Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Line-narrowed, compact and coherent source of widely tunable terahertz radiation

Parametric down-conversion techniques provide an effective means for producing terahertz radiation. A novel device, based on an intra-cavity geometry, has been developed that is both compact and widely tunable over the range 1-3 THz. Reduction of the free-running linewidth of this device (typically 50-100 GHz) to <5 GHz accompanied by continuous and smooth tuning over a band extending over 50-100 GHz where this band may be set anywhere within the above tuning range is described. A significant increase in the mean terahertz power generated to >10 muW is attained by increasing the pulse repetition rate up to 350 Hz. Applications in spectroscopy and imaging are discussed.
The rationale of the myo‐inositol and D‐chiro‐inositol combined treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome

PCOS is one of the most common endocrine disorders affecting women and it is characterized by a combination of hyper‐androgenism, chronic anovulation, and insulin resistance. While a significant progress has recently been made in the diagnosis for PCOS, the optimal infertility treatment remains to be determined. Two inositol isomers, myo‐inositol (MI) and D‐chiro‐inositol (DCI) have been proven to be effective in PCOS treatment, by improving insulin resistance, serum androgen levels and many features of the metabolic syndrome. However, DCI alone, mostly when it is administered at high dosage, negatively affects oocyte quality, whereas the association MI/DCI, in a combination reproducing the plasma physiological ratio (40:1), represents a promising alternative in achieving better clinical results, by counteracting PCOS at both systemic and ovary level.
Lidar Measurements for Desert Dust Characterization: An Overview

We provide an overview of light detection and ranging (lidar) capability for describing and characterizing desert dust. This paper summarizes lidar techniques, observations, and fallouts of desert dust lidar measurements. The main objective is to provide the scientific community, including nonpractitioners of lidar observations with a reference paper on dust lidar measurements. In particular, it will fill the current gap of communication between research-oriented lidar community and potential desert dust data users, such as air quality monitoring agencies and aviation advisory centers. The current capability of the different lidar techniques for the characterization of aerosol in general and desert dust in particular is presented. Technical aspects and required assumptions of these techniques are discussed, providing readers with the pros and cons of each technique. Information about desert dust collected up to date using lidar techniques is reviewed. Lidar techniques for aerosol characterization have a maturity level appropriate for addressing air quality and transportation issues, as demonstrated by some first results reported in this paper.
Tumor-Specific Inhibition of Membrane-Bound Complement Regulatory Protein Crry with Bispecific Monoclonal Antibodies Prevents Tumor Outgrowth in a Rat Colorectal Cancer Lung Metastases Model

Membrane-bound complement regulatory proteins (mCRP) inhibit complement-mediated tumor cell eradication in vitro and in vivo. Immunotherapy of cancer with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that activate complement might be hampered by expression of mCRP on tumor cells. An important strategy to improve mAb immunotherapy can be blocking or overwhelming mCRP at the tumor cells surface in a tumor-specific manner. In our study, we investigated the feasibility of this approach in vivo using bispecific mAbs (bi-mAbs). This study, performed in a syngeneic lung metastases model of rat (WAG/Rij) colorectal cancer, showed that modulation of mCRP on tumor cells resulted in significantly decreased tumor outgrowth. Opsonization of tumor cells with a bi-mAb directed against a tumor-associated antigen and rat mCRP Crry (MG42a*5I2) almost completely prevented the outgrowth of lung tumors (0–7 tumors/rat; n = 17). Opsonization with mAb-cobra venom factor conjugates significantly reduced the number of lung tumors (23–59 tumors; n = 12) compared with the unconjugated MG42a (175–246 tumors; n = 17; P = 0.008 and 0.014, respectively). The effect of MG42a*5I2 was shown to be caused by increased complement activation due to inhibition of Crry. Moreover, prophylactic treatment with MG42a*5I2 or MG42a showed comparable results (3–24 and 215–472 tumors, P = 0.02; n = 6) as observed with pre-opsonized tumor cells without noticeable side effects, despite binding of MG42a*5I2 to endothelium and leukocytes. These results demonstrate that Crry inhibits complement-mediated tumor cell eradication by immunotherapeutic mAbs and show that tumor-specific inhibition of complement regulatory proteins using bi-mAbs can significantly improve mAb-mediated immunotherapy.
Successful Treatment of Liver Aspergilloma by Caspofungin Acetate First-Line Therapy in a Non-Immunocompromised Patient

Aspergillosis remains to be a life-threatening complication in immunocompromised patients. However, Aspergillus infection can be observed in non-immunocompromised individuals in rare cases. We report a case of liver aspergilloma in a chronic aplastic anemia patient under relatively intact immune status. Therapeutic strategy for this rare condition was extensively discussed and caspofungin acetate single agent first-line therapy was applied after careful consideration. Encouraging clinical and radiologic improvements were achieved in response to the antifungal salvage. Our long-term follow-up study also revealed a favorable prognosis. Based on this experience, we suggest caspofungin acetate as first-line therapy for treatment plans of liver aspergilloma.
PEMBELAJARAN INKUIRI UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN BERPIKIR KRITIS DAN PRESTASI BELAJAR IPS

This research aims to apply inquiry learning that can increase studentâ€™s critical thinking ability and studentâ€™s learning achievement. To increase studentâ€™s critical thinking ability and studentâ€™s learning achievement with classroom action research by using inquiry learning. The data collecting technique was through observation, questionnaire and written test. Based on the observation and the questionnaire of critical thinking ability the students got an increase in each cycles. Based on the result of written test it was known that studentsâ€™ learning achievement got an increase that in cycle 1 the percentage of completion reached 51,85 %, after the application of cycle 2 the percentage of completion reached 70,37% and after the application of cycle 3 the percentage of completion reached 92,59%. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menerapkan pembelajaran inkuiri yang dapat meningkatkanÂ kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa dan prestasi belajar siswa. Untuk meningkatakan kemampuan berpikir kritis dan prestasi belajar siswa dengan penelitian tindakan kelas dengan menggunakan pembelajaran inkuiri. Teknik pengumpulan data dengan observasi, angket dan tes tertulis. Berdasarkan observasi dan angketÂ kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa mengalamiÂ peningkatan untuk setiap siklusnya. Â Berdasarkan hasil tes tertulis diketahui prestasi belajar siswa mengalami peningkatan yaituÂ pada saat siklus 1 persentase ketuntasan mencapai 51,85 %, setelah pelaksanaan tindakan pada siklus 2 persentase ketuntasan mencapai 70,37 % dan setelah pelaksanaan tindakan siklus 3 persentase ketuntasan mencapai 92,59 %. Kata kunci : pembelajaran inkuiri, kemampuan berpikir kritis, prestasi belajar
International Evidence-Based Medicine Survey of the Veterinary Profession: Information Sources Used by Veterinarians

Veterinarians are encouraged to use evidence to inform their practice, but it is unknown what resources (e.g. journals, electronic sources) are accessed by them globally. Understanding the key places veterinarians seek information can inform where new clinically relevant evidence should most effectively be placed. An international survey was conducted to gain understanding of how veterinary information is accessed by veterinarians worldwide. There were 2137 useable responses to the questionnaire from veterinarians in 78 countries. The majority of respondents (n = 1835/2137, 85.9%) undertook clinical work and worked in a high income country (n = 1576/1762, 89.4%). Respondents heard about the survey via national veterinary organisations or regulatory bodies (31.5%), online veterinary forums and websites (22.7%), regional, discipline-based or international veterinary organisations (22.7%) or by direct invitation from the researchers or via friends, colleagues or social media (7.6%). Clinicians and non-clinicians reportedly used journals most commonly (65.8%, n = 1207/1835; 75.6%, n = 216/286) followed by electronic resources (58.7%, n = 1077/1835; 55.9%, n = 160/286), respectively. Respondents listed a total of 518 journals and 567 electronic sources that they read. Differences in veterinarian preference for resources in developed, and developing countries, were found. The nominated journals most read were the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (12.7% of nominations) for clinicians and the Veterinary Record (5.7%) for non-clinicians. The most accessed electronic resource reported was the Veterinary Information Network (25.6%) for clinicians and PubMed (7.4%) for non-clinicians. In conclusion, a wide array of journals and electronic resources appear to be accessed by veterinarians worldwide. Veterinary organisations appear to play an important role in global communication and outreach to veterinarians and consideration should be given to how these channels could be best utilised for effective dissemination of key research findings.
Community Lenses Revealing the Role of Sociocultural Environment on Physical Activity

Purpose. To identify perceptions of how sociocultural environment enabled and hindered physical activity (PA) participation. Design. Community-based participatory research. Setting. Two semirural and two urban communities located in Alberta, Canada. Participants. Thirty-five people (74.3% females, 71.4% aged 25–64 years) across the four communities. Method. PhotoVoice activities occurred over 3 months during the spring of 2009. Participants were asked to document perceived environmental attributes that might foster or inhibit PA in their community. Photographs and narratives were shared in one-on-one interviews. Line-by-line coding of the transcripts was independently conducted by two researchers using an inductive approach. Codes were arranged into themes and subthemes, which were then organized into the Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) framework. Results. Six main themes (accompanied by subthemes) emerged: sociocultural aesthetics, safety, social involvement, PA motivation, cultural ideas of recreation, and car culture. Representative quotes and photographs illustrate enablers and obstacles identified by participants. Conclusion. This PhotoVoice study revealed how aspects of participants' sociocultural environments shaped their decisions to be physically active. Providing more PA resources is only one step in the promotion of supportive environments. Strategies should also account for the beautification and maintenance of communities, increasing feelings of safety, enhancement of social support among community members, popularization of PA, and mitigating car culture, among others.
Threat Frequency and Contingency in a Threat-Vulnerable Game

The primary purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of threat frequency and contingency on game-playing behaviour in a threat-vulnerable game. A second purpose was to determine the stability of these effects when strategies were altered during the final 75 trials of the game. Threat was operationally defined as the use of a particular choice in a threat-vulnerable game. One hundred students enrolled in undergraduate courses at Wilfrid Laurxer University played in one of nine programmed strategy conditions: all possible pairwise orderings of a passive, demanding contingent, and a demanding noncontingent strategy. The latter two strategies were yoked to one another and therefore differed only with respect to the contingency of threat. The passive strategy differed from the two demanding strategies in that the programmed opponent never used the available threat. Results indicated that both threat frequency and threat contingency had significant effects on the Column player's behaviour. However, the effects of contingency were observed earlier in the interaction sequence. In addition, delayed strategy effects were only obtained for the contingency variable. Postexperimental questionnaire data revealed that, contrary to previous reports, attributions of incompetence and foolishness were not necessary conditions for an exploiter to take advantage of a passive opponent.
Adaptive Fuzzy Control of Stochastic Nonstrict-Feedback Nonlinear Systems With Input Saturation

This paper studies an adaptive fuzzy tracking control problem for nonlinear stochastic systems with input saturation and nonstrict-feedback form. We use fuzzy logic systems to approximate unknown nonlinear functions. A novel approach is introduced to tackle unknown functions with nonstrict-feedback structure in the design process. By introducing an auxiliary system, the input saturation problem can be solved. Moreover, based on backstepping control design approach, a novel adaptive fuzzy tracking controller is designed to guarantee all signals in the closed-loop system to be bounded, and the system output can be driven to track the trajectory of a given reference signal. Finally, some simulation results are given to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
The Effects of Perceived Anonymity on Altruistic Punishment

Previous studies investigating altruistic punishment have confounded the effects of two independent variables: information transmission (or breach of privacy) and personal identification (or breach of anonymity). Here we report findings from a brief study in which participants were asked to respond to a social norm violation (i.e., an anonymous actor had behaved selfishly in an economic game) by deciding whether to sacrifice their own endowment to punish this person. A third of the participants were told that their economic decisions would be made known to another player but could not be identified (privacy breach condition), whereas another third were informed that their decision as well as their names would be made known (anonymity breach condition). (The decisions of control participants were completely anonymous and private.) Participants also justified their economic decisions and reported their emotional experiences. The results were participants punished most in the privacy and anonymity breach conditions and least in the control condition. These findings have implications for existing evolutionary accounts of altruistic punishment.
Streptococcal SpeB Cleaved PAR-1 Suppresses ERK Phosphorylation and Blunts Thrombin-Induced Platelet Aggregation

Background The family of 4 related protease-activated receptors (PAR-1, 2, 3 & 4) expressed by mammalian cells allow to sense for and react to extracellular proteolytic activity. Since major human bacterial pathogens secret a wide array of protease(-s) we investigated whether they interfere with human PAR function. Methodology/Principal Findings Supernatants from cultures of major human bacterial pathogens were assayed for the presence of protease(-s) capable to cleave overexpressed human PAR-1, 2, 3 and 4 reporter constructs. Group A streptococcus (GAS) was found to secret a PAR-1-cleaving protease. Experiments involving genetical and pharmacological gain and loss of function identified streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin B SpeB as the protease responsible. On the host’s side analysis of overexpressed PAR-1 carrying alanine substitutions and deletions showed the amino acid residue leucine44 on PAR-1’s extracellular N-terminus to be the only cleavage site. Complementary studies on endogenously expressed PAR-1 using PAR-1 blocking antibodies further supported our conclusion. Through PAR-1 cleavage SpeB efficiently blunted thrombin-induced induction of the ERK-pathway in endothelial cells and prevented platelets aggregation in response to thrombin. Conclusions/Significance Our results identify a novel function of the streptococcal virulence factor SpeB. By cleaving human PAR-1 at the N-terminal amino acid residue leucine44 SpeB rendered endothelial cells unresponsive to thrombin and prevented human platelets from thrombin-induced aggregation. These results suggest that by blunting PAR-1 signaling, SpeB modulates various innate host responses directed against invasive GAS potentially helping the invasive bacteria to escape. This may allow to tailor additional treatments in the future since upon invasion of the blood stream endothelial cells as well as platelets and mononuclear cells respond to PAR-1 agonists aiming to prevent further bacterial dissemination.
Code switch language modeling with Functional Head Constraint

In this paper, we propose for the first time to incorporate the linguistically well-known Functional Head Constraint into a code switch language model for speech recognition. Under this constraint, code switch cannot occur between the functional head and its complements. The constrained code switching language model is obtained by first expanding the search network with a translation model; and then using lattice-based parsing to restrict paths to those permissible under the Functional Head Constraint. We tested our system on two tasks of code switch speech recognition, namely lecture speech recognition and lunch conversation recognition. Our system reduces word error rates (WER) from a baseline mixed language model by 3.72% relative in the first task; and by 5.85% in the second task. It reduces WER from an interpolated language model by 2.51% in the first task; and by 4.57% in the second task. All results are statistically significant. In addition, our method reduces WER for both the matrix language and the embedded language.
Invasive fungal infections in Canada from 1992 to 1994.

PURPOSE To describe the frequency, characteristics and impact of invasive fungal infection in Canada. METHODS Nominal case reporting with standardized data collection from selected sites across Canada. Cases were found primarily through laboratory review with supplementation by record review and clinical surveillance at some sites. RESULTS The frequency of invasive fungal infection varied from 3.54 to 6.64/100,000 population per year. Candida species were responsible for 66% of all reports; 80% of candidal infections were bloodstream isolates. Crytococcus neoformans, Aspergillus species and Histoplasma capsulatum each accounted for 5% to 10% of cases, and all other organisms less than 5% each. Human immunodeficiency virus infection was an important comorbidity for cryptococcus and histoplasma infections, and was associated with increased mortality for only histoplasma infections. Geographical variation of histoplasma, blastomyces and coccidioidomyces infection was confirmed. Case fatality was high for all invasive fungal infections, except coccidioidomycosis, blastomycosis and sporotrichosis. CONCLUSIONS Candida species infections are the major pathogens in invasive fungal infections in Canada; all other species occur relatively infrequently. The potential for therapeutic intervention to limit mortality requires further assessment.
Control of astrocyte Ca(2+) oscillations and waves by oscillating translocation and activation of protein kinase C.

BACKGROUND Glutamate-induced Ca2+ oscillations and waves coordinate astrocyte signaling responses, which in turn regulate neuronal excitability. Recent studies have suggested that the generation of these Ca2+ oscillations requires a negative feedback that involves the activation of conventional protein kinase C (cPKC). Here, we use total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy to investigate if and how periodic plasma membrane translocation of cPKC is used to generate Ca2+ oscillations and waves. RESULTS Glutamate stimulation of astrocytes triggered highly localized GFP-PKCgamma plasma membrane translocation events, induced rapid oscillations in GFP-PKCgamma translocation, and generated GFP-PKCgamma translocation waves that propagated across and between cells. These translocation responses were primarily mediated by the Ca2+-sensitive C2 domains of PKCgamma and were driven by localized Ca2+ spikes, by oscillations in Ca2+ concentration, and by propagating Ca(2+) waves, respectively. Interestingly, GFP-conjugated C1 domains from PKCgamma or PKCdelta that have been shown to bind diacylglycerol (DAG) also oscillated between the cytosol and the plasma membrane after glutamate stimulation, suggesting that PKC is repetitively activated by combined oscillating increases in Ca(2+) and DAG concentrations. The expression of C1 domains, which increases the DAG buffering capacity and thereby delays changes in DAG concentrations, led to a marked prolongation of Ca(2+) spikes, suggesting that PKC activation is involved in terminating individual Ca(2+) spikes and waves and in defining the time period between Ca(2+) spikes. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that cPKCs have a negative feedback role on Ca(2+) oscillations and waves that is mediated by their repetitive activation by oscillating DAG and Ca(2+) concentrations. Periodic translocation and activation of cPKC can be a rapid and markedly localized signaling event that can limit the duration of individual Ca(2+) spikes and waves and can define the Ca(2+) spike and wave frequencies.
The Many Faces of Asset Specificity: A Critical Review of Key Theoretical Perspectives

This paper presents a review of the concept of asset specificity and of the impact which asset specificity is expected to exert on the performance of buyer–supplier relationships. The paper begins by unpacking the complex definitional features of asset specificity and how its multifaceted nature is reflected in an inconsistent and rather ad hoc operationalization of the construct in the extant empirical literature. Following a comprehensive examination of the many dimensions of asset specificity, the review then focuses on the expected role of asset specificity in inter-firm relationships according to three different theoretical perspectives: transaction costs economics, the resource-based view and relational exchange theory. Considerable ambiguities and inconsistencies are highlighted by reviewing hypotheses typically developed within their respective theoretical framework. The paper concludes by identifying key challenges and new directions in order to derive maximum benefit from future research.