Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
10-GHz-spaced 1010-channel tandem AWG filter consisting of one primary and ten secondary AWGs

A very large channel-count arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) filter with more than 1000 channels is described. It was achieved by cascading a 1-THz-spaced flat-top 1/spl times/10 AWG as a primary filter and ten 10-GHz-spaced 1/spl times/160 AWGs as secondary filters in a tandem configuration. We achieved good adjacent and accumulated channel crosstalk values ranging from -32 to -25 dB and from -24 and -18 dB, respectively.
Determinants of rural household dietary diversity: The case of Amatole and Nyandeni districts, South Africa

The emerging interest in household dietary diversity against dietary quantity presents an opportunity to estimate household food security. Using household cross-sectional survey data from rural communities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa (N=181), the paper estimated determinants of rural household dietary diversity. Regression results suggest a positive influence of participation in irrigation schemes, gender, education, income, access to home gardens and ownership of small-livestock in attainment of high dietary diversity. Government policies and intervention programmes targeting the above variables may improve rural household dietary diversity and household food security.
Endothelium‐dependent effects of acetylcholine in rat aorta: a comparison with sodium nitroprusside and cromakalim

1 The mechanisms involved in the mechano‐inhibitory effects of acetylcholine (ACh) have been compared with those of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and cromakalim on the rat isolated thoracic aorta. 2 Relaxations produced by ACh were endothelium‐dependent, whereas those produced by SNP or cromakalim were endothelium‐independent. 3 ACh, cromakalim and SNP relaxed established contractions produced by noradrenaline (NA) and KCl (20 mm) and these relaxations were well‐maintained. 4 SNP was a relatively effective inhibitor of contractions produced by KCl (80 mm). ACh was relatively ineffective and cromakalim was without effect against such contractions. 5 Membrane potential and cyclic GMP concentrations were higher in tissues with an intact endothelium whereas rubbed tissues had a higher 86Rb efflux rate coefficient. 6 ACh and cromakalim produced a transient and long‐lasting hyperpolarization, respectively. These changes were accompanied by increases in the 86Rb efflux rate coefficient with a time course comparable to that of the electrical changes. 7 Tissue cyclic GMP concentrations were significantly increased in the presence of ACh or SNP, whereas cromakalim had no effect. 8 Transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of endothelial cells on intact tissues. On rubbed preparations, such cells were absent and some damage to the underlying smooth muscle cells was detected. 9 It is concluded that at least two inhibitory substances are released from the endothelial cells by ACh. One of these increases tissue cyclic GMP concentrations and produces an electrically‐silent relaxation. The other produces a transient hyperpolarization associated with the opening of 86Rb‐permeable K‐channels. This event may serve to initiate relaxation processes and to close any open voltage‐dependent Ca‐channels.
Evaluating the Effect of Physics Schemes in WRF Simulations of Summer Rainfall in North West Iran

The numerical weather forecast model Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) has a range of applications because it offers multiple physical options, enabling the users to optimizing WRF for specific scales, geographical locations and applications. Summer rainfall cannot be predicted well in North West of Iran (NWI). Most of them are convective. Sometimes rainfall is heavy, so that it causes flash flood. In this research, some configurations of WRF were tested with four summer rainfall events in NWI to find the best configuration. Five cumulus, four planetary boundary layers (PBL) and two microphysical schemes were combined. Twenty-six different configurations (models) were implemented at two resolutions of 5 and 15 km for duration of 48 h. Four events, with over 20 mm convective daily rainfall total, were selected at NWI during summer season between 2010 and 2015. These events were tested by developing 26 unique models. Results were verified using several methods. The aim was to find the best results during the first 24 h. Although no single configuration can be introduced for all times, thresholds, and atmospheric system to provide reliable and accurate forecast, the best configuration for WRF can be identified. Kain-Fritsch (new Eta), Betts-Miller-Janjic, Modified Kain-Fritsch, Multi-scale Kain-Fritsch and newer Tiedtke cumulus schemes and Mellor-Yamada-Janjic, Shin-Hong ‘scale-aware’, Medium Range Forecast (MRF) and Yonsei University (YSU) Planetary Boundary Layer schemes and Kessler, WRF Single Moment 3 class simple ice (WSM3) microphysics schemes were selected. The result show that Cumulus schemes are the most sensitive and Microphysics schemes are the less sensitive. The comparison of 15 km and 5 km resolution simulations do not show obvious advantages in downscaling the results. Configuration with newer Tiedtke cumulus, Mellor-Yamada-Janjic PBL, WSM3 and Kessler microphysics schemes give the best results for the 5 and 15 km resolutions. The output image of models and statistical methods verification indexes show that WRF could not accurately simulate convective rainfall in the NWI in summer.
Docosahexaenoic acid provides protection from impairment of learning ability in Alzheimer's disease model rats

Docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6, n‐3), a major n‐3 fatty acid of the brain, has been implicated in restoration and enhancement of memory‐related functions. Because Alzheimer's disease impairs memory, and infusion of amyloid‐β (Aβ) peptide (1–40) into the rat cerebral ventricle reduces learning ability, we investigated the effect of dietary pre‐administration of docosahexaenoic acid on avoidance learning ability in Aβ peptide‐produced Alzheimer's disease model rats. After a mini‐osmotic pump filled with Aβ peptide or vehicle was implanted in docosahexaenoic acid‐fed and control rats, they were subjected to an active avoidance task in a shuttle avoidance system apparatus. Pre‐administration of docosahexaenoic acid had a profoundly beneficial effect on the decline in avoidance learning ability in the Alzheimer's disease model rats, associated with an increase in the cortico‐hippocampal docosahexaenoic acid/arachidonic acid molar ratio, and a decrease in neuronal apoptotic products. Docosahexaenoic acid pre‐administration furthermore increased cortico‐hippocampal reduced glutathione levels and glutathione reductase activity, and suppressed the increase in lipid peroxide and reactive oxygen species levels in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the Alzheimer's disease model rats, suggesting an increase in antioxidative defence. Docosahexaenoic acid is thus a possible prophylactic means for preventing the learning deficiencies of Alzheimer's disease.
A 230.5–238.8-GHz magnetically coupled triple-push oscillator with inductive tuning for data transmission in 45-nm CMOS

A scalable coupled triple-push voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) based on inductor switching is analyzed and proposed for data transmission via binary frequency shift keying (BFSK) at sub-terahertz (THz) frequencies in 45nm predictive CMOS bulk technology. Inductive switching enables better quality factors above 100GHz due to the increasing losses associated with capacitors. Novel inductor switching technique is proposed in order to enable easy coupling and wide tuning range at the same time for data transmission above 200GHz. Simulation results suggests that 12.3Gbps data rate is possible to be achieved. −12.4dBm output power is achieved with only a variation of 0.2dB in 7.4GHz bandwidth. Oscillation frequency can be tuned from 224GHz to 231.4GHz for single core VCO. Power consumption is 15.5mW for one core. The proposed oscillator is easy to magnetically couple from gate inductors to generate higher output powers depending on the transmission distance and losses. Two coupled VCO is implemented as a proof of concept and reaches up to −10.5dBm output power with a bandwidth of 8.25GHz. To the authors knowledge, this is the first VCO above 200GHz that uses inductor switching and BFSK.
Survival of bled dogs after halothane and ether anaesthesia.

Sixty spontaneously-breathing atropinized dogs anaesthetized with 79 per cent ethylene/21 per cent oxygen were bled to a mean aortic blood pressure of 40 mm Hg for 90 minutes, and their survival observed during and after an additional 30 minutes of halothane or di-ethyl ether anaesthesia followed by blood replacement. Blood volumes were reduced approximately 40 per cent by an average haemorrhage of 46.3 ml/kg. It is concluded that: (a) Survival experiments did not demonstrate a deleterious effect of 1.5 per cent halothane due to its hypotensive action in oligaemia when compared with lighter planes of ether anaesthesia, (b) Maintenance of a normal minute volume will not suffice for adequate oxygenation of the arterial blood during anaesthesia with either agent after haemorrhage with air as carrier gas. (c) Enrichment of the inspired oxygen to 30 per cent ensures adequate arterial oxygenation when pulmonary ventilation is reduced by 1.5 per cent halothane after haemorrhage of this severity, and a survival rate insignificantly different from that resulting when 100 per cent oxygen is used as carrier gas.
Polar Body Formation in Spisula Oocytes: Function of the Peripheral Aster

Activated Spisula oocytes proceed through meiotic stages rapidly and in near synchrony, providing an excellent system for analyzing polar body formation. Our previous studies suggested that cortical spreading of the metaphase peripheral aster determines spatial features of the cortical F-actin ring that is generated prior to extrusion of the polar body. We tested this hypothesis by experimentally altering the number and cortical contact patterns of peripheral asters. Such alteration was achieved by (a) lovastatin-induced arrest at metaphase I, with and without hexylene glycol modification, followed by washout; and (b) cytochalasin-D inhibition of extrusion of the first polar body, with washout before extrusion of the second polar body. Both methods induced simultaneous formation of two or more cortically spreading asters, correlated with subsequent formation of double, or even triple, overlapping F-actin rings during anaphase. Regardless of pattern, ring F-actin was deposited near regions of greatest astral microtubule density, indicating that microtubules provided a positive stimulus to which the cortex responded indiscriminately. These results strongly support the proposed causal relationship between peripheral aster spreading and biogenesis of the F-actin ring involved in polar body formation.
Kinetic effects of adriamycin and bleomycin on two osteosarcoma models

Although chemotherapeutic drugs are frequently administered to patient with osteosarcoma, there has been little research into the effect of cytotoxic drugs on osteosarcoma cell biology. The effect of two drugs (Adriamycin and bleomycin) on cell cycle kinetics was investigated in vitro in an established line of human osteosarcoma cells and in vivo using the Dunn osteosarcoma model. The cell cycle changes were consistent with G2 arrest for both drugs in vivo and in vitro. The alteration in cell cycle distribution was correlated with inhibition of 3H‐thymidine incorporation in vitro. In vivo, the greater change in cell cycle distribution caused by Adriamycin was reflected in the increased inhibition of tumor growth found with this drug.
The Role of Social Security Benefits in the Initial Increase of Older Women’s Employment: Evidence from the Social Security Notch

To understand trends in older women's work decisions, a key question is the extent to which changes in Social Security have played a role. We estimate the effect of Social Security benefits on women's employment rate by examining the Social Security “Notch,” which cut women's average Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) benefits substantially in the 1917 birth cohort relative to the 1916 cohort. This led to sharply different benefits for similar women born one day apart. Using Social Security Administration microdata on earnings in the full U.S. population by day of birth, we find substantial effects of this policy change on older women's employment rate. We find that the slowdown in the growth of Social Security benefits in the mid-1980s can account for over one-quarter of the increase in the growth of older women’s employment that occurred during this period. Acknowledgments: We thank Claudia Goldin, Larry Katz, Erzo Luttmer and other participants in the Women Working Longer working group for helpful comments. We are grateful to Patricia Jonas and Gerald Ray at the Social Security Administration for their help and support. This paper does not necessarily reflect the views of the Social Security Administration or the U.S. Treasury. We thank the UC Berkeley IRLE, CGIF, CEDA, and Burch Center, NIH (2P30AG012839), and the Wharton Pension Research Council and Trio grant, for support. We are grateful to Nicole Danna, Gita DeVaney, Jonathan Holmes, and Harsha Mallajosyula for outstanding research assistance. All errors are our own.
CTX-m-3 beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli from Greece.

An Escherichia coli clinical strain resistant to all beta-lactams except carbapenems was isolated in a Greek hospital. Analysis of beta-lactamase content by isoelectric focusing, PCR assays specific for various bla genes, and DNA sequencing showed that the strain produced TEM-1, a Citrobacter freundii AmpC-related cephalosporinase, and CTX-M-3. The blaCTX.M-3 gene was carried by a 120-kb plasmid that was readily transferable to a susceptible E. coli host.
Do Tax and Expenditure Limitations Affect the Size and Growth of State Government?

This paper focuses on citizens' ability to restrict the size and growth of state government through the use of tax and expenditure limitations (TELs). Most TEL laws are not designed to stop public sector growth but are intended to cap it relative to personal income growth. Evidence indicates that the design of TEL laws increases the elasticity of government size (and growth) with respect to income. Thus, TEL laws, as they currently are written, allow states with high income growth to keep increasing the size of the public sector. Meanwhile, they prevent states with low income growth from doing likewise. While TELs restrict government size and growth in states with below average income, in general they have no significant effect on the size or growth of government. Therefore, as long as income growth is high, TELs end up as little more than political cover for state legislatures.
Gray and normal-appearing white matter in multiple sclerosis: an MRI perspective

Besides focal white matter lesions, multiple sclerosis brain tissue also displays abnormalities in the gray matter and the normal-appearing white matter. Recent advances in magnetic resonance imaging studies of both types of tissue are discussed. Herein, normal-appearing white matter abnormalities are being found in quantitative magnetic resonance investigations, consistent with a limited degree of axonal damage and/or demyelination, and an increase of glial cells, but the specific nature of the histopathological changes underlying the quantitative magnetic resonance abnormalities remains unclear. Gray matter studies have demonstrated that much of the disease process remains undetected by conventional magnetic resonance imaging. Although newly developed techniques, such as 3D double-inversion recovery, may greatly improve detection of cortical pathology, it remains important to investigate the resultant effects on the cortical tissue alongside this, by studying integrity of normal-appearing cortical tissue through quantitative magnetic resonance studies, as well as the net neurodegenerative effect through measurements of cortical thickness and cortical atrophy (rates). To improve our understanding of normal-appearing white and gray matter changes, their mutual relations, and their relations to clinical changes, further in vivo magnetic resonance imaging studies are required. Specifically, it is proposed that more spatially specific investigations, ideally utilizing subject-specific anatomical information from, for example, diffusion fiber-tracking techniques, could be used to gain more insight into the relations between normal-appearing white matter changes, cortical changes, magnetic resonance visible focal-lesions, and physical and cognitive deficits.
Clinical outcomes after transfusion-associated hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND The extent of serious complications in people who have acquired chronic hepatitis C infection after a blood transfusion is unclear. METHODS We studied 131 patients with chronic post-transfusion hepatitis C who were referred to our center between February 1980 and June 1994. Eighty-two other patients were excluded because they had multiple transfusions, hemophilia, intravenous drug use, human immunodeficiency virus infection, hepatitis B infection, hemochromatosis, or alcoholic liver disease. Liver biopsies were performed in 101 patients; biopsies were not performed in the other 30 patients, all with signs of cirrhosis, because the results of coagulation tests were abnormal. RESULTS The mean age of the patients was 57 years (range, 21 to 81) at the time of our initial evaluation. The mean age at the time of the blood transfusion was 35 years (range, 1 to 76). The mean duration of follow-up after presentation to us was 3.9 years (range, 1 to 15). Eighty-eight of the patients (67.2 percent) initially had fatigue, and 89 (67.9 percent) had hepatomegaly. Twenty-seven patients (20.6 percent) initially had chronic hepatitis, 30 (22.9 percent) had chronic active hepatitis, 67 (51.1 percent) had cirrhosis, and 7 (5.3 percent) had hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatocellular carcinoma developed in an additional seven patients an average of 36 months (range, 7 to 121) after the initial visit. During follow-up, 20 patients (15.3 percent) died: 8 from complications of cirrhosis (1 after a liver transplantation); 11 from hepatocellular carcinoma; and 1, with chronic active hepatitis, from pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS In a group of patients seen at a referral center, chronic post-transfusion hepatitis C was a progressive disease and, in some patients, led to death from either liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma.
RobWorkSim - an Open Simulator for Sensor based Grasping

In this paper we present a new open-source grasp simulator RobWorkSim, which provides support for full 6D rigid body dynamics as well as simulation of kinematics. It furthermore includes simulation of a rich set of sensors including tactile arrays, cameras, range scanners as well as a range of tools useful for grasp analysis and generation. In the paper we will outline and motivate our specification of a unified physics engine interface, describe how a generally available physics engine can be wrapped to support the interface and introduce a selected set of tools and features in RobWorkSim.
Netrin G1: its downregulation in the nucleus accumbens of cocaine‐conditioned mice and genetic association in human cocaine dependence

Netrin G1 is a presynaptic ligand involved in axonal projection. Although molecular mechanisms underlying cocaine addiction are still poorly understood, Netrin G1 might have a role as a regulator of anxiety, fear and spatial memory, behavioural traits impaired in the context of cocaine exposure. In this study, the Netrin G1 (Ntng1) expression was investigated in the nucleus accumbens of mice primarily conditioned to cocaine using a place preference paradigm. A genetic association study was then conducted on 146 multiplex families of the Collaborative study on Genetics of Alcoholism, in which seven single nucleotide polymorphisms located in the NTNG1 gene were genotyped. NTNG1 expression levels were also quantified in BA10, BA46 and the cerebellum of healthy controls (with no Axis 1 psychopathology). Decreased Ntng1 expression was initially observed in the nucleus accumbens of mice conditioned to cocaine. Significant genetic family‐based associations were detected between NTNG1 polymorphisms and cocaine dependence. NTNG1 expression in BA10, BA46 and the cerebellum, however, were not significantly associated with any allele or haplotype of this gene. These results confirm that Ntng1 expression is disturbed in the nucleus accumbens of mice, after cocaine conditioning. A haplotype of NTNG1 was found to constitute a vulnerability factor for cocaine use disorder in patients, although none of its single nucleotide polymorphisms were associated with a differential expression pattern in healthy controls. The data suggest that change in the Ntng1 expression is a consequence of cocaine exposure, and that some of its genetic markers are associated with a greater risk for cocaine use disorder.
Recognition of Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme Disease Spirochete, by TLR7 and TLR9 Induces a Type I IFN Response by Human Immune Cells1

Borrelia burgdorferi is the spirochetal agent of Lyme disease, a multisystemic disorder characterized by inflammation. Using global transcriptional profiling, we characterized the response of human PBMCs exposed to B. burgdorferi in an ex vivo coculture system. The expression profiles induced by B. burgdorferi were marked by the intense up-regulation of IFN-responsive transcripts and transcripts involved in the JAK/STAT signaling pathway. Transcript levels of IFN-α, IFN-β, and IRF7, and protein concentrations of IFN-α, were significantly elevated relative to those in unstimulated PBMCs. The induction of IFN-α was completely dependent upon phagocytosis of B. burgdorferi. Addition of a soluble type I IFN receptor, B18R, did not abolish the induction of IFN-inducible genes, indicating that B. burgdorferi directly elicits enhanced expression of these genes independently of type I IFN feedback signaling. Inhibitors of either TLR7 or TLR9 significantly reduced B. burgdorferi-stimulated IFN-α protein expression and transcription of IFN-induced genes. Simultaneous inhibition of both TLR7 and TLR9 completely abrogated IFN-α induction. The IFN-α-producing populations in PBMCs were identified as plasmacytoid dendritic and CD14+CD11c+ cells. These results reveal a TLR7/9-dependent signaling pathway used by human PBMCs to initiate a type I IFN response to the extracellular bacterium B. burgdorferi.
Skills-based Full Employment: The Latest Philosopher’s Stone

The acquisition of knowledge and skills is increasingly seen as both the main challenge and the central opportunity for achieving a return to full employment. It is considered a challenge because it is feared that people without appropriate knowledge and skills will in future be unable to find work. There are two main reasons for this. First, most though by no means all the jobs that have been destroyed through technological progress in recent years have been low-skilled ones, and the educational levels demanded for most occupations seem to be rising; in nearly all societies unemployment is highest among those with low levels of education (OECD, 1994: ch 6). Second, it is generally assumed in the existing advanced countries that the challenges posed by the rise of new low-cost producers in other parts of the world can be met only if labour in the former countries has high levels of skill which will differentiate it from the capacities of workers in the newly industrialising countries.