Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tunable highly-birefringent Photonic Liquid Crystal Fibers

Temperature tunable highly-birefringent (HB) photonic liquid crystal fibers (PLCFs) based on commercially available (Blazephotonics PM-1550-01) HB photonic crystal fiber (PCF) infiltrated with nematic liquid crystals (LCs) are demonstrated. The wavelength scanning technique was used to measure group and phase birefringence along with its wavelength dependence and the method was also adapted to intermodal birefringence measurements. It was found that selective infiltration of the HB PCF fiber with a LC changes its birefringence sign of the fiber. Since refractive indices of LCs depend on temperature, thermally-induced birefringence tuning in PLCFs is possible.
Practical Considerations in Forecast Value Added (FVA) Analysis

A business forecast is normally produced by applying overrides and modifications to an initial statistical forecast. Whether these adjustments to the statistical forecast improve forecast performance is always an important question? one to which the Forecast Value Added (FVA) concept can be applied. Harpal, Sanjiv, and Eric identify some of the practical issues in applying FVA analysis within a demand-management process. Copyright International Institute of Forecasters, 2015
Tetracycline-inducible systems for Drosophila

Since their inception, tetracycline (Tet)-inducible systems have become the method of choice for transgenic research. The Tet-Off systems have a number of advantages, including robust target induction using a relatively benign effector molecule. However, use of the Tet-On system has been fraught with difficulties, including high background expression in the absence of effector molecules and inconsistent gene induction. Recently, secondgeneration Tet-On transactivators (TAs) have been described. In HeLa cells, they are far more efficient than the original reverse TA protein, and they exhibit lower background activity in the absence of effectors. Here we examine the most promising TA in transgenic Drosophila and characterize its in vivo properties. We report that low levels of doxycycline, when added to normal fly food, efficiently and rapidly induce target transgenes in adults, larvae, and embryos. This TA is superior to all other Tet-On proteins, and its performance is comparable to that of the widely used Tet-Off TA. In addition, combining the improved Tet-On TA with the Gal4-UAS (upstream-activating sequence) system produces robust, spatially restricted, temporally controlled transgene induction. Because this Tet-On TA is significantly more efficient than previous ones used in Drosophila, it is also possible to modulate gene induction by controlling the dosage of the antibiotic in the food.
Spatial and temporal application of microfluidics to cells

The rapid solution exchange around the adhesive single cell has recently received a great deal of attention from the viewpoint cell response analyses. We recently constructed a new system, which enables the replacement of solutions rapidly and precisely, by utilizing laminar flow technology. The sharp boundary of the adjoining two liquids (no mixing) moves around the cells, and minimum increments of the boundary shift are controlled at an interval of roughly 1.6 mum, and the time required for this movement is 20 msec. The system can be used for the analysis of intracellular Ca2+ concentrations using a fluorescent indicator, in which the cells are thus stimulated by the rapid exchange of the solution. These results suggest that the spatial and temporal control of the solution around the adhesive single cell can thus be realized
Designing better adaptive sampling algorithms for ECG Holter systems

Let /spl Psi/ be any adaptive sampling algorithm that can run in real time on a tapeless multichannel electrocardiogram (ECG) Holter system. Simple methods which can significantly improve /spl Psi/'s fidelity are described and their results are compared in this paper. It is shown that by adding some simple tests to /spl Psi/, the signals reconstructed by /spl Psi/ can be improved as much as 5.45 dB. It is also shown that under the same data rate, a good data compressor with slowly sampled input ECG is preferable to a bad data compressor with highly sampled input ECG.
Synapses made by myelinated fibers running to teleost and elasmobranch retinas

Myelinated fibers are described in teleost (carp, goldfish) and elasmobranch (dogfish) retinas which make synapses onto amacrine cell bodies and bipolar cell terminals. The fibers run in parallel with bundles of optic nerve fibers radiating from the optic disk until at some point they traverse the inner plexiform layer, turning again horizontally to course under the layer of amacrine cell bodies for 0.5–0.75 mm. En route each fiber makes several en passant synapses characterized by a cessation of the myelin sheath, a local increase in axonal diameter, an accumulation of agranular vesicles 300–400 Å in diameter and increased densification of pre‐ and post‐synaptic membranes. These fibers are not post‐synaptic to any retinal element. The evidence that the myelinated fibers described form an efferent system is based on their resemblance in many particulars to the centrifugal fiber system innervating the pigeon retina. Degeneration experiments, however, could not distinguish conclusively between a true efferent system, originating in some central nucleus, and a recurrent collateral system branching from afferent optic nerve axons.
The clinical effects of deep brain stimulation of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus in movement disorders may not be related to the anatomical target, leads location, and setup of electrical stimulation.

BACKGROUND The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) is a novel target for deep brain stimulation (DBS) in movement disorders. OBJECTIVE To clarify the relationships between the individual anatomic variations of the brainstem, the site in which the PPTg DBS is applied, and the clinical outcome in a relatively large number of patients affected by Parkinson disease or progressive supranuclear palsy. METHODS Magnetic resonance images have been used to evaluate brainstem anatomy and the relationships between lead position and specific brainstem landmarks. All data were matched on atlas representations of the PPTg and were correlated with Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale III (UPDRS III), subitems 27 to 30 of UPDRS III and the Hoehn and Yahr evaluations. RESULTS A high variance of brainstem parameters was evident, affecting the relationships between the position of the nucleus and lead contacts. According to the contacts giving the best clinical outcome, patients could be distinguished between those who required the use of 2 adjacent contacts and those who required stimulation through 2 nonadjacent contacts. Furthermore, in the former group the target coordinates were more lateral and deeper compared with the latter group. CONCLUSION Individual PPTg-DBS planning is required to overcome the inconsistencies linked to the high variability in the brainstem anatomy of patients. The lack of correlations between lead position, contact setup, and clinical outcome indicate that the benefits of PPTg DBS may not be strictly linked to the site of stimulation within the PPTg area, and may not depend upon the neurons still surviving in this region in Parkinson disease or progressive supranuclear palsy.
Sucrose Substitutes Affect the Cariogenic Potential of Streptococcus mutans Biofilms

Streptococcus mutans is considered the primary etiologic agent of dental caries and contributes significantly to the virulence of dental plaque, especially in the presence of sucrose. To avoid the role of sucrose on the virulence factors of S. mutans, sugar substitutes are commonly consumed because they lead to lower or no production of acids and interfere with biofilm formation. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of sugar substitutes in the cariogenic potential of S. mutans biofilms. Thus, in the presence of sucrose, glucose, sucralose and sorbitol, the biofilm mass was quantified up to 96 h, the pH of the spent culture media was measured, the expression of biofilm-related genes was determined, and demineralization challenge experiments were conduct in enamel fragments. The presence of sugars or sugar substitutes profoundly affected the expression of spaP, gtfB, gtfC, gbpB, ftf, vicR and vicX in either biofilm or planktonic cells. The substitution of sucrose induced a down-regulation of most genes involved in sucrose-dependent colonization in biofilm cells. When the ratio between the expression of biofilm and planktonic cells was considered, most of those genes were down-regulated in biofilm cells in the presence of sugars and up-regulated in the presence of sugar substitutes. However, sucralose but not sorbitol fulfilled the purpose of reducing the cariogenic potential of the diet since it induced the biofilm formation with the lowest biomass, did not change the pH of the medium and led to the lowest lesion depth in the cariogenic challenge.
Evaporation-Controlled Self-Assembly of Silica Surfactant Mesophases

Surfactant templated silica mesophases belong to the class of self-assembled materials that exhibit long range ordered two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal, three-dimensional (3D) hexagonal, or 3D cubic mesostructures when the composition of the initial deposited solution and its aging time have been optimized. Thin films of such mesophases with a thickness typically less than 300 nm are now routinely obtained by dip coating. In this study a reference solution was used with a chemical composition leading to the formation of thin films with a 3D hexagonal (P63/mmc) mesostructure by dip coating. Thick films (about 10 μm thick) were alternatively prepared by a evaporation-controlled self-assembly (ECSA) process and studied with grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). In the ECSA process, the mesostructure was developed under slower evaporation conditions than for dip-coated films by finely tuning the ethanol/H2O evaporation rate of the reference solution horizontally deposited on a silicon wafer.
Complicated malaria: A rare presentation of Plasmodium ovale

Malaria has emerged as a major public health problem worldwide. Complications are commonly seen in Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) and Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) infection, but due to Plasmodium ovale (P. ovale) infection is rarely described in literature. Here we report a case of severe disease due to P. ovale infection complicated with jaundice, thrombocytopenia, hypotension and acute renal failure.
The $\Gamma $-limit and the related gradient flow for singular perturbation functionals of Perona-Malik type

We consider a class of nonconvex functionals of the gradient in one dimension, which we regularize with a second order derivative term. After a proper rescaling, suggested by the associated dynamical problems, we show that the sequence {F-nu} of regularized functionals Gamma-converges, as nu --> 0(+), to a particular class of free-discontinuity functionals F, concentrated on SBV functions with finite energy and having only the jump part in the derivative. We study the singular dynamic associated with F, using the minimizing movements method. We show that the minimizing movement starting from an initial datum with a finite number of discontinuities has jump positions fixed in space and whose number is nonincreasing with time. Moreover, there are a finite number of singular times at which there is a dropping of the number of discontinuities. In the interval between two subsequent singular times, the vector of the survived jumps is determined by the system of ODEs which expresses the L-2-gradient of the Gamma-limit. Furthermore the minimizing movement turns out to be continuous with respect to the initial datum. Some properties of a minimizing movement starting from a function with an in finite number of discontinuities are also derived.
Crosstalk between platelets and the complement system in immune protection and disease

Summary Platelets have a central function in repairing vascular damage and stopping acute blood loss. They are equally central to thrombus formation in cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke. Beyond these classical prothrombotic diseases, immune mediated pathologies such as haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) or paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) also feature an increased tendency to form thrombi in various tissues. It has become increasingly clear that the complement system, part of the innate immune system, has an important role in the pathophysiology of these diseases. Not only does complement influence prothrombotic disease, it is equally involved in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), an autoimmune disease characterised by thrombocytopenia. Thus, there are complex interrelationships between the haemostatic and immune systems, and platelets and complement in particular. Not only does complement influence platelet diseases such as ITP, HUS and PNH, it also mediates interaction between microbes and platelets during systemic infection, influencing the course of infection and development of protective immunity. This review aims to provide an integrative overview of the mechanisms underlying the interactions between complement and platelets in health and disease.
Phosphoprotein Phosphatase Activities in Alzheimer Disease Brain

Abstract: Microtubule‐associated protein τ is known to be hyperphosphorylated in Alzheimer disease brain and this abnormal hyperphosphorylation is associated with an inability of τ to promote the assembly of microtubule in the affected neurons. Our previous studies demonstrated that abnormally phosphorylated τ could be dephosphorylated after treatment with alkaline phosphatase, thereby suggesting that the abnormal phosphorylation of τ might in part be the result of a deficiency of the phosphoprotein phosphatase system in patients with Alzheimer disease. In the present study we used 32P‐labeled phosphorylase kinase and poly(Glu.Tyr) 4:1 as substrates to measure phosphoprotein phosphatase activities in Alzheimer disease and control brains. The activities of phosphoseryl/ phosphothreonyl‐protein phosphatase types 1, 2A, 2B, and 2C and of phosphotyrosyl‐protein phosphatase in frontal gray and white matters from 13 Alzheimer brains were determined and compared with those from 12 age‐matched control brains. The activities of type 1 phosphatase and phosphotyrosyl phosphatase in gray matter and of type 2A phosphatase in both gray and white matters were significantly lower in Alzheimer disease brains than in controls. These findings suggest that the hyperphosphorylation of τ in Alzheimer disease brain could result from a protein dephosphorylation defect in vivo. The decrease in the phosphatase activities in Alzheimer disease might also be involved in the formation of β‐amyloid by augmenting the amyloidogenic pathway processing of β‐amyloid precursor protein.
Proposal for an image-based software system for dental implant positioning

The technological development in healthcare experienced in actual days has relationship with the integration of many knowledge areas, fundamentally by searching new solutions in order to improve the quality of life of the society. Examples of this reality appears in medicine and engineering areas, where the computer-assisted techniques works together to solve many healthcare problems. In the surgical procedures context as well, as in dental implant planning, the surgeon still determine some parameters according to his personal experience, where only the visualization of the problems through Computed Tomography images are not enough to ensure the success of the procedure. Thus, this research aims to propose a computational model, as a decision support tool, in order to define a more appropriate positioning for dental implants. This is a fundamental part to determination of the necessary parameters for the process planning because the information is obtained automatically straight from image processing. The prototype presented in this work comprises a user-friendly interface, which allows dentists to observe the bone and dental structure in multi-perspective images. Also, it determines the implant location by an automatic procedure without intervention of dentist. The text shows a study case with the autonomous determination of an implant position.
Does a stamp increase the return in mail surveys

Im Rahmen der Langsschnittstudie Bildungsprozesse, Kompetenzentwicklung und Selektionsentscheidungen im Vorschul- und Schulalter (BiKS) wurde im schulischen Kontext experimentell untersucht, wie sich unterschiedliche Arten der Frankierung des Rucksendeumschlags fur Schulerfragebogen auf den Rucklauf auswirken. Dabei wurde die Stichprobe von N = 948 Sekundarschulern zufallig in drei Subgruppen geteilt, denen zur Rucksendung ihres Fragebogens je nach Bedingung ein portofreier Rucksendeumschlag, ein mit einer Automatenbriefmarke oder mit einer Sonderbriefmarke frankierter Ruckumschlag zur Verfugung stand (drei Bedingungen). Unsere Analysen zeigen einen signifikant positiven Effekt der Sonderbriefmarke auf die Rucksendequote, dies vor allem bei Familien mit geringer Teilnahmeneigung.
Trends in awareness and use of electronic cigarettes among US adults, 2010-2013.

INTRODUCTION Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) marketing has increased considerably since the product entered the US market in 2007, thereby warranting additional surveillance to monitor recent trends in population-level awareness and utilization. We assessed the prevalence, characteristics, and trends in e-cigarette awareness and use among nationally representative samples of US adults during 2010-2013. METHODS Data came from the 2010-2013 HealthStyles survey, an annual consumer-based web survey of US adults aged ≥ 18 years. Sample sizes ranged from 2,505 (2010) to 4,170 (2012). Descriptive statistics were used to assess e-cigarette awareness, ever use, and current use (use within the past 30 days) overall and by sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, income, US region, and cigarette smoking status. Trends were assessed using logistic regression. RESULTS During 2010-2013, increases (p < .05) were observed for e-cigarette awareness (40.9%-79.7%), ever use (3.3%-8.5%), and current use (1.0%-2.6%). Awareness increased among all socio demographic subpopulations during 2010-2013 (p < .05); an increase in ever use of e-cigarettes occurred among all sociodemographic groups except those aged 18-24 years, Hispanics, and those living in the Midwest (p < .05). During 2010-2013, ever use increased among current (9.8%-36.5%) and former (2.5%-9.6%) cigarette smokers (p < .05), but it remained unchanged among never smokers (1.3%-1.2%). CONCLUSIONS Awareness and use of e-cigarettes increased considerably among US adults during 2010-2013. In 2013, more than one-third of current cigarette smokers reported having ever used e-cigarettes. Given the uncertain public health impact of e-cigarettes, continued surveillance of emerging use patterns is critical for public health planning.
Visual Psychophysics and Physiological Optics Longitudinal Change and Stability of Refractive , Keratometric , and Internal Astigmatism in Childhood

Citation: Harvey EM, Miller JM, Twelker JD, Sherrill DL. Longitudinal change and stability of refractive, keratometric, and internal astigmatism in childhood. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2015;56:190–198. DOI:10.1167/iovs.14-13898 PURPOSE. To assess longitudinal change in refractive, keratometric, and internal astigmatism in a sample of students from a population with a high prevalence of with-the-rule (WTR) astigmatism and to determine the optical origins of changes in refractive astigmatism.
Report on consensus conference on cervical cancer screening and management

Anthony B. MILLER*, Saloney NAZEER, Sharon FONN, Assia BRANDUP-LUKANOW, Rakshanda REHMAN, Hennie CRONJE, Rengaswamy SANKARANARAYANAN, Valentin KOROLTCHOUK, Kari SYRJANEN, Albert SINGER and Mathias ONSRUD on behalf of the participants Division of Clinical Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Hopitaux Universitaires de Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland Women’s Health Project, Johannesburg, South Africa WHO Regional Office for European Region, Copenhagen, Denmark Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Fatimah Jinnah Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa Unit of Descriptive Epidemiology, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France Geneva, Switzerland Department of Pathology, Central Hospital, Kuopio, Finland Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, The Whittington Hospital, London, England Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital of Trondheim, Norway
Hole plastic scheme for geographic routing in wireless sensor networks

Geographic routing in wireless sensor networks suffers from the local minimum problem when data packets encounter the concave boundary of a hole (void area), i.e., no neighbor node are closer to the destination than the current node. In this paper, we propose a hole plastic scheme which adaptively fill the concave area of a hole with potential stuck nodes according to 1-hop information of neighbors, to relieve the local minimum problem faced by geographic routing. The basic idea is To mark the nodes located in the concave area of the hole as potential stuck nodes which do not participate in data delivery unless a source/destination is located on the concave area of the hole. Once the hole plastic process is achieved, subsequently arriving data flows will be prevented from entering the concave area of the hole by potential stuck nodes. The proposed hole plastic scheme is achieved in a local self-organized manner, i.e., potential stuck node marking is based on the information of 1-hop neighbors, and traditional multi-hop cooperation methods such as hole detection, hole boundary tracing, hole modeling are not required.
Non-mutagenic organic pigment intermediates. I. 3,3'-dipropoxybenzidine.

Crystals of the title compound, C(18)H(24)N(2)O(2), were grown from ethanol by slow evaporation and the structure has been determined. The molecule resides on a crystallographic inversion center and the biphenyl moiety is essentially planar. The structure forms an infinite two-dimensional array of N-H.pi(arene) interactions parallel to the (101) direction.
Do futures and options trading increase spot market volatility in India? The case of S&P CNX Nifty

The exponential generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (EGARCH) model followed by standard GARCH (1, 1) model were employed to investigate the impact of introduction of futures and options trading on the volatility of the underlying spot market in India. The empirical analysis was conducted for the daily closing price returns of S&P CNX Nifty spot index from 1st January, 1996 through 31st October, 2008. The empirical results reveal that the spot market volatility has been declined after the introduction of futures and options trading in India. Besides, the empirical results indicate that the impact of recent news has a greater impact on the spot market changes following the onset of futures/options trading. At the same time, the persistence of volatility shocks has been declined in the post-derivatives scenario indicating increased efficiency of the Indian spot market. Hence, the present study suggests that the introduction of futures and options trading have improved the speed and quality of information flowing in the spot market. This enhances the overall market depth, increases market liquidity and ultimately reduces informational asymmetries and therefore compresses spot market volatility in India.