Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Azithromycin Activities against Orientia tsutsugamushi Strains Isolated in Cases of Scrub Typhus in Northern Thailand

ABSTRACT Azithromycin was given to mice and humans infected with strains ofOrientia tsutsugamushi from northern Thailand, where drug-resistant scrub typhus occurs. Azithromycin and doxycycline yielded comparable mouse survival rates (73 and 79%, respectively;P > 0.5). Symptoms, signs, and fever in two pregnant women abated rapidly with azithromycin. Prospective human trials are needed.
Morphology-Ontology of geospatial data and its application in data discovery

Semantic heterogeneity of geospatial data is the main bottleneck for implementing linked data, intelligent recommendation and accurate discovery of data. The ontology theory is an effective way to solve the semantic heterogeneity of data. Morphological Characteristics is the important research content of Semantic heterogeneity of data. This paper mainly studies morphological characteristics of geospatial data, analyzes its concept, attribute, and relation, and puts forward its concepts system. On this basis, this paper builds the model of Morphology-Ontology of geospatial data and defines the method of formalization representation of morphological information. In the last part, this paper constructs Morphology-Ontology and applies it to the retrieval of metadata of the Data Sharing Infrastructure of Earth System Science. Verification tests show that Morphology-Ontology of geospatial data can solve the semantic heterogeneity of data effectively and improve the precision and recall of the result of data discovery significantly. The research methods and results of this paper are of great reference value to solve the semantic heterogeneity of data in other fields.
Liquids at Large Negative Pressures: Water at the Homogeneous Nucleation Limit

An isochoric cooling method for obtaining unprecedented tensions on liquids was used to determine the homogeneous nucleation limit for stretching of water at a variety of water densities. At densities in the range 0.55 to 0.68 gram per milliliter (g/ml), the data agree with the homogeneous nucleation temperatures measured by Skripov for superheated water at positive pressures. At densities between 0.68 and 0.93 g/ml, cavitation occurred only at negative pressures (that is, under tension). The cavitation tensions measured were in excellent agreement with those predicted by Fisher's 1948 vapor nucleation theory. A maximum tension of 140 megapascals (=1400 bars) was reached at 42�C, which lies on an extrapolation of the line of isobaric density maxima. At higher densities, cavitation of droplets that survived heterogeneous nucleation failed to occur at all unless provoked, at much lower temperatures, by freezing. This observation confirms the existence of a density maximum at 42�C and –140 megapascals and hence greatly strengthens the basis for Speedy's conjecture of a reentrant spinodal for water.
Passive Analysis of TCP Anomalies 1

In this paper we focus on passive measurements of TCP traffic. We propose a heuristic technique to classify TCP anomalies, i.e, segments that have a sequence number different from the expected one, such as out-of-sequence and duplicate segments. Since TCP is a closedloop protocol that infers network conditions from packet losses and reacts accordingly, the possibility of carefully distinguishing the causes of anomalies in TCP traffic is very appealing and may be instrumental to understand TCP behavior in real environments. We apply the proposed heuristic to traffic traces collected at both network edges and backbone links. By comparing results obtained from traces collected over several years, we observe some phenomena such as the impact of the introduction of TCP SACK which reduces the unnecessary retransmissions, the large percentage of network reordering, etc. By further studying the statistical properties of TCP anomalies, we find that, while their aggregate exhibits Long Range Dependence, anomalies suffered by individual long-lived flows are on the contrary uncorrelated. Interestingly, no dependence on the actual link load is observed.
Predictors and Consequences of Fatigue in Prevalent Kidney Transplant Recipients

Background Fatigue has been underinvestigated in stable kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). The objectives of this study were to investigate the nature, severity, prevalence, and clinical awareness of fatigue in medically stable KTRs, examine the impact of fatigue on quality of life (QoL), and explore the underlying causes of posttransplantation fatigue. Methods This single-center cross-sectional study enrolled 106 stable KTRs. Multi-dimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 was used to measure five fatigue dimensions: General Fatigue, Physical Fatigue, Reduced Activity, Reduced Motivation, and Mental Fatigue. Clinical awareness of fatigue was determined by reviewing medical records. QoL was assessed by Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 Questionnaire. Demographic, clinical, psychosocial, and behavioral parameters were evaluated as fatigue predictors. Results Fatigue was found in 59% of KTRs. Only 13% had this symptom documented in medical records. Fatigue in KTRs was in the same range as chronically unwell patients, with Physical Fatigue, Reduced Activity, and Reduced Motivation approached levels observed in chronic fatigue syndrome. All fatigue dimensions significantly and inversely correlated with QoL (P<0.001 for all associations). Demographic predictors were male, older age, and non-Caucasian ethnicity (P⩽0.05 for all associations). Clinical predictors included elevated highly sensitive C-reactive protein (inflammation), decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (graft dysfunction), and reduced lean tissue index (P⩽0.05 for all associations). Psychosocial and behavioral predictors were inferior sleep quality, anxiety, and depression (P<0.01 for all associations). Conclusions Fatigue is common and pervasive in clinically stable KTRs. It is strongly associated with reduced QoL. This study identified modifiable fatigue predictors and sets the scene for future interventional studies.
No need for embryos? Recent discoveries dramatically alter the stem-cell debate.

BY CHARLIE CAMOSY Mr. Camosy is a doctoral candidate in Christian ethics, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind. irtually no one, of course, is against stemcell research. Every few months it seems a new technique for procuring stem cells without embryos makes headlines — trumpeted as good news by both sides of the debate. But one might legitimately wonder what all this fuss is about. Americans and Europeans, in general, seem to overwhelmingly support embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR). And, after all, it does seem to take a fairly "thick" theological principle (defined as doctrine specific) — questionable underpinning for public policy — to worry about research which destroys undifferentiated balls of cells slated to be destroyed anyway. Indeed, religious figures and groups are leading the fight against ESCR by often using theological rhetoric to support their positions. President George W. Bush has used a rare veto to stop the federal government from funding new ESCR and has threatened to do so again. And the claim that a cluster of more than 200 cells is morally equivalent to, say, Michael J. Fox, is so implausible that it just seems that it must be based on strange religious dogma.
PvUPS1, an Allantoin Transporter in Nodulated Roots of French Bean1

Nodulated legumes receive their nitrogen via nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, which exist in a symbiotic relationship with the root system. In tropical legumes like French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) or soybean (Glycine max), most of the fixed nitrogen is used for synthesis of the ureides allantoin and allantoic acid, the major long-distance transport forms of organic nitrogen in these species. The purpose of this investigation was to identify a ureide transporter that would allow us to further characterize the mechanisms regulating ureide partitioning in legume roots. A putative allantoin transporter (PvUPS1) was isolated from nodulated roots of French bean and was functionally characterized in an allantoin transport-deficient yeast mutant showing that PvUPS1 transports allantoin but also binds its precursors xanthine and uric acid. In beans, PvUPS1 was expressed throughout the plant body, with strongest expression in nodulated roots, source leaves, pods, and seed coats. In roots, PvUPS1 expression was dependent on the status of nodulation, with highest expression in nodules and roots of nodulated plants compared with non-nodulated roots supplied with ammonium nitrate or allantoin. In situ RNA hybridization localized PvUPS1 to the nodule endodermis and the endodermis and phloem of the nodule vasculature. These results strengthen our prediction that in bean nodules, PvUPS1 is involved in delivery of allantoin to the vascular bundle and loading into the nodule phloem.
Glycemic durability of rosiglitazone, metformin, or glyburide monotherapy.

BACKGROUND The efficacy of thiazolidinediones, as compared with other oral glucose-lowering medications, in maintaining long-term glycemic control in type 2 diabetes is not known. METHODS We evaluated rosiglitazone, metformin, and glyburide as initial treatment for recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes in a double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial involving 4360 patients. The patients were treated for a median of 4.0 years. The primary outcome was the time to monotherapy failure, which was defined as a confirmed level of fasting plasma glucose of more than 180 mg per deciliter (10.0 mmol per liter), for rosiglitazone, as compared with metformin or glyburide. Prespecified secondary outcomes were levels of fasting plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin, insulin sensitivity, and beta-cell function. RESULTS Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a cumulative incidence of monotherapy failure at 5 years of 15% with rosiglitazone, 21% with metformin, and 34% with glyburide. This represents a risk reduction of 32% for rosiglitazone, as compared with metformin, and 63%, as compared with glyburide (P<0.001 for both comparisons). The difference in the durability of the treatment effect was greater between rosiglitazone and glyburide than between rosiglitazone and metformin. Glyburide was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events (including congestive heart failure) than was rosiglitazone (P<0.05), and the risk associated with metformin was similar to that with rosiglitazone. Rosiglitazone was associated with more weight gain and edema than either metformin or glyburide but with fewer gastrointestinal events than metformin and with less hypoglycemia than glyburide (P<0.001 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS The potential risks and benefits, the profile of adverse events, and the costs of these three drugs should all be considered to help inform the choice of pharmacotherapy for patients with type 2 diabetes. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00279045 [ClinicalTrials.gov].).
To call or not to call: parents assess the vulnerability of their young before warning them about predators

Communication about predators can reveal the effects of both conspecific and heterospecific audiences on signalling strategy, providing insight into signal function and animal cognition. In species that alarm call to their young, parents face a fundamental dilemma: calling can silence noisy offspring and so make them less likely to be overheard, but can also alert predators that young are nearby. Parents could resolve this dilemma by being sensitive to the current vulnerability of offspring, and calling only when young are most at risk. Testing whether offspring vulnerability affects parental strategy has proved difficult, however, because more vulnerable broods are often also more valuable. We tested experimentally whether parent white-browed scrubwren, Sericornis frontalis, assessed brood noisiness when alarm calling near nests. When a model predator was nearby, parents gave more alarm calls when playbacks simulated noisy broods, yet brood noisiness did not affect adult calling when only a control model was present. Parents were therefore sensitive to the tradeoff between silencing young and alerting predators to the presence of nests. Our study demonstrates that receiver vulnerability can affect signalling decisions in species other than primates.
Congruência entre Identidade e Imagem de Marca: Uma Análise a Partir de Web Sites das Principais Companhias Aéreas Brasileiras

As empresas de aviacao brasileiras tem buscado se apropriar do ambiente virtual, por meio dos seus websites para se comunicar com seus clientes. Tal ambiente deve ser planejado de forma a auxiliar na percepcao da imagem de marca proposta para o publico alvo da cada empresa, pois se entende que a marca e um objeto comunicacional, que transmite, por meio do marketing mix, sua proposta para os clientes. Nesse contexto, cabe refletir sobre como as empresas estao se comunicando com seus consumidores. Para tal, este estudo se caracterizou como uma pesquisa qualitativa, sendo um estudo de casos (TAM e Gol). Numa primeira etapa foi realizada uma analise semiotica para conferir as percepcoes dos pesquisadores sobre o ambiente virtual das empresas quanto a identidade de marca, passando entao, em um segundo momento, para a as impressoes dos clientes obtidas por meio de um grupo focal. A identidade de empresa economica para a Gol e de companhia aerea com servicos mais elaborados para a TAM, foram confirmadas pela analise dos especialistas e reforcada pela avaliacao feita dos sites pelo grupo focal. Isso significa que ha uma congruencia entre identidade e imagem de marca no caso das duas empresas. Os resultados apontaram para a Gol com o conceito central de praticidade e a TAM com o conceito central a criacao de valor.
Patch-based models for visual object classes

This thesis concerns models for visual object classes that exhibit a reasonable amount of regularity, such as faces, pedestrians, cells and human brains. Such models are useful for making “within-object” inferences such as determining their individual characteristics and establishing their identity. For example, the model could be used to predict the identity of a face, the pose of a pedestrian or the phenotype of a cell and segment parts of a human brain. Existing object modelling techniques have several limitations. First, most current methods have targeted the above tasks individually using object specific representations; therefore, they cannot be applied to other problems without major alterations. Second, most methods have been designed to work with small databases which do not contain the variations in pose, illumination, occlusion and background clutter seen in ‘real world’ images. Consequently, many existing algorithms fail when tested on unconstrained databases. Finally, the complexity of the training procedure in these methods makes it impractical to use large datasets. In this thesis, we investigate patch-based models for object classes. Our models are capable of exploiting very large databases of objects captured in uncontrolled environments. We represent the test image with a regular grid of patches from a library of images of the same object. All the domain specific information is held in this library: we use one set of images of the object to help draw inferences about others. In each experimental chapter we investigate a different within-object inference task. In particular we develop models for classification, regression, semantic segmentation and identity recognition. In each task, we achieve results that are comparable to or better than the state of the art. We conclude that patch-based representation can be successfully used for the above tasks and shows promise for other applications such as generation and localization.
Evolutionary digital circuit design with fast candidate solution establishment in field programmable gate arrays

Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are a popular platform for evolving digital circuits. FPGAs allow to be reconfigured partially which provides a natural way of establishing candidate solutions. Recent research focuses on the hardware implementation of evolutionary design platforms. Several approaches have been developed for effective establishment and evaluation of candidate solutions in FPGAs. In this paper a new mutation operator is proposed for evolutionary algorithms. The chromosome representing the candidate solution is mutated in such a way that only one configuration frame is required for establishing the mutated candidate solution in hardware. The experimental results confirm that the reduced number of configuration frames and mutations at lower level of granularity ensure faster evolution, generation of more candidate solutions in a given time as well as solutions with better quality.
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in Children and Young Adults with Celiac Disease. A Multigroup Matched Comparison

Background: Celiac disease (CD) has been linked to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but previous reports have been inconsistent and may have been affected by surveillance bias. Methods: Matched birth cohort study in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Italy. We identified 1294 individuals with CD aged 0 to 23 years at diagnosis using pathology reports, hospital discharge records, or copayment exemptions. Each CD individual was matched with up to 5 general population reference individuals from the regional Medical Birth Register in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (n = 5681). As secondary comparison groups, we used individuals undergoing small intestinal biopsy but not having villous atrophy (either Marsh 0-1-2 or exclusively Marsh 0). Individuals with IBD were identified through hospital discharge records or copayment exemptions. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for having IBD among CD individuals (before or after CD diagnosis) compared with their matched references. Results: Overall 35 individuals with IBD were identified (29 with CD and 6 general population controls). This corresponded to an increased risk of IBD in CD (OR = 24.17; 95% CI, 10.03–58.21). However, compared with individuals with Marsh 0-1-2 the OR decreased to 1.41 (95% CI, 0.91–2.18) and restricting our comparison group to individuals with Marsh 0, the OR was 1.28 (95% CI, 0.61–2.70). Conclusions: In conclusion, this article found a highly increased risk of IBD in individuals with CD when comparing with the general population. Bias is the likely explanation for the very high risk increase for IBD in CD because the excess risk was substantially lower when we used individuals with a small intestinal biopsy without villous atrophy as our reference.
Caractérisation statique et dynamique des voyelles dans des séquences VV

Nous etudions les indices acoustiques lies a la caracterisation statique et / ou dynamique des voyelles du francais. Nous avons analyse les caracteristiques formantiques de six realisations vocaliques ainsi que les transitions formantiques de seize combinaisons V1V2 impliquant ces 6 voyelles afin d'evaluer les contributions des indices dynamiques lies aux transitions entre voyelles et des indices statiques de frequence. Les mesures correspondantes sont issues d'un protocole dans lequel le debit de parole etait influence experimentalement afin de provoquer d'eventuelles variations de vitesse de transition. Les resultats ne permettent pas de departager ces deux hypotheses mais montrent que les indices dynamiques pourraient etre aussi fiables que les mesures statiques. Des pistes d'extension de ce travail sont proposees qui pourraient contribuer de maniere plus informative a cette problematique.
Ultrasound evaluation of uterine healing after laparoscopic intracapsular myomectomy: an observational study.

STUDY QUESTION Can uterine scar healing after laparoscopic intracapsular myomectomy (LIM) be adequately monitored by traditional two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound (US) and Doppler velocimetry? SUMMARY ANSWER The myometrial area of the scar after LIM can be followed by 2D US and Doppler velocimetry. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Apart from post-surgical adhesions, the main concern linked to laparoscopic myomectomy is the quality of healing of the myometrial incision: it has been suggested that US could be useful for assessing uterine scars after myomectomy. However, no diagnostic method has yet been widely accepted to assess the healing process. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION A cohort prospective study (level of evidence II-2), run in University-affiliated hospitals: 149 women with symptomatic uterine fibroids (UFs) underwent LIM, between January 2007 and October 2011. During follow up 13 patients withdrew from the study. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS After LIM, all patients were followed by traditional 2D US scanning and Doppler velocimetry on Days: 0, 1, 7, 30 and 45. Authors evaluated: number, size and location of UFs, scar diameter and Doppler velocimetry and resistance index (RI) of the uterine arteries, at their ascending branch. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE The uterine examination showed a significant (P < 0.05) progressive reduction of uterine scar area from 78% of the previous UF location on the first day, to 19% on 30th day, and <4% on the 45th day. There was no correlation with the size of the fibroid or the relative reduction in the size of the scar, on both Days 1 and 45. There was a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the RI of the ipsilateral uterine arteries from 0.65 on the first post-operative day to 0.83 after 7 days followed by a decrease to 0.71 on the 30th and 0.61 on the 45th post-operative day. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION This is a cohort investigation on a limited number of patients and it does not surgically compare LIM and 'classic' myomectomy in the scar US follow up. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS LIM avoided intraoperative bleeding and excessive tissue damage, as post-operative US follow up showed, with just two intra-myometrial hematomas (1.5%). The 2D US and Doppler velocimetry, a non-invasive safe method to check the myometrium after LIM, can detect post-operative hematoma and disechogenic, heterogeneous or ill-defined scar area, all unfavorable signs for myometrial scarring. Moreover, Doppler transvaginal monitoring, evaluating the pulsatility index (PI) and RI of the uterine arteries at their ascending branch, could identify patients with altered PI and RI parameters, possible markers of impaired wound healing.
Higher brain functions served by the lowly rodent primary visual cortex

It has been more than 50 years since the first description of ocular dominance plasticity—the profound modification of primary visual cortex (V1) following temporary monocular deprivation. This discovery immediately attracted the intense interest of neurobiologists focused on the general question of how experience and deprivation modify the brain as a potential substrate for learning and memory. The pace of discovery has quickened considerably in recent years as mice have become the preferred species to study visual cortical plasticity, and new studies have overturned the dogma that primary sensory cortex is immutable after a developmental critical period. Recent work has shown that, in addition to ocular dominance plasticity, adult visual cortex exhibits several forms of response modification previously considered the exclusive province of higher cortical areas. These “higher brain functions” include neural reports of stimulus familiarity, reward-timing prediction, and spatiotemporal sequence learning. Primary visual cortex can no longer be viewed as a simple visual feature detector with static properties determined during early development. Rodent V1 is a rich and dynamic cortical area in which functions normally associated only with “higher” brain regions can be studied at the mechanistic level.