Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hot-Phonon Controlled MicroSQUIDs With Independently Controlled Junctions

The microSQUID is a particular type of DC-SQUID notable both for its small loop area and the use of microbridges as Josephson junctions. Hot phonons can be used to reduce the critical current in a superconducting microbridge and hence allow electrical control of the SQUID parameters. A normal metal layer, isolated from the superconductor by a thin dielectric film, generates non-equilibrium hot phonons that travel a short distance before thermalisation. These hot phonons are very effective in breaking Cooper pairs, thereby suppressing the order parameter and reducing the junction critical current. Phonon control of a microSQUID has previously been demonstrated in which both junctions were influenced by the same control current, allowing control of the magnetic hysteresis. Here we report a modified fabrication process, allowing independent control of the microbridge junctions. The fabrication of the devices involves several stages of electron beam lithography, deposition and reactive ion etching. The superconductor used is a sputtered niobium film, isolated from the normal metal, phonon-producing layer by a dielectric SiO2 film. Separate lithography stages form the normal metal wires and the rest of the SQUID loop, which then act as an etch mask for a CF4 and O2 reactive ion etch used to define the SQUID in the niobium layer.
Export versus FDI in Cournot duopoly framework

In this paper we study the choice between exporting and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Cournot duopoly framework. First, we identify the conditions necessary for exporting and FDI, depending on costs of exporting and the cost of foreign investment. Then, we discuss various proximity-concentration tradeoffs. Finally, we demonstrate that six possible types of equilibriums may emerge depending on various combinations of the key parameters of the model. These equilibriums include: a monopoly FDI equilibrium, a monopoly exporting equilibrium, a domestic monopoly equilibrium, a duopoly FDI equilibrium, a duopoly exporting equilibrium, and no entry equilibrium.
Psychiatric disorders in relation to medical illness among patients of a general medical out-patient clinic

Synopsis In many patients clinical care in general medical settings is complicated by the presence of psychiatric disorders in addition to the presenting physical symptoms. In the present study the prevalence and type of psychiatric disorders was assessed in relation to the medical diagnostic findings in a general internal medicine out-patient clinic. The Present State Examination, a standardized psychiatric interview, was used to detect psychiatric disorders in 191 newly referred patients. Psychiatric disorders were found to be particularly prevalent among patients with medically ill-explained or unexplained symptoms. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 15% for patients with a medical explanation for their presenting symptom, 45% for patients with ill-explained and 38% for those with unexplained symptoms. Approximately 40% of the patients with psychiatric disorders met DSM-III-R criteria for somatization disorder or hypochondriasis, suggesting that these disorders contributed in particular to general medical out-patient referrals.
Exocytosis Coupled to Mobilization of Intracellular Calcium by Muscarine and Caffeine in Rat Chromaffin Cells

Abstract: We used cultured rat chromaffin cells to test the hypothesis that Ca2+ entry but not release from internal stores is utilized for exocytosis. Two protocols were used to identify internal versus external Ca2+ sources: (a) Ca2+ surrounding single cells was transiently displaced by applying agonist with or without Ca2+ from an ejection pipette. (b) Intracellular stores of Ca2+ were depleted by soaking cells in Ca2+‐free plus 1 mM EGTA solution before transient exposure to agonist plus Ca2+. Exocytosis from individual cells was measured by microelectrochemical detection, and the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) was measured by indo‐1 fluorescence. KCl (35 mM) and nicotine (10 µM) caused an immediate increase in [Ca2+]i and secretion in cells with or without internal Ca2+ stores, but only when applied with Ca2+ in the ejection pipette. Caffeine (10 mM) and muscarine (30 µM) evoked exocytosis whether or not Ca2+ was included in the pipette, but neither produced responses in cells depleted of internal Ca2+ stores. Pretreatment with ryanodine (0.1 µM) inhibited caffeine‐ but not muscarine‐stimulated responses. Elevated [Ca2+]i and exocytosis exhibited long latency to onset after stimulation by caffeine (2.9 ± 0.38 s) or muscarine (2.2 ± 0.25 s). However, the duration of caffeine‐evoked exocytosis (7.1 ± 0.8 s) was significantly shorter than that evoked by muscarine (33.1 ± 3.5 s). The duration of caffeine‐evoked exocytosis was not affected by changing the application period between 0.5 and 30 s. An ∼20‐s refractory period was found between repeated caffeine‐evoked exocytotic bursts even though [Ca2+]i continued to be elevated. However, muscarine or nicotine could evoke exocytosis during the caffeine refractory period. We conclude that muscarine and caffeine mobilize different internal Ca2+ stores and that both are coupled to exocytosis in rat chromaffin cells. The nicotinic component of acetylcholine action depends primarily on influx of external Ca2+. These results and conclusions are consistent with our original observations in the perfused adrenal gland.
The Taguchi Methods: Achieving Design and Output Quality

The concept of quality control evolved from simple beginnings at Bell Telephone in 1882. Bell was the first to recognize the importance of consistent quality in the design, manufacture, and installation of products. In 1925, Bell Laboratories pioneered many statistical techniques of quality control that were later refined and expanded on by one of the great scholars in this area, W. Edward Deming. Deming and others, including Juran, were responsible for such notable work as sequential and multivariate analysis and the T2 statistic. Variations on these basic concepts form the basis of the modern techniques of acceptance sampling, zerodefects, and computer control. In spite of America's early involvement in developing he concept, many of the most important advances in quality control in recent years have come from Japan. This stems from the fundamentally different approach to quality taken by the Japanese. In short, quality tends to be "designed in" by the Japanese, while it is most often "inspected out" by the typical American firm. The philosophy and statistical methods of Genichi Taguchi are some of the best known of the Japanese quality innovations. Although his quality control techniques involve both on-line (process) and off-line (design) components, the emphasis is on quality engineering and the design of experiments. Exhibit 1 provides an overview of the Taguchi philosophy of quality responsibility.
A CCL topology based mid-range power transfer system for low voltage side equipments on power lines

In this paper, we propose a mid-range wireless power transfer system with CCL type resonant topology on source side for monitoring equipment power supply on electricity pylons. In consideration of low coupling coefficient caused by long transmission distance, a relatively high current level should be kept when using the traditional serial-serial topology(referred to as S-S topology), which increases the system energy loss and rise the breakdown risk on switching devices. The CCL topology could provide a relatively high equivalent impedance and still keeps the current on transfer coil high enough. The characteristic of this topology and the analysis of system efficiency at different load are given. The experiment result shown at in last part proves the availability of this topology.
Terms-of-trade shock duration and national saving in the developing countries

The literature suggests that terms-of-trade (TOT) is a key determinant of the developing countries’ macroeconomic performance, including its likely impact on the level of national saving. The main objective of this paper is to examine the extent to which the TOT behavior contributed to changes in the saving rates across the developing countries. In doing so, the paper analyzes the TOT by conducting an empirical analysis of annual cross-country data for 57 developing countries for the period 1980–2010. We concentrate on the developing countries as problems stemming from fluctuations in TOT are likely to be more severe as the developing economies face restricted access to world financial markets with a greater magnitude than the advanced economies. The core aspect of our empirical analysis is that we utilize TOT shock duration and trend growth measures that have not been considered in the previous empirical literature. The trend growth is calculated using the smoothing procedure of Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filters. The shock duration is measured using the “half-life” of shocks. The empirical results of our models indicate that TOT trend growth and shock duration are important determinants of national saving in developing countries. Our results are robust to alternative estimation methods, time periods, sample construction, alterations in the control variables, sample coverage (e.g., the exclusion of larger exporters where one might fear the TOT are less likely to be exogenous). Our findings provide new evidence that permanent TOT shocks lead to changes in national saving rates. We also find that greater financial development and international financial integration mitigate the impact of TOT on national saving. Our findings add value to the existing empirical literature in terms of this new evidence and raises policy issues for the developing economies that are critical in terms of boosting their saving rates while ensuring stability in the trading environment. As a matter of policy, and to reduce the variability of TOT, developing countries should phase domestic economic reforms ought to be focused on achieving a diversified export structure. Closely allied to this, policy-makers need to formulate policies that improve the operation and facilitate the deepening of the domestic financial markets.
Differentiation of Moraxella nonliquefaciens, M. lacunata, and M. bovis by using multilocus enzyme electrophoresis and hybridization with pilin-specific DNA probes

Genetic relationships among strains of Moraxella nonliquefaciens, M. lacunata, and M. bovis were studied by using multilocus enzyme electrophoresis and DNA-DNA hybridization. The 74 isolates analyzed for electrophoretic variation at 12 enzyme loci were assigned to 59 multilocus genotypes. The multilocus genotypes were grouped in four major clusters, one representing strains of M. nonliquefaciens, two representing strains of M. lacunata, and one comprising strains of M. bovis and the single strain of M. equi analyzed. DNA-DNA hybridization with total genomic probes also revealed four major distinctive entities that corresponded to those identified by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis. The two distinct clusters recognized among the M. lacunata strains apparently corresponded to the species previously designated M. lacunata and M. liquefaciens. Distinction of the four entities was improved by hybridization with polymerase chain reaction products of nonconserved parts of pilin genes as DNA probes. With these polymerase chain reaction probes, new isolates of M. nonliquefaciens, M. lacunata, M. liquefaciens, and M. bovis can be identified easily by hybridization.
A novel intracellular pH-responsive formulation for FTY720 based on PEGylated graphene oxide nano-sheets

Abstract Objective: This study was performed to investigate a novel pH-responsive nanocarrier based on modified nano graphene oxide (nGO) to promote the acid-triggered intracellular release of a poorly soluble drug, FTY720. Methods: To synthesize a drug conjugated to modified nGO, first the polyethylene glycol (PEG) was conjugated to nGO, then the produced PEG-nGO was functionalized with the anticancer drug, FTY720, through amide bonding. It was characterized by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the atomic force microscopy (AFM), the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and the UV–vis spectroscopy. In vitro drug release of the FTY720-conjugated PEG-nGO was evaluated at pH 7.4 and 4.6 PBS at 37 °C. Furthermore, the antineoplastic action of unloaded and drug-loaded carrier against the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line MCF7 was explored using MTT and BrdU assays. Results: Characterization methods indicated successful drug deposition on the surface of nGO. In vitro, drug release results revealed a significantly faster release of FTY720 from PEG-nGO at acidic pH, compared with physiological pH. The proliferation assays proved that the unloaded nGO had no significant cytotoxicity against MCF7 cells, while free FTY720- and FTY720-loaded PEG-nGO had an approximately equal cytotoxic effect on the MCF7 cells. It was found that the extended release characteristic of FTY720 was well fitted to Korsmeyer–Peppas model and the release profile of FTY720 from PEG-nGO is diffusion controlled. Conclusion: PEGylated GO can act as a pH-responsive drug carrier to improve the efficacy of anticancer drug delivery.
Log-Normal Stochastic Volatility Model: Affine Decomposition of Moment Generating Function and Pricing of Vanilla Options

While empirical studies have established that the log-normal stochastic volatility (SV) model is superior to its alternatives, the model does not allow for the analytical solutions available for affine models. To circumvent this, we show that the joint moment generating function (MGF) of the log-price and the quadratic variance (QV) under the log-normal SV model can be decomposed into a leading term, which is given by an exponential-affine form, and a residual term, whose estimate depends on the higher order moments of the volatility process. We prove that the second-order leading term is theoretically consistent with the expected values and covariance matrix of the log-price and the quadratic variance. We further extend this approach to the log-normal SV model with jumps. We use Fourier inversion techniques to value vanilla options on the equity and the QV and, by comparison to Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the second-order leading term is precise for the valuation of vanilla options. We generalize the affine decomposition to other non-affine stochastic volatility models with polynomial drift and volatility functions, and with jumps in the volatility process.
Molecular identification of Giardia duodenalis isolates from domestic dogs and cats in Wroclaw, Poland.

INTRODUCTION Giardia duodenalis (G. intestinalis) is a common protozoan causing gastrointestinal disorders in many species of mammals. The genus of Giardia has high molecular diversity. Dogs and cats, in addition to their typical infection with assemblages C, D and F, may be a reservoir of zoonotic assemblages (A and B). OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was a genetic characteristic of Giardia isolates of dogs and cats from the area of Wroclaw (Poland). MATERIALS AND METHOD A total of 128 and 33 faecal samples from dogs and cats, respectively, were analyzed by routine coprological methods. The animals were diagnosed on the presence of G. duodenalis antigens in faeces soluble with the use of SNAP Giardia (IDEXX Laboratories) immunosorbent assay. 27 DNA isolates of Giardia were subjected to molecular identification (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of G. duodenalis was 21.1% (27/128) in dogs and 15.1% (5/33) in cats. In dogs, C assemblage was present in 18 (81%) positive stool samples, D assemblage in 2 (9%) samples, B assemblage present in one (4.5%), and mixed assemblages (C and D) occurred in one (4.5%) sample. F assemblage was found in 4 (80%) cats' positive stool samples and A assemblage occurred in one case (20%). Confirmation of the presence of A and B zoonotic assemblages suggests that infected pets can be a threat to human health. This study describes for the first time the presence of mixed infections within host-specific C and D assemblages in dogs in Poland.
Issues in the Estimation of Dynamic Happiness Models: A Comment on “Does Childhood Predict Adult Life Satisfaction?”

Abstract This paper offers methodological comments on a recent (November 2014) Economic Journal article. The comments consider its use of a dynamic model – the inclusion of a lagged dependent variable – and its approach to estimation. By way of critique, the authors highlight general issues regarding dynamic panel analysis that are still less fully appreciated in the economics of happiness literature than elsewhere in economics and other quantitative social sciences. This discussion of methodological issues arising from dynamic estimation may be of practical assistance to researchers new to the field and/or to dynamic modelling.
Autoimmune conditions and chronic infections in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients at diagnosis are associated with unmutated IgVH genes

This study suggests that patients suffering from chronic conditions at the time of diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia are likely to have poor prognostic markers. Few data are available concerning the prevalence of autoimmune disease or chronic infections in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients at diagnosis as well as their clinical outcome. We studied the frequency of such chronic conditions in relation to prognostic markers. A history of autoimmune disease or chronic infection was found in 21% of 186 chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients (12% in autoimmune diseases, 9% in chronic infections). Patients with a history of chronic stimulation were more likely to have unmutated IgVH genes (p<0.002), unfavorable or intermediate risk cytogenetics (11q, 17p deletions, trisomy 12) (p<0.001), and higher CD38 expression (p=0.004). Autoimmune conditions (n=22) were characterized by female predominance (55.0%) with a high frequency of unmutated IgVH (53,8%). Median time to first treatment was 83 months for the chronic stimulation group compared to 128 months for the non-chronic stimulation group (n.s.). Patients suffering from chronic conditions at chronic lymphocytic leukemia diagnosis are likely to have poor prognostic markers, particularly unmutated IgVH genes.
PPMLHDFE: Stata module for Poisson pseudo-likelihood regression with multiple levels of fixed effects

ppmlhdfe implements Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood regressions (PPML) with multi-way fixed effects, as described by Correia, Guimaraes, Zylkin (arXiv:1903.01690). The estimator employed is robust to statistical separation and convergence issues, due to the procedures developed in Correia, Guimaraes, Zylkin (arXiv:1903.01633).
Sick Sinus Syndrome, Progressive Cardiac Conduction Disease, Atrial Flutter and Ventricular Tachycardia Caused by a Novel SCN5A Mutation

Mutations in the cardiac sodium channel encoded by the gene SCN5A can result in a wide array of phenotypes. We report a case of a young male with a novel SCN5A mutation (R121W) afflicted by sick sinus syndrome, progressive cardiac conduction disorder, atrial flutter and ventricular tachycardia. His father carried the same mutation, but had a milder phenotype, presenting with progressive cardiac conduction later in life. The mutation was found to result in a loss-of-function in the sodium current. In conclusion, the same SCN5A mutation can result in a wide array of clinical phenotypes and perhaps the spectrum of SCN5A loss-of-function associated disease entities should be viewed as one syndrome.
A Case Study of the Knowledge of the Zimbabwe Educational Framework Among Teachers, School Administrators and School Development Committees in Masvingo District

This study sought to assess the knowledge of education practitioners of the education legal framework obtaining in Zimbabwe.The participants in this study were sampled from workshops on financial management for teachers, school heads and School Development Committees in Masvingo district. The educational legal framework in Zimbabwe is composed of a number of statutory instruments as well as the Education Act Chap 25; 04 and the Zimbabwean Constitution. From this plethora of legal instruments guiding the Zimbabwean education system this study confined itself to the Zimbabwean constitution, Education Act Chap 25; 04, SI 87 of 1992, SI 70 of 1993 and Administration and finance Circular 6 of 1994. The study concludes that teachers, school administrators and SDCs know that education is a fundamental right. However, the study also revealed that teachers, school administrators and SDCs were conversant on the legal instruments obtaining in Zimbabwe.
Implementation of a One-Factor Markov-Functional Interest Rate Model

The interest rate market has been expanding immensely for thirty years, both in term of volumes and diversity of traded contracts. The growing complexity of derivatives has implied a need for sophisticated models in order to price and hedge these products. Three main approaches can be distinguished in interest rates modeling. Short-rate models model the dynamics of the term structure of interest rates by specifying the dynamics of a single rate (the spot rate or the instantaneous spot rate) from which the whole term structure at any point in time can be calculated. The prices of derivatives in these models are quite involved functions of the underlying process which is being modeled. This fact makes these models difficult to calibrate. However the short rate process is easy to follow and hence implementation is straightforward.Unlike short rate models the class of Market Models is formulated in terms of market rates which are directly related to tradable assets. Thus they exhibit better calibration properties than short rate models. However they are high dimensional by construction and tedious to implement.In 1999, Hunt, Kennedy and Pelsser introduced the class of Markov-Functional Models (MFM) aiming at developing models which could match as many market prices as Market Models while maintaining the efficiency of short rate models in calculating derivative prices.After a general overview of the two dominant paradigms in section III, this report will focus on the class of Markov-functional models. Section IV presents the general framework. Then several issues related to the implementation of a one-factor MFM model are analyzed in section V. Finally we will display in section VI some numerical results of the simulations of this one-factor model.
Premature expression of KCC2 in embryonic mice perturbs neural development by an ion transport‐independent mechanism

During neuronal maturation, the neuron‐specific K–Cl co‐transporter KCC2 lowers the intracellular chloride and thereby renders GABAergic transmission hyperpolarizing. Independently of its role as a co‐transporter, KCC2 plays a crucial role in the maturation of dendritic spines, most probably via an interaction with the cytoskeleton‐associated protein 4.1N. In this study, we show that neural‐specific overexpression of KCC2 impairs the development of the neural tube‐ and neural crest‐related structures in mouse embryos. At early stages (E9.5–11.5), the transgenic embryos had a thinner neural tube and abnormal body curvature. They displayed a reduced neuronal differentiation and altered neural crest cell pattern. At later stages (E11.5–15.5), the transgenic embryos had smaller brain structures and a distinctive cleft palate. Similar results were obtained using overexpression of a transport‐inactive N‐terminal‐deleted variant of KCC2, implying that the effects were not dependent on KCC2′s role as a K–Cl co‐transporter. Interestingly, the neural tube of transgenic embryos had an aberrant cytoplasmic distribution of 4.1N and actin. This was corroborated in a neural stem cell line with ectopic expression of KCC2. Embryo phenotype and cell morphology were unaffected by a mutated variant of KCC2 which is unable to bind 4.1N. These results point to a role of KCC2 in neuronal differentiation and migration during early development mediated by its direct structural interactions with the neuronal cytoskeleton.