Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frequency-Controlled Broad-Angle Beam Scanning of Patch Array Fed by Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons

Frequency-controlled broadband and broad-angle beam scanning is proposed using a circular-patch array fed by planar spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Here, a row of circularly metallic patches is placed near an ultrathin planar spoof SPP waveguide. When the SPP wave is transmitted through the waveguide, the circular patches are fed at the same time. Because of the phase difference fed to the patches, the proposed structure can realize wide-angle beam scanning from backward direction to forward direction as the frequency changes, breaking the limit of traditional leaky-wave antennas. Both numerical simulations and measured results demonstrate good performance of the proposed structure. It is shown that the scanning angle can reach 55° with an average gain level of 9.8 dBi. The proposed frequency scanning patch array is of great value in planar integrated communication systems.
GABA‐immunoreactive neurons in the mushroom bodies of the honeybee: An electron microscopic study

Synaptic contacts of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) ‐immunoreactive neurons in honeybee mushroom bodies were studied by using electron microscopic immunocytochemistry. In the lip region of the calyx neuropil, GABA‐immunoreactive profiles formed synapses onto both small postsynaptic profiles (76%) and large immunonegative boutons (4%), which were likely to belong to the intrinsic and extrinsic mushroom body neurons, respectively. Three morphologic types of the large immunonegative boutons were distinguished: “light,” “dark,” and “dense core”; all of them received synaptic inputs from the GABA‐immunoreactive profiles. A significant proportion of the synapses formed by the GABA‐immunoreactive neurons in the lip region (20%) were input synapses from immunonegative neurons. Analysis of thin serial sections showed that the output and input synapses formed microcircuits in which both large immunonegative boutons and small postsynaptic profiles were involved. We interpret these findings to show that negative feedforward and feedback loops exist within the microcircuits of the lip region. J. Comp. Neurol. 437:335–349, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
General statistical inference for discrete and mixed spaces by an approximate application of the maximum entropy principle

We propose a new method for learning a general statistical inference engine, operating on discrete and mixed discrete/continuous feature spaces. Such a model allows inference on any of the discrete features, given values for the remaining features. Applications are, e.g., to medical diagnosis with multiple possible diseases, fault diagnosis, information retrieval, and imputation in databases. Bayesian networks (BN's) are versatile tools that possess this inference capability. However, BN's require explicit specification of conditional independencies, which may be difficult to assess given limited data. Alternatively, Cheeseman proposed finding the maximum entropy (ME) joint probability mass function (pmf) consistent with arbitrary lower order probability constraints. This approach is in principle powerful and does not require explicit expression of conditional independence. However, until now, the huge learning complexity has severely limited the use of this approach. Here we propose an approximate ME method, which also encodes arbitrary low-order constraints but while retaining quite tractable learning. Our method uses a restriction of joint pmf support (during learning) to a subset of the feature space. Results on the University of California-Irvine repository reveal performance gains over several BN approaches and over multilayer perceptrons.
Dust sedimentation in protoplanetary disks with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Context. Dust sedimentation is known to affect the infrared spectra and images of disks. In particular the far-infrared emission may be reduced by strong sedimentation. However, dust grains of different sizes sediment to different depths in the disk. Spectral features of one species may thus be enhanced, while those of other species may be suppressed. Aims. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are among the smallest “dust grains”. We investigate how the presence of PAHs in protoplanetary disks affects the disk’s spectral energy distribution (SED) and feature strengths when the thermal (large) grains are allowed to sediment. Methods. We calculate the vertical distribution of dust grains for both the PAH “dust” and the thermal dust grains.We include vertical settling and vertical mixing via turbulence. The results are inserted into a Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code to compute the SEDs. Results. For high turbulence the sedimentation barely affects the spectrum. For low turbulence, however, the PAHs still stay well-mixed in the disk’s surface layer, while the 0.1 μm size grains sediment deep into the disk. This strongly enhances the PAH features relative to the continuum (by factors of 2 to 10), while the far-infrared flux is reduced. This predicts that sources with weak far-infrared flux have stronger PAH features, which is – at least among Herbig Ae stars – opposite to what is observed, suggesting that sedimentation is not the only factor responsible for the weak mid- to far-infrared excess in some disks. We speculate that coagulation might be a solution, reducing both the mid- to far-infrared flux and the PAH features.
How to combat the negative impact of discrimination in a collectivist context? The safeguarding function of peer-oriented hope

Abstract The objective of the study was to assess the moderating role of locus-of-hope on the relations between everyday discrimination and well-being outcomes in a collectivist setting. There were 444 Filipino undergraduate students who participated in the research. Findings showed that discrimination was negatively linked to subjective well-being and flourishing while loci-of-hope (internal, external-spiritual, external-family, and external-peers) were positively associated with well-being indices. Further, external-peer locus-of-hope moderated the relations between everyday discrimination and well-being outcomes such that for those who had higher external-peer locus-of-hope, everyday discrimination may still be linked to greater well-being. The theoretical and practical implications are elucidated.
A Protective Role of Dietary Vitamin D3 in Rat Colon Carcinogenesis

The aim of the present work was to gain insight into a putative anticancer effect of dietary vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) in a rat model of colon carcinogenesis. Male rats were assigned to three different dietary groups. The dietary regimens were based on a standard murine-defined diet (AIN-76A) or a stress diet containing 20% fat, reduced Ca2+ concentration, a high phosphorus-to-Ca2+ ratio, and either low or high vitamin D3 content. Colorectal cancer was induced by administration of the procarcinogen 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Blood Ca2+, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2 D3 ], and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3 ] levels were measured in DMH-treated rats and in respective weight- and age-matched dietary control groups. Colonic epithelial proliferation was assessed by determining thymidine kinase (TK) activity, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) incorporation into crypt cell DNA, and the mean labeling index along the colonic crypt continuum. Maintenance of rats on the stress diet either unmodified or supplemented with vitamin D3 in the absence of carcinogen treatment provoked a time-dependent rise in colonic TK activity and hyperproliferation of colonic epithelium. DMH treatment of rats maintained on the standard diet caused a marked increase in the proliferative indexes of colonic epithelium and in expansion of the crypt proliferative compartment. TK activity and the crypt mitotic zone were significantly augmented in the animal group fed the stress diet. Supplementary vitamin D3 abrogated the stress diet-enhanced colonic responses to the carcinogenic insult. Colon tumor multiplicity was fourfold higher in animals fed the stress diet than in animals maintained on a standard diet. The marked rise in colonic tumor multiplicity and adenocarcinoma incidence in rats fed the stress diet was obliterated by supplemental dietary vitamin D3 Cumulatively, the present results indicate that dietary vitamin D3 impedes the neoplastic process in murine large intestine and strengthen the view that inappropriate changes in dietary components and micronutrients are contributory determinants of colorectal cancer.
Kinetics and dynamics of lorazepam during and after continuous intravenous infusion

ObjectiveTo evaluate the kinetics and dynamics of lorazepam during administration as a bolus plus an infusion, using electroencephalography as a pharmacodynamic end point. MethodsNine volunteers received a 2-mg bolus loading dose of lorazepam, coincident with the start of a 2 &mgr;g/kg/hr zero-order infusion. The infusion was stopped after 4 hrs. Plasma lorazepam concentrations and electroencephalographic activity in the 13- to 30-Hz range were monitored for 24 hrs. ResultsThe bolus-plus-infusion scheme rapidly produced plasma lorazepam concentrations that were close to those predicted to be achieved at true steady state. Mean kinetic values for lorazepam were as follows: volume of distribution, 126 L; elimination half-life, 13.8 hrs; and clearance, 109 mL/min. Electroencephalographic effects were maximal 0.5 hr after the loading dose, were maintained essentially constant during infusion, and then declined in parallel with plasma concentrations after the infusion was terminated. There was no evidence of tolerance. Plots of pharmacodynamic electroencephalographic effect vs. plasma lorazepam concentration demonstrated counterclockwise hysteresis, consistent with an effect-site equilibration delay. This was incorporated into a kinetic-dynamic model in which hypothetical effect-site concentration was related to pharmacodynamic electroencephalographic effect via the sigmoid Emax model. The analysis yielded the following mean estimates: maximum electroencephalographic effect, 12.7% over baseline; 50% effective concentration, 13.1 ng/mL; and effect-site equilibration half-life, 8.8 mins. ConclusionDespite the delay in effect onset, continuous infusion of lorazepam, preceded by a bolus loading dose, produces a relatively constant sedative effect on the central nervous system, which can be utilized in the context of critical care medicine.
Moderate alcohol disrupts a mechanism for detection of rare events in human visual cortex

Moderate doses of alcohol (blood alcohol concentration [BAC] of about 0.05%) may result in acute impairments at various levels of information processing. A number of reports have documented detrimental effects of moderate alcohol on the mismatch negativity (MMN), the electrocortical manifestation of a rapid (100 ms poststimulus) mechanism dedicated to the detection of unexpected auditory change (e.g., Jääskeläinen, et al., 1995). Recently, we and others identified a partial visual counterpart of the MMN, sometimes called the rareness-related negativitity (RRN). Analogous to the MMN, the RRN evolves at about 100 ms after the unexpected change and was localized in visual cortex (Kenemans, et al., 2003). Rapid detection of unexpected events is important for everyday-life conditions like driving, prompting the question whether the visual RRN shows sensitivity to moderate alcohol similar to the MMN. In all, 16 subjects were tested either under moderate alcohol or under placebo. Unexpected visual change was implemented by presenting 2.4 versus 0.6 c/d gratings in pseudorandom sequences according to a deviant (10%)/standard (90%) schedule. The alcohol effects on MMN reported before were replicated. Furthermore, the RRN, defined as the difference between deviant and standard event-related potentials between 120 and 170 ms at Oz, was present under placebo but not under alcohol. It is concluded that moderate alcohol does indeed impair the rapid detection in visual cortex of unexpected changes. In contrast, electrocortical correlates of lower level sensory processing were still significantly present under alcohol.
Financing Lumpy Adjustment

We Study how firms finance Lumpy adjustment in capital, employment and inventories. We analyse U.S. firm data from Compustat covering 1971-2013. Lumpy expansion and contraction episodes in firms' productive assets are important in accounting for movements in macroecnomic and financial aggregate variables. Firms use primarily cash balances and debt in order to expand or contract capacity, but these margins are not perfect substitutes. Cash balances play a preparatory role rising (falling) temporarily prior to lumpy positive (negative) adjustment. Debt is also important as firms de-leverage (increase leverage) prior to lumpy positive (negative) adjustment and then slowly increase leverage (deleverage) often several years after the event. Small and large firms differ in their use of external equity to finance Lumpy events. During Lumpy adjustment profitability and leverage are positively correlated.
Asymptotic Behavior of Nonlinear Elliptic Systems on Varying Domains

We consider a monotone operator of the form Au= - div(a(x,Du)), with $\Omega\subseteq{\bf R}^n$ and $a:\Omega\times{\bf M}^{M \times N} \to {\bf M}^{M \times N}$, acting on $W^{1,p}_0(\Omega, {\bf R}^M)$. For every sequence $(\Omega_h)$ of open subsets of $\Omega$ and for every $f \in W^{-1,p'}(\Omega, {\bf R}^M)$, $1/p+1/p'=1$, we study the asymptotic behavior, as $h\to+\infty$, of the solutions $u_h\in W^1_0(\Omega_h,{\bf R}^M)$ of the systems $Au_h=f$ in $W^{-1,p'}(\Omega_h,{\bf R}^M)$, and we determine the general form of the limit problem.
Remittances and Household Expenditure Behaviour in Senegal

This paper analyses the impact of remittances on household expenditure behaviour in Senegal. We use propensity score matching and OLS methods to assess the average impact of remittances on several household budget shares. Our results show a productive use of international remittances in Senegal. However, the impact of remittances disappears when the marginal spending behaviour is considered, i.e., households do not show a different consumption pattern with respect to their remittance status. Therefore, in the decision on how to allocate expenditure, remittances are treated just as any other source of income.
SERUM TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-&agr; IN GUILLAIN-BARRé SYNDROME AND ITS RELATION TO PLASMA EXCHANGE

BACKGROUND–To correlate the serum tumor necrosis factor-&agr; (TNF&agr;) concentrations before, during and following plasma exchange in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). In this prospective study, 21 GBS patients were selected. Patients in clinical stages III to V were subjected to plasma exchange. The control group included equal numbers of age-matched patients with other neurological diseases and healthy voluntary blood donors. A sandwich ELISA method was applied to estimate serum TNF&agr; concentrations in test and control groups. REVIEW SUMMARY–Twelve GBS patients had elevated serum TNF&agr; levels that ranged between 74 and 182 pg/mL. All 12 GBS patients showed a steady decrease in the TNF&agr; concentration following plasma exchange and also showed a positive correlation with neurological recovery. CONCLUSIONS–We conclude that serum TNF&agr; concentrations are elevated in 57.1% of GBS patients and TNF&agr; level decreases following plasma exchange.
High‐density SNP screen of sodium channel genes by haplotype tagging and DNA pooling for association with idiopathic generalized epilepsy

We have investigated seven voltage‐gated sodium channel genes for association with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). Probands and control DNA were grouped into pools and used to screen 85 single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), mostly HapMap SNPs tagging the common variation in these genes. Twelve SNPs exhibiting an allele frequency difference between pools were genotyped individually in our sample of 232 probands, 313 controls, and 95 parent–proband trios. Two SNPs, in SCN1A and SCN8A, were associated by allele and genotype at nominal level of significance, but were not significant after Bonferroni correction. Two SCN2A SNPs (rs3943809 and rs16850331) were associated by case–control with a subgroup with IGE and history of febrile seizures and also by transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) in parent–proband trios. Both SNPs are part of a linkage disequilibrium (LD) cluster of 38 SNPs, but none are obvious functional variants. The association of rs3943809 with the febrile seizure subgroup (p = 0.0004) remains significant after the conservative Bonferroni correction for multiple testing.
Evaluation of biomarkers of exposure and effect in juvenile areolated grouper (Epinephelus areolatus) on foodborne exposure to benzo[a]pyrene

Food‐borne benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) was administered daily to juvenile grouper (Epinephelus areolatus) at two environmentally realistic concentrations (a low dose of 0.25 μg B[a]P/g body wt/d and a high dose of 12.5 μg B[a]P/g body wt/d) to investigate and relate temporal changes in body burden of B[a]P, hepatic ethoxyresorufin‐O‐deethylase (EROD) activities, growth, RNA:DNA ratio, estradiol, testosterone, and triiodothyronine (T3). After feeding with B[a]P diets for four weeks, fish were fed with normal diet for another four weeks to study recovery of the various biomarkers during the depuration period. After one week of exposure, both body muscle B[a]P burdens and hepatic EROD activities significantly increased. Body burdens were stable in tissues until the fourth week of exposure, when concentrations in the high‐dose group increased markedly, at which time a concomitant decrease in EROD was found. During the depuration period, body burdens decreased in the second week, and EROD declined in the first week. Growth and RNA:DNA ratio were unaltered. Despite large variations found in sex steroid levels, elevation of testosterone was clearly evident in the fourth week, showing that B[a]P may disrupt the balance of sex steroids in fish. Significantly, increases in plasma‐free T3 concentrations were found in the fourth week of exposure and the first week of depuration, suggesting that development and reproduction may potentially be at risk during chronic exposures. Our data also suggest that these hormonal disturbances are not persistent and that normal hormonal levels can be restored soon after contamination is abated.
Synthesis of Mannich Bases of Some 2,5‐Disubstituted 4‐Thiazolidinones and Evaluation of Their Antimicrobial Activities

5‐Phenyl/methyl‐5‐morpholinomethyl/pyrrolidinomethyl‐2‐(5‐aryl‐1,3,4‐oxadiazol‐2‐yl) imino]‐4‐thiazolidinones (5a—m) were synthesized by the reaction of 5‐phenyl/methyl‐2‐[(5‐aryl‐1,3,4‐oxadiazol‐2‐yl)imino]‐4‐thiazolidinones (4a—j) with formaldehyde and morpholine or pyrrolidine. The structures of the compounds were determined by analytical and spectral (IR, 1H‐NMR, EIMS) methods. The antibacterial activities of the novel compounds against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 4352, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 1539, Salmonella typhi, Shigella flexneri and Proteus mirabilis and antifungal activity against Candida albicans ATCC 10231 were tested using the disk diffusion method. Compounds 5a, 5b, 5c, 5e, 5g, and 5h were found to be active against S. aureus ATCC 6538 (MIC: 312.5; 39; 19.5; 39; 156; and 78 μg/mL respectively) and compounds 5c and 5h against S. flexneri (MIC: both 312.5 μg/mL). The minimal inhibitory concentrations of these compounds were determined using the micro dilution method.
Detecting Staphylococcus aureus Virulence and Resistance Genes: a Comparison of Whole-Genome Sequencing and DNA Microarray Technology

ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus is a major bacterial pathogen causing a variety of diseases ranging from wound infections to severe bacteremia or intoxications. Besides host factors, the course and severity of disease is also widely dependent on the genotype of the bacterium. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS), followed by bioinformatic sequence analysis, is currently the most extensive genotyping method available. To identify clinically relevant staphylococcal virulence and resistance genes in WGS data, we developed an in silico typing scheme for the software SeqSphere+ (Ridom GmbH, Münster, Germany). The implemented target genes (n = 182) correspond to those queried by the Identibac S. aureus Genotyping DNA microarray (Alere Technologies, Jena, Germany). The in silico scheme was evaluated by comparing the typing results of microarray and of WGS for 154 human S. aureus isolates. A total of 96.8% (n = 27,119) of all typing results were equally identified with microarray and WGS (40.6% present and 56.2% absent). Discrepancies (3.2% in total) were caused by WGS errors (1.7%), microarray hybridization failures (1.3%), wrong prediction of ambiguous microarray results (0.1%), or unknown causes (0.1%). Superior to the microarray, WGS enabled the distinction of allelic variants, which may be essential for the prediction of bacterial virulence and resistance phenotypes. Multilocus sequence typing clonal complexes and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec element types inferred from microarray hybridization patterns were equally determined by WGS. In conclusion, WGS may substitute array-based methods due to its universal methodology, open and expandable nature, and rapid parallel analysis capacity for different characteristics in once-generated sequences.
Protein kinase C inhibition of cloned inward rectifier (HRK1/KIR2.3) K+ channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes.

1. The effect of protein kinase activators on cloned inward rectifier channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes was examined using a two‐electrode voltage clamp. PKA activators caused no change in KIR1.1, KIR2.1, or KIR2.3 current. The PKC activators phorbol 12‐myristate 14‐acetate (PMA) and phorbol 12, 13‐dibutyrate (PDBu) inhibited KIR2.3 currents, but not KIR2.1 or KIR1.1 current. This inhibition was blocked by staurosporine. An inactive phorbol ester, 4 alpha‐phorbol 12, 13‐didecanoate (4 alpha‐PDD), had no effect on KIR2.3. 2. Upon changing solution from 2 to 98 microM K+, KIR2.3 but not KIR1.1 or KIR2.1 currents typically ‘ran down’ over 5 min to 60‐80% of maximum amplitude. Rundown occurred even if PMA was applied before changing to high [K+] solution, indicating that rundown was independent of PKC activity. Rundown was evoked by substituting NMG+ for Na+, showing that it results from low [Na+] and not from high [K+]. 3. These results suggest that KIR2.3, but not KIR1.1 or KIR2.1, is subject to regulation, both by PKC activation and as a consequence of low [Na+]o. The difference in secondary regulation may account for specific responses to PKC stimulation of tissues expressing otherwise nearly identical KIR channels.
Tocotrienol‐rich fraction attenuates UV‐induced inflammaging: A bench to bedside study

UV radiation from the sun is the most common environmental stressor to damage the skin. It is now well established that photodamaged skin manifests signs of mild but chronic inflammation, termed as “inflammaging. ” Thus, there is an urgent need for anti‐inflammatory regimes that can limit the damage caused by inflammation.