraying on malaria incidence in East Shoa Zone, Ethiopia

Background In Ethiopia, nearly 70% of the population resides in areas prone to malaria infection. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of indoor residual spraying (IRS) on the incidence of malaria in East Shoa Zone of Ethiopia. Methods Data from the registers of malaria cases at Debrezeit Malaria Control Center in East Shoa Zone of Ethiopia were collected and analyzed. Records of 22 villages with no previous rounds of spraying that were entirely covered with IRS using DDT during the peak malaria transmission season of 2001 and 2002 and other 22 adjacent villages with similar malaria incidence but remained unsprayed were used for the analyses. Results The incidence of malaria in 2011 and 2002 among the sprayed villages was lower than the respective preceding years for both Plasmodium species (incidence rate ratio 0.60; CI 0.35 to 0.95; p < 0.0001). After the focal spray, there was significant reduction in malaria incidence in the villages sprayed. Spraying was associated with a 62% reduction in malaria incidence. Conclusions This study demonstrated that IRS with DDT was effective in reducing malaria incidence in highland epidemic-prone areas in the East Shoa Zone of Ethiopia. A larger scale study should evaluate the effectiveness of DDT in reducing malaria incidence against its environmental impact and alternative strategies for malaria prevention.
Constant Time Computation of Minimum Dominating Sets

Let be a graph and let denote an element from a one-parameter family of graphs, such as a path of length , a cycle of length , or a complete binary tree of height . We are concerned with determining minimum dominating sets of graphs of the form . Using dynamic programming and properties of finite state spaces, we show a constant time algorithm to produce a minimum dominating set of , for fixed and all , for the one-parameter families mentioned. Previous researchers had used similar techniques but obtained only linear-time algorithms. We also show how a closed form expression can be obtained for the minimum domination number of . We discuss extensions of the algorithm to the determination of all minimum dominating sets for , and to related problems of coverings, packings, and codes. In addition, we discuss algorithm extensions to several different types of domination, including perfect domination, and to other ways of composing graphs.
Mechanism of atrioventricular nodal facilitation in rabbit heart: role of proximal AV node.

The phenomenon of atrioventricular (AV) nodal "facilitation," described in traditional "black box"-functional studies, implies enhanced AV nodal dromotropic function. We investigated the role of atrial prematurities in the modulation of the nodal cellular responses in the mechanism of AV nodal facilitation. Atrial and His (H) bundle electrograms and microelectrode recordings from proximal AV nodal cells were analyzed in 15 superfused rabbit AV node preparations. The pacing protocol consisted of 30 basic beats (S1; coupling interval S1-S1 = 300 ms) followed by a facilitating prematurity (S2; coupling intervals S1-S2 of 300, 200, 150, and 130 ms) followed by the test beat (S3; coupling interval S2-S3 scanned in 5-ms steps). Conduction curves (S2-H2 vs. S1-S2, S3-H3 vs. S2-S3, and S3-H3 vs. H2-S3) were constructed. Facilitation (i.e., shortening of S3-H3 when S1-S2 was shortened) was demonstrated in all preparations using the H2-S3 (P < 0.001) but not the S2-S3 format. Microelectrode recordings revealed a causal relationship between the improved proximal AV nodal cellular responses in facilitation and the prolonged S2-S3 interval. There was no evidence for enhanced nodal dromotropic function directly resulting from the introduction of the facilitating beats. Thus facilitation is based on inherent cycle-length-dependent properties of the AV node during application of a complex pacing protocol and primarily reflects the uncontrolled modulation of the proximal cellular response.
Deploying Roadside Units in Sparse Vehicular Networks: What Really Works and What Does Not

The 802.11p/WAVE standard relies on the presence of onboard units (OBUs) and roadside units (RSUs) for communications in vehicular networks. In this paper, we study the benefits of deploying RSUs to improve communications in highway scenarios. We develop an analytical model to analyze communication delay in a highway scenario with bidirectional traffic, considering both connected and disconnected RSUs, and validate our model via simulations and experimental measurements with 802.11p equipment. Contrary to conventional wisdom, our results show that significant benefits of RSUs in terms of connectivity and message dissemination can only be achieved when the deployed RSUs are interconnected. Conversely, deploying a large number of disconnected RSUs will lead to little or no benefit in message dissemination delay.
Hypoglycemic myocardial stunning as cause of cardiogenic shock in a patient with ischemic cardiomyopathy: A case report and review of literature

Hypoglycemia is a common complication seen in patients with diabetes mellitus and has been proven to have adverse effects on cardiovascular mortality. Hypoglycemia can potentially lead to worsening of cardiac function in patients with ischemic heart disease. We present a case of cardiogenic shock in a patient with hypoglycemia secondary to insulin accumulation due to worsening renal function with dramatic recovery of shock once his sugars normalized.
Motion-compensated defect interpolation for flat-panel detectors

One advantage of flat-panel X-ray detectors is the immediate availability of the acquired images for display. Current limitations in large-area active-matrix manufacturing technology, however, require that the images read out from such detectors be processed to correct for inactive pixels. In static radiographs, these defects can only be interpolated by spatial filtering. Moving X-ray image modalities, such as fluoroscopy or cine-angiography, permit to use temporal information as well. This paper describes interframe defect interpolation algorithms based on motion compensation and filtering. Assuming the locations of the defects to be known, we fill in the defective areas from past frames, where the missing information was visible due to motion. The motion estimator is based on regularized block matching, with speedup obtained by successive elimination and related measures. To avoid the motion estimator locking on to static defects, these are cut out of each block during matching. Once motion is estimated, three methods are available for defect interpolation: direct filling-in by the motion-compensated predecessor, filling-in by a 3D-multilevel median filtered value, and spatiotemporal mean filtering. Results are shown for noisy fluoroscopy sequences acquired in clinical routine with varying amounts of motion and simulated defects up to six lines wide. They show that the 3D-multilevel median filter appears as the method of choice since it causes the least blur of the interpolated data, is robust with respect to motion estimation errors and works even in non-moving areas.
Susceptibility genes for schizophrenia

Abstract It is well known that genetic factors contribute to the susceptibility for schizophrenia. Recent advances in the molecular genetics of schizophrenia strongly suggest several susceptibility genes (e.g. dysbindin, neuregulin‐1, DISC1, COMT, G72, RGS4 and Akt1). We discuss the evidence and biology of these genes. As glutamate transmission is especially implicated in these genes, neurobiological basis of schizophrenia might be elucidated by investigation of functional interactions between susceptibility genes for schizophrenia and the glutamatergic system.
Weekly docetaxel in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most frequent tumor among women worldwide and is the second cause of cancer-related mortality in the US. Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) accounts for less than 10% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and about 30% of early breast cancer patients will develop recurrent, advanced, or metastatic disease. It remains an incurable illness and the primary goal of its management is palliative. Several agents are active for the first-line treatment of MBC. The taxanes, paclitaxel and docetaxel, represent the standard of care for the treatment of these patients. Among the various schedules, docetaxel can be administered weekly, achieving similar efficacy results with lower toxicity compared with conventional schedules. Weekly docetaxel (25–40 mg/m2) has been widely tested in several phase I and II studies both as a single agent and in multichemotherapy regimens, reaching overall response rates ranging from 26% and 86% or 20% and 73% with docetaxel alone or in combination, respectively, depending on doses, associations, and line of treatment. Overall, published data support the administration of weekly docetaxel for the treatment of MBC patients even if data from phase III randomized trials are still lacking.
Service time optimal self-stabilizing token circulation protocol on anonymous undirectional rings

We present a self-stabilizing token circulation protocol on unidirectional anonymous rings. This protocol requires no processor identifiers or distinguished processor (i.e. all processors perform the same algorithm). The protocol is randomized and self-stabilizing, meaning that starting from an arbitrary configuration (in response to an arbitrary perturbation modifying the memory state), it reaches (with probability 1) a legitimate configuration (i.e. a configuration with only one token in the network). All previous randomized self-stabilizing token circulation protocols designed to work under unfair distributed schedulers have the same drawback: once stabilized, service time is slow (in the best case, it is bounded by 2N where N is the ring size). Once stabilized, our protocol provides an optimal service: after N computation steps, each processor has obtained the token once. The protocol can be used to implement fair distributed mutual exclusion in any ring topology network.
Art Education and Disability Studies

This article explores the field of Art Education as a valuable contributor to Disability Studies. Art Education has longstanding ties to disability research and pedagogy, and recent advancements in Art Education as well as Disability Studies closely align the two fields. Their mutual investment in visual culture studies engenders the possibility for a transdisciplinary space in which disability can be explored in new pedagogical ways to yield unique artifacts. Through several Art Education perspectives, I propose strategies for interjecting meaningful art activities into post-secondary, humanities-based Disability Studies curricula. Keywords art, Art Education, visual culture, disability, Disability Studies, transdisciplinary
Online Journalistic Services: Are Digital Newspapers Complementary to Traditional Press?

The new online communication has had a considerable impact on the activities of the newspaper industry. As a result, analysis of the duality of journalism has aroused increasing interest. This chapter analyses the readers’ behavior in relation to digital and traditional media. We identify the main reading motivations and the behavior patterns in each medium. Besides, we examine the possible relationship between readers’ objectives for reading and the choice of each channel. The results confirm that the electronic and traditional channels are compatible, but suggest that it is necessary to take the process of differentiation in order to enhance this complementarity, meeting readers’ needs in different circumstances and combining effects to raise loyalty to a newspaper. IntroductIon The constant development of the Internet and the growing spread of its use in the business environment are producing notable changes in the way relationships are established between a company and its sphere of operations. In fact, the impact of the Internet in recent years has been such as to change conventional conceptions of certain activities and businesses. This process of change is particularly notable in the case of services characterized by high levels of intangibility and an increasing presence in the digital media. Indeed, it seems reasonable to think that the characteristics of the digital media could well suppose important advantages for the distribution and sale of services. Newspaper publishing is one of the activities that has been most affected by the development of the new medium. The appearance of the new digital media has brought far-reaching changes DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-064-6.ch005
Laparoscopic-assisted colopexy and sterilization in male dogs: short-term results and physiologic consequences.

OBJECTIVE To describe laparoscopic-assisted colopexy and sterilization, and evaluate outcome and effects in healthy male dogs. STUDY DESIGN Experimental study. ANIMALS Male Beagle dogs (n=7). METHODS A laparoscopic-assisted, extracorporeally sutured colopexy, and sterilization by ligation and section of the testicular vessels and ductus deferens were evaluated 11 weeks after surgery. Ex vivo tensile tests were performed on the colopexy sites and loss of testicular function was assessed by monitoring serum testosterone, and by ultrasonographic and histologic examinations of the testes. Systemic inflammation and potential iatrogenic colonic functional disorders were investigated by monitoring serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in the perioperative period and from a sulfapyridine (SP) kinetic profile obtained before and 10 weeks after surgery. RESULTS No intraoperative complications were recorded and clinical outcome was considered fair in all dogs. A mean tensile force of 42 N was required to disrupt colopexies. No relevant postoperative increase in CRP concentrations or changes in SP kinetics were observed. Testicular function was lost. CONCLUSIONS Laparoscopic-assisted colopexy achieved adhesion of the colon to the abdominal wall and testicular endocrine function and spermatogenesis were eliminated by laparoscopic castration.
Computational Algorithms for Censored-Data Problems Using Intersection Graphs

This article presents methods for finding the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimate (NPMLE) of the distribution function of time-to-event data. The basic approach is to use graph theory (in particular intersection graphs) to simplify the problem. Censored data can be represented in terms of their intersection graph. Existing combinatorial algorithms can be used to find the important structures, namely the maximal cliques. When viewed in this framework there is no fundamental difference between right censoring, interval censoring, double censoring, or current status data and hence the algorithms apply to all types of data. These algorithms can be extended to deal with bivariate data and indeed there are no fundamental problems extending the methods to higher dimensional data. Finally this article shows how to obtain the NPMLE using convex optimization methods and methods for mixing distributions. The implementation of these methods is greatly simplified through the graph-theoretic representation of the data.
Stimulation of growth by proteorhodopsin phototrophy involves regulation of central metabolic pathways in marine planktonic bacteria

Significance Bacteria control biogeochemical cycles of elements and fluxes of energy in the ocean. Discovery of a membrane photoprotein widespread in marine bacteria—proteorhodopsin—expanded their potential importance for global energy budgets, providing a novel mechanism to harness light energy. Yet, how proteorhodopsin-derived energy is used for cell metabolism remains largely unexplored. We combined experiments in a model marine bacterium with gene expression analyses. Light-stimulated growth coincided with a shift in carbon acquisition pathways, with anaplerotic CO2 fixation providing up to one-third of the cell carbon. Exposure to light resulted in the up-regulation of several central metabolism genes, including the glyoxylate shunt. Thus, light provides proteorhodopsin-containing bacteria with wider means to adapt to environmental variability than previously recognized. Proteorhodopsin (PR) is present in half of surface ocean bacterioplankton, where its light-driven proton pumping provides energy to cells. Indeed, PR promotes growth or survival in different bacteria. However, the metabolic pathways mediating the light responses remain unknown. We analyzed growth of the PR-containing Dokdonia sp. MED134 (where light-stimulated growth had been found) in seawater with low concentrations of mixed [yeast extract and peptone (YEP)] or single (alanine, Ala) carbon compounds as models for rich and poor environments. We discovered changes in gene expression revealing a tightly regulated shift in central metabolic pathways between light and dark conditions. Bacteria showed relatively stronger light responses in Ala compared with YEP. Notably, carbon acquisition pathways shifted toward anaplerotic CO2 fixation in the light, contributing 31 ± 8% and 24 ± 6% of the carbon incorporated into biomass in Ala and YEP, respectively. Thus, MED134 was a facultative double mixotroph, i.e., photo- and chemotrophic for its energy source and using both bicarbonate and organic matter as carbon sources. Unexpectedly, relative expression of the glyoxylate shunt genes (isocitrate lyase and malate synthase) was >300-fold higher in the light—but only in Ala—contributing a more efficient use of carbon from organic compounds. We explored these findings in metagenomes and metatranscriptomes and observed similar prevalence of the glyoxylate shunt compared with PR genes and highest expression of the isocitrate lyase gene coinciding with highest solar irradiance. Thus, regulatory interactions between dissolved organic carbon quality and central metabolic pathways critically determine the fitness of surface ocean bacteria engaging in PR phototrophy.
Software Modeling from Life-Cycle Perspective

Modeling of software systems often focus mainly on the operational system during its operational stage, with less attention to various other life-cycle stages and other contexts of operation, such as testing, training, maintenance, and others. Introducing new model-oriented definitions for the terms "architecture" and "configuration" this work proposes an approach to model system/software architecture and all its associated configurations under one set of interrelated models. The approach is applicable both to structural and behavioral architectures, at all levels of software/system decomposition. The concepts of the approach are demonstrated through a case study, using the UML modeling language.
Venice, California and World of Warcraft: Persistence and Ephemerality  in Playful Spaces

Persistent digital media extend content beyond immediate ephemeral interactions and conversations. Systems such as email, instant messaging, digital kiosks, social networking sites, and wikis collect large quantities of electronic data and store it for later use. How will people encounter and understand these data now and later? How do people move between the ephemeral and persistent in everyday settings? Can persistence exist beyond visible data? We have been exploring these questions through field studies in an urban setting and an online game. This paper is a preliminary exploration of issues that have arisen in our empirical research on the ways people move between persistent and ephemeral media. In this paper, we investigate an expanded concept of persistence which renders ephemerality as a complementary element during processes of communication and interaction. Drawing on previous work and findings from our empirical studies, we argue that seeing persistence and ephemerality as intimately linked opens up possibilities for analyzing and creating new design spaces and forms of interaction with digital media.
Disease states associated with telomerase deficiency appear earlier in mice with short telomeres

Mice deficient for the mouse telomerase RNA (mTR−/−) and lacking telomerase activity can only be bred for approximately six generations due to decreased male and female fertility and to an increased embryonic lethality associated with a neural tube closure defect. Although late generation mTR−/− mice show defects in the hematopoietic system, they are viable to adulthood, only showing a decrease in viability in old age. To assess the contribution of genetic background to the effect of telomerase deficiency on viability, we generated mTR−/− mutants on a C57BL6 background, which showed shorter telomeres than the original mixed genetic background C57BL6/129Sv. Interestingly, these mice could be bred for only four generations and the survival of late generation mTR−/− mice decreased dramatically with age as compared with their wild‐type counterparts. Fifty percent of the generation 4 mice die at only 5 months of age. This decreased viability with age in the late generation mice is coincident with telomere shortening, sterility, splenic atrophy, reduced proliferative capacity of B and T cells, abnormal hematology and atrophy of the small intestine. These results indicate that telomere shortening in mTR−/− mice leads to progressive loss of organismal viability.
Marked Discordance Between Coronary Artery Calcium Score and Framingham Risk Score in Middle Eastern and Veteran American Populations

Background: Conventionally, the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) was used as a tool to risk stratify individuals for cardiovascular (CV) events and death. More recently, the coronary artery calcium score (CACS) has been used as a complimentary method for the assessment of CV risk. This study’s objective is to quantify the magnitude of marked discordance (MD) between FRS and CACS. The subjects were from two different ethnic groups, namely, a Middle Eastern population and a veteran American population. Methods: This is a retrospective observational cohort study of 499 consecutive patients who underwent multidetector cardiac computerized tomography (MDCT) at King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital (KFAFH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Veterans Affairs Loma Linda Health Care System (VALLHCS). CACS was measured using the Agatston method. FRS was calculated by chart review. MD was defined as a CACS of 400 with low risk FRS. Patients had CACS between 100 and 400 were excluded from the analysis. Results: A total of 499 patient CT studies were reviewed with 450 meeting study criteria,130 patients from the VALLHCS (63 ± 12, 95% males) and 320 from KFAFH (27% males). MD was found in 308 (68%) of the total number enrolled. In the American population, of the 62 patients with a CACS 400, 20 patients (29%) had a discordantly low FRS. In the Middle Eastern population, of the 290 patients with a CACS 400, only 5 patients (16.7%) had a discordantly low FRS. Conclusion: The majority of MD in the Middle Eastern population had a high FRS with a low CACS. In contradistinction, the American veterans with MD had a high CACS and a low FRS.
An Empirical Analysis of Proximal Policy Optimization with Kronecker-factored Natural Gradients

In this technical report, we consider an approach that combines the PPO objective and K-FAC natural gradient optimization, for which we call PPOKFAC. We perform a range of empirical analysis on various aspects of the algorithm, such as sample complexity, training speed, and sensitivity to batch size and training epochs. We observe that PPOKFAC is able to outperform PPO in terms of sample complexity and speed in a range of MuJoCo environments, while being scalable in terms of batch size. In spite of this, it seems that adding more epochs is not necessarily helpful for sample efficiency, and PPOKFAC seems to be worse than its A2C counterpart, ACKTR.