Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantized Conductance: an overview from the electronic engineering side

In this paper we address the limits of the semi-classical models used till now in solid state physics to describe the electronic conductance of a wire. We provide an overview of the quantized conductance behavior reported in plenty of experiments where the width of the wire is approaching nanometer scale. Furthermore, we report a simple and reliable theory that has been provided to explain this behavior and that can be a starting point in order to develop a useful circuit theory. Finally, we describe some circuit applications of the quantized conductance
Proteomic analysis reveals APC-dependent post-translational modifications and identifies a novel regulator of β-catenin

Wnt signaling generates patterns in all embryos, from flies to humans, and controls cell fate, proliferation and metabolic homeostasis. Inappropriate Wnt pathway activation results in diseases, including colorectal cancer. The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumor suppressor gene encodes a multifunctional protein that is an essential regulator of Wnt signaling and cytoskeletal organization. Although progress has been made in defining the role of APC in a normal cellular context, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of APC-dependent cellular function and dysfunction. We expanded the APC-associated protein network using a combination of genetics and a proteomic technique called two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE). We show that loss of Drosophila Apc2 causes protein isoform changes reflecting misregulation of post-translational modifications (PTMs), which are not dependent on β-catenin transcriptional activity. Mass spectrometry revealed that proteins involved in metabolic and biosynthetic pathways, protein synthesis and degradation, and cell signaling are affected by Apc2 loss. We demonstrate that changes in phosphorylation partially account for the altered PTMs in APC mutants, suggesting that APC mutants affect other types of PTM. Finally, through this approach Aminopeptidase P was identified as a new regulator of β-catenin abundance in Drosophila embryos. This study provides new perspectives on the cellular effects of APC that might lead to a deeper understanding of its role in development. Summary: The analysis of Drosophila embryos lacking APC reveals a diverse set of post-translational modifications that are dependent on APC, one of which regulates β-catenin abundance.
Sustained attention performance during sleep deprivation associates with instability in behavior and physiologic measures at baseline.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To identify baseline behavioral and physiologic markers that associate with individual differences in sustained attention during sleep deprivation. DESIGN In a retrospective study, ocular, electrocardiogram, and electroencephalogram (EEG) measures were compared in subjects who were characterized as resilient (n = 15) or vulnerable (n = 15) to the effects of total sleep deprivation on sustained attention. SETTING Chronobiology and Sleep Laboratory, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore. PARTICIPANTS Healthy volunteers aged 22-32 years from the general population. INTERVENTIONS Subjects were kept awake for at least 26 hours under constant environmental conditions. Every 2 hours, sustained attention was assessed using a 10-minute psychomotor vigilance task (PVT). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS During baseline sleep and recovery sleep, EEG slow wave activity was similar in resilient versus vulnerable subjects, suggesting that individual differences in vulnerability to sleep loss were not related to differences in homeostatic sleep regulation. Rather, irrespective of time elapsed since wake, subjects who were vulnerable to sleep deprivation exhibited slower and more variable PVT response times, lower and more variable heart rate, and higher and more variable EEG spectral power in the theta frequency band (6.0-7.5 Hz). CONCLUSIONS Performance decrements in sustained attention during sleep deprivation associate with instability in behavioral and physiologic measures at baseline. Small individual differences in sustained attention that are present at baseline are amplified during prolonged wakefulness, thus contributing to large between-subjects differences in performance and sleepiness.
U.S.-Africa trade balance and the J-curve: An asymmetry analysis

ABSTRACT For the first time in the body of literature, we consider bilateral trade balance models of the US with each of her 20 trading partners from Africa and try to assess the J-curve phenomenon. After applying the linear and nonlinear ARDL approaches, we find support for the J-curve effect in three partners from the linear models. However, support rises to eight partners when we shift to nonlinear models. Furthermore, we find short-run asymmetric effects of exchange rate changes in almost all models and significant long-run asymmetric effects in half of the partners.
Method for the preparation of mucosal flaps from the jejunum of laying hens for transporter studies in Ussing chambers

Ussing chambers are frequently used for in vitro evaluation of intestinal transport physiology. The current study describes investigating the jejunal tissue from laying hens using a specific preparation method and evaluates the effect of glutamine in the maintenance buffer. Tunica mucosa was stripped from 104 jejunal samples from 10 hens and stabilised by a net device. Fifty samples were maintained with modified Krebs–Henseleit buffer (Control), 54 samples with additional 5 mM glutamine (Group Gln). The percentage of responding samples varied between 87 and 100%. Mean short circuit current (ΔI sc,) [µA/cm2] of samples exposed to 10 mM glucose in the Control group and Group Gln was 17.0 and 14.6 (p = 0.836), respectively, of samples exposed to 100 µM phloridzin –13.3 and –11.8 (p = 0.712), respectively, and of samples exposed to 100 µM carbachol 4.7 and 3.7 (p = 0.450), respectively. In conclusion, the net-supported method enabled a reliable investigation of jejunum from laying hens. Glutamine in the maintenance buffer was of no significant benefit.
Overcoming Nonlocal Effects and Brillouin Threshold Limitations in Brillouin Optical Time-Domain Sensors

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) sensor that is able to operate with a probe power larger than the Brillouin threshold of the deployed sensing fiber and that is free from detrimental nonlocal effects. The technique is based on a dual-probe-sideband setup in which an optical frequency modulation of the probe waves along the fiber is introduced. This makes the optical frequency of the Brillouin interactions induced by each probe wave on the pump vary along the fiber so that two broadband Brillouin gain and loss spectra that perfectly compensate are created. As a consequence, the pulse spectral components remain undistorted, avoiding nonlocal effects. Therefore, very large probe power can be injected, which improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in detection for long-range BOTDA. Moreover, the probe power can even exceed the Brillouin threshold limit due to its frequency modulation, which reduces the effective amplification of spontaneous Brillouin scattering in the fiber. Experiments demonstrate the technique in a 50-km sensing link in which 8 dBm of probe power is injected.
Aggregate effects and measuring regional dynamics

Empirical models of regional adjustment often control for aggregate effects when estimating the impact of regional shocks. It is, however, diffi cult to filter out the effects of aggregate shocks– such as national recessions– because the incidence of these shocks varies across space and time. We argue that an approximate factor structure is better suited to controlling for this form of spatiotemporal heterogeneity than existing methods. Applying the method to US states, we find that region-specific labor demand shocks are primarily absorbed through changes in participation; that the migration response to these shocks is limited; and that recoveries are highly protracted.
Optimal Monetary Policy for a Pessimistic Central Bank

Abstract We consider the impact of pessimism on monetary policy within a model with backward-looking expectations and persistence in the dynamics of output and inflation. Pessimistic monetary authorities behave as if they believed that the worst economic conditions were very likely and move the policy instrument to hedge against their negative consequences. With respect to their risk-neutral counterparts, they apply a more aggressive Taylor rule, reducing the inflation rate volatility. The impact of pessimism on monetary policy is magnified by economic uncertainty. A calibration exercise for the U.S. economy confirms the relevance of pessimism as it shows that pessimistic monetary authorities react to a one-standard-deviation supply shock moving the policy instrument by about one percent more than their risk-neutral counterparts. Our conclusions also hold when the monetary authorities observe inflation and output with a time lag.
Duration of lactation and maternal metabolism at 3 years postpartum.

OBJECTIVE Lactation has been associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome in mothers. We examined the relation between breastfeeding duration and metabolic markers at 3 years postpartum. METHODS We used linear regression to relate duration of lactation to maternal glucose and lipid metabolism, inflammatory markers, and anthropometry at 3 years postpartum among 570 participants with 3-year blood samples (175 fasting) in Project Viva, a cohort study of mothers and children. RESULTS Among the participants, 88% had initiated breastfeeding, and 26% had breastfed >or=12 months. In multivariate analyses, we observed no consistent trends relating duration of lactation to maternal metabolism at 3 years postpartum. Women who exclusively breastfed for >6 months had lower postpartum weight retention at 3 years than women with shorter durations of exclusive breastfeeding (multivariate adjusted predicted mean -0.5, -3.6-2.6 kg vs. 4.8, 2.0-7.6 kg for those who never exclusively breastfed, partial F p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS In this prospective cohort study, we did not observe a dose-response relationship between duration of lactation and metabolic risk at 3 years postpartum.
Abnormal dopamine uptake sites in postmortem striatum from patients with tourette's syndrome

The dopamine hypothesis for Tourette's syndrome proposes that the disorder is pathologically related either to an excessive amount of dopamine or to supersensitive receptors. To evaluate these proposals, pre‐ and postsynaptic markers of dopamine metabolism were measured in postmortem striatum from three adults with the diagnosis of Tourette's syndrome. Neuronal dopamine uptake carrier sites ([3H]mazindol binding) were significantly increased in number over control values by 37% in the caudate and by 50% in the putamen. High‐pressure liquid chromatographic assays of dopamine and its primary metabolites, homovanillic acid and 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, showed normal findings. D1 and D2 subtypes of dopaminergic receptors ([3H]SCH 23390 and [3H]spiperone binding, respectively) showed only slight alterations, presumably due to treatment with neuroleptics. The concentration of adenosine 3′,5′‐ monophosphate (cyclic AMP) in putamen was reduced by 23%. Our data support earlier proposals of a dopaminergic abnormality in TS, but suggest that the mechanism involves a significant alteration of uptake sites. We spéculate that increases in carrier site binding indicate an enhanced dopamine innervation within the striatum.
A General Constructive Approach to Matrix Converter Stabilization

The stability of a matrix converter is investigated in both motor mode and generator mode. Inspired by the impedance ratio criterion, a general constructive method is proposed to stabilize matrix converter. Based on the analysis, it is possible to change the admittance of matrix converter by modifying the output reference voltage and rectifier modulation vector according to the constructive method. As a result, the instability which is caused by negative impedance could be eliminated. Meanwhile, the stability regions are enlarged. Furthermore, the underlying principles of the constructive method are stated in detail and several instructive examples, which comply with these principles, are demonstrated. The essence of some other existing methods used to improve the stability of matrix converter is unveiled, and the difference and similarity between the existing methods and the proposed ones are also discussed. The correctness and feasibility of the proposed method are verified by simulations, as well as experiments.
Bronchial asthma due to inhaled wood dust: Tanganyika aningré

Three cases of bronchial asthma due to wood dust from Tanganyika anigré are reported. All patients were woodworkers and had symptoms of dyspnoea, cough and wheezing, and sometimes itchiness and rhinorrhoea, after exposure to Tanganyika aningré. The intradermal skin tests were positive for untigenic extract of Tanganyika aningré. In two patients the bronchial provocation test with the wood dust and with the soluble extract inhaled by aerosol was positive showing an immediate reaction; in the same patients bronchial hyperreactivity was also found. Atopy was present in one subject. No precipitins or specific IgE were found in patient sera by the immunodiffusion technique or by RAST.
Corticospinal Tract Abnormalities Are Associated with Weakness in Multiple Sclerosis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The association of MR imaging abnormalities with clinical disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been disappointing. This association might be improved by imaging specific functional systems in the central nervous system—for example, the motor system in a patient with weakness. Our aim was to assess the relationship between muscle strength in MS and corticospinal tract (CST) abnormalities detected with multimodality MR imaging of the brain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 47 individuals with MS, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 3T was used to reconstruct the intracranial CSTs. Tract profiles depicted the variation in T2 relaxation time, magnetization transfer ratio (MTR), and DTI-derived indices (fractional anisotropy and diffusivity) as a function of normalized position along the tract. Brain parenchymal fraction was calculated as a normalized measure of brain volume. Stepwise linear regression modeling was used to determine the MR imaging indices most closely related to ankle dorsiflexion and hip flexion strength assessed with quantitative dynamometry. RESULTS: Individuals with MS were significantly weak: Average ankle strength fell 1.7 SDs below the age-, handedness-, and sex-corrected healthy mean. Brain parenchymal fraction was not associated with weakness. A parsimonious model that includes MTR in the brain stem and MS clinical subtype explained 30%–45% of the variance in ankle and hip strength. The model was successfully applied to scans and strength data from the same individuals at an earlier time point. CONCLUSION: MR imaging abnormalities specific to the motor tract are associated with clinical dysfunction related to that tract. The relevant abnormalities are found in the brain stem, distant from the periventricular inflammatory lesions that are common in MS. This suggests that neurodegeneration, rather than primary inflammation, at least partially explains the findings.
Energy Efficiency by Cell Reconfiguration: MIMO to Non-MIMO and 3-Cell Sites to Omni

Altering the network configuration in order to reduce the energy consumption in a WCDMA network is under study in this paper. The baseline configuration is a MIMO enabled network with 3-cell sites. In case there are no MIMO users in a cell, one of the MIMO antennas and the corresponding power amplifier in this cell is turned off. Furthermore, if the user distribution is such that the traffic can be handled by an Omni configuration, the site is re-configured to an Omni site. The transmission powers for the different configurations are assessed through system simulations and fed into a base station energy consumption model, based on the predicted network configuration assuming different loads of fixed bit rate users. It is found that in a low load scenario, the energy savings can be up to 15-25 percent simply by turning off one of the MIMO antennas when the fraction of MIMO enabled users is 25-75 percent. If reconfiguring to Omni cell as well as turning off one MIMO antenna when permitted, the savings can be up to 40 to 50 percent with the same fraction of MIMO users in a low load situation. Savings by reconfiguration to Omni cells when there are no MIMO users in the system gives saving of up to 28 percent in a low load scenario. It is concluded that the proposed techniques has the potential to yield substantial energy savings in low load scenarios without degrading the user performance.
Intracortical modulation of cortical‐bulbar responses for the masseter muscle

Short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF) were evaluated in the masseter muscles of 12 subjects and the cortical silent period (SP) in nine subjects. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from contralateral (cMM) and ipsilateral (iMM) masseters, activated at 10% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Interstimulus intervals (ISIs) were 2 and 3 ms for SICI, 10 and 15 ms for ICF. TMS of the left masseteric cortex induced MEPs that were larger in the cMM than the iMM; stimulation of right masseteric cortex produced a similar asymmetry in response amplitude. SICI was only observed using a CS intensity of 70% AMT and was equal in both cMM and iMM. SICI was stronger at higher TS intensities, was abolished by muscle activation greater than 10% MVC, and was unaffected by coil orientation changes. Control experiments confirmed that SICI was not contaminated by any inhibitory peripheral reflexes. However, ICF could not be obtained because it was masked by bilateral reflex depression of masseter EMG caused by auditory input from the coil discharge. The SP was bilateral and symmetric; its duration ranged from 35 to 70 ms depending on TS intensity and coil orientation. We conclude that SICI is present in the cortical representation of masseter muscles. The similarity of SICI in cMM and iMM suggests either that a single pool of inhibitory interneurons controls ipsi‐ and contralateral corticotrigeminal projections or that inhibition is directed to bilaterally projecting corticotrigeminal fibres. Finally, the corticotrigeminal projection seems to be weakly influenced by inhibitory interneurons mediating the cortical SP.
The human cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to cytomegalovirus is dominated by structural protein pp65: frequency, specificity, and T-cell receptor usage of pp65-specific CTL

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) appear to play an important role in the control of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in the normal virus carrier: previous studies have identified peripheral blood CD8+ CTL specific for the HCMV major immediate-early gene product (IE1) and more recently, by bulk culture and cloning techniques, have identified CTL specific for a structural gene product, the lower matrix protein pp65. In order to determine the relative contributions of CTL which recognize the HCMV proteins IE1, pp65, and glycoprotein B (gB) to the total HCMV-specific CTL response, we have used a limiting-dilution analysis system to quantify HCMV-specific CTL precursors with different specificities, allowing the antigenic specificity of multiple short-term CTL clones to be assessed, in a group of six healthy seropositive donors. All donors showed high frequencies of HCMV-specific major histocompatibility complex-restricted CTL precursors. There was a very high frequency of CTL specific for pp65 (lower matrix protein); IE1-specific CTL were also detectable at lower frequencies in three of five donors, while CTL directed to gB were undetectable. A pp65 gene deletion mutant of HCMV was then used to estimate the contribution of pp65-specific CTL to the total HCMV-specific CTL response; this showed that between 70 and 90% of all CTL recognizing HCMV-infected cells were pp65 specific. Analysis of the peptide specificity of pp65-specific CTL showed that some donors have a highly focused response recognizing a single peptide; the T-cell receptor Vbeta gene usage in these two donors was shown to be remarkably restricted, with over half of the responding CD8+ T cells utilizing a single Vbeta gene rearrangement. Other subjects recognized multiple pp65 peptides: nine new pp65 CTL peptide epitopes were defined, and for five of these the HLA-presenting allele has been identified. All four of the HLA A2 donors tested in this study recognized the same peptide. This apparent domination of the CTL response to HCMV during persistent infection by a single structural protein, irrespective of major histocompatibility complex haplotype, is not clearly described for other persistent virus infections, and the mechanism requires further investigation.
Successful differential evaluative conditioning using simultaneous and trace conditioning procedures in the picture–picture paradigm

This paper describes a study designed to investigate the efficacy of two traditional classical conditioning procedures in generating evaluative conditioning (EC) in the picture–picture paradigm in human participants. Differential EC was found using both simultaneous and trace conditioning procedures. In addition, the use of a block–subblock (BSB) nonpaired control condition and full counterbalancing of conditioned stimulus–unconditioned stimulus (CS–UCS) pairings across participants indicated that the observed EC effects were the result of associative learning. Examination of whether successful conditioning could take place with or without conscious awareness of CS–UCS contingencies was inconclusive. The results provide evidence for EC as an associative process and also provide some insight into the possible conditioning parameters that might successfully generate EC.
Accelerated carcinogenesis following liver regeneration is associated with chronic inflammation-induced double-strand DNA breaks

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide and is considered to be the outcome of chronic liver inflammation. Currently, the main treatment for HCC is surgical resection. However, survival rates are suboptimal partially because of tumor recurrence in the remaining liver. Our aim was to understand the molecular mechanisms linking liver regeneration under chronic inflammation to hepatic tumorigenesis. Mdr2-KO mice, a model of inflammation-associated cancer, underwent partial hepatectomy (PHx), which led to enhanced hepatocarcinogenesis. Moreover, liver regeneration in these mice was severely attenuated. We demonstrate the activation of the DNA damage-response machinery and increased genomic instability during early liver inflammatory stages resulting in hepatocyte apoptosis, cell-cycle arrest, and senescence and suggest their involvement in tumor growth acceleration subsequent to PHx. We propose that under the regenerative proliferative stress induced by liver resection, the genomic unstable hepatocytes generated during chronic inflammation escape senescence and apoptosis and reenter the cell cycle, triggering the enhanced tumorigenesis. Thus, we clarify the immediate and long-term contributions of the DNA damage response to HCC development and recurrence.