High isolation RF signal selection switches

A selection switch with high isolation between RF signal input terminals is achieved with a gated Schmitt trigger circuit feeding into a control NAND gate in each signal switching channel. The control NAND gates of the separate signal channels are coupled to an output terminal by a single NAND gate. The schmitt trigger circuits and all gates are implemented with Schottky transistor-transistor logic circuits having input clamping diodes. Each Schmitt trigger circuit includes two cascaded NAND gates and a feedback isolation Schottky diode between one input terminal connected to receive an RF input and another input terminal connected to receive a feedback signal from the second of the two cascaded NAND gates. Both NAND gates of the Schmitt trigger circuits are enabled by the same switch control signal which enables the control gates

MAPK phosphatase-1 represents a novel antiinflammatory target of glucocorticoids in the human endothelium

Glucocorticoids are well-established anti- inflammatory drugs thought to mainly act by inhibition of proinflammatory transcription factors like NF-κB. In recent years, however, transcription factorindependent mechanisms of glucocorticoid action have been proposed, namely the influence on MAPK pathways. Here we identify MAPK phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) as a pivotal mediator of the anti-inflammatory action of glucocorticoids in the human endothelium. We applied dexamethasone (Dex) to TNF-α-activated human endothelial cells and used the adhesion molecule E-selectin as inflammatory read-out parameter. Dex is known to reduce the expression of E-selectin, which is largely regulated by NF-κB. Here, we communicate that Dex at low concentrations (1–100 nM) markedly attenuates E-selectin expression without affecting NF-κB. Importantly, Dex is able to increase the expression of MKP-1, which causes an inactivation of TNF-α-induced p38 MAPK and mediates inhibition of E-selectin expression. In endothelial MKP-1ˉ/ˉ cells differentiated from MKP-1ˉ/ˉ embryonic stem cells and in MKP-1-silenced human endothelial cells, Dex did not inhibit TNF-α-evoked E-selectin expression. Thus, our findings introduce MKP-1 as a novel and crucial mediator of the anti-inflammatory action of glucocorticoids at low concentrations in the human endothelium and highlight MKP-1 as an important and promising antiinflammatory drug target

Diagrammatic analysis of the two-state quantum Hall system with chiral invariance

The quantum Hall system in the lowest Landau level with Zeeman term is studied by a two-state model, which has a chiral invariance. Using a diagrammatic analysis, we examine this two-state model with random impurity scattering, and find the exact value of the conductivity at the Zeeman energy $E = \Delta$. We further study the conductivity at the another extended state $E = E_1$ ($E_1 > \Delta$). We find that the values of the conductivities at $E = 0$ and $E = E_1$ do not depend upon the value of the Zeeman energy $\Delta$. We discuss also the case where the Zeeman energy $\Delta$ becomes a random field.Comment: 14P, Late

Level of physical activity in patients with osteoporosis

Objectives: The aim of this research was to examine the degree and types of physical activity (heavy physical activity, medium heavy and light physical activity) in female patients with lower bone mineral density compared to healthy women. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study included 40 female patients (65,85±11,46 yrs) with lower bone mineral density (BMD) and 20 patients (56,25±6,6 yrs) with no existing abnormality of BMD levels. The research was conducted at the Medical Rehabilitation Clinic, Clinical Center of Vojvodina. Data were collected using the internationally endorsed questionnaire IPAQ. BMD was measured at lumbar spine (L1-4) and at proximal femur by Dual X-ray Absorptiometry technique (DXA). Osteoporosis was defined as BMD > -2.5 T score. Results: We found that subjects with a normal bone mineral density had the highest level of physical activity (MET = 3154.58), followed by subjects with osteopenia (MET = 2311.25). Patients suffering from osteoporosis who were physically active had the lowest value of MET (1972.95) (p˂0.01). Sub-analysis based on BMI categories showed 10% (2 patients) of those with osteopenia were underweight, compared to 40% (8 patients) in the group with osteoporosis. Conclusions: Patients with osteoporosis were more obese and less physically active, as compared to healthier females. Our findings support the fact that adapted physical activity seems to be important for the prevention and treatment of patients with osteoporosis

Who is to blame? The relationship between ingroup identification and relative deprivation is moderated by ingroup attributions

Contradictory evidence can be found in the literature about whether ingroup identification and perceived relative deprivation are positively or negatively related. Indeed, theoretical arguments can be made for both effects. It was proposed that the contradictory findings can be explained by considering a hitherto unstudied moderator: The extent to which deprivation is attributed to the ingroup. It was hypothesised that identification would only have a negative impact on deprivation, and that deprivation would only have a negative impact on identification, if ingroup attributions are high. To test this, attributions to the ingroup were experimentally manipulated among British student participants (N = 189) who were asked about their perceived deprivation vis-à-vis German students, yield ing support for the hypotheses

Measurement of Lagrangian velocity in fully developed turbulence

We have developed a new experimental technique to measure the Lagrangian velocity of tracer particles in a turbulent flow, based on ultrasonic Doppler tracking. This method yields a direct access to the velocity of a single particule at a turbulent Reynolds number $R_{\lambda} = 740$. Its dynamics is analyzed with two decades of time resolution, below the Lagrangian correlation time. We observe that the Lagrangian velocity spectrum has a Lorentzian form $E^{L}(\omega) = u_{rms}^{2} T_{L} / (1 + (T_{L}\omega)^{2})$, in agreement with a Kolmogorov-like scaling in the inertial range. The probability density function (PDF) of the velocity time increments displays a change of shape from quasi-Gaussian a integral time scale to stretched exponential tails at the smallest time increments. This intermittency, when measured from relative scaling exponents of structure functions, is more pronounced than in the Eulerian framework.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. to appear in PR

Incommensurate ground state of double-layer quantum Hall systems

Double-layer quantum Hall systems possess interlayer phase coherence at sufficiently small layer separations, even without interlayer tunneling. When interlayer tunneling is present, application of a sufficiently strong in-plane magnetic field $B_\parallel > B_c$ drives a commensurate-incommensurate (CI) transition to an incommensurate soliton-lattice (SL) state. We calculate the Hartree-Fock ground-state energy of the SL state for all values of $B_\parallel$ within a gradient approximation, and use it to obtain the anisotropic SL stiffness, the Kosterlitz-Thouless melting temperature for the SL, and the SL magnetization. The in-plane differential magnetic susceptibility diverges as $(B_\parallel - B_c)^{-1}$ when the CI transition is approached from the SL state.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Physical Review