Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Full-band Structure Calculations of Optical Injection in Semiconductors: Investigations of One-color, Two-color, and Pump-probe Scenarios

Full-band structure calculations of optical injection in semiconductors: Investigations of one-color, two-color, and pump-probe scenarios Julien Rioux Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Physics University of Toronto 2011 Carrier, spin, charge current, and spin current injection by oneand two-color optical schemes are investigated within 30-band k · p theory. Parameters of the band model are optimized to give full-Brillouin zone band structures for GaAs and Ge that give accurate Γ-point effective masses and gyromagnetic factors and give access to the L valley, and to the E1 and E1 + ∆1 critical points in the linear optical absorption. Calculations of oneand two-photon carrier and spin injection and two-color current injection are performed for excitation energies in the range of 0–4 eV in GaAs and 0–3.5 eV in Ge. Significant spin and spin current injection occurs with 30% spin polarization in GaAs and Ge at photon energy matching the E1 critical point. Further, the anisotropy and disparity of the current injection between parallel and perpendicular linearly-polarized beam configurations are calculated. For light propagating along a 〈111〉 crystal axis, anisotropic contributions in coherent current control and two-photon spin injection give rise to normal current components and in-plane spin components. In Ge, contributions from the holes to spin, electrical current, and spin current injection are investigated. Optical orientation results in 83% spin-polarized holes at the band edge. The effects of carrier dynamics in Ge are treated within a rate-equation model. The detection of spin dynamics in a pump-probe setup is considered, and the Fermi-factor approach is justified for electrons but not for holes. Carrier and current injection are further investigated in single-layer and bilayer graphene within the tight-binding model. In single-layer graphene, the linear-circular
Graphical Model for Baskeball Match Simulation

Abstract Conventional approaches to simulate matches have ignored that in basketball the dynamics of ball movement is very sensitive to the lineups on the court and unique identities of players on both offense and defense sides. In this paper, we propose the simulation infrastructure that can bridge the gap between player identity and team level network. We model the progression of a basketball match using a probabilistic graphical model. We model every touch and event in a game as a sequence of transitions between discrete states. We treat the progression of a match as a graph, where each node is a network structure of players on the court, their actions, events, etc., and edges denote possible moves in the game flow. Our results show that either changes in the team lineup or changes in the opponent team lineup significantly affects the dynamics of a match progression. Evaluation on the match data for the 2013-14 NBA season suggests that the graphical model approach is appropriate for modeling a basketball match.
The Energy Landscapes of Repeat-Containing Proteins: Topology, Cooperativity, and the Folding Funnels of One-Dimensional Architectures

Repeat-proteins are made up of near repetitions of 20– to 40–amino acid stretches. These polypeptides usually fold up into non-globular, elongated architectures that are stabilized by the interactions within each repeat and those between adjacent repeats, but that lack contacts between residues distant in sequence. The inherent symmetries both in primary sequence and three-dimensional structure are reflected in a folding landscape that may be analyzed as a quasi–one-dimensional problem. We present a general description of repeat-protein energy landscapes based on a formal Ising-like treatment of the elementary interaction energetics in and between foldons, whose collective ensemble are treated as spin variables. The overall folding properties of a complete “domain” (the stability and cooperativity of the repeating array) can be derived from this microscopic description. The one-dimensional nature of the model implies there are simple relations for the experimental observables: folding free-energy (ΔGwater) and the cooperativity of denaturation (m-value), which do not ordinarily apply for globular proteins. We show how the parameters for the “coarse-grained” description in terms of foldon spin variables can be extracted from more detailed folding simulations on perfectly funneled landscapes. To illustrate the ideas, we present a case-study of a family of tetratricopeptide (TPR) repeat proteins and quantitatively relate the results to the experimentally observed folding transitions. Based on the dramatic effect that single point mutations exert on the experimentally observed folding behavior, we speculate that natural repeat proteins are “poised” at particular ratios of inter- and intra-element interaction energetics that allow them to readily undergo structural transitions in physiologically relevant conditions, which may be intrinsically related to their biological functions.
Amphibian Contributions to Ecosystem Services

—Ecosystems provide essential services for human society, which include provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services. Amphibians provide provisioning services by serving as a food source for some human societies, especially in Southeast Asia. They also serve as models in medical research and provide potential for new pharmaceuticals such as analgesics and anti-viral drugs derived from skin secretions. Amphibians contribute to regulating services by reducing mosquito recruitment from ephemeral wetlands, potentially controlling other pest species, and indirectly through predation of insect pollinators. Often neglected, ecosystems also provide cultural services to human societies that increase the quality of human life through recreation, religion, spirituality, and aesthetics. As an abundant and diverse class of vertebrates, amphibians also play prominent roles in the culture of human societies through pathways such as mythology, literature, and art. Most research on the role of amphibians in ecosystems has been on their contribution to supporting services. This is also the area where amphibians are likely to have the largest contribution to ecosystem services. Supporting services have structural (e.g., habitat) and functional (e.g., ecosystem functions and processes) components. Amphibians can affect ecosystem structure through soil burrowing and aquatic bioturbation and ecosystem functions such as decomposition and nutrient cycling through waste excretion and indirectly through predatory changes in the food web. They also can control primary production in aquatic ecosystems through direct consumption and nutrient cycling. Unfortunately, amphibians are experiencing major declines and humans may be losing associated ecosystem services. It is important to understand how declines affect ecosystem services for human societies, but these declines can also serve as natural experiments to understand the role of amphibians in ecosystems.
Development of Sacrificial Magnesium-Based Coatings by Vapor Deposition for the Corrosion Protection of Magnesium Alloys

The corrosion properties of pure magnesium (Mg), AZ31, AZ61, AZ91, WE43, and EV31 bulk alloys were analyzed in a solution of 0.1 M sodium chloride (NaCl) adjusted to a pH of 7 with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Open circuit potential (OCP) measurements, polarization resistance, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and potentiodynamic polarization were conducted on all bulk samples. WE43 exhibited the lowest OCP and the lowest corrosion rate of all the bulk alloys in 0.1 M NaCl solutions that were open to air. AZ91 had the lowest corrosion rate of all the bulk alloys in deaerated solutions. Pure Mg, Mg-Sn, and Mg-Zn-Sn thin films were deposited via electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) and biased target deposition (BTD), with the objective of obtaining an alloy with a lower OCP than all the bulk Mg alloys. Pure Mg films deposited via BTD had the lowest OCP, of about -1.9 V vs. SCE. The pure Mg film deposited via EBPVD also had a low corrosion rate, of about 20.2 mpy in deaerated solutions, compared to bulk pure Mg (53.36). The OCP of the Mg-Sn and Mg-Zn-Sn alloys were shifted towards more positive values with increasing Sn concentration. An increase in the corrosion rate was also observed with increasing Sn concentration, due to microgalvnic effects caused by larger volume fractions of the Mg2Sn phase with higher Sn concentrations. Mg-Sn films deposited via BTD had lower corrosion rates than Mg-Sn films deposited via EBPVD. Pure Mg films deposited via BTD had very porous structures that were detrimental to corrosion. Extreme localized corrosion in the form of filiform corrosion was observed in pure Mg films deposited via BTD.
Characterizing a spam traffic

The rapid increase in the volume of unsolicited commercial e-mails, also known as spam, is beginning to take its toll in system administrators, business corporations and end-users. Widely varying estimates of the cost associated with spam are available in the literature. However, a quantitative analysis of the determinant characteristics of spam traffic is still an open problem. This work fills this gap and presents what we believe to be the first extensive characterization of a spam traffic. As basis for our characterization, standard spam detection techniques are used to classify over 360 thousand incoming e-mails to a large university into two categories, namely spam and non-spam. For each of the two resulting workloads, as well as for the aggregate workload, we analyze a set of parameters, aiming at identifying the characteristics that significantly distinguish spam from non-spam traffic, assessing the qualitative impact of spam on the aggregate traffic and, possibly, drawing insights into the design of more effective spam detection techniques. Our characterization reveals significant differences in the spam and non-spam traffic patterns. E-mail arrival process, size distribution as well as the distributions of popularity and temporal locality of e-mail recipients are key workload aspects which distinguish spam from traditional e-mail traffic. We conjecture that these differences are consequence of the inherently different mode of operation of spam and non-spam senders. Whereas non-spam e-mail transmissions are typically driven by social bilateral relationships, spam transmission is usually a unilateral action, based solely on the senders's will to reach as many users as possible.
Understanding the 2013 Curriculum of English Teaching through the Teachers' and Policymakers' Perspectives

This study focused on the 2013 Curriculum (K-13) implementation at the four targeted senior secondary schools of K-13 implementation in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It involved three policymakers and 11 English teachers using explanatory model of mixed-method design (quan-QUAL). The data were collected in 19 months from 2012 to 2014 and analyzed in multi-stages. The study found and concluded that the issues underlying the change from the School-Based Curriculum (SBC) to K-13 were the failure of the former curricula, the anticipation demographic and economic circumstances in the future, and the benefits offered within the change. In line with the teachers’ knowledge and belief system towards the change, their perception on the K-13 led to two main trends: (1) positive, innovative, creative and give impact to the transformation from traditional view of learning to a modern pedagogic dimension; and (2) negative and superficial that only change in conceptual level and would likely to have the same effects with the previous changes. The teachers’ interpretation on the K-13 also led to two main trends: (1) the correct and comprehensive interpretation when dealing with the general concepts in K-13 in ELT practices; and, (2) the partial interpretation towards the applicative concepts according to their understanding, procedural knowledge and the convenience of the application offered by the changing elements. The implementation of K-13 in ELT practices was found to be partial, biased and tended to be traditional from the planning to the assessing process. The constraints to successful implementation of K-13 were found to root in the teachers’ fixed mindset and within the implementation.
Comorbidity of PTSD, Major Depression, and Substance Use Disorder Among Adolescent Victims of the Spring 2011 Tornadoes in Alabama and Joplin, Missouri

Objective: The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to estimate the prevalence of comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive episode (MDE), and substance use disorder (SUD); and (2) to identify risk factors for patterns of comorbidity among adolescents affected by disasters. Method: A population-based sample of 2,000 adolescents (51% female; 71% Caucasian, 26% African American) aged 12 to 17 years (M = 14.5, SD = 1.7) and their parents was recruited from communities affected by the spring 2011 tornadoes in Alabama and Joplin, Missouri. Participants completed structured telephone interviews assessing demographic characteristics, impact of disaster, prior trauma history, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive episode (MDE), and substance use disorder (SUD) symptoms. Prevalence estimates were calculated for PTSD + MDE, PTSD + SUD, MDE + SUD, and PTSD + MDE + SUD. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for each comorbidity profile. Results: Overall prevalence since the tornado was 3.7% for PTSD + MDE, 1.1% for PTSD + SUD, 1.0% for MDE + SUD, and 0.7% for PTSD + MDE + SUD. Girls were significantly more likely than boys to meet criteria for PTSD + MDE and MDE + SUD (ps < .05). Female gender, exposure to prior traumatic events, and persistent loss of services were significant risk factors for patterns of comorbidity. Parental injury was associated with elevated risk for PTSD + MDE. Adolescents should be evaluated for comorbid problems, including SUD, following disasters so that appropriate referrals to evidence-based treatments can be made. Conclusions: Results suggest that screening procedures to identify adolescents at risk for comorbid disorders should assess demographic characteristics (gender), impact of the disaster on the family, and adolescents’ prior history of stressful events.
X-ray micro-beam diffraction measurement of the effect of thermal cycling on stress in Cu TSV: A comparative study

Microelectronic devices are subjected to constantly varying temperature conditions during their operational lifetime, which can lead to their failure. In this study, we examined the impact of thermal cycling on the evolution of stresses in Cu TSVs using synchrotron-based X-ray micro-diffraction. Two test conditions were analyzed: as-received and 1000 cycled samples. The principal and shear stresses in the 1000 cycled sample were five times greater than in the as-received sample. This was attributed to the increased strain hardening upon thermal cycling. The variation in stresses with thermal cycling is a clear indication that the impact of Cu TSV proximity on front-end-of-line (FEOL) device performance will fluctuate throughout the lifetime of the 3D stacked dies, and thus should be accounted for during FEOL keep-out-zone design rule development.
Classic Migraine: Effective Prophylaxis with Metoprolol

Metoprolol slow-release tablets (Durules®), 200 mg, given once daily in the morning were compared with placebo in the prophylaxis of classic migraine. The trial comprised eight Scandinavian neurologic centres and was designed as a double-blind cross-over study with 4 weeks' run-in, four weeks washout, and 8 weeks of either treatment. Seventy-seven patients with two to eight migraine attacks per month were entered in the trial, and 73 completed it. A total of 1119 attacks with aura symptoms and 374 without were recorded. Metoprolol was significantly better than placebo with regard to the total frequency of attacks (1.8 versus 2.5 attacks/4 weeks), mean duration of attacks (6.0 versus 8.0 h/attack), mean global rating, and consumption of analgesics per attack: Similar differences could be shown for attacks with aura symptoms alone, except for the duration of attacks. Metoprolol is the first drug for which a prophylactic effect in classic migraine has been convincingly demonstrated.
Risk Factors for Erosive Esophagitis: A Multivariate Analysis Based on the ProGERD Study Initiative

OBJECTIVES:Gastroesophageal reflux disease can be divided into three categories: nonerosive GERD (NERD), erosive GERD (ERD), and Barrett´s esophagus. A shift among these categories rarely occurs. The aim of the present study was to elucidate potential patient-associated risk factors associated with ERD.METHODS:A total of 6,215 patients with troublesome heartburn were recruited to a large, prospective, multicenter open cohort study comprising an initial treatment phase and a 5-yr follow-up phase. Each center planned to recruit an equal number of patients with NERD and ERD. All patients underwent an interview based on standardized questionnaires, a physical examination, and endoscopy with biopsies. Data were analyzed by multiple logistic regression analysis.RESULTS:Risk factor analysis was performed on 5,289 patients (NERD: n = 2,834; ERD: n = 2,455), which was the intent-to-treat population excluding patients with suspected/proven complicated reflux disease. Stepwise regression analysis identified the following independent predictors of ERD: male gender, overweight, regular use of alcohol, a history of GERD >1 yr, and smoker or ex-smoker. A higher level of education and a positive Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) status were associated with a lower risk of ERD.CONCLUSIONS:Some patient-associated factors increase the risk of erosive esophagitis as opposed to nonerosive reflux disease. However, no single factor or combination of factors is capable of predicting mucosal damage with clinically sufficient certainty. Thus, endoscopy is still required in all GERD patients if valid information on the state of the esophageal mucosa is needed.
Transduction motif analysis of gastric cancer based on a human signaling network

To investigate signal regulation models of gastric cancer, databases and literature were used to construct the signaling network in humans. Topological characteristics of the network were analyzed by CytoScape. After marking gastric cancer-related genes extracted from the CancerResource, GeneRIF, and COSMIC databases, the FANMOD software was used for the mining of gastric cancer-related motifs in a network with three vertices. The significant motif difference method was adopted to identify significantly different motifs in the normal and cancer states. Finally, we conducted a series of analyses of the significantly different motifs, including gene ontology, function annotation of genes, and model classification. A human signaling network was constructed, with 1643 nodes and 5089 regulating interactions. The network was configured to have the characteristics of other biological networks. There were 57,942 motifs marked with gastric cancer-related genes out of a total of 69,492 motifs, and 264 motifs were selected as significantly different motifs by calculating the significant motif difference (SMD) scores. Genes in significantly different motifs were mainly enriched in functions associated with cancer genesis, such as regulation of cell death, amino acid phosphorylation of proteins, and intracellular signaling cascades. The top five significantly different motifs were mainly cascade and positive feedback types. Almost all genes in the five motifs were cancer related, including EPOR, MAPK14, BCL2L1, KRT18, PTPN6, CASP3, TGFBR2, AR, and CASP7. The development of cancer might be curbed by inhibiting signal transductions upstream and downstream of the selected motifs.
The long-term outcomes of cirrhotic patients with pleural effusion

Background/Aim: A pleural effusion is an abnormal collection of fluid in the pleural space and may cause related morbidity or mortality in cirrhotic patients. Currently, there are insufficient data to support the long-term prognosis for cirrhotic patients with pleural effusion. In this study, we investigated the short- and long-term effects of pleural effusion on mortality in cirrhotic patients and evaluated the benefit of liver transplantation in these patients. Patients and Methods: The National Health Insurance Database, derived from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program, was used to identify 3,487 cirrhotic patients with pleural effusion requiring drainage between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2010. The proportional hazards Cox regression model was used to control for possible confounding factors. Results: The 30-day, 90-day, 1-year, and 3-year mortalities were 20.1%, 40.2%, 59.1%, and 75.9%, respectively, in the cirrhotic patients with pleural effusion. After Cox proportional hazard regression analysis adjusted by patient gender, age, complications of cirrhosis and comorbid disorders, old age, esophageal variceal bleeding, hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatic encephalopathy, pneumonia, renal function impairment, and without liver transplantation conferred higher risks for 3-year mortality in the cirrhotic patients with pleura effusion. Liver transplantation is the most important factor to determine the 3-year mortalities (HR: 0.17, 95% CI 0.11- 0.26, P < 0.001). The 30-day, 30 to 90-day, 90-day to 1-year, and 1 to 3-year mortalities were 5.7%, 13.4%, 20.4%, and 21.7% respectively, in the liver transplantation group, and 20.5%, 41.0%, 61.2%, and 77.5%, respectively, in the non-liver transplantation group. Conclusion: In cirrhotic patients, the presence of pleural effusion predicts poor long-term outcomes. Liver transplantation could dramatically improve the survival and should be suggested as soon as possible.
Age-related variation of anaerobic power after controlling for size and maturation in adolescent basketball players

Background: Adolescence is characterized by increments in body size and physical performance. Short bursts of maximal intensity, requiring anaerobic metabolism, are important in many team sports including basketball. Aim: Variation of anaerobic power of adolescent basketball players (n = 93, 14–16 years) in relation to years before and after estimated age at peak height velocity (PHV) and variation in body size was considered. Methods: The cross-sectional study included chronological age, estimated age at PHV, training experience; stature, body mass (BM), free-fat mass (FFM) and estimated lower-limb volume (LLV) by anthropometry; and short-term power outputs derived from the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT). Based on proportional allometric modeling, power outputs were partitioned for biological maturity status and size variables. Pearson correlations were used to estimate the associations between distance to PHV (maturity offset) and training experience with absolute and scaled estimates of short-term power. Results: Absolute WAnT increased linearly (PP, r = 0.72; MP, r = 0.74) through the interval of rapid growth of the adolescent spurt. Increments were related mainly to BM and muscle mass. Nevertheless, a residual significant positive influence of chronological age per se on maximal short-term power outputs remained independent of body size. Conclusion: Allometric modelling to partition size may reveal other potentially meaningful factors in the development of short-term performance in adolescent athletes.