Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimating Reaction Norms for Predictive Population Parameters, Age Specific Mortality, and Mean Longevity in Temperature-Dependent Cohorts of Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae)

ABSTRACT: Culex quinquefasciatus plays a major role in the transmission of important parasites and viruses throughout the world. Because temperature is an important limiting factor on growth and longevity of all mosquito species, estimating the reaction norms provides very important basic information for understanding both plasticity and individual variations of the population. In the present study, Cx. quinquefasciatus were maintained at five different constant temperatures (15°, 20°, 23°, 27°, and 30°C) for two subsequent generations. Reproductive population parameters in blood-fed mated females and longevities of virgin and blood-fed mated adults reared at different temperatures were compared for the two generations. Longevity increased as temperature decreased within a range of 15° to 30°C for the unmated adults, and 15° to 27°C for the mated and blood-fed adults. Generation times were as long as 124.07 and 106.76 days for two subsequent generations reared at 15°C, and the highest intrinsic rate of increase (rm) values were estimated at 0.22 and 0.18, respectively, from the cohorts reared at 27°C. For survival rates, reproductive rates (R0), and rm values, 30°C was found to be a critical temperature for this species. These cohorts produced the smallest amount of eggs (R0= 5.06), rm values decreasing across generations (from 0.11 to 0.06), and the survival rates from egg to adult were found to be insufficient (16.1 and 10.8%). Additionally, the rate of exponential increase with age and age specific mortalities (b) were calculated for the virgin cohorts. Age specific mortality rates increased as temperature decreased. The increase in mortality rates started to accelerate at 27°C and was more pronounced at 30°C, for both females and males. We estimated the coefficients of variation for the b values in which females have smaller coefficients than those of the males at all temperatures.
Experimental infection of sheep and cattle with Leptospira interrogans serovar balcanica.

Abstract Eight 1-year-old ewes and 8 yearling heifers were inoculated with L. interrogans serovar balcmica. All 16 animals had seroconverted by 14 days post inoculation (pi). The only clinical signs related to infection were mild transient temperature elevations between 1 and 9 days pi which were observed in the majority of the inoculated animals. Leptospiruria was detected in 1 of the 8 sheep 18 days pi and leptospires were isolated from the kidney of this sheep at 50 days pi. Five of the 8 heifers were leptospiruric between 6 and 8 weeks pi and leptospires were isolated from kidney cultures of 3 of these heifers at 56 days pi. There was no natural transmission of balcanica infection to control animals run with these infected animals under pasture condition. Although it is possible that balcanica infection occurs sporadically in sheep and cattle in New Zealand we consider that it is unlikely to be maintained endemically in these species.
Population-based assessment of childhood blindness in southern India.

To facilitate the design of a comprehensive eye care program in Indias West Godavari district (Andhra Pradesh State) household screening for visual impairment (VI) was conducted in a semi-urban town with a population of 23925 and in 61 rural villages with a combined population of 282870. When a household respondent reported that a member had a VI or other eye-related problems a referral was made to the base hospital for detailed dilated ocular evaluation by an ophthalmologist. Of the 113514 children under 16 years of age covered in the screening 636 were referred of which 580 underwent ophthalmologic examination. 74 children were found to be blind (best corrected distance visual acuity worse than 20/400 in the better eye) for a prevalence of 6.5/10000 children. The leading causes of childhood blindness in this series were microphthalmos (22.2%) retinitis pigmentosa (16.7%) optic atrophy (16.7%) and cataracts (11.1%). Vitamin A deficiency accounted for only 5.5% of the cases of blindness presumably because of the good agricultural economy in southern India. If the findings of this study are extrapolated to all 400 million children in India 260000 of them may be blind. Assuming that blind children have a life expectancy 15 years lower than the national average (63 years) and a mean age of 5 years at the onset of blindness 11.2 million blind-person-years result from childhood blindness. Because the strategies adopted to deal with childhood blindness vary by its magnitude and cause similar studies in other parts of India and the developing world preferably linked with broader population-based surveys are recommended.
Community energy storage and capacitor allocation in distribution systems

This paper investigates the potential of community energy storage (CES) and capacitor (C) placement in large-scale distribution networks for energy loss minimization. An analytical approach is proposed to identify the optimal location, size and power factor of CES units to reduce energy losses at the peak load level. This method is also applied to find the optimal location, size, type and control scheme of capacitors under load variations to obtain a high loss reduction. The combination of CES and capacitor allocation to achieve a higher loss reduction is also presented. The proposed approach was tested and validated on 15 and 69-bus distribution test systems. Results show that the combination of simultaneous CES and capacitor placement can lead to high energy loss reduction and efficient energy usage.
True 50% Duty-Cycle SSH and SHH SiGe BiCMOS Divide-by-3 Prescalers

Four 50% duty-cycle divide-by-3 prescalers-positively/ negatively triggered sample-sample-hold (SSH) and sample-hold-hold (SHH) prescalers-are designed based on the current switchable D flip-flops and discussed in this paper. The positively triggered SSH and SHH prescalers are fabricated using the 0.35-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology and measured by the real-time oscilloscope and the spectrum analyzer. The SHH prescaler is our proposed structure and demonstrated in this paper. According to the measurement results, under the condition of the same input power, its maximum operation frequency is twice as high as that of the SSH prescaler thanks to better signal synchronization. At 2.7 V supply, the SSH prescaler operates from 500 MHz to 2 GHz as the SHH prescaler performs from 1 GHz to 3.4 GHz. The input sensitivity level of both structures is about -5 dBm, while the maximum output power is also about -5 dBm. The core current consumption is 4.538 mA and 4.258 mA for the SSH and SHH prescalers, respectively.
Epidemiology of walking and type 2 diabetes.

PURPOSE Diabetes is prevalent, deadly, serious, and costly. It affects an estimated 20.8 million Americans in 2005, having doubled from 1980, and is expected to reach at least 29 million by 2050. In 2002, diabetes was responsible for an estimated $132 billion in costs. Diabetes concerns leaders in public health and clinicians, and its personal, social, and economic burdens require preventive efforts such as the promotion of walking. As such, we reviewed the limited epidemiologic data of walking and incident diabetes (two studies) and walking and mortality outcomes among diabetic persons (three studies). METHODS We abstracted information from each paper to identify characteristics of the study population, details of the disease outcomes (diabetes incidence, mortality outcomes, or cardiovascular disease events among persons with diabetes), relative risks, risk reductions, and adjustment for covariates. RESULTS The reviewed studies were adjusted for important covariates such as age, body mass index, the coexistence of other nonwalking and vigorous activities, and so on and for biases such as differential misclassification of exposure. The strength of the observed reductions in risk were between approximately 20% and 40% for incident diabetes and between 40% and 55% for mortality due to all causes and due to cardiovascular disease (and related nonfatal events). Moderate to faster pace of walking seemed to enhance risk reduction. These reductions fit well with results of earlier reviews of physical activity and diabetes, and basically corresponded to 2-3 h of weekly walking. CONCLUSION Available dose-response data between walking and the aforementioned outcomes suggest that public health recommendations for physical activity might also apply to walking in particular. Regardless, important areas remain for future research on walking and diabetes.
A Life-long Learning Recommender System to Promote Employability

Is my professional knowledge outdated? Do I have the skills needed for the new challenges of the society? What knowledge do I lack to qualify for a job I like? What universities can I address to get knowledge that improves my employment expectations? These are relevant questions that all employees have done in any moment of their life. In addition, when there are high rates of unemployment and job offers that keep unfilled, the answers to these questions are even more relevant. Answering such questions open new opportunities for employed and unemployed people, by allowing them to design a formative plan according to their skills and expectations. It also provides evidences to employers about the skills and knowledge of the society, making them more aware of the skills of their potential future employees. The companies also will have more knowledge to design the professional career of their employees according to the company needs and the knowledge and skills of their employees. This paper proposes a system that helps people by showing which knowledge and skills a person misses for a given job position and what university courses the person can take to acquire the required skills and knowledge. The system has been implemented as a recommender system that helps users in planning their life-long learning. The paper shows the architecture of the proposed system, a case study to explain how it works, a survey to validate its usefulness and usability and some conclusions after its first experimentation.
Leishmania major lipophosphoglycan modulates the phenotype and inhibits migration of murine Langerhans cells

Langerhans cells (LC), members of the dendritic cell family, play a central role in the initiation and regulation of the immune response against the protozoan parasite Leishmania major. LC take up antigens in the skin and transport them to the regional lymph nodes for presentation to T cells. However, it is not known whether LC functions are modulated by parasite antigens. In the present study, we examined the effect of a major parasite surface molecule, L. major lipophosphoglycan (LPG), on the maturation of LC and their migratory properties. The results show that exposure to LPG did not affect the expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II and B7, but induced an up‐regulation of CD25, CD31 and vascular endothelial (VE)‐cadherin expression and a down‐regulation of Mac‐1 expression, by LC. Importantly, LPG treatment inhibited the migratory activity of LC, as it reduced their efflux from skin explants and their migration in transwell cultures. These results suggest that Leishmania LPG impairs LC migration out of the skin and thus may modulate their immunostimulatory functions, which require LC translocation from skin to lymph nodes.
3. Measures of Spatial Segregation

The measurement of residential segregation patterns and trends has been limited by a reliance on segregation measures that do not appropriately take into account the spatial patterning of population distributions. In this paper we define a general approach to measuring spatial segregation among multiple population groups. This general approach allows researchers to specify any theoretically based definition of spatial proximity desired in computing segregation measures. Based on this general approach, we develop a general spatial exposure/isolation index (), and a set of general multigroup spatial evenness/clustering indices: a spatial information theory index (), a spatial relative diversity index (), and a spatial dissimilarity index (). We review these and previously proposed spatial segregation indices against a set of eight desirable properties of spatial segregation indices. We conclude that the spatial exposure/isolation index *—which can be interpreted as a measure of the average composition of individuals' local spatial environments—and the spatial information theory index —which can be interpreted as a measure of the variation in the diversity of the local spatial environments of each individual—are the most conceptually and mathematically satisfactory of the proposed spatial indices.
Judging Egocentric Distance on the Ground: Occlusion and Surface Integration

On the basis of the finding that a common and homogeneous ground surface is vital for accurate egocentric distance judgments (Sinai et al, 1998 Nature 395 497–500), we propose a sequential-surface-integration-process (SSIP) hypothesis to elucidate how the visual system constructs a representation of the ground-surface in the intermediate distance range. According to the SSIP hypothesis, a near ground-surface representation is formed from near depth cues, and is utilized as an anchor to integrate the more distant surfaces by using texture-gradient information as the depth cue. The SSIP hypothesis provides an explanation for the finding that egocentric distance judgment is underestimated when a texture boundary exists on the ground surface that commonly supports the observer and target. We tested the prediction that the fidelity of the visually represented ground-surface reference frame depends on how the visual system selects the surface information for integration. Specifically, if information is selected along a direct route between the observer and target where the ground surface is disrupted by an occluding object, the ground surface will be inaccurately represented. In experiments 1–3 we used a perceptual task and two different visually directed tasks to show that this leads to egocentric distance underestimation. Judgment is accurate however, when the observer selects the continuous ground information bypassing the occluding object (indirect route), as found in experiments 4 and 5 with a visually directed task. Altogether, our findings provide support for the SSIP hypothesis and reveal, surprisingly, that the phenomenal visual space is not unique but depends on how optic information is selected.
Study on moisture-induced corrosion mechanism of copper wire bonding by thermodynamic calculation

Understanding the moisture-induced corrosion mechanism of copper wire bonding is crucial for achieving longer life reliability of copper bonding. While the formation of Al-Cu intermetallic compound (IMC) is found to dominate the bond reliability, the mechanism remains unclear despite considerable efforts by experiments. Pourbaix (Eh-pH) diagrams have long been used to evaluate the theoretical activity of a given metal or alloy in a corrosion situation. However, the Eh-pH diagram of Cu-Al alloy in bonding condition is lack. In this work, by assessing various thermodynamic data of Cu-Al-Cl-H2O, we construct the Pourbaix diagrams associated with Cu bonding involving IMCs and study the corrosion behaviors under various environmental parameters such as temperatures and chloride concentrations. The results yield greater insight into the corrosion mechanism which may lead to improving reliability of Cu bonding.
The shrinking lung syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus: improvement with corticosteroid therapy

Respiratory manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are frequent. The ‘shrinking lung syndrome’ (SLS) represents a rare complication of SLE. The pathogenesis and therapy of the SLS remains controversial. We report a series of five consecutive cases with the SLS of which we provide a detailed description of the extent and dynamics of the response to corticosteroid therapy.
Diffusion kurtosis imaging can efficiently assess the glioma grade and cellular proliferation

Conventional diffusion imaging techniques are not sufficiently accurate for evaluating glioma grade and cellular proliferation, which are critical for guiding glioma treatment. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), an advanced non-Gaussian diffusion imaging technique, has shown potential in grading glioma; however, its applications in this tumor have not been fully elucidated. In this study, DKI and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) were performed on 74 consecutive patients with histopathologically confirmed glioma. The kurtosis and conventional diffusion metric values of the tumor were semi-automatically obtained. The relationships of these metrics with the glioma grade and Ki-67 expression were evaluated. The diagnostic efficiency of these metrics in grading was further compared. It was demonstrated that compared with the conventional diffusion metrics, the kurtosis metrics were more promising imaging markers in distinguishing high-grade from low-grade gliomas and distinguishing among grade II, III and IV gliomas; the kurtosis metrics also showed great potential in the prediction of Ki-67 expression. To our best knowledge, we are the first to reveal the ability of DKI to assess the cellular proliferation of gliomas, and to employ the semi-automatic method for the accurate measurement of gliomas. These results could have a significant impact on the diagnosis and subsequent therapy of glioma.
Unpacking Accountable Care

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are intended to achieve the triple aim of higher quality patient-centered care, better population health, and lower per capita costs (Berwick, Nolan, & Whittington, 2008). ACOs represent an umbrella concept that links health delivery organizations with a payment and performance measurement approach that ensures accountability for attaining these objectives (Fisher, Staiger, Bynum, & Gottlieb, 2007; Shortell, Casalino, & Fisher, 2010). In theory, ACOs accept responsibility for defined populations of patients and are accountable for the overall costs and quality of their care, across the entire care continuum. In general, ACOs receive some form of shared saving bonuses or financial risk for meeting quality benchmarks and reduced per beneficiary spending below agreed-upon targets. ACOs vary in the proportion of savings an ACO gets to retain and in the risk for spending above targets, from none up to partial or full capitation models. Under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare ACO program, organizations choose between two levels of risk. The first level of risk offers upside in the form of shared saving bonuses for meeting cost and quality targets, with downside risk only in the third year of operation. The second level of risk provides organizations with a greater share of the savings but also risk from the beginning if targets are not met (CMS, 2011).
The stress‐responsive chaperone α‐crystallin 2 is required for pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis has two members of the α‐crystallin (Acr) family of molecular chaperones. Expression of Acr1 is induced by exposure to hypoxia or nitric oxide and is associated with bacterial persistence in a non‐replicating state. Expression of Acr2 is induced by heat shock, oxidative stress, and uptake by macrophages. We have shown that Acr2 continues to be expressed at a high level during both acute and chronic infection in the mouse model, with an increased ratio of acr2:acr1 mRNA in the persistent phase. Deletion of the acr2 gene resulted in a decrease in the resistance of M. tuberculosis to oxidative stress but did not impair growth in mouse bone marrow macrophages. There was no difference in bacterial load in mice infected with an acr2 deletion mutant, but a marked alteration in disease progression was evident from reduced weight loss over a prolonged infection. This correlated with reduced recruitment of T‐cells and macrophages to the lungs of mice infected with the acr2 mutant and reduced immune‐related pathology. These findings demonstrate that both α‐crystallins contribute to persistent infection with M. tuberculosis and suggest that manipulation of acr expression can influence the host response to infection.
Trypanosoma cruzi infection induced changes in the innervation, structure and function of the murine bladder.

PURPOSE The involvement of the lower urinary tract in chronic Chagas' disease has received little attention. Therefore, we investigated pathology and functional alterations in the bladder of Trypanosoma cruzi infected mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS CD1 mice were infected with 5 x 10 T. cruzi trypomastigotes of the Brazil strain of T. cruzi. At day 100 after infection bladder structure and function were examined by pathological evaluation, magnetic resonance imaging and cystometric studies. RESULTS The bladder in infected mice weighed more and were large, dilated, deformed, friable and thin walled compared with control mice. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed these observations. Inflammation, fibrosis and ganglionitis was observed. Cystometric studies revealed that baseline, threshold and micturition pressures were increased in infected mice. Bladder overactivity and decreased bladder compliance were also noted in infected mice. There were no detectable differences in bladder capacity, micturition volume or residual volume between infected and uninfected mice. CONCLUSIONS Bladder abnormalities may be a more common clinical sequelae of T. cruzi infection than previously appreciated.
Food Choice: A Conceptual Model of the Process

Interviews examining the food choice process were conducted with 29 adults, primarily individuals making grocery store food choice decisions, who were sampled for their diversity. These people were asked about how they chose foods when shopping and in other settings, and what influenced their choices. Verbatim transcripts of the interviews were analysed using qualitative methods that included constant comparison, concept mapping, and case summaries, and a conceptual food choice process model was developed. Data from the interviews are presented to illustrate the structure of this conceptual model. People's life course experiences affected major influences on food choice that included ideals, personal factors, resources, social contexts and the food context. These influences informed the development of personal systems for making food choices that incorporated value negotiations and behavioral strategies. Value negotiations weighed sensory perceptions, monetary considerations, health and nutrition beliefs and concerns, convenience, social relationships and quality of food choice decisions. Strategies employed to simplify the food choice process developed over time. The conceptual food choice process model represents the rich and complex bases of food practices, and provides a theoretical framework for research and practice in nutrition.