Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bite or flight: the response of mosquitoes to disturbance while feeding on a defensive host

Understanding the blood‐feeding behavior of Anopheles gambiae Giles sensu stricto (Diptera: Culicidae) is important to the control of this malaria vector. Whereas the mosquito's decision to initiate blood feeding under different physiological states is well‐studied, its decision to terminate a blood meal in the face of a defensive host has received little attention. In light of this, we assayed the response of females when disturbed during a blood meal, in a size‐energy state factorial experiment. We found that a mosquito's decision to abandon its host is dependent not only on its relative blood intake, but also on its size and energy state. In particular, mosquitoes are more likely to terminate feeding with increasing relative blood meal size, with the exception of small, high‐energy ones, on which they tend to continue feeding. Mosquitoes that have engaged in prediuresis also tend to abandon their host more readily than those that have not. We discuss our results with regards to the marginal returns in fitness (via fecundity) of continuing feeding for body size, energy state, and interactions.
Development of large scale 3D point cloud processing modules – minimizing the number of input parameters through statistical modeling and optimization

: The main objective of this thesis was to develop a pipeline of 3D point cloud processing modules, facilitating the extraction of training data for supervised classification tasks. The modular design enables the application of each module as standalone tools for filtering, segmentation or information retrieval. Core component of most modules is a ground filtering algorithm, devised as a combination and further development of two well-established methods by WANG et al. (2015) and Z ENG et al. (2016). The ground filter is thoroughly tested for robustness through a range of freely available benchmark datasets. Its performance is further compared to results produced by multiple methods tested on equal data. In order to reduce the number of necessary parameters, an optimized general parameter set is produced through a regression model. The resulting default parameters prove to be applicable to a wide range of scenarios. For further ground filtering improvements, a method for the regional segmentation of large scale outdoor point clouds is proposed, resulting in spatially coherent areas of similar terrain slope. Further characteristics, such as terrain roughness, are calculated for each segment. Optimized parameters are then calculated for the respective slope and roughness classes, thus enabling the implementation of automatic parameter adjustments into the ground filter. As a measure for the viability of the accumulative results from all proposed methods, a supervised random forest classifier is trained from data, which has been preprocessed by each module. Hereby, the facilitation of manual training data extraction, as a result of the proposed methodology pipeline, is evaluated. The performance measures of the subsequent classification, serve as evidence for the effectiveness of the training data, as a cumulative representation of all presented modules.
Effect-Cause Analysis and Prediction Convergence of Random Failure Gate in a Probabilistic Competitive Environment with Case Study on Quality Control Process

Received: 12 June 2019 Accepted: 10 January 2020 The world of competition is not always deterministic. Probabilistic approach is more relevant and practical in any competitive environments. The effect of random failure gate which usually comes in the way of anything that promotes the low quality and at the same time denies high quality to come up in a competition and having a probability distribution for an instant of time is discussed in the present article. For this purpose the article introduces a novel methodology using the outcome probability of each rank along with the newly added concept of position ratios with a view to study the possibility of making proper predictions in the competitive environment discussed. The study also extends to infinite rank model cases as well. Moreover, a case study has been conducted to predict the risk of appropriate forecasting of different quality level using the model developed. The article emphasized the impact of number of failure gate and their respective influence in the area of ascertaining production quality making use of the concept of position ratio along with the outcome probabilities, which in turn improves the decision making to foresee the possible product quality variations in any manufacturing system, after a specific tenure of production. The methodology developed here will definitely find its application in the area of designing some powerful Decision Support Systems (DSS), where competition is fundamentally concerned with.
AN INSTRUMENT FOR CHARACTERIZING STIFFNESS OF PROTRUDING OPTICAL FIBERS

This paper presents the design of an instrument intended for measuring the stiffness of optical fibers terminated in MT ferrules. This paper describes the concept, detailed design of the instrument, details of major component analysis, and operation of the instrument. The instrument described in this paper will allow the operator to measure the stiffness of each optical fiber in the array of fibers in a ferrule.
A Study on Chinese Teachers’ Competence, Challenges and Ability to Handle the Challenges at International Schools in Bangkok, Thailand

This research aimed to study the Chinese Teachers’ Competence, teaching challenges and their ability to handle those challenges at International Schools in Bangkok. The research used a quantitative and qualitative mixed design. Questionnaires and interviews with 99 Chinese teachers from the 37 sampling international schools in Bangkok were conducted. The findings implied that international schools’ Chinese teachers in Bangkok had a highly qualified profile; their competence including pre-instruction, presence, learning environment, students learning and professionalism was high. Students’ diversity, classroom management, school support, parental involvement, selection of teaching materials were ranked as the Top five challenges that Chinese teachers faced in their classroom. It was also found that the Chinese teachers had the high ability of handling the challenges, and there were a positive correlation between the Chinese teachers’ competence and their ability of handling these challenges.
The Futures We Want: How Goal-Directed Imagination Relates to Mental Health

Imagination is an adaptive ability that can be directed toward the pursuit of personal goals. Although there is a wealth of research on goals and on imagination, few studies lie at the intersection—little is known about individual differences in goal-directed imagination. In 153 adults, we examined how 28 aspects of goal setting, pursuit, and goal-directed imagination relate to mental health. Higher well-being and lower depressive symptoms were strongly linked (a) to having goals that were more attainable, under control, and expected to bring more joy and (b) to goal-directed imagination that was clearer, more detailed, more positive, and less negative. Importantly, the emotional valence of goal-directed imagination strongly predicted well-being at a 2-month follow-up even after controlling for mental health at baseline. These findings underscore the relevance of goal-directed imagination to well-being and depressive symptoms and highlight potential targets for goal- and imagery-based interventions to improve mental health.
New human remains from Kebara Cave (Mount Carmel). The place of the Kebara hominids in the Levantine Mousterian fossil record

Les fouilles conduites dans la grotte de Kebara, situee dans la partie meridionale du Mont Carmel (nord-ouest d 'Israel) ont livre un nombre important de restes humains associes a un contexte archeologique mousterien. Le premier specimen mis au jour en 1965, au cours des fouilles de M. Stekelis, represente un squelette incomplet d 'un enfant de moins d 'un an. Pres de deux decennies plus tard, un squelette d'adulte etait decouvert en 1983, la seconde annee d'une nouvelle serie de fouilles (etalee sur neuf ans) menee par une equipe interdisciplinaire. Ces deux premiers individus et quelques dents isolees denommees Kebara 3 et 4 ont deja ete publies. Cet article porte pour l 'essentiel sur le reste de la documentation anthropologique, mise au jour lors des fouilles les plus recentes ou identifiee au sein de la faune provenant de fouilles anciennes. Une revision de l 'enfant Kebara 1 prenant en compte les decouvertes faites ulterieurement est ensuite proposee. Enfin la frequence des restes humains est analysee selon une triple perspective, demographique, pathologique et taphonomique.
Effects of Radiations of Different Qualities on Cells: Molecular Mechanisms of Damage and Repair

Studies of ionizing radiations of different quality are discussed with particular emphasis on damage to DNA of mammalian cells. Three related themes are followed. Firstly, inactivation and mutation experiments with ultrasoft X-rays and slow heavy ions, coupled with theoretical analyses of the structures of the radiation tracks, have emphasized the biological importance of localized track features over nanometre dimensions. This led to the suggestion that the critical physical features of the tracks are the stochastic clusterings of ionizations, directly in or very near to DNA, resulting in clustered initial molecular damage including various combinations of breaks, base damages, cross-links, etc. in the DNA. The quantitative hypotheses imply that final cellular effects from high-LET radiations are dominated by their more severe, and therefore less repairable, clustered damage, and that these are qualitatively different from the dominant low-LET damage. Second, relative effectiveness of different types of .
Reduced growth of Atlantic cod in non‐lethal hypoxic conditions

Growth in length and mass, improvements in condition, as well as final condition of c. 700 g Atlantic cod Gadus morhua were significantly less at 45% and 56% O2 saturation than at 65%, 75%, 84% and 93% O2 saturation. Hypoxia decreased food consumption. In turn, food consumption explained 97% of the variation in growth. Conversion efficiency varied slightly, but significantly, with level of dissolved O2, except that the group reared at 93% O2 had a lower than expected conversion efficiency. Slow growth in low O2 was not due to increased activity, because activity decreased in hypoxia. In the Gulf of St Lawrence, waters deeper than 200 m usually are <65% saturated in O2, and thus should impact negatively on cod growth.
PARAMETERS INFLUENCING SUCCESS IN ANALOGICAL TRANSFER: INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF STRUCTURAL AND FEATURAL OVERLAP IN HUMANS AND LISA Bachelorarbeit

It previously has been shown that success in analogical problem solving is influenced by how similar source and target problems are in both their superficial appearance and underlying structure. Additionally, it is known that experts include different features into their problem representation than novices. In this thesis analogical solving of water redistribution problems is simulated using LISA (Learning and Inference with Schemas and Analogies by Hummel and Holyoak, 2003), a computational model of analogical reasoning. Three central hypothesis are investigated: First, when featural similarity declines, there should be a small decline in transfer success. Second, transfer success should be higher for isomorph problems than for non-isomorph problems. Third, a more elaborated insight into the source problem should lead to higher success in non-isomorph problems than a novice’s representation of the source. By manipulating the problem representations for LISA, it was possible to simulate the second prediction. The other two hypotheses were partly supported by the data: Target problems with changed surface led to lower transfer success rates compared to problems with no surface-changes, but a decline in similarity from small to large surface dissimilarities was not accompanied by lower positive transfer. High expertise led to higher success in non-isomorph problems, but had lower success rates in isomorph problems than low expertise. Possible explanations for these results are discussed. Based on the outcomes of the simulations a possible enhancement to LISA is suggested which could make the mapping process of predicates psychologically more plausible.
Memory technology—a primer for material scientists

From our own experience, we know that there is a gap to bridge between the scientists focused on basic material research and their counterparts in a close-to-application community focused on identifying and solving final technological and engineering challenges. In this review, we try to provide an easy-to-grasp introduction to the field of memory technology for materials scientists. An understanding of the big picture is vital, so we first provide an overview of the development and architecture of memories as part of a computer and call attention to some basic limitations that all memories are subject to. As any new technology has to compete with mature existing solutions on the market, today’s mainstream memories are explained, and the need for future solutions is highlighted. The most prominent contenders in the field of emerging memories are introduced and major challenges on their way to commercialization are elucidated. Based on these discussions, we derive some predictions for the memory market to conclude the paper.
Evaluation of Droplet Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (ddPCR) for the Absolute Quantification of Aspergillus species in the Human Airway

Background: Prior studies illustrate the presence and clinical importance of detecting Aspergillus species in the airways of patients with chronic respiratory disease. Despite this, a low fungal biomass and the presence of PCR inhibitors limits the usefulness of quantitative PCR (qPCR) for accurate absolute quantification of Aspergillus in specimens from the human airway. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) however, presents an alternative methodology allowing higher sensitivity and accuracy of such quantification but remains to be evaluated in head-to-head fashion using specimens from the human airway. Here, we implement a standard duplex TaqMan PCR protocol, and assess if ddPCR is superior in quantifying airway Aspergillus when compared to standard qPCR. Methods: The molecular approaches of qPCR and ddPCR were applied to DNA fungal extracts in n = 20 sputum specimens obtained from non-diseased (n = 4), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; n = 8) and non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (n = 8) patients where Aspergillus status was known. DNA was extracted and qPCR and ddPCR performed on all specimens with appropriate controls and head-to-head comparisons performed. Results: Standard qPCR and ddPCR were both able to detect, even at low abundance, Aspergillus species (Aspergillus fumigatus - A. fumigatus and Aspergillus terreus - A. terreus) from specimens known to contain the respective fungi. Importantly, however, ddPCR was superior for the detection of A. terreus particularly when present at very low abundance and demonstrates greater resistance to PCR inhibition compared to qPCR. Conclusion: ddPCR has greater sensitivity for A. terreus detection from respiratory specimens, and is more resistant to PCR inhibition, important attributes considering the importance of A. terreus species in chronic respiratory disease states such as bronchiectasis.
Case 3: Polyuria and Polydipsia in an 11-year-old Boy

1. Tejasvi K. Dasari, BS* 2. Shabana Yusuf, MD, MEd† 1. *Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 2. †Division of Pediatrics Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX An 11-year-old boy presents to the emergency department (ED) with a 1-month history of intermittent vomiting and fatigue. Further history revealed a 10-lb (4.5-kg) weight loss during the past few months, progressively decreasing energy and appetite, and polyuria and polydipsia for more than 2 months. Within the past month he was observed drinking approximately 2 gal (7.6 L) of water a day and urinating 10 or more times a day, including 2 to 3 times during the night. Although he did not endorse a history of headache, weakness, or paresthesia, he reported intermittent blurry vision and dizziness. During the past few months, he had been evaluated by his pediatrician multiple times for these concerns. Six months before ED presentation his weight was 93.7 lb (42.5 kg) (74th percentile) and his height was 60 in (152.4 cm) (85th percentile). Two weeks before the ED visit his weight had declined to 86.6 lb (39.3 kg) (45th percentile) and his height was 61 in (155 cm) (82nd percentile), indicating a change in BMI from 18.3 (65th percentile) to 16.4 (34th percentile) during this period. He had undergone evaluations for diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus (DI), which were negative; results of an upper gastrointestinal series were negative as well. A serum osmolality ordered by his pediatrician 10 days before his ED visit was 292 mOsm/kg (292 mmol/kg) (normal range, 278–305 mOsm/kg [278–305 mmol/kg]); urine osmolality was 99 mOsm/kg (99 mmol/kg) (normal range, 50–1,200 mOsm/kg [50–1,200 mmol/kg]), and his serum sodium level was 137 mEq/L (137 mmol/L) (normal range, 135–146 mEq/L [135–146 mmol/L]). On ED arrival his vital signs were stable. Physical evaluation showed …
Establishment of a Bovine Adenovirus Type 3 (BAV3)-Transformed Hamster Cell Line and Characterization of BAV3-Tumor Associated Surface Antigens

A clonal cell line of transformant, BHKT73, was isolated from BHK21/13 cells infected with bovine adenovirus type 3 (BAV3). BHKT73 cells showed characteristics typical of transformed cells, including the ability to grow in 1.3 % methylcellulose, high agglutinability with lectins, and unclear cytoplasmic microtubular fibers. Cot analysis showed that BHKT73 cells were contain BAV3 DNA.Tumor-associated surface antigens (TASAs) of BHKT73 cells, and TrD-5 and TrJE-6 cells (A31 cells transformed by BAV3 DNA fragments with respec-tive map units of 3.6-19.7 and 0-11.9) were studied by the protein A binding assay with rabbit anti-BHKT73 IgG, BALB/c mice anti-BHKT73 antiserum and BALB/c mice anti-TrD-5 and TrJE-6 antisera. All these antisera bound to the surfaces of BHKT73, TrD-5 and TrJE-6 cells, but not to the surfaces of SV40-and murine sarcoma virus-transformed A31 cells. They also bound to the surface of polyomavirus-transformed cells (pyBHK and PV-4). After absorp-tion with pyBHK cells, these antisera showed decreased ability to bind to the surfaces of BHKT73, TrD-5, PV-4 and pyBHK cells. These results indicate that all the genetic information of BAV3 that is required for the expression of BAV3-TASAs is included between the map units of 3.6 and 11.9 on the BAV3 gene, and that BAV3-TASAs may have antigenic determi-nant site(s) common to one of the TASAs on polyomavirus-transformed cells.
The latent ampholytic nature of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) oligosaccharides facilitates their separation by isoelectric focusing

Glycosaminoglycans are medically and biologically important polysaccharides. Glycosaminoglycan oligosaccharides are of increasing pharmaceutical relevance but, oligosaccharides from two in particular, heparan sulfate and heparin, are difficult to separate owing to their structural complexity. This hinders further progress because it is difficult to obtain pure saccharides in sufficient quantities. The ampholytic nature of heparin and heparan sulfate is realised by reversible de-N-sulfation or de-N-acetylation to reveal free amine groups, providing an opportunity to separate them using isoelectric focusing. Ampholytic heparan sulfate and heparin saccharides are characterised by low pI values, and isoelectric focusing required bespoke polyacrylamide gels capable of supporting pH gradients below pH 2. Representative oligosaccharide pools from heparin and chemically modified heparin, which had been fractionated previously to the best current levels by high performance anion exchange chromatography and gel permeation chromatography, were further separated and focused. The isoelectric focusing method provides an additional separation dimension for glycosaminoglycan oligosaccharides and has implications for the future development of related semi-preparative techniques.
Tocilizumab‐induced sarcoidosis‐like reaction in a patient with giant cell arteritis. Clinical implications of a paradoxical phenomenon

Tocilizumab-induced sarcoidosis-like reaction in a patient with giant cell arteritis. Clinical implications of a paradoxical phenomenon Dear Editor, Tocilizumab is a recombinant, humanized, anti-human IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody which is FDA-approved for treatment of moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, polyarticular or systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and giant cell arteritis. There are also some reports showing promising results of Tocilizumab in the treatment of sarcoidosis as a steroid sparing therapy. The occurrence, though, of sarcoidosis during treatment with tocilizumab has been increasingly reported. Herein, we report a further case of Tocilizumab-induced sarcoidosis-like reaction. An 80-year-old patient of Caucasian origin was referred to the outpatient clinic of our department. He was on treatment with tocilizumab for giant cell arteritis (GCA). The first-line treatment with glucocorticoids (prednisolone p.o. 60 mg tapered over a period of 5 months) and the second-line with methotrexate (metoject) 7.5 mg once weekly in combination with adalimumab 40 mg every other week for 9 months were stopped due to insufficient clinical response. Thereafter a treatment with tocilizumab was initiated. The patient experienced good clinical response; however, 12 months later he developed asymptomatic erythematous scaly papules and plaques localized to his chest, abdomen, and back. There were no other systemic symptoms. Clinical examination revealed the presence of numerous erythematous scaly papules and plaques on the patient’s chest, abdomen, back, and proximal extremities (Fig. 1a,b). Diascopy revealed the apple-jelly sign (Fig. 1c). Histologic examination from a skin biopsy from an erythematous plaque on the patient’s back revealed non-caseating epithelioid granulomas in the dermis. Methenamine silver and acid-fast stains have been performed and were negative. The
Observation for clinical effect of acupuncture combined with conventional therapy in the treatment of acne vulgaris

Abstract Introduction: Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of the sebaceous glands that occurs in adolescent men and women. In recent years, the incidence of acne has increased year by year, so it is of great significance to find a precise and effective treatment and further explore its possible mechanism of action. The purpose of this study will be to explore a treatment method that has both traditional Chinese medicine characteristics and significant effects, and provides a higher level of evidence for acupuncture for acne vulgaris. It also provides patients with more treatment options. Methods/design: The study will be a randomized controlled trial divided into 2 parallel groups. This pragmatic randomized controlled trial will recruit 66 patients who are diagnosed with acne vulgaris. 30-minutes acupuncture sessions will be provided to patients assigned to the intervention group. All participants will continue to receive conventional treatment. The selection of outcomes will be evaluated by the skin lesions score scale. Discussion: This trial may provide evidence regarding the clinical effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of acupuncture for patients with acne vulgaris. Trial registration number: CTR2000030427