Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Autonomous Energy Harvesting Power Management Unit With Digital Regulation for IoT Applications

Efforts towards energy-harvesting solutions are targeted for wireless sensor node applications and focus on performing maximum power extraction and storing power, yet efforts to deliver a regulated supply to voltage-sensitive blocks in power-limited applications has yet to be fully achieved. This paper presents a low-power, autonomous power management unit (PMU) able to perform maximum power point tracking for dc-type renewable sources. It includes a startup circuit fed directly from the renewable source. The PMU delivers a regulated output voltage through a digital LDO. The main step-up operation is performed through a dynamically controlled, power-aware, capacitive dc-dc converter that performs the required voltage gain procedure. Then, the digital LDO receives the EH source power density information from the dc-dc converter and provides regulation. Information about the source-power density availability is passed on to the digital LDO in order to select the best pass device size from a bank of three arrays. The PMU allows power consumption decrease by reducing the gate driving losses associated with large pass transistor devices, and it enhances efficiency. The system was fabricated in 180 nm CMOS process, and maximum end-to-end efficiency was measured at 57% with 1.75 mW of input power.
Limitations of Au Particle Nanoassembly Using Dielectrophoretic Force—A Parametric Experimental and Theoretical Study

When a gold colloidal suspension is subjected to ac electric field, ldquogold pearl chainsrdquo will form due to the dielectrophoretic (DEP) force. Our latest experiments show that the formation rate of gold pearl chains, which tends to zero at high and low frequency limits and has a maximum at a narrow mid range of frequency, is dependent on the applied field frequency. This letter analyzes the frequency-dependent DEP manipulation of gold colloid suspensions using the protoplast model. Simulated results show that the relationship curve between the frequency of applied field and the velocity of gold colloids motion due to DEP agrees with our experimental observations. In addition, the orders of magnitude of the velocity due to various effects in our experimental system, such as DEP force, Brownian motion, gravity, and fluid flows induced by electric field, were also estimated. The result implies that the DEP-based manipulation of less than 2 nm gold colloids is extremely difficult to be controlled.
Product Creation and Destruction: Evidence and Price Implications

This paper describes the extent and cyclicality of product creation and destruction in a large sector of the U.S. economy and quantifies its implications for the measurement of consumer prices. We find four times more entry and exit in product markets than is typically found in labor markets because most product turnover happens within the boundaries of the firm. Net product creation is strongly pro-cyclical, but contrary to the behavior of labor flows, it is primarily driven by creation rather than destruction. High rates of innovation are also accompanied by substantial price volatility of products. These facts suggest that the CPI deviates from a true cost-of-living index in three important dimensions. The quality bias that arises as new goods replace outdated ones causes the CPI to overstate inflation by 0.8 percent per year; the cyclicality of the bias implies that business cycles are more volatile than indicated by official statistics; and finally, sampling error is sufficiently large that over the last 10 years policymakers could not statistically distinguish whether quarterly inflation was accelerating or decelerating 65 percent of the time.
Patterns of Organizational Flexibility in Knowledge-intensive Firms – Going Beyond Existing Concepts

We analyze patterns of flexible employment among the highly qualified workforce in knowledge-intensive firms. Our conceptual starting point is the Flexible Firm that can be traced back to Atkinson. On the basis of a qualitative field study in ten organizations, we show different patterns in employment policy and highlight phenomena that go beyond Atkinson’s concept. It becomes obvious that flexible contracting with an external workforce is a function of allocating expertise instead of gaining numerical flexibility and is furthermore rather driven by knowledge workers than by firms. For systemizing the results of our explorative field work we propose the model of an Amoebic Organization as an alternative flexibility concept.
Amino acid digestibility and poultry feed formulation: expression, limitations and application

The nutritional value or quality of dietary proteins used for poultry feed formulation varies: amino acid availability is an important measure of protein quality. Determination of ileal digestibility values has become the preferred method for estimating amino acid availability. This review discusses the different approaches to the expression of digestibility results, including correction for endogenous loss and the derivatisation of standardised values. Sources of variation in values include, the assay protocol, anti-nutritional factors in feedstuffs and feed milling. Feed formulating with ileal digestibility values should allow higher dietary inclusion levels of protein feedstuffs of lower quality provided that values of different feedstuffs are additive, the age of the bird and the use of feed enzymes are considered. An Australian data set of "ileal digestible amino acid values in feedstuffs for poultry" that has recently be published is described. This overview is intended to stimulate interest in the generation and application of ileal digestibility as a method for estimating amino acid availability in poultry nutrition.
Voltammetric quantification of fluoxetine: Application to quality control and quality assurance processes

The oxidative behaviour of fluoxetine was studied at a glassy carbon electrode in various buffer systems and at different pH using cyclic, differential pulse and square wave voltammetry. A new square wave voltammetric method suitable for the quality control of fluoxetine in commercial formulations has been developed using a borate pH 9 buffer solution as supporting electrolyte. Under optimized conditions, a linear response was obtained in the range 10 to 16 μM with a detection limit of 1.0 μM. Validation parameters such as sensitivity, precision and accuracy were evaluated. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of fluoxetine in pharmaceutical formulations. The results were statistically compared with those obtained by the reference high-performance liquid chromatographic method. No significant differences were found between the methods.
Distribution of chronic or recurrent headache in children and adolescents in two studies – epidemiological study and clinical-based study

An increasing incidence and significance of chronic or recurrent headache (CRH) in children and adolescents is observed. Aim: To compare the distribution of CRH types in epidemiological and clinical studies. Material and methods: The epidemiological study included 1029 pupils aged 7-17yrs attending three different types of schools in the Plovdiv region. Inclusion criterion was at least two episodes of headache in the last year. Exclusion criteria were headache only during infections or refusal to fillin questionnaire. The study was conducted in four steps: I– questionnaire; IIclinical interview, physical and neurological examination, IIIadditional investigations, IVclassification according to IHDC-II–2004. The clinical study included 203 newly diagnosed patients with CRH aged 0-17 years admitted to the Neuropediatric Ward or treated in an outpatient clinic during years 2002–2006. The clinical study started from step II. Results: Tension type headache (TTH) was the most frequent type of CRH in the epidemiological study – 42,5% of CRH, followed by migraine – 32%. Secondary headache comprised 2,7% of CRH. In the clinical setting, however, migraine was the commonest type of CRH – 46,8%, followed by TTH – 29,6%, and secondary headache 7,4%. There were no significant differences between inand outpatient case frequencies. Conclusions: TTH is the most prevalent headache type in children and adolescents. Migraine and secondary headache are more frequent in clinical settings than in epidemiological studies, probably because they induce search of medical help more frequently than TTH. Distribution of CRH types was similar in inand outpatient neuropediatric practices. Correspondence to: Iliyana Pacheva, Department of Pediatrics and Medical Genetics, Medical University – Plovdiv, 15A Vasil Aprilov str, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Tel: +359 32 602251, Fax: +359 32 602547, E-mail: inapatcheva@hotmail.com
New Concepts of Guillain-Barré Syndrome

Guillain-Barré syndrome is an acute autoimmune polyradiculoneuropathy with a clinical presentation of flaccid paralysis with areflexia, variable sensory disturbance, and elevated cerebrospinal fluid protein without pleocytosis. Although Guillain-Barré syndrome previously had been viewed as a unitary disorder with variations, it currently is viewed as a group of syndromes with several distinctive subtypes. These include the principal subtype prevalent in the Western world (acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy, and others, each with distinctive electrodiagnostic and pathologic features, including acute motor axonal neuropathy), acute motor-sensory axonal neuropathy, Miller Fisher syndrome, and perhaps others. The clinical and pathologic features of these Guillain-Barré syndrome subtypes are reviewed, and the role of antecedent infections, particularly Campylobacter jejuni gastroenteritis, and the role of antiganglioside antibody responses are reviewed with respect to pathogenesis. Treatment of Guillain-Barré syndrome includes both important supportive measures and immunotherapies, specifically high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin and plasma exchange. (J Child Neurol 2000;15:183-191).
Seasonal Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Children: Role of Preceding Respiratory Viral Infection

OBJECTIVE. Our objective was to demonstrate correlations between invasive pneumococcal disease in children and circulating respiratory viruses. METHODS. This retrospective study included 6 winter respiratory viral seasons (2001–2007) in Intermountain Healthcare, an integrated health system in the Intermountain West, including Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Children <18 years of age who were hospitalized with either invasive pneumococcal disease in any Intermountain Healthcare facility or culture-confirmed invasive pneumococcal disease at Primary Children's Medical Center were included. We analyzed the correlation between invasive pneumococcal disease and circulating respiratory viruses. RESULTS. A total of 435 children with invasive pneumococcal disease and 203 with culture-confirmed invasive pneumococcal disease were hospitalized in an Intermountain Healthcare facility or Primary Children's Medical Center during the study period. During the same period, 6963 children with respiratory syncytial virus, 1860 with influenza virus, 1459 with parainfluenza virus, and 818 with adenoviruses were evaluated at Primary Children's Medical Center. A total of 253 children with human metapneumovirus were identified during the last 5 months of the study. There were correlations between invasive pneumococcal disease and seasonal respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus, and human metapneumovirus activity. The correlation with invasive pneumococcal disease was strong up to 4 weeks after respiratory syncytial virus activity. For influenza virus and human metapneumovirus, the correlations were strong at 2 weeks after activity of these viruses. Pneumonia was the most common clinical disease associated with culture-confirmed invasive pneumococcal disease, mostly attributable to serotypes 1, 19A, 3, and 7F. CONCLUSIONS. In the post–pneumococcal conjugate vaccine era, seasonal increases in respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus, and human metapneumovirus infections in children were associated with increased pediatric admissions with invasive pneumococcal disease, especially pneumonia caused by nonvaccine serotypes.
Outcomes in severe sepsis and patients with septic shock: Pathogen species and infection sites are not associated with mortality*

Objectives:We evaluated the respective influence of the causative pathogen and infection site on hospital mortality from severe sepsis related to community-, hospital-, and intensive care unit-acquired infections. Design:We used a prospective observational cohort 10-yr database. We built a subdistribution hazards model with corrections for competing risks and adjustment for potential confounders including early appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Setting:Twelve intensive care units. Patients:We included 4,006 first episodes of acquisition-site-specific severe sepsis in 3,588 patients. Inteventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:We included 1562 community-acquired, 1432 hospital-acquired, and 1012 intensive care unit-acquired episodes of severe sepsis. After adjustment, we found no independent associations of the causative organism, multidrug resistance of the causative organism, infection site, or presence of bacteremia with mortality. Early appropriate antimicrobial therapy was consistently associated with better survival in the community-acquired (0.64 [0.51–0.8], p = .0001), hospital-acquired (0.72 [0.58–0.88], p = .0011), and intensive care unit-acquired (0.79 [0.64–0.97], p = .0272) groups. Conclusion:The infectious process may not exert as strong a prognostic effect when severity, organ dysfunction and, above all, appropriateness of early antimicrobials are taken into account. Our findings emphasize the importance of developing valid recommendations for early antimicrobial therapy.
Treatment of Murine Leukaemia with X Rays and Homologous Bone Marrow

light and to accommodation (30-40 % incidence). Sweating was also reduced. The incidence of ganglionic block over the various autonomic functions tested was different in every one of the 41 subjects for which complete records were obtained. Variability in the response to a ganglion-blocking agent is as great in normal subjects as in patients. It may be regarded as a result of the varying autonomic constitution of different individuals.
Kinetics of the interaction of 2'(3')-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl)-ATP with myosin subfragment 1 and actomyosin subfragment 1: characterization of two acto-S1-ADP complexes.

We have used a fluorescent analogue of ATP, mantATP [2'(3')-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl)-adenosine 5'-triphosphate; Hiratsuka T. (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 742, 496-508], and made a detailed kinetic study of the interaction of mantATP and mantADP with S1 and acto-S1. We have shown that these analogues behave like ATP and ADP, respectively. In addition, we have demonstrated that this analogue can distinguish between two acto-S1 complexes, the A-M.N (attached) and A.M.N (rigor-like) states [Geeves, M. A. , Good, R. S. , & Gutfreund, H. (1984) J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil. 5, 351-361]. Previously, these two states were observed with a pyrene label on Cys 374 of actin. This isomerization can now be monitored at two spatially distinct sites on the ternary complex, indicative of a major conformational change in the ternary complex. Also, we have measured the rate of ADP dissociation from both A-M.N and A.M.N directly and shown these to differ by a factor of 1000. Thus the results presented here support the model of Geeves et al. and are consistent with the A-M.N to A.M.N transition being coupled to the force-generating event of the crossbridge cycle.
THE PREVALENCE OF ACNE VULGARIS IN ADOLESCENCE

SUMMARY. — We examined 1555 school children aged 8 to 18 and graded them according to the presence and severity of acne lesions on the face and neck. Comedones were present in a large proportion of even the youngest children and were virtually universal by the mid‐teens. Clinical acne appeared 2 years earlier in girls than boys and the maximum prevalence was reached at age 14 in girls and 16 in boys. Thereafter the prevalence of the more severe grades of acne continued to increase steadily in boys, but declined in girls. The age of the menarche in girls did not affect the severity of acne which ultimately developed. More girls than boys sought medical advice despite the generally milder form of the disease in girls.
From evolved motives to everyday mentation: Evolution, goals, and cognition

Walking across a crowding shopping mall, you may see a group of people who vary in their race, gender, attractiveness, clothing style, and demeanor. A similarly complex array of social stimuli confronts us at conferences, airports, farmer’s markets, and college campuses. Rarely do we attend equally to all individuals in such complex social environments or to all characteristics of any given individual. Rather, we selectively direct our attention toward a smaller subset of individuals and characteristics. This selective direction of attention often occurs automatically, without conscious intent, and can have important consequences for subsequent thoughts and actions. Who do we attend to, think about, and later remember? And how are the answers to this question linked to our goals at the moment? We recently embarked on a program of research to explore the processes that influence the selective and automatic direction of perceptual and cognitive resources. In this chapter, we present a conceptual framework that begins to articulate the role that fundamental social goals play in governing these processes. We focus, in particular, on the ways in which self-protection and mating goals selectively facilitate attention toward people who have characteristics relevant to those goals. Integrating theory and research on selective attention processes, the influence of goals on social cognition and behavior, and ecological theories of motivation and social cognition, our
Physiological and morphological identification of two types of on‐center bipolar cells in the carp retina

Two types of on‐center bipolar cells, rod‐ and cone‐dominant bipolars have been identified in the dark‐adapted retina of the carp by means of intracellular recordings and Lucifer‐yellow dye injection. They differ physiologically and morphologically in the following respects: (1) responses of rod‐dominant cells to bright lights are characterized by a tansient depolarization followed by a smaller sustained depolarization, while those of cone‐dominant cells are approximately rectangular; (2) the cone‐dominant cells are about 1.5 log units less sensitive to light than the rod‐dominant cells; (3) the latency of the response is shorter in the cone‐dominant cells than in the rod‐dominant cells; (4) the mean diameters of the cone‐dominant cell receptive field (0.7 mm) and dendritic field (90 μm) are larger than those of the rod‐dominant cell receptive field (0.5 mm) and dendritic field (56 μm); (5) the mean diameter of the cone‐dominant cell soma (8 μm) is smaller than that of the rod‐dominant cell soma (13 μm); and (6) the terminations of the cone‐dominant cell axons form a ramification (67 μm mean diameter) in contrast to a big terminal swelling of the rod‐dominant cell axons (37 μm mean diameter). At least two ionic mechanisms are responsible for generating the depolarizing response of on‐center bipolar cells, one having a reversal at a positive potential and the other at a negative potential. Responses with a negative reversal potential only are obtained from some of cone‐dominant cells and responses with a positive reversal potential only are obtained from some other cone‐dominant cells and the rod‐dominant cells. There are a large number of bipolar cells that respond by both ionic mechanisms, although the ratio between them varied considerably in different cells.
Reduced cold pain tolerance in chronic pain patients following opioid detoxification.

OBJECTIVE One potential consequence of chronic opioid analgesic administration is a paradoxical increase of pain sensitivity over time. Little scientific attention has been given to how cessation of opioid medication affects the hyperalgesic state. In this study, we examined the effects of opioid tapering on pain sensitivity in chronic pain patients. DESIGN Twelve chronic pain patients on long-term opioid analgesic treatment were observed in a 7- to 14-day inpatient pain rehabilitation program, with cold pain tolerance assessed at admission and discharge. The majority of participants were completely withdrawn from their opioids during their stay. OUTCOME MEASURES We hypothesized that those patients with the greatest reduction in daily opioid use would show the greatest increases in pain tolerance, as assessed by a cold pressor task. RESULTS A linear regression revealed that the amount of opioid medication withdrawn was a significant predictor of pain tolerance changes, but not in the direction hypothesized. Greater opioid reduction was associated with decreased pain tolerance. This reduction of pain tolerance was not associated with opioid withdrawal symptoms or changes in general pain. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the withdrawal of opioids in a chronic pain sample leads to an acute increase in pain sensitivity.
Activation of Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor-γ Inhibits the Runx2-mediated Transcription of Osteocalcin in Osteoblasts*

Mesenchymal cells are able to differentiate into several distinct cell types, including osteoblasts and adipocytes. The commitment to a particular lineage may be regulated by specific transcription factors. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), acting in conjunction with CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α, has been suggested as a key regulator of adipogenic differentiation. Previous studies have shown that the activation of PPARγ in osteoblasts suppresses osteoblast differentiation and the expression of osteocalcin, an osteoblast-specific protein. However, the mechanism of this inhibition remains unclear. We investigated the effect of PPARγ activation on the expression of osteocalcin and analyzed the molecular mechanism. Mouse osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells expressed PPARγ, which was transcriptionally active, whereas rat osteosarcoma ROS 17/2.8 cells did not. Treatment of MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts and ROS 17/2.8 cells stably transfected with PPARγ2 with the PPARγ activator 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 inhibited the mRNA expression of osteocalcin and Runx2, the latter of which is a key transcription factor in osteoblast differentiation. This decreased expression of osteocalcin and Runx2 was partly explained by the decreased level of Runx2 resulting from the suppressed transcription from the Runx2 promoter. However, in addition to this indirect effect, the activation of PPARγ by 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 directly suppressed the Runx2-mediated induction of the activities of the osteocalcin promoter and the artificial promoter p6OSE2, which contains six tandem copies of osteoblast-specific element-2, the Runx2-binding promoter sequence. This inhibition was mediated by a physical interaction between PPARγ and Runx2 and the subsequent repression of the transcriptional activity at the osteoblast-specific element-2 sequence. Thus, this study demonstrates that the activation of PPARγ inhibits osteocalcin expression both by suppressing the expression of Runx2 and by interfering with the transactivation ability of Runx2.
The effect of projection errors on angular measurements in cephalometry.

The effect of projection errors on angular measurements in cephalometry was studied. Angle distortion due to projection errors caused by incorrect patient positioning was determined mathematically. When the object was rotated less than ± 5° from the proper position, angle distortion was less than ±1° and, in most instances, less than ±0.5°. When rotations of more than ±5° but less than ±10° were performed, angle distortion increased. However, misalignment of the patient's head exceeding ±5° should be noted at the positioning. The advantage of extremely long focus to film distances seemed doubtful.