Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 33.2 dBm CMOS RF power amplifier using a novel on-chip transformer power combiner for 4G WiMAX applications

A fully integrated 2.4 GHz power amplifier with high output power for WiMAX applications is presented in a standard 0.18 μm CMOS process. A new 4×1:3 power-combining transformer is proposed to achieve high output power. The proposed power amplifier uses four similar PAs which their output currents are summed together. The proposed power amplifier with 3.3 V power supply provides maximum output power of 33.2 dBm and power added efficiency of 37.3% at 2.4 GHz operating frequency. At 1dB compression point, The proposed power amplifier exhibits high output power of 31.6 dBm. The simulation results for the proposed PA with modulated OFDM signal demonstrate that error vector magnitude of -24.76 dB at the average power of 24 dBm can be accomplished.
Sexual assault history and risks for sexually transmitted infections among women in an African township in Cape Town, South Africa

Sexual violence is associated with women's risks for HIV infection. The current study investigated factors related to risks for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, among South African women with a history of sexual assault. An anonymous street intercept survey of women (N=272) living in an African township in the Western Cape, South Africa assessed demographic characteristics, history of sexual assault, HIV risk behaviours, substance use and non-sexual relationship abuse. Surveys were completed by 90% of women approached. Forty-four per cent (N=119) of women reported a history of sexual assault. Multiple logistic regressions, controlling for participant age, education, marital status and survey venue, showed that women who had been sexually assaulted were significantly more likely to have shared injection drug equipment, exchanged sex to meet survival needs, and used alcohol compared to women who had not been sexually assaulted. Women with a history of sexual assault were also significantly more likely to have multiple male sex partners, greater rates of unprotected vaginal intercourse, lower rates of condom protected anal intercourse, more sexual contacts involving blood, more STIs and genital ulcers. Finally, women who had been sexually assaulted were more likely to have been non-sexually abused by relationship partners and were more likely to fear asking partners to use condoms. There is a close connection between sexual assault and women's risks for STIs and HIV. Structural and behavioural interventions are needed to simultaneously reduce the prevalence of sexual assault against women and prevent the transmission of HIV.
Cutting Edge: Leukotriene C4 Activates Mouse Platelets in Plasma Exclusively through the Type 2 Cysteinyl Leukotriene Receptor

Leukotriene C4 (LTC4) and its extracellular metabolites, LTD4 and LTE4, mediate airway inflammation. They signal through three specific receptors (type 1 cys-LT receptor [CysLT1R], CysLT2R, and GPR99) with overlapping ligand preferences. In this article, we demonstrate that LTC4, but not LTD4 or LTE4, activates mouse platelets exclusively through CysLT2R. Platelets expressed CysLT1R and CysLT2R proteins. LTC4 induced surface expression of CD62P by wild-type mouse platelets in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and caused their secretion of thromboxane A2 and CXCL4. LTC4 was fully active on PRP from mice lacking either CysLT1R or GPR99, but completely inactive on PRP from CysLT2R-null (Cysltr2−/−) mice. LTC4/CysLT2R signaling required an autocrine ADP-mediated response through P2Y12 receptors. LTC4 potentiated airway inflammation in a platelet- and CysLT2R-dependent manner. Thus, CysLT2R on platelets recognizes LTC4 with unexpected selectivity. Nascent LTC4 may activate platelets at a synapse with granulocytes before it is converted to LTD4, promoting mediator generation and the formation of leukocyte–platelet complexes that facilitate inflammation.
Simultaneous determination of four sesquiterpenoids in Atractylodes Macrocephala Rhizoma by GC-FID: optimisation of an ultrasound-assisted extraction by central composite design.

INTRODUCTION Atractylodes Macrocephala Rhizoma (AMR) is a traditional Chinese medicine containing several sesquiterpenoids with a series of effects. These bioactive compounds may be used as chemical markers for the quality control of AMR. It is necessary to optimise the extraction method and conditions in order to improve extraction productivity. OBJECTIVE To develop a simple and effective method for the extraction of sesquiterpenoids from AMR and then to simultaneously determine four sesquiterpenoids, selina-4 (14), 7(11)-dien-8-one (SA), atractylenolide II (AII), atractylenolide III (AIII) and atractylenolide VII (AVII), in AMR. METHODOLOGY Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) was optimised by central composite design (CCD) to obtain the maximum efficiency. The gas chromatography method was validated and applied for the quantification of four sesquiterpenoids. RESULTS The optimum values of factors were: particle size (120 mesh), extraction time (26 min), extraction temperature (39°C) and 31 mL of chloroform. The selectivity, linear range, limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ), accuracy, precision and repeatability of the method developed indicated its validity. The application of the method showed that the contents of four sesquiterpenoids in AMR were rather variable. CONCLUSION The results indicated that the described GC method could be used for the quality control of AMR and its related preparations. Meanwhile, this research revealed that UAE under optimum conditions could be considered as a powerful tool for the extraction of phytochemicals from plants.
Microchannel Electrodes for Recording and Stimulation: In Vitro Evaluation

Previously we reported a finite-element model that predicted that microchannels could be sensitive recording devices, amplifying the extracellular signal as action potentials pass through them, and making recording independent of node of Ranvier location. Here, we present an in vitro experimental study that validates these predictions and also demonstrates that microchannel electrodes can be highly efficient stimulators. Several aspects of whole-nerve cuff technology, including noise-reduction techniques and unidirectional stimulation methods, are readily transferable to this small scale. If axons can be persuaded to regenerate in large numbers through narrow channels, the results presented here suggest that a regenerative microchannel array could be used to produce an in vivo peripheral nerve interface with a high-resolution for both recording and stimulation.
Doxycycline‐ and tetracycline‐regulated transcriptional silencer enhance the expression level and transactivating performance of rtTA

The tetracycline‐regulated transcriptional silencer (tTS) has been demonstrated to mitigate leaky expression of the tetracycline‐inducible promoter under uninduced condition, and, when conjugated with reverse‐type tetracycline‐controlled transactivator (rtTA), shows great promise for gene therapy. This effect was attributed to the effectiveness of tTS as a repressor of transcription at the tetracycline‐regulated promoter. However, we observed an unexpected increase in transactivational activity by rtTA in the presence of tTS under inducible condition.
Light-driven oxygen production from superoxide by Mn-binding bacterial reaction centers

One of the outstanding questions concerning the early Earth is how ancient phototrophs made the evolutionary transition from anoxygenic to oxygenic photosynthesis, which resulted in a substantial increase in the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. We have previously demonstrated that reaction centers from anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria can be modified to bind a redox-active Mn cofactor, thus gaining a key functional feature of photosystem II, which contains the site for water oxidation in cyanobacteria, algae, and plants [Thielges M, et al. (2005) Biochemistry 44:7389–7394]. In this paper, the Mn-binding reaction centers are shown to have a light-driven enzymatic function; namely, the ability to convert superoxide into molecular oxygen. This activity has a relatively high efficiency with a kcat of approximately 1 s-1 that is significantly larger than typically observed for designed enzymes, and a Km of 35–40 μM that is comparable to the value of 50 μM for Mn-superoxide dismutase, which catalyzes a similar reaction. Unlike wild-type reaction centers, the highly oxidizing reaction centers are not stable in the light unless they have a bound Mn. The stability and enzymatic ability of this type of Mn-binding reaction centers would have provided primitive phototrophs with an environmental advantage before the evolution of organisms with a more complex Mn4Ca cluster needed to perform the multielectron reactions required to oxidize water.
Frequency and Determinants of Poststroke Cognitive Impairment at Three and Twelve Months in Chile

Background: A higher risk of poststroke cognitive impairment (CI) has been reported in Hispanics in a US cohort but has not been systematically studied in Latin America. Objectives: Our purpose was to investigate the frequencies and determinants of poststroke CI in the hispano-mestizo population of Santiago, Chile. Methods: A prospective study of hospitalized patients aged >60 years admitted with an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke was conducted. The cognitive status was determined at 3 and 12 months after the stroke by informant questionnaires, neuropsychological testing and clinical diagnosis. Cardiovascular risk factors, brain imaging and stroke features were analyzed using regression models to establish determinants for poststroke CI. Results: A total of 164 patients (mean age = 72 ± 7.5 years) were recruited. Out of 122 patients (74%) evaluated at 3 months, 81 (66%) had CI. Out of 101 patients (62%) evaluated at 12 months, 39 (39%) had CI no dementia, and 22 (22%) were demented. The new-onset dementia frequency at 1 year was 16%. Independent determinants for dementia were higher functional impairment at hospital egress (OR = 4.0), left-hemisphere large-vessel infarction (OR = 6.9) and a larger amount of white matter changes (OR = 1.3). Conclusions: In this first study on poststroke CI in Latin America, the frequencies and determinants of poststroke CI were similar to those in other cohorts of different ethnic origin.
Chimeric Glutamate Receptor Subunits Reveal the Transmembrane Domain Is Sufficient for NMDA Receptor Pore Properties but Some Positive Allosteric Modulators Require Additional Domains

NMDA receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that underlie transmission at excitatory synapses and play an important role in regulating synaptic strength and stability. Functional NMDA receptors require two copies of the GluN1 subunit coassembled with GluN2 (and/or GluN3) subunits into a heteromeric tetramer. A diverse array of allosteric modulators can upregulate or downregulate NMDA receptor activity. These modulators include both synthetic compounds and endogenous modulators, such as cis-unsaturated fatty acids, 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol, and various neurosteroids. To evaluate the structural requirements for the formation and allosteric modulation of NMDA receptor pores, we have replaced portions of the rat GluN1, GluN2A, and GluN2B subunits with homologous segments from the rat GluK2 kainate receptor subunit. Our results with these chimeric constructs show that the NMDA receptor transmembrane domain is sufficient to account for most pore properties, but that regulation by some allosteric modulators requires additional cytoplasmic or extracellular domains. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Glutamate receptors mediate excitatory synaptic transmission by forming cation channels through the membrane that open upon glutamate binding. Although many compounds have been identified that regulate glutamate receptor activity, in most cases the detailed mechanisms that underlie modulation are poorly understood. To identify what parts of the receptor are essential for pore formation and sensitivity to allosteric modulators, we generated chimeric subunits that combined segments from NMDA and kainate receptors, subtypes with distinct pharmacological profiles. Surprisingly, our results identify separate domain requirements for allosteric potentiation of NMDA receptor pores by pregnenolone sulfate, 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol, and docosahexaenoic acid, three endogenous modulators derived from membrane constituents. Understanding where and how these compounds act on NMDA receptors should aid in designing better therapeutic agents.
Deep dynamic policy programming for robot control with raw images

Deep reinforcement learning has drawn much attention in robot control since it enables agents to learn control policies from very high dimensional states such as raw images. On the other hand, its dependency upon the availability of a significant quantity of training samples and its fragility in learning makes it difficult to apply for real world robot tasks. To alleviate these issues we propose Deep Dynamic Policy Programming (DDPP), which combines the sample efficiency and smooth policy updates of dynamic policy programming with the contemporary deep reinforcement learning framework. The effectiveness of the proposed method is first demonstrated in a simulation of the robot arm control problem, with comparison to Deep Q-Networks. As validation on a real robot system, DDPP also successfully learned the flipping of a handkerchief with a NEXTAGE humanoid robot using a reduced number of learning samples, whereas Deep Q-Networks failed to learn the task.
Influence of Insulator Length on the Downstream Electron Temperature and Density in the Coaxial Plasma Focus Device

We have generated the Ar plasma in the diode chamber based on the established coaxial electrode type and investigated the emitted visible light for emission spectroscopy. The optical emission spectrum data have been obtained for the focused plasma in the cylindrical diode chamber under the input voltage of 4.5 kV and pressure of 40 mtorr. We observed the nine emission lines of Ar II: 407.3, 410.6, 422.4, 426.8, 427.9, 435.0, 438.1, 444.5, and 488.0 nm. The downstream electron temperature and density have been measured by the Boltzmann plot and Stark broadening, respectively, from the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium. The length of the acrylic insulator has been changed to 30, 40, and 45 mm, respectively, which is covered on the inner cathode surface, to investigate the influence of insulator length on the downstream electron temperature and density in this experiment. Our results show that the downstream electron temperature and density of focused plasma are 2.5 eV and 1.6times1016 cm-3, respectively, for the coaxial plasma focus with cylindrical electrodes at the insulator length of 40 mm.
A Switch in Costimulation from CD28 to 4-1BB during Primary versus Secondary CD8 T Cell Response to Influenza In Vivo1

4-1BBL−/− mice exhibit normal primary CD8 T cell responses to influenza virus, but show decreased CD8 T cell numbers late in the primary response as well as decreased secondary responses. In contrast, CD28−/− mice are defective in initial CD8 T cell expansion. Using agonistic anti-4-1BB Ab to replace the CD28 or 4-1BB signal, we examined the timing of the required signals for CD28 vs 4-1BB costimulation. A single dose of agonistic anti-4-1BB Ab added only during priming restores the secondary CD8 T cell response in CD28−/− mice. Once the T cell numbers in the primary response reach a minimum threshold, a full secondary response is achieved even in the absence of CD28. In contrast, anti-4-1BB added during priming fails to correct the defective secondary response in 4-1BBL−/− mice, whereas addition of anti-4-1BB during challenge fully restores this response. Thus, there is a switch in costimulatory requirement from CD28 to 4-1BB during primary vs recall responses. Adoptive transfer studies show that T cells primed in 4-1BBL−/− or wild-type mice are equally capable of re-expansion when rechallenged in wild-type mice. These studies rule out a model in which signals delivered through 4-1BB during priming program the T cells to give a full recall response and suggest that 4-1BB-4-1BBL interactions take place at later stages in the immune response. The results indicate that anti-4-1BB or 4-1BBL therapy will be most effective during the boost phase of a prime-boost vaccination strategy.
Long-Term Trends Worldwide in Ambient NO2 Concentrations Inferred from Satellite Observations

Background Air pollution is associated with morbidity and premature mortality. Satellite remote sensing provides globally consistent decadal-scale observations of ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution. Objective We determined global population-weighted annual mean NO2 concentrations from 1996 through 2012. Methods We used observations of NO2 tropospheric column densities from three satellite instruments in combination with chemical transport modeling to produce a global 17-year record of ground-level NO2 at 0.1° × 0.1° resolution. We calculated linear trends in population-weighted annual mean NO2 (PWMNO2) concentrations in different regions around the world. Results We found that PWMNO2 in high-income North America (Canada and the United States) decreased more steeply than in any other region, having declined at a rate of –4.7%/year [95% confidence interval (CI): –5.3, –4.1]. PWMNO2 decreased in western Europe at a rate of –2.5%/year (95% CI: –3.0, –2.1). The highest PWMNO2 occurred in high-income Asia Pacific (predominantly Japan and South Korea) in 1996, with a subsequent decrease of –2.1%/year (95% CI: –2.7, –1.5). In contrast, PWMNO2 almost tripled in East Asia (China, North Korea, and Taiwan) at a rate of 6.7%/year (95% CI: 6.0, 7.3). The satellite-derived estimates of trends in ground-level NO2 were consistent with regional trends inferred from data obtained from ground-station monitoring networks in North America (within 0.7%/year) and Europe (within 0.3%/year). Our rankings of regional average NO2 and long-term trends differed from the satellite-derived estimates of fine particulate matter reported elsewhere, demonstrating the utility of both indicators to describe changing pollutant mixtures. Conclusions Long-term trends in satellite-derived ambient NO2 provide new information about changing global exposure to ambient air pollution. Our estimates are publicly available at http://fizz.phys.dal.ca/~atmos/martin/? page_id=232. Citation Geddes JA, Martin RV, Boys BL, van Donkelaar A. 2016. Long-term trends worldwide in ambient NO2 concentrations inferred from satellite observations. Environ Health Perspect 124:281–289; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1409567
Activated leucocytes express and secrete macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha upon interaction with synovial fibroblasts of rheumatoid arthritis via a beta2-integrin/ICAM-1 mechanism.

OBJECTIVE To examine the expression and regulation of chemotactic factor, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha (MIP-1alpha) by fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS), monocytes and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) isolated from the synovial fluid (SF) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. METHODS Monocytes or PMN obtained from RA SF were co-cultured with unstimulated semiconfluent RA FLS. Culture supernatants were assayed for MIP-1alpha by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression of MIP-1alpha mRNA and protein was also determined by Northern blot analyss and immunohistochemistry respectively. RESULTS Interaction of activated leucocytes with FLS synergistically increased MIP-1alpha expression and secretion via a mechanism mediated by beta2-integrin/ intercellular adhesion molecule 1. CONCLUSION MIP-1alpha expression within inflamed joints appears to be regulated not only by inflammatory cytokines but also by the physical interaction of activated leucocytes and FLS, and plays a crucial role in the progression and maintenance of RA synovitis.
Digitalisation of maintenance

The digitalisation of industry and the Industry 4.0 concept with its connected ICTs are important developments for the industry to acquire and implement to be able to keep ahead in competition. In connection to Industry 4.0, the predictive maintenance systems and approach are getting more popular in maintenance. This is because these systems enable a change in the maintenance mind-set where the break-fix mentality is substituted by a predictive maintenance system, such as Condition Based Maintenance (CBM), where the equipment is monitored with the support of ICTs to detect failures before they occur. The Industry 4.0 seems more attainable even for small and medium sized companies because of the drop in the prices of the components of these systems, both in the sensing elements and in the data processing part. The manufacturing methods used in the Integrated Circuit (IC) industry create the possibility to reduce significantly the price tag of sensors and processors. Therefore, the authors go through the CBM approach and technologies, such as Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) sensors as well as such emerging ICTs as the Cloud and Big data. These could offer a turning point in traditional maintenance by widening the amount of monitored assets, allowing multiple parameters to be measured and analysed and enabling wireless and immediate data access across the globe.
Time-Resolved $Q$-factor Measurement and Its Application in Performance Analysis of 42.6 Gbit/s Packets Generated by SGDBR Lasers

We demonstrate a novel time-resolved Q-factor measurement technique and demonstrate its application in the analysis of optical packet switching systems with high information spectral density. For the first time, we report the time-resolved Q-factor measurement of 42.6 Gbit/s AM-PSK and DQPSK modulated packets, which were generated by a SGDBR laser under wavelength switching. The time dependent degradation of Q-factor performance during the switching transient was analyzed and was found to be correlated with different laser switching characteristics in each case.
Effects of the Economic Crisis on the Older Population: How Expectations, Consumption, Bequests, and Retirement Responded to Market Shocks

We study the effects of the 2007-2009 recession on the population age 55+. Households in and near retirement have suffered sizeable losses in assets as a result of the economic crisis. There are a number of ways in which households might respond: reduce spending and with that increase saving, work longer, and/or bequeath less. Using longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study and its supplemental surveys, we find that all of these adjustments have been important.