Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maxwell-Bloch equations for spatially inhomogeneous semiconductor lasers. I. Theoretical formulation.

Space-dependent Maxwell-Bloch equations are derived for the description of spatiotemporal dynamics of spatially inhomogeneous semiconductor lasers. The dynamics of the charge carriers is described in a density-matrix approach using a Wigner function representation. On this basis, the coupled set of equations of motion for the active medium and the space-dependent light field is derived. Based on typical length and time scales, approximations are performed to obtain a numerically tractable problem. The many-body interactions give rise to space-dependent energy renormalizations, Coulomb enhancement, and scattering processes. The latter ones are considered in the form of momentum- and density-dependent microscopic relaxation rates due to carrier-carrier and carrier-phonon interaction for the carrier distribution functions and the polarization. For the spatial transport or the carriers an ambipolar diffusion model is derived. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
A ATOMIC , MOLECULAR , AND OPTICAL PHYSICS

The Rapid Communications section is intended for the accelerated publication of important new results. Since manuscripts submitted to this section are given priority treatment both in the editorial office and in production, authors should explain in their submittal letter why the work justifies this special handling. A Rapid Communication should be no longer than 4 printed pages and must be accompanied by an abstract. Page proofs are sent to authors.
Flexible and capsule endoscopy for screening, diagnosis and treatment

Endoscopy dates back to the 1860s, but many of the most significant advancements have been made within the past decade. With the integration of robotics, the ability to precisely steer and advance traditional flexible endoscopes has been realized, reducing patient pain and improving clinician ergonomics. Additionally, wireless capsule endoscopy, a revolutionary alternative to traditional scopes, enables inspection of the digestive system with minimal discomfort for the patient or the need for sedation, mitigating some of the risks of flexible endoscopy. This review presents a research update on robotic endoscopic systems, including both flexible scope and capsule technologies, detailing actuation methods and therapeutic capabilities. A future perspective on endoscopic potential for screening, diagnostic and therapeutic gastrointestinal procedures is also presented.
"Becoming a mother'--developing a new theory of early motherhood.

This paper explains the methods used in a grounded theory analysis of the experience of 55 first-time mothers in Australia, presented in the first of this series of two papers. The categories identified in the research are realising, readiness, drained, aloneness, loss and working it out, encompassed in the core category becoming a mother. Specifically, this paper extends the analysis and explains the application of a 'paradigm model' and the identification of a Basic Social Process (BSP). The paper links the analysis to the literature on early motherhood from nursing, midwifery, feminist, and sociological research. A substantive theory is proposed to explain women's experience in becoming mothers that demonstrates how, when responsive to the needs of those researched, a grounded theory analysis can provide a framework for nursing and midwifery care.
Can We Improve Treatment Decision-Making for Incapacitated Patients?

When patients cannot make their own treatment decisions, surrogates typically step in to do it for them. Surrogate decision-making is far from ideal, of course, as the surrogate may not know what the patient prefers or what best promotes her interests. One way to improve it would be to arm surrogates with information about what patients in similar circumstances tend to prefer, allowing them to make empirically grounded predictions about what their patient would want.
Research Progress on the Chemistry and Pharmacology of Prunella vulgaris Species

An exhaustive literature survey on the secondary metabolites of widely distributed Prunella vulgaris L. species has been carried out. Triterpenoids, sterols, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, coumarins, fatty acids, volatile oils and carbohydrates along with some other compounds, have been reported from this species. Many of these compounds have been found to possess significant biological properties, including antihypertensive activity, anticancer activity, anti-lipidemic activity, antibacterial and antivirus activities, anti-inflammatory activities, hypoglycemic effects, heptaprotective effects, antineoplastic activities, etc. P. vulgaris might offer a rich natural source with relative cheap price for developing new anti-neoplastic drugs.
Abnormal FMRI brain activation in euthymic bipolar disorder patients during a counting Stroop interference task.

BACKGROUND Bipolar disorder is characterized by disturbed mood homeostasis accompanied by cognitive impairments that appear to persist during euthymia. Cognitive probes, coupled with neuroimaging, provide an approach toward clarifying the neurophysiology of bipolar disorder. METHOD Sixteen patients with euthymic bipolar disorder and 16 healthy subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a counting Stroop interference task and a control condition. Task performance was correlated with regional brain activation differences between groups, and the effect on brain activation of receiving versus not receiving medications was evaluated. RESULTS Bipolar patients exhibited impaired task performance relative to the healthy subjects. In addition, the two groups demonstrated significantly different patterns of brain activation during the interference task. Healthy subjects exhibited relatively increased activation in temporal cortical regions, middle frontal gyrus, putamen, and midline cerebellum. Bipolar subjects exhibited relatively greater activation in the medial occipital cortex. The groups demonstrated different associations between task performance and fMRI activation in these brain regions. No differences in activation in these regions were observed between patients who were versus those who were not receiving medications; however, patients receiving medications exhibited greater activation in the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS These differences suggest that patients with euthymic bipolar disorder fail to activate brain regions associated with performance of an interference task, which may contribute to impaired task performance. Medications do not explain these differences but may influence activation of brain regions primarily associated with performing an interference task.
Comparison of two assays for measuring plasma concentrations of paracetamol

An overdose of paracetamol can cause fatal hepatic necrosis, but acetylcysteine is an effective antidote if given early.1 An estimation of plasma concentrations of paracetamol is required if a patient is suspected of having taken a toxic dose. We compared the AcetaSite test card and Stat-Site reflectance meter (GDS Diagnostics, Elkhart, IN), a bedside method of determining paracetamol concentrations that takes 2 minutes, with the Quantase assay (Porton Products, Maidenhead), an established laboratory method. Altogether 192 patients were recruited into the study; of these, 92 had taken paracetamol. Patients who had not ingested paracetamol but required venepuncture for other reasons made up the control group. A blood sample was obtained 4 hours after suspected overdose or on arrival if 4 hours had already passed. A drop of this blood was used to measure paracetamol concentration with the AcetaSite card and …
Multiple Features Fusion Based Inverted Multi-index for Image Retrieval

In the community of image retrieval, single feature shows a very low discriminative power for matching, and typically the frequently-used SIFT feature only describes the local gradient distribution. Therefore, false matches occur prevalently. Besides, conventional inverted index usually returns long candidate lists for queries, with sparse subdivision of search space and limited accuracy. To tackle these problems, this paper proposes an effective image retrieval framework: multiple features fusion based inverted multi-index (mFFMI). Inside this framework, features are incorporated into inverted multi-index, providing respective complementary image information for accurate image retrieval. We fuse Root SIFT (a variant of SIFT), color and texture features into mFFMI framework, and experiments on benchmark datasets show that mFFMI structure yields favorable accuracy improvement, compared with state-of-the-art. Moreover, another significant characteristic of mFFMI is that it is well compatible with many other techniques, and a better performance can be achieved if combined with such prior techniques.
Comparison of Effect of Lidocaine and Dexmedetomidine for Prevention of Propofol Induced Pain : A Prospective , Randomized , Double Blind Controlled Study

Propofol, an intravenous anesthetic widely used for general anaesthesia cause severe pain in most of people. The aim of this study was to compare effect of lidocaine and dexmedetomidine for prevention of propofol induced pain. The patients received normal saline (5 ml) in Group I, 0.5μg/kg of dexmedetomidine diluted in 5 ml normal saline in Group II, and 0.5 mg/kg of lidocaine diluted in 5 ml normal saline in Group III through intravenous route. The study drug was injected through the cannula over 5s and 25% of the induction dose of propofol (2 mg/kg) was administered over 10s by a mechanical syringe and Pain was graded using the four point scale. In control group 10%, 12%,32%, and 46% patients said no, mild, moderate, severe pain respectively while in dexmedetomine group 52%,44%, and 4% patients said no, mild and moderate pain respectively. In the lidocaine group 64%,34% and 2% patients said no, mild and moderate pain respectively. In both groups none of the patient complained severe pain. These drugs were effective in reducing the propofol injection pain compared to control group, but lidocaine was better than dexmedetomidine.
Investigate the Utilisation of Web 2.0 Applications: A Case Study of a Marketing Teacher and His Web-Enhanced Course Building on E-Learning Concepts at One University in KSA

Web 2.0 platforms are seen to have an emerging role in transforming teaching and learning. Specific technologies and services contributing to higher education include blogs, micro blogs, wikis, and the syndication of content through RSS, social bookmarking, media sharing, social networking sites and other social software collaborations. These can aid educators to teach by providing tools that help creativity, collaboration, motivation, and critical thinking skills, and aid students to learn in a style they are comfortable with. With applications such as Facebook, YouTube, blogging, podcasting, online discussions, and wikis, teachers and students are finding new ways to create innovative and exciting learning opportunities in worldwide academia. These tools are very popular among students for a variety of reasons. One reason is that Web 2.0 tools are free to use and easily accessible. Since they are web based, students and teachers are no longer limited to collaborating within the walls of the classroom. This case study forms part of doctoral research investigating how e-learning is developing at one university in Saudi Arabia. The paper aims to explore whether the use of Web 2 enhances teaching and learning, the means of delivering content, and the mode of communication with others. Why should we be using Web 2 technologies for teaching and learning in higher education?
Hydrogen Bonding in DNA Base Pairs: Reconciliation of Theory and Experiment

Up till now, there has been a significant disagreement between theory and experiment regarding hydrogen bond lengths in Watson−Crick base pairs. To investigate the possible sources of this discrepancy, we have studied numerous model systems for adenine−thymine (AT) and guanine−cytosine (GC) base pairs at various levels (i.e., BP86, PW91, and BLYP) of nonlocal density functional theory (DFT) in combination with different Slater-type orbital (STO) basis sets. Best agreement with available gas-phase experimental A−T and G−C bond enthalpies (−12.1 and −21.0 kcal/mol) is obtained at the BP86/TZ2P level, which (for 298 K) yields −11.8 and −23.8 kcal/mol. However, the computed hydrogen bond lengths show again the notorious discrepancy with experimental values. The origin of this discrepancy is not the use of the plain nucleic bases as models for nucleotides: the disagreement with experiment remains no matter if we use hydrogen, methyl, deoxyribose, or 5‘-deoxyribose monophosphate as the substituents at N9 and N.
Diminished pulse pressure under mental stress characterizes normotensive adolescents with parental high blood pressure.

&NA; An exaggerated blood pressure response to mental stress is believed to characterize young adults with genetic risk of essential hypertension, suggesting that stress‐induced changes might provide a useful index of pathogenetic processes. We explored this by studying pressor responsivity to competitive tasks in adolescents drawn from a large urban population. Individuals with systolic or diastolic pressures persistently between the 85th and 95th percentiles were evaluated on basal blood pressure, parental history of hypertension, and pressor and heart rate response to a challenging video game. Basal pressure was measured again at 6, 10, and 14 months. A persistently diminished pulse pressure was the cardiovascular characteristic that most reliably typified normotensive subjects with familial hypertension. Response to the video game was the best indicator of risk status. Contrary to expectations derived from research with convenience samples, epidemiologic investigation points to an increased peripheral resistance and lower cardiac output as the cardiovascular pattern more prominently associated with genetic risk in the normotensive adolescent.
History of sport participation in relation to obesity and related health behaviors in women.

BACKGROUND Organized sport participation in youth is a common form of physical activity; yet, little is known about how it is associated with adult obesity and related health behaviors. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a history of youth sport participation was related to adult obesity, physical activity, and dietary intake among women. METHODS Participating women (209 African American, 277 Caucasian; ages 18-39), recruited from the community, completed laboratory measures, a paper and pencil survey assessing past sport participation and current physical activity level, and dietary records. RESULTS Linear regression revealed that a history of sport participation predicted lower adult body mass index and higher total and sport activity levels for both ethnic groups and higher work-related physical activity among Caucasians (all P < 0.001). Past sports participation did not predict dietary intake. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that girls' participation in sports may lay the foundation for adult health and health behaviors and that sports participation could be an important component of obesity prevention programs.
CSI 2264: CHARACTERIZING ACCRETION-BURST DOMINATED LIGHT CURVES FOR YOUNG STARS IN NGC 2264

Based on more than four weeks of continuous high-cadence photometric monitoring of several hundred members of the young cluster NGC 2264 with two space telescopes, NASA's Spitzer and the CNES CoRoT (Convection, Rotation, and planetary Transits), we provide high-quality, multi-wavelength light curves for young stellar objects whose optical variability is dominated by short-duration flux bursts, which we infer are due to enhanced mass accretion rates. These light curves show many brief—several hours to one day—brightenings at optical and near-infrared wavelengths with amplitudes generally in the range of 5%–50% of the quiescent value. Typically, a dozen or more of these bursts occur in a 30 day period. We demonstrate that stars exhibiting this type of variability have large ultraviolet (UV) excesses and dominate the portion of the u − g versus g − r color–color diagram with the largest UV excesses. These stars also have large Hα equivalent widths, and either centrally peaked, lumpy Hα emission profiles or profiles with blueshifted absorption dips associated with disk or stellar winds. Light curves of this type have been predicted for stars whose accretion is dominated by Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities at the boundary between their magnetosphere and inner circumstellar disk, or where magneto-rotational instabilities modulate the accretion rate from the inner disk. Among the stars with the largest UV excesses or largest Hα equivalent widths, light curves with this type of variability greatly outnumber light curves with relatively smooth sinusoidal variations associated with long-lived hot spots. We provide quantitative statistics for the average duration and strength of the accretion bursts and for the fraction of the accretion luminosity associated with these bursts.
Activation of NF-κB1 by OX40 Contributes to Antigen-Driven T Cell Expansion and Survival1

The costimulatory molecule OX40 (CD134) is required in many instances for effective T cell-mediated immunity, controlling proliferation, and survival of T cells after encountering specific Ag. We previously found that the functional targets of OX40 are survivin and aurora B that regulate proliferation and Bcl-2 antiapoptotic family members that regulate survival. However, the intracellular pathways from OX40 that mediate these effects are unclear. In this study, we show that OX40 signaling can target the canonical NF-κB (NF-κB1) pathway in peripheral Ag-responding CD4 T cells. Phosphorylation of IκBα, nuclear translocation of NF-κB1/p50 and RelA, and NF-κB1 activity, are impaired in OX40-deficient T cells. Retroviral transduction of active IκB kinase that constitutively activates NF-κB1 rescues the poor expansion and survival of OX40-deficient T cells, directly correlating with increased expression and activity of survivin, aurora B, and Bcl-2 family members. Moreover, active IκB kinase expression alone is sufficient to restore the defective expansion and survival of OX40-deficient T cells in vivo when responding to Ag. Thus, OX40 signals regulate T cell number and viability through the NF-κB1 pathway that controls expression and activity of intracellular targets for proliferation and survival.
Presence of Tropheryma whipplei in Different Body Sites in a Cohort of Healthy Subjects.

The organism Tropheryma whipplei causes Whipple’s disease, a systemic infectious disease that primarily involves the gastrointestinal tract (1). Recent examination of the lung microbiome using culture-independent techniques has shown that the organism is present in the lungs of healthy individuals, but the origin of the organism is unknown. The Lung HIV Microbiome Project discovered that T. whipplei is more common in the lungs of HIV-infected individuals and that antiretroviral therapy significantly reduces its relative abundance (2, 3). T. whipplei has been previously detected in saliva at low prevalence (0.2%), and more commonly in gastric samples (11.4%), from individuals without Whipple’s disease (4, 5), but whether T. whipplei in the lung results from aspiration of gastric contents or from some other mechanism is unknown. T. whipplei hsp65–specific polymerase chain reaction assay is based on the T. whipplei hsp65 gene sequence and has very high sensitivity and specificity, particularly in individuals without active disease (6). To investigate potential sources for T. whipplei detected in the lung, we performed polymerase chain reaction and sequencing for T. whipplei in simultaneous bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs), oral wash samples, and gastric aspirate samples in a cohort of HIVuninfected, healthy subjects. Some of the results of this study have been previously reported in the form of an abstract at the 2015 International Conference of the American Thoracic Society (7).
Design for human factors (DfHF): a grounded theory for integrating human factors into production design processes

The ‘design for human factors’ grounded theory explains ‘how’ human factors (HF) went from a reactive, after-injury programme in safety, to being proactively integrated into each step of the production design process. In this longitudinal case study collaboration with engineers and HF Specialists in a large electronics manufacturer, qualitative data (e.g. meetings, interviews, observations and reflections) were analysed using a grounded theory methodology. The central tenet in the theory is that when HF Specialists acclimated to the engineering process, language and tools, and strategically aligned HF to the design and business goals of the organisation, HF became a means to improve business performance. This led to engineers ‘pulling’ HF Specialists onto their team. HF targets were adopted into engineering tools to communicate HF concerns quantitatively, drive continuous improvement, visibly demonstrate change and lead to benchmarking. Senior management held engineers accountable for HF as a key performance indicator, thus integrating HF into the production design process. Practitioner Summary: Research and practice lack explanations about how HF can be integrated early in design of production systems. This three-year case study and the theory derived demonstrate how ergonomists changed their focus to align with design and business goals to integrate HF into the design process.
STATISTICAL MATCHING OF SURVEY DATA FOR THE ANALYSIS OF SPENDING PATTERNS AND POVERTY

BRIEF INTRODUCTION The first aim of this research project is to realize a probabilistic matching among data sets on households’ income, consumption, lifestyle habits and perceived difficulties in their daily life. The Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT) releases the following survey data: EU-SILC (Statistics on Income and Living Conditions), HBS (Household Budget Survey) and ADL (Aspects of daily life). Secondly, by taking advantage of the joint availability of households’ micro-data on these dimensions, this research will focus on the evaluation of household well-being, on the analysis of consumer behavior on the low/high income groups, on the evaluation of the impact of the economic crisis on demand for different expenditures categories and income classes, and on the estimation of territorial disparities in well-being.
Loop Diuretics in Clinical Practice

Diuretics are commonly used to control edema across various clinical fields. Diuretics inhibit sodium reabsorption in specific renal tubules, resulting in increased urinary sodium and water excretion. Loop diuretics are the most potent diuretics. In this article, we review five important aspects of loop diuretics, in particular furosemide, which must be considered when prescribing this medicine: (1) oral versus intravenous treatment, (2) dosage, (3) continuous versus bolus infusion, (4) application in chronic kidney disease patients, and (5) side effects. The bioavailability of furosemide differs between oral and intravenous therapy. Additionally, the threshold and ceiling doses of furosemide differ according to the particular clinical condition of the patient, for example in patients with severe edema or chronic kidney disease. To maximize the efficiency of furosemide, a clear understanding of how the mode of delivery will impact bioavailability and the required dosage is necessary.