Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Compact 60-GHz LTCC Stripline Parallel-coupled Bandpass Filter with Parasitic Elements for Millimeter-wave System-on-Package

This paper presents a compact stripline parallel-coupled bandpass filter with parasitic elements on a multilayer LTCC substrate. The parasitic elements are formed above and below the first section and the last section of the filter. These parasitic elements effectively increase the coupling between adjacent parallel lines, resulting in a compact and low loss filter. The proposed filter is fabricated on four layers of a 50-mum LTCC substrate. The intrinsic area of the filter is just 1.6 mm by 0.7 mm. A fabricated prototype three-pole bandpass filter chip achieves a center frequency of 59.1 GHz, a bandwidth of 6.9 %, and an insertion loss of 5 dB that includes input and output transitions. The return losses are below -10 dB in the pass band. The figure-of-merit of the fabricated bandpass filter is the highest of all reported 60-GHz-band filters even though it has the smallest size. The proposed filter well suits a highly integrated millimeter-wave LTCC system-on-package.
The effects of environmental low‐dose irradiation on tolerance to chemotherapeutic agents

The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in April of 1986 continues to impact the environment on many different levels. Studies of epidemiological, environmental, and genetic impacts have been prolific since the accident, revealing interesting results concerning the effects of radiation. The long‐tailed field mouse, Apodemus flavicollis, was collected from distinct localities near the Chernobyl site and evaluated based on in vivo responses to the current clinically employed chemotherapeutic agents bleomycin (BLM) and vinblastine (VBL), as well as the immune modulator lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Maximum tolerable doses of three different cancer drugs were administered to the rodents from three different lifestyles: native mice living and reproducing in a radioactive environment, native mice living and reproducing in an uncontaminated region, and laboratory‐reared mice (Mus musculus BALB/c) with a known sensitivity to the chemical agents tested. The endpoints employed include micronucleus formation, immune cell induction, differential gene expression, and chemotherapeutic side effects such as lethargy and weight loss. In accordance with the well‐studied phenomenon termed radio‐adaptation, we observed varied tolerance to chemotherapeutic treatment dependent on history of ionizing radiation exposure. The results of the present study demonstrate a differential response to chemotherapeutic treatment with respect to previous levels of radiation exposure, suggesting a potential benefit associated with low‐dose radiation exposure. Data reported herein could have a profound impact on the development of novel cancer treatments involving low‐dose ionizing radiation. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2011; 30:640–649. © 2010 SETAC
Molecular investigation for bacterial and protozoan tick-borne pathogens in wild boars (Sus scrofa) from southern Germany.

Wild boars (Sus scrofa) have been suggested to be involved in the enzootic cycle of the tick-borne pathogen Anaplasma phagocytophilum. This observation raises the question whether they serve as reservoir hosts for A. phagocytophilum and potentially for other tick-borne pathogens of public health relevance. The aim of this study was to investigate wild boars and their ticks from a forest site in southern Germany for the presence of A. phagocytophilum, Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Rickettsia spp. , Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), Borrelia spp. of the relapsing fever group, and Babesia spp. Therefore, 24 wild boars collected from October, 2010, to February, 2013, were investigated by molecular methods. DNA of A. phagocytophilum was detected in three out of 24 (12.5%) wild boars and in four out of 16 (25%) ticks. DNA of none of the other pathogens was found in any wild boar, but Rickettsia spp. , B. burgdorferi s.l. , and Cand. N. mikurensis were found in one of the investigated ticks each. Sequences of the partial 16S rRNA gene of A. phagocytophilum from one spleen and two ticks showed 100% similarity to GenBank entries from human anaplasmosis cases (accession nos. U02521 and AY886761). The sequence from the third tick was 100% similar to sequences obtained from Ixodes ricinus and roe deer from the same study area previously. Detecting a potentially human pathogenic A. phagocytophilum variant in wild boar confirms previous findings and is of public health interest. To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. phagocytophilum in wild boars in Germany. Whether wild boars support the enzootic cycle of A. phagocytophilum variants involved in human disease requires further attention in future systematic studies.
Enabling Text-To-Speech Functionality for Websites and Applications Using a Content-Derived Model

Today’s society is largely dependent on the Internet websites that provide it with access to various information. While most users take accessing information in this way as granted, some user groups have significant issues while trying to access websites by traditional means. In this context, we focus on persons with severe visual impairment that are unable to use websites that are not text-to-speech enabled. The paper analyses existing solutions and proposes a model for enabling textto-speech functionality based on deriving tree-like structure from website or web application content. The proposed model is evaluated on two case-studies; institutional website and interactive educational web application.
Electrical and Optical Characteristics of UV Photodetector With Interlaced ZnO Nanowires

A zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire (NW) photodetector was fabricated with a simple method by bridging the gap of interdigitated gallium-doped ZnO pattern deposited on a silicon oxide (SiO<sub>2</sub>) thin film with interlaced ZnO NWs. With an incident wavelength of 375 nm, it was found that measured responsivity was 0.055 A/W for the interlaced ZnO NWs photodetector with a 1 V applied bias. The transient time constants measured during the turn-on and turn- off states were τ<sub>ON</sub> = 12.72 ms and τ<sub>OFF</sub> = 447.66 ms , respectively. Furthermore, the low-frequency noise spectra obtained from the ultraviolet photodetector were purely due to the 1/<i>f</i> noise. Besides, the noise equivalent power and normalized detectivity (<i>D</i><sup>*</sup>) of the ZnO NW photodetector were 2.32 ×10<sup>-9</sup> W and 7.43 ×10<sup>9</sup> cm·Hz<sup>0.5</sup>·W<sup>-1</sup>, respectively.
Multilateral Trade Liberalisation and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows

This paper investigates two questions: how does multilateral trade liberalisation affect inward foreign direct investment, and does this impact (if any) depend on the domestic trade policy? The analysis uses a panel data set comprising 171 countries spanning the period 1995–2012. Results indicate that multilateral trade policy liberalisation is conducive to higher FDI inflows in host countries. Furthermore, our evidence suggests that domestic trade policy almost always positively drives inward FDI in a context of multilateral trade policy liberalisation. Countries which initially have the most restrictive trade policy regimes appear to be the greatest beneficiaries of FDI inflows when they liberalise their trade policy in the context of multilateral trade liberalisation.
Comparison of Different Preprocessing and Feature Extraction Methods for Offline Recognition of Handwritten ArabicWords

Preprocessing and feature extraction are very important steps in automatic cursive handwritten word recognition. Based on an offline recognition system for Arabic handwritten words which uses a semi-continuous 1-dimensional Hidden Markov Model recognizer, different preprocessing combined with different feature sets are presented. The dependencies of the feature sets from preprocessing steps are discussed and their performances are compared using the IFN/ENIT-database of handwritten Arabic words. As the lower and upper baseline of each word are part of the ground truth of the database, the dependency of the feature set from the accuracy of the estimated baseline is evaluated.
Ultra-wideband and compact novel combline filters

This paper presents a novel method of designing ultra-miniaturized cavity based combline filter integrable in PCB technology for EMI filtering. Each combline resonator is designed based on concepts of designing a unit cell of metamaterials. The other design steps follow the conventional design procedure of microwave filters. Choice of metamaterial unit cell leads to extreme size reduction and conventional design method results-in optimum number of resonators. A strong inter-cavity coupling value not realizable with conventional evanescent method is realized by TEM section. Therefore, the final structure is very compact and broadband. The design is realized using multilayer planar technology. A design example is provided where a dramatic reduction of the volume of filter by a factor of 7 is obtained.
Risk factors for gametocyte carriage in uncomplicated falciparum malaria in children

The risk factors associated with gametocytaemia at presentation and after treatment with different antimalarial drug regimens were evaluated in 767 children enrolled prospectively in 5 antimalarial drug trials between July 1996 and December 2002 in a hyperendemic area of southwestern Nigeria. The children were assigned to one of 6 treatment groups: chloroquine (CQ) only; pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (PS) only; amodiaquine (AQ) only; CQ combined with chlorpheniramine (CQCP); or PS combined with CQ (CQPS) or AQ (AQPS). At enrolment, 115 (15%) of 767 children were gametocyte carriers. During follow-up, 15·6% of all patients (i.e. 120 patients) developed patent gametocytaemia, which in 85% (102 patients) had developed by day 7 following treatment. In a multiple regression model, 4 factors were found to be independent risk factors for the presence of gametocytaemia at enrolment: male gender (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=0·55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0·36–0·83, P=0·005), absence of fever (AOR=1·61, 95% CI 1·05–2·5, P=0·03), duration of illness >3 days (AOR=1·57, 95% CI 1·0–2·4, P=0·047), and asexual parasite densities less than 5000/μl (AOR=0·42, 95% CI 0·24–0·73, P=0·002). The presence of patent gametocytaemia at enrolment (AOR=0·04, 95% CI 0·02–0·07, P<0·001) and recrudescence of asexual parasites within 14 days were associated with the presence of gametocytaemia 7 or 14 days after enrolment (AOR=0·5, 95% CI 0·3–0·8, P=0·007). Delay in the time taken to clear the initial parasitaemia (>2 days) was associated with increased risk of subsequent gametocyte carriage. These findings may have implications for malaria control efforts in sub-Saharan Africa where control of the disease depends almost entirely on chemotherapy.
Long-term results of the R-CHOP study in the treatment of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a study by the Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes de l'Adulte.

PURPOSE To analyze the long-term outcome of patients included in the Lymphome Non Hodgkinien study 98-5 (LNH98-5) comparing cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) to rituximab plus CHOP (R-CHOP) in elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS LNH98-5 was a randomized study that included 399 previously untreated patients, age 60 to 80 years, with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Patients received eight cycles of classical CHOP (cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m(2), doxorubicin 50 mg/m(2), vincristine 1.4 mg/m(2), and prednisone 40 mg/m(2) for 5 days) every 3 weeks. In R-CHOP, rituximab 375 mg/m(2) was administered the same day as CHOP. Survivals were analyzed using the intent-to-treat principle. RESULTS Median follow-up is 5 years at present. Event-free survival, progression-free survival, disease-free survival, and overall survival remain statistically significant in favor of the combination of R-CHOP (P = .00002, P < .00001, P < .00031, and P < .0073, respectively, in the log-rank test). Patients with low-risk or high-risk lymphoma according to the age-adjusted International Prognostic Index have longer survivals if treated with the combination. No long-term toxicity appeared to be associated with the R-CHOP combination. CONCLUSION Using the combination of R-CHOP leads to significant improvement of the outcome of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with significant survival benefit maintained during a 5-year follow-up. This combination should become the standard for treating these patients.
Mutational analysis of the putative effector domain of the GTP‐binding Ypt1 protein in yeast suggests specific regulation by a novel GAP activity.

Ypt1p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a ras‐related GTP‐binding protein that fulfils an essential function in intracellular protein transport between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the Golgi complex. Ypt proteins from yeasts and mammals that share an identical sequence in the region analogous to the ras effector domain are functionally interchangeable. We analyzed the function of the putative effector domain of yeast Ypt1p (amino acids 37–45) using site‐directed mutagenesis and gene replacement. Four out of six point mutations leading to single amino acid substitutions (Y37F, S39A, T40S and V43E) did not cause any particular phenotype. ypt1(I41M) mutants were inviable whereas ypt1(D44N) mutant cells were temperature sensitive at 37 degrees C and accumulated core‐glycosylated invertase at the nonpermissive temperature. This mutant also accumulated ER and small vesicles both at 25 degrees C and 37 degrees C. From porcine liver we identified and partially purified a GTPase‐activating protein (yptGAP) that is similarly active with mouse ypt1p/rab1p and yeast Ypt1p but is inactive with H‐ras protein as a substrate. Although none of the yeast ypt1 mutant proteins were significantly impaired in their ability to bind GTP, purified ypt1(D44N)p responded only partially and ypt1(I41M)p did not respond at all, to yptGAP. Thus we suggest that analogous to rasGAP/H‐ras p21 interaction in mammalian cells, yptGAP is an intracellular target of Ypt1p, interacting with the effector domain and regulating its GTPase activity, and that this interaction is required for the functioning of yeast Ypt1p in intracellular protein transport.
Technology and professional development in two socially constructed Head Start community of learners

The purpose of this is study to document how two Head Start centers socially construct a leaming community to help their teachers become technology proficient and return to college to get higher degrees. Existing research on leaming communities has focused on college freshman and helping them transition to college life. Similarly, this study focuses on non-traditional students who are every bit as vulnerable as college freshman and uses the leaming community to help them become technology proficient and successful in their retum to school. Other key issues that will be addressed include, the progress made by the students in technology and education, as well as the roles that technology and social support have in the lives of students as they become technology proficient and attend college. Some key findings related to the success of the COL teachers in becoming technology proficient and progressing in college included: I) Convenient access to technology; 2) social support from peers, faculty partners, and the organization, 3) consistency at the contact person role, and 4) regular face-to-face meetings within the COL.
Mesulergine antagonism towards the fluoxetine anti‐immobility effect in the forced swimming test in mice

Abstract— The anti‐immobility effect of fluoxetine (40 mg kg−1) in the forced swimming test in mice was antagonized by the 5‐HT1c/2 antagonist mesulergine (7·5 mg kg−1) and the dopamine D2 antagonist (±)‐sulpiride (12.5 mg kg−1) but not by the 5‐HT2/1C antagonist ritanserine (2 mg kg−1), the 5‐HT1A/1B antagonist (–)‐propranolol (20 mg kg−1) or the 5‐HT3 antagonist DAU 6215 (0·1 mg kg−1). All compounds were administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) 6 min before fluoxetine, given i.p. 30 min before testing. The anti‐immobility effect of fluoxetine was also prevented by pretreat‐ment with p‐chlorophenylalanine (300 mg kg−1 twice daily for 3 days) which produced an 80% reduction of 5‐HT in brain. The results suggest that fluoxetine reduces immobility time in mice forced to swim, by acting indirectly through a mesulergine‐sensitive site, probably the 5‐HT1C receptor.
Effects of Tympanomeatal Blunting on Sound Transfer Function

Objective. (1) To measure the peak-to-peak displacement of the round window membrane (RWM) prior to blunting procedure. (2) To evaluate the impact of blunting the anterior tympanomeatal angle (ATA) on middle ear sound transfer function. Study Design. Basic science study. Setting. Cadaveric temporal bone research laboratory. Subjects and Methods. Six fresh human temporal bones were prepared using a mastoidectomy and facial recess approach. Baseline RWM peak-to-peak displacements were obtained by single-point laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) at 90-dB sound pressure level over a spectrum of 250 to 8000 Hz. Temporalis muscle was harvested and then fashioned into a graft for each temporal bone, mimicking ATA blunting. RWM displacement responses with the blunted ATA were measured using the LDV to judge the impact on middle ear transfer function. Results. For each of the 6 temporal bones, the average displacement decreased across all sound frequencies with the ATA blunting when compared with baseline (no blunting). Baseline velocity measurements for all sound signals averaged 4.5 × 10−3 ± 1.892 × 10−3 (mean ± SEM) mm/s, while measurements averaged 2.2 ± 6.62 × 10−4 mm/s with blunting of the ATA (P < .001). This amounted to a 52% decrease in velocity of the RWM following blunting of the ATA. Conclusion. Blunting of the ATA decreases the sound transfer function of the tympanic membrane and middle ear. Prevention of blunting at the ATA during tympanoplasty should be emphasized.
Effect of melatonin on the regulation of proenkephalin and prodynorphin mRNA levels induced by kainic acid in the rat hippocampus

The in vivo short‐term effect of melatonin on kainic acid (KA)‐induced proenkephalin (proENK) or prodynorphin (proDYN) mRNA, and on AP‐1 protein levels in the rat hippocampus, were studied. Melatonin (5 mg/kg) or saline was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) to rats 30 min prior to and immediately after i.p. injection of KA (10 mg/kg). Rats were sacrificed 1 and 3 h after KA injection. The proENK and proDYN mRNA levels were significantly increased 3 h after KA administration. The elevations of both proENK and proDYN mRNA levels induced by KA were significantly inhibited by the preadministration with melatonin. The increases of proENK and proDYN mRNA levels induced by KA were well‐correlated with the increases of c‐Fos, Fra‐2, FosB, c‐Jun, and JunB protein levels, which were significantly increased 3 h after KA administration and effectively inhibited by administration with melatonin. In an electrophoretic mobility shift assay, both AP‐1 and ENKCRE‐2 DNA binding activities were increased by KA, which were also attenuated by the administration of melatonin. In addition, cross‐competition studies revealed that AP‐1 or ENKCRE‐2 DNA binding activity was effectively reduced by the 50× unlabeled cross‐competitor. Therefore, these data suggest that melatonin has an inhibitory role in KA‐induced gene expression, such as proENK and proDYN mRNA expression, and this may be due to a reduction of KA‐induced AP‐1 or ENKCRE‐2 DNA binding activity. Hippocampus 10:236–243, 2000 © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Analysis of the potentialities and limitations of the integration between the IMSA and the level set method for inverse scattering

In the framework of the inverse scattering methodologies, this paper is aimed at preliminarily assessing the integration between the Iterative Multi-Scaling Approach and the Level-Set-based method. In order to enhance the potentialities of the Level-Set-based minimization, a multi-resolution procedure is employed for allowing a finer discretization only in those regions of interest where the scatterers are located thus reducing the whole computational burden with respect to a singe-resolution approach. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the IMSA Level Set technique, a set of representative numerical results are presented and discussed.
Food Security: Problems of Assessing

The article is focused on the problem of monitoring and evaluation of food security. The necessity of changing the existing Russian approaches is proved, a system of indicators and methods of their calculation are proposed, calculations of integral index of food independence are developed, economic access to the food for the population with different income levels is estimated. Regions with threats of social instability associated with limited economic access to food for a large part of the population are revealed.
Environmental stress increases selection against and dominance of deleterious mutations in inbred families of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas

The deleterious effects of inbreeding are well documented and of major concern in conservation biology. Stressful environments have generally been shown to increase inbreeding depression; however, little is known about the underlying genetic mechanisms of the inbreeding‐by‐stress interaction and to what extent the fitness of individual deleterious mutations is altered under stress. Using microsatellite marker segregation data and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping methods, I performed a genome scan for deleterious mutations affecting viability (viability or vQTL) in two inbred families of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, reared in a stressful, nutrient‐poor diet and a favourable, nutrient‐rich diet, which had significant effects on growth and survival. Twice as many vQTL were detected in the stressful diet compared with the favourable diet, resulting primarily from substantially greater mortality of homozygous genotypes. At vQTL, estimates of selection (s) and dominance (h) were greater in the stressful environment ( = 0.86 vs. 0.54 and = 0.35 vs. 0.18, in stressful and nonstressful diets, respectively). There was no evidence of interaction between vQTL. Individual vQTL differed across diets in selection only, or in both selection and dominance, and some vQTL were not affected by diet. These results suggest that stress‐associated increases in selection against individual deleterious alleles underlie greater inbreeding depression with stress. Furthermore, the finding that inbreeding‐by‐environment interaction appears, to some extent, to be locus specific, helps to explain previous observations of lineage‐specific expression of inbreeding depression and environment‐specific purging, which have important implications for conservation and evolutionary biology.