Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experimental performance of harmonic suppressed Bandpass Filter

In this paper, the experimental performance of a fabricated single grooved broadband parallel coupled microstrip bandpass filter (PCMBF) with improved passband response and first harmonic suppression is presented. The suppression of the first harmonic spurious response is possible through transmission zero frequency realignment method. A single groove of specific dimensions located at the center of the parallel coupled line has been employed for the realignment of the transmission zero and first harmonic frequencies. An implemented single-stage bandpass filter with various coupling gaps showed harmonics suppressions with optimized groove. Then, two-stage bandpass filters of different operating bandwidth were designed for optimized groove. It was then implemented and tested. The measured results validate real harmonics suppression performance with controllable single groove parameters.
Community-associated, methicillin-susceptible, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bone and joint infections in children: experience from India

Previously, the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections was less complex, as most of those isolated were susceptible to &bgr;-lactam antibiotics. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the incidence of invasive community-acquired (CA) methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) among children worldwide. However, data on the clinical characteristics and outcomes related to pediatric bone and joint infections caused by CA-S. aureus are very limited in India. In this tertiary hospital-based study, 74 patients with invasive S. aureus less than 18 years of age were identified between January 2004 and December 2008. All patients fulfilled the case definition of CA-S. aureus with evidence of infection before admission; they presented to our hospital without previous antibiotic use and were culture positive for S. aureus within 48 h of admission. All data including demographics, clinical features, treatment protocol, laboratory findings, and antimicrobial susceptibilities were recorded and compared using the SPSS 11.5 statistical software. Of the 74 patients with culture-positive S. aureus bone and joint infection, 41 had MRSA (55%). Forty-nine patients (66.2%) had osteomyelitis, of whom 29 (59.18%) had MRSA and 25 (33.7%) had septic arthritis, of whom 12 (48%) had MRSA. The MRSA group had a significantly higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein value, neutrophil count, and white blood cell count (P<0.05). The MRSA group also had longer duration of febrile days, hospital stay, and antibiotic course compared with the methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) group (P<0.05). A clinical predictive algorithm was developed using seven significant independent multivariate predictors, with the probability of MRSA being 94% if all seven predictors were positive and 9% if five predictors were positive. Resistance to many classes of antibiotics was noted among S. aureus isolates including trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (MRSA 80%, MSSA 24%), erythromycin (MRSA 83%, MSSA 67%), clindamycin (MRSA 54%, MSSA 34%), and ciprofloxacin (MRSA 61%, MSSA 48%). No vancomycin resistance was observed. The morbidity associated with MRSA bone and joint infection in children is significantly higher than that caused by MSSA. Early diagnosis at the primary healthcare level and treatment with appropriate antistaphylococcal therapy are crucial to achieve optimal clinical outcomes. High levels of antimicrobial resistance of both MSSA and MRSA isolates to several classes of antibiotics are a major concern warranting the need for antimicrobial stewardship and ongoing surveillance.
Price Setting Behaviour in Latvia: Descriptive Evidence from CPI Microdata

The question of price stickiness remains one of the most important in macroeconomics, as price flexibility partly determines how long it takes for inflation and real economic variables to return to their potential levels after a shock. To get a better understanding of price change frequency and size, the empirical work on price stickiness based on microdata from surveys on prices of individual products from individual outlets is needed. The main goal of this study is to provide descriptive evidence on the degree of nominal rigidity of consumer prices in Latvia at aggregate and disaggregate levels. To achieve this goal, we use the micro database on consumer prices provided by the CSB. The main finding of the paper is that during 2003–2009 Latvia's consumer prices were flexible. The average duration of a price spell was 3.5 months, and every month on average 28.7% of consumer prices were changed.
Towards an Asian model of human resource management? A comparative analysis of China, Japan and South Korea

There has been much discussion regarding the possible decline and weakening of national systems of human resource management (HRM). Yet, culture and institutions are often cited as the major stumbling blocks to this outcome. Such constraints may dissipate in the analysis, particularly if ‘regional clusters’ are considered where geographic and cultural closeness and ‘openness’ to similar economic pressures exist. In such cases, it might be postulated that convergence in HRM will occur. We argue that China, Japan and South Korea represent such a cluster. This article examines these countries, to see if a degree of convergence is taking place and if it is towards an identifiable ‘Asian’ model of HRM. A model of change is presented that distinguishes between levels of occurrence and acceptance. Details of the development and practice of HRM in each country are then set out. The article ends with a discussion and implications section and a brief conclusion.
Multiple display of peptides and proteins on a macromolecular scaffold derived from a multienzyme complex.

The acyltransferase components (E2) from the family of 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase multienzyme complexes form large protein scaffolds, to which multiple copies of peripheral enzymes bind tightly but non-covalently. Sixty copies of the E2 polypeptide from the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex of Bacillus stearothermophilus assemble to form a pentagonal dodecahedral scaffold with icosahedral symmetry. This protein scaffold can be modified to present foreign peptides and proteins on its surface. We show that it is possible to display two epitopes (MAL1 and MAL2) from the circumsporozoite CS proteins of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium berghei, respectively, and a green fluorescent protein (EGFP), on the E2 surface. Immunization with an E2 scaffold displaying the MAL1 epitope elicited MAL1-specific antibodies in rabbits. EGFP (25 kDa) displayed as an N-terminal fusion in each of the 60 copies of the E2 chain folded into its active form, as judged by its fluorescence and detection in localized foci in Escherichia coli cells in vivo. Simultaneous display of a hexahistidine affinity tag, the MAL1 epitope and the green fluorescent protein, all on the same E2 scaffold, could be achieved by reversible denaturation and reassembly of mixtures of appropriately modified E2 chains. This new methodology offers several important advantages over other current display technologies, not least in the size of insert that can be accommodated and the multiplicity of display that can be achieved.
Morphological correlates of aquatic and terrestrial locomotion in a semi‐aquatic frog, Rana esculenta: no evidence for a design conflict

Semi‐aquatic frogs are faced with an unusual locomotory challenge. They have to swim and jump using the same apparatus, i.e. the hind limbs. Optimization of two tasks that require mutually incompatible morphologies or physiologies cannot occur simultaneously. In such cases, natural selection will result in some compromise, i.e. an intermediate phenotype that can perform both tasks reasonably well, but its performance will never match that of a specialized phenotype. We found no direct evidence for a trade‐off between jumping and swimming performance nor for a coupled optimization. This could be due to the importance of overall quality, as suggested by the fact that some frogs possess greater overall muscularity than others, irrespective of their body size. Another explanation could be that some morphological characteristics have a positive effect on both locomotor modes and others show a trade‐off effect. The net effect of these characteristics could result in an overall absence of correlation between the two locomotor performances. Size has a great influence on the morphological data and on jumping performance, but not if performance is expressed as velocity. The body shape of an anuran is conservative and scales mostly isometrically.
The replication of expansive production knowledge: the role of templates and principles

Purpose – With the aim to support offshore production line replication, the specific purpose of this paper is to explore the use of templates and principles to transfer expansive productive knowledge embedded in a production line and understand the contingencies that influence the mix of these approaches.Design/methodology/approach – A total of two case studies are introduced. Empirical data were collected over a period of two years based on interviews and participating observations.Findings – The findings show that knowledge transfer within the replication of a production line is a stepwise expansive process; and rather than being viewed as alternative approaches, templates and principles should be seen as complementary once the transfer motive moves beyond pure replication.Research limitations/implications – The concepts introduced in this paper were derived from two Danish cases. While acceptable for theory exploration, the small sample size is an obvious limitation for generalisation.Practical implica.
EVIDENCE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FINANCIAL STRUCTURE

equity in lower ranges of debt to equity to lower the firm's cost of capital. Beyond an ill-defined point, however, due to excessive risk, the securities markets will not react favorably to further increases in the degree of leverage used by the firm, and its cost of capital will rise. Thus, there is an optimum financial structure that minimizes cost of capital. In basic conceptual disagreement are the proponents of the "independence" hypothesis. Modigliani and Miller [5, 6, 7], in particular, argue that, given certain conditions (i.e., no taxes on corporate income and perfect capital markets), cost of capital is not influenced by a firm's financing mix. The favorable effect upon total market value of substituting nominally low-cost debt for high-cost equity in the firm's financial structure will be offset exactly by a decrease in the price that investors are willing to pay for the firm's common stock. A higher common equity yield is imposed by the market in return for being exposed to greater financial risk. Thus the cost of capital is independent of the financial structure of the firm, and financing decisions are of minimal importance. By strict interpretation, these two theories stand at opposite poles. The principal differences between them disappear, however, in a world where interest exp nse is tax deductible and market imperfections operate to restrict the amount of fixed-income obligations a firm can issue [9, pp. 39-41]. Both schools of thought do in fact subscribe to the optimum financial structure concept under conditions approximating the actual business environment. Accordingly, it is the objective of this article to present evidence on whether the importance of the financial structure of the firm has in practice been confirmed by corporate decision makers. It is hypothesized that, if the financing decision is critical with respect to the valuation of the firm, then decision makers in various industry groups have recognized this fact and developed financial structures suited to their particular business risk. The approach will be to show that an appropriate range of leverage exis s for a particular industry and that firms seek to find this range. In addition, it will be demons rated that inter-industry financial structure differences are persistent over time and are pervasive through ut the industries studied.
Identification of crucial miRNAs and the targets in renal cortex of hypertensive patients by expression profiles

Abstract Backgrounds: Defect in kidney is one major reason of hypertension. The study aimed ao uncovering the regulatory mechanisms of miRNAs and the targets in hypertensive kidney. Methods: Gene expression profile of GSE28345 and miRNA expression profile of GSE28283 were downloaded from GEO database. After data preprocessing, differently expressed genes (DEGs) and miRNAs (DE-miRs) were identified using limma package. Then targets of miRNAs were predicted according to information in relevant databases. Function and pathway enrichment analyses were performed for DEGs using DAVID software. Furthermore, protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed for up- and down-regulated genes, respectively, using the Cytoscape. Additionally, for down-regulated DEGs, the integrated regulatory network was established combining PPI network with the miRNA–mRNA interactions. Results: As a result, 285 DEGs were identified, including 177 up-regulated and 108 down-regulated genes. Combined with the predicted targets of miRNAs, 22 up-regulated DE-miRs were identified. In the integrated network for down-regulated DEGs, three crucial nodes were identified as ASPN, COL12A1, and SCN2A. ASPN was predicted as target of miR-21 and miR-374b, and COL12A1 was the target of miR-30e, miR-21, and miR-195, while SCN2A was the target of miR-30e, miR-374b, and miR-195. Notably, COL12A1 and ASPN were linked with each other in the network. Conclusion: Three crucial genes were identified in hypertensive kidney, such as COL12A1, ASPN, and SCN2A. ASPN might co-function with COL12A1, and they both might be the targets of miR-21. SCN2A might be a novel target of miR-30e and miR-374b. However, more experiments are needed to validate these results.
Light and shadows in the evolution of South European stenonoid horses

Abstract The appearance of monodactyl equids in Eurasia and their dispersal towards South Europe is a significant event that marks the beginning of the Quaternary period. During the Pleistocene, horses were a common element in most European large mammal faunal assemblages, providing important palaeoecological clues, but their taxonomy, nomenclature and phylogeny, as well as their actual biochronological significance have been widely debated by scholars. The evolutionary history of horses here regarded as “stenonoid” (Equus livenzovensis, Equus stenonis, Equus ex gr. E. senezensis, Equus altidens, Equus hydruntinus, the large-sized horses Equus major and Equus suessenbornensis, sometimes referred to as the so-called “Equus bressanus-Equus suessenbornensis group”), is one of the most intriguing. This study, mainly focusing on the South European representatives of this group, aims to highlight and discuss the major debated issues, re-examining the taxonomy of some Early and early Middle Pleistocene horses. Alternative phylogenetic hypotheses will also be discussed with the aim of providing new clues on the chronology and palaeoecology of some key species/samples.
Technical and scale efficiency in UK building societies

A non-parametric programming approach is utilized in order to analyse the overall technical efficiency of UK building societies and to decompose this measure into its subcomponents, pure technical and scale efficiency. Non-parametric statistical analysis and regression analysis are subsequently used to test the relationship between asset size and the various measures of efficiency. The use of 1988 data (post 1986 Building Societies Act) permits the non-parametric analysis of building society efficiency to be conducted in a multi-product context.
Capital Account Liberalisation: has it improved SMEs situation in Nigeria?

This paper presents findings from a longitudinal study of the impact of economic liberalisation on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) development in Nigeria. Specifically, it examines the impact of Capital Account Liberalisation (CAL) on SMEs access to finance, and if the policy improved the problem of access to finance by SMEs following the liberalisation of capital account in Nigeria. The policy was expected to encourage the inflow of investible funds into Nigeria for SMEs access to funds. However, the results of the policy are far from the objectives in terms of SMEs access to finance and survival in Nigeria. On the basis of the findings of this report, it appears that CAL partly contributed to the failures of most manufacturing SMEs contrary to the policy objective of improved SMEs access to finance.
Sociopsychological Tailoring to Address Colorectal Cancer Screening Disparities: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PURPOSE Interventions tailored to sociopsychological factors associated with health behaviors have promise for reducing colorectal cancer screening disparities, but limited research has assessed their impact in multiethnic populations. We examined whether an interactive multimedia computer program (IMCP) tailored to expanded health belief model sociopsychological factors could promote colorectal cancer screening in a multiethnic sample. METHODS We undertook a randomized controlled trial, comparing an IMCP tailored to colorectal cancer screening self-efficacy, knowledge, barriers, readiness, test preference, and experiences with a nontailored informational program, both delivered before office visits. The primary outcome was record-documented colorectal cancer screening during a 12-month follow-up period. Secondary outcomes included postvisit sociopsychological factor status and discussion, as well as clinician recommendation of screening during office visits. We enrolled 1,164 patients stratified by ethnicity and language (49.3% non-Hispanic, 27.2% Hispanic/English, 23.4% Hispanic/Spanish) from 26 offices around 5 centers (Sacramento, California; Rochester and the Bronx, New York; Denver, Colorado; and San Antonio, Texas). RESULTS Adjusting for ethnicity/language, study center, and the previsit value of the dependent variable, compared with control patients, the IMCP led to significantly greater colorectal cancer screening knowledge, self-efficacy, readiness, test preference specificity, discussion, and recommendation. During the followup period, 132 (23%) IMCP and 123 (22%) control patients received screening (adjusted difference = 0.5 percentage points, 95% CI −4.3 to 5.3). IMCP effects did not differ significantly by ethnicity/language. CONCLUSIONS Sociopsychological factor tailoring was no more effective than nontailored information in encouraging colorectal cancer screening in a multiethnic sample, despite enhancing sociopsychological factors and visit behaviors associated with screening. The utility of sociopsychological tailoring in addressing screening disparities remains uncertain.
Correlation structure of real estate markets over time

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the time‐varying correlation structure of international real estate stock markets and its implications for portfolio management.Design/methodology/approach – The analysis focuses on real estate markets only and examines the appropriateness of the Markowitz approach based on mean‐variance‐optimization. Therefore, the properties of the return distributions are analyzed first. Afterwards, the stability of the correlation and covariance structure over time is analyzed and statistically tested by the Jennrich test.Findings – Because of low correlation among real estate markets worldwide there exists diversification benefits from broadening the investment horizon to international real estate markets. However, using correlation coefficients as a measure for diversification benefits is limited by empirical findings: Returns are not normally distributed, correlations increase in downward moving phases and neither the correlation nor the covariance structures are st.
Forces contributing to the conformational stability of proteins

For 35 years, the prevailing view has been that the hydrophobic effect is the dominant force in protein folding. The importance of hydrogen bonding was always clear, but whether it made a net favorable contribution to protein stability was not. Studies of mutant proteins have improved our understanding of the forces stabilizing proteins. They suggest that hydrogen bonding and the hydrophobic effect make large but comparable contributions to the stability of globular proteins. —Pace, C. N. , Shirley, B. A. , McNutt, M. , Gajiwala, K. Forces contributing to the conformational stability of proteins. FASEB J. 10, 75‐83 (1996)
EXAMINING THE WAGE DIFFERENTIAL FOR MARRIED AND COHABITING MEN

Wage analyses indicate that married and cohabiting men earn more than do single, noncohabiting men. This article examines the nature of these wage differentials using data from the National Survey of Families and Households. Results indicate that the marital and cohabitation differentials are quite distinct. The higher wage observed for cohabiting men is driven primarily by selection and is eliminated by first differencing, but the higher wage observed for married men (and perhaps long-term cohabiters) arises largely because of differential wage growth. Wages appear to rise more rapidly following marriage. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
Photonic Generation of Triangular-Shaped Microwave Pulses Using SBS-Based Optical Carrier Processing

A photonic approach to generate triangular-shaped microwave pulses using stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS)-based optical carrier processing is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. In the proposed approach, only odd-order optical sidebands are obtained by externally modulating the CW light wave using a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) biased at the minimum-transmission-point (MITP). Then the suppressed optical carrier is recovered by the amplification effect from the SBS gain. After that, all negative-order optical sidebands are removed by using an optical filter. Through opto-electronic conversion in a photodetector (PD), the amplitude of the 1st-order electrical harmonic can be tuned just to be nine times of that of the 3rd-order one when the modulation index is specified as 1.51. Therefore the target pulse is generated and its repetition rate can be flexibly tuned by adjusting the frequency of the radio frequency (RF) signal applied to the MZM. According to the principle above, triangular-shaped microwave pulses with repetition rates of 5, 8, and 10 GHz are generated in our experiments, respectively, showing desired waveforms and excellent tunability.
Service Failure and Recovery in a Strategic Airline Alliance Context: Interplay of Locus of Service Failure and Social Identity

ABSTRACT There has been a dramatic increase in the past decade in the number of strategic alliances and business networks. Yet, despite these trends in the business environment, the individual firm-customer dyad has remained the contextual focus of most services marketing research (Gittell, 2002). Using a scenario study, this research investigates the effects of service failures in a strategic airline alliance setting, with a particular focus on locus of service failure and strength of social identification, on three alliance entities—a consumer's home carrier, the alliance partner airline, and the alliance. Study findings suggest that consumers' evaluations are more stable (less extreme) when the home carrier causes the service failure. In contrast, when a lesser known entity (partner airline) causes the service failure, consumers are more willing to rate that entity harshly. Furthermore, compared to weak identifiers, strong identifiers were not only more positive in their evaluation of the home carrier but also in their evaluation of the alliance, pointing to a halo effect, whereby positive evaluations of the home carrier are transferred to the alliance. Implications of study results are discussed and directions for future research provided.