Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Separation method of hole trapping and interface trap generation and their roles in NBTI reaction-diffusion model

In this study, we propose a systematic method to separate the hole trapping from measured V1 shift, thus giving the ideal interface trap generation behavior without measurement disturbance. Three stages of interface trap generation have been illustrated with the analytical H-H2 NBTI reaction-diffusion model, and the hole trapping has also been verified with its voltage-enhanced and temperature-insensitive properties. Finally, the PMOS device lifetime extrapolation without considering the hole trapping might lead to significant lifetime overestimation.
The Effects of Genetic Variation in FTO rs9939609 on Obesity and Dietary Preferences in Chinese Han Children and Adolescents

The association of the rs9939609 single nucleotide polymorphism in FTO gene with obesity has been extensively investigated in studies of populations of European, African, and Asian ancestry. However, inconsistent results have been reported in Asian populations, and the relationship of FTO variation and dietary behaviors has only rarely been examined in Chinese children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess the association of rs9939609 with obesity and dietary preferences in childhood in a Chinese population. Epidemiological data including dietary preferences were collected in interviews using survey questionnaires, and rs9939609 genotype was determined by real-time PCR. The associations of rs9939609 genotypes with obesity and dietary preferences were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression using both additive and dominant models. The results showed that subjects with a TA or AA genotype had an increased risk of obesity compared with the TT participants; the odds ratios (ORs) were 1.47 (95% CI: 1.25–1.71, P = 1.73×10−6), and 3.32 (95% CI: 2.01–5.47, P = 2.68×10−6), respectively. After adjusting for age and gender, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were higher, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was lower in TA and AA participants than in those with the TT genotype. After additionally controlling for body mass index, the association remained significant only for systolic blood pressure (P = 0.005). Compared with TT participants, those with the AA genotype were more likely to prefer a meat-based diet (OR = 2.81, 95% CI: 1.52–5.21). The combined OR for obesity in participants with TA/AA genotypes and preference for a meat-based diet was 4.04 (95% CI: 2.8–5.81) compared with the TT participants who preferred a plant-based diet. These findings indicate the genetic variation of rs9939609 is associated with obesity and dietary preferences in Chinese children and adolescents.
The Media's Role in Social Inclusion and Exclusion

Definitions of social inclusion and exclusion are fluid, and researchers and policy-makers have not agreed upon an all-encompassing definition. For wider society, social inclusion requires the transformation of these emerging definitions into ‘lived experience’ and actions. For the media, reporting on social inclusion is complicated by the confusion about what social inclusion is and to whom it is intended to apply, and by the gap between the ideal and the slower pace of societal change. Until recently, media studies researchers have focused largely on the issue of social exclusion and the media. The goal of this themed issue of MIA is to address some of the gaps in scholarly knowledge about the media's role in social inclusion and exclusion, and the context of that role within the wider social and political discourses. Our aim is to move beyond existing understandings of the media's role in social exclusion to look at spaces and places where there have been attempts to provide inclusion and whether they have worked, but also what issues and problems might have beset them.
Use of the T-RFLP technique to assess spatial and temporal changes in the bacterial community structure within an agricultural soil planted with transgenic and non-transgenic potato plants.

The aim of this study was to examine whether the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis represents an appropriate technique for monitoring highly diverse soil bacterial communities, i.e. to assess spatial and/or temporal effects on bacterial community structure. The T-RFLP method, a recently described fingerprinting technique, is based on terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms between distinct small-subunit rRNA gene sequence types. This technique permits an automated quantification of the fluorescence signal intensities of the individual terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) in a given community fingerprint pattern. The indigenous bacterial communities of three soil plots located within an agricultural field of 110 m(2) were compared. The first site was planted with non-transgenic potato plants, while the other two were planted with transgenic GUS and Barnase/Barstar potato plants, respectively. Once prior to planting and three times after planting, seven parallel samples were taken from each of the three soil plots. The T-RFLP analysis resulted in very complex but highly reproducible community fingerprint patterns. The percentage abundance values of defined T-RFs were calculated for the seven parallel samples of the respective soil plot. A multivariate analysis of variance was used to test T-RFLP data sets for significant differences. The statistical treatments clearly revealed spatial and temporal effects, as well as spacextime interaction effects, on the structural composition of the bacterial communities. T-RFs which showed the highest correlations to the discriminant factors were not those T-RFs which showed the largest single variations between the seven-sample means of individual plots. In summary, the T-RFLP technique, although a polymerase chain reaction-based method, proved to be a suitable technique for monitoring highly diverse soil microbial communities for changes over space and/or time.
High N, dry: Experimental nitrogen deposition exacerbates native shrub loss and nonnative plant invasion during extreme drought

Hotter, longer, and more frequent global change‐type drought events may profoundly impact terrestrial ecosystems by triggering widespread vegetation mortality. However, severe drought is only one component of global change, and ecological effects of drought may be compounded by other drivers, such as anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition and nonnative plant invasion. Elevated N deposition, for example, may reduce drought tolerance through increased plant productivity, thereby contributing to drought‐induced mortality. High N availability also often favors invasive, nonnative plant species, and the loss of woody vegetation due to drought may create a window of opportunity for these invaders. We investigated the effects of multiple levels of simulated N deposition on a Mediterranean‐type shrubland plant community in southern California from 2011 to 2016, a period coinciding with an extreme, multiyear drought in the region. We hypothesized that N addition would increase native shrub productivity, but that this would increase susceptibility to drought and result in increased shrub loss over time. We also predicted that N addition would favor nonnatives, especially annual grasses, leading to higher biomass and cover of these species. Consistent with these hypotheses, we found that high N availability increased native shrub canopy loss and mortality, likely due to the higher productivity and leaf area and reduced water‐use efficiency we observed in shrubs subject to N addition. As native shrub cover declined, we also observed a concomitant increase in cover and biomass of nonnative annuals, particularly under high levels of experimental N deposition. Together, these results suggest that the impacts of extended drought on shrubland ecosystems may be more severe under elevated N deposition, potentially contributing to the widespread loss of native woody species and vegetation‐type conversion.
The role of nursing unit managers in educating nurses

Abstract This paper presents the findings of a work sampling study undertaken in New South Wales (Australia) to ascertain the amount of time spent by nursing unit managers directly educating nurses. The results indicate that they spend very little time in teaching, traditionally one of their role tasks. It is argued that their teaching at unit level should focus on their role as leader, mentor, preceptor and coach. This role shift needs to be articulated to managers and nurses to minimise confusion over the role and to ensure that direct teaching is placed into the hands of expert clinicians.
Development of a reverse-genetics system for murine norovirus 3: long-term persistence occurs in the caecum and colon

Human noroviruses (HuNoV) are a major cause of viral gastroenteritis worldwide, yet, due to the inability to propagate HuNoV in cell culture, murine norovirus (MNV) is typically used as a surrogate to study norovirus biology. MNV-3 represents an attractive strain to study norovirus infections in vivo because it establishes persistence in wild-type mice, yet causes symptoms resembling gastroenteritis in immune-compromised STAT1−/− mice. The lack of reverse-genetics approaches to recover genetically defined MNV-3 has limited further studies on the identification of viral sequences that contribute to persistence. Here we report the establishment of a combined DNA-based reverse-genetics and mouse-model system to study persistent MNV-3 infections in wild-type (C57BL/6) mice. Viral RNA and infectious virus were detected in faeces for at least 56 days after inoculation. Strikingly, the highest concentrations of viral RNA during persistence were detected in the caecum and colon, suggesting that viral persistence is maintained in these tissues. Possible adaptive changes arising during persistence in vivo appeared to accumulate in the minor capsid protein (VP2) and the viral polymerase (NS7), in contrast with adaptive mutations selected during cell-culture passages in RAW264.7 cells that appeared in the major capsid protein (VP1) and non-structural protein NS4. This system provides an attractive model that can be readily used to identify viral sequences that contribute to persistence in an immunocompetent host and to more acute infection in an immunocompromised host, providing new insights into the biology of norovirus infections.
Ecological Association of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination with Cervical Dysplasia Prevalence in the United States, 2007-2014.

OBJECTIVES To examine prevalence of low- and high-grade cervical lesions over time in a large cohort of US female adolescents and women. METHODS We used health care claims data from 9 million privately insured female patients aged 15 to 39 years to estimate annual prevalence of cytologically detected cervical low-grade (LSIL) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) and high-grade histologically detected cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2 and 3 (CIN2+) during 2007 through 2014. We restricted analyses to those who received cervical cancer screening in a given calendar year. RESULTS Prevalence of HSIL and CIN2+ decreased significantly for those aged 15 to 19 years. Average annual percent change in prevalence in this group during 2007 through 2014 for HSIL and CIN2+ was -8.3% and -14.4%, respectively (P < .001 for both estimates). Prevalence of HSIL and CIN2+ also decreased significantly for women aged 20 to 24 years. No decreases were seen in women aged 25 to 39 years. CONCLUSIONS Decreases in high-grade lesions reflected their greater association with human papillomavirus types 16 and 18, compared with low-grade lesions, providing ecological evidence of population effectiveness of human papillomavirus vaccination among young, privately insured women.
Depressive symptoms in a treated multiple sclerosis cohort

Background: Recent side effect data from clinical trials of interferon beta in multiple sclerosis (MS) have failed to confirm that these medications are associated with an increased risk of depression. However, these studies have used highly selected samples and the results may not be generalizable to real world settings. Methods: C linical data on subjects from southern A lberta who have applied for, or are receiving, public reimbursement for MS treatment are maintained in a database at the University of C algary Multiple Sclerosis C linic. Depression ratings obtained using the C enter for Epidemiological Studies Depression Rating Scale (C ES-D) are included in this database. In the current analysis, these longitudinal data were used to determine whether depressive symptoms were associated with disease-modifying treatments. Results: A t baseline, ratings were available for 163 subjects. Those choosing interferon beta resembled those choosing glatiramer acetate in most respects. During follow-up, no differences were observed in the prevalence or incidence of depression and C ES-D scores were not found to differ between the treatment groups. Conclusions: The failure to identify higher rates of depression both in previous intervention studies and in the current observational study provides confirmation that these drugs are not substantially associated with the occurrence of depression.
The Clock’N Test as a Possible Measure of Emotions: Normative Data Collected on a Non-clinical Population

Objective: At present emotional experience and implicit emotion regulation (IER) abilities are mainly assessed though self-reports, which are subjected to several biases. The aim of the present studies was to validate the Clock’N test, a recently developed time estimation task employing emotional priming to assess implicitly emotional reactivity and IER. Methods: In Study 1, the Clock’N test was administered to 150 healthy participants with different age, laterality and gender, in order to ascertain whether these factors affected the test results. In phase 1 participant were asked to judge the duration of seven sounds. In phase 2, before judging the duration of the same sounds, participants were presented with short arousing video-clip used as emotional priming stimuli. Time warp was calculated as the difference in time estimation between phase 2 and phase 1, and used to assess how emotions affected subjective time estimations. In study 2, a representative sample was selected to provide normative scores to be employed to assess emotional reactivity (Score 1) and IER (Score 2), and to calculate statistical cutoffs, based on the 10th and 90th score distribution percentiles. Results: Converging with previous findings, the results of study 1 suggested that the Clock’N test can be employed to assess both emotional reactivity, as indexed by an initial time underestimation, and IER, as indexed by a progressive shift to time overestimation. No effects of gender, age and laterality were found. Conclusions: These results suggest that the Clock’N test is adapted to assess emotional reactivity and IER. After collection of data on the test discriminant and convergent validity, this test may be employed to assess deficits in these abilities in different clinical populations.
Properties of optimally weighted data fusion in CBMIR

Content-Based Multimedia Information Retrieval (CBMIR) systems which leverage multiple retrieval experts (En) often employ a weighting scheme when combining expert results through data fusion. Typically however a query will comprise multiple query images (Im) leading to potentially N × M weights to be assigned. Because of the large number of potential weights, existing approaches impose a hierarchy for data fusion, such as uniformly combining query image results from a single retrieval expert into a single list and then weighting the results of each expert. In this paper we will demonstrate that this approach is sub-optimal and leads to the poor state of CBMIR performance in benchmarking evaluations. We utilize an optimization method known as Coordinate Ascent to discover the optimal set of weights (|En| ⋅ |Im|) which demonstrates a dramatic difference between known results and the theoretical maximum. We find that imposing common combinatorial hierarchies for data fusion will half the optimal performance that can be achieved. By examining the optimal weight sets at the topic level, we observe that approximately 15% of the weights (from set |En| ⋅ |Im|) for any given query, are assigned 70%-82% of the total weight mass for that topic. Furthermore we discover that the ideal distribution of weights follows a log-normal distribution. We find that we can achieve up to 88% of the performance of fully optimized query using just these 15% of the weights. Our investigation was conducted on TRECVID evaluations 2003 to 2007 inclusive and ImageCLEFPhoto 2007, totalling 181 search topics optimized over a combined collection size of 661,213 images and 1,594 topic images.
Integrative Physiology/Experimental Medicine Identification of Galectin-1 and Galectin-3 as Novel Partners for Von Willebrand Factor

Objective—Although von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a heavily glycosylated protein, its potential to associate with glycan-binding proteins is poorly investigated. Here, we explored its interaction with the glycan-binding proteins galectin-1 and galectin-3. Methods and Results—Immunofluorescence analysis using Duolink proximity ligation assays revealed that VWF colocalizes with galectin-1 and galectin-3 in endothelial cells, both before and after stimulation of endothelial cells. Moreover, galectin-1 was found along the typical VWF bundles that are released by endothelial cells. Galectin-1 and galectin-3 could be coprecipitated with VWF from plasma in immunoprecipitation assays, whereas plasma levels of galectin-1 and galectin-3 were significantly reduced in VWF-deficient mice. Binding studies using purified proteins confirmed that VWF could directly interact with both galectins, predominantly via its N-linked glycans. In search of the physiological relevance of the VWF-galectin interaction, we found that inhibition of galectins in in vitro perfusion assays was associated with increased VWF-platelet string formation, a phenomenon that was reproduced in galectin-1/galectin-3 double-deficient mice. These mice were also characterized by a more rapid formation of initial thrombi following ferric chloride–induced injury. Conclusion—We have identified galectin-1 and galectin-3 as novel partners for VWF, and these proteins may modulate VWF-mediated thrombus formation. (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2012;32:894-901.)
Go with the Winner: Optimizing Detection of Modular Organization Differences in Dynamic Functional Brain Networks

The modular structure of human brain network(s) is well established. Despite numerous and increasing studies that examine brain's modular organization based on various measures of neural synchrony, it is not known yet how to qualify the employed descriptors in terms of the resulting functional community structure. A methodology is introduced here that facilitates the selection of best synchronization measure based on the comparison between two experimental conditions. Our method is presented using data from a multi-trial ERP paradigm (where the same task is performed in an attentive/passive mode) and in a time-varying exploration set up. The functional interactions are quantified at the level of EEG sensors through descriptors that differ regarding the nature of functional dependencies sought (linear vs. nonlinear) and regarding the specific form of the measures employed (amplitude/phase covariation). The resulting functional connectivity graphs (FCGs) are analyzed with an iterative clustering algorithm, and the emerging modular structures enter an appropriate time-varying discriminant function. Our results show that phase synchrony plays a crucial role in the segregation into distinct functional domains during the attentive condition in the frequency range that includes ? and a1 band (4 -10 Hz). Finally, by adopting Participation Index (PI), task-specific hub regions can be recognized from the optimally detected functional communities.
A hybrid neural network model for noisy data regression

A hybrid neural network model, based on the fusion of fuzzy adaptive resonance theory (FA ART) and the general regression neural network (GRNN), is proposed in this paper. Both FA and the GRNN are incremental learning systems and are very fast in network training. The proposed hybrid model, denoted as GRNNFA, is able to retain these advantages and, at the same time, to reduce the computational requirements in calculating and storing information of the kernels. A clustering version of the GRNN is designed with data compression by FA for noise removal. An adaptive gradient-based kernel width optimization algorithm has also been devised. Convergence of the gradient descent algorithm can be accelerated by the geometric incremental growth of the updating factor. A series of experiments with four benchmark datasets have been conducted to assess and compare effectiveness of GRNNFA with other approaches. The GRNNFA model is also employed in a novel application task for predicting the evacuation time of patrons at typical karaoke centers in Hong Kong in the event of fire. The results positively demonstrate the applicability of GRNNFA in noisy data regression problems.
Aggression-Preventive Supervisor Behavior: Implications for Workplace Climate and Employee Outcomes

Workplace aggression remains a serious and costly issue for organizations; thus, it is imperative to understand ways to reduce workplace aggression. To address this need, we used 2 independent samples with varied study designs, one at the employee level and the other at both employee and unit levels, to examine the role of aggression-preventive supervisor behavior (APSB) in aggression-prevention processes. In Sample 1 (237 nurses), we used structural equation modeling to examine the role of individual observations of APSB. First, we found that individual employees’ observations of APSB positively related to their individual violence-prevention climate (VPC) perceptions. Further, VPC perceptions mediated the relations between APSB and employees’ exposure to coworker aggression, job attitudes, and physical symptoms. In Sample 2 (337 nurses), we used multilevel regression analysis to examine the positive role of APSB in managing the aggression process. First, we established further support for many of the findings in Sample 1. In addition, we found that shared unit-level VPC mediated the relations of unit-level APSB with employees’ exposure to aggression from coworkers, their physical symptoms, and turnover intention. Finally, evidence from Sample 2 supported favorable, direct relations of individual- or unit-level APSB with employees’ aggression-prevention compliance and turnover intention. Implications for studying context-specific leadership behavior and designing aggression-prevention interventions are discussed.