Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling the color perception of port wine stains and its relation to the depth of laser coagulated blood vessels

To find the maximal depth of an ectatic vessel in the dermis that contributes to the abnormal color of a port wine stain (PWS), “normal” and “laser treated PWS skin” are modeled, respectively, as a two‐layer plane parallel geometry consisting of an epidermis and a dermis, and as a three‐layer geometry consisting of an epidermis, a dermis without additional blood (the “treated” part of the stain, assumed identical to the “normal” dermis), and a layer of dermis containing 5% or 10% of blood per volume (the untreated part of the PWS). Spectral remittances were calculated for various wavelengths using the diffusion approximation to the transport equation for light propagation. These remittances were transformed into the CIE 1976 (L*a*b*)‐color system. Color differences between “normal” and PWS skin as a function of the dermal depth of “injured” ectatic blood vessels were calculated. The maximal depth where ectatic blood vessels just contribute to the abnormal PWS color is predicted as 0.9 mm for a “normally” pigmented epidermis (60 μm thick) and a 5% or 10% blood per volume content. For a darker pigmented epidermis (60 μm thickness) and again at both 5% and 10% blood per volume content, this depth was found to be 0.8 mm. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An ionophoretic study of the responses of rat caudal trigeminal nucleus neurones to non‐noxious mechanical sensory stimuli.

1. Extracellular recordings of the responses of single caudal trigeminal nucleus neurones to non‐noxious and noxious facial stimuli and to ionophoretically applied L‐glutamate, L‐aspartate and acetylcholine were made in urethane anaesthetized rats. 2. Neurones excited by non‐noxious mechanical stimuli were located primarily in the magnocellular part of nucleus caudalis, whereas neurones excited by both noxious and non‐noxious stimuli were located either ventromedially to the magnocellular part of nucleus caudalis or superficially to the substantia gelatinosa. 3. Both L‐aspartate and L‐glutamate were found to excite all neurones tested in nucleus caudalis. In contrast, however, acetylcholine was found to excite only 31% of the neurones tested. 4. Responses of nucleus caudalis neurones to non‐noxious sensory stimulation were not antagonized by the excitatory amino acid antagonist D‐alpha‐aminoadipate, but were antagonized by cis‐2, 3‐piperidine dicarboxylate and gamma‐D‐glutamylglycine, two excitatory amino acid antagonists with a broader spectrum of action. 5. It is concluded that the chemical synaptic transmitter of non‐nociceptive mechanoreceptive primary afferent fibres to nucleus caudalis may be a ligand for an excitatory amino acid receptor other than a D‐alpha‐aminoadipate‐sensitive receptor. The synaptic receptor may thus be of the kainate or quisqualate type, and the transmitter possibly L‐glutamate, L‐aspartate or an as yet unidentified substance.
Localizing synaptic mRNAs at the neuromuscular junction: It takes more than transcription

The neuromuscular junction has been used for several decades as an excellent model system to examine the cellular and molecular events involved in the formation and maintenance of a differentiated chemical synapse. In this context, several laboratories have focused their efforts over the last 15 years on the important contribution of transcriptional mechanisms to the regulation of the development and plasticity of the postsynaptic apparatus in muscle fibers. Converging lines of evidence now indicate that post‐transcriptional events, operating at the level of mRNA stability and targeting, are likely to also play key roles at the neuromuscular junction. Here, we present the recent findings highlighting the role of these additional molecular events and extend our review to include data showing that post‐transcriptional events are also important in the control of the expression of genes encoding synaptic proteins in muscle cells placed under different conditions. Finally, we discuss the possibility that mis‐regulation of post‐transcriptional events can occur in certain neuromuscular diseases and cause abnormalities of the neuromuscular junction. BioEssays 25:25–31, 2003. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An Estimation of the Effectiveness of China's Capital Controls and Sterilizations*

In recent years, China has faced an increasing trilemma—how to maintain independent monetary policy and limit exchange rate flexibility simultaneously, while at the same time facing persistent and substantial international capital flows. This paper undertakes an empirical investigation to evaluate the effectiveness of China’s sterilizations and capital mobility regulations, measured by the sterilization and offset coefficients respectively, using monthly data between mid 1999 and March 2009. We find that the effectiveness of China’s sterilization is almost perfect in terms of the monetary base, while it is nearly half in light of M2, and the extent of China’s capital mobility regulations still works but not well binds. Recursive estimation finds evidence of increasing mobility of capital flows and decreasing extent of sterilizations that may undercut China’s ability to seek monetary autonomy and domestic currency stability simultaneously.
Falling short: examination of the validity of methods used to identify paediatric hospital falls in NSW, Australia.

OBJECTIVE Hospital falls are a major cause of costly harm. This descriptive epidemiological study reports the results of a data linkage and medical record review to examine the relative utility of these methods for identifying paediatric in-hospital falls. Type of program or service: The study was conducted across two tertiary and quaternary specialist paediatric hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. METHODS A retrospective audit was conducted of paediatric falls occurring in hospital between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2016. Falls were identified using two systems: the Incident Information Management System (IIMS) and medical records coded data (MRCD). These data were linked, and falls were verified using medical record review. RESULTS Of the 146 in-hospital falls identified, only 28 (19%percnt;) were included in both systems. The IIMS identified 137 falls, with five excluded. The MRCD identified 63 admissions in which falls occurred, with 27 excluded, and screening of clinical notes found 42 falls in the remaining 36 admissions. LESSONS LEARNT There was a discrepancy in the number of falls identified in the two administrative datasets due to different inclusion criteria. The medical record review provided additional practice-relevant information that was unavailable within the two datasets. This descriptive epidemiological study highlights the value of combining data linkage with medical record review, but also the need for more critical reflection on the methods used to collect and report falls data in Australian hospitals, so that comprehensive and accurate data can be used to inform quality and safety interventions. This analysis will inform improvements to data capture methods and provide data to advise paediatric falls prevention strategies within the NSW paediatric hospital context.
Interference‐aware resource sharing in D2D underlaying LTE‐A networks

In a device‐to‐device (D2D) underlaying cellular system, intra‐cell interference is no longer negligible, and such interference exists for sharing both uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) resources. This work presents a power and Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) allocation algorithm to coordinate UL and DL interference in the D2D underlaying Long‐Term Evolution‐Advanced (LTE‐A) network. The objective is to find an effective and efficient mechanism to mitigate the interference between the two subsystems while maximising the weighted sum throughput. This optimisation problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming, which is further decomposed into PRBs assignment and transmission power allocation. Analysis reveals that the proposed PRBs allocation strategy is energy‐efficient, and it suppresses the interference not only suffered by the LTE‐A system but also to the D2D users. In another side, the optimal power allocation is resolved by using a low‐complexity technique, and results show the optimal power resides in one of at most four feasible power vectors. Specifically, the scenario of applying partial channel state information (CSI) is also taken into account in our study. Simulations prove that the optimal power allocation combined with the proposed PRBs assignment achieves higher weighted sum throughput as compared with traditional algorithms, even when partial CSI is utilised. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Aluminum Nitride Cross-Sectional Lamé Mode Resonators

This paper demonstrates a new class of AlN-based piezoelectric resonators for operation in the microwave frequency range. These novel devices are identified as cross-sectional-Lamé-mode resonators (CLMRs) as they rely on the piezoelectric transduction of a Lamé mode, in the cross section of an AlN plate. Such a 2-D mechanical mode of vibration, characterized by motion along both the lateral and the thickness directions, is actuated and sensed piezoelectrically through the coherent combination of the e31 and e33 piezoelectric coefficients of AlN. This special feature enables the implementation of CLMRs with high values of electromechanical coupling coefficient. In particular, we experimentally demonstrated kt2 values in excess of 4.6% and 2.5% in CLMRs using, respectively, two or one metallic interdigitated metallic electrodes, and operating around 1 and 2.8 GHz. Furthermore, despite the dependence of the cross-sectional Lamé mode on both the thickness and the width of the AlN plate, lithographic tunability of the resonance frequency, by changing only the in-plane dimensions of the device, can be achieved without a substantial degradation of kt2. The capability of achieving high kt2 and multiple operating frequencies on the same chip, without additional fabrication costs (lithographic tunability of the resonance frequency), makes this technology one of the best candidates for the implementation of multifrequency and low insertion loss filter banks for reconfigurable radiofrequency front ends.
An Evaluation of Daily Bacteriologic Monitoring to Identify Preventable Episodes of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection

Abstract We evaluated the efficacy of a daily bacteriologic monitoring program for preventing symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI) in hospitalized patients with temporary indwelling urethral catheters. We identified 99 instances in which bacteriuria was present at the time of catheter insertion among 1,140 catheterizations. Of those, 62 patients were asymptomatic and 37 patients had fever or symptoms attributable to UTI. Of the 37 symptomatic episodes, only 14 developed symptoms 24 hours or more after the first culture and might be considered potentially preventable. We also identified 76 episodes of acquired bacteriuria among 608 catheterizations that were initially non-bacteriuric in which at least two cultures were available. Of these 76 patients, 51 (67%) remained asymptomatic throughout their period of hospitalization. Of the 25 patients who developed symptomatic infections, only ten were potentially preventable. In all, only 24 symptomatic episodes among 1,140 catheterizations (2%) occurred 24 hours or more after colonization was first detected and might be considered potentially preventable. Our data suggest that routine daily bacteriologic monitoring of urine from all catheterized patients is not an efficient way to decrease the incidence of symptomatic, catheter-associated UTI.
Differences in Response to a Hepatitis B Vaccine Booster Dose Among Alaskan Children and Adolescents Vaccinated During Infancy

BACKGROUND. The duration of protection provided by hepatitis B vaccination is unknown, but the presence of immune memory can be evaluated indirectly by measuring the immune response to a booster dose of vaccine. METHODS. Participants included 74 adolescents (aged 11.7–14.9 years) who had received a plasma-derived 3-dose primary vaccine series and 138 adolescents (aged 10.0–14.7 years) and 166 children (aged 5.0–7.0 years) who received a recombinant 3-dose primary vaccine series. All were born to hepatitis B surface antigen–negative mothers and had received the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 7 days of birth. The proportion of participants with serologic evidence of protective immunity (antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen ≥10 mIU/mL) at baseline (prebooster), the proportion who developed an anamnestic response (increase to ≥10 mIU/mL or at or more than fourfold increase in antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen to >10 mIU/mL), and the geometric mean concentration by 1, 2, and 4 weeks after a 5-μg recombinant vaccine booster dose were determined. RESULTS. No participant had evidence of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Overall, 99% of the group of children who received recombinant hepatitis B vaccine, 83% of the group of adolescents who received recombinant hepatitis B vaccine, and 69% of the group of adolescents who received the plasma-derived vaccine had an anamnestic response to a booster dose; among responders, the geometric mean concentration at 2 weeks postbooster was 3360 and 128 mIU/mL among adolescents who received plasma-derived vaccine with antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen ≥10 and <10 mIU/mL at baseline, respectively, compared with 1283 and 369 mIU/mL among adolescents who received recombinant hepatitis B vaccine and 5091 and 696 mIU/mL for children who received recombinant hepatitis B vaccine. The anamnestic response rate at 2 weeks postbooster among participants with antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen <10 mIU/mL at baseline was inversely associated with age; 97% of 5-year-olds responded compared with 60% of 14-year-olds. CONCLUSIONS. Although most participants responded to a booster dose of hepatitis B vaccine, the significance of the increased proportion of nonresponses among older adolescents might indicate waning immune memory.
Membrane Association of Active Plasmid Partitioning Protein A in Escherichia coli *

QsopA and SopA, proteins essential for stable maintenance of low copy number plasmids and encoded on plasmid QpH1 ofCoxiella burnetii and the F plasmid of Escherichia coli, respectively, are shown to be membrane associated using three independent approaches: isolation of hybrid protein A-PhoA proteins that display PhoA (bacterial alkaline phosphatase) activity indicating a periplasmic location, biochemical fractionation by flotation gradient centrifugation, and subcellular localization by immunoelectron microscopy. These data provide insight into the mechanism by which partitioning protein A spatially directs plasmids into daughter cells at bacterial division.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF METHIONINE‐ENKEPHALIN AND LEUCINE‐ENKEPHALIN IN THE BRAIN AND PERIPHERAL TISSUES

1 A method is described for the rapid extraction of opioid peptides from the brain and other tissues. The method is based on acid extraction of tissues followed by adsorption of the extract onto Amberlite XAD‐2 resin. Elution with methanol separates the enkephalins and α‐endorphin from β‐endorphin. 2 Over 90% of the opioid peptide activity isolated from brain and gut of several species by our method was due to methionine‐ and leucine‐enkephalin. In contrast, the major opioid peptide activity recovered from the pituitary was due to peptides of much greater mol. wt. than the enkephalins. 3 An opioid peptide with properties unlike those of the known endorphins or enkephalins was present in brain extracts. This peptide, termed ∍‐endorphin, has an apparent mol. wt. of 700 to 1200; it constituted between 5 to 10% of the total opioid activity in our extracts. 4 A differential assay of methionine‐ and leucine‐enkephalin was made either by destroying methionine‐enkephalin activity with cyanogen bromide or by separating the peptides by thin layer chromatography. 5 The ratio of methionine‐enkephalin to leucine‐enkephalin varied greatly in different brain regions. The highest proportions of leucine‐enkephalin were found in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. 6 Formaldehyde perfusion and fixation of the brain in vivo had no significant effect on the brain content of enkephalin, indicating that proteolytic breakdown is not a major problem in the extraction of these peptides. 7 It is suggested that the enkephalins may have a neurotransmitter role in both brain and peripheral tissues and that methionine‐ and leucine‐enkephalin may subserve separate neuronal functions.
AN ALL DIGITAL PHASE LOCKED LOOP

3. The saturation of components in the phase locked loop is extremely common when the input carrier-to-noise ratio is low enough so that noise spikes appear. When this type of input is present, the loop must tolerate the condition where the signal “rides” on the noise rather than the noise on the signal. If the VCO saturates due to a noise spike, all previous information stored during the integration procedure is lost. Therefore, when the spike is no longer present, the loop reverts to a transient state where signal acquisition begins as if there was an inception of system power.
Intercellular signals regulating pancreas development and function.

Classic studies of dissected and recombined embryonic pancreas tissues published four decades ago suggested that epithelial–mesenchymal cell interactions regulate growth, epithelial branching, and cell differentiation in the embryonic pancreas (Golosow and Grobstein 1962; Wessells and Cohen 1967). Modern studies have revealed additional cell interactions, involving pancreatic epithelium and midline mesoderm-derived tissues, essential for normal pancreatic development (Kim et al. 1997a). Recently, many of the signaling pathways likely to govern cell interactions in the developing pancreas have been identified, allowing detailed studies of the genetic, molecular, and cellular basis of intercellular signaling that establishes proper pancreas development and function. These include the transforming growth factor(TGF), Notch, Hedgehog, fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and epidermal growth factor (EGF) pathways, and investigation of pancreas developmental biology demands familiarity with these signaling pathways. Descriptions of these pathways may be found in several recent reviews (Artavanis-Tsakonas et al. 1999; Hackel et al. 1999; Massagué and Chen 2000; Bailey et al. 2000; McMahon 2000; Zaret 2000). Our understanding of intercellular signals that regulate pancreatic development and function has advanced in the last several years. Knowledge about the role of transcription factors in pancreatic development, function, and disease has also rapidly advanced and has been recently reviewed (Sander and German 1997; Edlund 1998; Dohrmann et al. 2000). Here we emphasize findings that may elucidate mechanisms underlying human pancreatic exocrine and endocrine diseases, including congenital malformations and diabetes mellitus, and examine areas that need to be addressed to advance our understanding of pancreas development and function. We also discuss known or probable relationships between cell-extrinsic pancreatic signaling and transcriptional regulators of pancreatic gene expression. Additional literature may be found in several previous reviews (Slack 1995; Kim et al. 1997b; Gannon and Wright 1999; Yamaoka and Itakura 1999). References have been abridged here: for complete reference listings, annotated legends, and table, please see http://seungkimlab.stanford. edu.
Evaluation of ocular and general safety following repeated dosing of dexamethasone phosphate delivered by transscleral iontophoresis in rabbits.

PURPOSE To evaluate the toxicokinetics and tolerability (local ocular and general toxicity) of the anti-inflammatory agent, dexamethasone phosphate (a prodrug of dexamethasone) delivered to the eye in rabbits by transscleral iontophoresis. METHODS Female rabbits (n=6/group) received dexamethasone phosphate (40 mg/mL ophthalmic solution, EGP-437) transsclerally to the right eye (OD) using the Eyegate(®) II ocular iontophoresis delivery system once biweekly for 24 consecutive weeks at current doses of 10, 14, and 20 mA-min and current levels up to, and including -4 mA for 3.5-5 min. The study included 2 control groups (n=6/group): (1) a noniontophoresis control [an ocular applicator-loaded citrate buffer (placebo) without current] and (2) an iontophoresis control (a citrate buffer plus cathode iontophoresis at 20 mA-min, -4 mA for 5 min). Recoverability was evaluated 4 weeks following the last dose in 2 animals per group. The left eye (OS) was untreated and served as an internal control for each animal. Ocular and general safety of dexamethasone phosphate and dexamethasone were assessed. Other evaluations included toxicokinetics, ophthalmic examinations, intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements, electroretinographs, clinical observations, body weight, hematology and serum chemistry, gross necropsy, organ weight, and microscopic histopathology. RESULTS The biweekly transscleral iontophoresis with either the citrate buffer or dexamethasone phosphate at cathodic doses up to, and including 20 mA-min and currents up to, and including -4 mA for 24 weeks was well-tolerated. Transient signs of conjunctival hyperemia and chemosis, mild corneal opacity, and fluorescein staining of the cornea were noted and attributed to expected ocular reactions to the temporary placement of the ocular applicator and application of iontophoresis. There were no dexamethasone phosphate-, dexamethasone-, or iontophoresis-related effects on IOP, electroretinography, or histopathology. Reductions in body weight gain, anemia, decreased leukocyte and lymphocyte counts, compromised liver function, enlarged liver, and reduced spleen weight were consistent with systemic corticosteroid-mediated pharmacology, repeated use of anesthesia, stress, and sedentariness, and unlikely to be related to iontophoresis application. CONCLUSIONS The results of this investigation suggest that repeated transscleral iontophoresis with dexamethasone phosphate may be safe for use as a treatment for inflammatory ocular disorders that require prolonged and/or repeated corticosteroid therapy.
Impact of sensor data glut on activity recognition in smart environments

In activity recognition applications, rich sensor data may be obviously desirable for performance. However, using much sensor data can lead to undesirable glut. In this paper, we investigate the effect of excessive use of sensor data on the performance of activity recognition. Particularly, we study the effect of using analog temperature sensors data on the accuracy of an HMM-based recognition approach. The performance is comparatively evaluated using confusion matrices before and after including additional temperature sensors.