Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Large Area Silicon Nanomembrane Photonic Devices on Unconventional Substrates

Silicon photonics on unconventional substrates have demonstrated great promise in tremendous unprecedented applications. One challenge is transferring high quality and large scale crystalline silicon nanomembranes onto various substrates. We developed a low temperature nanomembrane transfer technique based on adhesive bonding and deep reactive ion etching. A large area (2 cm <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\times\,$</tex></formula>2 cm), 250 nm thick silicon nanomembrane is defect-freely transferred onto a glass slide. The average propagation loss of a single mode waveguide (500 nm wide) fabricated on the transferred silicon nanomembrane is <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">${\sim}{\rm 4.3}~{\rm dB}/{\rm cm}$</tex> </formula>, which is comparable with those fabricated on silicon-on-insulator. To demonstrate the capability of accommodating large scale intricate photonic circuit, a 1<formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\,\times\,$</tex> </formula>16 power splitter, consisting of photonic components with dimensions ranging from 119.4 <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\mu{\rm m}$</tex></formula> to as small as 80 nm, is fabricated. An output uniformity of 0.96 dB at 1545.6 nm across all channels and an insertion loss of 0.56 dB are experimentally demonstrated.
Serum level of the phosphaturic factor FGF23 is associated with abdominal aortic calcification in men: the STRAMBO study.

CONTEXT Calcification inhibitor deficiencies, mineral imbalance, and phenotypic transformation of vascular cells to osteogenic cells initiate and sustain vascular calcification. Fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) is a key molecule regulating mineral homeostasis. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to assess the association of serum FGF23 levels with mineral metabolism parameters and abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) in men. DESIGN This was a cross-sectional analysis in the STRAMBO cohort. SETTING Men holding a private health insurance cover with Mutuelle de Travailleurs de la Région Lyonnaise were included in the study. PARTICIPANTS Participants included male volunteers aged 20-87 (n = 1130). INTERVENTIONS Nonfasting blood collection was done. AAC was semiquantitatively assessed from vertebral fracture assessment scans obtained using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES We evaluated the association between FGF23 concentration and AAC severity in men. RESULTS In 350 men aged 60 yr or younger, FGF23 levels decreased with age (r = -0.21; P < 0.001) but were not associated with any other parameter. In 780 men aged over 60 yr, serum FGF23 correlated with age (r = 0.37; P < 0.001) and, after adjustment for confounders, with glomerular filtration rate (r = -0.31; P < 0.001) and PTH levels (r = 0.25; P < 0.001). After adjustment for confounders, self-reported ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus as well as higher concentrations of C-reactive protein and osteoprotegerin were all associated with higher FGF23 levels. After adjustment for confounders, subjects in the highest FGF23 quartile had higher prevalence of severe AAC compared with the three lower quartiles combined (odds ratio = 1.88; 95% confidence interval = 1.22-2.85; P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS In healthy older men, circulating FGF23 is associated with parameters of mineral metabolism, including bone metabolism-regulating cytokines, and with severe AAC independent of traditional risk factors.
Imaging patients with acute abdominal pain.

UNLABELLED Acute abdominal pain may be caused by a myriad of diagnoses, including acute appendicitis, diverticulitis, and cholecystitis. Imaging plays an important role in the treatment management of patients because clinical evaluation results can be inaccurate. Performing computed tomography (CT) is most important because it facilitates an accurate and reproducible diagnosis in urgent conditions. Also, CT findings have been demonstrated to have a marked effect on the management of acute abdominal pain. The cost-effectiveness of CT in the setting of acute appendicitis was studied, and CT proved to be cost-effective. CT can therefore be considered the primary technique for the diagnosis of acute abdominal pain, except in patients clinically suspected of having acute cholecystitis. In these patients, ultrasonography (US) is the primary imaging technique of choice. When costs and ionizing radiation exposure are primary concerns, a possible strategy is to perform US as the initial technique in all patients with acute abdominal pain, with CT performed in all cases of nondiagnostic US. The use of conventional radiography has been surpassed; this examination has only a possible role in the setting of bowel obstruction. However, CT is more accurate and more informative in this setting as well. In cases of bowel perforation, CT is the most sensitive technique for depicting free intraperitoneal air and is valuable for determining the cause of the perforation. Imaging is less useful in cases of bowel ischemia, although some CT signs are highly specific. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a promising alternative to CT in the evaluation of acute abdominal pain and does not involve the use of ionizing radiation exposure. However, data on the use of MR imaging for this indication are still sparse. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL http://radiology.rsna. org/content/253/1/31/suppl/DC1.
A mobile phone-sensing system for emergency management: The SENSE-ME platform

Modern smartphones integrate multiple functionalities into a single device: they can establish peer-to-peer wireless links, they can sense the environment through several embedded sensors, they are provided with a multi-core CPU. Hence, they can play a crucial role on emergency scenarios, where there is need of acquiring data from the environment, processing, and quickly conveying them to the people involved. In this paper, we describe how to turn a group of dense and heterogeneous smartphones into a phone-sensing platform, through the SENSE-ME software. This latter integrates three layers: (i) a network layer, that allows the creation of a spontaneous device-to-device communication structure; (ii) a sensing layer, that allows retrieving local and remote sensing data; (iii) a decision layer, that allows mining the sensed data, in order to extract context-aware information and -based on them-infer decisions about proper actions to take. In the following, we describe the SENSE-ME architecture and some enabling technologies at each layer. Moreover, we discuss the open challenges that must be addressed for the complete system deployment.
A multi-institutional high-fidelity simulation “boot camp” orientation and training program for first year pediatric critical care fellows*

Objective: Simulation training has been used to integrate didactic knowledge, technical skills, and crisis resource management for effective orientation and patient safety. We hypothesize multi-institutional simulation-based training for first year pediatric critical care (PCC) fellows is feasible and effective. Design: Descriptive, educational intervention study. Setting: The simulation facility at the host institution. Interventions: A multicentered simulation-based orientation training “boot camp” for first year PCC fellows was held at a large simulation center. Immediate posttraining evaluation and 6-month follow-up surveys were distributed to participants. Measurements and Main Results: A novel simulation-based orientation training for first year PCC fellows was facilitated by volunteer faculty from seven institutions. The two and a half day course was organized to cover common PCC crises. High-fidelity simulation was integrated into each session (airway management, vascular access, resuscitation, sepsis, trauma/traumatic brain injury, delivering bad news). Twenty-two first year PCC fellows from nine fellowship programs attended, and 13 faculty facilitated, for a total of 15.5 hours (369 person-hours) of training. This consisted of 2.75 hours for whole group didactic sessions (17.7%), 1.08 hours for a small group interactive session (7.0%), 4.67 hours for task training (30.1%), and 7 hours for training (45.2%) with high-fidelity simulation and crisis resource management. A “train to success” approach with repetitive practice of critical assessment and interventional skills yielded higher scores in training effectiveness in the end-of-course evaluation. A follow-up survey revealed this training was highly effective in improving clinical performance and self-confidence. Conclusions: The first PCC orientation training integrated with simulation was effective and logistically feasible. The train to success concept with repetitive practice was highly valued by participants. Continuation and expansion of this novel multi-institutional training is planned.
Improvement of Electrophysiological Neuropathy After Islet Transplantation for Type 1 Diabetes: A 5-Year Prospective Study

The consequences of islet transplantation (IT) on neuropathy remain unclear, especially since neurotoxic effects of tacrolimus have been reported (1). The restoration of a euglycemic state in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial and Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications study and through alone or combined whole pancreas transplantation has been shown to halt the progression of diabetic neuropathy (2). A significant improvement of a nerve conduction velocity (NCV) score compared with baseline was observed after IT-after-kidney (IAK), without any difference from a control group of nine kidney-only transplanted patients (3). No significant improvement of NCV was noticed 3 years after IT-alone (ITA) in a crossover study compared with intensive medical therapy (4). There has been no study of cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) after IT and the results after kidney-pancreas transplantation are discordant. The aim of our study is to describe the evolution of neuropathy after IT. This single-arm, 5-year prospective, longitudinal study included 21 type 1 diabetic patients who underwent IT (13 ITA, 8 IAK) in a single center. Immunosuppression was induced by interleukin-2 receptor antibodies and maintained with tacrolimus and sirolimus as described (5). The main study end …
The Activity Inventory: An Adaptive Visual Function Questionnaire

Purpose. The Activity Inventory (AI) is an adaptive visual function questionnaire that consists of 459 Tasks nested under 50 Goals that in turn are nested under three Objectives. Visually impaired patients are asked to rate the importance of each Goal, the difficulty of Goals that have at least some importance, and the difficulty of Tasks that serve Goals that have both some importance and some difficulty. Consequently, each patient responds to an individually tailored set of questions that provides both a functional history and the data needed to estimate the patient's visual ability. The purpose of the present article is to test the hypothesis that all combinations of items in the AI, and by extension all visual function questionnaires, measure the same visual ability variable. Methods. The AI was administered to 1880 consecutively-recruited low vision patients before their first visit to the low vision rehabilitation service. Of this group, 407 were also administered two other visual function questionnaires randomly chosen from among the Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADVS), National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ), 14-item Visual Functioning Index (VF-14), and Visual Activities Questionnaire (VAQ). Rasch analyses were performed on the responses to each VFQ, on all responses to the AI, and on responses to various subsets of items from the AI. Results. The pattern of fit statistics for AI item and person measures suggested that the estimated visual ability variable is not unidimensional. Reading-related and other items requiring high visual resolution had smaller residual errors than expected and mobility-related items had larger residual errors than expected. The pattern of person measure residual errors could not be explained by the disorder diagnosis. When items were grouped into subsets representing four visual function domains (reading, mobility, visual motor, visual information), and separate person measures were estimated for each domain as well as for all items combined, visual ability was observed to be equivalent to the first principal component and accounted for 79% of the variance. However, confirmatory factor analysis showed that visual ability is a composite variable with at least two factors: one upon which mobility loads most heavily and the other upon which reading loads most heavily. These two factors can account for the pattern of residual errors. High product moment and intraclass correlations were observed when comparing different subsets of items within the AI and when comparing different VFQs. Conclusions. Visual ability is a composite variable with two factors; one most heavily influences reading function and the other most heavily influences mobility function. Subsets of items within the AI and different VFQs all measure the same visual ability variable.
Developmental instability predicts individual variation in verbal memory skill after caffeine ingestion.

OBJECTIVE To determine the mediating effects of developmental instability on individual differences in response to caffeine. BACKGROUND Individual variation of drug effects might reflect broad genomic factors as well as the direct effects of specific alleles. The current study tested the hypothesis that individual differences in developmental instability, in part determined by genomic characteristics, would predict individual variation in the magnitude of caffeine-induced verbal memory deficits. Minor physical anomalies and fluctuating asymmetry were used as measures of developmental instability. METHOD One hundred participants were (1) administered one version of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test; (2) given a dose of caffeine determined by body weight (3 mg/kg); (3) assessed for minor physical anomalies and fluctuating asymmetry; and (4) given an alternate randomized version of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. RESULTS Consistent with predictions, a composite measure of developmental instability predicted the magnitude of caffeine-induced memory decrements. CONCLUSIONS These results may have important implications for the genetic underpinnings of individual differences in drug effects.
Relative dosimetrical verification in high dose rate brachytherapy using two-dimensional detector array IMatriXX

For high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, independent treatment verification is needed to ensure that the treatment is performed as per prescription. This study demonstrates dosimetric quality assurance of the HDR brachytherapy using a commercially available two-dimensional ion chamber array called IMatriXX, which has a detector separation of 0.7619 cm. The reference isodose length, step size, and source dwell positional accuracy were verified. A total of 24 dwell positions, which were verified for positional accuracy gave a total error (systematic and random) of –0.45 mm, with a standard deviation of 1.01 mm and maximum error of 1.8 mm. Using a step size of 5 mm, reference isodose length (the length of 100% isodose line) was verified for single and multiple catheters of same and different source loadings. An error ≤1 mm was measured in 57% of tests analyzed. Step size verification for 2, 3, 4, and 5 cm was performed and 70% of the step size errors were below 1 mm, with maximum of 1.2 mm. The step size ≤1 cm could not be verified by the IMatriXX as it could not resolve the peaks in dose profile.
A Multi-Mode Control Strategy for VAr Support by Solar PV Inverters in Distribution Networks

This paper proposes a multi-purpose VAr control strategy for solar PV inverters for voltage support in distribution networks. The proposed strategy can be applied under various PV power generation conditions. The inverters will normally operate in a dynamic VAr compensation mode for voltage support (including low PV and no PV periods). During mid-day when PV has surplus power, the proposed strategy will control the PV inverters to absorb VAr for voltage rise mitigation using a droop characteristic approach. During passing clouds, the strategy will mitigate voltage fluctuations by ramp-rate control of inverter VAr output. A dynamic model of the proposed PV inverter control has been developed to analyze its performance in terms of fast VAr control and voltage support under various PV generation conditions. The results of the analysis performed on an Australian distribution system show that the proposed VAr control strategy can mitigate voltage rise, and improve the voltage profile despite potential vast changes in the sun irradiation during passing cloud and also in the absence of PV output during the evening.
Tracking the evolution of the bacterial choline-binding domain: molecular characterization of the Clostridium acetobutylicum NCIB 8052 cspA gene

The major secreted protein of Clostridium acetobutylicum NCIB 8052, a choline-containing strain, is CspA (clostridial secreted protein). It appears to be a 115,000-M(r) glycoprotein that specifically recognizes the choline residues of the cell wall. Polyclonal antibodies raised against CspA detected the presence of the protein in the cell envelope and in the culture medium. The soluble CspA protein has been purified, and an oligonucleotide probe, prepared from the determined N-terminal sequence, has been used to clone the cspA gene which encodes a protein with 590 amino acids and an M(r) of 63,740. According to the predicted amino acid sequence, CspA is synthesized with an N-terminal segment of 26 amino acids characteristic of prokaryotic signal peptides. Expression of the cspA gene in Escherichia coli led to the production of a major anti-CspA-labeled protein of 80,000 Da which was purified by affinity chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. A comparison of CspA with other proteins in the EMBL database revealed that the C-terminal half of CspA is homologous to the choline-binding domains of the major pneumococcal autolysin (LytA amidase), the pneumococcal antigen PspA, and other cell wall-lytic enzymes of pneumococcal phages. This region, which is constructed of four repeating motifs, also displays a high similarity with the glucan-binding domains of several streptococcal glycosyltransferases and the toxins of Clostridium difficile.
A systematic review of different jump-landing variables in relation to injuries.

AIM Injuries of the lower extremity tend to be associated with jump-landing movements. This review provides an overview of the kinematic variables and malalignments during jump-landing, which could be attributed to overuse or acute injury occurrence. METHODS We searched ISI Web of Knowledge, SPORTDiscus, PubMed, EMBASE and SCOPUS for all studies, published before October 2012, which looked at the relation between kinematic risk factors and malalignments of jump-landing and injuries. An article was included 1) if the article was an observational, retrospective or prospective study; 2) if the article investigated the relationship between injuries and the visible and easily measurable kinematic variables or malalignments of the jump-landing technique; 3) if the article met a predefined quality cut-off score. RESULTS Ten studies met all inclusion criteria. Literature shows that several kinematic factors are related to lower acute and overuse injuries. CONCLUSION A stiffer jump-landing technique is a risk factor in the development of overuse injuries and acute injuries. This is caused by less active motion in the lower extremity joints and by the increased valgus position of the knee during the jump-landing maneuver which creates an unfavorable alignment of the lower extremity. A valgus position of the knee during landing was also a predictor of acute lower extremity injuries. Future intervention programs should focus on the jump-landing technique and the performance of the athlete.
Neptune is involved in posterior axis and tail formation in Xenopus embryogenesis

In order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the posterior axis and tail formation in embryogenesis, the function of Neptune, a zinc‐finger transcription factor, in Xenopus laevis embryos was investigated. Injection of neptune mRNA into the animal pole area of embryos resulted in the formation of an additional tail structure that included a neural tube and muscle tissue. This activity required FGF signaling since coinjection of a dominant‐negative FGF receptor RNA (XFD) completely blocked the formation of a tail structure. A loss‐of‐function experiment using a fusion construct of neptune and Drosophila engrailed (en‐neptune) RNA showed that endogenous Neptune is necessary for formation of the posterior trunk and tail. Furthermore, activity of Neptune was necessary for the endogenous expression of brachyury and fgf‐8 at the late gastrula stage. These findings demonstrate a novel function of Neptune in the process of anterior‐posterior axis formation through the FGF and brachyury signaling cascades. An experiment using a combination explant with ventral and dorsal marginal tissues showed that cooperation of these two distinct tissues is important for the tail formation and that expression of Neptune in prospective ventral cells may be involved in the activation of the process of tail formation. Developmental Dynamics 234:63–73, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Status of Organochlorine and Organophosphorus Pesticides in Wetlands and Its Impact on Aquatic Organisms

Abstract In recognition of the potential risks that certain chemicals pose to aquatic ecosystems and human health as well as the lack of information regarding the levels of such compounds, the present study analyzed the status of different organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides in wetland ecosystems of the world. With the goal of helping to achieve sustainability in wetland ecosystems, this study attempts to provide data on pesticide usage and presence in water, sediments and organisms, along with the awareness within affected farming communities.
CMOS-Compatible Long-Range Dielectric-Loaded Plasmonic Waveguides

CMOS-compatible long-range dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguides featuring long propagation lengths and strong mode confinements are designed and studied using the finite-element method. The waveguide composition includes a Si3N4 ridge on the top of a thin metal stripe deposited on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer with a thin top SiO2 layer produced by thermal oxidation. All the materials chosen in the design are compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology and can be integrated with plasmonic, electronic and photonic components. Influence of various waveguide parameters on the waveguide characteristics is analyzed, including the thicknesses of the Si layer and the SiO2 layers, the dimension of the ridge, as well as the parameters of the metal stripe. It is found that, at the telecom wavelength of 1.55 μm, the propagation length of CMOS-plasmonic waveguides can reach 1.07 mm with a lateral mode confinement of ~1.18 μm and 4.43 mm with a lateral mode width of ~2.32 μm. The bending loss and coupling length are both calculated to evaluate the applicability of the proposed device for high density integration and a figure of merit is proposed to show the tradeoff between the propagation length and the lateral mode width in the application of plasmonic devices.