Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human Prefrontal Cortical Response to the Meditative State: A Spectroscopy Study

ABSTRACT The effect of Qigong meditation on the hemodynamics of the prefrontal cortex was investigated by spectroscopy with a single-wavelength probe (650 nm) and confirmed by standard near-infrared spectroscopy with a dual-wavelength probe. Deoxyhemoglobin changes were recorded with the single-wavelength probe over the left prefrontal cortex during meditation by Qigong practitioners, and non-practitioners instructed in the technique. Practitioners showed a significant decrease in deoxyhemoglobin levels suggesting an increase in prefrontal activation during meditation. The results were confirmed in a second set of experiments with the standard dual-wavelength probe, in which significant differences in the decrease in deoxyhemoglobin and increase in oxyhemoglobin concentrations were observed in practitioners as compared with non-practitioners. The study thus provides evidence that Qigong meditation has a significant effect on prefrontal activation.
A Longitudinal Study of Characteristics and Predictors of Perceived Instrumental and Emotional Support among the Old-Old in Israel

The structure and function of social networks and the perceived instrumental and emotional support associated with these networks were studied longitudinally among a random sample of 687 Jewish Israelis aged seventy-five to ninety-four, stratified by five-year age groups, place of birth (Europe-America, Asia-Africa, or Israel), and gender, interviewed in 1989–92 and 1993–94. Perceived instrumental support at follow-up was predicted by baseline measures of proximity of at least one child and by four or more weekly contacts with intimate friends or family, whereas perceived emotional support was more broadly based and was predicted by more frequent contacts with children, neighborliness, and having more intimate friends. Changes occurring during the follow-up interval, such as entering long-term care or losing a confidant, were associated with a decrease in perceived emotional support but not with a loss of instrumental support. Emotional support was less replaceable over time than was instrumental support.
Gonadotrophin‐Releasing Hormone Pulse Generator Activity in the Hypothalamus of the Goat

Pulsatile release of gonadotrophin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) is indispensable to maintain normal gonadotrophin secretion. The pulsatile secretion of GnRH is associated with synchronised electrical activity in the mediobasal hypothalamus (i.e. multiple unit activity; MUA), which is considered to reflect the rhythmic oscillations in the activity of the neuronal network that drives pulsatile GnRH secretion. However, the cellular source of this ultradian rhythm in GnRH activity is unknown. Direct input from kisspeptin neurones in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) to GnRH cell bodies in the medial preoptic area or their terminals in the median eminence could be the intrinsic source for driving the GnRH pulse generator. To determine whether kisspeptin signalling could be responsible for producing pulsatile GnRH secretion, we studied goats, measured plasma levels of luteinising hormone (LH) and recorded MUA in the posterior ARC, where the majority of kisspeptin neuronal cell bodies are located. Rhythmic volleys of MUA were found to be accompanied by LH pulses with regular intervals in the ARC, where kisspeptin neuronal cell bodies were found. Exogenous administration of kisspeptin stimulated a sustained increase in LH secretion, without influencing MUA, suggesting that the GnRH pulse generator, as reflected by MUA, originated from outside of the network of GnRH neurones, and could plausibly reflect the pacemaker activity of kisspeptin neurones, whose projections reach the median eminence where GnRH fibres project. These observations suggest that the kisspeptin neurones in the ARC may be the intrinsic source of the GnRH pulse generator.
Preterm birth and mortality and morbidity: a population-based quasi-experimental study.

IMPORTANCE Preterm birth is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. However, previous studies have been unable to rigorously examine whether confounding factors cause these associations rather than the harmful effects of being born preterm. OBJECTIVE To estimate the extent to which the associations between early gestational age and offspring mortality and morbidity are the result of confounding factors by using a quasi-experimental design, the sibling-comparison approach, and by controlling for statistical covariates that varied within families. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A population-based cohort study, combining Swedish registries to identify all individuals born in Sweden from 1973 to 2008 (3,300,708 offspring of 1,736,735 mothers) and link them with multiple outcomes. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Offspring mortality (during infancy and throughout young adulthood) and psychiatric (psychotic or bipolar disorder, autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, suicide attempts, substance use, and criminality), academic (failing grades and educational attainment), and social (partnering, parenthood, low income, and social welfare benefits) outcomes through 2009. RESULTS In the population, there was a dose-response relationship between early gestation and the outcome measures. For example, extreme preterm birth (23-27 weeks of gestation) was associated with infant mortality (odds ratio, 288.1; 95% CI, 271.7-305.5), autism (hazard ratio [HR], 3.2; 95% CI, 2.6-4.0), low educational attainment (HR, 1.7; 1.5-2.0), and social welfare benefits (HR, 1.3; 1.2-1.5) compared with offspring born at term. The associations between early gestation and mortality and psychiatric morbidity generally were robust when comparing differentially exposed siblings and controlling for statistical covariates, whereas the associations with academic and some social problems were greatly or completely attenuated in the fixed-effects models. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The mechanisms responsible for the associations between preterm birth and mortality and morbidity are outcome-specific. Associations between preterm birth and mortality and psychiatric morbidity are largely independent of shared familial confounds and measured covariates, consistent with a causal inference. However, some associations, particularly predicting suicide attempt, educational attainment, and social welfare benefits, are the result of confounding factors. The findings emphasize the importance of both reducing preterm birth and providing wraparound services to all siblings in families with an offspring born preterm.
Tunable Capacitor Based on Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal for Power Harvesting Microsystems

A tunable capacitor based on polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal (PDLC) technology is presented in this paper. Its application for robust power harvesting microsystems was investigated. The power harvesting device utilized a piezoelectric microcantilever excited by ambient random vibrations to convert mechanical energy into electric power. For improving the power harvesting efficiency, the PDLC tunable capacitor was used to adjust the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric microcantilever beam to match the frequency of the ambient vibrations in real time. The fabrication process and measurement results of the PDLC tunable capacitor are detailed. The measured tuning ratio of the PDLC tunable capacitor was 63% at 300-Hz excitation frequency when a 25-V driving voltage was applied. The dielectric and optical properties of the fabricated PDLC tunable capacitor have been examined thoroughly. Based on the results of the experiment, an equivalent lumped-element model of the PDLC tunable capacitor has been developed. The simulation results showed that the impedance of the developed model agreed well with that of the fabricated tunable capacitor. This model can be incorporated into the equivalent circuit of the integrated power harvesting system for efficiency optimization.
Structure and function of the chalcone synthase superfamily of plant type III polyketide synthases.

Covering: 2002 to 2009 This review covers recent advances in structure and function studies on the chalcone synthase (CHS) superfamily of plant type III polyketide synthases (PKSs), which catalyze iterative decarboxylative condensations of malonyl unit with a CoA-linked starter molecule to produce structurally diverse, pharmaceutically important plant secondary metabolites. The functional diversity and catalytic potential of the type III PKSs are remarkable. Studies on the enzymes are now progressing rapidly; recent crystallographic and site-directed mutagenesis studies have revealed intimate structural details of the enzyme reactions, which enabled the structure-based and precursor-directed engineered biosynthesis of unnatural novel polyketides. The literature of type III PKSs of plant origin published over the last eight years will be reviewed, and is intended to compliment the coverage of the literature by Austin and Noel in Nat. Prod. Rep., 2003, 20, 79–110.
Impact of Information Technology Capability on Financial Performance of Chinese Listed Companies during the Period of Economic Downturn

The information technology (IT) resource-based view suggests that IT capability is one of the determinants of a firm’s competitive advantage and financial performance. However, we know relatively little about the relationship between IT capability and financial performance during the period of economic downturn. Even fewer research related to this is done in China as the largest emerging We used the matched sample comparison group method to collect data from 248 listed companies before and after the 2008 financial crisis during 2007-2009, and to investigate the impacts of IT capability on financial performance during economic downturn. The findings show that even during the period of financial crisis, companies with superior IT capability have better average profit ratios than a control sample of companies, but differences in the cost ratio of suggest no statistical significance between two samples.
The Development-associated Cleavage of Lens Connexin 45.6 by Caspase-3-like Protease Is Regulated by Casein Kinase II-mediated Phosphorylation*

Gap junctions are important in maintaining lens transparency and metabolic homeostasis. In this paper, we report that the gap junction-forming protein, connexin (Cx) 45.6, was specifically truncated during lens development and that the majority of the truncated fragments were located in the differentiated lens fibers. When isolated lens membranes were treated by caspase-3, the truncated fragments of Cx45.6 were reproduced, and this truncation occurred at the COOH terminus of Cx45.6. Moreover, when primary lens cells were treated with apoptosis-inducing reagents, Cx45.6 was cleaved similarly as the in vitro treatment by caspase-3, and this cleavage was blocked by a caspase-3 inhibitor. These results suggest that caspase-3 is responsible for the development-associated cleavage of Cx45.6. The cleavage site of Cx45.6 was identified between amino acid residues Glu367 and Gly368. We have shown previously that Ser363 is an in vivophosphorylated site by casein kinase II, and this specific phosphorylation leads to a rapid turnover of Cx45.6. Interestingly, we found here that when Ser363 was phosphorylated by casein kinase II, the cleavage of Cx45.6 catalyzed by caspase-3 was inhibited. This study, for the first time, demonstrates that a connexin can be a direct target of an apoptotic protease and that cleavage by caspase-3-like protease leads to the development-associated truncation of a lens connexin. Finally, caspase-3-mediated cleavage can be regulated by casein kinase II-mediated phosphorylation, suggesting that Cx45.6 turnover and specific cleavage by caspase-3-like protease is alternatively modulated.
Advanced image sensor technology for pixel scaling down toward 1.0µm (Invited)

As pixel size of image sensors shrinks down rapidly, we are reaching technical barrier to get the required low light performance. In this paper, recent advanced technologies such as backside illumination, new color filter array, low F-number with extended depth of field technologies, etc. are introduced to overcome such a barrier. It is shown that the integration of these advanced sensor technologies can make pixel size shrink down toward 1.0 mum with the required performance.
Receptor Chimeras Indicate That the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) Modulates Mitogenic Activity of VEGFR-2 in Endothelial Cells*

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) provokes angiogenesis in vivo and stimulates growth and differentiation of endothelial cells in vitro. Although VEGF receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) and VEGFR-2 are known to be high affinity receptors for VEGF, it is not clear which of the VEGFRs are responsible for the transmission of the diverse biological responses of VEGF. For this purpose we have constructed a chimeric receptor for VEGFR-1 (CTR) and VEGFR-2 (CKR) in which the extracellular domain of each receptor was replaced with the extracellular domain of human colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1R), and these receptors were expressed in pig aortic endothelial (PAE) cells. We show that CKR individually expressed in PAE cells is readily tyrosine-phosphorylated in vivo, autophosphorylated in vitro, and stimulates cell proliferation in a CSF-1-dependent manner. In contrast, CTR individually expressed in PAE cells showed no significant in vivo, in vitro tyrosine phosphorylation and cell growth in response to CSF-1 stimulation. The kinase activity of CKR was essential for its biological activity, since mutation of lysine 866 to arginine abolished its in vivo, in vitrotyrosine phosphorylation and mitogenic signals. Remarkably, activation of CTR repressed CKR-mediated mitogen-activate protein kinase activation and cell proliferation. Similar effects were observed for VEGFR-2 co-expressed with VEGFR-1. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that VEGFR-2 activation plays a positive role in angiogenesis by promoting endothelial cell proliferation. In contrast, activation of VEGFR-1 plays a stationary role in angiogenesis by antagonizing VEGFR-2 responses.
Gender differences in the language of the Map Task dialogues

A number of studies have revealed differences in distributions of linguistic features in the language produced by males and females and for a variety of text types (formal and informal prose, dialogue). A typical finding is a greater proportion of pronoun use among women than among men. Recently, HansJorg Schmid analyzed the Human Communication Research Center (HCRC) Map Task dialogues as a context in which topic of discussion is controlled and reports variations for a number of individual items. We report here on our own exploration of the HCRC Map Task data examining categories of lexical items, and in relation to the factors that are supported by the experimental design in the construction of the Map Task: speaker gender, partner gender, prior interpersonal familiarity, task-based role, eye-contact. We find that some of the trends that have been discussed in the past depend on interactions of these factors.
An alternative technique to Perfectly Matched Layers to model anchor losses in MEMS resonators with undercut suspensions

This paper presents and experimentally validates a new numerical approach to accurately model anchor losses in MEMS resonators with undercut suspensions. This method is an alternative to the use of Perfectly Matched Layers (PMLs) and excels at predicting Q for those cases in which highly reflective boundaries are present. The proposed finite element method (FEM) imposes fixed-constraints (FC) at the edges of the released regions and the Q is calculated as the ratio of strain energy in both resonator and anchors and the total acoustic energy transferred to the substrate. This new approach is compared to the results obtained by using PML conditions and validated experimentally through measurement of 216 AlN resonators with resonance frequencies (fr) around 60 MHz. The comparison shows that the proposed numerical technique has a similar accuracy to PML in predicting Q, but it is superior to it when reflections from the boundaries become relevant.
A novel active power filter for the voltage-source type harmonic source

There are two kinds of harmonic sources in power system, i.e., voltage-type harmonic source and current-type harmonic source, in the paper the physical essential of the two kinds of harmonic sources is firstly analyzed by simulation. And then a novel series active power filter is proposed when the load is voltage type harmonic source. The novel series active power filter is from the active power filter with fundamental magnetic flux compensation (FMFC). The difference between the proposed active power filter and the active power filter with FMFC is that the proposed active filter is without passive filter and the proposed active filter is only suitable for the filtering of the voltage type harmonic source. Therefore the novel series active power filter is with smaller bulk and lower cost. The main circuit and filtering principle are analyzed in detail in the paper. The simulation model is established while the load is voltage-type harmonic source. The simulation results verify the principle analysis.
Affine invariant features-based tone mapping algorithm for high dynamic range images

Conventional digital display devices, due to their hardware limitations, can't represent the whole range of luminance in High Dynamic Range (HDR) images. In order to solve this incompatible problem, many tone mapping techniques were introduced to reproduce HDR images. Unlike the traditional methods applied in standard scale space, this paper proposes a novel affine invariant features-based tone mapping algorithm in affine Gaussian scale space. The reason of using this scale space is due to the fact that it is able to extract anisotropic feature regions in addition to traditional isotropic feature regions. Firstly, the proposed method extracts the anisotropic features from HDR images and reforms them to be isotropic by Fitting & Affine transformation. Then, dodging-and-burning processing is utilized to obtain base layer of HDR images. Finally, two-scale edge-preserving decomposition is employed to generate detail layer of HDR images and combine two layers to produce output images. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms previous methods for reproducing the real scene of HDR images, especially for large perspective and scale transformed images which contain considerable anisotropic feature regions.
Meta-analysis of the cholesterol-lowering effect of ezetimibe added to ongoing statin therapy

ABSTRACT Objective: To review and analyse the evidence for the cholesterol-lowering effect of ezetimibe in adult patients with hypercholesterolaemia who are not at low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‑C) goal on statin monotherapy. Research design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched to identify ezetimibe randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published between January 1993 and December 2005. The meta-analysis combined data from RCTs, with a minimum treatment duration of 6 weeks, that compared treatment with ezetimibe 10 mg/day or placebo added to current statin therapy. The difference between treatments was analysed for four co-primary outcomes: mean percentage change from baseline in total cholesterol (TC), LDL‑C, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‑C), and number of patients achieving LDL‑C treatment goal. Meta-analysis results are presented for a modified version of the inverse variance random effects model. Results: Five RCTs involving a total of 5039 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The weighted mean difference (WMD) between treatments significantly favoured the ezetimibe/statin combination over placebo/statin for TC (–16.1% (–17.3, –14.8); p < 0.0001), LDL‑C (–23.6% (–25.6, –21.7); p < 0.0001) and HDL‑C (1.7% (0.9, 2.5); p < 0.0001). The relative risk of reaching the LDL‑C treatment goal was significantly higher for patients on ezetimibe/statin relative to those on placebo/statin (3.4 (2.0, 5.6); p < 0.0001). In pre-defined sub-group analyses of studies in patients with coronary heart disease, the WMD between treatments remained significantly in favour of ezetimibe/statin ( p < 0.0001) for TC and LDL‑C but was no longer significant for HDL‑C. Elevations in creatine kinase, alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase that were considered as an adverse effect did not differ significantly between treatments. Conclusions: The meta-analysis we performed included only five studies and was restricted to analysis of the changes in cholesterol levels relative to baseline. However, the results suggest that ezetimibe co-administered with ongoing statin therapy provides significant additional lipid-lowering in patients not at LDL‑C goal on statin therapy alone, allowing more patients to reach their LDL‑C goal.
A Broad Perspective on Financial Reporting in Pacific Asia

AbstractThe following sections are included:IntroductionReasons for Studying International AccountingSignificance of the Pacific Asia RegionEnvironmental Factors Influencing AccountingInfluence of External Environment FactorsEconomic ConditionsColonisationHistorical Factors — Language, Religion and IdeologyDemographic Factors — Population, Literacy and EducationTechnological FactorsInflationConcluding Comments on External Environment FactorsInfluence of Cultural FactorsHofstede’s Societal ValuesGray’s Accounting Subculture ValuesRelationships of Accounting Values to Accounting Systems and PracticesClassification of Pacific Asian Countries By Societal and Accounting ValuesSummary of Cultural FactorsInfluence of Institutional Structure FactorsPolitical SystemLegal SystemCapital Market SystemEducation SystemBusiness EnterprisesAccounting SystemSummary of Institutional Structure FactorsSummaryReferences
Kilohertz linewidth from frequency-stabilized mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers.

Frequency stabilization of mid-IR quantum cascade (QC) lasers to the kilohertz level has been accomplished by use of electronic servo techniques. With this active feedback, an 8.5-microm QC distributed-feedback laser is locked to the side of a rovibrational resonance of nitrous oxide (N(2) O) at 1176.61cm (-1) . A stabilized frequency-noise spectral density of 42Hz/ radicalHz has been measured at 100 kHz; the calculated laser linewidth is 12 kHz.
A Servo-Clock Model for Chains of Transparent Clocks Affected by Synchronization Period Jitter

Industrial networks for distributed monitoring, control, and automation purposes require high-accuracy clock synchronization in topologies including long chains of cascaded nodes. Unfortunately, accuracy typically degrades as the number of devices and the distance from the synchronization reference node (i.e., the master or grandmaster) grows, because of the accumulation of multiple uncertainty contributions. To mitigate this problem, the so-called transparent clocks are used in some synchronization protocols, such as the precision transparent clock protocol used in PROFINET IO isochronous real time networks and the precision time protocol version 2, standardized as IEEE 1588-2008. In this paper, an optimal servo-clock in the mean square sense is proposed. The controller relies on both a Kalman filter that estimates the clock state difference with respect to the master and a static-state feedback assuring mean square stability even under the effect of significant fluctuations of the synchronization period. Several multiparametric simulation results in a case study based on the features of PROFINET IO devices confirm that excellent performance can be achieved with the proposed approach.