Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Precision 1000-V DC voltage standard produced by HVDAC

The direct current (DC) standard voltage source is a key link in the mass source system, and the laboratory universal calibrator has an output capacity of 1000 V DC voltage. In this study, the advantages and disadvantages of the DC 1000-V range, in the current calibration source are analyzed, and a high-voltage digital-to-analog converter (HVDAC) program was implemented based upon the bit expansion and amplification on the bipolar inverted T-type digital-to-analog converter (DAC). This study describes, in detail, the realization of the single-block voltage amplifier circuit, DAC bit expansion mode, the voltage module superposition in HVDAC scheme, and provides the circuit schematic. This program can be easily used to obtain high-precision, high-voltage output. The output voltage is linear, with strong burden and easy expansion. It has been successfully applied to self-developed calibration source products, in the range of ±1000 V DC, with a voltage-maximum absolute uncertainty of 18−10−6.
Study of ground surface displacement estimation using ALOS/PALSAR D-InSAR interferometry

The area of Southwestern Ryukyu Arc and Eastern Taiwan are characterized by collision and subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate under the Eurasian Plate. Huatung Valley is a huge valley formed by plate motion and existing between the cities of Hualian and Taitung with approx. length of 130 km. Since 1998, Tokai University has started seismological activity measurements with Dahan institute of technology (DIT). DIT measuring GPS and electronic distance meter (EDM) data to monitor the crustal movement in the northern part of test area. We have performed a repeat-pass differential interferometric analysis using the ENVISAT/ASAR data in 2005 and 2006. In addition, we propose a crustal movement extraction using successful ALOS/PALSAR image pairs in 2007.
Differentialy excited coupled-line sensor for small dielectric samples detection

In this paper, a novel method for dielectric sample detection in a microwave frequency range has been presented. The proposed measurement setup composed of two identical baluns and a coupled-line section sensor covered by an unknown dielectric material has been analyzed and formulas allowing for calculation of effective permittivity have been derived. The method allows for detection of small dielectric samples having size comparable with separation between sensor's coupled strips and therefore is dedicated for detection of bacteria in e.g. water, food etc. The proposed system has been theoretically investigated and verified by EM calculations.
The Serine-rich Domain from Crk-associated Substrate (p130cas) Is a Four-helix Bundle*

p130cas (Crk-associated substrate) is a docking protein that is involved in assembly of focal adhesions and concomitant cellular signaling. It plays a role in physiological regulation of cell adhesion, migration, survival, and proliferation, as well as in oncogenic transformation. The molecule consists of multiple protein-protein interaction motifs, including a serine-rich region that is positioned between Crk and Src-binding sites. This study reports the first structure of a functional domain of Cas. The solution structure of the serine-rich region has been determined by NMR spectroscopy, demonstrating that this is a stable domain that folds as a four-helix bundle, a protein-interaction motif. The serine-rich region bears strong structural similarity to four-helix bundles found in other adhesion components like focal adhesion kinase, α-catenin, or vinculin. Potential sites for phosphorylation and interaction with the 14-3-3 family of cellular regulators are identified in the domain and characterized by site-directed mutagenesis and binding assays. Mapping the degree of amino acid conservation onto the molecular surface reveals a patch of invariant residues near the C terminus of the bundle, which may represent a previously unidentified site for protein interaction.
Impact of routine reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rate using the CKD‐EPI formula in a community population: A cross‐sectional cohort study

Most laboratories are moving to report estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD‐EPI) formula. However, data on the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the population and its economic impact have to date been modelled using data derived from the modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) equation. Evaluating the impact of CKD‐EPI on prevalence has important implications for referral patterns and health expenditure.
Can a small nation be competitive in the global sporting arms race? The case of Denmark

In 2014, the Danish elite sport organisation, Team Danmark (TD), celebrated its 30th anniversary. TD was founded by the government in response to the country’s decline in international standings. This study examines how Denmark’s international performance has developed in the global sporting arms race since then. It analyses how a small nation can improve its international competitiveness despite stagnating funding and growing international competition. The paper argues that the establishment of TD in 1984 is a key factor behind Denmark’s success in elite sport. Measured in absolute terms, by a market share approach, and adjusted for differences in population, wealth, religion and relevant political factors, it is evident that Denmark is performing well and appears to be competitive. Denmark is now the leading nation in Scandinavia and is doing better than almost all other smaller countries in the Summer Olympic disciplines. By examining the development of Danish elite sport policies, the paper shows how the establishment of TD has created an elite sport structure that has helped Denmark to bounce back from its previous decline.
Evaluation of the infant at risk for neurodevelopmental disability.

BACKGROUND Infants with neurodevelopmental abnormality need to start therapy early, and because of this they should be detected as soon as possible. Currently, no widely accepted method of early evaluation exists. OBJECTIVES To assess and compare, in terms of predicting neurodevelopmental outcome at 1 year of age: (i) a perinatal risk rating (PRR); (ii) the Dubowitz Neurological Assessment (DNA); and (iii) the Infant Neuromotor Assessment (INA). DESIGN AND SETTING A prospective neurodevelopmental follow-up study on graduates from the Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). SUBJECTS A cohort of 130 consecutive NICU graduates were selected according to high-risk criteria. OUTCOME MEASURES Each infant was examined at term gestational age on the DNA before discharge, and a PRR was allocated. Study infants were seen again at 18 weeks of age when an INA was done, and at 1 year of age a Griffiths Developmental Assessment and full neurological examination was carried out. RESULTS All of the 130 infants assessed at term were seen at 18 weeks. Thereafter 5 were lost to follow-up and 2 died. The outcome for the remaining 123 is known. CONCLUSIONS Prediction of a normal outcome at 1 year of age was 96% on the DNA and 98% for the PRR, but for an abnormal outcome they predicted only 56% and 42%, respectively. The INA done at 18 weeks predicted a normal outcome at 1 year in 99% of cases if 3 or less abnormal signs were present and an abnormal outcome in 82% of cases with 4 or more abnormal signs. Based on these findings a protocol for follow-up of these high-risk infants is suggested.
An adaptive contextual quantum language model Journal Item

User interactions in search system represent a rich source of implicit knowledge about the user’s cognitive state and information need that continuously evolves over time. Despite of massive efforts that have been made to exploiting and incorporating this implicit knowledge in information retrieval, it is still a challenge to effectively capture the term dependencies and the user’s dynamic information need (reflected by query modifications) in the context of user interaction. To tackle these issues, motivated by the recent Quantum Language Model (QLM), we develop a QLM based retrieval model for session search, which naturally incorporates the complex term dependencies occurring in user’s historical queries and clicked documents with density matrices. In order to capture the dynamic information within users’ search session, we propose a density matrix transformation framework and further develop an adaptive QLM ranking model. Extensive comparative experiments show the effectiveness of our session quantum language models.
Identification and Functional Characterization of a Smad Binding Element (SBE) in the JunB Promoter That Acts as a Transforming Growth Factor-β, Activin, and Bone Morphogenetic Protein-inducible Enhancer*

Smad proteins have been identified as mediators of intracellular signal transduction by members of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, which affect cell proliferation, differentiation, as well as pattern formation during early vertebrate development. Following receptor activation, Smads are assembled into heteromeric complexes consisting of a pathway-restricted Smad and the common Smad4 that are subsequently translocated into the nucleus where they are thought to play an important role in gene transcription. Here we report the identification of Smad Binding Elements (SBEs) composed of the sequence CAGACA in the promoter of theJunB gene, an immediate early gene that is potently induced by TGF-β, activin, and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) 2. TwoJunB SBEs are arranged as an inverted repeat that is transactivated in response to Smad3 and Smad4 co-overexpression and shows inducible binding of a Smad3- and Smad4-containing complex in nuclear extracts from TGF-β-treated cells. Bacterial-expressed Smad proteins bind directly to the SBE. Multimerization of the SBE creates a powerful TGF-β-inducible enhancer that is also responsive to activin and BMPs. The identification of the sequence CAGACA as a direct binding site for Smad proteins will facilitate the identification of regulatory elements in genes that are activated by members of the TGF-β superfamily.
Anxiety, Depression and Management of Medically Unexplained Symptoms in Medical Clinics

This study assessed the prevalence of medically unexplained symptoms in cardiology, gastroenterology and neurology outpatient clinics at a large teaching hospital and investigated the current clinical management of these patients. Data were collected retrospectively from the casenotes of all new referrals to these clinics over a two month period. The total number of new patients seen was 343, of whom 120 (35%) had a final diagnosis of 'functional' disorder, 204 (59.5%) a final diagnosis of organic disorder and 19 (5.5%) remained undiagnosed. The number of investigations was similar in patients whether the eventual diagnosis was 'functional' or organic (median 2, range 0—9 in each case). However, the cost of investigation was significantly higher for the organic group (median £89 compared with £41, p ≥ 0.01). Anxiety and depression were documented in 33% of patients with unexplained symptoms. In 73 (61%) of patients with an eventual 'functional' diagnosis, the information that organic disease had been excluded was communicated to the GP, but there was no advice about further management. Four percent were referred to psychiatrists and 2% started on antidepressants. The paucity of recommended management strategies for patients with a 'functional' diagnosis suggests that physicians see their role with this group of patients as primarily one of exclusion of organic disease. It is suggested that more positive management strategies, including treatment of anxiety and depression, might lead to greater patient satisfaction and play a role in reducing the development of chronic somatisation.
Risk assessment of the emergency processes: Healthcare failure mode and effect analysis.

BACKGROUND Ensuring about the patient's safety is the first vital step in improving the quality of care and the emergency ward is known as a high-risk area in treatment health care. The present study was conducted to evaluate the selected risk processes of emergency surgery department of a treatment-educational Qaem center in Mashhad by using analysis method of the conditions and failure effects in health care. METHODS In this study, in combination (qualitative action research and quantitative cross-sectional), failure modes and effects of 5 high-risk procedures of the emergency surgery department were identified and analyzed according to Healthcare Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (HFMEA). To classify the failure modes from the "nursing errors in clinical management model (NECM)", the classification of the effective causes of error from "Eindhoven model" and determination of the strategies to improve from the "theory of solving problem by an inventive method" were used. To analyze the quantitative data of descriptive statistics (total points) and to analyze the qualitative data, content analysis and agreement of comments of the members were used. RESULTS In 5 selected processes by "voting method using rating", 23 steps, 61 sub-processes and 217 potential failure modes were identified by HFMEA. 25 (11.5%) failure modes as the high risk errors were detected and transferred to the decision tree. The most and the least failure modes were placed in the categories of care errors (54.7%) and knowledge and skill (9.5%), respectively. Also, 29.4% of preventive measures were in the category of human resource management strategy. CONCLUSION "Revision and re-engineering of processes", "continuous monitoring of the works", "preparation and revision of operating procedures and policies", "developing the criteria for evaluating the performance of the personnel", "designing a suitable educational content for needs of employee", "training patients", "reducing the workload and power shortage", "improving team communication" and "preventive management of equipment's" were on the agenda as the guidelines.
Car fleet policy evaluation: The case of bonus-malus schemes in Sweden

ABSTRACT In this paper, we evaluate the bonus-malus schemes proposed by governmental investigation in Sweden in 2014. The objective was to reach the target of maximum 95 g/km of average emissions for new car sales by 2020. Two bonus-malus schemes along with several other policies were introduced in different scenarios as measures to reach the target. The scenarios differ in design regarding bonus-malus schemes, vehicle circulation tax, clean car premiums, company car benefits tax, and fuel tax. Both private and company car segments are targeted in these scenarios. We use a nested logit model for car type choice to predict the effects of the proposed policy scenarios on Swedish new car sales. Moreover, we introduce a methodology to predict the future of car supply. Our model results show that none of the three proposed policy scenarios is successful enough to meet the average emissions target. Furthermore, although the number of electric, plug-in hybrid, and alternative fuel cars will increase, new car sales will still be dominated by fossil-fueled cars in all scenarios. The average emissions in the scenarios containing bonus-malus schemes are not lower than that of the business-as-usual scenario. However, introducing bonus-malus schemes on its own would reduce emissions showing that interacting with other non--differentiated policies counteracts their effects. Moreover, bonus-malus schemes are predicted to give a budget surplus effect.
Toll-Like Receptor 4, But Not Toll-Like Receptor 2, Is a Signaling Receptor for Escherichia and Salmonella Lipopolysaccharides1

Two members of the mammalian Toll-like receptor (TLR) family, TLR2 and TLR4, have been implicated as receptors mediating cellular activation in response to bacterial LPS. Through the use of mAbs raised against human TLR2 and TLR4, we have conducted studies in human cell lines and whole blood to ascertain the relative contribution of these receptors to LPS induced cytokine release. We show that the contribution of TLR2 and TLR4 to LPS-induced cellular activation correlates with the relative expression levels of these two TLRs in a given cell type. In addition, we have found that significant differences in cell stimulatory activity exist between various smooth and rough LPS types that cannot be ascribed to known LPS structural features. These results suggest that impurities in the LPS may be responsible for some of the activity and this would be in agreement with recently published results of others. Upon repurification, none of the commercial LPS preparations activate cells through TLR2, but continue to stimulate cells with comparable activity through TLR4. Our results confirm recent findings that TLR4, but not TLR2, mediates cellular activation in response to LPS derived from both Escherichia coli and Salmonella minnesota. Additionally, we show that TLR4 is the predominant signaling receptor for LPS in human whole blood.
Does Foreign Aid Target the Poorest?

Abstract To examine the extent to which foreign aid reaches people at different levels of wealth in Africa, I use household surveys to measure the subnational distribution of a country's population by wealth quintiles and match this information to data on the location of aid projects from two multilateral donors. Within countries, aid disproportionately flows to regions with more of the richest people. Aid does not favor regions with more of the poorest people. These findings violate the stated preferences of the multilateral donors under study, suggesting that the donors either cannot or are not willing to exercise control over the location of aid projects within countries. The results also suggest that aid is not being allocated effectively to alleviate extreme poverty.
A positron emission tomographic study of impaired word recognition and phonological processing in dyslexic men.

BACKGROUND Developmental dyslexia is characterized by impaired word recognition, which is thought to result from deficits in phonological processing. Improvements during the course of development are thought to disproportionately involve orthographic components of reading; phonological deficits persist into adulthood. OBJECTIVE To localize the neural correlates of impaired word recognition and phonological processing in men with developmental dyslexia. METHODS Regional cerebral blood flow was measured with oxygen 15 positron emission tomography in 17 men with dyslexia and in 14 matched controls during the performance of phonological and orthographic tasks--pronunciation (reading aloud) and lexical decision making--designed to activate posterior and anterior perisylvian cortices, respectively. RESULTS Altered patterns of activation (reduced activation, unusual deactivation) were seen in dyslexic men in mid- to posterior temporal cortex bilaterally and in inferior parietal cortex, predominantly on the left, during both pronunciation and decision making. In contrast, dyslexic men demonstrated essentially normal activation of left inferior frontal cortex during both phonological and orthographic decision making. CONCLUSION These, along with prior findings, are compatible with a hypothesis of bilateral involvement of posterior temporal and parietal cortices in dyslexia.
Reciprocal Negative Cross-Talk between Liver X Receptors (LXRs) and STAT1: Effects on IFN-γ–Induced Inflammatory Responses and LXR-Dependent Gene Expression

Liver X receptors (LXRs) exert key functions in lipid homeostasis and in control of inflammation. In this study we have explored the impact of LXR activation on the macrophage response to the endogenous inflammatory cytokine IFN-γ. Transcriptional profiling studies demonstrate that ∼38% of the IFN-γ–induced transcriptional response is repressed by LXR activation in macrophages. LXRs also mediated inhibitory effects on selected IFN-γ–induced genes in primary microglia and in a model of IFN-γ–induced neuroinflammation in vivo. LXR activation resulted in reduced STAT1 recruitment to the promoters tested in this study without affecting STAT1 phosphorylation. A closer look into the mechanism revealed that SUMOylation of LXRs, but not the presence of nuclear receptor corepressor 1, was required for repression of the NO synthase 2 promoter. We have also analyzed whether IFN-γ signaling exerts reciprocal effects on LXR targets. Treatment with IFN-γ inhibited, in a STAT1-dependent manner, the LXR-dependent upregulation of selective targets, including ATP-binding cassette A1 (ABCA1) and sterol response element binding protein 1c. Downregulation of ABCA1 expression correlated with decreased cholesterol efflux to apolipoprotein A1 in macrophages stimulated with IFN-γ. The inhibitory effects of IFN-γ on LXR signaling did not involve reduced binding of LXR/retinoid X receptor heterodimers to target gene promoters. However, overexpression of the coactivator CREB-binding protein/p300 reduced the inhibitory actions of IFN-γ on the Abca1 promoter, suggesting that competition for CREB-binding protein may contribute to STAT1-dependent downregulation of LXR targets. The results from this study suggest an important level of bidirectional negative cross-talk between IFN-γ/STAT1 and LXRs with implications both in the control of IFN-γ–mediated immune responses and in the regulation of lipid metabolism.
Latino Cultural Competency in Social Work Education: A Review of the Literature

Cultural competence serves as resource for social workers and other helping professionals to improve service delivery by using approaches that are compatible with the client’s cultural values and beliefs. As the Latino population continues to grow, understanding the culture has important implications for social work practice, advocacy and research. There is a dearth of cultural competence training and educational programs that seek to effectively identify, address and meet the unique cultural and linguistic needs of Latinos. With the growing population and a lack of culturally responsive services, clinicians familiar with the Latino culture and Latino cultural competency training and education programs, disparities among Latinos will continue to steadily rise. It is important for social work students and clinicians to receive advanced training in understanding the diverse needs of Latino populations. The purpose of this thesis is to review the existing literature to identify culturally competent practice methods and examine efforts to prepare social work students and clinicians to work with the Latino population. A search was conducted using PsychINFO, PubMed, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases. Key terms used in the searches were“cultural competency training”, “cultural competency education” and/or “social work/clinician” coupled with terms Hispanic or Latino. This thesis concludes with some considerations for integrating Latino cultural competency into the social work curriculum.
Stromal Cell Networks Regulate Thymocyte Migration and Dendritic Cell Behavior in the Thymus

After entry into thymus, T cell progenitors migrate in the cortex and the medulla while completing their education. Recent reports have documented the dynamic and tortuous behavior of thymocytes. However, other than chemokines and/or segregated thymic substrates, the factors contributing to the dynamic patterns of thymocyte movement are poorly characterized. By combining confocal and dynamic two-photon microscopy, we demonstrate that thymocytes continuously migrate on thymic stromal cell networks. In addition to constituting “roads” for thymocytes, we observed that these networks also provide a scaffold on which dendritic cells attach themselves. These results highlight the central role of stromal microanatomy in orchestrating the multiple cellular interactions necessary for T cell migration/development within the thymus.