Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cartilage Regeneration Characteristics of Human and Goat Auricular Chondrocytes

Although cartilage regeneration technology has achieved clinical breakthroughs, whether auricular chondrocytes (AUCs) represent optimal seed cells to achieve stable cartilage regeneration is not clear. In this study, we systematically explore biological behaviors of human- and goat-derived AUCs during in vitro expansion as well as cartilage regeneration in vitro and in vivo. To eliminate material interference, a cell sheet model was used to evaluate the feasibility of dedifferentiated AUCs to re-differentiate and regenerate cartilage in vitro and in vivo. We found that the dedifferentiated AUCs could re-differentiate and regenerate cartilage sheets under the chondrogenic medium system, and the generated chondrocyte sheets gradually matured with increased in vitro culture time (2, 4, and 8 weeks). After the implantation of cartilage sheets with different in vitro culture times in nude mice, optimal neocartilage was formed in the group with 2 weeks in vitro cultivation. After in vivo implantation, ossification only occurred in the group with goat-regenerated cartilage sheet of 8 weeks in vitro cultivation. These results, which were confirmed in human and goat AUCs, suggest that AUCs are ideal seed cells for the clinical translation of cartilage regeneration under the appropriate culture system and culture condition.
Implementation of Early Next-Generation Sequencing for Inborn Errors of Immunity: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study of Diagnostic Yield and Clinical Implications in Dutch Genome Diagnostic Centers

Objective Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) are a heterogeneous group of disorders, affecting different components of the immune system. Over 450 IEI related genes have been identified, with new genes continually being recognized. This makes the early application of next-generation sequencing (NGS) as a diagnostic method in the evaluation of IEI a promising development. We aimed to provide an overview of the diagnostic yield and time to diagnosis in a cohort of patients suspected of IEI and evaluated by an NGS based IEI panel early in the diagnostic trajectory in a multicenter setting in the Netherlands. Study Design We performed a prospective observational cohort study. We collected data of 165 patients with a clinical suspicion of IEI without prior NGS based panel evaluation that were referred for early NGS using a uniform IEI gene panel. The diagnostic yield was assessed in terms of definitive genetic diagnoses, inconclusive diagnoses and patients without abnormalities in the IEI gene panel. We also assessed time to diagnosis and clinical implications. Results For children, the median time from first consultation to diagnosis was 119 days versus 124 days for adult patients (U=2323; p=0.644). The median turn-around time (TAT) of genetic testing was 56 days in pediatric patients and 60 days in adult patients (U=1892; p=0.191). A definitive molecular diagnosis was made in 25/65 (24.6%) of pediatric patients and 9/100 (9%) of adults. Most diagnosed disorders were identified in the categories of immune dysregulation (n=10/25; 40%), antibody deficiencies (n=5/25; 20%), and phagocyte diseases (n=5/25; 20%). Inconclusive outcomes were found in 76/165 (46.1%) patients. Within the patient group with a genetic diagnosis, a change in disease management occurred in 76% of patients. Conclusion In this cohort, the highest yields of NGS based evaluation for IEI early in the diagnostic trajectory were found in pediatric patients, and in the disease categories immune dysregulation and phagocyte diseases. In cases where a definitive diagnosis was made, this led to important disease management implications in a large majority of patients. More research is needed to establish a uniform diagnostic pathway for cases with inconclusive diagnoses, including variants of unknown significance.
Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation and Behavioral Training, a Promising Tool for a Tailor-Made Post-stroke Aphasia Rehabilitation: A Review

Aphasia is an acquired language disorder resulting from damage to portions of the brain which are responsible for language comprehension and formulation. This disorder can involve different levels of language processing with impairments in both oral and written comprehension and production. Over the last years, different rehabilitation and therapeutic interventions have been developed, especially non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques. One of the most used NIBS techniques in aphasia rehabilitation is the Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation (tDCS). It has been proven to be effective in promoting a successful recovery both in the short and the long term after a brain injury. The main strength of tDCS is its feasibility associated with relatively minor side effects, if safely and properly administered. TDCS requires two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, which are generally placed on the scalp. The electrode montage can be either unipolar or bipolar. The main aim of this review is to give an overview of the state of the art of tDCS for the treatment of aphasia. The studies described included patients with different types of language impairments, especially with non-fluent aphasia and in several cases anomia. The effects of tDCS are variable and depend on several factors, such as electrode size and montage, duration of the stimulation, current density and characteristics of the brain tissue underneath the electrodes. Generally, tDCS has led to promising results in rehabilitating patients with acquired aphasia, especially if combined with different language and communication therapies. The selection of the appropriate approach depends on the patients treated and their impaired language function. When used in combination with treatments such as Speech and Language Therapy, Constraint Induced Aphasia Therapy or Intensive Action Treatment, tDCS has generally promoted a better recovery of the impaired functions. In addition to these rehabilitation protocols, Action Observation Therapy, such as IMITAF, appeared to contribute to the reduction of post-stroke anomia. The potential of combining such techniques with tDCS would would therefore be a possibility for further improvement, also providing the clinician with a new action and intervention tool. The association of a tDCS protocol with a dedicated rehabilitation training would favor a generalized long-term improvement of the different components of language.
An analysis of frequency temperature characteristics vs. film thickness of electrodes for AT-cut resonators

This paper describes both theoretical analysis and experimental results regarding frequency temperature-electrode film thickness characteristics for AT-cut resonators. The experiments were conducted by the oscillating method over a wide temperature range from -50 to 100/spl deg/C. The quadric formula between the turn-over temperature and the electrode film thickness was proposed theoretically and the coefficients of the quadric were decided by the least squares method using the experimental results. This paper also discusses a new frequency equation, taking account of the film thicknesses for AT-cut resonators.
On the Internal Gravity Wave-Atmospheric Circulation Interaction

Internal gravity waves (GWs) are an important component of the atmospheric dynamics, significantly affecting the middle atmosphere by momentum and energy transport and deposition. In order to be able to improve global circulation models, in which the majority of the GW spectrum is not resolved, it is necessary to quantify their effects as precise as possible. We study GWs in a high-resolution simulation of the WRF model around Southern Andes, Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia Island. We analyse a Gaussian high-pass filter method for separation of the GWs from the basic flow. To overcome an observed problem of dependence of the method on a cutoff parameter, we propose an improved method that determines the parameter at each time step from the horizontal kinetic energy spectrum. The differences between the methods are further examined using the horizontal kinetic energy spectrum, vertical potential energy spectrum and forcing to the divergence equation evaluated by the active wind method, which is a recent theory-based method that divides the flow into a balanced flow and a perturbation field. The results suggest that the high-pass filter method does not produce correct results for time periods with strong wave activity.
Effect of Power Distance on Organizational Commitment in the Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria

The study aimed at assessing the effect of power distance on organizational commitment in the federal polytechnic Mubi, Adamawa state. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of power distance on organizational commitment. A survey research design was adopted. The population of the study is2,536 comprises of academic and non-academic staff of federal polytechnic Mubiand 346 employees were selected as a sample size using Yamani formula. Self-administered questionnaire design on five pointsLikert scale ranging from strongly disagrees (1) to strongly agree (5) was used as data collection instrument. The Cronbach'salpha was used to test the reliability of the instrument. The hypothesis of the study was tested using regression analysis at 5% (0.05) level of significance with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). Based on the analysis, the findings of this study shows that power distance does not have significant effect on organizational commitment (β= 0.089, t=1.590, p>0.05). Therefore, power distance is not a factor to determine organizational commitment. Based on the results, it is recommended that organization managers that require its employees to be committed to their responsibilities should not use power distance as a measure to obtain that. This study suggests that future researchers should extend the research to profit making organization and break power distance into low and high power also there is need to look at commitment dimensionally.
Altered Tim-1 and IL-10 Expression in Regulatory B Cell Subsets in Type 1 Diabetes

Background Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease with a complex aetiology. B cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of T1D. Regulatory B cells (Bregs) are a subset of B cells that produce and secrete the inhibitory factor interleukin-10 (IL-10), thereby exerting an anti-inflammatory effect. It was recently discovered that T-cell immunoglobulin mucin domain 1 (Tim-1) is essential for maintaining Bregs function related to immune tolerance. However, the detailed understanding of Tim-1+ Bregs and IL-10+ Bregs in T1D patients is lacking. This study aimed to characterize the profile of B cell subsets in T1D patients compared with that in controls and determine whether Tim-1+ Bregs and IL-10+ Bregs play roles in T1D. Materials and Methods A total of 47 patients with T1D, 30 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and 24 healthy controls were recruited in this study. Flow cytometry was used to measure the levels of different B cell subsets (including B cells, plasmablasts, and Bregs) in the peripheral blood. Radiobinding assays were performed to detect the antibody titres of T1D patients. In addition, the correlations between different B cell subsets and patient parameters were investigated. Results Compared with healthy controls, differences in frequency of Tim-1+ Bregs were significantly decreased in patients with T1D (36.53 ± 6.51 vs. 42.25 ± 6.83, P=0.02*), and frequency of IL-10+ Bregs were lower than healthy controls (17.64 ± 7.21vs. 24.52 ± 11.69, P=0.009**), the frequency of total Bregs in PBMC was also decreased in patients with T1D (1.42 ± 0.53vs. 1.99 ± 0.93, P=0.002.**). We analyzed whether these alterations in B cells subsets were associated with clinical features. The frequencies of Tim-1+ Bregs and IL-10+ Bregs were negatively related to fasting blood glucose (FBG) (r=-0.25 and -0.22; P=0.01* and 0.03*, respectively). The frequencies of Tim-1+ Bregs and IL-10+ Bregs are positively correlated with fast C-peptide (FCP) (r=0.23 and 0.37; P=0.02* and 0.0001***, respectively). In addition, the frequency of IL-10+ Breg was also negatively related to glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) (r=-0.20, P=0.04*). The frequencies of Tim-1+ Bregs, IL-10+ Bregs and Bregs in T2D patients were reduced, but no statistically significant difference was found between other groups. Interestingly, there was positive correlation between the frequencies of Tim-1+ Bregs and IL-10+ Bregs in T1D (r=0.37, P=0.01*). Of note, it is worth noting that our study did not observe any correlations between B cell subsets and autoantibody titres. Conclusions Our study showed altered Tim-1 and IL-10 expression in regulatory B cell in T1D patients. Tim-1, as suggested by the present study, is associated with islet function and blood glucose levels. These findings indicate that Tim-1+ Bregs and IL-10+ Bregs were involved in the pathogenesis of T1D.
The Behavior Avoidance Test: Association With Symptom Severity and Treatment Outcome in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Behavior therapy of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) aims to reduce avoidance, rituals, and discomfort in OCD-relevant situations. The Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT) measures these behavior-related outcomes in individually challenging OCD-related situations. The association of the BAT with OCD severity measures and its relevance for treatment outcome is, however, still unclear. The current study investigates with a retrospective analysis of a subsample of a pilot study, (1) if reactions on the BAT are related to OCD severity measures in an OCD sample (n = 28), (2) if treatment with two variants of cognitive-behavior therapy (exposure and response prevention vs. metacognitive therapy) changes the BAT scores and (3) if these changes as well as pretreatment BAT avoidance are relevant for OCD treatment outcome as measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Participants rated avoidance, ritual, and discomfort in three individually challenging OCD-related situations before and after therapy. For one of these situations, BAT dimensions were rated by the therapist and an independent rater in addition to the patients' ratings. Correlational analyses found significant correlations between BAT discomfort and OCD severity measures like the Y-BOCS. A repeated measures ANOVA with pre- and posttest scores showed that all three BAT dimensions significantly decreased during both treatments. Hierarchical regression analyses (controlling for Y-BOCS pretest scores) revealed that changes in BAT discomfort as well as pretreatment BAT avoidance scores predicted the Y-BOCS posttest score. These findings suggest that the BAT is a distinct measure of behavior-related outcomes partly being relevant for OCD treatment outcome.
The Media or the Message? Experimental Evidence on Mass Media and Modern Contraception Uptake in Burkina Faso1

Mass media can spread information and disinformation, but its impact is hard to rigorously measure. Using a two-level randomized controlled trial covering 5 million people, we test both exposure to mass media (with 1,500 women receiving radios) and the impact of a high-quality, intensive 2.5 year, family planning mass media campaign in Burkina Faso (8 of 16 local radio stations received the campaign). We find women who received a radio in noncampaign areas reduced contraception use by 5.2 percentage points (p=0.039) and had more conservative gender attitudes. In contrast, modern contraceptive use rose 5.9 percentage points (p=0.046) in campaign areas and 5.8 percentage points (p=0.030) among those given radios in campaign areas. Births fell 10%. The campaign changed beliefs about contraception but not preferences, and encouraged existing users to use more consistently. We estimate the nationwide campaign scale-up led to 225,000 additional women using modern contraception, at a cost of US$7.7 per additional user. JEL codes: J13, J16, L82
Sistem Promosi Pariwisata Menggunakan Ontologi

Pariwisata merupakan sektor yang penting di Indonesia. World Tourism Organization (WTO) meramalkan pada tahun 2019, bahwa industri pariwisata Asia Pasifik akan mengalami perkembangan yang menjanjikan terutama dari segi pendapatan. Sistem promosi pariwisata berbasis konteks yang ada hanya mengakomodasi pelancong yang sudah memiliki rencana dengan jelas (pelancong terencana), sedangkan pelancong yang sekedar ingin menjelajahi kota, berjalan-jalan atau menghabiskan waktu luang (pelancong dadakan) belum ada yang mengakomodasi. Salah satu solusi tersebut adalah dengan menggunakan teknologi piranti bergerak dan ontologi. Piranti bergerak memudahkan pelancong untuk mendapatkan informasi kapanpun dan dimanapun. Sedangkan penggunaan ontologi akan mempermudah penyajian informasi yang lebih relevan kepada pelancong. Ontologi dalam konteks studi ini adalah ontologi probabilitas dengan pendekatan bayesian network. Pengujian sistem dibagi menjadi dua bagian yaitu uji validitas kebutuhan sistem dengan menggunakan perkaka Requirements Traceability Matrixs (RTM) dan pengujian sistem purwarupa dengan pengujian kotak hitam. Secara umum, fungsionalitas sistem berjalan baik dan sesuai dengan rancangan sistem.
The Geopolitics of Digital Rights Discourse: Mapping Civil Society Representation at RightsCon

Civil society plays an important role in internet governance according to multistakeholderism, as enacted at the IGF and in other global institutions. Accordingly, scholars have studied civil society participation from the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society through to the most recent IGF, trying to better understand how civil society shapes the internet through multistakeholderism. This study addresses questions of representation in civil society by examining Access Now’s annual RightsCon conference as a site of civil society convening and evaluating how institutional context shapes civil society discourse. In addition, it extends postcolonial critiques of the category of civil society in internet governance by adopting a critical geopolitical rubric in assessing representation. Through a meso-level discourse analysis of the organizations that lead in the RightsCon program, this study finds striking inequality among actors that shape discourse by hosting sessions. While the direction of inequality may be unsurprising—particularly over-representation of the US—the particular shape and depth of inequality offers new perspectives to evaluating civil society discourse and representation. Ultimately this study advances scholarship on civil society in internet governance and discursive processes in policymaking both through its empirical findings and methodological choices.
Ozone highs and associated flow features in the first half of the twentieth century in different data sets

In order to better understand weather extremes, their relation to the large-scale climate variability, and their possible changes over time, observation-based atmospheric data sets are required that reach back in time as far as possible and that provide information on the 3-dimensional structure of the atmosphere. A number of new such data sets have been published in recent years, including historical observations, reanalyses, and reconstructions, some of which reach back into the nineteenth century. However, their usefulness for studying weather extremes remains to be shown. Here we compare some of these historical data sets in the first half of the twentieth century, focusing on one specific type of extreme, namely “ozone highs”. Using historical total ozone observations as a starting point, we assess dynamical links between total ozone, the flow near the tropopause, and tropospheric circulation in the “Twentieth Century Reanalysis” (20CR), historical radiosonde and aircraft observations, and hand drawn historical maps. Selected cases are presented for two regions (Europe and China). Ozone highs over Europe in the 1920s to 1950s were qualitatively well reproduced in 20CR and could mostly be interpreted in the context of cut-off lows. Some of these coincided with a blocking high over the North Atlantic or with vigorous cold-air outbreaks. One of these cases is analysed in more detail. Ozone highs over China in the 1930s may have been related to changes in the jet stream and the subtropical tropopause, but they were not always well reproduced in 20CR. The results demonstrate that, in many of the cases, the available data allow a dynamical interpretation. This confirms the potential of the available data and techniques to extend the length of atmospheric data sets suitable for studying extremes.
Miniaturised self-resonant split-ring resonator antenna

A self-resonant miniaturised antenna composed of a broadside-coupled split ring resonator (SRR) and an excitation arc-shaped monopole is presented. The size of the antenna and its resonance frequency is essentially defined by the SRR dimensions and geometry, while the input resistance at the resonance is governed by the arc length of the monopole. Numerical and experimental results are presented for an antenna configuration of 1/23.4 wavelength in diameter (ka~0.134). The antenna is tuned to 50 Omega without any matching network, and its efficiency is measured to be 17.5%.
Prevalence of scapular dyskinesis in office workers with neck and scapular pain

Objectives. This study aimed to investigate the presence of scapular dyskinesis (SD) in office workers with neck and scapular complaints. The postural malalignment and related muscle adaptations were also explored. Methods. SD and its subtypes were determined. Postural deviations and the length of commonly reported muscle tightness were evaluated. Results. Among 99 participants, 90% of them had SD. Considering both sides or 198 scapula, 90.4% were identified as having painful scapula and 19% as having painless scapula. There was a difference in the proportion of SD on painful (93%) and painless (69%) sides. Postural deviations including rounded shoulder (100%), forward head (43.3%) and thoracic hyperkyphosis (54.5%) were prevalent. Persons with type III SD had a higher percentage of forward head than other types. There was also tightness of the pectoralis minor (100%), levator scapulae (93.0%) and upper trapezius (98.3%) muscles without different proportions among types of SD. The greatest proportion of persons with SD had tightness of the levator scapulae. Conclusions. There was a high prevalence of SD among office workers with neck and scapular complaints. SD was also associated with abnormal posture and muscle tightness. The proper management of SD and working posture is warranted.
HAZARD ASSESSMENT OF DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, FOR CLOSE AND DISTANT EARTHQUAKES

The paper presents an earthquake hazard study for Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The seismicity of the area is outlined and discussed in terms of available earthquake data and published earthquake catalogues. Strong motion estimation models are also discussed and a specific model is selected and extended to meet the defined requirements for the study. The hazard assessment is carried out to evaluate peak ground acceleration and uniform hazard response spectra corresponding to 5% and 2% probability of being exceeded in 50 years. Simulated earthquake ground acceleration records are derived for the purposes of dynamic response history analysis. The implications of the hazard from near and far earthquakes is explored with regard to the dynamic response of tall buildings and other long-period structures common in the study area.