Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Gain Saturation on Passive Mode Locking Regimes in Quantum Dot Lasers With Straight and Tapered Waveguides

We report on the simulation of passive mode locking (ML) in quantum dot (QD) two-section lasers via a multi-section delayed differential equation model. The influence of the laser structural parameters on the achieved ML regimes is investigated. We show that, consistently with experimental findings, increasing the saturable absorber (SA) to gain section length ratio from 17% to 25%, a significant pulse shortening can be achieved. A physical explanation for this behavior is obtained via a detailed study of the gain and absorption saturation dynamics leading to the self consistent ML solution, in particular the competition between spectral hole burning non-linearity and total carrier density depletion responsible for the gain saturation in the gain section, balancing the absorption bleaching in the SA, is shown to play a central role in determining the observed ML regimes. In addition, the impact of introducing a tapered gain section in QD ML lasers are investigated, the possibility to achieve high power subpicosecond pulses from such devices is theoretically demonstrated and attributed to the significantly increased gain saturation energy in the tapered gain section.
Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society

In this book, Victor Turner is concerned with various kinds of social actions and how they relate to, and come to acquire meaning through, metaphors and paradigms in their actors' minds; how in certain circumstances new forms, new metaphors, new paradigms are generated. To describe and clarify these processes, he ranges widely in history and geography: from ancient society through the medieval period to modern revolutions, and over India, Africa, Europe, China, and Meso-America. Two chapters, which illustrate religious paradigms and political action, explore in detail the confrontation between Henry II and Thomas Becket and between Hidalgo, the Mexican liberator, and his former friends. Other essays deal with long-term religious processes, such as the Christian pilgrimage in Europe and the emergence of anti-caste movements in India. Finally, he directs his attention to other social phenomena such as transitional and marginal groups, hippies, and dissident religious sects, showing that in the very process of dying they give rise to new forms of social structure or revitalized versions of the old order.
A Robust Graph Theoretic Approach for Image Segmentation

This paper presents a new robust graph theoretic approach for image segmentation. The proposed method which is capable of accurately locating region boundaries has the following salient features. First, it is a non-supervised approach which reflects the non-local properties of the image. Second, it guarantees that the regions are connected. Finally, it produces robust results which is almost unaffected by the influences of outliers. In thistechnique, at each step, a minimum weight edge is selected and the two regions connected by the minimum weight edge are considered for merge. The merging of regions is carried out, if the mean of the edges connecting the two regions is smaller than the maximum of the mean of the intra region edges along with the threshold value.
Australia's plain tobacco packs: anticipated and actual responses among adolescents and young adults 2010–2013

Background In December 2012, Australia introduced world-first legislation mandating plain packaging for all tobacco products. To date, there is very little evidence on youth responses to the changed packs. Aim To assess attitudes towards, and responses to, tobacco plain packs preimplementation and postimplementation. Methods The Tobacco Promotion Impact Study (TPIS) was a yearly cross-sectional telephone survey of adolescents and young adults (12–24 years) from the states of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, conducted at three time points preimplementation (June 2010; June 2011; June 2012) and one time point postimplementation (June 2013; total n=8820). Results There were significant increases in support for plain packaging from preimplementation to postimplementation for: never smokers (56% in 2012 vs 63% in 2013; OR=0.77, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.90, p=0.001), experimenters/ex-smokers (55% in 2012 vs 72% in 2013; OR=0.51, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.68, p<0.001) and current smokers (35% in 2012 vs 55% in 2013; OR=0.49, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.75, p=0.001). At postimplementation, 18% of never smokers reported that plain packaging made them less likely to try smoking and 16% of experimenters/ex-smokers reported that plain packaging made them less likely to smoke again. Youth were significantly less likely to have anticipated these responses preimplementation (never smokers: 8% in 2011; OR=0.43, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.65, p<0.00; experimenters/ex-smokers: 11%; OR=0.65, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.82, p<0.001). At postimplementation, 34% of smokers reported a quitting-related response to plain packaging (tried to quit or thought about quitting); the proportion who anticipated such a response preimplementation was significantly less (14% in 2011; OR=0.33, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.53, p<0.001). 28% of smokers reported a social denormalisation response at postimplementation (hid their pack from view, used a case to cover their pack, felt embarrassed); the proportion who anticipated such a response preimplementation was significantly less (9% in 2011; OR=0.24, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.42, p<0.001). Conclusions The actual response of youth to plain packaging was greater than anticipated prior to their introduction, and support for plain packaging increased from preimplementation to postimplementation among all groups of youth. Jurisdictions planning to implement plain tobacco packaging should be encouraged by these findings.
Open spaces, closed boundaries: transparent workspaces as clerical female ghettos

This research attempts to explore the link between organisational space and gender power relations. Drawing on extensive research conducted at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this paper demonstrates three spatial mechanisms, which construct and reconstruct a docile female body and a gendered identity: • 'anonymisation' of space • disabling the ability to control space • subjugation of employees to surveillance. By applying theories of feminist geography, this paper explores how planning and design is not gender-neutral, but rather anchored in power relations, which are deeply camoufl aged. Furthermore, it illustrates that spatial arrangements render the body a site of control and organisational impression management.
Refinement of information flow architectures

A calculus is presented for the stepwise refinement of abstract information flow architectures. We give a mathematical model for information flow components based on relations between input and output communication histories, and describe system architectures using two views: the glass box view is a network of basic components, while the black box view regards the network itself as a component. This allows us to hierarchically compose systems. The calculus consists of basic rules to add or remove components and channels, and to replace components by subnetworks and vice versa. The correctness of the rules is justified by the refinement relation on the black box view of architectures.
Satellite remote sensing in epidemiological studies

Purpose of review Particulate matter air pollution is a ubiquitous exposure linked with multiple adverse health outcomes for children and across the life course. The recent development of satellite-based remote-sensing models for air pollution enables the quantification of these risks and addresses many limitations of previous air pollution research strategies. We review the recent literature on the applications of satellite remote sensing in air quality research, with a focus on their use in epidemiological studies. Recent findings Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is a focus of this review and a significant number of studies show that ground-level particulate matter can be estimated from columnar AOD. Satellite measurements have been found to be an important source of data for particulate matter model-based exposure estimates, and recently have been used in health studies to increase the spatial breadth and temporal resolution of these estimates. Summary It is suggested that satellite-based models improve our understanding of the spatial characteristics of air quality. Although the adoption of satellite-based measures of air quality in health studies is in its infancy, it is rapidly growing. Nevertheless, further investigation is still needed in order to have a better understanding of the AOD contribution to these prediction models in order to use them with higher accuracy in epidemiological studies.
Efficacy of tapentadol ER for managing moderate to severe chronic pain.

BACKGROUND Chronic non-cancer-related pain affects a large proportion of the adult population and is often difficult to manage effectively. Although opioid analgesics have been used to relieve chronic pain of different etiologies, opioids are associated with a range of side effects that may reduce patient quality of life and lead to reduced compliance with treatment.Tapentadol is a centrally acting analgesic with 2 mechanisms of action, μ-opioid receptor agonism and norepinephrine reuptake inhibition, that is available in an extended-release formulation for the management of chronic pain. OBJECTIVE To review the efficacy of tapentadol extended release (ER) for the management of moderate to severe chronic nociceptive and neuropathic pain. METHODS Efficacy results are summarized for four 15-week phase 3 studies of tapentadol ER in patients with moderate to severe chronic osteoarthritis knee pain (2 studies; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifiers: NCT00421928 and NCT00486811), low back pain (NCT00449176), and pain related to diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN; NCT00455520); a one-year phase 3 study of tapentadol ER in patients with moderate to severe chronic osteoarthritis pain or low back pain (NCT00361504); and a pooled analysis of data from the 15-week studies in patients with osteoarthritis knee pain or low back pain. A summary of the comparative tolerability for tapentadol ER and the active comparator used in these studies, oxycodone controlled release (CR), is provided. RESULTS Results of these studies showed that tapentadol ER (100 - 250 mg bid) was effective for the management of moderate to severe chronic osteoarthritis knee pain, low back pain, and pain related to DPN. Tapentadol ER (100 - 250 mg bid) has been shown to provide comparable pain relief to oxycodone HCl CR (20 - 50 mg bid) for chronic osteoarthritis knee pain and low back pain over up to one year of treatment. Tapentadol ER (100 - 250 mg bid) was associated with an improved tolerability profile, particularly gastrointestinal tolerability profile, and with lower rates of treatment discontinuations and adverse event-related discontinuations compared with oxycodone HCl CR (50 - 250 mg bid) over up to one year of treatment in patients with osteoarthritis knee pain and low back pain. LIMITATIONS Differences in the design and duration of these phase 3 studies may limit comparisons of the efficacy results; nevertheless, this summary of efficacy results demonstrates the broad efficacy of tapentadol ER for different types of nociceptive and neuropathic pain. CONCLUSIONS Tapentadol ER (100 - 250 mg bid) is effective for moderate to severe osteoarthritis pain, low back pain, and pain related to DPN and provides efficacy similar to that of oxycodone HCl CR (20 - 50 mg bid) for patients with osteoarthritis and low back pain. Tapentadol ER treatment has been associated with better gastrointestinal tolerability and compliance with therapy than oxycodone CR, which suggests that tapentadol ER may be a better option for the long-term management of chronic pain.
Medial Prefrontal Cortex Activity during the Extinction of Conditioned Fear: An Investigation Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

The majority of fear conditioning studies in humans have focused on fear acquisition rather than fear extinction. For this reason only a few functional imaging studies on fear extinction are available. A large number of animal studies indicate the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) as neuronal substrate of extinction. We therefore determined mPFC contribution during extinction learning after a discriminative fear conditioning in 34 healthy human subjects by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. During the extinction training, a previously conditioned neutral face (conditioned stimulus, CS+) no longer predicted an aversive scream (unconditioned stimulus, UCS). Considering differential valence and arousal ratings as well as skin conductance responses during the acquisition phase, we found a CS+ related increase in oxygenated haemoglobin concentration changes within the mPFC over the time course of extinction. Late CS+ trials further revealed higher activation than CS– trials in a cluster of probe set channels covering the mPFC. These results are in line with previous findings on extinction and further emphasize the mPFC as significant for associative learning processes. During extinction, the diminished fear association between a former CS+ and a UCS is inversely correlated with mPFC activity – a process presumably dysfunctional in anxiety disorders.
The Advisory Working Alliance Inventory--Advisor Version: Scale Development and Validation.

The development of the Advisory Working Alliance Inventory-Advisor Version (AWAI-A) is presented. In the first study, data from 236 faculty members from APA-accredited counseling psychology programs were subjected to a principal components analysis, yielding 3 subscales: Rapport (15 items), Apprenticeship (8 items), and Task Focus (8 items). The data also revealed evidence of the AWAI-A's internal consistency and concurrent validity, the latter being demonstrated by correlations with measures of satisfaction with the advising relationship, costs and benefits of advising, advisee interest in science and practice, and advisee research self-efficacy. In the 2nd study, data from 44 additional advisors yielded evidence of the AWAI-A's test-retest reliability and discriminant validity. Implications of the advising working alliance for doctoral training are discussed, and suggestions are provided for future research.
Reflections: What Does Quantum Physics of Storytelling Mean for Change Management?

The paradigm shift to quantum physics will mean new approaches to change management and storytelling. Because what we thought we knew about space, time and matter has changed, our storytelling of the history, present and future will be different. My purpose is to reflect on the way changes in what I call the ‘quantum physics of storytelling’ prompt important changes in the practices of change management. Antenarrative is a genre of storytelling the future that is an ‘intra-weave’ with retrospective narrative of many pasts, and living stories of the more immediate Now-presentness of webs of relationality. One key change to change management is two new theories of antenarrative. Initially, antenarrative was defined in 2001 in only two [ontic] ways: the ante (bet) the transformation of the future, and the ante (before) to its fossilization in narrative retrospection coheres. These seem to connect narrative-past to predicted future-end-states. In this reflection, I submit quantum physics, because everything from living beings to living things is entangled at the subatomic particle/wave indeterminacy, this quantum-field-ness necessitates two new [ontological] theories: ante (anteriority) the primordial-future [in-being] ahead of itself beckoning the present, and ante (antecedent) the predicate (or a priori) Being-of-possibilities of authentic care, a calling to Now-ness potentialities.
Effect of Ramadan fasting on serum concentration of apelin-13 and new obesity indices in healthy adult men

Background The aim of this study was to determine how Ramadan fasting (RF) affected the recently described new obesity indices [visceral adiposity index (VAI), waist circumference to height ratio (WHtR), body adiposity index (BAI)], and serum concentration of apelin-13 (RF) in healthy adult men. Material/Methods For this purpose, 42 healthy adult men were selected. Anthropometric parameters were measured and a sample of venous blood was obtained for biochemical assays on the first and last days of Ramadan. When all subjects were evaluated, all anthropometric parameters changed except VAI. Serum apelin-13, triglyceride (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and insulin levels did not change. When patients were divided into 3 groups according to body mass index (BMI), BAI decreased in normal-weight subjects and WHtR decreased in other groups, but VAI and apelin-13 did not change in any groups. Results We demonstrate for the first time that while some anthropometric parameters changed, VAI and serum apelin-13 levels did not change with RF. BMI, waist circumference (WC), TG, and HDL-C were evaluated together in calculation of VAI. TG, VAI, and HDL-C remained unchanged by RF. Even if body weight (BW) and BMI decreased, apelin-13 was not affected by RF. The data on serum apelin-13 may have been influenced by the small-percentage decrease in BW, as well as insignificant improvements in metabolic parameters such as lipid profiles, glucose, and insulin. Conclusions We found that Ramadan fasting in healthy adult men was associated with significant decreases in BW, BMI, WHtR, and BAI, but we found no significant changes in VAI and serum apelin-13 concentrations.
Comparative Study of the Measurement of Enamel Demineralization and Remineralization Using Transverse Microradiography and Electron Probe Microanalysis

Abstract Transverse microradiography (TMR) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) are commonly used for characterizing dental tissues. TMR utilizes an approximately monochromatic X-ray beam to determine the mass attenuation of the sample, which is converted to volume percent mineral (vol%min). An EPMA stimulates the emission of characteristic X-rays from a variable volume of sample (dependent on density) to provide compositional information. The aim of this study was to compare the assessment of sound, demineralized, and remineralized enamel using both techniques. Human enamel samples were demineralized and a part of each was subsequently remineralized. The same line profile through each demineralized lesion was analyzed using TMR and EPMA to determine vol%min and wt% elemental composition and atomic concentration ratio information, respectively. The vol%min and wt% values determined by each technique were significantly correlated but the absolute values were not similar. This was attributable to the complex ultrastructural composition, the variable density of the samples analyzed, and the nonlinear interaction of the EPMA-generated X-rays. EPMA remains an important technique for obtaining atomic ratio information, but its limitations in determining absolute mineral content indicate that it should not be used in place of TMR for determining the mineral density of dental hard tissues.
Channel capacity in mobile ad hoc networks

One of the most important characteristics of mobile ad hoc networks is the limited bandwidth, which is considered as a bottleneck. This prompted us to study the channel capacity and the utilization of this capacity by the different types of packets in wireless ad hoc networks. This paper presents the results of a detailed packet-level simulation comparing for multi-hop wireless ad hoc network routing protocols. The simulation will be pe$ormed subject to various numbers of movement scenarios and trafic pattern.
Problematic alcohol use and marital distress: An interdependence theory perspective

This article reviews current literature examining problematic alcohol use and marital distress and introduces a new alcohol and marriage model within the theoretical framework of interdependence theory. Although marriage is generally associated with decreased heavy drinking and alcohol problems, many couples develop and maintain alcohol use disorders during committed relationships and marriage. When one person is affected by an alcohol use disorder, it both affects and is affected by their close relationships, particularly the relationship with their partner or spouse. While the causal connections between problematic drinking and marital distress are complex and only partially understood, available evidence demonstrates that the two problems often exacerbate each other, forming a detrimental cycle. Research using cross-sectional and longitudinal methods reveals covariation between the two as well as support for both causal directions. New models using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) are presented and structured around the concept that these reverse temporal effects may be operating through different mechanisms and with different moderators. Thus, determinants are presented for each directional effect. Finally, avenues for future research are discussed.
The Effects of PTSD on Treatment Adherence, Drug Relapse, and Criminal Recidivism in a Sample of Incarcerated Men and Women

Objective/Method: Given the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD), and the prevalence of SUD among offenders, the inattention to trauma before, during, and after incarceration is troubling. This exploratory study compared those with and without co-occurring PTSD among men (n = 139) and women (n = 60) involved in prison-based substance abuse treatment. Results: More than one half the sample met criteria for lifetime PTSD with women experiencing a greater number of events and men experiencing more recent events. Women with PTSD were significantly more likely to relapse than women without. Men with PTSD were more likely to enter community aftercare treatment and recidivate than those without. Conclusion: The findings suggest that trauma-related disorders, among those with SUD, affect postincarceration outcomes. Therefore, from a practice and policy perspective, interventions addressing this co-occurring disorder should be available to men and women within the criminal justice system.
Is Memory Impaired in Seasonal Affective Disorder? A Review of Literature

: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) has symptoms similar to those of mild to moderate clinical depression, and is common in places where there is seasonally less natural light. A probable cause of the disorder is deficient regulation of melatonin secretion. In contrast to what is the case in non-seasonal depression, memory impairments in SAD are insufficiently studied. Similar impairments to those shown in non-seasonal depression have been shown, but studies are generally to small for reaching statistical significance, and tests employed lack resolution to describe impairments in sufficient detail. A review of available literature is herein reported.