Search

This study delves into the potential use of large language models (LLMs) for generating Library of Congress subject headings. The authors employed ChatGPT to generate subject headings for electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) based on their titles and abstracts. The results suggest that LLMs such as ChatGPT have the potential to reduce the cataloging time needed for assigning subject terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) for ETDs as well as to improve the discovery of this type of resource in academic libraries. Nonetheless, human catalogers remain essential for verifying and enhancing the validity, exhaustivity, and specificity of Library of Congress subject headings generated by LLMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Mechanical waves produced by ultrasound pulses have been shown to activate mechanosensitive ion channels and modulate peripheral nerves. However, while peripheral ultrasound neuromodulation has been demonstrated in vitro and in pre-clinical models, there have been few reports of clinical tests. Aim We modified a diagnostic imaging system for ultrasound neuromodulation in human subjects. We report the first safety and feasibility outcomes in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D) mellitus and discuss these outcomes in relation to previous pre-clinical results. Design The study was performed as an open label feasibility study to assess the effects of hepatic ultrasound (targeted to the porta hepatis) on glucometabolic parameters in subjects with T2D. Stimulation (peripheral focused ultrasound stimulation treatment) was performed for 3 days (i.e. 15 min per day), preceded by a baseline examination and followed by a 2-week observation period. Methods Multiple metabolic assays were employed including measures of fasting glucose and insulin, insulin resistance and glucose metabolism. The safety and tolerability were also assessed by monitoring adverse events, changes in vital signs, electrocardiogram parameters and clinical laboratory measures. Results and conclusion We report post-pFUS trends in several outcomes that were consistent with previous pre-clinical findings. Fasting insulin was lowered, resulting in a reduction of HOMA-IR scores (P -value 0.01; corrected Wilcoxon signed-rank test). Additional safety and exploratory markers demonstrated no device-related adverse impact of pFUS. Our findings demonstrate that pFUS represents a promising new treatment modality that could be used as a non-pharmaceutical adjunct or even alternative to current drug treatments in diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a well-known risk factor for cognitive dysfunction in aged populations. However, there are inconsistent reports about impaired fasting glucose or prediabetes as an independent risk factor for cognitive function. Glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) is the key enzyme responsible for γ-aminobutyric acid synthesis in the central nervous system. Antibodies against GAD65 (GAD65Abs) are not only detected in approximately 80% of early-onset type 1 DM, but also linked to several neurological disorders. Aim This study aims to investigate the association between GAD65Ab titer levels and cognitive performance. In addition, we assessed the effect of GAD65Ab on cognitive function in adults with normal fasting glucose, prediabetes and DM. Methods A total of 328 subjects aged 49.10 ± 5.72 years were enrolled from the Third Health and Nutrition Examination Survey dataset. Cognitive performance was assessed by three computerized neurobehavioral tests, including the serial digit learning test, simple reaction time test (SRTT) and symbol-digit substitution test (SDST). Results Subjects with higher GAD65Ab titers had significantly poorer cognitive function in the SRTT and SDST (P  < 0.05). Additionally, GAD65Ab was associated with cognitive decline in non-diabetic adults after adjusting for a number of relevant variables (P  < 0.05 in both SRTT and SDST). Conclusions These results indicate that GAD65Ab may be a potential marker for cognitive impairment in non-diabetic adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant experimental effort has been explored to search and characterize high-k materials with magnetodielectric effect (MDE) of series of rare earth (RE) oxide (RE2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in SiO2 glass matrix by a sol-gel route. Properly annealed sol-gel glass (in which RE = Sm, Gd, and Er) shows colossal response of dielectric constant along with diffuse phase transition and MDE around room temperature. The radial distribution functions, reconstructed from extended x-ray absorption fine structure, show the shortening of RE3 + -O depending on the RE2O3 NP size, which is consistent with oxygen vacancy induced dielectric anomaly. The magnetoresistive MDE is very much conditioned by magnetic property of RE2O3 NP grain, the degree of deformation of the lattice and constituent host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which determined the mechanism of photochemical oxide growth of Hg[sub1-x]Cd[subx]Te epilayers. Photochemical oxidation of the films; Results and discussion; Conclusions.

In this paper we investigate flow shop production systems with manufacturing cells. We develop a procedure which enables us to determine the optimal number of machines for each operation, the optimal assignments of operations to manufacturing cells, and the optimal number of robots required in each cell such that the total production cost per unit is minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed frequency locking of a dual, forward reverse emitting third-order distributed feedback quantum cascade laser (QCL) at 3.5 THz. By using both directions of THz emission in combination with two gas cells and two power detectors, we can for the first time perform frequency stabilization, while monitor the frequency locking quality independently. We also characterize how the use of a less sensitive pyroelectric detector can influence the quality of frequency locking, illustrating experimentally that the sensitivity of the detectors is crucial. Using both directions of terahertz (THz) radiation has a particular advantage for the application of a QCL as a local oscillator, where radiation from one side can be used for frequency/phase stabilization, leaving the other side to be fully utilized as a local oscillator to pump a mixer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the phase locking of a 3.4 THz third-order distributed feedback quantum cascade laser (QCL) using a room temperature GaAs/AlAs superlattice diode as both a frequency multiplier and an internal harmonic mixer. A signal-to-noise level of 60 dB is observed in the intermediate frequency signal between the 18th harmonic of a 190.7 GHz reference source and the 3433 GHz QCL. A phase-lock loop with 7 MHz bandwidth results in QCL emission that is 96% locked to the reference source. We characterize the QCL temperature and electrical tuning mechanisms and show that frequency dependence of these mechanisms can prevent phase-locking under certain QCL bias conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on both measurements and simulations of the beam profile and wavefront of a single-mode, 3.5 THz quantum cascade wire laser, incorporating a lateral corrugated metal-metal waveguide, 3rd-order distributed feedback grating. The intrinsic wavefront was measured by using a Hartmann wavefront sensor (HWS) without any optical components between the laser and HWS. Both beam profile and wavefront were simulated using an antenna array model, but taking the non-uniform electric field distribution along the waveguide into account. The results show that the non-uniform distribution along the wire laser plays a crucial role in realizing a nearly single-lobed narrow beam. The measured wavefront is spherical and agrees well with the simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Many studies support the role of bilirubin as a cytoprotector in chronic inflammatory diseases, such as stroke and atherosclerosis. Aim To investigate the relationship between serum total bilirubin levels and functional dependence in older adults. Methods Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002) pertaining to 2235 old adults were analysed. All participants had given a household interview, providing information of five major domains on self-reported functional status (activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, leisure and social activities, lower extremity mobility and general physical activities), had completed serum total bilirubin measurement, and a questionnaire regarding personal health. Poor performance was defined as experiencing difficulty with one or more items in a given domain. Functional dependence was defined as having three or more poor performances in the five major domains. Multiple logistic regression was performed together with quartile-based stratified odds ratio ( OR) comparison and trend tests. Results The OR of functional dependence for each standard deviation increment in the serum total bilirubin level was 0.56 ( P = 0.002). After additional adjustment, the inverse association remained essentially unchanged. In quartile-based analysis, participants with higher quartiles of serum total bilirubin tended to have lower ORs of functional dependence. The trends of lower likelihood of functional dependence across increasing quartiles of the serum total bilirubin level were statistically significant ( P < 0.05 for all trends). Conclusions Higher serum total bilirubin levels were associated with lower likelihood of functional dependence in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a high-density magnetic recording channel, non-linear effects such as transition shift and partial erasure arise, and these effects limit detector performance. The transition shift can be precompensated by using an appropriate write current; however, partial erasure still degrades detector performance. In this study, the authors obtained the correlation functions of the stored data in the presence of partial erasure under the assumption that the transition shift has been precompensated. The correlation functions are applied in designing a minimum mean squared error equaliser for both the linear partial response and the non-linear partial response, and the corresponding partial response maximum likelihood (PRML) sequence detector, realised by the Viterbi decoder, is also examined. Computer simulations indicate that the mean squared error of the proposed equaliser can be improved and the bit error rate of the PRML sequence detector is also reduced as compared with the conventional one in the presence of partial erasure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The direct damage caused by earthquakes, such as impaired buildings, may interfere with normal business operations and disrupt the function of the industrial chain. Such economic impacts can be evaluated using the input-output analysis developed by Leontief. In this paper, two scenario earthquakes in northern Taiwan both with a return period of 475 years-the Hsinchu Hsincheng and the Yilan Nan-ao earthquakes-are simulated. The results show that the economic impact caused by the Hsincheng earthquake is greater than that resulting from the Nan-ao earthquake, which should be the major scenario considered for the disaster reduction plan. The industries affected the most are the manufacturing, food services and entertainment, storage and retail trade, and public and construction industries. The Nan-ao earthquake causes relatively more losses in the food services and entertainment industries. Most of the repercussion effects of these industries are in the central and southern parts of Taiwan. The loss to the manufacturing sector and its repercussion effects are enormous. Therefore, the government should make it a first priority to encourage the manufacturing sector to implement earthquake mitigations, such as a seismic retrofit, or to provide a seismic evaluation, which can enable firms to engage in mitigation voluntarily. The measure needed to reduce the loss in agriculture is that the government can purchase agricultural products in central and southern Taiwan following the disaster and offer them to survivors in northern Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report frequency locking of two 3.5-THz third-order distributed feedback (DFB) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) by using methanol molecular absorption lines, a proportional-integral-derivative controller, and a NbN bolometer. We show that the free-running linewidths of the QCLs are dependent on the electrical and temperature tuning coefficients. For both lasers, the frequency locking induces a similar linewidth reduction factor, whereby the narrowest locked linewidth is below 18 kHz with a Gaussian-like shape. The linewidth reduction factor and the ultimate linewidth correspond to the measured frequency noise power spectral density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal cord transection silences neuronal activity in the deafferented cortex to cutaneous stimulation of the body and untreated animals show no improvement in functional outcome (weight-supported stepping) with time after lesion. However, adult rats spinalized since neonates that receive exercise therapy exhibit greater functional recovery and exhibit more cortical reorganization. This suggests that the change in the somatotopic organization of the cortex may be functionally relevant. To address this issue, we chronically implanted arrays of microwire electrodes into the infragranular layers of the hindlimb somatosensory cortex of adult rats neonatally transected at T8/T9 that received exercise training (spinalized rats) and of normal adult rats. Multiple, single neuron activity was recorded during passive sensory stimulation, when the animals were anesthetized, and during active sensorimotor stimulation during treadmill-induced locomotion when the animal was awake and free to move. Our results demonstrate that cortical neurons recorded from the spinalized rats that received exercise 1) had higher spontaneous firing rates, 2) were more likely to respond to both sensory and sensorimotor stimulations of the forelimbs, and also 3) responded with more spikes per stimulus than those recorded from normal rats, suggesting expansion of the forelimb map into the hindlimb map. During treadmill locomotion the activity of neurons recorded from neonatally spinalized rats was greater during weight-supported steps on the treadmill compared with the neuronal activity during nonweight supported steps. We hypothesize that this increased activity is related to the ability of the animal to take weight supported steps and that, therefore, these changes in cortical organization after spinal cord injury are relevant for functional recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A step-graded AlxGa1-xN electron blocking layer (EBL) is introduced to the InGaN-based edge-emitting blue-violet laser diode (LD) structure to suppress the undesired built-in interface polarization charges. When compared to a conventional abrupt Al0.18Ga0.82N EBL design, the step-graded AlxGa1-xN EBL design may help reduce the electron accumulation at the edge of the active region and hence improve the quantum efficiency in LD operation. The effects of the step-graded AlxGa1-xN EBL on the fabricated device performance are also investigated. LDs with the step-graded AlxGa1-xN EBL demonstrated significantly reduced threshold current density and increased slope efficiency under the continuous-wave operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As practice in folk medicine, Graptopetalum paraguayense E. Walther possesses several biological/pharmacological activities including hepatoprotective, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory. We investigated the neuroprotective potential of Graptopetalum paraguayense E. Walther leaf extracts on inflammation-mediated ischemic brain injury. Water (GWE), 50% alcohol (GE50) extracts of Graptopetalum paraguayense E. Walther, and extracts obtained from further extraction of GE50 with ethyl acetate (GEE) were used. Oral administration of GEE, but not GWE or GE50, for 2 weeks protected animals against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion brain injury. The neuroprotective effect of GEE was accompanied by reductions in brain infarction, neurological deficits, caspase-3 activity, malondialdehyde content, microglia activation, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression. Since microglia-mediated inflammation plays critical roles in ischemic brain injury, anti-inflammatory potential of Graptopetalum paraguayense E. Walther leaf extracts was further investigated on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/interferon-[gamma] (IFN-[gamma]-activated BV-2 microglial cells. GEE decreased H2O2- and LPS/IFN-[gamma]-induced free radical generation and LPS/IFN-[gamma]-induced iNOS expression. Mechanistic study revealed that the neuroactive effects of GEE were markedly associated with anti-oxidative potential, activation of serine/threonine and tyrosine phosphatases, and down-regulation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, p38, Akt, Src, Janus kinase-1, Tyk2, signal transducer and activator of transcription-1, and NF-[kappa]B and might be attributed to the presence of polyphenolic compounds such as gallic acid, genistin, daidzin, and quercetin. Together, our findings point out its potential therapeutic strategies that target microglia activation, oxidative stress, and iNOS expression to reduce ischemic brain injury and suggest that Graptopetalum paraguayense E. Walther leaf extracts represent a valuable source for the development of neuroprotective agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the incidence and risk factors of post-tooth extraction sepsis in patients without locoregional infection. Subjects and Methods: We assessed all claim records of the Taiwanese National Health Insurance program in 2005. Admissions for patients aged >=16 years containing a discharge diagnosis of sepsis, and who received tooth extraction within 14 days before the admission were identified. Patient charts were reviewed to confirm the diagnosis of sepsis and rule out other infection sources. The relationship between postextraction sepsis (PES) and clinical parameters was analyzed. Results: Thirty-three of the 2 223 971 extraction cases met the criteria of PES, an incidence of 1.48 per 100 000, and seven patients (21.2%) died of the disease. Aging significantly increased the risk of PES ( P < 0.001). Pre-existing comorbidities were found in 20 of the 33 cases, with diabetes mellitus and hematologic diseases the most common. The method, number, and position of extraction had no influence on PES incidence. Blood cultures were positive in 25 patients (75.8%) and isolates included species of the Streptococcus, Actinomyces, Klebsiella, Bacteroides, Prevotella, and Enterococcus genera. Conclusion: Tooth extraction is associated with a low but significant risk of postoperative sepsis, especially in the elderly and patients with underlying diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the incidence and risk factors of post-tooth extraction sepsis in patients without locoregional infection. Subjects and Methods: We assessed all claim records of the Taiwanese National Health Insurance program in 2005. Admissions for patients aged ≥16 years containing a discharge diagnosis of sepsis, and who received tooth extraction within 14 days before the admission were identified. Patient charts were reviewed to confirm the diagnosis of sepsis and rule out other infection sources. The relationship between postextraction sepsis (PES) and clinical parameters was analyzed. Results: Thirty-three of the 2 223 971 extraction cases met the criteria of PES, an incidence of 1.48 per 100 000, and seven patients (21.2%) died of the disease. Aging significantly increased the risk of PES ( P < 0.001). Pre-existing comorbidities were found in 20 of the 33 cases, with diabetes mellitus and hematologic diseases the most common. The method, number, and position of extraction had no influence on PES incidence. Blood cultures were positive in 25 patients (75.8%) and isolates included species of the Streptococcus, Actinomyces, Klebsiella, Bacteroides, Prevotella, and Enterococcus genera. Conclusion: Tooth extraction is associated with a low but significant risk of postoperative sepsis, especially in the elderly and patients with underlying diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]