Comparative vector competence of North American Lyme disease vectors

Background Understanding the drivers of Lyme disease incidence at broad spatial scales is critical for predicting and mitigating human disease risk. Previous studies have identified vector phenology and behavior, host community composition, and landscape features as drivers of variable Lyme disease risk. However, while the Lyme disease transmission cycles in the eastern and western USA involve different vector species (Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus, respectively), the role of vector-specific differences in transmission efficiency has not been directly examined. By comparing the performance of traits involved in vector competence between these two species, this study aims to identify how vector competence contributes to variable Lyme disease risk. Methods We used a suite of laboratory experiments to compare the performance of traits related to vector competence for the two USA Lyme disease vectors. For each species, we measured the rate of attachment to a common rodent host, the engorgement weight, and the efficiency of pathogen acquisition (host to tick) and pathogen transmission (tick to host) from laboratory mice. In measuring pathogen acquisition and transmission, we used two different pathogen strains, one sympatric with I. scapularis and one sympatric with I. pacificus, to assess the importance of vector-pathogen coevolutionary history in transmission dynamics. Results We found I. pacificus had significantly higher host attachment success and engorgement weights, but significantly lower pathogen transmission efficiency relative to I. scapularis. Molting success and pathogen acquisition did not differ between these two species. However, pathogen acquisition efficiency was significantly higher for both sympatric vector and pathogen strains than the allopatric pairings. Conclusions This study identified species-specific vector traits as a potential driver of broad scale variation in Lyme disease risk in the USA. In particular, the exceedingly low rates of pathogen transmission from tick to host observed for I. pacificus may limit Lyme disease transmission efficiency in the western USA. Further, observed variation in pathogen acquisition between sympatric and allopatric vector-pathogen strains indicate that vector-pathogen coevolutionary history may play a key role in transmission dynamics. These findings underscore the need to consider vector traits and vector-pathogen coevolution as important factors governing regional Lyme disease risk

Diffusion-limited reactions on a two-dimensional lattice with binary disorder

Reaction-diffusion systems where transition rates exhibit quenched disorder are common in physical and chemical systems. We study pair reactions on a periodic two-dimensional lattice, including continuous deposition and spontaneous desorption of particles. Hopping and desorption are taken to be thermally activated processes. The activation energies are drawn from a binary distribution of well depths, corresponding to `shallow' and `deep' sites. This is the simplest non-trivial distribution, which we use to examine and explain fundamental features of the system. We simulate the system using kinetic Monte Carlo methods and provide a thorough understanding of our findings. We show that the combination of shallow and deep sites broadens the temperature window in which the reaction is efficient, compared to either homogeneous system. We also examine the role of spatial correlations, including systems where one type of site is arranged in a cluster or a sublattice. Finally, we show that a simple rate equation model reproduces simulation results with very good accuracy.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Designing impact evaluation for students’ engagement with communities in planning education

Universities increasingly promote community engagement that involves students. However, very little has been done to evaluate student-community engagement (SCE) for their impact on “the community.” This research innovatively juxtaposes literature on the evaluation of planning and public policy with three different instances of SCE to explore the scope and nature of such impact evaluation within the context of planning education. Results suggest considerable potential of a naturalistic, ongoing, and integrated evaluation approach for and with communities in planning-related SCEs and, by extension, as a practical theory for evaluation design in community planning itself

Differences in Feature Representation in Digital Map Databases

Map databases are integral to many ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) applications in navigation, traffic forecasting, and route planning. With the increasing deployment of ITS technology demands for accurate and complete digital map databases of the nation's road network are surging. The development and maintenance of high quality digital map databases is expensive and time-consuming. Database sharing will be a sensible approach whenever possible in order to reduce cost. In the US map databses are being produced by a variety of public agencies and private vendors. Quality and levels of accuracy vary depending on data sources and production procedures. Verifying the quality and accuracy of map databases for purposes of navigation is a pragmatic and important concern. The Society of Automotive Engineers has developed a Truth-in-Labeling Standard, the goal of which is to provide a consistent method for describing and comparing map databases. While the standard requires that database vendors provide a standardized label that lists basic database characteristics such as lineage, coverage, accuracy, content and scope of a database, there are currently no guidelines for feature representation (such as the layout of road intersections) in digital databases. Comparison of two different map databases reveals significant representational differences due to differences in precision of source material, data model and intended uses.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60253/1/Reprint97Nystuen.pd

Brain2Music: Reconstructing Music from Human Brain Activity

The process of reconstructing experiences from human brain activity offers a unique lens into how the brain interprets and represents the world. In this paper, we introduce a method for reconstructing music from brain activity, captured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our approach uses either music retrieval or the MusicLM music generation model conditioned on embeddings derived from fMRI data. The generated music resembles the musical stimuli that human subjects experienced, with respect to semantic properties like genre, instrumentation, and mood. We investigate the relationship between different components of MusicLM and brain activity through a voxel-wise encoding modeling analysis. Furthermore, we discuss which brain regions represent information derived from purely textual descriptions of music stimuli. We provide supplementary material including examples of the reconstructed music at https://google-research.github.io/seanet/brain2musicComment: Preprint; 21 pages; supplementary material: https://google-research.github.io/seanet/brain2musi

Resource-Bound Quantification for Graph Transformation

Graph transformation has been used to model concurrent systems in software engineering, as well as in biochemistry and life sciences. The application of a transformation rule can be characterised algebraically as construction of a double-pushout (DPO) diagram in the category of graphs. We show how intuitionistic linear logic can be extended with resource-bound quantification, allowing for an implicit handling of the DPO conditions, and how resource logic can be used to reason about graph transformation systems

Educating planners in Europe: A review of 21st century study programmes

A  Education for urban, regional and spatial planning has become a regular subject throughout most European nations; this can be attributed in part to European policies promoting planning and spatially balanced development, but also to the recognition that planning can support sustainability. Nevertheless, there is lingering and justifiable concern about the status, profile and recognition of planning as a profession in its own right with the result that planning and planning education remain contested territories in academia. Conceptions of planning differ between countries and over time. The array of different planning cultures and associated educational models and pedagogies that traditionally have coexisted in Europe mean that education for planning can be either very visible or leading a shadow existence being embedded in programmes of other disciplines. While planning education provision customarily has been shaped by changes in planning practice paradigms and the profession, in 21st century Europe the provision is also influenced by European integration policies, the Bologna process and powerful transformations affecting the higher education sector writ large. This review seeks to advance our understanding of the complex dynamics at work, which to date have been only partially explored in the literature, by taking stock of the current state-of-play of planning education provision in Europe. Aside from examining the factors influencing planning education in Europe, an inventory of planning education programmes available throughout the member states of the Council of Europe was developed to quantify the provision as a critical first step. Figures indicate a substantial increase in the number of programmes when compared to limited historical data. Data also suggest an underdeveloped provision for education in planning in about ten per cent of European countries. Country case studies with historically differing planning cultures and education provision, i.e., Spain, Portugal, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are used to compare and explore trends and developments (e.g., in respect to programme structure, curriculum content and focus, professional conceptions, specialisms) in detail. Findings demonstrate, both, an enduring power of national preferences and traditions but also some emerging commonalities. Overall a picture of increasing pluralism and diversity of education models transpires in the aftermath of Bologna which may contravene efforts to establish cross-national professional recognition and standards. Education for planning seems to embrace trends to provide increasingly international learning experiences and degrees while the provision of flexible recognised (online) degree programmes remains sparse. Recommendations for future actions and strategies to further develop and strengthen the field which is at present complex and little coordinated conclude the contribution

Association between molecular subtypes of colorectal cancer and patient survival

BACKGROUND and AIMS: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous disease that can develop via several pathways. Different CRC subtypes, identified based on tumor markers, have been proposed to reflect these pathways. We evaluated the significance of these previously proposed classifications to survival. METHODS: Participants in the population-based Seattle Colon Cancer Family Registry were diagnosed with invasive CRC from 1998 through 2007 in western Washington State (N = 2706), and followed for survival through 2012. Tumor samples were collected from 2050 participants and classified into 5 subtypes based on combinations of tumor markers: type 1 (microsatellite instability [MSI]-high, CpG island methylator phenotype [CIMP] -positive, positive for BRAF mutation, negative for KRAS mutation); type 2 (microsatellite stable [MSS] or MSI-low, CIMP-positive, positive for BRAF mutation, negative for KRAS mutation); type 3 (MSS or MSI low, non-CIMP, negative for BRAF mutation, positive for KRAS mutation); type 4 (MSS or MSI-low, non-CIMP, negative for mutations in BRAF and KRAS); and type 5 (MSI-high, non-CIMP, negative for mutations in BRAF and KRAS). Multiple imputation was used to impute tumor markers for those missing data on 1-3 markers. We used Cox regression to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations of subtypes with disease-specific and overall mortality, adjusting for age, sex, body mass, diagnosis year, and smoking history. RESULTS: Compared with participants with type 4 tumors (the most predominant), participants with type 2 tumors had the highest disease-specific mortality (HR = 2.20, 95% CI: 1.47-3.31); subjects with type 3 tumors also had higher disease-specific mortality (HR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.07-1.63). Subjects with type 5 tumors had the lowest disease-specific mortality (HR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.14-0.66). Associations with overall mortality were similar to those with disease-specific mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Based on a large, population-based study, CRC subtypes, defined by proposed etiologic pathways, are associated with marked differences in survival. These findings indicate the clinical importance of studies into the molecular heterogeneity of CRC

Les occupations du natoufien et du PPNB ancien à Qarassa (Suweida, Syrie du sud). Premiers résultats et perspectives

Peer Reviewe

Energy Transduction of Isothermal Ratchets: Generic Aspects and Specific Examples Close to and Far from Equilibrium

We study the energetics of isothermal ratchets which are driven by a chemical reaction between two states and operate in contact with a single heat bath of constant temperature. We discuss generic aspects of energy transduction such as Onsager relations in the linear response regime as well as the efficiency and dissipation close to and far from equilibrium. In the linear response regime where the system operates reversibly the efficiency is in general nonzero. Studying the properties for specific examples of energy landscapes and transitions, we observe in the linear response regime that the efficiency can have a maximum as a function of temperature. Far from equilibrium in the fully irreversible regime, we find a maximum of the efficiency with values larger than in the linear regime for an optimal choice of the chemical driving force. We show that corresponding efficiencies can be of the order of 50%. A simple analytic argument allows us to estimate the efficiency in this irreversible regime for small external forces.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure