Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low-Voltage Electronic Ballast Based on Class E Oscillator

In this paper, an electronic ballast based on the class E oscillator with a capacitive impedance inverter is presented. The ballast allows us to supply an instant-start fluorescent lamp from a 12-V dc power source. The class E oscillator allows us to increase efficiency using a simple structure with only one switch without a driving circuit. Due to the anti-parallel diode integrated into switch, the zero voltage switching conditions are fulfilled in the ignition mode, maintaining high efficiency. One of the applications of the ballast is in mobile equipment, where compact independent power sources are used, for example, batteries or solar cells. The ballast was designed with the following parameters: VDD= 12V, Po = 18W, fo= 440kHz. The measured efficiency was 83%, the output power was 18.5W, and the dc power was 22.3W at the operating frequency of 444.44kHz
Insulin resistance and associated metabolic abnormalities in muscle: effects of exercise

Skeletal muscle is a major site of insulin resistance. In addition to glucose transport, oxidative disposal and storage defects, insulin resistant muscle exhibit many other metabolic abnormalities. After a brief review of insulin resistance determinants, we will focus on muscular abnormalities in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Glucose and lipid metabolism defects will be analysed and their interactions discussed. Exercise can improve many of these muscular abnormalities and the mechanisms underlying exercise‐induced benefits have been clarified during the past decades. Therefore, exercise training has proved to be useful in the management of insulin resistant states, i.e. mainly obesity, especially in its truncal distribution, and type 2 diabetes. However, exercise prescription remains poorly codified, and results on glycaemic control are sometimes conflicting. In the last part of this review, we will emphazise the pathophysiological basis for an individualized exercise prescription in insulin resistant subjects.
Physical association between a novel plasma-membrane structure and centrosome orients cell division

In the last mitotic division of the epidermal lineage in the ascidian embryo, the cells divide stereotypically along the anterior-posterior axis. During interphase, we found that a unique membrane structure invaginates from the posterior to the centre of the cell, in a microtubule-dependent manner. The invagination projects toward centrioles on the apical side of the nucleus and associates with one of them. Further, a cilium forms on the posterior side of the cell and its basal body remains associated with the invagination. A laser ablation experiment suggests that the invagination is under tensile force and promotes the posterior positioning of the centrosome. Finally, we showed that the orientation of the invaginations is coupled with the polarized dynamics of centrosome movements and the orientation of cell division. Based on these findings, we propose a model whereby this novel membrane structure orchestrates centrosome positioning and thus the orientation of cell division axis. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.16550. 001
Poly(amino acid)‐based fibrous scaffolds modified with surface‐pendant peptides for cartilage tissue engineering

In this study, fibrous scaffolds based on poly(γ‐benzyl‐l‐glutamate) (PBLG) were investigated in terms of the chondrogenic differentiation potential of human tooth germ stem cells (HTGSCs). Through the solution‐assisted bonding of the fibres, fully connected scaffolds with pore sizes in the range 20–400 µm were prepared. Biomimetic modification of the PBLG scaffolds was achieved by a two‐step reaction procedure: first, aminolysis of the PBLG fibres’ surface layers was performed, which resulted in an increase in the hydrophilicity of the fibrous scaffolds after the introduction of N5‐hydroxyethyl‐l‐glutamine units; and second, modification with the short peptide sequence azidopentanoyl–GGGRGDSGGGY–NH2, using the 'click' reaction on the previously modified scaffold with 2‐propynyl side‐chains, was performed. Radio‐assay of the 125I‐labelled peptide was used to evaluate the RGD density in the fibrous scaffolds (which varied in the range 10–3–10 pm/cm2). All the PBLG scaffolds, especially with density 90 ± 20 fm/cm2 and 200 ± 100 fm/cm2 RGD, were found to be potentially suitable for growth and chondrogenic differentiation of HTGSCs. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
SCM capacity and NAND over-provisioning requirements for SCM/NAND flash hybrid enterprise SSD

The required storage class memory (SCM) capacity and NAND over-provisioning (OP) for SCM/NAND hybrid enterprise solid state drive (SSD) are evaluated for various storage workloads. From the worst case simulations (hot and random data intensive workloads), it is found that less than 8% SCM/NAND capacity ratio with below 25% NAND OP is sufficient assuming SCM bit cost is 10-times as high as that of NAND. Other workloads with the exception of all-cold-data case can use less than 4% SCM/NAND capacity ratio with 100% NAND OP. According to the analyses, SCM tends to be cost-effective for the hot workload rather than the random one. Furthermore, the effect of NAND organization on the hybrid SSD write performance is considered. NAND organization with an 8-128KB page size and 1-8MB block size provides the best performance for the hot and random data intensive workloads. From the energy point of view, SCM/NAND hybrid SSD allows larger NAND page sizes compared with NAND-only SSD.
Imipramine is effective in preventing relapse in electroconvulsive therapy-responsive depressed inpatients with prior pharmacotherapy treatment failure: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy of imipramine versus placebo in preventing relapse after successful electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in depressive inpatients with pharmacotherapy treatment failure prior to ECT. METHOD During a 6-month period, the incidence of relapse was assessed. Two centers, both inpatient units for treatment of depressed patients, participated in this trial. Patients with DSM-IV-diagnosed major depressive disorder resistant to an anti-depressant and subsequent lithium addition and/or a monoamine oxidase inhibitor were included. Patients were randomly assigned to double-blind treatment with imipramine with adequate plasma levels (N=12) or placebo (N=15) after successful ECT. The mean imipramine dosage was 209 mg/day (standard deviation: 91.7, range: 75-325 mg/day). The main outcome measure was relapse defined as at least "moderately worse" compared with baseline score on the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale. Treatments were compared with survival analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model, including psychotic features and the score on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) at baseline as prespecified covariables. Patients were enrolled in the study from April 1997 to July 2001. RESULTS In the placebo group, 80% (12/15) of the patients relapsed compared with 18% (2/11) in the imipramine group. The Cox regression analysis showed a significant reduction in the risk of relapse of 85.6% with imipramine compared to placebo (p=.007; 95% confidence interval [CI]=24.6% to 97.2%) adjusted for the covariables. There was an 18% increase in the relapse rate (p=.032; 95% CI=2% to 36%) per unit increase in HAM-D score before the start of the trial; psychotic features had no significant effect (p=.794). CONCLUSIONS Depressed patients with pharmacotherapy treatment failure may benefit from the prophylactic effect of the same class of drug during maintenance therapy after response to ECT.
Acute exposure to ZnO nanoparticles induces autophagic immune cell death

Abstract The increasing risk of incidental exposure to nanomaterials has led to mounting concerns regarding nanotoxicity. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are produced in large quantities and have come under scrutiny due to their capacity to cause cytotoxicity in vitro and potential to cause harm in vivo. Recent evidence has indicated that ZnO NPs promote autophagy in cells; however, the signaling pathways and the role of ion release inducing toxicity remain unclear. In this study, we report that ZnO NPs are immunotoxic to primary and immortalized immune cells. Importantly, such immunotoxicity is observed in mice in vivo, since death of splenocytes is seen after intranasal exposure to ZnO NPs. We determined that ZnO NPs release free Zn2+ that can be taken up by immune cells, resulting in cell death. Inhibiting free Zn2+ ions in solution with EDTA or their uptake with CaCl2 abrogates ZnO NP-induced cell death. ZnO NP-mediated immune cell death was associated with increased levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). ZnO NP death was not due to apoptosis, necroptosis or pyroptosis. Exposure of immune cells to ZnO NPs resulted in autophagic death and increased levels of LC3A, an essential component of autophagic vacuoles. Accordingly, ZnO NP-mediated upregulation of LC3A and induction of immune cell death were inhibited by blocking autophagy and ROS production. We conclude that release of Zn2+ from ZnO NPs triggers the production of excessive intracellular ROS, resulting in autophagic death of immune cells. Our findings suggest that exposure to ZnO NPs has the potential to impact host immunity.
MRF and multiagent system based approach for image segmentation

Simulated annealing (SA) and iterated conditional modes (ICM) are two of the Markov random fields (MRF) model based approaches for image segmentation. In practice, the ICM provides reasonable segmentations compared to the SA and was the most robust in most cases. However, the ICM strongly depends on the initialization phase. In this work, we develop a new approach for image segmentation based on multiagent system (MAS) in order to produce good segmentations. We consider a set of segmentation agents and a coordinator agent. Each segmentation agent is able to segment the image by ICM starting from its own initialization. However, the coordinator agent diversifies the initial configurations using crossover and mutation operators known in the genetic algorithms (GAs). We can consider this model as a hybridization of ICM and GAs. The role of this hybridization is to help in the task of segmentation intensification in order to accede to good configurations.
[The determinants of job satisfaction of nurses: focused on work rewards].

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of job satisfaction of hospital nurses. The focus was on work rewards. A causal model of job satisfaction of hospital nurses was constructed based on situational perspectives. METHODS The sample for this study consisted of 505 nurses from 2 general hospitals located in Seoul and Kyeonggi Province, Korea. Data were collected with self-administrated questionnaires and analyzed by hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS All variables except workload were positively correlated with job satisfaction. It was found that three task reward variables (workload, meaning, and participation), two organizational reward variables (security and promotional chances) and one social reward variable (family support) had significant influence on nurses' job satisfaction. The explained variance for job satisfaction was 41.4%. The data further indicate that task rewards were the most significant determinants of nurse job satisfaction. CONCLUSION Theses findings provide strong empirical evidence for importance of task, organizational and social reward variables in explaining job satisfaction of nurses. The model used for this study will be useful for predicting nurse job satisfaction.
Effect of transmeridian travel and jetlag on mood disorders: Evidence and implications

Objectives: Given the sensitivity of individuals with mood disorders to circadian disruption, transmeridian travel would likely be a high-risk endeavour leading to onset or relapses in mood. A systematic review was undertaken to identify the evidence of the impact of transmeridian travel on people with mood disorders. Methods: Databases search included the following: CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and manual searching using the keywords jetlag, transmeridian travel, circadian rhythm disruption, mood disorder, bipolar, major depression, seasonal affective disorder, depression, mania and hypomania. Results: Only three studies were identified that related to transmeridian travel and jetlag in people with mood disorders. There is some suggestion that transmeridian travel does appear to precipitate mood episodes with an increased rate of episodes of depression with westward compared with an increased rate of manic/hypomanic episodes with eastward travel. Individuals with a previous history of mood disorder appear to be more vulnerable if adherence to medication is compromised. Conclusion: Given the limited evidence that transmeridian travel precipitates mood episodes, this poses difficulties in identifying suitable ways to mitigate the effects of transmeridian travel in mood disorders. However, in the absence of mood-specific guidelines, some guidance can be given based on our current understanding of the relevance of circadian disruption to both jetlag and mood disorders. Further research is required to identify more focused strategies to mitigate the impact of transmeridian travel for individuals with mood disorders.
Stigma about Depression and its Impact on Help-Seeking Intentions

Objective: Research has shown that people are reluctant to seek professional help for depression, especially from mental health professionals. This may be because of the impact of stigma which can involve people's own responses to depression and help-seeking (self stigma) as well as their perceptions of others' negative responses (perceived stigma). The aim of this article was to examine community help-seeking intentions and stigmatizing beliefs associated with depression. Method: A total of 1312 adults randomly sampled from the Australian community completed a questionnaire providing a depression vignette and measures of selfand perceived-stigmatizing responses, source-specific help-seeking intentions, current depressive symptoms and depression experience, and demographics. Results: Many people reported they would feel embarrassed about seeking help from professionals, and believed that other people would have a negative reaction to them if they sought such help. Some expected professionals to respond negatively to them. Responses varied according to the sources of professional help. Self-embarrassment and expectations that others would respond negatively predicted the likelihood of help-seeking from professional sources. Conclusion: Self- and perceived-stigmatizing responses to help-seeking for depression are prevalent in the community and are associated with reluctance to seek professional help. Interventions should focus on minimizing expectations of negative responses from others and negative self-responses to help-seeking, and should target younger people.
Human Bocavirus: A New Viral Pathogen

In this issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Allander et al. [1] report a study of the recently discovered human bocavirus (HBoV) in children hospitalized with wheezing. This study is a nice example of what is likely to be an increasingly common challenge and opportunity in infectious diseases: determining what diseases novel pathogens cause. HBoV was first described in 2005 after large-scale molecular screening for virus genome sequences led to its discovery in respiratory specimens [2]. Among the sequences identified were those from a novel parvovirus related to minute virus of canine and bovine parvovirus that was designated "human bocavirus. " Because the virus sequences were amplified from respiratory specimens, the investigators hypothesized that the virus would cause respiratory disease, and they and others have since documented the presence of HBoV in 1.5%-11.3% of respiratory specimens obtained from patients with acute respiratory illness. Another new human parvovirus, PAR4, was
Amphiregulin is a factor for resistance of glioma cells to cannabinoid‐induced apoptosis

Gliomas, one of the most malignant forms of cancer, exhibit high resistance to conventional therapies. Identification of the molecular mechanisms responsible for this resistance is therefore of great interest to improve the efficacy of the treatments against these tumors. Δ9‐Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major active ingredient of marijuana, and other cannabinoids inhibit tumor growth in animal models of cancer, including glioma, an effect that relies, at least in part, on the ability of these compounds to induce apoptosis of tumor cells. By analyzing the gene expression profile of two sub‐clones of C6 glioma cells with different sensitivity to cannabinoid‐induced apoptosis, we found a subset of genes with a marked differential expression in the two sub‐clones. Furthermore, we identified the epidermal growth factor receptor ligand amphiregulin as a candidate factor to mediate the resistance of glioma cells to cannabinoid treatment. Amphiregulin was highly overexpressed in the cannabinoid‐resistant cell line, both in culture and in tumor xenografts. Moreover, in vivo silencing of amphiregulin rendered the resistant tumors xenografts sensitive to cannabinoid antitumoral action. Amphiregulin expression was associated with increased extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) activation, which mediated the resistance to THC by blunting the expression of p8 and TRB3—two genes involved in cannabinoid‐induced apoptosis of glioma cells. Our findings therefore identify Amphirregulin as a factor for resistance of glioma cells to THC‐induced apoptosis and contribute to unraveling the molecular bases underlying the emerging notion that targeted inhibition of the EGFR pathway can improve the efficacy of antitumoral therapies. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Technique, Creativity, and Sustainability of Bamboo Craft Courses: Teaching Educational Practices for Sustainable Development

The 18-year history of bamboo craftsmanship in the university curriculum of Taiwan started with the popularization of concepts such as green design, community building, and cultural and creative industries. Bamboo is an environmentally-friendly material that has received much attention in the 21st century. Craftsmanship has drawn the attention of universities. This study uses participatory observation and interviews to collect information on bamboo craft courses in four departments of three universities and uses qualitative coding analysis to explore the sustainable teaching methods of craftsmanship teachers, sustainable development learning effects on students, and different ways of promoting sustainable development education (ESD) with bamboo craft courses in different universities. The research results show the following: (1) There are differences in bamboo craft courses: teachers’ craftsmanship and curricula are different, resulting in differences in technical depth and creativity; (2) with respect to the ESD evaluation criteria of the four bamboo craft courses, skills learning itself is not complete, but students are provided with a path to self-reliance in the craft and in responding to cultural sustainability challenges; and (3) regarding the relationship between ESD and bamboo craft education, bamboo craft education promotes the concept of sustainability and is important for the creation of crafts; universities offer opportunities for testing students’ technical talents and knowledge, but ESD is limited and blurry.
Functional features cause misfolding of the ALS-provoking enzyme SOD1

The structural integrity of the ubiquitous enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD1) relies critically on the correct coordination of Cu and Zn. Loss of these cofactors not only promotes SOD1 aggregation in vitro but also seems to be a key prerequisite for pathogenic misfolding in the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We examine here the consequences of Zn2+ loss by selectively removing the Zn site, which has been implicated as the main modulator of SOD1 stability and disease competence. After Zn-site removal, the remaining Cu ligands can coordinate a nonnative Zn2+ ion with μM affinity in the denatured state, and then retain this ion throughout the folding reaction. Without the restriction of a metallated Zn site, however, the Cu ligands fail to correctly coordinate the nonnative Zn2+ ion: Trapping of a water molecule causes H48 to change rotamer and swing outwards. The misligation is sterically incompatible with the native structure. As a consequence, SOD1 unfolds locally and interacts with neighboring molecules in the crystal lattice. The findings point to a critical role for the native Zn site in controlling SOD1 misfolding, and show that even subtle changes of the metal-loading sequence can render the wild-type protein the same structural properties as ALS-provoking mutations. This frustrated character of the SOD1 molecule seems to arise from a compromise between optimization of functional and structural features.
Negative heterozygosity–fitness correlations observed with microsatellites located in functional areas of the genome

Genome‐wide heterozygosity inferred from neutral markers such as microsatellites is often expected to (i) reflect individual inbreeding and (ii) covary positively with fitness, generating positive heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs). The often forgotten other end of the inbreeding–outbreeding continuum is outbreeding depression: past a certain degree of heterozygosity, heterozygotes tend to have lower fitness than homozygotes. Outbreeding depression arises from the breakup of co‐adapted gene complexes and/or the introgression of nonlocally adapted genes. Provided that a correlation in heterozygosity exists across loci, outbreeding depression will be reflected in negative HFCs. In this issue, Olano‐Marin et al. (2011a) describe negative heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs) in blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus ( Fig. 1 ), whereby heterozygosity has a significant, negative effect on female hatching success and recruitment. This study, together with a similar study by the same authors published in Evolution ( Olano‐Marin et al. 2011b), forms an original contribution in two respects. First, in the same population, positive and negative HFCs were recorded, revealing both inbreeding and outbreeding depression depending on the trait studied (whereby both processes were reliant on unknown, and possibly different, sets of coding loci). Second, a large number of microsatellite markers were split into two functional groups: microsatellite markers were either designed using zebra finch expressed sequence tags (ESTs) or derived using traditional cloning methods and presumed to be neutral. Contrasting large classes of loci and their varying levels of polymorphism, rather than looking for one locus that would stand out among tens of randomly selected markers, pave the way for a more elegant and powerful approach to explore how HFCs vary across traits and among regions of the genome.
Expression, functional, and structural analysis of proteins critical for otoconia development

Otoconia, developed during late gestation and perinatal stages, couple mechanic force to the sensory hair cells in the vestibule for motion detection and bodily balance. In the present work, we have investigated whether compensatory deposition of another protein(s) may have taken place to partially alleviate the detrimental effects of Oc90 deletion by analyzing a comprehensive list of plausible candidates, and have found a drastic increase in the deposition of Sparc‐like 1 (aka Sc1 or hevin) in Oc90 null versus wt otoconia. We show that such up‐regulation is specific to Sc1, and that stable transfection of Oc90 and Sc1 full‐length expression constructs in NIH/3T3 cells indeed promotes matrix calcification. Analysis and modeling of Oc90 and Sc1 protein structures show common features that may be critical requirements for the otoconial matrix backbone protein. Such information will serve as the foundation for future regenerative purposes. Developmental Dynamics 239:2659–2673, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.