Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measles Outbreak with Unique Virus Genotyping, Ontario, Canada, 2015

The province of Ontario continues to experience measles virus transmissions despite the elimination of measles in Canada. We describe an unusual outbreak of measles in Ontario, Canada, in early 2015 that involved cases with a unique strain of virus and no known association among primary case-patients. A total of 18 cases of measles were reported from 4 public health units during the outbreak period (January 25–March 23, 2015); none of these cases occurred in persons who had recently traveled. Despite enhancements to case-patient interview methods and epidemiologic analyses, a source patient was not identified. However, the molecular epidemiologic analysis, which included extended sequencing, strongly suggested that all cases derived from a single importation of measles virus genotype D4. The use of timely genotype sequencing, rigorous epidemiologic investigation, and a better understanding of the gaps in surveillance are needed to maintain Ontario’s measles elimination status.
Post-silicon validation opportunities, challenges and recent advances

Post-silicon validation is used to detect and fix bugs in integrated circuits and systems after manufacture. Due to sheer design complexity, it is nearly impossible to detect and fix all bugs before manufacture. Post-silicon validation is a major challenge for future systems. Today, it is largely viewed as an art with very few systematic solutions. As a result, post-silicon validation is an emerging research topic with several exciting opportunities for major innovations in electronic design automation. In this paper, we provide an overview of the post-silicon validation problem and how it differs from traditional pre-silicon verification and manufacturing testing. We also discuss major postsilicon validation challenges and recent advances.
Fitness Effects on the Cognitive Function of Older Adults: A Meta-Analytic Study—Revisited

We discuss the factors that encouraged us to examine the question of whether exercise training has a positive influence on cognitive health of older adults in 2003. At that time there was a substantial literature on exercise and cognition. However, cognitive assessment instruments, exercise protocols (including type of exercise, length, and intensity of exercise programs), and subject-selection criteria differed widely. Our meta-analysis enabled us to examine both the main question under study—exercise effects on cognition—and potential moderators of this effect. Several interesting findings, which are briefly detailed in the present article, were revealed by our analyses. The current article also examines where the literature has gone since our 2003 article.
Improvement of postoperative cognitive dysfunction and attention network function of patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease via dexmedetomidine

The protective effect of dexmedetomidine on cognitive dysfunction and decreased attention network function of patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease after stenting was investigated. Fifty-eight patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease undergoing stenting in Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital were selected and randomly divided into control group (n=29) and dexmedetomidine group (n=29). The dexmedetomidine group was treated with dexmedetomidine before induced anesthesia, while the control group was given the same dose of normal saline; and the normal volunteers of the same age were selected as the normal group (n=29). At 3 days after operation, the levels of serum S100B and nerve growth factor (NGF) in each group were detected using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was detected via western blotting. Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) and attention network test (ANT) were performed. Moreover, the cognitive function and attention network function, and the effects of dexmedetomidine on cognitive function and attention network function were evaluated. The concentrations of serum S100B and NGF in dexmedetomidine group was lower than those in control group (P<0.01). The results of western blotting showed that the levels of serum BDNF in control group and dexmedetomidine group were significantly lower than that in normal group (P<0.01), and it was higher in dexmedetomidine group than that in control group (P<0.01). Besides, both MoCA and ANT results revealed that the visual space and executive function scores, attention scores, delayed memory scores, targeted network efficiency and executive control network efficiency in dexmedetomidine group were obviously higher than those in control group (P<0.01). The cognitive function and attention network function of patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease have a certain degree of damage, and the preoperative administration of dexmedetomidine can effectively improve the patient's cognitive dysfunction and attention network function after operation.
Microfabricated microhaemorheometer

The authors investigate the application of silicon micromachining techniques to the measurement of erythrocyte deformability, a physiological parameter strongly linked to many aspects of cardiovascular disease. They provide an overview of microscopic blood flow-microhaemorheology, a topic which is intimately related to erythrocyte deformability. The need for refined techniques to measure deformability is derived from a critique of existing techniques. The specification of a more capable microhaemorheological instrument and discussion of the advantages of a microfabricated silicon implementation are given. A description of a particular implementation consisting of a bulk micromachined two-layer silicon-silicon device is outlined, with details of its fabrication steps, support system, and modus operandi. Initial experimental performance indications are described. <<ETX>>
Sperm Quality during Storage Is Not Affected by the Presence of Antibiotics in EquiPlus Semen Extender but Is Improved by Single Layer Centrifugation

Contamination of semen with bacteria arises during semen collection and handling. This bacterial contamination is typically controlled by adding antibiotics to semen extenders but intensive usage of antibiotics can lead to the development of bacterial resistance and may be detrimental to sperm quality. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of antibiotics in a semen extender on sperm quality and to investigate the effects of removal of bacteria by modified Single Layer Centrifugation (MSLC) through a colloid. Semen was collected from six adult pony stallions (three ejaculates per male). Aliquots of extended semen were used for MSLC with Equicoll, resulting in four treatment groups: control and MSLC in extender with antibiotics (CA and SA, respectively); control and MSLC in extender without antibiotics (CW and SW, respectively). Sperm motility, membrane integrity, mitochondrial membrane potential and chromatin integrity were evaluated daily by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) and flow cytometry. There were no differences in sperm quality between CA and CW, or between SA and SW, although progressive motility was negatively correlated to total bacterial counts at 0 h. However, MSLC groups showed higher mean total motility (P < 0.001), progressive motility (P < 0.05), membrane integrity (P < 0.0001) and mitochondrial membrane potential (P < 0.05), as well as better chromatin integrity (P < 0.05), than controls. Sperm quality remained higher in the MSLC groups than controls throughout storage. These results indicate that sperm quality was not adversely affected by the presence of antibiotics but was improved considerably by MSLC.
Production monitoring of a RTM automotive control arm by means of fibre optic sensors

In this study, a sensor network based on Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor has been embedded in a carbon fibre reinforced control arm car component, which was produced by Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) technique. Two main challenges were to be overcome: first, the integration of the sensors lines in the existing RTM mould without modifying it; second, the demoulding of the control arm without damaging the sensors lines. Both tasks were successfully achieved and the process was monitored. The wavelength shifts of the FBGs were observed from the initial production stages, over the resin injection, the complete curing of the resin and the cooling-down prior to demoulding. The sensors proved being sensitive to detecting the resin flow front and afterwards the build up of residual strains induced by the curing shrinkage. The sensors survived after demoulding, and were further used to track the residual strain state of the component in a post-cure process.
Learning Pedestrian Trajectories with Kernels

We present a novel method for learning pedestrian trajectories which is able to describe complex motion patterns such as multiple crossing paths. This approach adopts Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis (KCCA) to build a mapping between the physical location space and the trajectory patterns space. To model crossing paths we rely on a clustering algorithm based on Kernel K-means with a Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) kernel. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method incorporating the learned motion model into a multi-person tracking algorithm and testing it on several video surveillance sequences.
Cell shape characterization and classification with discrete Fourier transforms and self‐organizing maps

Cells in their natural environment often exhibit complex kinetic behavior and radical adjustments of their shapes. This enables them to accommodate to short‐ and long‐term changes in their surroundings under physiological and pathological conditions. Intravital multi‐photon microscopy is a powerful tool to record this complex behavior. Traditionally, cell behavior is characterized by tracking the cells' movements, which yields numerous parameters describing the spatiotemporal characteristics of cells. Cells can be classified according to their tracking behavior using all or a subset of these kinetic parameters. This categorization can be supported by the a priori knowledge of experts. While such an approach provides an excellent starting point for analyzing complex intravital imaging data, faster methods are required for automated and unbiased characterization. In addition to their kinetic behavior, the 3D shape of these cells also provide essential clues about the cells' status and functionality. New approaches that include the study of cell shapes as well may also allow the discovery of correlations amongst the track‐ and shape‐describing parameters. In the current study, we examine the applicability of a set of Fourier components produced by Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) as a tool for more efficient and less biased classification of complex cell shapes. By carrying out a number of 3D‐to‐2D projections of surface‐rendered cells, the applied method reduces the more complex 3D shape characterization to a series of 2D DFTs. The resulting shape factors are used to train a Self‐Organizing Map (SOM), which provides an unbiased estimate for the best clustering of the data, thereby characterizing groups of cells according to their shape. We propose and demonstrate that such shape characterization is a powerful addition to, or a replacement for kinetic analysis. This would make it especially useful in situations where live kinetic imaging is less practical or not possible at all. © 2017 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
10-Year patient satisfaction compared between computer-assisted navigation and conventional techniques in minimally invasive surgery total knee arthroplasty

Abstract Background: Both minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and computer-assisted surgery (CAS) in total knee arthroplasty have been scientifically linked with surgical benefits. However, the long-term results of these techniques are still controversial. Most surgeons assessed the surgical outcomes with regard to knee alignment and range of motion, but these factors may not reflect subjective variables, namely patient satisfaction. Purpose: To compare satisfaction and functional outcomes between two technical procedures in MIS total knee arthroplasty, namely computer-assisted MIS and conventional MIS procedure, operated on a sample group of patients after 10 years. Methods: Seventy cases of posterior-stabilized total knee prostheses were implanted using a computer-assisted system and were compared to 74 cases of matched total knee prostheses of the same implant using conventional technique. Both groups underwent arthrotomy by 2 cm limited quadriceps exposure minimally invasive surgery (2 cm Quad MIS). At an average of 10 years after surgery, self-administered patient satisfaction and WOMAC scales were administered and analyzed. Results: Demographic data of both groups including sex, age, preoperative WOMAC and post-operative duration were not statistically different. Post-operative WOMAC for the computer-assisted group was 38.94 ± 5.68, while the conventional one stood at 37.89 ± 6.22. The median of self-administered patient satisfaction scales of the computer-assisted group was 100 (min37.5–max100), while the conventional one was 100 (min25–max100). p Value was 0.889. There was one re-operative case in the conventional MIS group due to peri-prosthetic infection which was treated with debridement, polyethylene exchanged and intravenous antibiotics. Conclusions: The 10-year outcomes of computer-assisted MIS total knee arthroplasty are not superior to that of the conventional MIS technique in function and patient satisfaction. 10 years may not be enough to show the difference between these two techniques.
Learning Intelligent Dialogs for Bounding Box Annotation

We introduce Intelligent Annotation Dialogs for bounding box annotation. We train an agent to automatically choose a sequence of actions for a human annotator to produce a bounding box in a minimal amount of time. Specifically, we consider two actions: box verification [34], where the annotator verifies a box generated by an object detector, and manual box drawing. We explore two kinds of agents, one based on predicting the probability that a box will be positively verified, and the other based on reinforcement learning. We demonstrate that (1) our agents are able to learn efficient annotation strategies in several scenarios, automatically adapting to the image difficulty, the desired quality of the boxes, and the detector strength; (2) in all scenarios the resulting annotation dialogs speed up annotation compared to manual box drawing alone and box verification alone, while also outperforming any fixed combination of verification and drawing in most scenarios; (3) in a realistic scenario where the detector is iteratively re-trained, our agents evolve a series of strategies that reflect the shifting trade-off between verification and drawing as the detector grows stronger.
Physician interpretation of genomic test results and treatment selection

Genomic testing is increasingly performed in oncology, but concerns remain regarding the clinician's ability to interpret results. In the current study, the authors sought to determine the agreement between physicians and genomic annotators from the Precision Oncology Decision Support (PODS) team at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston regarding actionability and the clinical use of test results.
Intestinal type 1 regulatory T cells migrate to periphery to suppress diabetogenic T cells and prevent diabetes development

Significance Past and current treatments for type 1 diabetes (T1D) have all suffered from adverse effects due to severe immune suppression or a lack of efficacy. A better understanding of the mechanisms and limitations of these therapies may help to maximize patient responses to treatment or elicit new ideas for a cure. Here, we discover a role for intestinal type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells in preventing autoimmune diabetes and provide mechanistic insight to explain the better efficacy of combination therapy in disease treatment. Our results also highlight the influence of dysbiotic gut microbiota on promotion of intestinal Tr1 cells and suggest that strategies targeting mucosal tissue to induce Tr1 in vivo might be used as a therapeutic approach for T1D. Growing insight into the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and numerous studies in preclinical models highlights the potential of regulatory T cells to restore tolerance. By using non-obese diabetic (NOD) BDC2.5 TCR-transgenic (Tg), and IL-10 and Foxp3 double-reporter mice, we demonstrate that alteration of gut microbiota during cohousing experiments or treatment with anti-CD3 mAb significantly increase intestinal IL-10–producing type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells and decrease diabetes incidence. These intestinal antigen-specific Tr1 cells have the ability to migrate to the periphery via a variety of chemokine receptors such as CCR4, CCR5, and CCR7 and to suppress proliferation of Th1 cells in the pancreas. The ability of Tr1 cells to cure diabetes in NOD mice required IL-10 signaling, as Tr1 cells could not suppress CD4+ T cells with a dominant-negative IL-10R. Taken together, our data show a key role of intestinal Tr1 cells in the control of effector T cells and development of diabetes. Therefore, modulating gut-associated lymphoid tissue to boost Tr1 cells may be important in type 1 diabetes management.
Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex enhances emotion recognition in depressed patients and controls

ABSTRACT Introduction: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can enhance a range of neuropsychological functions but its efficacy in addressing clinically significant emotion recognition deficits associated with depression is largely untested. Method: A randomized crossover placebo controlled study was used to investigate the effects of tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC) on a range of neuropsychological variables associated with depression as well as neural activity in the associated brain region. A series of computerized tests was administered to clinical (n = 17) and control groups (n = 20) during sham and anodal (1.5 mA) stimulation. Results: Anodal tDCS led to a significant main effect for overall emotion recognition (p = .02), with a significant improvement in the control group (p = .04). Recognition of disgust was significantly greater in the clinical group (p = .01). Recognition of anger was significantly improved for the clinical group (p = .04) during anodal stimulation. Differences between groups for each of the six emotions at varying levels of expression found that at 40% during anodal stimulation, happy recognition significantly improved for the clinical group (p = .01). Anger recognition at 80% during anodal stimulation significantly improved for the clinical group (p = .02). These improvements were observed in the absence of any change in psychomotor speed or trail making ability during anodal stimulation. Working memory significantly improved during anodal stimulation for the clinical group but not for controls (p = .03). Conclusions: The tentative findings of this study indicate that tDCS can have a neuromodulatory effect on a range of neuropsychological variables. However, it is clear that there was a wide variation in responses to tDCS and that individual difference and different approaches to testing and stimulation have a significant impact on final outcomes. Nonetheless, tDCS remains a promising tool for future neuropsychological research.
Why is the rate of pneumococcal pneumonia declining?

Purpose of review As Streptococcus pneumoniae was considered the etiological agent of nearly all the cases of pneumonia at the beginning of the 20th century, and today is identified in fewer than 10–15% of cases, we analyze the possible causes of such a decline. Recent findings Extensive use of early empiric antimicrobial therapy, discovery of previously unrecognized pathogens, availability to newer diagnostic methods for the recognition of the pneumonia pathogens (PCR, urinary antigens, monoclonal antibodies etc.) and of improved preventive measures, including vaccines, are some of possible explanations of the declining role of S. pneumoniae in the cause of pneumonia. Summary The 14-valent and the 23-valent capsular polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccines were licensed in 1977 and 1983, respectively. The seven-valent protein-conjugated capsular polysaccharide vaccine, approved for routine use in children starting at 2 months of age, was highly effective in preventing invasive pneumococcal disease in children but also in adults because of the herd effect. In 2010, the 13-valent protein-conjugated capsular polysaccharide vaccine replaced seven-valent protein-conjugated capsular polysaccharide vaccine. With the use of conjugated vaccines, a decrease of the vaccine-type invasive pneumococcal disease for all age groups was observed. Both the direct effect of the vaccine and the so-called herd immunity are considered responsible for much of the decline.
The diversity of the Chagas parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, infecting the main Central American vector, Triatoma dimidiata, from Mexico to Colombia

Little is known about the strains of Trypanosoma cruzi circulating in Central America and specifically in the most important vector in this region, Triatoma dimidiata. Approximately six million people are infected with T. cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, which has the greatest negative economic impact and is responsible for ~12,000 deaths annually in Latin America. By international consensus, strains of T. cruzi are divided into six monophyletic clades called discrete typing units (DTUs TcI-VI) and a seventh DTU first identified in bats called TcBat. TcI shows the greatest geographic range and diversity. Identifying strains present and diversity within these strains is important as different strains and their genotypes may cause different pathologies and may circulate in different localities and transmission cycles, thus impacting control efforts, treatment and vaccine development. To determine parasite strains present in T. dimidiata across its geographic range from Mexico to Colombia, we isolated abdominal DNA from T. dimidiata and determined which specimens were infected with T. cruzi by PCR. Strains from infected insects were determined by comparing the sequence of the 18S rDNA and the spliced-leader intergenic region to typed strains in GenBank. Two DTUs were found: 94% of infected T. dimidiata contained TcI and 6% contained TcIV. TcI exhibited high genetic diversity. Geographic structure of TcI haplotypes was evident by Principal Component and Median-Joining Network analyses as well as a significant result in the Mantel test, indicating isolation by distance. There was little evidence of association with TcI haplotypes and host/vector or ecotope. This study provides new information about the strains circulating in the most important Chagas vector in Central America and reveals considerable variability within TcI as well as geographic structuring at this large geographic scale. The lack of association with particular vectors/hosts or ecotopes suggests the parasites are moving among vectors/hosts and ecotopes therefore a comprehensive approach, such as the Ecohealth approach that makes houses refractory to the vectors will be needed to successfully halt transmission of Chagas disease.