Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular epidemiology of Cryptococcus neoformans in Brazil and the United States: evidence for both local genetic differences and a global clonal population structure

Little is known about the global molecular epidemiology of the human pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. We studied 51 clinical and environmental (pigeon excreta) isolates from two cities in Brazil (Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro) by analyzing their carbon assimilation patterns, electrophoretic karyotypes, restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) with the C. neoformans repetitive element-1 (CNRE-1), and URA5 sequences. Results were compared to those previously obtained for isolates from New York City by the same DNA typing methods. Computer-assisted analysis of RFLPs and contour-clamped homogeneous electrophoresis (CHEF) patterns and URA5 sequences was performed to generate dendrograms. Some environmental and clinical isolates were found to be indistinguishable by CHEF, CNRE-1 RFLP, and URA5 sequence analyses. Similarly, some isolates from Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte were indistinguishable by the three DNA typing techniques. Overall, Brazilian isolates appeared to be less heterogeneous by DNA analysis than isolates from other regions. Several Brazilian isolates were highly related to New York City isolates. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences obtained for the Brazilian isolates and those obtained for New York City isolates was congruent with the dendrogram generated from the CNRE-1 RFLP data. In summary our results indicate (i) that the discriminatory power of the DNA typing method differs for Brazilian and New York City strains, with the order being CNRE-1 RFLP analysis > URA5 sequence analysis > CHEF analysis and CHEF analysis > URA5 sequence analysis > CNRE-1 RFLP analysis, respectively; (ii) that there are differences in local genetic diversity for Brazilian and New York City isolates; (iii) that there is additional evidence linking clinical isolates to those in pigeon excreta; and (iv) that some isolates from Brazil and New York City are closely related, consistent with the global dispersal of certain pathogenic strains.
Urocanic acid is a major chemoattractant for the skin-penetrating parasitic nematode Strongyloides stercoralis

Host-seeking behavior by parasitic nematodes relies heavily on chemical cues emanating from potential hosts. Nonspecific cues for Strongyloides stercoralis, a nematode that infects humans and a few other mammals, include carbon dioxide and sodium chloride; however, the characteristic species specificity of this parasite suggested the existence of other, more specific cues. Here we show that the infective larva of S. stercoralis is strongly attracted to an extract of mammalian skin and that the active component in this skin extract is urocanic acid. Urocanic acid, a histidine metabolite, is particularly abundant in mammalian skin and skin secretions, suggesting that it serves as an attractant specific to mammalian hosts. The attractant activity of urocanic acid is suppressed by divalent metal ions, suggesting a possible strategy for preventing infection.
Reason and Passion

I Once gave a series of talks to a group of psychoanalysts who had trained together and was rather struck by the statement made by one of them that, psychologically speaking, ‘reason’ means saying ‘No’ to oneself. Plato, of course, introduced the concept of ‘reason’ in a similar way in The Republic with the case of the thirsty man who is checked in the satisfaction of his thirst by reflection on the outcome of drinking. But Plato was also so impressed by man's ability to construct mathematical systems by reasoning that he called it the divine element of the soul. And what has this ability to do with that of saying ‘No’ to oneself? And what have either of these abilities to do with the disposition to be impartial which is intimately connected with our notion of a reasonable man, or with what David Hume called a ‘wonderful and unintelligible instinct’ in our souls by means of which men are able to make inferences from past to future? It must readily be admitted that there are few surface similarities between the uses of ‘reason’ in these contexts. No obvious features protrude which might be fastened on as logically necessary conditions for the use of the term ‘reason’. But beneath the surface there may be lurking common notions that are, or can be, of importance in our lives. To make them explicit is to give structure and substance to what is often called ‘the life of reason’ and to show that this is not inconsistent with a life of passion as is often thought. This seems eminently worth attempting at a time when many people seem hostile to reason. For those who demand instant gratification, who adopt some existentialist stance, who cultivate violence or mystical experience, or who merely do what others do, are all, in various ways, resisting the claims of reason on them. And what they are resisting is not just the demand that they should reflect and calculate; it is also the influence of passions and sentiments that underlie a form of life.
Resolve Hotspots and Load Imbalance Problem in Event Stream Processing System

Event stream processing is the system which uses the processing element to process the data in streams of an application. The processing element (PE) is the computing unit that can handle and compute the metadata in the stream queue. However, there are two problems. First problem is that hotspots maybe happen when applications run in cluster environment; the second problem is load imbalance in the cluster when hotspots appear in that system. Therefore, in this paper, we mainly research how the hotspots happen and how to resolve the imbalance problem caused by hotspots.
Individuelles Fördern, differenzierter Unterricht und Selbstregulation des Lernens

Individuelle Forderung von Schulerinnen und Schuler und die sich daraus ergebende Notwendigkeit nach Differenzierung des Unterrichts wird im Zusammenhang mit Selbstbestimmtem Lernen diskutiert. Aus den internationalen Forschungen zum Selbstregulierten Lernen, mit Bezug auf die Â„Goal TheoryÂ“, werden Schlussfolgerungen fur einen kompetenzorientierten Unterricht gezogen: Die Vielfalt individueller Lernzugange ist durch Forderung nicht aufzulosen, sondern bleibt grundsatzlich bestehen. Kompetenzorientierte Forderung darf nicht so verstanden werden, dass auf diesem Wege eine neue Â„HomogenisierungÂ“ (diesmal im Hinblick auf Steuerungskompetenzen) anzustreben ist. Das Design von Lernumgebungen muss dem entsprechen. Ein konkreter Vorschlag wird hier beschrieben und begrundet. (Autor)
Vers une typologie des chaînes de référence dans des textes administratifs et juridiques

Dans cette contribution, nous proposons une etude des proprietes des chaines de reference dans des textes non-narratifs (un rapport public et des arretes de la Cour de justice europeenne), lorsque le referent est un humain ou un non-humain. Notre objectif est de determiner le materiau linguistique present dans les chaines de reference des textes non-narratifs (quelles sont les expressions referentielles presentes dans ces textes, comment les chaines sont initiees et maintenues, la longueur de la chaine ou la distance entre les maillons) et de voir en quoi il differe de celui des chaines de reference des textes narratifs. Cela revient donc a savoir determiner si les chaines de reference des textes non-narratifs possedent un mode de composition qui leur est propre.
Field effect transistor circulators

Field-effect-transistor circulators that are compatible with monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology are described. These passive nonreciprocal components are formed with inductors, capacitors, transmission line sections, and microwave transistors, and all can be integrated on a single IC chip the size of a pinhead. The operating principle, power-handling capability, and noise performance of these components are discussed for both narrowband and wideband applications, and examples of their practical implementation are given. The transistor-based 2-, 3-, and 4-port passive nonreciprocal components described offer an alternative to ferrite miniature circulators with potential advantages of small size and lower cost in production volume. >
Amplification of Mutator Cells in a Population as a Result of Horizontal Transfer

ABSTRACT Mutator cells that lack the mismatch repair system (MMR−) occur at rates of 10−5 or less in laboratory populations started from wild-type cells. We show that after selection for recombinants in an interspecies mating betweenSalmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium andEscherichia coli, the percentage of MMR− cells rises to several percent of the recombinant population, and after a second successive mating and selection, greater than 95% of the recombinants are MMR−. Coupling a single cross and selection with either mutagenesis or selection for spontaneous mutants also results in a dramatic increase in MMR− cells. We discuss how horizontal transfer can result in mutator strains during adaptive evolution.
Reduction in binocular enhancement of the visual-evoked potential during development accompanies increasing stereoacuity.

PURPOSE To study the maturation of normal binocular vision. METHODS Binocular visual function has been studied and monocular and binocular pattern reversal visual-evoked potentials (VEP) recorded in 20 normal subjects aged 5 to 43 years. RESULTS Stereoacuity improved significantly between the age of 5 and adulthood. Mean stereoacuity for eight children measured by the Titmus test was 61 seconds of arc and 56 seconds of arc by the TNO test. For the 12 adults in the study, corresponding mean stereoacuities were 45 and 31 seconds of arc. Over the same timespan, binocular enhancement of the VEP P100 amplitude decreased. For the children aged 5 to 10 years, the mean binocular VEP enhancement to 20' checks was 1.60, whereas for young adults it was 1.19. There was no comparable change in the binocular enhancement to 40' checks, with mean binocular enhancement of 1.31 in the children and 1.26 in the young adults. Over the same age range, VEP latency also decreased. CONCLUSION During visual maturation, improvement in stereoacuity is accompanied by a fall in binocular enhancement of the P100 amplitude of the VEP to small checks and a reduction in the P100 latency.
A noughts and crosses Java applet to teach programming to primary school children

We report on a continuing study into teaching programming to pre-teens school-children, with some as young as seven years old. As part of the study we aim to test childrens' algorithmic understanding through their ability to solve puzzles and play games; and to turn this understanding into working code. We review a project in which children have programmed (in Java) AI players for the game of Noughts and Crosses. This code is then incorporated into a 'programmable' Java Applet for use as an educational tool in primary (junior) schools.
Nucleic acid testing using surface plasmon resonance fluorescence detection.

The completion of the Human Genome Project (1) is likely to accelerate the demand for nucleic acid diagnostics, one of the fastest growing segments of in vitro diagnostics. To meet this demand, fully automated, sensitive, and specific technologies for nucleic acid detection are needed. Surface plasmon resonance fluorescence (SPRF) is an optical detection technology that offers kinetic analysis of biomolecular interactions in real time (2). SPRF technology uses a sensor composed of a dielectric material coated with a thin layer of a noble metal. An evanescent field is generated at the metal-dielectric interface through interaction of p -polarized light with surface plasmons (oscillating electrons) under a resonance condition. The evanescent field excites a fluorophore localized near the metal surface, which in turn emits evanescent waves, generating surface plasmons at the fluorescence emission frequency. These propagating waves (plasmon-mediated emission) radiate through the metal film and dielectric material. This emission emerges as a cone of radiation in the dielectric material. Application of SPRF for nucleic acid testing involves immobilization of synthetic oligonucleotide capture probes on the sensor surface (Fig. 1⇓ ). Biotin-tagged nucleic acid amplicons are hybridized to target-specific capture probes and detected with a streptavidin-fluorophore conjugate by monitoring of the plasmon-mediated emission over time. Because the evanescent field penetrates a short distance into the medium above the metal surface, the hybridized amplicons are selectively excited and detected. This feature of SPRF allows sensitive detection without a wash step to separate the free from the hybridized nucleic acids. The fluorescent emission is collected by a patented optical system, providing higher sensitivity than other similar techniques (2). The rate of …
Comparative proteomic analysis of B. henselae Houston and B. henselae Marseille by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

OBJECTIVE To compare the protein difference between B. henselae Houston and B. henselae Marseille by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. METHOD Protein samples were prepared by vorterx, ultrasonic treatment, and centrifugation. Protein concentrations were determined by Bradford method. Protein difference was compared by the first IEF and the second SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. RESULTS Protein concentrations in samples of Bartonella henselae Houston and Bartonella henselae Marseille were 2.117 microg/microL and 2.200 microg/microL respectively. Sample protein of 40 microg for IPG strips loading was perfect. The results of 2-DE in pH 4 to 7 IPG strips showed that the total protein spots of Bartonella henselae Houston and Bartonella henselae Marseille were 375 and 379 respectively, 95% of the spots were the same between the two strains of Bartonella henselae. CONCLUSION The procedure of 2-DE may prove successful for the proteomic analysis of Bartonella henselae. Bartonella henselae Houston and Bartonella henselae Marseille are different genotypes.
Crystal Growth from the Melt: A Review

This paper reviews four aspects of crystal growth theory: the nature of the rate-controlling process, the mechanism controlling molecular attachment onto the growing crystal surface, the nature of the crystal-melt interface, and the stability of planar interfaces relative to cellular interfaces. The rate-controlling process may be diffusion in the melt, heat flow, or the reaction at the crystal-melt interface. Diffusion or heat-flow controlled growth generally leads to a cellular morphology. For most silicates, interface-controlled growth leads to a faceted morphology. If the rate-controlling process is the interface reaction, the mechanism at the interface may be either continuous, with molecular attachment occurring at all points on the crystal surface, or lateral, with attachment occurring only on steps of the surface. The mechanism actually occurring can be determined by the dependence upon undercooling of the growth rate corrected for the viscosity ofthe melt. The nature ofthe interface can be described in terms of the interface roughnegs, which may be considered to be the topographic relief on the surface. Materials with small latent heats of fusion, such as quartz, should have molecularly rough interfaces and grow with a nonfaceted morphology, while materials with large latent heats, such as most other silicates, should have smooth interfaces and grow with a faceted morphology. The stability of planar interfaces relative to cellular interfaces can be discussed in terms of diffusional, heat-flow, surface-energy, and kinetic effects. For a freely growing crystal, such as in a magma chamber, only the surface-energy and kinetic effects aid in stabilizing planar interfaces. An attempt has been made to illustrate each of the phenomena discussed with a silicate example, although in one case an organic example is necessary.
Antirealist Explanations of the Success of Science

Scientific realists have argued that the truth(likeness) of our theories provides the only explanation for the success of science. I consider alternative explanations proposed by antirealists. I endorse Leplin's contention that neither van Fraassen's Darwinist explanation nor Laudan's methodological explanation provides the sort of explanatory alternative which is called for in this debate. Fine's suggestion--that the empirical adequacy of our theories already explains their success--is more promising for antirealists. Leplin claims that this putative explanation collapses into realism on one reading and into vacuity on another reading. But his analysis conflates three doctrines into two, and one of the three avoids both realism and vacuity.
NRC Publications Archive Archives des publications du CNRC

With the increasing deployment of sensors, intelligent devices of all sizes, and wireless networking, ubiquitous computing (UBICOMP) environments are getting closer to reality. Research in UBICOMP has focused on enabling technologies, such as networking, data management, security, and user interfaces. However, privacy for UBICOMP has been a contentious issue and the privacy concerns that have been raised suggest that privacy may be the greatest barrier to the long-term success of UBICOMP. This paper proposes a hybrid (locally centralized but peer-to-peer across the Internet) UBICOMP architecture that respects personal privacy preferences expressed in the form of personal privacy policies.
Subjective and objective outcomes from new BiCROS technology in a veteran sample.

BACKGROUND Patients with single-sided deafness (SSD), where one ear has an unaidable hearing loss and the other ear has normal or aidable hearing, often complain of difficulties understanding speech and localizing sound sources, and report a higher self-perceived hearing disability. Patients with SSD may benefit from using contralateral routing of signal (CROS) or bilateral contralateral routing of the signal (BiCROS) amplification. Dissatisfaction of previously available (Bi)CROS devices has been reported, such as, interfering transmissions, low-fidelity sound quality, poor "user-friendly" set-up, and a bulky and cosmetically cumbersome appearance. PURPOSE Recent advances in hearing aid technology have improved (Bi)CROS hearing aids; however, these devices have not been experimentally evaluated. We hypothesized that newer technology with reports of improved digital signal processing, wireless transmission, and physical design would be as good, or better than, our participants' previous-generation BiCROS systems. RESEARCH DESIGN A within-subjects, pretest-posttest design was executed. STUDY SAMPLE Thirty-nine veterans (one female, 38 males; mean age = 74 yr, range = 49-85 yr) from the Audiology Section of the Bay Pines Veterans Affair Healthcare System participated. All participants were previously experienced BiCROS hearing aid users with varying degrees of sensorinerual hearing impairment in their better ear. INTERVENTION Participants were provided at least 4 wk of consistent use with the new BiCROS. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSES: Participants completed three research visits. At Visit 1, with their previous BiCROS, and at Visit 3, with their new BiCROS, the following objective and subjective measures were obtained: (1) soundfield speech-in-noise testing using the Words-In-Noise (WIN) test; (2) speech, spatial, and qualities of the hearing scale (SSQ) questionnaire; (3) selected questions from the MarkeTrak questionnaire; and, (4) three open-ended questions. Data were analyzed using parametric and nonparametric statistics. RESULTS Overall, the objective (WIN) and subjective (SSQ, MarkeTrak, and open-ended questions) measures indicated that the new BiCROS provided better outcomes than the previous BiCROS system. In addition, an overlap of favorable results was seen across measures. CONCLUSIONS Of the 39 participants, 95% reported improvements with the new BiCROS and chose to utilize the device regularly. The favorable objective and subjective outcomes indicate that the new BiCROS system is as good, or better than, what was previously utilized by our sample of veterans.
The Politics of Ritual

Emerging leaders may replicate and expand traditional rituals to integrate increasingly larger numbers of people, advance political agendas, and situate political change within known cultural constructs. Ritual events enable them not only to promote surplus production but, more significant, to appropriate it, and surplus funds an expanding political economy as well as ceremonies and other public events. Consequently, the relationship between resources, settlement, and surplus is critical. For the ancient Maya, the variable distribution of resources and people presented a challenge to those with aspirations to political power. Emerging rulers used domestic dedication, termination, and ancestor veneration rites for political integration. Chronological, stratigraphic, and contextual information on ritual deposits from diverse Maya sites and structures with long occupation histories before, during, and after the advent of Maya rulership indicates that their ritual histories are structurally and functionally similar.
The response of the ductus arteriosus to prostaglandins.

Effects of various prostaglandin types on strips of lamb ductus arteriosus were investigated under anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Prostaglandins E1 and E2 relaxed markedly the anoxic ductus over a dose range from 10−9 to 10−5 M whereas they had little or no effect on the tissue after exposure to oxygen. This is in contrast to papaverine which relaxed the ductus to a similar degree before and after exposure to oxygen. An additional finding was that prostaglandins E1 and E2 are less active on the anoxic tissue depolarized by excess potassium. The greater effectiveness of prostaglandins on the anoxic ductus suggests a role for these compounds in the regulation of the vessel tone during fetal life.
Fusion de données inertielles et magnétiques pour l’estimation de l’attitude sous contrainte énergétique d’un corps rigide accéléré

Dans ce travail de these on s’interesse a l’estimation de l’attitude d’un corps rigideen mouvement dans l’espace 3D en utilisant les quaternions comme representation. Cetteproblematique a ete largement etudiee dans la litterature sous divers domaines d’application.L’objectif de la these est de proposer de nouvelles methodes de fusion de donnees en combinantdes mesures inertielles et magnetiques. Dans un premier temps, nous nous sommesinteresses a l’estimation de l’attitude en cas de mouvement accelere ou l’acceleration lineairedu corps n’est plus negligeable devant la gravite. Deux approches ont ete proposees dans cecadre. La premiere utilise un filtre de Kalman adaptatif pour la compensation des accelerationslineaires. Precisement, des lois de detection ont ete developpees pour distinguer d’unefacon automatique les differentes phases de mouvement (statiques et dynamiques). Ainsi, lamatrice de covariance associee a l’acceleration lineaire est estimee afin d’ajuster le gain dufiltre. La deuxieme approche consiste a integrer un filtre singulier elabore sur la base d’unnouveau modele, dans lequel le modele du processus est defini en se basant sur les mesuresissues de l’accelerometre tandis que le modele d’observation est defini par les mesures issuesdu gyrometres et du magnetometres. Cette formulation permet de prendre en compte l’effetdes accelerations lineaires d’une maniere efficace. Dans un deuxieme temps, on s’est focalisesur l’estimation de l’attitude avec utilisation intermittente de gyrometres, consideres commecapteurs energivores. Nous avons etudie dans ce cas la facon la plus adequate afin de reduirel’acquisition des mesures de vitesse angulaire tout en gardant une qualite acceptable de l’estimationde l’attitude. Toutes les approches developpees ont ete validees par des simulationsnumeriques ainsi que des experimentations utilisant des donnees reelles.