Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The fetal brain: role of progesterone and allopregnanolone

Abstract Progesterone and allopregnanolone have crucial and different roles in brain development, function and recovery after injury. Pregnancy is characterized by an increased synthesis of progesterone and its neuro-active metabolites by the placenta, maternal and fetal brain. This supports the critical role of these steroids in maternal brain adaptation during pregnancy and development of the fetal brain. Moreover, allopregnanolone may play a brain-protective role during complications of pregnancy, complications of pregnancy, such as preterm delivery or intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), by reducing the impact of hypoxia and excitotoxic brain damage or impairment myelination. Behavioral consequences of altered progesterone/allopregnanolone fetal brain programming have also been hypothesized, although further evidence is needed. New potential applications of allopregnanolone as a treatment strategy have also been proposed, addressing unmet clinical needs in perinatal care.
Impulse response of a millimeter wave single mode radio-over-fiber

This paper presents the impulse response analysis and measurement results of a radio-over-fiber system at 60GHz. The ROF system employs external electro- absorption modulation using double sideband to carry the radio signals. A stochastic impulse response model of the optical fiber channel is obtained. The obtained optical fiber impulse responses can be used for system design simulations before system implementation.
Cluster based solution exploration strategy for multi-objective particle swarm optimization

This paper introduces the solution exploration strategy into particle swarm optimization (PSO) to distribute local guides for each particle of the population to lead them find out the solutions of Pareto optimal set. After solution found, we utilize cluster concept to sift representative nondominated solutions from the external repository to keep their diversity. We also incorporate a mutation like operator that enhances the solution searching capability. We compared our method to other related MO methods. These methods are examined on different test functions and the results are compared with the results of multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA).
Effect of functionalization on drug delivery potential of carbon nanotubes

Abstract The main aim of the present investigation was to explore the effect of functionalization on drug delivery potential of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and to compare the in vitro and in vivo cancer targeting potential of doxorubicin HCL (DOX)-loaded ox-/multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs), DOX-loaded PEG-MWCNTs and DOX-loaded FA-PEG-MWCNTs. The DOX/PEG-FA-MWCNTs showed enhanced cytotoxicity and were most preferentially taken up by the cancerous cells. The obtained results also support the extended resistance time and sustained release profile of drug-loaded surface-engineered MWCNTs. Overall, we concluded that the developed MWCNTs nanoformulations have higher cancer targeting potential.
Interleukin-1 synergy with phosphoinositide pathway agonists for induction of interleukin-2 gene expression: molecular basis of costimulation

The macrophage-derived cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) can provide a second signal with antigen to elicit production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) by helper T cells. The pathway(s) involved remains controversial, with protein kinase C and cyclic AMP (cAMP) invoked as possible second messengers. In the murine thymoma EL4.E1, IL-1 could synergize with the phosphoinositide pathway, because the cells made higher levels of IL-2 in the presence of IL-1 than could be induced by phorbol ester plus calcium ionophore alone. IL-1 is unlikely to act through a sustained increase in cAMP in these cells because it did not raise cAMP levels detectably and because IL-1 and forskolin had opposite effects on IL-2 gene expression. Inducible expression of a transfected reporter gene linked to a cloned fragment of the murine IL-2 gene promoter was initially increased by IL-1 costimulation, implying that IL-1 can increase the rate of transcription of IL-2. The minimal promoter elements required for iL-1 responsiveness were located within 321 bp of the IL-2 RNA cap site, and further upstream sequences to -2800 did not modify this response. IL-1 costimulation resulted in enhanced activity of both an inducible NF-kappa B-like factor and one of two distinct AP-1-like factors that bind to IL-2 regulatory sequences. Neither was induced, however, by IL-1 alone. Another AP-1-like factor and NFAT-1, while inducible in other cell types, were expressed constitutively in the EL4.E1 cells and were unaffected by IL-1. These results are discussed in terms of the combinatorial logic of IL-2 gene expression.
Excitation and inhibition in orientation selectivity of cat visual cortex neurons revealed by whole-cell recordings in vivo

Abstract One striking transformation in response properties that occurs in the geniculo-cortical pathway is the appearance of a high degree of orientation selectivity in the cortex. This property may be conceived as arising purely from the excitatory inputs to the cell, as being structured largely by the inhibition a cortical cell receives or could be due to a combination of the two. We have studied the contributions of excitatory and inhibitory inputs to cortical cells' orientation selectivity by analyzing the postsynaptic potentials evoked in cat striate neurones by flashing stimuli of different orientations. We made these recordings using the in vivo whole-cell technique (Xing Pei et al., 1991), which provides more stable and reliable results than classical intracellular recording methods. Our results show that the cat striate cortex exhibits a variety of mechanisms to achieve orientation selectivity. Orientation selectivity of a particular cell can be created by excitatory, by inhibitory, or by a combination of both mechanisms.
Association between body mass index at diagnosis and pediatric leukemia mortality and relapse: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Obesity is a risk factor for mortality and relapse of certain cancers. However, existing evidence for pediatric leukemia is inconsistent. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the association between obesity at diagnosis and pediatric acute leukemia mortality and relapse. This study systematically searched MEDLINE and EMBASE from inception to February 5, 2015. Random-effect models were used to generate pooled estimates of study-specific hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Eleven studies were included. An increased risk of mortality with a high BMI at diagnosis was observed (overall survival: HR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.16–1.46 and event-free survival: HR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.29–1.64). Only two studies reported HR for relapse; one reported a reduced risk, while the other reported an increased risk. A high BMI at diagnosis is associated with poor overall and event-free survival among pediatric acute leukemia patients. Targeted therapeutic approaches for obese pediatric leukemia patients may potentially improve survival outcomes.
WiSDom: A model-driven solitary death prevention system based on WiFi signals and real-time supervised training

A primary concern of many elders is ‘solitary death,’ being found as a rancid corpse long after they had passed away. In numerous cases, bodies are left unattended for days, months, or even years. These unfortunate cases have increased every year and have become a major social problem in many nations. Current warning systems utilize sensors or smartwatches, which are often costly, ineffective, and uncomfortable. This paper proposes WiSDom, a model-driven solitary death prevention system based on WiFi signals and real-time supervised training. The proposed methodology utilizes WiFi's Channel State Information (CSI) for the primary activity identification estimation, represents the system by a discrete event state transition model, maps the estimated activities into the external events of the model, validates its estimation with the forthcoming events, and labels the validated samples for the supervised training of its clustering algorithm in real-time closed-loop. Through the experimental results, we show that the system effectively warns emergency cases and swiftly detects fatal situations.
Gain Scheduling Control of a Walking Piezo Actuator

Piezoelectric actuators are commonly used to drive high-precision stages. In this paper, a walking piezo actuator containing four piezoelectric legs is used to drive a high-precision nanomotion stage with constant velocity and point-to-point reference signals. The gain of the system is dependent on the momentary orientation of the piezo legs during the walking movement. The aim of this paper is to design a feedback controller that employs knowledge of the varying gain of the drive legs over one drive cycle. The gain variation is determined by a combination of local and global identification and modeling techniques. The excitation signal for the local frequency response function measurements at different positions of the legs in the drive cycle is designed to avoid stick-slip effects between the drive legs and the drive surface of the stage. Using the knowledge of the system variations, a linear parameter-varying model and a gain scheduling feedback controller are designed for the nanomotion stage. Experiments show that the designed gain scheduling controller reduces the tracking error and settling time compared to a robust H∞ controller with a comparable closed-loop bandwidth up to 53% and 80%, respectively.
Optimal Design of a Multifunctional Reactor for Catalytic Oxidation of Glucose with Fast Catalyst Deactivation

Oxidations of organic compounds in liquid phase by oxygen have been applied for years in many important industrial and waste water treatment processes. There are several variants of technical design of these processes – ranging from homogeneous through heterogeneous to biotechnological routes. As an example, the process of gluconic acid production by glucose oxidation can be arranged in all of these variants. Bioprocesses are usually carried out in aqueous media at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure in the presence of living microorganisms and their enzymatic apparatus (e.g. Aspergillus niger), or by using pure enzymes (glucose oxidase and catalase), (Sikula, et al. (2006), (2007) ). In the former case, the biomass represents a solid phase in the reaction system, whereas in the latter case, the reaction system is homogeneous – liquid. Some drawbacks are also inherent with the bioprocesses – e.g. strong sensitivity of microorganisms to impurities present in the reaction system, losses of the substrate transformed to carbon dioxide or utilized for the microorganisms growth, low solubility of oxygen in the reaction system owing to the presence of ionic salts and nutrients (e.g. glucose) with a high rate of oxygen consumption by the microorganisms on the other hand, frequent occurrence of non-newtonian hydrodynamic properties of biomass suspension, foam formation, etc. For such bioprocesses, gas-lift reactors (known as air-lift reactors) (GLRs) are often used for their capability of delivering oxygen to the growing culture at a sufficient rate, while maintaining low shear stress. Heterogeneous catalyst application to the oxidation process is advantageous compared to homogeneous catalytic systems with respect to simpler separation of a catalyst from the reaction mixture by filtration. At the heterogeneous variant however, a catalyst selection and its optimization is one of the crucial points to be considered. Another one is the reactor type selection and its design (estimation of the geometry and the size of the reactor selected). Neither the authors’ experience, nor literature search provide many generalizations on selection of a reactor type for which a counter-example could not be thought up. An open
Simultaneous Reconstruction of Outer Boundary Shape and Admittivity Distribution in Electrical Impedance Tomography

The aim of electrical impedance tomography is to reconstruct the admittivity distribution inside a physical body from boundary measurements of current and voltage. Due to the severe ill-posedness of the underlying inverse problem, the functionality of impedance tomography relies heavily on accurate modelling of the measurement geometry. In particular, almost all reconstruction algorithms require the precise shape of the imaged body as an input. In this work, the need for prior geometric information is relaxed by introducing a Newton-type output least squares algorithm that reconstructs the admittivity distribution and the object shape simultaneously. The method is built in the framework of the complete electrode model and is based on the Frechet derivative of the corresponding current-to-voltage map with respect to the object boundary shape. The functionality of the technique is demonstrated via numerical experiments with simulated measurement data.
Presidential Address: Some Observations on the Growth and Survival-period of Intracranial Tumours, based on the Records of 500 Cases, with Special Reference to the Pathology of the Gliomata.

THE following observations form part of a general inquiry into the history, progress, treatment, fate, and, in many cases, the post-mortem findings of persons suffering from intracranial new growths who have come under observation at the National Hospital during the period of ten years, 1902-1911 inclusive. I have here to make grateful acknowledgment of the permission of my.colleagues to use the notes of their cases, and the ready help given me on all occasions, especially in the difficult matter of tracing the afterhistory of patients. As the numbers are large, and the notes in most cases voluminous, many being models of medical note-taking, it may not be out of place to say a word upon the method employed, especially as the value of some of the tables submitted depends entirely upon the accuracy of interpretation of the recorded clinical details, and the information received from the patients themselves, both of which constitute the main difficulty in an inquiry of this nature. A careful abstract of the clinical features has been made upon a card under an index number, a running card-index of clinical points being made at the same time. This card also receives all other information that can be obtained, namely : (1) An account of operation, and further course of the case; (2) an abstract of the post-mortem examination— no small part of the task, which has been undertaken by my colleague
The Limits of Multiple Resource Theory in Display Formatting: Effects of Task Integration

Abstract : Multiple Resource Theory proposes that multi-variable displays will be better processed when information is presented in several different display formats (i.e., verbal, spatial, visual, auditory). We argue here that this superiority of separate formats does not hold if the displayed elements are correlated or must be integrated into a single mental model. We report two experiments that confirm this hypothesis: In experiment 1, subjects monitor two numerical displays. If the Task calls for separate independent decisions concerning the value of each display, performance is best when one is spatial (analog) and the other verbal. If the task calls for integration of both displays into a common decision rule, performance is best when homogeneous display formats are used. In experiment 2 subjects monitor the display of several dynamic elements that compose a dynamic system. Performance is found to be better if these correlated elements are integrated into a configural 'object' display, than if they are displayed as separate bargraphs.
Experiences of parents and carers in managing asthma in children: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE The overarching objective of this review is to enhance understanding of the lived experiences of parents and carers in managing a child with asthma. Enablers and barriers encountered by parents will be examined and findings of the review will be used to develop recommendations for enhancing policy and practice aimed at improving asthma management for children and their families.The specific objective of this review is to critically appraise and synthesize the best available evidence based on qualitative studies exploring the experiences of parents and carers in managing their child's asthma.The primary question to be addressed is:Secondary questions to be addressed include.
Association Between Hypovitaminosis D and Late Stages of Age‐Related Macular Degeneration: A Case–Control Study

Conflict of Interest: The editor in chief has reviewed the conflict of interest checklist provided by the authors and has determined that the authors have no financial or any other kind of personal conflicts with this paper. Author Contributions: Concept and design: Min-Po Ho. Acquisition of subjects and data: Kaung-Chau Tsai, Min-Po Ho. Analysis and interpretation of data: Min-Po Ho, Wen-Han Chang. Preparation of manuscript: Min-Po Ho. Critical review and approval: all authors. Sponsor’s Role: None.
ANKARA'DA İNTİHAR GİRİŞİMLERİ ÜZERİNE BİR İZLEME ÇALIŞMASI: Dünya Sağlık Örgütü-Avrupa Çok Merkezli İntihar Davranışı İzlem Çalışması Sonuçları

Bu calisma Dunya Saglik Orgutu Avrupa bolgesel ofisi tarafindan 1988 yilinda baslatilan, Avrupa\\'da intihar girisimlerini arastirmayi amaclayan cok merkezli calismanin bir parcasi olarak yurutulmustur. Calismada intihargirisiminde bulunmus bir hasta grubu ile izlem gorusmesi yapilarak, tekrarlayan intihar girisimi hizi ve bu girisimler ile iliskili olabilecekfaktorler incelenmistir. Sonuclar intihar girisimlerinin genc eriskin yas gruplarinda ve kadinlar arasinda daha yaygin oldugunu, intihar girisimlerinin cogunlukla askalarindan yardim aramak ve umutsuzlugu gostermek niyeti tasidigini, tekrarlayicilarin daha sik intihar dusuncesi yasadigini, onceden intihar davranisi bulunmasinin ve zorlu yasam olaylarinin tekrar intihar girisiminde bulunma riskini artirdigini gostermektedir. Intihar girisiminde bulunanlarin cogunlugu bu girisimlerden sonra yeterli psikiyatriktedavi alamamakta ve bu davranislari aileleri ve arkadaslari tarafindan Onaylanmamakla birlikte, genellikle de tamamen yalniz birakilmamaktadirlar.
FPGA based Real-time Automatic Number Plate Recognition System for Modern License Plates in Sri Lanka

This paper proposes a real-time number plate recognition technique which involves localizing the number plate from a rear view image of a vehicle, processing it using image processing and image enhancement techniques to segment and extract the characters in the number plate which are in turn matched against a set of stored templates for an accurate character recognition process. The entire system is developed on a FPGA to achieve real-time processing.
Rural substance use treatment centers in the United States: an assessment of treatment quality by location

Abstract Background: While previous research has added to the understanding of rural residents’ unique health challenges, much remains to be learned about the provision of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in rural areas. A key question is difference in structural resources and quality of care between rural and urban treatment centers. Objective: To examine differences in treatment quality in rural and urban centers and to determine if differences in treatment quality are contextualized by centers’ structural resources. Methods: Utilizing combined data from two representative samples of SUD treatment centers (n = 591), we used a series of multivariate regressions to analyze the association between center rurality and various indicators of structural characteristics and treatment quality. Interaction effects were further examined between structural characteristics and treatment quality indicators. Results: We found that structural and quality differences between rural and urban treatment centers were present. Rural centers had reduced access to highly educated counselors, were more likely to be non-profit and dependent on public funding, offered fewer wraparound services, and had less diverse specialized treatment options. Our results also indicated that rural centers were less likely to prescribe buprenorphine as part of their treatment but were more likely to employ nursing staff and offer specialized treatment for adolescents. Rural center access to a physician contextualized the association between center rurality and the more limited provision of wraparound services. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that treatment quality differs between urban and rural centers in complex ways that are subject to resource availability.
The Remitting Atypical Psychoses: Clinical and Nosologic Considerations

There exists in the literature a group of nonorganic psychoses which appear to have no obvious relationship to either schizophrenia or affective illness. Diagnostic terminology to classify these atypical psychoses has been varied, although features in common can be identified. For example, they often are associated with antecedent personality problems, acute onset, florid and mixed symptomatology, brief duration, and full remission with a return to premorbid level of functioning. Case material reflecting these types of psychoses is presented here, and is discussed with reference to the nosologic status of these atypical psychoses.
Tunable Bandpass Filter Using a Switched Tunable Diplexer Technique

In this paper, a new technique using two p-i-n diodes to switch between two channels of a tunable diplexer with constant return loss is proposed to design a tunable bandpass filter (BPF) with wide frequency tuning range (FTR). The used third-order tunable diplexer with two independently tuned channels consists of one common varactor-tuned lumped-element dual-resonance resonator and two varactor-tuned LC resonators. The ports of its two channels are connected by a single-pole double-throw switch, so that one port of the tunable BPF is constituted. And its common port serves as the other port of the tunable BPF. In the switched tunable diplexer design, its direct current (dc) bias voltages are also appropriately selected to improve the in-band and out-of-band performances of the tunable BPF. As examples, a third-order tunable diplexer with constant return loss of 15 dB is first designed. The measured results show that the 3 dB cutoff frequency of its lower channel can be tuned from 0.5 to 1.02 GHz, while the 3 dB cutoff frequency of its upper channel can be tuned from 1.01 to 1.78 GHz. Then, a tunable BPF is designed, and its 3 dB cutoff frequency covers from 0.485 to 1.82 GHz. The proposed tunable BPF exhibits good return loss, wide FTR, and compact size.
High-speed, high-responsivity, and high-power performance of near-ballistic uni-traveling-carrier photodiode at 1.55-/spl mu/m wavelength

In this letter, we demonstrate a novel photodiode at a 1.55-/spl mu/m wavelength: the near-ballistic uni-traveling-carrier photodiode (UTC-PD). After a p/sup +/ delta-doped layer was inserted into the collector of a UTC-PD, near-ballistic transport of photogenerated electrons under high reverse bias voltage (-5 V) and a high output photocurrent (/spl sim/30 mA) was observed. The demonstrated device has been combined with an evanescently coupled optical waveguide to attain high responsivity and high saturation power performance. Extremely high responsivity (1.14 A/W), a high electrical bandwidth (around 40 GHz), and a high saturation current-bandwidth product (over 1280 mA/spl middot/GHz, at 40 GHz) with high saturation radio-frequency power (over 12 dBm at 40 GHz) have been achieved simultaneously at a 1.55-/spl mu/m wavelength.