Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for Polarized Synchrotron Components in Radio-Optical Aligned Quasars

A tendency for the axes of double-lobed radio quasars to be aligned with the electric vectors of optical polarization in the active galactic nuclei is well known. However, the origin of the polarization and reason behind its correlation with radio morphology is not yet established. From accurate spectropolarimetry of seven quasars that show this alignment effect, we find that the polarization is universally confined to the continuum and not shared by the line emission or 3000 Å bump. Over the observed region, 4000-8000 Å, the spectral indices of polarized flux, P × Fλ, are consistent with uniform polarization applied to the light of the big blue bump or with synchrotron emission. However, electron scattering from an optically thick, geometrically thin, accretion disk is well known to give rise to a polarization position angle that is perpendicular to the disk axis. Optical synchrotron emission akin to that shown to exist in the miniblazar 3C 273 is a more attractive explanation, and supporting evidence can be found for some of the targets in the form of polarimetric variability over intervals of years. Properties of the most strongly polarized radio-optical aligned quasars can be explained by misdirected blazar core components that have net polarizations of P ~ 10% and provide ~10% of the total optical light.
The Term Structure of Interest Rates and Expected Economic Growth

Many papers have documented the positive relationship between the slope of the yield curve and future real economic activity in different countries and different time periods. One explanation for this economic link is based on monetary policy. However, empirical evidence (Estrella and Hardouvelis, 1991; Plosser and Rouwenhorst, 1994; Estrella and Mishkin, 1997; Moersch, 1996a,b; Kozicki, 1997; Dotsey, 1998; Ivanova et al., 2000) has shown that monetary policy does not appear to be the only source of the predictive power of the term spread. Therefore, the spread reflects other economic conditions beyond actions taken by monetary authorities. According to Harvey (1988), the forecasting ability of the term spread on economic growth is due to the fact that interest rates reflect the expectations of investors about the future economic situation when deciding about their plans for consumption and investment. Harvey (1988) uses the Consumption-Based Asset Pricing Model (CCAPM) to derive a forecasting equation that relates the slope of the term structure of interest rates to expected consumption growth. Harvey's model has been tested in several countries using ex post consumption or output growth as proxies of expected consumption growth. This paper complements and extends the evidence of Harvey's model by testing it for the case of Spain and by using a measure of expected consumption growth rather than proxies for the investors' expectations. The variables used are the Consumer Confidence Indicator and the Economic Sentiment Indicator (elaborated by the European Commission) that directly stand for the expectations of economic agents about the future economic situation in the next twelve months.
FURTHER STUDIES OF THE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY OF THE OSCILLATORY POTENTIALS OF THE ELECTRORETINOGRAM (ERG)

The effects on the oscillatory potentials (OPs) of the ERG of some pharmacological agents, which antagonize the putative neurotransmitters glutamate aspartate and dopamine were tested. GDEE and α‐aminoadipate, blocking agents of the excitatory amino acids glutamate and aspartate, respectively, decreased the amplitude of all the OPs. The amplitude of the b‐wave was simultaneously reduced. Thus, no selective or differential sensitivity of the OPs was found, which suggests that glutamate‐ or aspartate‐sensitive neuronal pathways do not seem to be directly involved in the generation of the OPs. Haloperidol, which antagonizes the effect of the inhibitory transmitter agent dopamine, differentially affected the OPs. The earlier OPs appeared more sensitive to low doses of the drug than the later ones. Such doses only slightly decreased the maximum amplitude of the b‐wave and did not affect the a‐wave. Thus, these findings indicate and support previous suggestions that the individual oscillatory peaks are likely to have different origins and that only inhibitory feed‐back synapses give rise to the OPs.
Similar node-disjoint multi-paths routing in wireless ad hoc networks

A similar node-disjoint multi-paths routing (SNDMR) algorithm is proposed to overcome the shortcomings of on-demand node-disjoint multi-path routing (NDMR). SNDMR has two novel aspects compared to NDMR. Firstly, based on similarity principle, it eliminates long paths from candidate routes, and avoids the disadvantageous effect to the performance of networks. Secondly, it adopts proactive path maintenance. On the one hand, it can keep communication unblocked with any delay in mobile wireless networks. On the other hand, it can find better paths when the majority of active paths become unreachable or loading increases dramatically. Simulation results show that SNDMR achieves lower delay dithering as well as higher packet delivery ratio.
Adding tsetse control to medical activities contributes to decreasing transmission of sleeping sickness in the Mandoul focus (Chad)

Background Gambian sleeping sickness or HAT (human African trypanosomiasis) is a neglected tropical disease caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense transmitted by riverine species of tsetse. A global programme aims to eliminate the disease as a public health problem by 2020 and stop transmission by 2030. In the South of Chad, the Mandoul area is a persistent focus of Gambian sleeping sickness where around 100 HAT cases were still diagnosed and treated annually until 2013. Pre-2014, control of HAT relied solely on case detection and treatment, which lead to a gradual decrease in the number of cases of HAT due to annual screening of the population. Methods Because of the persistence of transmission and detection of new cases, we assessed whether the addition of vector control to case detection and treatment could further reduce transmission and consequently, reduce annual incidence of HAT in Mandoul. In particular, we investigated the impact of deploying ‘tiny targets’ which attract and kill tsetse. Before tsetse control commenced, a census of the human population was conducted and their settlements mapped. A pre-intervention survey of tsetse distribution and abundance was implemented in November 2013 and 2600 targets were deployed in the riverine habitats of tsetse in early 2014, 2015 and 2016. Impact on tsetse and on the incidence of sleeping sickness was assessed through nine tsetse monitoring surveys and four medical surveys of the human population in 2014 and 2015. Mathematical modelling was used to assess the relative impact of tsetse control on incidence compared to active and passive screening. Findings The census indicated that a population of 38674 inhabitants lived in the vicinity of the Mandoul focus. Within this focus in November 2013, the vector is Glossina fuscipes fuscipes and the mean catch of tsetse from traps was 0.7 flies/trap/day (range, 0–26). The catch of tsetse from 44 sentinel biconical traps declined after target deployment with only five tsetse being caught in nine surveys giving a mean catch of 0.005 tsetse/trap/day. Modelling indicates that 70.4% (95% CI: 51–95%) of the reduction in reported cases between 2013 and 2015 can be attributed to vector control with the rest due to medical intervention. Similarly tiny targets are estimated to have reduced new infections dramatically with 62.8% (95% CI: 59–66%) of the reduction due to tsetse control, and 8.5% (95% 8–9%) to enhanced passive detection. Model predictions anticipate that elimination as a public health problem could be achieved by 2018 in this focus if vector control and screening continue at the present level and, furthermore, there may have been virtually no transmission since 2015. Conclusion This work shows that tiny targets reduced the numbers of tsetse in this focus in Chad, which may have interrupted transmission and the combination of tsetse control to medical detection and treatment has played a major role in reducing in HAT incidence in 2014 and 2015.
Forcing of oceanic heat anomalies by air‐sea interactions in the Nordic Seas area

[1] Hydrographic data and atmospheric reanalysis from 1982 to 2005 are used to show a strong link of the Atlantic water temperature (AWT) anomalies observed in the transition zone between the Norwegian Atlantic current and the West Spitsbergen current in summer to the surface heat flux (SHF) anomalies observed over the Barents Sea open water in the preceding late winter. A mechanism proposed for this link is formation of ocean temperature anomalies in a deep mixed layer and their subsequent westward export by a branch of Atlantic water recirculating in the western Barents Sea. The SHF anomalies over the Barents Sea are due to advection of temperature and humidity by anomalous winds across the Arctic ice edge and do not strongly depend on the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO). Correlations of up to about 0.9 between the AWT anomalies and indices of atmospheric variability over the Barents Sea open prospects for seasonal AWT predictability. It is also shown that the wind-forcing responsible for positive AWT anomalies is involved in a cyclonic perturbation of the atmospheric circulation over the Nordic Seas. This perturbation generates, through influence on the sea ice distribution, a lobe of SHF anomalies in the marginal ice zone (MIZ) on the eastern (Barents Sea) and western (Greenland Sea) sides of the Nordic Seas which has the opposite sign to the open water lobe. In contrast to the Barents Sea MIZ, the diabatic heating of the atmosphere by upward SHF anomalies in the Greenland Sea MIZ competes with cold advection.
Ownership, Control and Market Liquidity

We examine how ownership concentration and the separation of ownership and control affect secondary-market liquidity in France. We find that firms with a large insider blockholder exhibit significantly lower liquidity. However, different methods of enhancing control affect liquidity in different ways. Pyramid structures impair market liquidity. Double voting right shares, a French specific means of control enhancement rewarding long-term shareholders and restraining insiders from trading their shares, lead to increased liquidity, especially for family firms. Our results suggest that by using double voting rights to enhance their control, a transparent decoupling mechanism, rather than pyramids, an opaque decoupling mechanism, blockholders offer higher secondary-market liquidity to outside investors.
Magnetic fields and loop Voltages inside reduced- and full-scale structures produced by direct lightning strikes

This paper presents a numerical electromagnetic analysis of magnetic fields and loop voltages inside reduced- and full-scale lightning protection systems (LPSs) "structures" resulting from direct lightning strikes. The method of moments is employed to model the whole structure in three dimensions except the lightning channel. The lightning channel is simulated by the well-known transmission-line model (TL model), where the influence of the lightning-channel generated electric and magnetic fields are taken into account. Three distinct LPSs were modeled, namely, reduced-scale model with return conductors (RSRC), reduced-scale model with lightning channel (RSLC), and full-scale model with lightning channel (FS). The computed results of magnetic fields and magnetic-field derivatives were verified versus some experimental results for the RSRC model. In addition, the scale factor for all the measured quantities were also checked as functions of the geometrical scale factor for the positive and the negative first stroke currents. The lightning shielding performance with and without bonding was investigated for three distinct lightning stroke types, namely, the negative first, the negative subsequent, and the positive strokes. The voltages and currents generated in loops located inside the struck FS LPS were computed with and without bonding and grounding resistance and for different lightning current waveforms, locations and inclination of the lightning channel, and return stroke velocity.
Natural Movies Evoke Spike Trains with Low Spike Time Variability in Cat Primary Visual Cortex

Neuronal responses in primary visual cortex have been found to be highly variable. This has led to the widespread notion that neuronal responses have to be averaged over large numbers of neurons to obtain suitably invariant responses that can be used to reliably encode or represent external stimuli. However, it is possible that the high variability of neuronal responses may result from the use of simple, artificial stimuli and that the visual cortex may respond differently to dynamic, naturalistic images. To investigate this question, we recorded the responses of primary visual cortical neurons in the anesthetized cat under stimulation with time-varying natural movies. We found that cortical neurons on the whole exhibited a high degree of spike count variability, but a surprisingly low degree of spike time variability. The spike count variability was further reduced when all but the first spike in a burst were removed. We also found that responses exhibiting low spike time variability exhibited low spike count variability, suggesting that rate coding and temporal coding might be more compatible than previously thought. In addition, we found the spike time variability to be significantly lower when stimulated by natural movies as compared with stimulation using drifting gratings. Our results indicate that response variability in primary visual cortex is stimulus dependent and significantly lower than previous measurements have indicated.
What makes an optimization problem hard?

We address the question "Are some classes of combinatorial optimization problems instrinsically harder than others, without regard to the algorithm one uses, or can difficulty only be assessed relative to particular algorithms? " We provide a measure of the hardness of a particular optimization problem for a particular optimization algorithm. We then present two algorithm-independent quantities that use this measure to provide answers to our question. In the first of these we average hardness over all possible algorithms for the optimization problem at hand. We show that according to this quantitiy, there is no distinction between optimization problems, and in this sense no problems are intrinsically harder than others. For the second quantitiy, rather than average over all algorithms we consider the level of hardness of a problem (or class of problems) for the algorithm that is optimal for that problem (or class of problems). Here there are classes of problems that are intrinsically harder than others.
GLYCOCALYX PROTECTION REDUCES LEUKOCYTE ADHESION AFTER ISCHEMIA/REPERFUSION

Adhesion of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) to coronary endothelium is a key event for cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury. Adhesion molecules are normally harbored within the glycocalyx, clothing every healthy vascular endothelium, but shed by ischemia/reperfusion. Our aim was to show whether protection of the glycocalyx with either hydrocortisone or antithrombin can reduce postischemic leukocyte adhesion. Isolated guinea pig hearts, perfused with Krebs-Henseleit buffer, were subjected to 20 min of warm (37°C) no-flow ischemia and consecutive 10 min of reperfusion, either in the absence or presence of hydrocortisone (10 &mgr;g/mL) or antithrombin (1 U/mL). An intracoronary bolus of 3 × 106 PMN was applied at the end of reperfusion but without prior contact to the drugs. The sequestration of PMN was calculated from the difference between coronary input and output of cells. Expression of the integrin CD11b on PMN was measured before and after coronary passage. Ischemia/reperfusion induced severe degradation of the glycocalyx (coronary venous syndecan-1 release, 171 ± 15 ng/g heart vs. basal, 19 ± 2 ng/g; heparan sulfate, 5.27 ± 0.28 &mgr;g/g vs. basal, 0.26 ± 0.06 &mgr;g/g) and increased PMN adhesion (38.1% ± 3.5% vs. basal, 11.7% ± 3.1%). Hydrocortisone and antithrombin both not only reduced glycocalyx shedding (syndecan-1 release, 34 ± 6 ng/g and 26 ± 5 ng/g; heparan sulfate, 1.96 ± 0.24 &mgr;g/g and 1.28 ± 0.2 &mgr;g/g, respectively), but also PMN adhesion (17.3% ± 2.2% and 25.4% ± 3.3%, respectively) after ischemia/reperfusion. Electron microscopy revealed a mostly intact coronary glycocalyx after pretreatment with either drug. Activation of PMN upon coronary passage was not influenced. Preservation of the glycocalyx mitigates postischemic PMN adhesion. Preconditioning with either hydrocortisone or antithrombin should, thus, alleviate vascular leakage, tissue edema, and inflammation.
Clinical manifestations of severe forms of P. falciparum malaria in koraput district of Orissa State, India.

The Orissa state on the east coast of India is endemic for malaria for decades 1. The state with a population of 3.6%, contributes about 22% of all malaria cases, 43% of the Plasmodium falciparum cases and 33% of total malaria related deaths in the country. Out of 30 districts in Orissa 27 are endemic for malaria and the average annual parasite incidence (API) for the state is 18.6 ( + 13.7). The Koraput district (17 o50’N and 20o30’N, 81o27’ and 84o10’E) has an average API of 20.3. Transmission of malaria is perennial in all hilltop and foothill villages 2. Since malaria remains a major killer disease in this area, there is a need to understand the progress of clinical manifestations of the disease from acute stage to complications and to determine a clinical stage where the patients enter clinical severity so that an early warning system can be developed to prevent serious morbidity and mortality due to malaria. Therefore, a situation analysis has been carried out to know the spectrum of severe and complicated forms of falciparum malaria in this district.
Geographical Influences on Settlement‐Location Choices by Initial Colonizers: a Case Study of the Fiji Islands

From 3200 to 2850cal BP (1250-900 BCE), the Lapita people of the Bismarck Archipelago (Papua New Guinea) undertook voyages eastward that led to their colonization of the eastern outer Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. The earliest (Lapita) settlements in Fiji were along the Rove Peninsula in southwest Viti Levu Island. At the time of colonization, sea level was 1.5 m higher than today. The Rove Peninsula was then a smaller island off the coast of larger Viti Levu, with a broad, fringing reef along its windward coasts, which was probably the main attraction for Lapita colonizers. As elsewhere during Lapita times in the western tropical Pacific Islands, settlement choice for the initial colonizers of the Fiji Islands was at one level driven by site access, at another by the presence of broad, fringing coral reefs suitable for marine foraging. The earliest settlement along the Rove Peninsula was at Bourewa, occupied first in 3050 cal BP (1100 BCE), where people lived in houses on stilt platforms built along the axis of a subtidal sand barrier; on one side was a broad coral reef, on the other a partly-enclosed tidal inlet. There is no evidence that the Bourewa settlers practised horticulture or agriculture at this time, their subsistence being predominantly marine foraging. After some 300 years of following this subsistence strategy, the inhabitants of Bourewa responded to sea-level fall and the arrival of cultivars (of taro and yam) by including horticulture. As sea level fell further, a total of 550 mm during the Lapita era, the tidal inlet dried up and marine-food resources diminished to a point where the natural environment of the Rove Peninsula could no longer sustain its Lapita inhabitants. All Lapita sites in the area were abandoned about 2500 cal BP (550 BCE), at the same time as the Lapita culture, marked by the end of dentate-pottery manufacture, came to an end in Fiji. © Journal compilation © 2009 Institute of Australian Geographers. ; ;
Impact of Visceral Fat on Skeletal Muscle Mass and Vice Versa in a Prospective Cohort Study: The Korean Sarcopenic Obesity Study (KSOS)

Objectives Sarcopenia and visceral obesity have been suggested to aggravate each other, resulting in a vicious cycle. However, evidence based on prospective study is very limited. Our purpose was to investigate whether visceral fat promotes a decrease in skeletal muscle mass and vice versa. Methods We observed changes in anthropometric and body composition data during a follow-up period of 27.6±2.8 months in 379 Korean men and women (mean age 51.9±14.6 years) from the Korean Sarcopenic Obesity Study (KSOS). Appendicular lean soft tissue (ALST) mass was calculated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and visceral fat area (VFA) was measured using computed tomography at baseline and follow-up examination. Results ALST mass significantly decreased, whereas trunk and total fat mass increased in both men and women despite no significant change in weight and body mass index. In particular, women with visceral obesity at baseline had a greater decrease in ALST mass than those without visceral obesity (P = 0.001). In multiple linear regression analysis, baseline VFA was an independent negative predictor of the changes in ALST after adjusting for confounding factors including age, gender, life style and body composition parameters, insulin resistance, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and vitamin D levels (P = 0.001), whereas the association between baseline ALST mass and changes in VFA was not statistically significant (P = 0.555). Conclusions This longitudinal study showed that visceral obesity was associated with future loss of skeletal muscle mass in Korean adults. These results may provide novel insight into sarcopenic obesity in an aging society.
Enhancing Knowledge Management and Adaptation Capacity for Integrated Management of Water Resources in the Indus River Basin

Abstract The Indus River Basin is characterized by downstream areas with the world's largest irrigation system, providing food and energy security to more than 215 million people. The arid to semiarid basin is classified as a net water deficit area, but it also suffers from devastating floods. Among the four basin countries, Pakistan is most dependent on water originating in high mountain catchments and is therefore most vulnerable to climatic, socioeconomic, and other global changes that are impacting both supply and demand. Given the consensus that there is a lack of systematic and consistent hydrological, meteorological, biophysical, and socioeconomic data to promote integrated water resources management (IWRM) at the basin scale, an international consultation of scientists, water managers, and development partners was organized in 2010. These experts suggested developing a long-term Indus Basin Research Program aiming to build a robust, consolidated, and shared scientific knowledge base and thus improve understanding of the coupled human and ecological processes and their interrelationships in the basin. This paper summarizes the rationale for initiating such a coordinated multidisciplinary research, knowledge management, and capacity development process aiming to support water management policies and programs from design stage to implementation, using the framework of integrated river basin management (IRBM). The paper further stresses the need to implement IRBM using IWRM tools, recognizing that multiple factors and actors play critical roles in improving management of water and other natural resources to enhance overall water productivity. The steps needed to initiate and consolidate national and international institutional coordination, capacity development, and policy support to operationalize an IRBM process are spelled out. A long-term research and capacity-building program for international organizations and scientists is recommended to foster transboundary cooperation and scientific collaboration.