Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and fabrication of a quasi-ordered nanoporous silicon membrane suitable for thermally induced drug release

The design and fabrication of an ordered nanoporous silicon membrane and integrated heater and temperature sensor is described. The methodology for fabrication of the nanoporous structure has been developed for integration within microelectromechanical systems. The structure is fabricated from a 500 µm thick silicon 〈1 0 0〉 wafer, which has been etched to provide 4 × 4 mm2 membranes of 50 µm thick. Quasi-ordered nanoporous silicon is created within the membrane, the nanopores are of uniform diameter (typical structures of the order of 105 + 5 nm) and smooth sidewalls to a depth of ∼300 nm, in a hexagonal close-packed pattern of 200 nm nearest neighbour. The porosity of typical fabricated samples is 31.5%. On the back side of the membrane, a heater and a temperature sensor are incorporated. Three different heater/temperature sensor designs were considered theoretically and the best design was then fabricated and studied experimentally. The results obtained provide both highly ordered nanoporous silicon fabrication methodology as well as evidence that the porous membrane can be heated without deleterious effect.
Male receiver bias for red agonistic signalling in a yellow-signalling widowbird: a field experiment

Receiver bias models of signal evolution are typically regarded as alternatives or complements to ornament evolution due to coevolving mate choice, whereas sexually or socially selected agonistic signals are rarely studied with respect to receiver psychology. Against the background of convergent evolution of red agonistic signals from yellow ancestors in the genus Euplectes (widowbirds and bishops), we experimentally test the function of a yellow signal in the montane marsh widowbird (E. psammocromius), as well as a hypothesized receiver bias for redder (longer wavelength) hues. In a field experiment in southern Tanzania, males that had their yellow wing patches blackened lost their territories or lost territorial contests more often than controls or reddened males, which together with a longer wavelength hue in territory holders, indicates an agonistic signal function. Males painted a novel red hue, matching that of red-signalling congeners, retained their territories and won contests more often than controls. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a receiver bias driving agonistic signal evolution. Although the sensory or cognitive origin of this bias is yet unknown, it strengthens our view that genetically constrained signal production (i.e. carotenoid metabolism), rather than differential selection, explains the carotenoid colour diversification in Euplectes.
Design and Analysis of Diagnostic Service Centers

In the health-care domain, diagnostic service centers provide advice to patients over the phone about what the most appropriate course of action is based on their symptoms. Managers of such centers must strike a balance between accuracy of advice, callers' waiting time, and staffing costs by setting the appropriate capacity (staffing) and service depth. We model this problem as a multiple-server queueing system, with the servers performing a sequential testing process and the customers deciding whether or not to use the service, based on their expectation of accuracy and congestion. We find the dual concerns of accuracy and congestion lead to a counterintuitive impact of capacity: Increasing capacity might increase congestion. In addition, (i) patient population size is an important driver in management decisions, not only in staffing but also in accuracy of advice; (ii) increasing asymmetry in error costs may not increase asymmetry in the corresponding error rates; and (iii) the error costs for the two major stakeholders--the service manager and the patient--may impact the optimal staffing level in different ways. Finally, we highlight the relevance of our model and results to challenges in practice elicited during interviews with current clinical researchers and practitioners.
Health Care Expenditures Among Asian American Subgroups

Using two nationally representative data sets, this study examined health care expenditure disparities between Caucasians and different Asian American subgroups. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that Asian Americans, as a group, have significantly lower total expenditures compared with Caucasians. Results also point to considerable heterogeneities in health care spending within Asian American subgroups. Findings suggest that language assistance programs would be effective in reducing disparities among Caucasians and Asian American subgroups with the exception of Indians and Filipinos, who tend to be more proficient in English. Results also indicate that citizenship and nativity were major factors associated with expenditure disparities. Socioeconomic status, however, could not explain expenditure disparities. Results also show that Asian Americans have lower physician and pharmaceutical costs but not emergency department or hospital expenditures. These findings suggest the need for culturally competent policies specific to Asian American subgroups and the necessity to encourage cost-effective treatments among Asian Americans.
Arterial Stiffness, Wave Reflections, and the Risk of Coronary Artery Disease

Background—Increased arterial stiffness, determined invasively, has been shown to predict a higher risk of coronary atherosclerosis. However, invasive techniques are of limited value for screening and risk stratification in larger patient groups. Methods and Results—We prospectively enrolled 465 consecutive, symptomatic men undergoing coronary angiography for the assessment of suspected coronary artery disease. Arterial stiffness and wave reflections were quantified noninvasively using applanation tonometry of the radial artery with a validated transfer function to generate the corresponding ascending aortic pressure waveform. Augmented pressure (AP) was defined as the difference between the second and the first systolic peak, and augmentation index (AIx) was AP expressed as a percentage of the pulse pressure. In univariate analysis, a higher AIx was associated with an increased risk for coronary artery disease (OR, 4.06 for the difference between the first and the fourth quartile [1.72 to 9.57; P <0.01]). In multivariate analysis, after controlling for age, height, presence of hypertension, HDL cholesterol, and medications, the association with coronary artery disease risk remained significant (OR, 6.91; P <0.05). The results were exclusively driven by an increase in risk with premature vessel stiffening in the younger patient group (up to 60 years of age), with an unadjusted OR between AIx quartiles I and IV of 8.25 (P <0.01) and a multiple-adjusted OR between these quartiles of 16.81 (P <0.05). Conclusions—AIx and AP, noninvasively determined manifestations of arterial stiffening and increased wave reflections, are strong, independent risk markers for premature coronary artery disease.
Vortex Helices for Inhomogeneous Gross-Pitaevskii Equation in Three Dimensional Spaces

We construct traveling wave solutions with a stationary or traveling vortex helix to the inhomogeneous Gross-Pitaevskii equation iΨt = 4Ψ + ( W (y)− |Ψ| ) Ψ, where the unknown function Ψ is defined as Ψ : R3 × R → C, is a small positive parameter and W is a real smooth potential with symmetries.
Yoga as a Complementary Treatment of Depression: Effects of Traits and Moods on Treatment Outcome

Preliminary findings support the potential of yoga as a complementary treatment of depressed patients who are taking anti-depressant medications but who are only in partial remission. The purpose of this article is to present further data on the intervention, focusing on individual differences in psychological, emotional and biological processes affecting treatment outcome. Twenty-seven women and 10 men were enrolled in the study, of whom 17 completed the intervention and pre- and post-intervention assessment data. The intervention consisted of 20 classes led by senior Iyengar yoga teachers, in three courses of 20 yoga classes each. All participants were diagnosed with unipolar major depression in partial remission. Psychological and biological characteristics were assessed pre- and post-intervention, and participants rated their mood states before and after each class. Significant reductions were shown for depression, anger, anxiety, neurotic symptoms and low frequency heart rate variability in the 17 completers. Eleven out of these completers achieved remission levels post-intervention. Participants who remitted differed from the non-remitters at intake on several traits and on physiological measures indicative of a greater capacity for emotional regulation. Moods improved from before to after the yoga classes. Yoga appears to be a promising intervention for depression; it is cost-effective and easy to implement. It produces many beneficial emotional, psychological and biological effects, as supported by observations in this study. The physiological methods are especially useful as they provide objective markers of the processes and effectiveness of treatment. These observations may help guide further clinical application of yoga in depression and other mental health disorders, and future research on the processes and mechanisms.
Effects of Alfalfa Meal on Growth Performance and Gastrointestinal Tract Development of Growing Ducks

A study was conducted to evaluate effects of alfalfa meal on growth performance and gastrointestinal tract development of growing layer ducks to provide evidence for application of alfalfa meal in the duck industry. Two hundred and fifty-six healthy Shaoxing 7-wk old growing layer ducks were selected and randomly allocated to 1 of 4 dietary treatments based on corn and soybean meal and containing 0, 3, 6, and 9% of alfalfa meal for 8 wks. Each treatment consisted of 4 replicates of 16 ducks each. Briefly, birds were raised in separate compartments, and each compartment consisted of three parts: indoor floor house, adjacent open area and a connecting water area. The results showed: i) Growing ducks fed alfalfa meal diet were not significantly different in average daily gain, feed intake and gain-to-feed ratio from those fed no alfalfa diet (p>0.05). ii) Alfalfa meal increased the ratio crop, gizzard to live weight, caecum to live weight, the caecum index of growing ducks (p<0.05). iii) Villus height in duodenum and jejunum of growing ducks increased significantly with the increase of alfalfa meal levels (p<0.05). Crypt depth in duodenum and jejunum of growing ducks decreased significantly with the increase of alfalfa meal levels (p<0.05). This experiment showed that feeding of alfalfa meal to growing layer ducks could improve gastrointestinal tract growth and small intestinal morphology without effect on performance. This experiment provides evidence that alfalfa meal is a very valuable feedstuff for growing layer ducks.
Rb/E2F1 Regulates the Innate Immune Receptor Toll-Like Receptor 3 in Epithelial Cells

ABSTRACT Tumor suppressor genes regulate the antiviral host defense through molecular mechanisms that are not yet well explored. Here, we show that the tumor suppressor retinoblastoma (Rb) protein positively regulates Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) expression, the sensing receptor for viral double-stranded RNA and poly(I·C). TLR3 expression was lower in Rb knockout (Rb−/−) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) and in mammalian epithelial cells transfected with Rb small-interfering RNA (siRNA) than in control cells. Consequently, induction of cytokines interleukin-8 and beta interferon after poly(I·C) stimulation was impaired in Rb−/− MEF and Rb siRNA-transfected cells compared to controls. TLR3 promoter analysis showed that Rb modulates the transcription factor E2F1, which directly binds to the proximal promoter of TLR3. Exogenous addition of E2F1 decreased TLR3 promoter activity, while Rb dose dependently curbed the effect of E2F1. Interestingly, poly(I·C) increased the Rb expression, and the poly(I·C)-induced TLR3 expression was impaired in Rb-depleted cells, suggesting the importance of Rb in TLR3 induction by poly(I·C). Together, these data indicated that E2F1 suppresses TLR3 transcription, but during immune stimulation, Rb is upregulated to block the inhibitory effect of E2F1 on TLR3, highlighting a role of Rb-E2F1 axis in the innate immune response in epithelial cells.
Understanding XCP: Equilibrium and Fairness

We prove that the XCP equilibrium solves a constrained max-min fairness problem by identifying it with the unique solution of a hierarchy of optimization problems, namely those solved by max-min fair allocation, but solved by XCP under an additional constraint. This constraint is due to the ¿bandwidth shuffling¿ necessary to obtain fairness. We describe an algorithm to compute this equilibrium and derive a lower and upper bound on link utilization. While XCP reduces to max-min allocation at a single link, its behavior in a network can be very different. We illustrate that the additional constraint can cause flows to receive an arbitrarily small fraction of their max-min fair allocations. We confirm these results using ns2 simulations.
On the Relation Between the Minimum Principle and Dynamic Programming for Classical and Hybrid Control Systems

Hybrid optimal control problems are studied for a general class of hybrid systems, where autonomous and controlled state jumps are allowed at the switching instants, and in addition to terminal and running costs, switching between discrete states incurs costs. The statements of the Hybrid Minimum Principle and Hybrid Dynamic Programming are presented in this framework, and it is shown that under certain assumptions, the adjoint process in the Hybrid Minimum Principle and the gradient of the value function in Hybrid Dynamic Programming are governed by the same set of differential equations and have the same boundary conditions and hence are almost everywhere identical to each other along optimal trajectories. Analytic examples are provided to illustrate the results.
Actuation Response of Polyacrylate Dielectric Elastomers

Polyacrylate dielectric elastomers have yielded extremely large strain and elastic energy density suggesting that they are useful for many actuator applications. A thorough understanding of the physics underlying the mechanism of the observed response to an electric field can help develop improved actuators. The response is believed to be due to Maxwell stress, a quadratic dependence of the stress upon applied electric field. Based on this supposition, an equation relating the applied voltage to the measured force from an actuator was derived. Experimental data fit with the expected behavior, though there are discrepancies. Further analysis suggests that these arise mostly from imperfect manufacture of the actuators, though there is a small contribution from an explicitly electrostrictive behavior of the acrylic adhesive. Measurements of the dielectric constant of stretched polymer reveal that the dielectric constant drops, when the polymer is strained, indicating the existence of a small electrostrictive effect. Finally, measurements of the electric breakdown field were made. These also show a dependence upon the strain. In the unstrained state the breakdown field is 20 MV/m, which grows to 218 MV/m at 500 500% strain. This large increase could prove to be of importance in actuator design.
Band structure evolution during the ultrafast ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition in cobalt

Using spin- and time-resolved XUV photoemission, researchers monitor the band structure evolution of Co during its phase transition. The evolution of the electronic band structure of the simple ferromagnets Fe, Co, and Ni during their well-known ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition has been under debate for decades, with no clear and even contradicting experimental observations so far. Using time- and spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, we can make a movie on how the electronic properties change in real time after excitation with an ultrashort laser pulse. This allows us to monitor large transient changes in the spin-resolved electronic band structure of cobalt for the first time. We show that the loss of magnetization is not only found around the Fermi level, where the states are affected by the laser excitation, but also reaches much deeper into the electronic bands. We find that the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition cannot be explained by a loss of the exchange splitting of the spin-polarized bands but instead shows rapid band mirroring after the excitation, which is a clear signature of extremely efficient ultrafast magnon generation. Our result helps to understand band structure formation in these seemingly simple ferromagnetic systems and gives first clear evidence of the transient processes relevant to femtosecond demagnetization.
Global cardiovascular disease prevention: a call to action for nursing: the global burden of cardiovascular disease.

Progress, from the Latin progressus, means Bmoving forward[ or Badvancing. [Yet progress can be a paradoxical concept, and, as has frequently been observed, we often seem to be taking 2 steps backward even as we slowly inch forward. As our world grows richer, some populations become poorer, and many become sicker. As we live longer, too often we become less healthy. And, although we live in a period of increasing economic development and urbanization, as our lives become Bbetter,[ cardiovascular disease (CVD), the principal cause of death throughout the world, imposes an ever-increasing burden of morbidity and mortality in both highand low-income countries. In the first of the articles in this supplement, BThe Global Burden of Cardiovascular Disease,[ Deaton and colleagues explain why CVD is, increasingly, a global issue; why it attacks both high and low socioeconomic groups; why, given that it results from the cumulative effects of a finite number of modifiable risk factors, it is nevertheless so difficult to eradicate; why different risk factors are endemic in different societies; and which interventional strategies may have the greatest impact in various locations and cultures. Although risk for CVD increases with increasing age, the disease process begins very early in life. Because the risk factors that lead to CVD events are influenced over decades by both behavior and environment, intervention at any point to modify or reverse deleterious patterns is likely to be beneficial. In BA Life Course Approach to Cardiovascular Disease Prevention,[ Hayman et al describe effective interventions and present global risk assessment tools to help determinewhich populations need to be targeted. These interventions can best be delivered by professionals who possess the wide range of skills required to change behaviors. In the third article in this supplement, Berra et al discuss BNurse-Based Models for CardiovascularDisease Prevention[ and provide examples of nurse-led programs that have been successful in modifyingmultiple risk factors in both primary and secondary prevention populations. These models have the flexibility to be implemented successfully in a variety of settings and the proven potential to reverse unhealthy practices, such as poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, and smoking, and replace them with healthy ones, such as regular exercise and good nutrition. Nurse case managers also have the skills to mobilize family members to motivate and support positive behaviors, including diet, exercise, and adherence to medication regimens. New technologies provide additional opportunities for nurses to extend their reach in working to reduce cardiovascular risk factors in individuals and populations. Effective strategies to tackle global problems often begin in communities. In the fourth article in this series, Fletcher and colleagues
Chemical Characterization and Source Identiﬁcation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Aerosols Originating from Different Sources

Abstract To obtain the characteristic factors or signatures of particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to help identify the sources of particulate PAHs in the atmosphere, different carbonaceous aerosols were generated by burning different fossil fuels and biomass under different conditions in the laboratory, and the chemical characteristics of 14 PAHs were studied in detail. The results showed that (1) carbonaceous aerosols derived from domestic burning of coal, diesel fuel, and gasoline have much higher concentrations of PAHs than those derived from domestic burning of biomass; (2) carbonaceous aerosols derived from domestic burning of diesel fuel/gasoline have similar PAH components as those derived from high-temperature combustion of diesel fuel/gasoline, although the former have much higher concentrations of PAHs than the latter, suggesting that the burning temperature obviously affects the emitting amount of particulate PAHs, but only slightly influences the PAHs components; and (3) the ratios of benzo[b]fluoranthene/acenaphthylene, benzo-[b]fluoranthene/fluorene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene/acenaphthylene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene/fluorine, and benzo[b]fluoranthene/benzo[k]fluoranthene in carbonaceous aerosols are sensitively dependent on their sources, indicating that these ratios are suitable for use as characteristic factors or signatures of particulate PAHs in the atmosphere.
Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) Study about Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) among Population in Saudi Arabia

Objectives: Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an epidemic in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to measure the level of knowledge, attitude and practice about Coronavirus, to correlate the sociodemographic characteristics to the level of knowledge, attitude and practice about Coronavirus, and to explore awareness and health behaviors related to the prevention of Coronavirus. Method: A national adaptive cross-sectional survey conducted on 714 Saudi Arabian population aged from twenty to above sixty years old in period from March to April 2017. A standardized, confidential, Internet questionnaire used for a large randomly selected population in all regions of Saudi Arabia. Results: Out of 714 participants, women demonstrated a greater level of knowledge of MERS-CoV risk and prevention than men. Social media was the main source for providing information about MERS-CoV with (9.7%) excellent, (72.4%) fair and (17.9%) poor knowledge. Most participants had a good attitude toward privation of camel’s milk and meat if they are source of transmission of MERS-CoV. However, females had better attitude toward the privation of camel’s milk and meat (81.6%, p ≤ 0.001) than males (66.7%). Regarding safety precautions, the data suggested that males were significantly less than females in taking safety precautions and prevention by 0.563 time (OR: 0.563 (0.341-0.94), p≤ 0.05). Conclusion: Generally, participants have a high level of knowledge, positive attitude, and prevention practice toward MERS-CoV. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in knowledge level in different regions in Saudi Arabia. The females have better attitude toward MERS-CoV than males. The present study highlights the need to create wide-spread awareness about MERS-CoV infection among individuals who do not have access to the internet and social media through posters, television, and dissemination of information by healthcare professionals.