Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Broadband terahertz and sub-terahertz CMOS modules for imaging and spectroscopy applications

Miniaturized, low cost and easy to use devices able to carry out analysis in the chemical or biomedical domains could extend the use of imaging and spectroscopic techniques, now widely exploited in the professional sector, to applications in the consumer market or in the domain of point-of-care diagnostics. While a number of advanced techniques based on infrared or optical radiation show great potential for use in highly sensitive biosensors, the use of another part of the electromagnetic spectrum, the so called terahertz band (100 GHz – 3 THz), promise the creation of new devices with the capability of carrying out spectroscopy and imaging at the same time, even on samples located in an opaque package. In this paper we present our results demonstrating the possibility to create a miniaturized terahertz imaging and spectroscopy system that can be mass produced at low cost using well-known and robust commercial technologies such as CMOS and 3D chip-scale packaging (3D-CSP). The presented device is able to produce and detect a broadband signal from 20 GHz to 280 GHz with a dynamic range of 44 dB at 140 GHz. © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
FACT-Measuring Atmospheric Conditions with Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes

For Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes, knowledge about the condition of the atmosphere is very important. Usually, this information is gathered by external devices like Lidars and Pyrometers. While Pyrometers only give integral information about the atmosphere, the lasers needed for Lidars can affect data-taking. Based on experience gained with the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT), we propose a novel method to monitor the atmosphere directly with a Cherenkov telescope itself while taking data. We describe the new method, show results from monitoring the atmosphere with FACT and discuss possible implementations for future telescopes.
DI PERSEMAIAN BALAI PENELITIAN KEHUTANAN CIAMIS Leaf Spot Disease on Nyatoh (Palaquium sp.) Seedlings in the Nursery of Ciamis Forestry Research Institute

Seedlings of nyatoh (Palaquium sp.) in nursery of Pamalayan Village, Ciamis have been attacked by leaf spot disease. Symptom of the disease is common on each plant attacked, which is the appearance of dead area of leaf (necrocis). Initial symptom is shown by brownish circular spots with yellow edges, and in relatively short time the spots expanded and changed the color into blackish red. Spots on leaf surface are started from leaf side toward the center. If the attacked leaf is touched, the leaf will easily fall, or the leaf will slowly dry and fall. The study had objective to identify the pathogen of the disease. Information gained is important as the initial process to take necessary control of the disease. The result of Koch Postulate test and identification showed that pathogen of the nyatoh seedlings disease was Colletotrichum sp. Average percentage of leaf spot occurance was 96% on Plot I, 96% on Plot II and 100% on Plot III. Meanwhile average intensity of the disease was 24,6% on Plot I, 28,8% on Plot II and 31,45% on Plot III.
Modelling the population cost-effectiveness of current and evidence-based optimal treatment for anxiety disorders

Background. The present paper describes a component of a large population cost-effectiveness study that aimed to identify the averted burden and economic efficiency of current and optimal treatment for the major mental disorders. This paper reports on the findings for the anxiety disorders (panic disorder/agoraphobia, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive–compulsive disorder). Method. Outcome was calculated as averted ‘years lived with disability’ (YLD), a population summary measure of disability burden. Costs were the direct health care costs in 1997–8 Australian dollars. The cost per YLD averted (efficiency) was calculated for those already in contact with the health system for a mental health problem (current care) and for a hypothetical optimal care package of evidence-based treatment for this same group. Data sources included the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being and published treatment effects and unit costs. Results. Current coverage was around 40% for most disorders with the exception of social phobia at 21%. Receipt of interventions consistent with evidence-based care ranged from 32% of those in contact with services for social phobia to 64% for post-traumatic stress disorder. The cost of this care was estimated at $400 million, resulting in a cost per YLD averted ranging from $7761 for generalized anxiety disorder to $34 389 for panic/agoraphobia. Under optimal care, costs remained similar but health gains were increased substantially, reducing the cost per YLD to <$20 000 for all disorders. Conclusions. Evidence-based care for anxiety disorders would produce greater population health gain at a similar cost to that of current care, resulting in a substantial increase in the cost-effectiveness of treatment.
Distribution and Quantity of Contractile Tissue in Postnatal Development of Rat Alveolar Interstitium

Alpha–smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA) ‐expressing cells are important participants in lung remodeling, during both normal postnatal ontogeny and after injury. Developmental dysregulation of these contractile cells contributes to bronchopulmonary dysplasia in newborns, and aberrant recapitulation in adults of the normal ontogeny of these cells has been speculated to underlie disease and repair in mature lungs. The significance of airway smooth muscle has been widely investigated, but contractile elements within the pulmonary parenchyma, although also of structural and functional consequence in developing and mature lungs, are relatively unstudied and little quantitative information exists. Here, we quantify the areal density of α‐SMA expression in lung parenchyma and assess changes in its spatiotemporal distribution through postnatal ontogeny. Using an antibody against α‐SMA, we immunofluorescently labeled contractile elements in lung sections from a postnatal growth series of rats. Images were segmented using thresholded pixel intensity. Alpha‐SMA areal density in the alveolar interstitium was calculated by dividing the area of α‐SMA–positive staining by the tissue area. The areal density of α‐SMA in 2‐day neonates was 3.7%, almost doubled, to 7.2% by 21 days, and decreased to 3% in adults. Neonates had large, elongate concentrations of α‐SMA, and α‐SMA localized both at septal tips and within the interstitium. In adults, individual areas of α‐SMA expression were smaller and more round, and located predominately in alveolar ducts, at alveolar ends and bends. The results are consistent with increasing α‐SMA expression during the period of peak myofibroblast activity, corresponding to the phase of rapid alveolarization in the developing lung. Anat Rec, 291:83–93, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Market Size, Sunk Costs of Entry, and Transport Costs: An Empirical Evaluation of the Impact of Demand-Side Factors versus Supply-Side Factors on Manufacturing Productivity

This paper uses plant-level, panel data from the Ethiopian manufacturing census to estimate the effects of demand-side and supply-side factors on industrywide aggregate productivity. The paper focuses on the effects of three factors: (1) local market size, (2) the value of transportation costs that firms incur in selling to customers outside their market, and (3) licensing fees needed to enter the market. Identification is based on a model of production under monopolistic competition, which enables interpreting the estimated coefficients of a reduced form, dynamic productivity equation. The paper analyzes 11 industries in Ethiopia over 2000 to 2010. Several interesting results emerge. In the most parsimonious specification, the estimated coefficients are consistent with all three predictions of the model—but only for one industry: cinder blocks. In this industry, the expansion of the local market boosts industrywide total factor revenue productivity, while increases in transport costs and licensing fees reduce it. The picture is somewhat mixed in the other 10 industries but broadly consistent with the predictions of the model.
ECO-FRIENDLY ANTIBACTERIAL FINISH FOR NATURAL KNITTED

The present research is focused on the fabrication and characterization of eight knitted fabrics loaded with beeswax/sage essential oil system by a two-step process: oil-in water (o/w) emulsification, and application on knitted fabric. The investigation was designed to determine antibacterial effect, the ability to release the biologically active compound, and comfort indices (air and vapor permeability and hygroscopicity) of treated knitted fabrics. We have clarified the successful entrapment of sage essential oil (SEO) in beeswax matrix by UV-VisSpectro-photometry and have determined the morphology of treated knitted fabrics by Optical Microscopy.
Simulation and implementation of an 8-bit carry look-ahead adder using adiabatic quantum-flux-parametron

We have been studying ultra-low-power logic circuits using adiabatic quantum-flux-parametron (AQFP) logic, whose power consumption can be decreased significantly by changing their potential energies adiabatically using AC exciting currents. In this study, we designed an 8-bit carry look-ahead adder (CLA) using an AQFP cell library based on the AIST Nb 2.5 kA/cm2 standard process (STP2) and evaluated its circuit properties. The CLA is composed of 1224 critically-dumped 50-μA Josephson junctions, which occupy the area of 1.74 × 0.99 mm2. Simulation results show that the CLA has a wide bias margin of ±29.5%, and the energy dissipation is 16.4 aJ per clock cycle at 5-GHz operation.
Histopathological effects of galanin on reproductive hormones and reproductive organs of rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Effects of galanin, on reproductive hormones and histopathology of reproductive organs of rabbit was assessed by exposing adult rabbits to low, medium and high doses of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 μg/ml per kg body weight, respectively. Adult rabbits were reared and managed separately in cages (2 x 2 x 2 m) under controlled conditions of photoperiod (12 light: 12 dark) whereas temperature was maintained at 23 ± 2 C. The measured quantities of Alfalfa fodder plant as a sole food was provided to all groups simultaneously with free access to water. The increase in the weight of testes and ovaries was recorded in males and females, respectively. The histopathological examination of gonads revealed no adverse effects, however, the significant differences in the levels of testosterone (4.21ng/dl, 4.33ng/dl, 4.57 ng/dl), estrogen (123.33 pg/ml, 135.33 pg/ml, 151.33 pg/ml) and progesterone (196.33 ng/ml, 217.00 ng/ml, 229.33 ng/ml) were recorded in the low, medium and high dose treated groups, respectively. The increase in the aggressive sexual behavior was noticed which correlated with the increase in the concentration of reproductive hormones. Galanin had no negative effects on the testes and the ovaries of rabbits but induced the production of reproductive hormones in addition to the increase in the weight of gonads.
Supplier Competition and Cost Reduction with Endogenous Information Asymmetry

Problem definition: We consider a buyer sourcing from multiple competing suppliers who exert cost-reduction efforts before procurement contracts are awarded. Academic/practical relevance: The supply chain is subject to the classic hold-up problem—as the lack of a contract commitment hinders suppliers’ incentives to make investment upfront—complicated with supplier competition. Methodology: With deterministic cost-reduction outcomes, suppliers will not exert any effort if this effort is observable, and a pure-strategy equilibrium does not exist if the effort is unobservable. We analyze the mixed-strategy equilibrium with unobservable supplier effort, in which suppliers randomize their efforts and the buyer designs an optimal procurement mechanism. Results: We show that the optimal procurement mechanism can be implemented by a conventional single-price reverse auction with a random reserve price. The mixed strategy of supplier effort generates endogenous information asymmetry on supplier costs that provides suppliers with information rent, which sustains their efforts. The endogenous information asymmetry improves effort efficiency (by inducing positive supplier effort), yet introduces trade inefficiency (by causing the possible failure of trade between the parties). Although increasing supplier competition (measured by the number of suppliers) hurts the effort efficiency, it improves trade efficiency. As a result, the buyer is always better off introducing supplier competition by including more than one supplier in the supply base. However, the desired supply base size (number of suppliers) depends on the product revenue: For high-margin goods, the optimal size is achieved with two suppliers, whereas for low-margin goods, a larger supply base is better for the buyer. We show that the result based on deterministic cost reduction can be established as a limit of the case when uncertainty in cost reduction exists and shrinks to null. Managerial implications: Our study helps to understand the impact of supplier competition when supply-chain parties deliberately make their actions unpredictable to avoid being held up. The findings provide managerial guidance on procurement auction and supply base designs.
Ginseng : a potentially effective Tcm for Alzheimer ’ s disease

Aging is a serious problem which is challenging the entire human race. With the longer life of people, more and more people are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is suffering from not only for the patients themselves but also for the society. To be the king herb of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), ginseng had been used as a treatment for dementia with a long history. Based on the traditional effect of “Reinforcing Intelligence” of ginseng, we reorganized the literatures and references about ginseng on the treatment of AD.
Operationalising the interplays of self-interest , trust and fairness in sharing the gains from cooperation

Many real life situations involve independent players forming a coalition to take joint actions and sharing the gains from cooperation. A fundamental question arises is how to share the gain which is reasonably acceptable to every player or a group of players. We provide an answer to this question in a scenario when the players are self-interested, look for a fair treatment, and may or may not have complete trust on other members of the coalition. We propose a cooperative game theoretic framework and a payoff allocation rule which consider the coexistence and interplays of self-interest, fairness and trust. To the best of our knowledge cooperative game theory is yet to provide a measure of trust, hence we propose a framework to capture the notion of trust. The core and the Shapley value are well known solution concepts for cooperative games; while the former promotes self-interest, the later promotes fairness. We define a few classes of games where we combine the three concepts and present some interesting insights.
Analysis of the NRT2 Nitrate Transporter Family in Arabidopsis. Structure and Gene Expression

Nitrate is an essential element for plant growth, both as a primary nutrient in the nitrogen assimilation pathway and as an important signal for plant development. The uptake of nitrate from the soil and its translocation throughout the plant has been the subject of intensive physiological and molecular studies. Using a reverse genetic approach, the AtNRT2.1 gene has been shown to be involved in the inducible component of the high-affinity nitrate transport system in Arabidopsis. The Arabidopsis Genome Initiative has released nearly the whole genome sequence of Arabidopsis, allowing the identification of a small NRT2 multigene family in this species. Thus, we investigated the phylogenetic relationship between NRT2 proteins belonging to several kingdoms and compared the structure of the different members of the Arabidopsis family. We analyzed, by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, the expression pattern of each gene depending on plant organ and development or nutritional status, and compared the relative level of each gene by real-time polymerase chain reaction. We also evaluated the significance of each paralog on the basis of the relative levels of gene expression. The results are discussed in relation with distinct roles for the individual members of the AtNRT2 family.
Statistical properties of the phase synchronization index of cardiovascular autonomic control contours

Objective ― The purpose of this paper is to study statistical and dynamic properties of the low-frequency (LF) oscillation synchronization in the heart rate variability (HRV) and the finger photoplethysmographic waveform variability (PPGV) in time. Material and Methods ― Our study included 42 healthy men aged 19-21 years. The HRV and the finger PPGV were simultaneously recorded in all subjects during 7,200 seconds at rest. We extracted the LF oscillations in the HRV and the PPGV. To estimate this synchronization we used the method we suggested earlier. Index S was calculated as the relative time of synchronization between the considered LF oscillations. Results ― The sequence of the synchronization intervals between the LF oscillations behaves as a weakly correlated random process, demonstrating the 1/f distribution. However, the distribution of the index S, estimated even for 10-minute records, is close to normal. The results of estimating the S value from realizations of increasing length indicate that S tends to a fixed value with the increase of time series length. Conclusion ― For practical studies we recommend using the experimental records of ECG and PPG with the length of 10 minutes or more, which will provide a standard deviation of the S estimate less than 10%.
Cutaneous invasive squamous cell carcinoma: 10‐year experience and recommendations for follow up

Currently, the National Health and Medical Research Council do not have any recommendations about the frequency of follow up after treatment of primary cutaneous invasive squamous cell cancer (SCC), due to a lack of data. The present study aimed to establish appropriate follow‐up times and to determine the long‐term risk of subsequent non‐melanoma skin cancers and melanoma. Patients who had a primary invasive cutaneous SCC excised during 1996 were retrospectively identified from the databases of a dermatologist in private practice in south‐east Queensland. Data on size, site, depth, differentiation, perineural involvement, lymphovascular involvement of the index SCC were obtained. The patients were regularly followed up and lymph‐node involvement, patient immunocompetence, and the presence of local recurrences and subsequent SCC, basal cell carcinomas and melanoma were recorded. Forty patients were identified, comprising 25 men and 15 women with a mean age of 65 years. The majority (60%) of primary incident SCC were in the low‐risk category. The median follow‐up time was 7.5 years. One in two developed a second SCC within 5 years, a significant number had a second SCC detected only in 5–10 year follow up, and 72.5% had a BCC within 5 years, and 82.5% at 10 years. One in eight had a subsequent melanoma detected.
Flyby Anomaly via Least Action

The observed but unexpected changes in velocity during spacecraft flybys of Earth are examined using the principle of least action in its original dissipative form. In general, the spacecraft’s momentum will change when it travels through an energy density gradient of space that is enfolding a gravitating, orbiting and rotating body. When space is understood as a physical substance that embodies quanta of actions, rather than being modeled by a mere metric, it becomes apparent that the changes in momentum couple with flux of quanta from the local system of bodies to the universal surroundings or vice versa. In this way the original least-action principle accounts also for the ‘anomalous’ change in velocity by an equation of motion which complies with the empirical relation that has been deduced from Earth-flybys.
Advances of image processing in Precision Agriculture : Using deep learning convolution neural network for soil nutrient classification

The application of technology to agricultural development can aid/improve agriculture in several ways through pre-planning and post-harvest processes through the use of computer vision technology in image processing to determine the soil nutrient composition, right amount, right time, right place application of farm input resources like fertilizers, herbicides, water, weed detection, early detection of pest and diseases etc. referred to as precision Agriculture. There has been a significant and constant improvement in the area of image processing and data processing which has being a major challenge. A database is developed from images of remote sensing, the images are analyzed and a model is developed to determine the right treatment plans for different crop types and different regions. Features of images from vegetation need to be extracted, classified, segmented and finally fed into the model. Different techniques have been applied to the processes from the use of neural network, support vector machine, fuzzy logic approach and recently, the most effective approach generating excellent results using the deep learning approach of convolution neural network for image classifications. Deep Convolution neural network is used in this research to determine soil nutrients required in a plantation to optimize production. The experimental results on the developed model yielded results with an average accuracy of 99.58 percentage. Keywords—Convolution; Feature extraction; Image analysis; Validation and Precision Agriculture:
The Endothelial Cells in Islets of Langerhans

The blood vessels of the pancreatic islets are of crucial importance for oxygen and metabolite supply, and dispersal of secreted hormones. In addition to this, endothelial cells have an important role in the revascularization process after islet transplantation. Studies have reported signs of poor engraftment of transplanted islets, presumably due to impaired revascularization. The aims of this study were to investigate islet endothelial cells and the revascularization process of transplanted islets. The lectin Bandeiraea simplicifolia was found to consistently stain endothelium of both endogenous and transplanted pancreatic islets. By using this marker, we investigated the vascular density of both endogenous and transplanted islets of C57BL/6 mice. One month post-transplantation, a time point when the implants are assumed to be completely revascularized, the graft vascular density was decreased at all investigated implantation sites when compared to endogenous islets. Furthermore, most of the blood vessels were located in the graft connective tissue stroma. Similar results were obtained six months post-transplantation and in cured diabetic animals after one month. In order to evaluate the function of intraportally transplanted islets, we developed a method to retrieve such islets. Enzymatic and mechanic treatment of the liver enabled us to re-isolate the transplanted islets for further in vitro studies. These islets had decreased insulin release, insulin content and glucose oxidation rate when compared to non-transplanted control islets. To understand the role of islet endothelium in the revascularization of transplanted islets we performed angiogenesis microarray studies on islet endothelial cells, from non-cultured, cultured and transplanted islets. We found that the islet endothelium expressed mRNA for both inhibitors and inducers of angiogenesis, and that this expression differed with time. In conclusion, these results provide a useful platform for further studies on the islet endothelium.