Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contact poling of RKTP with silicon pillars

Summary form only given. Quasi-phase-matching (QPM) is a method to get tailored efficient second order nonlinear interactions [1]. Several techniques exist for fabrication of periodic domain structures in ferroelectric crystals for QPM frequency conversion. By far, electric field poling using lithographically patterned electrodes on the z-face of the crystal is the most common one [2]. High-quality periodically inverted ferroelectric domain structures in flux grown KTiOP<;sub>4<;/sub> (KTP) crystals were fabricated already in the late 90's using this technique [3], and recently periodic domain sizes of few hundred nanometers were fabricated in 1 mm thick samples thanks to the quasi-one dimensional structure of KTP. It has recently also been shown that a slight Rb doping of the KTP crystal (RKTP) facilitates the periodic poling [4]. However, fabrication of two-dimensional (2D) domain structures in RKTP has not yet been investigated. A disadvantage with the lithographic patterning is that each sample needs to be patterned individually, which is tedious and time consuming. Moreover, when it comes to the small domain features, which are required by the next generation of nonlinear optical devices, a more versatile poling technique has to be developed due to the limitations of conventional photolithography. Structured silicon has been investigated as an alternative electrode for formation of 1D domains by contact poling in LiNb<;sub>3<;/sub> [5]. However, these electrodes were fabricated by wet etching and the sample thickness was limited to ~200 μm. In this work we present a new technique for 2D domain inversion in 1 mm thick RKTP and demonstrate the densest 2D lattice in a KTP isomorph. First, 2D periodic arrays of silicon pillars were constructed using isotropic dry etching (Fig.1 (a)). The silicon substrate was p-type with <;100> orientation and a resistivity of 0.005-0.02 Ωcm. Second, the silicon arrays of pillars were used as contact electrode to periodically pole the RKTP crystal (Fig.1 (b)). A regular and homogeneous domain pattern with a 5x5 gm' period was obtained, as can be seen in Fig.1 (c). A high normalized conversion efficiency of 1.27 %W-1cm-1 was obtained for frequency doubling of a CW Ti-Sapphire laser at 894 nm. The measured temperature bandwidth was 4.25 °C, from which we estimated an effective crystal length of 5.4 mm, which is very close to the physical structure length of 6 mm.This novel poling technique has several advantages. First, the silicon electrode is reusable and there is no need for patterning each sample individually. Second, the crystalline structure of silicon provides high accuracy and reproducibility in the electrode fabrication. Finally, Si-pillar array electrodes can be designed for any desirable period or electrode geometry. Therefore, we believe that contact electrode poling can be a more convenient, flexible and suitable method for making small feature domain patterns, and it also can reduce the fabrication costs.
Genes of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis Encoding Proteins of the Exosporium

ABSTRACT The exosporium is the outermost layer of spores of Bacillus cereus and its close relatives Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus thuringiensis. For these pathogens, it represents the surface layer that makes initial contact with the host. To date, only the BclA glycoprotein has been described as a component of the exosporium; this paper defines 10 more tightly associated proteins from the exosporium of B. cereus ATCC 10876, identified by N-terminal sequencing of proteins from purified, washed exosporium. Likely coding sequences were identified from the incomplete genome sequence of B. anthracis or B. cereus ATCC 14579, and the precise corresponding sequence from B. cereus ATCC 10876 was defined by PCR and sequencing. Eight genes encode likely structural components (exsB, exsC, exsD, exsE, exsF, exsG, exsJ, and cotE). Several proteins of the exosporium are related to morphogenetic and outer spore coat proteins of B. subtilis, but most do not have homologues in B. subtilis. ExsE is processed from a larger precursor, and the CotE homologue appears to have been C-terminally truncated. ExsJ contains a domain of GXX collagen-like repeats, like the BclA exosporium protein of B. anthracis. Although most of the exosporium genes are scattered on the genome, bclA and exsF are clustered in a region flanking the rhamnose biosynthesis operon; rhamnose is part of the sugar moiety of spore glycoproteins. Two enzymes, alanine racemase and nucleoside hydrolase, are tightly adsorbed to the exosporium layer; they could metabolize small molecule germinants and may reduce the sensitivity of spores to these, limiting premature germination.
Learning of embodied interaction dynamics with recurrent neural networks: some exploratory experiments

The new tendency of artificial intelligence suggests that intelligence must be seen as a result of the interaction between brains, bodies and environments. This view implies that designing sophisticated behaviour requires a primary focus on how agents are functionally coupled to their environments. Under this perspective, we present early results with the application of reservoir computing as an efficient tool to understand how behaviour emerges from interaction. Specifically, we present reservoir computing models, that are inspired by imitation learning designs, to extract the essential components of behaviour that results from agent–environment interaction dynamics. Experimental results using a mobile robot are reported to validate the learning architectures.
Caregiver and Patient Reported Outcomes after Repair of Cleft Lip and/or Palate in the Philippines

Objectives: To establish the feasibility of conducting outcomes research among patients treated during a medical mission and to identify the salient outcomes for patients and caregivers in one region of the Philippines. Design And Setting: Prospective structured interview conducted in or near participants’ homes on the island of Cebu, Philippines. Participants: Individuals who had surgery at least 6 months earlier within the study region were eligible. Recipients of surgery were located from surgical records and by word of mouth. Main Outcome Measures: (1) Proportion of individuals located. (2) Primary outcomes of oral cleft repair identified for the sample. Results: Of 99 people on a surgical list, 52 (53%) were located, eight were excluded (ineligible, unavailable, or inaccessible), and 44 agreed to participate in the study. Ten participants were identified via word of mouth. Seventy-five interviews were conducted (21 caregiver–patient pairs, one adolescent, and 32 caregivers of a child <7 years). Nearly all participants (99%) would encourage others to pursue surgery. Open-ended questions were coded to identify primary outcomes: improved speech (52%), improved eating (25%), social benefits (14%), and improved appearance (6%). Caregivers (50%) and patients (68%) reported that improved speech was the most important change after surgery. Conclusions: Patients and caregivers ascribe positive changes related to cleft surgery. Outcomes research requires cooperation with local professionals who can communicate effectively. These data serve to demonstrate feasibility and as a model for future studies of treatment outcomes in follow-up to international medical missions.
Design reuse in product shape modeling: A study of freeform feature reuse by signal processing techniques

Lack of facilities in supporting design reuse is a serious problem in product shape modeling, especially in computer-aided design systems. This becomes a bottleneck of fast shape conceptualization and creation in consumer product design, which consequently prohibits creativity and innovation. In the past, several efforts have been made in order to improve this situation, with confined methodologies in the spatial domain, following conventional ways of geometrical operations. These domain dependent researches did not yield satisfactory solutions. Looking at the state of the art technologies, to find a better solution, an investigation applying interdisciplinary knowledge has to be conducted. The present study aimed at finding a systematic approach to support design reuse in shape modeling, especially Freeform Feature (FFF) reuse, by hypothesizing that a better solution could be achieved by applying signal processing techniques. This global goal was further decomposed into a number of concrete objectives, each correlated to a broad spectrum of domain specific knowledge. Investigations on relevant subjects enrich the aggregation of knowledge, especially that concerning computer-assisted technologies in industrial design field. Solutions of this study functionally extend the capability of shape modeling, and enhance the interchange ability of shape depiction between the spatial and the frequency domain. A number of examples were employed to test the methods and mathematical formulations proposed. The results affirm that the hypothesis works, and the methodology developed in this research are both effective and beneficial.
Predictors of Surface Disruption with MR Imaging in Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Stenosis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Surface disruption, either ulceration or fibrous cap rupture, has been identified as a key feature of the unstable atherosclerotic plaque. In this prospective observational study, we sought to determine the characteristics of the carotid lesion that predict the development of new surface disruption. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred eight asymptomatic individuals with 50%–79% carotid stenosis underwent carotid MR imaging at baseline and at 3 years. Multicontrast imaging criteria were used to determine the presence or absence of calcification, LRNC, intraplaque hemorrhage, and surface disruption. Volume measurements of plaque morphology and the LRNC and calcification, when present, were collected. RESULTS: At baseline, 21.3% (23/108) of participants were identified with a surface disruption. After 3 years, 9 (10.6%) of the remaining 85 individuals without disruption at baseline developed a new surface disruption during follow-up. Among all baseline variables associated with new surface disruption during regression analysis, the proportion of wall volume occupied by the LRNC (percentage LRNC volume; OR per 5% increase, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.5–4.6) was the strongest classifier (AUC = 0.95) during ROC analysis. New surface disruption was associated with a significant increase in percentage LRNC volume (1.7 ± 2.0% per year, P = .035). CONCLUSIONS: This prospective investigation of asymptomatic individuals with 50%–79% stenosis provides compelling evidence that LRNC size may govern the risk of future surface disruption. Identification of carotid plaques in danger of developing new surface disruption may prove clinically valuable for preventing the transition from stable to unstable atherosclerotic disease.
Toward Standardization of Epstein-Barr Virus DNA Load Monitoring: Unfractionated Whole Blood as Preferred Clinical Specimen

ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA load monitoring in peripheral blood has been shown to be a useful tool for the diagnosis of aberrant EBV infections. In the present study we compared the relative diagnostic values of EBV DNA load monitoring in unfractionated whole blood and simultaneously obtained serum or plasma samples from Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) patients, transplant recipients, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals, and infectious mononucleosis (IM) patients by a quantitative competitive PCR (Q-PCR). The EBV DNA load in BL patients was mainly situated in the cellular blood compartment (up to 4.5 × 106 copies/ml). EBV DNA loads in unfractionated whole blood and parallel serum samples showed no correlation. In transplant recipients, IM patients, and HIV-infected patients, the EBV burden in the circulation was almost exclusively restricted to the cellular blood compartment, because serum or plasma samples from these patients yielded negative results by Q-PCR, despite high viral loads in corresponding whole-blood samples. A 10-fold more sensitive but qualitative BamHI-W-repeat PCR occasionally revealed the presence of EBV at <2,000 copies of EBV DNA per ml of serum. Spiking of 100 copies of EBV DNA in samples with negative Q-PCR results excluded the presence of inhibitory factors in serum or plasma that influenced the Q-PCR result. Serum samples from all populations were often positive for β-globin DNA, indicating cell damage in vivo or during serum preparation. We conclude that serum is an undesirable clinical specimen for EBV DNA load monitoring because it omits the presence of cell-associated virus and uncontrolled cell lysis may give irreproducible results or overestimation of the DNA load. Unfractionated whole blood is strongly preferred since it combines all blood compartments that may harbor EBV and it best reflects the absolute viral burden in the patient's circulation.
Effects of variations in dietary calcium and phosphorus supply on plasma and bone osteocalcin concentrations and bone mineralization in growing pigs

Growing pigs were fed diets supplying 45% (low), 70% (intermediate) and 100% (high) recommended dietary allowances of calcium (the Ca:P ratio was kept constant), but otherwise adequate in nutrients. The effects of varying calcium and phosphorus intakes on bone and plasma osteocalcin were monitored. Mineral content of the diet did not affect feed conversion and live weight gain. Plasma phosphorus concentrations decreased significantly in pigs fed a low mineral diet compared with those fed the high mineral diet, but there were no changes in plasma calcium and osteocalcin concentrations. Bones from the low mineral group had marked reductions in dry matter, calcium and phosphorus contents, as well as increased collagen, pyridinoline and deoxypyridinoline concentrations: osteocalcin concentrations in bone were unaffected by treatment. The results showed no direct link between osteocalcin and the degree of bone mineralization.
Political transfer cycles - how robust are they?

This paper investigates the robustness of political budget cycles in a stripped-down setting with endogenous output and endogenous rent-seeking. No matter if or how government manipulations affect aggregate demand, equilibrium transfer and deficit cycles emerge. The government can always improve reelection chances by increasing debt-financed transfers before elections and cutting transfers to repay the deficit after elections. As for endogenous rent-seeking, deficit cycles are still robust, but transfer payments to voters are substituted by socially costly expropriation payments. JEL classification: D72, E32, E62, H62.
Aberrations and Topography in Normal, Keratoconus-Suspect, and Keratoconic Eyes

Purpose. This study was designed to compare higher order aberrations of the cornea and of the eye with inferior-superior (I-S) corneal topographic values in keratoconic eyes. Methods. We studied 92 eyes from 78 subjects: 21 eyes of 14 subjects with suspected keratoconus, 23 eyes of 16 subjects with manifest keratoconus, and 48 eyes of 48 subjects without keratoconus using the L80 wave+, an instrument which can measure corneal topography and aberrations simultaneously with a large dynamic range making it possible to evaluate higher order aberrations to the seventh order of the Zernike polynomial function series. Results. All ocular and corneal higher order aberrations were found to be significantly higher for keratoconic than normal eyes, but for suspected keratoconus the results were mixed. Corneal aberrations were higher than ocular aberrations due to compensation from the internal aberrations. For manifest keratoconus, the corneal and ocular vertical coma displayed the largest difference being 38.6 and 78.5 times higher, respectively, than normal eyes, while the largest differences for suspected keratoconus were only 5.3 and 4.0 times higher, respectively. On the other hand, inferior-superior dioptric asymmetry was 9.4 and 37.3 times higher for suspected keratoconus and keratoconic eyes, respectively, than normal eyes. The separation of normality curves between suspected keratoconus and normal eyes was 28.6% for I-S and 14.3% for both corneal vertical coma and corneal total coma. Conclusions. Although corneal vertical coma and, to a lesser extent, ocular vertical coma were found to be good indicators for the detection of keratoconic eyes, the traditional corneal topographic value such as the inferior-superior dioptric asymmetry remains an important predictor for identifying suspected keratoconus. However, ocular vertical coma and ocular higher order total root mean square also represent a good means of identifying suspected keratoconus.
The South African Guideline for the Management of Ischemic Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack: Recommendations for a Resource-Constrained Health Care Setting

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in South Africa. As in other developing countries, an increase in the burden of stroke is predicted as the population undergoes a rapid epidemiological transition with increased exposure to, and development of, stroke risk factors, together with population aging. Most published stroke guidelines emanate from developed countries that have more comprehensive stroke services and resources available for their citizens. Such guidelines are therefore not always applicable to countries with limited resources. The objective of the South African Stroke Guideline (1) was to develop realistic and appropriate recommendations within the current South African context of a resource-constrained health care system. The guideline development process
Parallel copy motion

Recent results on the static single assignment (SSA) form open promising directions for the design of register allocation heuristics for just-in-time (JIT) compilation. In particular, tree-scan allocators with two decoupled phases, one for spilling and one for splitting/coloring/coalescing, seem good candidates for designing fast, memory-friendly, and competitive register allocators. Linear-scan allocators, introduced earlier, are also well-suited for JIT compilation. All do live-range splitting (mostly on control-flow edges) to avoid spilling but most of them perform coalescing poorly, leading to many register-to-register copies inside basic blocks, but also, implicitly, on the control-flow graph edges, leading to edge splitting. This paper presents parallel copy motion, a technique for optimizing register-allocated codes, which amounts to moving a group of parallel copy instructions from a program point to another. While the scheduling is shackled by data dependencies, a copy can "traverse" all instructions of a basic block, thanks to register renaming, except those with conflicting naming constraints. Also, with an adequate management of compensation code, parallel copies can also be moved across edges. A first application is reducing the cost of copies by a better placement. A second application is moving copies out of critical edges, i.e., edges going from a block with multiple successors to a block with multiple predecessors. This is often beneficial compared to the alternative: splitting the edge. A direct use case is the handling of control-flow graphs with non-splittable edges, introduced by some compilers for specific architectural constraints, region boundaries, or exception handling code. Experiments with the SPECint and our own benchmarks suite show that an SSA-based register allocator can be applied broadly now, even for procedures with non-splittable edges: while those procedures could not be compiled before, with parallel copy motion, all moves could be pushed out of such edges. Even simple strategies for moving copies out of edges and inside basic blocks show some average improvement compared to the standard edge-splitting strategy (3% speedup), with a great reduction of the weighted number of copies (21% move cost reduction for SPECint). This lets us believe that the approach is promising, and not only for improving coalescing in fast register allocators.
Concomitant 11p15.4‐p15.5 duplication and terminal 22q13.33 deletion in a patient with features of Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome

Concomitant 11p15.4-p15.5 Duplication and Terminal 22q13.33 Deletion in a Patient with Features of Beckwith–Wiedemann Syndrome Jess F. Peterson,* David P. Bick, Gabrielle C. Geddes, Julie McCarrier, John W. Grignon Jr, Brett Chirempes, Ulrich Broeckel, Fatima Abidi, Richard C. Rogers, Luigi Boccuto, Barbara DuPont, and Peter vanTuinen Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratories, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Department of Pediatrics, Section of Genetics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Advanced Genomics Laboratory, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Department of Pediatrics, Section of Genomic Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Greenwood Genetic Center, Greenwood, South Carolina
A normal life expectancy, despite HIV infection?

Despite the improvements in survival after the first introduction of combination antiretroviral treatment, death rates for people with HIVare still higher than in the general population [1,2]. The new challenge is to further improve life expectancy for people with HIV infection, so that survival becomes similar to that of people without HIV infection. There are three main strategies to achieve this: earlier initiation of antiretroviral treatment, impacting on lifestyle factors such as smoking, exercise and recreational drugs, and using antiretrovirals with the most favourable long-term safety profiles.
On the membrane translocation of diphtheria toxin: at low pH the toxin induces ion channels on cells.

Diphtheria toxin (DT) in acidic media forms ion‐conducting channels across the plasma membrane and inhibits protein synthesis of both highly and poorly DT‐sensitive cell lines. This results in loss of cell potassium and in entry of both sodium and protons with a concomitant rapid lowering of membrane potential. The pH dependency of the permeability changes is similar to that of the inhibition of cell protein synthesis. DT‐induced ion channels close when the pH of the external medium is returned to neutrality and cells recover their normal monovalent cation content. Similar permeability changes were induced by two DT mutants defective either in enzymatic activity or in cell binding, but not with a mutant defective in membrane translocation. The implication of these findings for the mechanism of DT membrane translocation is discussed.
Complexity, Robustness, and Multistability in Network Systems with Switching Topologies: A Hierarchical Hybrid Control Approach

Abstract : Controls research under this program concentrated on the development of a unified discontinuous dynamical framework for nonlinear network systems. In particular, control algorithms were developed to address agent interactions, cooperative and non-cooperative control, task assignments, and resource allocations. To realize these tasks, appropriate sensory and cogitative capabilities such as adaptation, learning, decision-making, and agreement (or consensus) on the agent and multiagent levels were also developed. In addition, disturbance rejection and robustness for addressing communication/sensor noise and model uncertainties, as well as synchronism, system time-delays, and switching network topologies for addressing information asynchrony between agents, message transmission and processing delays, and communication link failures and communication dropouts were also addressed.