Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Characterization Scheme of $\hbox{Si/SiO}_{2}$  Interface Roughness for Surface Roughness Scattering-Limited Mobilities of Electrons and Holes in Unstrained- and Strained-Si MOSFETs

In this paper, a novel method to directly determine the surface roughness scattering-limited mobilities (μsr) of electrons and holes in Si MOSFETs from the experimental data of MOS interface roughness is proposed and compared with the experimental μsr of Si MOSFETs with and without biaxial tensile strain. This method includes the direct evaluation of the scattering potential from the power spectra of Si/SiO2 interface roughness data, which are taken through high-resolution advanced transmission electron microscopy measurements, without assuming any autocorrelation function form of the interface roughness, like a Gaussian or exponential function. It is found, for the first time, that, by employing the present method, experimental electron and hole μsr (both unstrained and strained Si) could be presented by a same model. As a result, the difference in strain dependence between electron and hole μsr, which has experimentally been observed, is systematically explained by the change of power spectra of the interface roughness due to strain.
A sparse reconstruction based algorithm for image and video classification

The success of sparse reconstruction based classification algorithms largely depends on the choice of overcomplete bases (dictionary). Existing methods either use the training samples as the dictionary elements or learn a dictionary by optimizing a cost function with an additional discriminating component. While the former method requires a good number of training samples per class and is not suitable for video signals, the later adds instability and more computational load. This paper presents a sparse reconstruction based classification algorithm that mitigates the above difficulties. We argue that learning class-specific dictionaries, one per class, is a natural approach to discrimination. We describe each training signal by an error vector consisting of the reconstruction errors the signal produces w.r. t each dictionary. This representation is robust to noise, occlusion and is also highly discriminative. The efficacy of the proposed method is demonstrated in terms of high accuracy for image-based Species and Face recognition and video-based Action recognition.
Object Recognition by Discriminative Combinations of Line Segments, Ellipses, and Appearance Features

We present a novel contour-based approach that recognizes object classes in real-world scenes using simple and generic shape primitives of line segments and ellipses. Compared to commonly used contour fragment features, these primitives support more efficient representation since their storage requirements are independent of object size. Additionally, these primitives are readily described by their geometrical properties and hence afford very efficient feature comparison. We pair these primitives as shape-tokens and learn discriminative combinations of shape-tokens. Here, we allow each combination to have a variable number of shape-tokens. This, coupled with the generic nature of primitives, enables a variety of class-specific shape structures to be learned. Building on the contour-based method, we propose a new hybrid recognition method that combines shape and appearance features. Each discriminative combination can vary in the number and the types of features, where these two degrees of variability empower the hybrid method with even more flexibility and discriminative potential. We evaluate our methods across a large number of challenging classes, and obtain very competitive results against other methods. These results show the proposed shape primitives are indeed sufficiently powerful to recognize object classes in complex real-world scenes.
Classification of Generalized Hadamard Matrices H(6,3) and Quaternary Hermitian Self-Dual Codes of Length 18

All generalized Hadamard matrices of order 18 over a group of order 3, $H(6,3)$, are enumerated in two different ways: once, as class regular symmetric $(6,3)$-nets, or symmetric transversal designs on 54 points and 54 blocks with a group of order 3 acting semi-regularly on points and blocks, and secondly, as collections of full weight vectors in quaternary Hermitian self-dual codes of length 18. The second enumeration is based on the classification of Hermitian self-dual $[18,9]$ codes over $GF(4)$, completed in this paper. It is shown that up to monomial equivalence, there are 85 generalized Hadamard matrices $H(6,3)$, and 245 inequivalent Hermitian self-dual codes of length 18 over $GF(4)$.
Discovering Study-Specific Gene Regulatory Networks

Microarrays are commonly used in biology because of their ability to simultaneously measure thousands of genes under different conditions. Due to their structure, typically containing a high amount of variables but far fewer samples, scalable network analysis techniques are often employed. In particular, consensus approaches have been recently used that combine multiple microarray studies in order to find networks that are more robust. The purpose of this paper, however, is to combine multiple microarray studies to automatically identify subnetworks that are distinctive to specific experimental conditions rather than common to them all. To better understand key regulatory mechanisms and how they change under different conditions, we derive unique networks from multiple independent networks built using glasso which goes beyond standard correlations. This involves calculating cluster prediction accuracies to detect the most predictive genes for a specific set of conditions. We differentiate between accuracies calculated using cross-validation within a selected cluster of studies (the intra prediction accuracy) and those calculated on a set of independent studies belonging to different study clusters (inter prediction accuracy). Finally, we compare our method's results to related state-of-the art techniques. We explore how the proposed pipeline performs on both synthetic data and real data (wheat and Fusarium). Our results show that subnetworks can be identified reliably that are specific to subsets of studies and that these networks reflect key mechanisms that are fundamental to the experimental conditions in each of those subsets.
Magnified Neural Envelope Coding Predicts Deficits in Speech Perception in Noise

Verbal communication in noisy backgrounds is challenging. Understanding speech in background noise that fluctuates in intensity over time is particularly difficult for hearing-impaired listeners with a sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). The reduction in fast-acting cochlear compression associated with SNHL exaggerates the perceived fluctuations in intensity in amplitude-modulated sounds. SNHL-induced changes in the coding of amplitude-modulated sounds may have a detrimental effect on the ability of SNHL listeners to understand speech in the presence of modulated background noise. To date, direct evidence for a link between magnified envelope coding and deficits in speech identification in modulated noise has been absent. Here, magnetoencephalography was used to quantify the effects of SNHL on phase locking to the temporal envelope of modulated noise (envelope coding) in human auditory cortex. Our results show that SNHL enhances the amplitude of envelope coding in posteromedial auditory cortex, whereas it enhances the fidelity of envelope coding in posteromedial and posterolateral auditory cortex. This dissociation was more evident in the right hemisphere, demonstrating functional lateralization in enhanced envelope coding in SNHL listeners. However, enhanced envelope coding was not perceptually beneficial. Our results also show that both hearing thresholds and, to a lesser extent, magnified cortical envelope coding in left posteromedial auditory cortex predict speech identification in modulated background noise. We propose a framework in which magnified envelope coding in posteromedial auditory cortex disrupts the segregation of speech from background noise, leading to deficits in speech perception in modulated background noise. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT People with hearing loss struggle to follow conversations in noisy environments. Background noise that fluctuates in intensity over time poses a particular challenge. Using magnetoencephalography, we demonstrate anatomically distinct cortical representations of modulated noise in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. This work provides the first link among hearing thresholds, the amplitude of cortical representations of modulated sounds, and the ability to understand speech in modulated background noise. In light of previous work, we propose that magnified cortical representations of modulated sounds disrupt the separation of speech from modulated background noise in auditory cortex.
Understanding childdefined gestures and children's mental models for touchscreen tabletop interaction

Creating a predefined set of touchscreen gestures that caters to all users and age groups is difficult. To inform the design of intuitive and easy to use gestures specifically for children, we adapted a userdefined gesture study by Wobbrock et al. [12] that had been designed for adults. We then compared gestures created on an interactive tabletop by 12 children and 14 adults. Our study indicates that previous touchscreen experience strongly influences the gestures created by both groups; that adults and children create similar gestures; and that the adaptations we made allowed us to successfully elicit userdefined gestures from both children and adults. These findings will aid designers in better supporting touchscreen gestures for children, and provide a basis for further userdefined gesture studies with children.
W-1 solubilization and kinetics of inhibition by cilofungin of Candida albicans (1,3)-beta-D-glucan synthase

(1,3)-beta-D-Glucan synthase of Candida albicans was rendered soluble by treatment of membrane preparations with the polyoxyethylene ether detergent W-1. Extraction with 0.025% W-1 at 4 degrees C for 24 h effectively solubilized and activated the enzyme. Under these conditions, greater than 85% of the protein in membrane preparations was released, and about 64% of the glucan synthase activity could be recovered in the soluble form. Soluble enzyme activity was stable for more than 12 days at 4 degrees C. Also, glucan synthase activity in the extracted membrane preparations could be activated to achieve more than twice the enzyme activity in the original, unextracted membrane preparations. The soluble glucan synthase had characteristics similar to those of the membrane-bound enzyme. Soluble glucan synthase had an apparent Km of 2.0 mM, and particulate glucan synthase had an apparent Km of 2.5 mM. Kinetics of cilofungin inhibition for both enzyme preparations were noncompetitive, with an apparent Ki of 2.5 microM; both preparations could be inhibited by cilofungin but not by its peptide nucleus or side chain, either alone or in combination. The reaction products from both forms of the enzyme were sensitive to (1,3)-beta-D-glucanase degradation but not to alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, or proteinase K degradation and thus were shown to be beta(1----3) glucan.
Circulating collagen metabolites, myocardial fibrosis and heart failure in aortic valve stenosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY Myocardial fibrosis predisposes to heart failure in aortic valve stenosis. The study aim was to determine the value of: (i) circulating collagen metabolites as biomarkers of left ventricular fibrosis and heart failure in aortic stenosis; and (ii) myocardial fibrosis as a predictor of postoperative outcome. METHODS Among a total of 132 patients (mean age 68 +/- 10 years) with severe aortic stenosis, measurements were made of circulating N-terminal propeptide of procollagen I (PINP), C-terminal telopeptide of collagen I (CITP) and N-terminal propeptide of procollagen III (PIIINP). Cardiac catheterization, echocardiography and a 6-min walk test were also performed. The aorta-to-coronary sinus concentration gradients of collagen metabolites were determined in 45 patients. Patients free from coronary artery disease (n = 85) underwent left ventricular biopsies for the assessment of myocardial fibrosis, one-year postoperative echocardiography and a 6-min walk test, and a long-term follow up for mortality. RESULTS Neither peripheral collagen metabolites nor their transcardiac concentration gradients correlated with the extent of myocardial fibrosis. PIIINP demonstrated a net release from the heart, while PINP and CITP showed consistent falls in transcardiac concentrations that suggested extraction rather than release by the heart. Peripheral PIIINP correlated directly with the pulmonary wedge pressure (r = 0.50, p < 0.001) and inversely with the left ventricular ejection fraction (r = -0.40, p = 0.00001) and 6-min walk (r = -0.29, p = 0.001). Similar associations with heart failure were found for CITP, but not for PINP. One-year postoperative changes in exercise capacity and left ventricular mass and function were independent of myocardial fibrosis, as was mortality over a median of 8.8 years. CONCLUSION Circulating collagen metabolites are not reliable surrogate measures of myocardial fibrosis in aortic stenosis, despite CITP and PIIINP being associated strongly with heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction. The results of surgery, including long-term survival, appear independent of the extent of myocardial fibrosis.
Including pitch accent optionality in unit selection text-to-speech synthesis

A significant variability in pitch accent placement is found when comparing the patterns of prosodic prominence realized by different English speakers reading the same sentences. In this paper we describe a simple approach to incorporate this variability to synthesize prosodic prominence in unit selection text-to-speech synthesis. The main motivation of our approach is that by taking into account the variability of accent placements we enlarge the set of prosodically acceptable speech units, thus increasing the chances of selecting a good quality sequence of units, both in prosodic and segmental terms. Results on a large scale perceptual test show the benefits of our approach and indicate directions for further improvements.
Haematological indices, size of erythrocytes and haemoglobin saturation in broiler chickens kept in commercial conditions

The study aimed at analysing and comparing haematological indices, blood saturation and dimensions of red blood cells of Ross 308 broiler chickens of both sexes. On day 44 of rearing, blood was withdrawn once from 60 randomly selected chickens (1:1 sex ratio). Prior to blood withdrawal the chickens were weighed and their heart rate and haemoglobin saturation were assessed. The following blood parameters were determined: number of RBC and WBC, HGB content and HCT value. In addition, MCV, MCH and MCHC indices were calculated as well as the content (%) of individual leukocyte forms. Measured was also the length, width and circumference of erythrocytes. The measured heart rate (sexes pooled) ranged from 179 to 438 beats/min. Females had significantly higher (by 26.2 beats/min.) value of this trait in comparison with males. Blood of birds of both sexes was characterized by similar haemoglobin saturation (87%). MCV value in males was found by 3.35 fl higher than that in females. Eosinophiles content of blood was by 1.77 percent units higher in females which were also characterised by smaller and more elongated red blood cells. A significant positive relationship was also found between leukocyte and erythrocyte numbers, haemoglobin content and haematocrit value. Negative values of phenotype correlation coefficient were found between MCHC and erythrocyte number, haemoglobin content and haematocrit value. A lower MCV value and higher content of eosinophils of blood were identified in females which were also characterized by smaller and more elongated erythrocytes.
A New Look at Tensile Creep of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

The study reveals that additional steel fibers with a volume fraction of 0.50% influences the individual components of tensile creep in different manners. Steel fibers reduce the initial rate of tensile basic creep, but increase long term basic creep capacity. That suggests that fibers provide more stress relaxation in time. The study attributes this to the ability of the fibers to control microcracking, distribute internal stresses more uniformly and engage greater volume of the matrix in stress transfer. To avoid confusion in interpreting the stress relaxation of FRC from total tensile creep and drying creep test results, the study suggests dividing the stress relaxation mechanisms into beneficial and detrimental components. This study demonstrates an approach for testing tensile creep of concrete in order to isolate the mechanisms responsible for basic and drying creep.
Sphingolipid–Cholesterol Rafts Diffuse as Small Entities in the Plasma Membrane of Mammalian Cells

To probe the dynamics and size of lipid rafts in the membrane of living cells, the local diffusion of single membrane proteins was measured. A laser trap was used to confine the motion of a bead bound to a raft protein to a small area (diam ≤ 100 nm) and to measure its local diffusion by high resolution single particle tracking. Using protein constructs with identical ectodomains and different membrane regions and vice versa, we demonstrate that this method provides the viscous damping of the membrane domain in the lipid bilayer. When glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) -anchored and transmembrane proteins are raft-associated, their diffusion becomes independent of the type of membrane anchor and is significantly reduced compared with that of nonraft transmembrane proteins. Cholesterol depletion accelerates the diffusion of raft-associated proteins for transmembrane raft proteins to the level of transmembrane nonraft proteins and for GPI-anchored proteins even further. Raft-associated GPI-anchored proteins were never observed to dissociate from the raft within the measurement intervals of up to 10 min. The measurements agree with lipid rafts being cholesterol-stabilized complexes of 26 ± 13 nm in size diffusing as one entity for minutes.
Do more views of a graph help? Community detection and clustering in multi-graphs

Given a co-authorship collaboration network, how well can we cluster the participating authors into communities? If we also consider their citation network, based on the same individuals, is it possible to do a better job? In general, given a network with multiple types (or views) of edges (e.g., collaboration, citation, friendship), can community detection and graph clustering benefit? In this work, we propose Multi-CLUS and GraphFuse, two multi-graph clustering techniques powered by Minimum Description Length and Tensor analysis, respectively. We conduct experiments both on real and synthetic networks, evaluating the performance of our approaches. Our results demonstrate higher clustering accuracy than state-of-the-art baselines that do not exploit the multi-view nature of the network data. Finally, we address the fundamental question posed in the title, and provide a comprehensive answer, based on our systematic analysis.
Logistic Regression: Tight Bounds for Stochastic and Online Optimization

The logistic loss function is often advocated in machine learning and statistics as a smooth and strictly convex surrogate for the 0-1 loss. In this paper we investigate the question of whether these smoothness and convexity properties make the logistic loss preferable to other widely considered options such as the hinge loss. We show that in contrast to known asymptotic bounds, as long as the number of prediction/optimization iterations is sub exponential, the logistic loss provides no improvement over a generic non-smooth loss function such as the hinge loss. In particular we show that the convergence rate of stochastic logistic optimization is bounded from below by a polynomial in the diameter of the decision set and the number of prediction iterations, and provide a matching tight upper bound. This resolves the COLT open problem of McMahan and Streeter (2012).
Algebraic MultiGrid Methods for Nodal and Edge based Discretizations of Maxwell ’ s Equations

This paper deals with the efficient solution of Maxwell’s equation in the static and eddy current case using enhanced Algebraic MultiGrid methods. The magnetic vector potential is used as the field variable and Lagrange (nodal) as well as Nédélec (edge) finite elements are applied for the spatial discretization. Numerical studies for the static case (TEAM 20), the eddy current case in time domain (Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner) and in frequency domain (electric transformer) will demonstrate the applicability of the developed Algebraic MultiGrid methods.
miR-519 reduces cell proliferation by lowering RNA-binding protein HuR levels

Gene expression is potently regulated through the action of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). Here, we present evidence of a miRNA regulating an RBP. The RBP HuR can stabilize and modulate the translation of numerous target mRNAs involved in cell proliferation, but little is known about the mechanisms that regulate HuR abundance. We identified two putative sites of miR-519 interaction on the HuR mRNA, one in its coding region (CR), one in its 3′-untranslated region (UTR). In several human carcinoma cell lines tested, HeLa (cervical), HCT116 and RKO (colon), and A2780 (ovarian), overexpression of a miR-519 precursor [(Pre)miR-519] reduced HuR abundance, while inhibiting miR-519 by using an antisense RNA [(AS)miR-519] elevated HuR levels. The influence of miR-519 was recapitulated using heterologous reporter constructs that revealed a greater repressive effect on the HuR CR than the HuR 3′-UTR target sequences. miR-519 did not alter HuR mRNA abundance, but reduced HuR biosynthesis, as determined by measuring nascent HuR translation and HuR mRNA association with polysomes. Modulation of miR-519 leading to altered HuR levels in turn affected the levels of proteins encoded by HuR target mRNAs. In keeping with HuR's proliferative influence, (AS)miR-519 significantly increased cell number and [3H]-thymidine incorporation, while (Pre)miR-519 reduced these parameters. Importantly, the growth-promoting effects of (AS)miR-519 required the presence of HuR, because downregulation of HuR by RNAi dramatically suppressed its proliferative action. In sum, miR-519 represses HuR translation, in turn reducing HuR-regulated gene expression and cell division.