Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improvement of NBTI and electrical characteristics by ozone pre-treatment and PBTI issues in HfAlO(N) high-k gate dielectrics

For the first time, we have investigated the effect of ozone (O/sub 3/) pre-treatment on the bias temperature instability (BTI) characteristics of high-k gate dielectrics. We found that O/sub 3/ pre-treatment improved NBTI and the electrical characteristics of HfAlON gate dielectric. We suggest that O/sub 3/ pre-treatment effectively suppresses the incorporation of the impurities (such as nitrogen (N), hydrogen (H) and water related species), resulting in the improvement of NBTI characteristics (-2.32 V operating voltage for 10 years lifetime). For the PBTI characteristics, the high-k gate dielectric with poly-Si gate electrode was severely degraded. We suggest that dopants (such as arsenic (As) and phosphorus (P)) in the gate electrode of nMOSFETs diffuse into the gate dielectrics, causing the severe degradation of PBTI characteristics (/spl sim/1.1 V operating voltage for 10 years lifetime). We believe that the optimization in the high-k gate stack can improve the PBTI characteristics by suppressing the dopants incorporation.
Guar gum as platform for the oral controlled release of therapeutics

Introduction: The past decade of research has witnessed a huge advancement in research efforts on guar gum (GG)-based polymers as controlled release (CR) formulations for the delivery of therapeutics. Areas covered: The unique structure and beneficial properties of GG makes it an attractive biomaterial in CR applications. Current status on GG-based polymers has been addressed as a CR formulation in the form of microspheres, nanoparticles, hydrogels and matrix tablets for the delivery of various types of therapeutics having a wide range of physicochemical properties. Majority of literature on GG as a platform technology has dealt with oral route of drug administration as it is the most convenient, patient-compliant and preferred approach. Recent reports on GG-based polymers are summarized and critically discussed to narrate their usefulness as oral delivery systems. Expert opinion: The research on GG-based formulations has been focused on optimization of the therapy by designing CR dosage forms with a minimum number of excipients. In this context, GG-based polymers are quite attractive. The present review summarizes published reports on these systems and offers expert opinion relevant to oral delivery of therapeutics.
The relationship between the supply of fast-food chains and cardiovascular outcomes.

OBJECTIVE To examine the extent to which inter-regional differences in fast-food concentrations account for variations in all-cause mortality and acute coronary syndromes throughout Ontario, Canada. METHODS Nine distinct fast-food chains were selected based on top sales data in 2001. The per capita rate of fast-food outlets per region was calculated for each of 380 regions throughout Ontario. Outcome measures, obtained using 2001 vital statistics data and hospital discharge abstracts, included regional per capita mortality rates and acute coronary syndrome hospitalization rates; head trauma served as a comparator. All regional outcomes were adjusted for age, gender, and socio-economic status, and were analyzed as continuous and rank-ordered variables as compared with the provincial average. RESULTS Mortality and admissions for acute coronary syndromes were higher in regions with greater numbers of fast-food services after adjustment for risk. Risk-adjusted outcomes among regions intensive in fast-food services were more likely to be high outliers for both mortality (Adjusted Odds Ratio (OR): 2.52, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.54 - 4.13, p < 0.001) and acute coronary hospitalizations (Adjusted OR: 2.62, 95% CI 1.42 - 3.59, p < 0.001) compared to regions with low fast-food service intensity. There was no relationship between the concentration of fast-food outlets and risk-adjusted head-trauma hospitalization rates. INTERPRETATION Inter-regional cardiac outcome disparities throughout Ontario were partially explained by fast-food service intensity. Such findings emphasize the need to target health promotion and prevention initiatives to highest-risk communities.
Osteopontin Promoter Polymorphisms are Associated With Susceptibility to Gastric Cancer

Goals: To evaluate the significance of osteopontin (OPN) genotypes in the susceptibility to gastric cancer. Background: The expression of OPN has been correlated with development, invasiveness, metastasis, and survival of gastric cancer, but the role of polymorphisms in the OPN promoter has not been investigated. Study: We enrolled 146 gastric cancer patients and 128 controls. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leucocytes. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the OPN promoter (−66, −156, −443, −616, −1748, and −1776) were analyzed by pyrosequencing and direct sequencing methods. Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the associations between SNPs and development of gastric cancer. Results: SNP −443 C/C and −616 T/T of the OPN promoter were significantly associated with gastric cancer [odds ratio (OR)=2.88; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16-7.12 and OR=1.95; 95% CI, 1.35-2.82, respectively]. Analysis of the combined effect of OPN promoter SNPs revealed that the combination of SNP −443 (T/C or C/C) and SNP −616 (T/T or T/G) had the most significant association with gastric cancer (OR=3.95; 95% CI, 1.58-9.90). Conclusions: Our results suggest that polymorphisms in the OPN promoter are associated with the development of gastric cancer, and the combination of SNP −443 (T/C or C/C) and −616 (T/T or T/G) most significantly increases susceptibility to gastric cancer.
Evaluation of polygenic risk scores for predicting breast and prostate cancer risk

Recently, polygenic risk scores (PRS) have been shown to be associated with certain complex diseases. The approach has been based on the contribution of counting multiple alleles associated with disease across independent loci, without requiring compelling evidence that every locus had already achieved definitive genome‐wide statistical significance. Whether PRS assist in the prediction of risk of common cancers is unknown. We built PRS from lists of genetic markers prioritized by their association with breast cancer (BCa) or prostate cancer (PCa) in a training data set and evaluated whether these scores could improve current genetic prediction of these specific cancers in independent test samples. We used genome‐wide association data on 1,145 BCa cases and 1,142 controls from the Nurses' Health Study and 1,164 PCa cases and 1,113 controls from the Prostate Lung Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Ten‐fold cross validation was used to build and evaluate PRS with 10 to 60,000 independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). For both BCa and PCa, the models that included only published risk alleles maximized the cross‐validation estimate of the area under the ROC curve (0.53 for breast and 0.57 for prostate). We found no significant evidence that PRS using common variants improved risk prediction for BCa and PCa over replicated SNP scores. Genet. Epidemiol. 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. 35: 506‐514, 2011
In vitro antimicrobial effect of chlorhexidine-impregnated gutta percha points on Enterococcus faecalis.

AIM To evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial effect of chlorhexidine-impregnated gutta percha points, Roeko activ point (Roeko, Langenau, Germany) on Enterococcus faecalis. METHODOLOGY Human maxillary premolar roots were prepared with.04 rotary ProFile instruments to a master apical file size 40, autoclave-sterilized and then infected with E. faecalis (ATCC 29212) for 3 weeks. Baseline controls were carried out verifying negligible effects of plain gutta percha cones on E. faecalis. Subsequent to intracanal placement of calcium hydroxide, 'activ points' or saline (positive control) and the 2-week incubation in 54 root specimens, dentine sampling at depths of 100 and 250 micro m was carried out using.04 rotary ProFile instruments at sizes 60 and 90 to assess the quantity of bacteria present. Inactivating agents were used prior to sampling and the colony-forming units (CFU) of E. faecalis were then plate-counted after culturing. Statistical analysis was completed using the paired t-test. RESULTS In comparison to the positive control, treatment with calcium hydroxide (P = 0.000 and 0.000) or activ points (P = 0.000 and 0.002) produced significantly lower colony counts of E. faecalis at dentine depths of 100 and 250 micro m, respectively. Calcium hydroxide (2.10 x 102 CFU mL-1) was significantly more effective than activ points (1.58 x 103 CFU mL-1) at 100 micro m (P = 0.013), but not at 250 micro m (P = 0.353). Neither of these two medications was able to eliminate E. faecalis completely. CONCLUSIONS Chlorhexidine-impregnated activ points did not possess an in vitro inhibitory activity strong enough to eliminate E. faecalis completely from infected dentinal tubules.
A convergent O ( n ) algorithm for off-policy temporal-difference learning with linear function approximation

We introduce the first temporal-difference learning algorithm that is stable with linear function approximation and off-policy training, for any finite Markov decision process, behavior policy, and target policy, and whose complexity scales linearly in the number of parameters. We consider an i.i. d. policy-evaluation setting in which the data need not come from on-policy experience. The gradient temporal-difference (GTD) algorithm estimates the expected update vector of the TD(0) algorithm and performs stochastic gradient descent on its L2 norm. We prove that this algorithm is stable and convergent under the usual stochastic approximation conditions to the same least-squares solution as found by the LSTD, but without LSTD's quadratic computational complexity. GTD is online and incremental, and does not involve multiplying by products of likelihood ratios as in importance-sampling methods.
The Influence of Capital Controls on Long Run Growth: Where and How Much?

The recent financial crisis in East Asia has generated a revival of interest in the merits of financial openness. The ensuing debate on the benefits of openness has focused more on short and medium run issues than on the long run effects. Within the empirical literature on economic growth, little or no attention has been paid to the effects of financial openness. Contrary to the orthodox position, the few results that exist suggest that capital controls have no effect on economic growth. This paper argues that this conclusion emerges from a failure to account for underlying differences across countries with similar degrees of capital controls. I show that the degree of ethnic and linguistic heterogeneity in a country plays a significant role in explaining the effects of controls on economic growth. For countries with relatively higher degrees of ethnic heterogeneity, the effects are particularly adverse whereas for countries with high degrees of homogeneity, capital controls actually have a net positive effect on economic growth. On balance, more developing countries suffered due to controls than not. Within the sample of 57 non-OECD countries that did implement controls for the period 1975-95, as many as 39 saw a reduction in their growth rates. This result is robust to a number of variables commonly used in the economic growth regressions.
Critical points in coupled Potts models and critical phases in coupled loop models

We show how to couple two critical Q-state Potts models to yield a new self-dual critical point. We also present strong evidence of a dense critical phase near this critical point when the Potts models are defined in their completely packed loop representations. In the continuum limit, the new critical point is described by an SU(2) coset conformal field theory, while in this limit of the critical phase, the two loop models decouple. Using a combination of exact results and numerics, we also obtain the phase diagram in the presence of vacancies. We generalize these results to coupling two Potts models at different Q.
Traits fonctionnels, tolérances et distributions des espèces herbacées sur un gradient de disponibilité en eau : une approche prédictive par modèle d'équation structurale

III REMERCIEMENTS . V TABLE DES MATIERES . VI LISTE DES ABRÉVIATIONS . XI LISTE DES TABLEAUX . XIII LISTE DES FIGURES . XV CHAPITRE 1 INTRODUCTION GENERALE . 1 Approche fonctionnelle en écologie . 1 Traits et syndrome de traits . 3 Le filtrage environnemental . 8 Des filtres emboités . 8 Niches des espèces . 10 Interactions biotiques . 11 Importance du filtre abiotique de l'eau . 12 Une question d'échelle . 13 La prépondérance des études sur les arbres et herbacées cultivées . 15 Stratégie de survie face à la sécheresse . 16 Écophysiologie d'utilisation de l'eau . 16 Traits morphologiques et écophysiologiques reliés au stress hydrique . 20 Hiérarchisation des traits . 21 Objectifs . 24 Méthodes . 26 Première expérience : en conditions contrôlées . 26 Deuxième expérience : en conditions naturelles . 35 Contributions et originalités du sujet . 37 CHAPITRE 2 PREDICTING HABITAT AFFINITIES OF HERBACEOUS DICOTS TO SOIL WETNESS BASED ON PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAITS OF DROUGHT TOLERANCE . 38 Description de l’article et contribution . 38 Predicting habitat affinities of herbaceous dicots to soil wetness based on physiological traits of drought tolerance . 40 Abstract . 40 Introduction . 41
Using Neural Network Rule Extraction and Decision Tables for Credit - Risk Evaluation

Credit-risk evaluation is a very challenging and important management science problem in the domain of financial analysis. Many classification methods have been suggested in the literature to tackle this problem. Neural networks, especially, have received a lot of attention because of their universal approximation property. However, a major drawback associated with the use of neural networks for decision making is their lack of explanation capability. While they can achieve a high predictive accuracy rate, the reasoning behind how they reach their decisions is not readily available. In this paper, we present the results from analysing three real-life credit-risk data sets using neural network rule extraction techniques. Clarifying the neural network decisions by explanatory rules that capture the learned knowledge embedded in the networks can help the credit-risk manager in explaining why a particular applicant is classified as either bad or good. Furthermore, we also discuss how these rules can be visualized as a decision table in a compact and intuitive graphical format that facilitates easy consultation. It is concluded that neural network rule extraction and decision tables are powerful management tools that allow us to build advanced and userfriendly decision-support systems for credit-risk evaluation.
A Robust Bayesian Truth Serum for Non-Binary Signals

Several mechanisms have been proposed for incentivizing truthful reports of a private signals owned by rational agents, among them the peer prediction method and the Bayesian truth serum. The robust Bayesian truth serum (RBTS) for small populations and binary signals is particularly interesting since it does not require a common prior to be known to the mechanism. We further analyze the problem of the common prior not known to the mechanism and give several results regarding the restrictions that need to be placed in order to have an incentive-compatible mechanism. Moreover, we construct a Bayes-Nash incentive-compatible scheme called multi-valued RBTS that generalizes RBTS to operate on both small populations and non-binary signals.
The α-Helix 4 Residue, Asn135, Is Involved in the Oligomerization of Cry1Ac1 and Cry1Ab5 Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins

ABSTRACT The insecticidal Cry toxins produced by the bacteriumBacillus thuringiensis are comprised of three structural domains. Domain I, a seven-helix bundle, is thought to penetrate the insect epithelial cell plasma membrane through a hairpin composed of α-helices 4 and 5, followed by the oligomerization of four hairpin monomers. The α-helix 4 has been proposed to line the lumen of the pore, whereas some residues in α-helix 5 have been shown to be responsible for oligomerization. Mutation of the Cry1Ac1 α-helix 4 amino acid Asn135 to Gln resulted in the loss of toxicity toManduca sexta, yet binding was still observed. In this study, the equivalent mutation was made in the Cry1Ab5 toxin, and the properties of both wild-type and mutant toxin counterparts were analyzed. Both mutants appeared to bind to M. sextamembrane vesicles, but they were not able to form pores. The ability of both N135Q mutants to oligomerize was also disrupted, providing the first evidence that a residue in α-helix 4 can contribute to toxin oligomerization.
The part-time parliament

Recent archaeological discoveries on the island of Paxos reveal that the parliament functioned despite the peripatetic propensity of its part-time legislators. The legislators maintained consistent copies of the parliamentary record, despite their frequent forays from the chamber and the forgetfulness of their messengers. The Paxon parliament's protocol provides a new way of implementing the state machine approach to the design of distributed systems.
Implementasi Algoritma K-Modes untuk Penentuan Prioritas Rehabilitasi Daerah Aliran Sungai Berdasarkan Parameter Lahan Kritis

The availability of information on the degree criticality of accurate land has particular significance in forest and land rehabilitation program that watershed priorities which will be rehabilitated can be know. From the above problem needs a way to determine the priority watershed that will be rehabilitate. The method used in this research is a K-Modes Clustering. K-Modes Clustering gives a model of dataset into clusters where data on a cluster that has the same characteristics and has different characteristic from other clusters based on land inquiries level parameters. From this research obtained watershed group with low scores in the area of protected forest. It is found in cluster 2 that has criticalland criteria in form of the moderate land cover, the sloping slope, the verti severe erosion harzard and the poor management.
Quorum-Sensing Signals and Quorum-Sensing Genes in Burkholderia vietnamiensis

ABSTRACT Acyl-homoserine lactone (acyl-HSL) quorum sensing is common to many Proteobacteria including a clinical isolate of Burkholderia cepacia. The B. cepacia isolate produces low levels of octanoyl-HSL. We have examined an environmental isolate of Burkholderia vietnamiensis. This isolate produced several acyl-HSLs. The most abundant species was decanoyl-HSL. Decanoyl-HSL in B. vietnamiensis cultures reached concentrations in excess of 20 μM. We isolated a B. vietnamiensis DNA fragment containing a gene for the synthesis of decanoyl-HSL (bviI) and an open reading frame that codes for a putative signal receptor (bviR). A B. vietnamiensis bviI mutant did not produce detectable levels of decanoyl-HSL.
Monitoring Cucumber Beetles in Sweetpotato and Cucurbits with Kairomone-Baited Traps

Abstract Seven kairomone formulations (Trécé, Inc., Salinas, CA) were evaluated for their effectiveness as attractants for luring three species of cucumber beetles into Pherocon CRW traps (Trécé, Inc.) in cucurbit and sweetpotato fields. The spotted cucumber beetle, Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber; the banded cucumber beetle, Diabrotica balteata LeConte; and the striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum (F.), were captured in this study. TRE8276 (TIC mixture: 500 mg of 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene, 500 mg of indole, and 500 mg of trans-cinnamaldeyde) and TRE8336 (500 mg of 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene, 500 mg of trans-cinnamaldeyde, 500 mg of 4-methoxyphenethanol) were the most effective lures for spotted and striped cucumber beetles. None of the kairomone lures was very effective for attracting banded cucumber beetles. Three population peaks of spotted cucumber beetles were observed in cucurbit and sweetpotato fields at the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory (Charleston, SC). The efficacy of TRE8276 declined rapidly after 2 wk in the field. An improved design of the Pherocon CRW trap, with a yellow bottom and more-tapered top section, was more effective for capturing cucumber beetles than the original trap design made entirely of clear plastic. Banded cucumber beetles were not captured in sweetpotato fields at inland locations in North Carolina or South Carolina.
The relationship between abnormalities of pigmentation and of the inner ear

Abnormalities of pigmentation and of the inner ear occur together in inherited syndromes in several mammals, including man. The pigmentary abnormalities are always of the white spotting kind, which is distinct from albinism, although the entire skin and fur may be affected. The inner ear abnormalities are confined to the cochlea and the saccule, and follow a certain pattern. Recently, the author obtained some evidence suggesting that this association might be based on the common origin of the melanocytes and a part of the acoustic ganglion in the neural crest: the abnormalities of the ear were looked for in two spotted mutants in the mouse in which the neural crest had been experimentally shown to be abnormal, and they were found. The questions arose: how widespread were abnormalities of the ear in animals with spotting, and what were the requirements in size and locality of spots for the involvement of the ear? To answer these the inner ear was examined in mice of 15 genotypes covering a wide range with regard to the degree and locality of spotting. Abnormalities were found in all heavily spotted genotypes. Of much greater interest were the observations that the pigmentation of the inner ear was also always affected; that the spotting of the coat was not a good guide to this internal 'spotting'; and that the severity and extent of the inner ear abnormalities were much more closely related to the internal than to the external spotting. Moreover, most genotypes had their own pattern of internal ‘spotting’. No observation was made that was incompatible with the hypothesis that the neural crest might be the link between the two components of the syndrome. The chief alternative explanation, that the pigment or the pigment cells have some unknown function in the inner ear, cannot be entirely ruled out, but it has several weighty arguments against it. This study has also explained why the two components of the syndrome sometimes appear to be separated. It has shown that the problem of the nature and origin of spotting in mammals is even more complex than was thought before. The evolutionary significance of the relationship between pigmentation and the inner ear is pointed out.
Effective characterizations of tree logics

A survey of effective characterizations of tree logics. If L is a logic, then an effective characterization for L is an algorithm, which inputs a tree automaton and replies if the recognized language can be defined by a formula in L. The logics L considered include path testable languages, frontier testable languages, fragments of Core XPath, and fragments of monadic second-order logic.
Delay-Tolerant Algorithms for Asynchronous Distributed Online Learning

We analyze new online gradient descent algorithms for distributed systems with large delays between gradient computations and the corresponding updates. Using insights from adaptive gradient methods, we develop algorithms that adapt not only to the sequence of gradients, but also to the precise update delays that occur. We first give an impractical algorithm that achieves a regret bound that precisely quantifies the impact of the delays. We then analyze AdaptiveRevision, an algorithm that is efficiently implementable and achieves comparable guarantees. The key algorithmic technique is appropriately and efficiently revising the learning rate used for previous gradient steps. Experimental results show when the delays grow large (1000 updates or more), our new algorithms perform significantly better than standard adaptive gradient methods.