Machine learning enabled Raman amplifiers

Ultra-wideband (UWB) optical communication systems, envision to operate in O+E+S+C+l band, are a viable solution to cope with the network’s exponential traffic growth [1] . One of the main challenges to provide beyond C-band transmission is a lack of optical amplifiers. Since the erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are limited to C and L bands only, new technologies will have to be explored to cover the remaining bands. Some examples of amplifiers able to provide amplification beyond C–band are: bismuth doped fibre amplifiers (BDFA) [2] , semiconductor optical amplifiers, (SOAs) [3] and Raman amplifiers (RAs) [4] . Compared to the solutions based on BDFA and SOA, optical amplifiers based RAs offer a higher degree of commercial maturity [5] . Most importantly, RA amplifiers can provide gain in any band provided a proper allocation of pump powers and wavelength

The human environmental balance

A future policy instrument for assessing the consequences of changes (already made) to the physical environment can be found in the instrument known as the human environmental balance. By taking all relevant aspects into account when using this instrument, present and future serious defects along with necessary areas of focus will become clear. In this way, the balance will fulfil an important evaluative and indicative function, serving as an integral conceptual framework to find out what investments to make and where they should be made. This report describes a survey, representing an initial step on the road to a balanced physical environment, charting further work along the way. It is also meant to stimulate a broad debate on how to audit this physical environment and what to study. The concept of the physical environment is defined as consisting of (stocks of) various objects in a certain (spatial) arrangement. These objects are evaluated from three perspectives: ecological, economic and social/psychological. The first two perspectives focus on long-term issues on sustainability. In the third perspective the central theme is the perception of the environment by humans themselves; here, we are concerned about short-term issues on the sub-national (local) level. The 1970-1995 draft balance also saw its first elaboration in this report.De leefomgevingsbalans is een door VROM voorgesteld toekomstig beleidsinstrument om gedane ingrepen in het fysieke milieu op hun integrale gevolgen voor de leefomgeving te beoordelen. De leefomgevingsbalans zou hiermee een belangrijke evaluerende en signalerende functie hebben: door beschouwing van alle relevante aspecten maakt de balans zichtbaar waar tekorten zijn of dreigen te ontstaan en waar extra inspanningen nodig zijn. Hiermee vormt de leefomgevingsbalans een integratief raamwerk dat richtinggevend kan zijn voor de aard en locatie van gewenste investeringen. Dit rapport is een verkenning van een mogelijk invulling van een dergelijke leefomgevingsbalans en dient uitsluitend als basis voor discussie. Het beschouwt de fysieke leefomgeving als een verzameling van (voorraden) van allerlei objecten in een bepaalde ruimtelijke configuratie. Deze objecten worden vanuit verschillende invalshoeken verschillend gewaardeerd. Hierbij is onderscheid gemaakt in een ecologisch, economisch en sociaal-psychologisch perspectief. De eerste twee perspectieven zijn vooral gericht op lange termijn-vraagstukken waarbij duurzaamheid voorop staat. Bij het laatste perspectief gaat om de individuele leefbaarheid van de burger, veelal handelend over korte termijn-vraagstukken op vooral lokaal niveau. Op deze wijze wordt het 'leefomgevingskapitaal' gepresenteerd als een drieluik van economische, ecologische en sociaal-psychologische waarden. In het rapport is ook een eerste uitwerking van dit concept voor de periode 1970-1995 gegeven

Impact of index hopping and bias towards the reference allele on accuracy of genotype calls from low-coverage sequencing

Abstract Background Inherent sources of error and bias that affect the quality of sequence data include index hopping and bias towards the reference allele. The impact of these artefacts is likely greater for low-coverage data than for high-coverage data because low-coverage data has scant information and many standard tools for processing sequence data were designed for high-coverage data. With the proliferation of cost-effective low-coverage sequencing, there is a need to understand the impact of these errors and bias on resulting genotype calls from low-coverage sequencing. Results We used a dataset of 26 pigs sequenced both at 2× with multiplexing and at 30× without multiplexing to show that index hopping and bias towards the reference allele due to alignment had little impact on genotype calls. However, pruning of alternative haplotypes supported by a number of reads below a predefined threshold, which is a default and desired step of some variant callers for removing potential sequencing errors in high-coverage data, introduced an unexpected bias towards the reference allele when applied to low-coverage sequence data. This bias reduced best-guess genotype concordance of low-coverage sequence data by 19.0 absolute percentage points. Conclusions We propose a simple pipeline to correct the preferential bias towards the reference allele that can occur during variant discovery and we recommend that users of low-coverage sequence data be wary of unexpected biases that may be produced by bioinformatic tools that were designed for high-coverage sequence data

Lactate Regulates Metabolic and Proinflammatory Circuits in Control of T Cell Migration and Effector Functions

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Grape-Derived Polyphenols Improve Aging-Related Endothelial Dysfunction in Rat Mesenteric Artery: Role of Oxidative Stress and the Angiotensin System

Aging is characterized by the development of an endothelial dysfunction, which affects both the nitric oxide (NO)- and the endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF)-mediated relaxations, associated with vascular oxidative stress and the activation of the angiotensin system. This study investigated whether red wine polyphenols (RWPs), antioxidants and potent stimulators of NO- and EDHF-mediated relaxations improve aging-related endothelial dysfunction, and, if so, examined the underlying mechanism. Mesenteric artery reactivity was determined in organ chambers, vascular oxidative stress by dihydroethidine and MitoSOX staining, and expression of target proteins by immunohistochemical staining. Control young rats (16 weeks) received solvent (ethanol, 3% v/v), and middle-aged rats (46 weeks) either solvent or RWPs (100 mg/kg/day) in the drinking water. The acetylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent NO component was slightly reduced whereas the EDHF component was markedly blunted in rings of middle-aged rats compared to young rats. The endothelial dysfunction was associated with oxidative stress, an upregulation of angiotensin II and AT1 receptors and a down-regulation of SKCa, IKCa, and angiotensin converting enzyme. Intake of RWPs for either one or two weeks improved the NO and the EDHF components of the relaxation, and normalized oxidative stress, the expression of SKCa, IKCa and the components of the angiotensin system. The protective effect of the 2-week RWPs treatment persisted for one and two weeks following stopping intake of RWPs. Thus, intake of RWPs caused a persistent improvement of the endothelial function, particularly the EDHF component, in middle-aged rats and this effect seems to involve the normalization of the expression of SKCa, IKCa and the angiotensin system

Experimental Demonstration of Multidimensional Switching Nodes for All-Optical Data Center Networks

This paper reports on a novel ring-based data center architecture composed of multidimensional switching nodes. The nodes are interconnected with multicore fibers and can provide switching in three different physical, hierarchically overlaid dimensions (space, wavelength, and time). The proposed architecture allows for scaling in different dimensions while at the same time providing support for connections with different granularity. The ring topology reduces the number of different physical links required, leading to simplified cabling and easier link management, while optical bypass holds the prospect of low latency and low-power consumption. The performance of the multidimensional switching nodes has been investigated in an experimental demonstration comprising three network nodes connected with multicore fibers. Both high capacity wavelength connections and time-shared subwavelength connections have been established for connecting different nodes by switching in different physical dimensions. Error-free performance (BER < 10-9) has been achieved for all the connections with various granularity in all the investigated switching scenarios. The scalability of the system has been studied by increasing the transmission capacity to 1 Tbit/s/core equivalent to 7 Tbit/s total throughput in a single seven-core multicore fiber. The error-free performance (BER < 10-9) for all the connections confirms that the proposed architecture can meet the existing demands in data centers and accommodate the future traffic growth

Dietary Protein Intake and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in Europe: The EPIC-INTERACT Case-Cohort Study

OBJECTIVEThe long-term association between dietary protein and type 2 diabetes incidence is uncertain. We aimed to investigate the association between total, animal, and plant protein intake and the incidence of type 2 diabetes.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSThe prospective European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-InterAct case-cohort study consists of 12,403 incident type 2 diabetes cases and a stratified subcohort of 16,154 individuals from eight European countries, with an average follow-up time of 12.0 years. Pooled country-specific hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CI of prentice-weighted Cox regression analyses were used to estimate type 2 diabetes incidence according to protein intake.RESULTSAfter adjustment for important diabetes risk factors and dietary factors, the incidence of type 2 diabetes was higher in those with high intake of total protein (per 10 g: HR 1.06 [95% CI 1.02-1.09], Ptrend 30 kg/m(2) (per 10 g animal protein: 1.19 [1.09-1.32]), and nonsignificant in men. Plant protein intake was not associated with type 2 diabetes (per 10 g: 1.04 [0.93-1.16], Ptrend = 0.098).CONCLUSIONSHigh total and animal protein intake was associated with a modest elevated risk of type 2 diabetes in a large cohort of European adults. In view of the rapidly increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes, limiting iso-energetic diets high in dietary proteins, particularly from animal sources, should be considered