Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stability of TCO window layers for thin-film CIGS solar cells upon damp heat exposures: part II

Long-term performance reliability is essential for any photovoltaic module to become established in the PV market. Reliability is characterized based on many factors, one of the most important being the capability of the module to be resistant to moisture at elevated temperatures. This work continues our efforts to search for a high-performance and high-stability transparent conducting oxide (TCO) window layer for CuInGaSe2 (CIGS) devices. In this experimental study, we compared the optical, electrical, and structural stability of various TCOs deposited on glass, including single-layer Al-doped ZnO (AZO), bilayer intrinsic-/Al-doped ZnO (BZO), B-doped ZnO (ZnO:B), amorphous In2O3:SnO2 (ITO), and amorphous In2O3:ZnO (IZO). The samples were exposed to damp heat (DH) at 85°C and 85% relative humidity (RH) and were characterized periodically. The results showed that all ZnO-based TCOs are more sensitive to moisture with substantial electrical degradation and apparent optical changes than the ITO and IZO. The amorphous IZO showed peculiar behavior in electrical property, and exhibited structural change with the appearance of some finite crystallinity after DH >220 h. The results from this experimental series will assist in determining the best-performing TCO for CIGS solar cells.
An overview of leech and its therapeutic applications

Parimannan Sivachandran, Rajandas Heera, Pattabhiraman Lalitha, Manickam Ravichandran, Shalini Sivadasan, Kasi Marimuthu Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, AIMST University, Semeling 08100, Bedong, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia Faculty of Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice Unit, AIMST University, 8100, Bedong, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia Journal of Coastal Life Medicine 2015; 3(5): 405-413
Evaluation of compliance and health care utilization in patients treated with single pill vs. free combination antihypertensives

Abstract Objectives: To compare compliance/persistence, health care resource utilization, and costs associated with single-pill combination (SPC) vs. free-combination (FC) therapies among adult hypertension patients at the national and state level. Combination therapies with angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) + calcium channel blocker, ARB + hydrochlorothiazide, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor + hydrochlorothiazide were evaluated. Methods: Patients initiated on SPC or FC were identified in the MarketScan Database (2006–2008). Multivariate regression models were used to compare the health care outcomes of SPC vs. FC use during the 6-month study period. National- and state-level outcomes were analyzed and reported. Compliance was measured by medication possession ratio (MPR), and persistence was assessed based on treatment discontinuation (i.e., a lapse in therapy exceeding 30 days). Utilization and cost outcomes included frequencies of inpatient and emergency room (ER) visits and changes in health care costs from baseline. Results: Adjusting for baseline characteristics, SPC patients (N = 382,476) demonstrated significantly higher MPR than FC patients (N = 197,375) (difference = 11.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 11.4%, 11.7%). SPC patients had fewer all-cause hospitalizations (adjusted incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.75, 0.79) and ER visits (adjusted IRR = 0.87; 95% CI: 0.86, 0.89) than FC patients. Results for cardiovascular-related utilization were similar to all-cause results. Compared to FC, SPC patients showed significantly greater reductions post-therapy initiation in all-cause medical costs by −$208 (95% CI: −$302, −$114), but larger increases in hypertension-related prescription costs by $53 (95% CI: $51, $55). State-level results were generally consistent in magnitude and direction for comparisons of compliance and utilization, with greater regional variation in costs. Limitations include the possibility of residual confounding from factors not observable in claims. Conclusion: SPC use was associated with significantly better compliance/persistence and fewer hospitalizations and ER visits than FC in hypertensive patients at the national level and in almost all states. Larger reductions in medical costs with SPC use more than offset higher drug costs within most states.
Glucose and cAMP: Adversaries in the regulation of hepatic gene expression

All organisms confront intermittent periods of fasting during which energy intake is insufficient to meet energy demands. Consequently, mechanisms have evolved for synthesizing and storing energy nutrients during times of caloric sufficiency that can be used during periods of caloric limitation. In mammals, the predominant storage form of energy is triglycerides. Triglycerides can be synthesized from fatty acids obtained through the diet. Alternatively, fatty acids can be produced through de novo synthesis from the metabolic intermediate acetyl-CoA. The latter pathway is termed lipogenesis. Although all cells can synthesize fatty acids, production of triglycerides for energy storage occurs principally in the liver and adipose in mammals. Lipogenesis is regulated through the acute control of key enzyme activities by means of allosteric and covalent modifications (1). Moreover, the production of many glycolytic and lipogenic enzymes is regulated in response to dietary status (1–4). This latter response is thought to be adaptive and occurs in large part through transcriptional regulation of genes encoding lipogenic enzymes.
Prevalence of dementia and depression among elderly people in Black and ethnic minorities

Background This study was designed to identify all elderly people of ethnic minorities living in a defined geographical area in inner-city Liverpool and to identify psychiatric morbidity and barriers to use of services. This paper reports the prevalence of dementia and depression. Method A survey of the community was carried out using the Geriatric Mental State Examination, AGECAT and ethnically matched interviewers. The sampling frame consisted of Family Health Services Authority lists as a basis, with additional information from community lists, ‘snow-balling’ and a door-to-door survey. Results 418 people were interviewed, with a high percentage (55%) of young elderly (65–74) men. The prevalence of dementia ranged from 2 to 9% and of depression from 5 to 19%, and there were no significant differences in levels between English-speaking ethnic groups and the indigenous population. Higher levels of dementia were found among non-English-speaking groups. Conclusions A complete enumeration of the elderly in ethnic minority groups is best achieved by using several different methods. Diagnosis of dementia may be misleading among those who do not speak the dominant language.
Steroid induced hyperadrenocorticism in dogs - A Short study

The present study screened ten dogs with the history of prolonged exogenous glucocorticoid administration. The dogs were subjected to detailed clinical examination and special diagnostic procedures to study the clinicopathological changes associated. The most common signs observed were thinning of skin and asymmetrical alopecia. Serum alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, triglyceride and cholesterol were elevated. The adrenal glands were found to be atrophied on ultrasonography. The cortisol levels were within normal range in Low Dose Dexamethasone Suppression Test LDDST. Iatrogenic hyperadrenocorticism was diagnosed in these dogs and were advised withdrawal of steroid. Initial improvement of clinical signs was observed at 8 weeks after corticosteroid withdrawal.
MT6415CA: a 640×512-15µm CTIA ROIC for SWIR InGaAs detector arrays

This paper reports the development of a new low-noise CTIA ROIC (MT6415CA) suitable for SWIR InGaAs detector arrays for low-light imaging applications. MT6415CA is the second product in the MT6400 series ROICs from Mikro-Tasarim Ltd., which is a fabless IC design house specialized in the development of monolithic imaging sensors and ROICs for hybrid imaging sensors. MT6415CA is a low-noise snapshot CTIA ROIC, has a format of 640 × 512 and pixel pitch of 15 µm, and has been developed with the system-on-chip architecture in mind, where all the timing and biasing for this ROIC are generated on-chip without requiring any external inputs. MT6415CA is a highly configurable ROIC, where many of its features can be programmed through a 3-wire serial interface allowing on-the-fly configuration of many ROIC features. It performs snapshot operation both using Integrate-Then-Read (ITR) and Integrate-While-Read (IWR) modes. The CTIA type pixel input circuitry has three gain modes with programmable full-well-capacity (FWC) values of 10.000 e-, 20.000 e-, and 350.000 e- in the very high gain (VHG), high-gain (HG), and low-gain (LG) modes, respectively. MT6415CA has an input referred noise level of less than 5 e- in the very high gain (VHG) mode, suitable for very low-noise SWIR imaging applications. MT6415CA has 8 analog video outputs that can be programmed in 8, 4, or 2-output modes with a selectable analog reference for pseudo-differential operation. The ROIC runs at 10 MHz and supports frame rate values up to 200 fps in the 8-output mode. The integration time can be programmed up to 1s in steps of 0.1 µs. The ROIC uses 3.3 V and 1.8V supply voltages and dissipates less than 150 mW in the 4-output mode. MT6415CA is fabricated using a modern mixed-signal CMOS process on 200 mm CMOS wafers, and tested parts are available at wafer or die levels with test reports and wafer maps. A compact USB 3.0 camera and imaging software have been developed to demonstrate the imaging performance of SWIR sensors built with MT6415CA ROIC
The use of EEG to measure cerebral changes during computer-based motion-sickness-inducing tasks

Motion sickness (MS) is a stressor commonly attributed with causing serious navigational and performance errors. The distinct nature of MS suggests this state may have distinct neural markers distinguishable from other states known to affect performance (e.g., stress, fatigue, sleep deprivation, high workload). This pilot study used new high-resolution electro-encephalograph (EEG) technologies to identify distinct neuronal activation changes that occur during MS. Brain EEG activity was monitored while subjects performed a ball-tracking task and viewed stimuli on a projection screen intended to induce motion sickness/spatial disorientation. Results show the presence of EEG spectral changes in all subjects who developed motion sickness when compared to baseline levels. These changes included: 1) low frequency (1 to 10 Hz) changes that may reflect oculomotor movements rather than intra-cerebral sources; 2) increased spectral power across all frequencies (attributable to increased scalp conductivity related to sweating), 3) local increases of power spectra in the 20-50 Hz range (likely attributable to external muscles on the skull) and; 4) a central posterior (occipital) independent component that shows suppression of a 20 Hz peak in the MS condition when compared to baseline. Further research is necessary to refine neural markers, characterize their origin and physiology, to distinguish between motion sickness and other states and to enable markers to be used for operator state monitoring and the designing of interventions for motion sickness.
Higgs potential in the type II seesaw model

The Standard Model Higgs sector, extended by one weak gauge triplet of scalar elds with a very small vacuum expectation value, is a very promising setting to account for neutrino masses through the so-called type II seesaw mechanism. In this paper we consider the general renormalizable doublet/triplet Higgs potential of this model. We perform a detailed study of its main dynamical features that depend on ve
Drawing a baseline in aesthetic quality assessment

Aesthetic classification of images is an inherently subjective task. There does not exist a validated collection of images/photographs labeled as having good or bad quality from experts. Nowadays, the closest approximation to that is to use databases of photos where a group of users rate each image. Hence, there is not a unique good/bad label but a rating distribution given by users voting. Due to this peculiarity, it is not possible to state the problem of binary aesthetic supervised classification in such a direct mode as other Computer Vision tasks. Recent literature follows an approach where researchers utilize the average rates from the users for each image, and they establish an arbitrary threshold to determine their class or label. In this way, images above the threshold are considered of good quality, while images below the threshold are seen as bad quality. This paper analyzes current literature, and it reviews those attributes able to represent an image, differentiating into three families: specific, general and deep features. Among those which have been proved more competitive, we have selected a representative subset, being our main goal to establish a clear experimental framework. Finally, once features were selected, we have used them for the full AVA dataset. We have to remark that to perform validation we report not only accuracy values, which is not that informative in this case, but also, metrics able to evaluate classification power within imbalanced datasets. We have conducted a series of experiments so that distinct well-known classifiers are learned from data. Like that, this paper provides what we could consider valuable and valid baseline results for the given problem.
A SUPPLY SIDE THEORY OF THIRD PARTY CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

We develop and test a theory of the supply side of third party conflict management. Building on an existing formal model of mediation (Kydd, 2003), we consider the influence of broad, top-down systemic forces on mediator decisions. Our previous work suggests that a strong democratic community and its institutions bolster the likelihood that third party mediation will occur. We integrate this effect of the democratic community into a game theoretic mediation model by adding a simple cost term that punishes a mediator for lying about one side’s resolve for fighting and getting caught. By increasing the supply of credible mediators, global movements toward a strong democratic community increase the likelihood that potential mediators will intervene in contentious conflicts. Empirical analyses of dyadic data from 18162001 provide support for our theory, with third party conflict management occurring more frequently when the strength of the democratic community and global institutions rises. We also find that democratic and powerful states serve as mediators more often, and that trade ties, alliances, issue salience, and distance influence third party decisions to mediate. Paper prepared for 2005 Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Honolulu, Hawaii. Previous versions were presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL and the Global Democratic Peace workshop at the University of Iowa, March 26 and 27, 2004. Sara Mitchell’s research has been supported by two grants from the National Science Foundation (SES-0214447 and SES-0079421). Kelly Kadera’s research has been supported by a grant from International Programs at the University of Iowa.
Acid dissociation of immune complexes improves diagnostic utility of p24 antigen detection in perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Since acid treatment of serum is known to disrupt immune complexes, the diagnostic utility of the p24 antigen assay was examined after acid treatment of 345 serum samples from 158 children born to women infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Although the p24 antigen assay after acid treatment was negative in 9 HIV-1-infected children < 1 week old, antigen was detectable at high levels in all 30 samples obtained from infected children 1-9 months old. Overall, antigen was positive in 145 (sensitivity 89.5%) of 162 samples from 47 HIV-1-infected children > or = 1 month old. In contrast, the sensitivity of the p24 antigen assay without acid dissociation was only 18% (P < .001). Among the 76 uninfected children, 132 (specificity 99.2%) of 133 specimens were p24 antigen-negative after acid dissociation. These results demonstrate that acid treatment of serum markedly improves the sensitivity and predictive value of the p24 antigen assay for diagnosis of perinatally acquired HIV-1 infection in children 1 month of age or older.
Prediction of Milk/Plasma Concentration Ratios of Drugs and Environmental Pollutants Using In Silico Tools: Classification and Regression Based QSARs and Pharmacophore Mapping

A large set of 185 compounds with diverse molecular structures and different mechanisms of therapeutic actions was used to develop and validate statistically significant classification and regression based QSTR models for predicting partitioning of drugs/chemicals into breast milk. Pharmacophore mapping was also carried out which showed four important features required for lower risk of secretion into milk: (i) hydrophobic group (HYD), (ii) ring aromatic group (RA), (iii) negative ionizable (NegIon) and (iv) hydrogen bond donor (HBA). QSTR and pharmacophore models were rigorously validated internally as well as externally to check the possibilities of any chance correlation and judge the predictive potential of the models. Pharmacological distribution diagrams (PDDs) were used for the classification model as a visualizing technique for the identification and selection of chemicals with lower partitioning into milk. Our in silico models enable to identify the essential structural attributes and quantify the prime molecular pre‐requisites which were chiefly responsible for secretion into milk. The developed models were also implemented to screen milk/plasma partitioning potential for a huge number DrugBank database (http://www.drugbank.ca/) compounds.
Randomized trial of peginterferon alfa‐2b and ribavirin for 48 or 72 weeks in patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 and slow virologic response

The benefit of extending treatment duration with peginterferon (PEG‐IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) from 48 weeks to 72 weeks for patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 infection has not been well established. In this prospective, international, open‐label, randomized, multicenter study, 1,428 treatment‐naïve patients from 133 centers were treated with PEG‐IFN alfa‐2b (1.5 μg/kg/week) plus RBV (800‐1,400 mg/day). Patients with detectable hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and a ≥2‐log10 drop in HCV RNA levels at week 12 (slow responders) were randomized 1:1 to receive 48 weeks (n = 86) or 72 weeks (n = 73) of treatment. Sustained virologic response (SVR) rates were 43% in slow responders treated for 48 weeks and 48% in slow responders treated for 72 weeks (P = 0.644). Relapse rates were similar in slow responders treated for 48 or 72 weeks (47% versus 33%, P = 0.169). The safety profile was similar in both treatment arms; serious adverse events leading to discontinuation of treatment were observed in 3.5% of slow responders treated for 48 weeks and 8.2% of those treated for 72 weeks. Among slow responders with a <2‐log drop in HCV RNA at week 8, SVR was 39% in the 72‐week arm and 19% in the 48‐week arm. Conclusion: These data suggest that 48 weeks of therapy with PEG‐IFN alfa‐2b plus RBV (800‐1,400 mg/day) should remain a standard‐of‐care treatment for treatment‐naïve G1 slow responders. (Hepatology 2010)
Real-time object detection based on the improved boosted features

In this paper we propose a scheme which uses the saliency-based top-down visual attention model in the rapid object detection scheme based on a boosted cascade of simple features proposed by Viola et al. It can selects conspicuous locations from complex scenes in real time and some background regions of the image can be quickly discarded while the classifier can spend more computation on promising object-like regions. We use the conspicuity map and the trained classifier to decide where the targets are. A set of experiments in the domain of face detection are presented. Test results show that with this improved scheme, the detection rate is improved and the computation speed can meet the real-time requirements.Y
Microscopical high-speed investigations of vacuum-arc cathode spots

The main parameters and dimensions of cathode spots were under discussion for years. To solve these current questions, a new system was especially designs. The image converting High Speed Framing Camera, which combines a microscopical resolution of 5 micrometers with a nanosecond time resolution and a very high optical sensitivity. This camera was used to study the microscopical behavior of vacuum arc cathode spots in a pulsed high current arc discharge on copper. The direct observation of these spots with high resolution revealed the conclusions that one single cathode spot, as normally observed by optical means consists of a number of simultaneously existing microscopical sub-spots, each of them with a diameter of about 15 micrometers and a mean distance of 30.50 micrometers between them. The mean existence time of these sub-spots on copper was found to be about 3.2 microsecond(s) , where the position of a sub-spot remains unchanged (with an upper limit of about 2.3 micrometers ) during its existence time. An upper limit of the crater surface temperature was estimated by a comparison between the brightness of a cathode spot and of a black body radiation lamp to about 3000 K.
Student Acceptance of Applying Digital Recording Technology for Preparing Research Presentation

Due to the advancement of technology, the phenomenon of using digital teaching materials during the process of learning has spread among various subjects. The aim of this study is to understand the fundamental factors influencing students' acceptance of applying digital recording technology to prepare and present research papers in college courses. Sixty-nine questionnaires were distributed and sixty-seven usable questionnaires were returned. The design of questionnaire was based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model which consisted of scales of performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), facilitating conditions (FC), social influence (SI), behavioral intention (BI) and use behavior (UB) to assess the acceptance of students. Practical implications for students can be drawn from these findings in terms of developing e-Learning, u-Learning and beyond.