Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Theoretical Modeling of a Photoconductive Antenna in a Terahertz Pulsed System

The most common device for terahertz (THz) wave generation and detection is a THz photoconductive antenna. This paper examines the factors which affect the radiated power and optical-to-THz power conversion efficiency of the antenna. A novel equivalent circuit model using lumped elements is developed for analyzing the performance of these antennas. In this model, whilst keeping the simplicity of the lumped element approach, the underlying physical behavior of the device is taken into account when calculating the circuit elements. Based on the model, the influence of various parameters on the optical-to-THz power conversion efficiency and radiated power is then investigated. The simulated results agree well with published measured results. The model predicts that an increase in the laser power and/or bias voltage, and a reduction in reflections from the air-substrate can improve the optical-to-THz power conversion efficiency of the device. This novel model is very useful for both designing a THz antenna and tuning a THz system to achieve maximized optical-to-THz power conversion efficiency and THz radiated power.
Storybook-based communication intervention for girls with Rett syndrome and their mothers.

PURPOSE Storybook reading provides a natural language learning context in which to support early symbolic communication. In this study, we explored the impact of (1) resting hand splints, (2) light tech augmentative communication systems such as voice-output devices and symbols, and (3) very basic parent training on the symbolic communication and labelling behaviours of six girls with Rett syndrome. METHOD Mothers and daughters were videotaped as they read familiar and unfamiliar storybooks in their homes. RESULTS Group and individual data collected from the six girls indicated that they became more active and successful participants in the interactions during storybook reading. The girls employed a wider range of communication modes and increased the frequency of their labelling. Familiar storybook reading encouraged greater symbolic communication than unfamiliar storybooks in half the girls. CONCLUSION This study suggests that motivated parents may not require expensive technologies or lengthy training in order to enhance their children's early communication and participation in storybook reading.
Isolation of epithelial stem cells from dermis by a three‐dimensional culture system

Skin is a representative self‐renewing tissue containing stem cells. Although many attempts have been made to define and isolate skin‐derived stem cells, establishment of a simple and reliable isolation procedure remains a goal to be achieved. Here, we report the isolation of cells having stem cell properties from mouse embryonic skin using a simple selection method based on an assumption that stem cells may grow in an anchorage‐independent manner. We inoculated single cell suspensions prepared from mouse embryonic dermis into a temperature‐sensitive gel and propagated the resulting colonies in a monolayer culture. The cells named dermis‐derived epithelial progenitor‐1 (DEEP) showed epithelial morphology and grew rapidly to a more than 200 population doubling level over a period of 250 days. When the cells were kept confluent, they spontaneously formed spheroids and continuously grew even in spheroids. Immunostaining revealed that all of the clones were positive for the expression of cytokeratin‐8, −18, −19, and E‐cadherin and negative for the expression of cytokeratin‐1, −5, −6, −14, −20, vimentin, nestin, a ckit. Furthermore, they expressed epithelial stem cell markers such as p63, integrin β1, and S100A6. On exposure to TGFβ in culture, some of DEEP‐1 cells expressed α‐smooth muscle actin. When the cells were transplanted into various organs of adult SCID mice, a part of the inoculated cell population acquired neural, hepatic, and renal cell properties. These results indicate that the cells we isolated were of epithelial stem cell origin and that our new approach is useful for isolation of multipotent stem cells from skin tissues. J. Cell. Biochem. 98: 174–184, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Link-Level Performance of Downlink NOMA with SIC Receiver Considering Error Vector Magnitude

This paper presents the link-level performance of downlink non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) with successive interference cancellation (SIC) receiver, considering the influence of error vector magnitude (EVM). In our evaluations, for the case of a 1-by-2 transmission and the number of NOMA multiplexed users is two, we clarify the performance of NOMA for cell-center user equipment (UE) with codeword level SIC (CWIC) receiver and the performance of the cell-edge UE, which does not apply SIC. Based on link-level performance evaluations, we show that the performance of CWIC receiver is almost the same as that of ideal SIC when the allocated transmit power ratio to cell-center UE is less than 0.35, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of cell-center UE is 16QAM (R = 0.51) or 64QAM (R = 0.47), and the MCS of cell-edge UE is QPSK (R = 0.51). Furthermore, we also show that, when EVM value is 4 % and the allocated power ratio to cell-center UE is between 0.2 and 0.37, the level of degradation due to the influence of EVM is below 0.6 dB, which is almost the same level of degradation as that of orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) for the EVM value required by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE). On the other hand, we show that the influence of EVM is marginal for cell-edge UE compared to cell-center UE. However, when the cell-center UE uses a higher order modulation such as 64QAM, we show that the required SNR of cell-edge UE increases due to the increase in inter-user interference. Based on these results, we clarify that it is important for the base station (BS) to take into account the target BLER and influence of EVM when selecting the MCS and allocated transmit power ratio of NOMA UEs.
Compensation patterns for healthcare workers in British Columbia, Canada

Objectives: This report examines relationships between the acceptance of compensation claims, and employee and workplace characteristics for healthcare workers in British Columbia, Canada to determine suitability of using only accepted claims for occupational epidemiology research. Methods: A retrospective cohort of full-time healthcare workers was constructed from an active incident surveillance database. Incidents filed for compensation over a 1-year period were examined for initial claim decision within a 6-month window relative to sub-sector of employment, age, sex, seniority, occupation of workers, and injury category. Compensation costs and duration of time lost for initially accepted claims were also investigated. Multiple logistic regression models with generalised estimating equations (GEEs) were used to calculate adjusted relative odds (ARO) of claims decision accounting for confounding factors and clustering effects. Results: Employees of three health regions in British Columbia filed 2274 work-related claims in a year, of which 1863 (82%) were initially accepted for compensation. Proportion of claims accepted was lowest in community care (79%) and corporate office settings (79%) and highest in long-term care settings (86%). Overall, 46% of claims resulting from allergy/irritation were accepted, in contrast to 98% acceptance of claims from cuts and puncture wounds. Licensed practical nurses had the lowest odds of claims not accepted compared with registered nurses (ARO (95% CI) = 0.55 (0.33 to 0.91)), whereas management/administrative staff had the highest odds (ARO = 2.91 (1.25 to 6.79)) of claims not accepted. A trend was observed with higher seniority of workers associated with lower odds of non-acceptance of claims. Conclusions: Analysis from British Columbia’s healthcare sector suggests variation in workers’ compensation acceptance exists across sub-sectors, occupations, seniority of workers, and injury categories. The patterns observed, however, were independent of age and sex of workers. Results suggest that when using workers’ compensation datasets, local adjudication regulations and factors associated with acceptance of claims should be taken into consideration.
Salvage of Humeral Nonunions With Onlay Bone Plate Allograft Augmentation

Eight women and one man were treated for 10 established diaphyseal humeral nonunions. Six patients sustained fractures in motor vehicle accidents and two patients sustained fractures in a fall. Two of the fractures were open. One patient with multiple myeloma originally was treated conservatively and received local radiation, followed by open reduction and internal plate fixation. The other patients previously were treated with fracture braces, intramedullary nails, dynamic compression plates, or a combination of these techniques. After removal of the surgical hardware and fibrous tissue at the nonunion site, stable fixation was accomplished using a cortical long bone plate allograft (femoral and tibial) or fibular shaft allograft and a dynamic compression plate. All humeral nonunions had united at an average of 2.9 months. Radiographic incorporation of the allograft cortical bone plate and fibular shaft into the host cortex occurred in all but one patient by 3 months. Graft to host junction healing was accomplished by incorporation of the cortical allograft plate into the host cortex, resulting in an increased diameter of the bone. Cortical allograft bone plates and fibular grafts provide structural and probably osteoinductive support to enhance healing of these nonunions.
A New Wave of Ecb's Unconventional Monetary Policies: Domestic Impact and Spillovers

ECB President Draghi’s Jackson Hole speech in August 2014 arguably marked a new phase of unconventional monetary policies (UMPs) in the euro area. This paper examines the market impact and tranmission channels of this new wave of UMPs using a modified event study framework. They are found to have a more prominent impact on inflation expectations and exchange rates compared to the earlier UMP announcements. The impact on bank equity, however, is less significant in part due to narrowing profit margin in a low interest rate environment; and the marginal effect on sovereign spread compression has diminished. By extracting components of monetary policy shocks from the yield curve, we find that the traditional signaling channel of the monetary policy transmission continued to play an important role, but the portfolio rebalancing channel became more important in the new phase. Spillovers to non-euro area EU countries (the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, and Sweden) are transmitted mainly through the portfolio rebalancing channel, largely affecting sovereign yields and exchange rates.
Colorectal cancer screening at US community health centers: Examination of sociodemographic disparities and association with patient‐provider communication

Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates are low among underserved populations. High‐quality patient‐physician communication potentially influences patients' willingness to undergo CRC screening. Community health centers (HCs) provide comprehensive primary health care to underserved populations. This study's objectives were to ascertain national CRC screening rates and to explore the relations between sociodemographic characteristics and patient‐provider communication on the receipt of CRC screening among HC patients.
Young children's knowledge about thinking.

What do pre-schoolers know about thinking? How do they develop from the notion that ideas indeed pop into their heads to the true introspection that can be seen in later childhood? Using 14 case studies of differentiation, situations and introspection, this book explores these issues. The contributors find that pre-schoolers may regard thoughts as mysterious, isolated mental events; in general, a young child has difficulty determining both when a person (either self or other) is thinking and what the person is thinking about, even if given clear clues. The implications of this limited understanding of thinking and some of the factors that influence the development of this understanding should be of interest to child development specialists and cognitive scientists in general.
Gender-specific differences in the effects of testosterone and estrogen on the development of atherosclerosis in rabbits.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether there are gender-specific differences in the effects of testosterone and estrogen on the process of atherogenesis. Thirty-two castrated male and 32 ovariectomized female rabbits were separated into 4 study groups of 8 males and 8 females each and received postoperatively a 0.5% cholesterol diet for 12 weeks. During this period either no hormones, estradiol (1 mg/kg body wt/week), testosterone (25 mg/kg body wt/week IMM), or estrogen combined with testosterone in above dosages were administered. Computerized morphometric analysis of the intimal thickening in the proximal aortic arch showed a significant inhibitory effect of estrogen in female and of testosterone in male animals (P < .05). In the group with combined treatment, the plaque size in both sexes was smaller than in the animals of the control group (P < .05). These differences were independent of changes in plasma lipid parameters. The incorporation of 5'-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine, associated with cell proliferation, into cells of the neointima was not significantly affected by the different hormone application regimens in males. In females, the incorporation rate was significantly lowered in the estrogen treated group compared with the control group (P < .05). Due to the observed differences in the sex specific atheroprotective effects of testosterone and estrogen, these data suggest that complex hormone interactions, which are independent of changes in plasma lipids, may play an important role in the process of atherogenesis.
Microtopography and distribution of canopy trees in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in the northern part of Okinawa Island, Japan

The spatial distribution of trees in relation to topography was investigated using two topographic indices, slope steepness and slope configuration, in a 4-ha plot in a subtropical evergreen forest in the northern part of Okinawa Island, Japan. Most species showed an aggregated distribution and patch size was related to various microtopographical features, including small ridges and valleys. In a cluster analysis based on the dissimilarity of each species’ distribution, the species were divided into three major clusters. A significant correlation between the dissimilarity and the distance between each species on the axis of the two topographic indices indicated that species association was, in part, explained by the topographic indices. I suggest that species distributed on steep and concave slopes regenerate depending on disturbances such as landslides on unstable topography, whereas species distributed on ridges and upper slopes regenerate depending on the canopy gap. A number of species that were less abundant in the 4-ha plot occurred in the riparian area near a stream, where the density of more abundant species was low. The results of this study support the existence of habitat niche divergence related to topography in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest.
Revisiting Crude Oil Price and China's Stock Market

In this paper, we propose a two-step nonlinear quantile causality test approach to investigate the bidirectional relationship between oil price return and China's stock price return using daily data of West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices and Shanghai Stock Exchange index for a period from January 1, 2001, to November 2, 2015. Although we cannot observe a significant linear causality, our results show that there are significant bidirectional causality correlations between oil price return and stock price return in the low quantiles.
Scientometric analysis and mapping of scientific articles on Behcet's disease

Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis disease with oral and genital aphthous ulceration, uveitis, skin manifestations, arthritis and neurological involvement. Many investigators have published articles on BD in the last two decades since introduction of diagnosis criteria by the International Study Group for Behçet's Disease in 1990. However, there is no scientometric analysis available for this increasing amount of literature.
Midterm outcomes of catheter-directed interventions for the treatment of acute pulmonary embolism

Objective The hemodynamic benefits of catheter-directed thrombolysis for acute pulmonary embolism have not been clearly defined beyond the periprocedural period. The objective of this study is to report midterm outcomes of catheter-directed thrombolysis for treatment of acute pulmonary embolism. Methods Records of all patients undergoing catheter-directed thrombolysis for high- or intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism were retrospectively reviewed. Endpoints were clinical success, procedure-related complications, mortality, and longitudinal echocardiographic parameter improvement. Results A total of 69 patients underwent catheter-directed thrombolysis (mean age 59 ± 15 y, 56% male). Eleven had high-risk and 58 intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism. Baseline characteristics did not differ by pulmonary embolism subtype. Fifty-two percent of patients underwent ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis, 39% standard catheter-directed thrombolysis, and 9% other interventional therapy; 89.9% had bilateral treatment. Average treatment time was 17.7 ± 11.3 h with average t-Pa dose of 28.5 ± 19.6 mg. The rate of clinical success was 88%. There were two major (3%) and six minor (9%) periprocedural bleeding complications with no strokes. All echocardiographic parameters demonstrated significant improvement at one-year follow-up. Pulmonary embolism-related in-hospital mortality was 3.3%, and estimated survival was 81.2% at one year. Conclusions Catheter-directed thrombolysis is safe and effective for treatment of acute pulmonary embolism, with sustained hemodynamic improvement at one year. Further prospective large-scale studies are needed to determine comparative effectiveness of interventions for acute pulmonary embolism.
Evidence for involvement of activin A and bone morphogenetic protein 4 in mammalian mesoderm and hematopoietic development

Xenopus in vitro studies have implicated both transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) families in mesoderm induction. Although members of both families are present during mouse mesoderm formation, there is little evidence for their functional role in mesoderm induction. We show that mouse embryonic stem cells, which resemble primitive ectoderm, can differentiate to mesoderm in vitro in a chemically defined medium (CDM) in the absence of fetal bovine serum. In CDM, this differentiation is responsive to TGF-beta family members in a concentration-dependent manner, with activin A mediating the formation of dorsoanterior-like mesoderm and bone morphogenetic protein 4 mediating the formation of ventral mesoderm, including hematopoietic precursors. These effects are not observed in CDM alone or when TGF-beta 1, -beta 2, or -beta 3, acid FGF, or basic FGF is added individually to CDM. In vivo, at day 6.5 of mouse development, activin beta A RNA is detectable in the decidua and bone morphogenetic protein 4 RNA is detectable in the egg cylinder. Together, our data strongly implicate the TGF-beta family in mammalian mesoderm development and hematopoietic cell formation.
Differential growth by growth plates as a function of multiple parameters of chondrocytic kinetics

Differential elongation of growth plates is the process by which growth‐plate chondrocytes translate the same sequence of gene regulation into the appropriate timing pattern for a given rate of elongation. While some of the parameters associated with differential growth are known, the purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that eight independent variables are involved. We tested this hypothesis by considering four different growth plates in 28‐day‐old Long‐Evans rats. Temporal parameters were provided by means of oxytetracycline and bromodeoxyuridine labeling techniques. Stereological parameters were measured with standard techniques. For all four growth plates, the calculated number of new chondrocytes produced per day approximated the number of chondrocytes lost per day at the chondro‐osseous junction. This suggests that the proposed equations and associated variables represent a comprehensive set of variables defining differential growth. In absolute numbers, the proximal tibial growth plate produced about four times as many chondrocytes per day as the proximal radial growth plate (16,400 compared with 3,700). In the proximal tibia, 9% of growth is contributed by cellular division; 32%, by matrix synthesis throughout the growth plate: and 59%, by chondrocytic enlargement during hypertrophy. In the more slowly elongating growth plates, the relative contribution to elongation from cellular enlargement decreases from 59 to 44%, with a relative increase in contribution from matrix synthesis ranging from 32% in the proximal tibia to 49% in the proximal radius. This study suggests that differential growth is best depicted as a complex interplay among cellular division, matrix synthesis, and cellular enlargement during hypertrophy. Differential growth is best explained by considering a set of eight independent variables, seven of which vary from growth plate to growth plate. Thus, this study confirms the importance of cellular hypertrophy during elongation and adds to our understanding of the importance of locally mediated regulatory systems controlling growth‐plate activity.
Effects of serotonin depletion on behavior and neuronal oxidative stress status in rat: relevance for anxiety and affective disorders.

PURPOSE We lesioned the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of male Wistar rats using two different doses (8μg/3μl and 16μg/3μl) of 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) and then animals were subjected to a battery of behavioral tests designed to assess anxiety and memory formation. Further, we were interested to know whether this lesion would result in neuronal oxidative stress and also if there is a correlation between the behavioral response to this lesion and brain oxidative stress. MATERIAL/METHODS Behavioral tests included elevated plus maze, used to assess exploration/anxiety status and radial armmaze, used for determining spatial short-term and reference memory errors. Regarding the oxidative stress, we measured the extent of some lipid peroxidation products like malondialdehyde and defense enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. RESULTS 5,7-DHT lesioned rats spent more time in the open arms of the elevated maze compared to sham-operated rats, suggesting that the lesion significantly diminished anxiety-like behavior. Also, short-term memory was significantly impaired, as shown by the working memory errors in radial arm-maze task. Further analyses revealed that the 5,7-DHT lesion did not result in a significant change of reference memory errors. Regarding the oxidative stress, no significant modification of both superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase specific activities from the temporal lobe were observed. However, the malondiadehyde level was significantly increased, suggesting pro-oxidant effects. Also, the linear regression between the working memory errors vs. malondiadehyde resulted in significant correlations. CONCLUSION 5,7 DHT lesion of the PVN affects behavioral performance via interactions with systems governing novel and/or fear-evoking situations and also by increasing neuronal oxidative stress.