Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Miniature Butler Matrix Design Using Glass-Based Thin-Film Integrated Passive Device Technology for 2.5-GHz Applications

In this paper, miniature branch-line coupler and Butler matrix designs for 2.5-GHz applications are proposed using the glass-based thin-film integrated passive device (TF-IPD) technology. The size reduction is achieved by replacing the quarter-wavelength transmission lines in a conventional branch-line coupler with the bridged-T coil. In this way, the circuit size can be largely reduced without sacrificing the operation bandwidth. The proposed miniature branch-line coupler is then applied to the design of a 4 × 4 Butler matrix centered at 2.5 GHz using the glass-based TF-IPD technology. The measured results show a bandwidth of 2.4-2.6 GHz for better than 13-dB return loss with a maximal dissipation of 4 dB, amplitude imbalance within 1.1 dB, and phase imbalance less than 13°. Notably, the proposed Butler matrix occupies a chip area of 3.13 mm × 3.3 mm, which is only about 0.026 λ0 × 0.027 λ0 at 2.5 GHz.
A Special Issue of Creativity and Innovation Management: Organizing Creativity: Creativity and Innovation under Constraints

oday’sdynamicbusinessenvironmentrequiresﬁrmstoconstantlyadaptinordertosurvive. Asa result of continuously changing demands, organizations have to adjust and reorientate,innovate, and adopt new technologies. Creative ideas are at the root of invention and innovation(Woodman, Sawyer & Griffen, 1993; Amabile et al., 1996). Hence, leaders and managers espousecreativity as an important goal that must be nurtured and facilitated (Mueller, Melwani & Goncalo2012). Nevertheless, organizing creativity in organizations remains somewhat enigmatic to schol-ars. Creative organizations are often associated with spaces characterized by freedom, autonomy,weak rules and few boundaries. For example, this is reﬂected in Google’s workplace design, withthe ofﬁce as a playground in which self-expression is encouraged. However, most organizationalactors still have to operate within the constraints and boundaries imposed by the organization.Theseconstraintscaneasilybeexperiencedashamperingthefreedomandcreativityofemployees. Then again, constraints can also be perceived as challenging. They might entice employees to ﬁnda creative new way of circumventing obstacles and dealing with organizational impediments. Forexample, in an interview with Fast Company, one of Google’s top managers states that ‘engineersthrive on constraints. They love to think their way out of that little box: “We know you said it wasimpossible, but we’re going to do this, this, and that to get us there” ’ (Salter, 2008). This paradoxical role of constraints for creativity (hampering versus enticing) calls for furtherelaboration and more research. Several promising avenues of study can be identiﬁed. † Firstly, more research is needed that reﬁnes our understanding of what constraints are, and howthey affect creative behavior. Behavioural psychologists suggest that creative imagination seemsto work best when one is confronted with explicitly understood constraints (Kamoche & Pina eCunha, 2001; Kelly & Leggo, 2008). Studies in this line mainly refer to mental constraints, i.e.artiﬁcial constraints adopted as scaffolding to generate creativity. The workplace might poseconstraintsofadifferentnature,i.e.morepracticallyoriented,suchasworkloadpressure,budgetlimitations,ordemandsfromotherstakeholdersinsideandoutsideoftheorganization. Doesthespeciﬁcnatureofconstraintsimpacttheireffectoncreativity? Doweneedtodistinguishbetweendifferent types of constraints? † Secondly, more research is needed that explores the nature of the creative process itself.Existing studies typically regard creativity as an output variable, and do not take intoaccount that creativity encompasses a process from initial idea to creative outcome. Severalstudies have shown that creativity can be viewed as a multistage process. Little is knownabout whether and how constraints differentially impact the various stages of the creative
Increased Sensitivity to Mitochondrial Toxin-Induced Apoptosis in Neural Cells Expressing Mutant Presenilin-1 Is Linked to Perturbed Calcium Homeostasis and Enhanced Oxyradical Production

Many cases of autosomal dominant early onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) result from mutations in the gene encoding presenilin-1 (PS-1). PS-1 is an integral membrane protein expressed ubiquitously in neurons throughout the brain in which it is located primarily in endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Although the pathogenic mechanism of PS-1 mutations is unknown, recent findings suggest that PS mutations render neurons vulnerable to apoptosis. Because increasing evidence indicates that mitochondrial alterations contribute to neuronal death in AD, we tested the hypothesis that PS-1 mutations sensitize neurons to mitochondrial failure. PC12 cell lines expressing a PS-1 mutation (L286V) exhibited increased sensitivity to apoptosis induced by 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP) and malonate, inhibitors of succinate dehydrogenase, compared with control cell lines and lines overexpressing wild-type PS-1. The apoptosis-enhancing action of mutant PS-1 was prevented by antioxidants (propyl gallate and glutathione), zVAD-fmk, and cyclosporin A, indicating requirements of reactive oxygen species (ROS), caspases, and mitochondrial permeability transition in the cell death process. 3-NP induced a rapid elevation of [Ca2+]i, which was followed by caspase activation, accumulation of ROS, and decreases in mitochondrial reducing potential and transmembrane potential in cells expressing mutant PS-1. The calcium chelator BAPTA AM and agents that block calcium release from ER and influx through voltage-dependent channels prevented mitochondrial ROS accumulation and membrane depolarization and apoptosis. Our data suggest that by perturbing subcellular calcium homeostasis presenilin mutations sensitize neurons to mitochondria-based forms of apoptosis that involve oxidative stress.
Physiological changes in the gastrointestinal tract and host protective immunity: learning from the mouse-Trichinella spiralis model

SUMMARY Infection and inflammation in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract induces a number of changes in the GI physiology of the host. Experimental infections with parasites represent valuable models to study the structural and physiological changes in the GI tract. This review addresses research on the interface between the immune system and GI physiology, dealing specifically with 2 major components of intestinal physiology, namely mucin production and muscle function in relation to host defence, primarily based on studies using the mouse-Trichinella spiralis system. These studies demonstrate that the infection-induced T helper 2 type immune response is critical in generating the alterations of infection-induced mucin production and muscle function, and that this immune-mediated alteration in gut physiology is associated with host defence mechanisms. In addition, by manipulating the host immune response, it is possible to modulate the accompanying physiological changes, which may have clinical relevance. In addition to enhancing our understanding of immunological control of GI physiological changes in the context of host defence against enteric infections, the data acquired using the mouse-T. spiralis model provide a basis for understanding the pathophysiology of a wide range of GI disorders associated with altered gut physiology.
Quantitive Inflation Perceptions and Exectations of Italian Consumers

Since February 2003 ISAE collects quantitative inflation opinions, within its monthly survey on Italian consumers. Data confirms the severe overestimation of inflation already emerged in previous studies. Quantitative replies are in line with more traditional qualitative evaluations, indicating that overestimation is not a sort of random outcome derived from casual answers. A first explanation calls for inadequate knowledge of inflation statistics: however, scarce information does not explain per se overestimation. Indeed, overestimation varies across personal characteristics and it is strongly correlated with assessments on economic conditions, with those being more optimistic generally showing lower inflation opinions. It is possible that given a scarce statistical knowledge consumers attribute to high inflation an “economic distress” mainly determined by slow growth of disposable income and psychological factors linked to socio-economic conditions.
Two Hemisphere Model Driven Approach for Generation of UML Class Diagram in the Context of MDA

The Model Driven Architecture (MDA) separates the system business aspects from the system implementation aspects on a specific technology platform. MDA proposes a software development process in which the key notions are models and model transformation, where the input models are platform independent and the output models are platform specific and can be transformed into a format that is executable. In this paper principles of MDA and model transformations are applied for generation of UML class diagram from two hemisphere model, which is presented in the form of business process model related with concept model. Two hemisphere model is developed for the problem domain concerned with an application for driving school and UML class diagram is generated using the approach offered in the paper.
Clinical Manifestations, Treatment, and Outcome of Hospitalized Patients with Plasmodium vivax Malaria in Two Indian States: A Retrospective Study

This was a retrospective study done on 110 patients hospitalized with P. vivax malaria in three medical college hospitals, one in the union territory of Chandigarh and the other two in Gujarat, that is, Ahmedabad and Surat. The clinical presentation, treatment, and outcome were recorded. As per WHO criteria for severity, 19 of 110 patients had severe disease—six patients had clinical jaundice with hepatic dysfunction, three patients had severe anemia, three had spontaneous bleeding, two had acute respiratory distress syndrome, and one had cerebral malaria, hyperparasitemia, renal failure, circulatory collapse, and metabolic acidosis. All patients with severe P. vivax malaria survived, but one child with cerebral malaria had neurological sequelae. There was wide variation in the antimalarial treatment received at the three centres. Plasmodium vivax malaria can no longer be considered a benign condition. WHO guidelines for treatment of P. vivax malaria need to be reinforced.
THE OBSERVED RELATION BETWEEN STELLAR MASS, DUST EXTINCTION, AND STAR FORMATION RATE IN LOCAL GALAXIES

In this study, we investigate the relation between stellar mass, dust extinction, and star formation rate (SFR) using ∼150,000 star-forming galaxies from SDSS DR7. We show that the relation between dust extinction and SFR changes with stellar mass. For galaxies at the same stellar mass, dust extinction is anti-correlated with the SFR at stellar masses <1010 M☉. There is a sharp transition in the relation at a stellar mass of 1010 M☉. At larger stellar masses, dust extinction is positively correlated with the SFR for galaxies at the same stellar mass. The observed relation between stellar mass, dust extinction, and SFR presented in this study helps to confirm similar trends observed in the relation between stellar mass, metallicity, and SFR. The relation reported in this study provides important new constraints on the physical processes governing the chemical evolution of galaxies. The correlation between SFR and dust extinction for galaxies with stellar masses >1010 M☉ is shown to extend to the population of quiescent galaxies suggesting that the physical processes responsible for the observed relation between stellar mass, dust extinction, and SFR may be related to the processes leading to the shutdown of star formation in galaxies.
Personality Disorder Traits as a Moderator of Poor Social Problem-Solving Skills and Depressive Symptoms

This investigation examined whether Cluster B and Cluster C personality disorder symptoms moderate the relationship between social problem-solving skills and depressive symptoms. Participants were 102 young adults, assessed for personality disorder traits and depressive symptoms. Participants completed a novel performance-based assessment and a self-report measure of social problem-solving skills. Multiple regression models indicated that at moderate to lower levels of personality pathology, social problem-solving deficits were associated with depressive symptoms, whereas at higher levels of personality pathology there was not a similar relationship. These findings highlight the importance of both social problem-solving approaches and personality characteristics in understanding the complex network of risk factors for depression.
Human capital constraints in South Africa: a firm–level analysis

This paper examines human capital constraints in the South African economy, and the austerity of these constraints on firms in the country. The two key human capital constraints explored in this article are the inadequately educated workforce and labour market distortions. Regression analysis was applied to examine determinants of increased labour productivity in manufacturing firms. Education and labour market distortions were found to have a varying influence on output per worker. Principal Component Analysis (pca) of the explanatory variables achieved similar results. This study found that the highest percentage of the total variance is explained by latent variables that incorporate education, training, compensation, region and Sector Education Training Authority (seta) support and effectiveness.
Kernels in quasi-transitive digraphs Hortensia Galeana-Sáncheza

Let D be a digraph, V (D) and A(D) will denote the sets of vertices and arcs of D, respectively. A kernel N of D is an independent set of vertices such that for every w ∈ V (D) − N there exists an arc from w to N. A digraph is called quasi-transitive when (u, v) ∈ A(D) and (v, w) ∈ A(D) implies (u, w) ∈ A(D) or (w, u) ∈ A(D). This concept was introduced by Ghouilá–Houri [Caractérisation des graphes non orientés dont on peut orienter les arrêtes de maniere à obtenir le graphe d’ un relation d’ordre, C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris 254 (1962) 1370–1371] and has been studied by several authors. In this paper the following result is proved: Let D be a digraph. Suppose D = D1 ∪ D2 where Di is a quasi-transitive digraph which contains no asymmetrical infinite outward path (in Di ) for i ∈ {1, 2}; and that every directed cycle of length 3 contained in D has at least two symmetrical arcs, then D has a kernel. All the conditions for the theorem are tight. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Regulation in Sepsis Apolipoprotein E-Mediated Immune

Lipids and lipoproteins have emerged as key constituents of the immune response to microbial infection. We, therefore, sought to understand the complex interaction between lipoprotein metabolism and sepsis. Apolipoprotein E (apoE), a component of plasma lipoproteins, has been suggested to bind and trafﬁc Ags for NKT cell activation. However, apoE’s role in sepsis has not been demonstrated. In this study, we examined the effect of exogenous apoE in a rat model of septic peritonitis, induced by cecal ligation and puncture. We demonstrate that 48 h after serial injections of apoE, septic mortality increased in a dose-dependent manner. While sepsis resulted in increased splenic and decreased hepatic and circulating NKT cell populations, serial injections of apoE for 24 h after cecal ligation and puncture increased the frequency, cell number, and BrdU uptake in splenic and hepatic NKT cell populations, while concomitantly depleting these populations in the circulation. These changes were correlated with elevated alanine amino transferase levels, an indicator of liver injury. Interestingly, while sepsis increased hepatic T cell apoptosis and necrosis, apoE reversed these changes. apoE also promoted increases in predominantly Th1 cytokine levels in sera and a decrease in IL-4, the main NKT cell-derived Th2 cytokine. Consequently, apoE treatment is associated with increased sepsis-induced mortality, and increased NKT cell frequency and proliferation in the liver and spleen, with concomitant decreases in these NKT cell parameters in the peripheral circulation. apoE treatment also promoted a Th1 cytokine response, increased the degree of liver injury, and decreased apoptosis in hepatic lymphocytes. The Journal of Immunology, 2008, 181: 1399–1408.
Revisiting Solow’s Decomposition of Economic and Productivity Growth

By relaxing the two assumptions of constant returns to scale and perfect competition in the product market used by Solow (1957), this paper identifies a new decomposition of economic and productivity growth. The sources of economic growth are; adjusted economies of scales effect, weighted sum of input growth, and technical progress. The sources of productivity growth are; adjusted economies of scale effect and technical progress. The weight used for the input growth is the cost share of each input.
An Evaluation through Simulation of Electrolarynx Control based on Statistical F 0 Prediction for Multiple Speakers

An electrolarynx is a device that artificially generates excitation sounds to produce electrolaryngeal (EL) speech. Although proficient laryngectomees can produce intelligible EL speech by using this device, it sounds quite unnatural due to the mechanical excitation. To address this issue, we have proposed several EL speech enhancement methods using statistical voice conversion and showed that statistical prediction of excitation parameters, such as F0 patterns, was essential to significantly improve naturalness of EL speech. Based on this result, we have also proposed a direct control method of F0 patterns of excitation sounds generated from electrolarynx based on the statistical excitation prediction as an EL speech enhancement method applicable to face-to-face conversation. In our previous work, this direct control method was evaluated through its simulation using only a single laryngectomee’s EL speech and it was demonstrated that this method enables to improve naturalness of EL speech while preserving its listenability. However, because quality of EL speech highly depends on proficiency of each laryngectomee, it is necessary to apply this method to other laryngectomees and evaluate its effectiveness. In addition, we need to evaluate this method from more various perspectives, such as not only naturalness and listenability but also intelligibility. In this paper, we apply the direct control method to multiple speakers consisting of two real laryngectomees and one non-laryngectomee and evaluate its performance through simulations in terms of naturalness, listenability, and intelligibility. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method yields significant improvements in naturalness of EL speech for multiple laryngectomees while keeping its listenability and intelligibility high enough.
Self-Reporting in Optimal Law Enforcement When There are Criminal Teams

We extend the analysis of self-reporting schemes to criminal teams. When the violators behave non-cooperatively, maximum deterrence can be reached at virtually no cost by designing a prisoners' dilemma. One drawback of such a scheme is that it might induce cooperative behaviour in the self-reporting stage. If the cooperation rate is increasing the benefits from cooperation, it is optimal to impose less than the maximum fine if both individuals self-report. The same result occurs for imperfect self-reporting technologies where the conviction of one agent does not necessarily lead to a conviction of his accomplice.
4D Super-Resolution Microscopy with Conventional Fluorophores and Single Wavelength Excitation in Optically Thick Cells and Tissues

Background Optical super-resolution imaging of fluorescently stained biological samples is rapidly becoming an important tool to investigate protein distribution at the molecular scale. It is therefore important to develop practical super-resolution methods that allow capturing the full three-dimensional nature of biological systems and also can visualize multiple protein species in the same sample. Methodology/Principal Findings We show that the use of a combination of conventional near-infrared dyes, such as Alexa 647, Alexa 680 and Alexa 750, all excited with a 671 nm diode laser, enables 3D multi-colour super-resolution imaging of complex biological samples. Optically thick samples, including human tissue sections, cardiac rat myocytes and densely grown neuronal cultures were imaged with lateral resolutions of ∼15 nm (std. dev.) while reducing marker cross-talk to <1%. Using astigmatism an axial resolution of ∼65 nm (std. dev.) was routinely achieved. The number of marker species that can be distinguished depends on the mean photon number of single molecule events. With the typical photon yields from Alexa 680 of ∼2000 up to 5 markers may in principle be resolved with <2% crosstalk. Conclusions/Significance Our approach is based entirely on the use of conventional, commercially available markers and requires only a single laser. It provides a very straightforward way to investigate biological samples at the nanometre scale and should help establish practical 4D super-resolution microscopy as a routine research tool in many laboratories.
Abnormal Reorganization of Functional Cortical Small-World Networks in Focal Hand Dystonia

We investigated the large-scale functional cortical connectivity network in focal hand dystonia (FHD) patients using graph theoretic measures to assess efficiency. High-resolution EEGs were recorded in 15 FHD patients and 15 healthy volunteers at rest and during a simple sequential finger tapping task. Mutual information (MI) values of wavelet coefficients were estimated to create an association matrix between EEG electrodes, and to produce a series of adjacency matrices or graphs, G, by thresholding with network cost. Efficiency measures of small-world networks were assessed. As a result, we found that FHD patients have economical small-world properties in their brain functional networks in the alpha and beta bands. During a motor task, in the beta band network, FHD patients have decreased efficiency of small-world networks, whereas healthy volunteers increase efficiency. Reduced efficient beta band network in FHD patients during the task was consistently observed in global efficiency, cost-efficiency, and maximum cost-efficiency. This suggests that the beta band functional cortical network of FHD patients is reorganized even during a task that does not induce dystonic symptoms, representing a loss of long-range communication and abnormal functional integration in large-scale brain functional cortical networks. Moreover, negative correlations between efficiency measures and duration of disease were found, indicating that the longer duration of disease, the less efficient the beta band network in FHD patients. In regional efficiency analysis, FHD patients at rest have high regional efficiency at supplementary motor cortex (SMA) compared with healthy volunteers; however, it is diminished during the motor task, possibly reflecting abnormal inhibition in FHD patients. The present study provides the first evidence with graph theory for abnormal reconfiguration of brain functional networks in FHD during motor task.