Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A low power and reliable charge pump design for Phase Change Memories

The emerging Phase Change Memory (PCM) technology exhibits excellent scalability and density potentials. At the same time, they require high current and high voltages to switch cell states. Their working voltages are provided by CMOS-compatible on-chip charge pumps (CPs). Unfortunately, CPs and particularly those for RESET, have a large parasitic power (a dominant component in total power loss) during operations, which significantly degrades their energy efficiency. In addition, CPs seriously suffer from the Time-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown (TDDB) problem due to their boosted operation voltage. To maintain a reasonable lifetime of CPs, existing solutions actively switch them on per-operation basis, resulting in large performance degradation. In this paper, we address the above issues through two designs - Reset_Sch (RESET scheduling) and CP_Sch (CP scheduling). Reset_Sch schedules when to perform a RESET for different cells upon writing a PCM line. It significantly reduces the power loss, and peak working power of RESET CP. CP_Sch incorporates a fast READ CP design to provide fast charge-up time for reads and minimize performance penalty. Our experimental results show that on average, 70%of power loss for RESET CP can be reduced; and performance loss can be reduced from 16% to 2% while achieving a 16% improvement in reliability.
Tunable Balun Low-Noise Amplifier in 65 nm CMOS Technology

The presented paper includes the design and im- plementation of a 65 nm CMOS low-noise amplifier (LNA) based on inductive source degeneration. The amplifier is realized with an active balun enabling a single-ended in- put which is an important requirement for low-cost system on chip implementations. The LNA has a tunable band- pass characteristic from 4.7 GHz up to 5.6 GHz and a con- tinuously tunable gain from 20 dB down to 2 dB, which en- ables the required flexibility for multi-standard, multi-band receiver architectures. The gain and band tuning is realized with an optimized tunable active resistor in parallel to a tun- able L-C tank amplifier load. The amplifier achieves an IIP3 linearity of -8 dBm and a noise figure of 2.7 dB at the highest gain and frequency setting with a low power consumption of 10 mW. The high flexibility of the proposed LNA structure to- gether with the overall good performance make it well suited for future multi-standard low-cost receiver front-ends. Modern wireless communication systems including multimedia capabilities are developing at high pace, with an increasing number of wireless standards for mobile cellu- lar communication (eg. GSM/EDGE, UMTS, LTE), broad- cast applications like DVB-SH, and short-range data com- munication standards like the IEEE 802.11 WLAN or Blue- tooth. To take advantage of the services provided by these mobile communication standards, the integration of multi- standard, multi-band terminals in a single radio architecture with a minimized number of external RF components is nec- essary. This requires novel RF architectures in advanced low-cost CMOS technologies, based on software defined ra- dio and cognitive radio concepts. The wide spread of fre- quency bands from 0.1 GHz up to about 6 GHz, in combina- tion with the high number of concurrent applications, makes the classical integration approach of independent parallel receiver-frontends more and more inefficient and technically demanding. Reusability and tunability of RF key-building blocks like low-noise amplifiers (LNA) will be a manda- tory requirement for future RF transceivers. To reduce the RF performance limitations of modern CMOS technologies like low-gain, low supply voltage and high technology vari- ations, new digitally assisted RF radio solutions can be used to leverage the signal-processing and integration capabilities of CMOS technologies.
Estimating Volatility Risk Factors Using Large Panels of Filtered or Realized Volatilities

The paper considers estimating volatility risk factors using large panels of filtered or realized volatilities. The data structure involves three types of asymptotic expansions. There is the cross-section of volatilities estimates at each point in time, namely i = 1; :::; N observed at dates t = 1; :::; T: In addition to expanding N and T; we also have the sampling frequency h of the data used to compute the volatility estimates where we rely on data collected at increasing frequency, h # 0: The continuous record or in-fill asymptotics (h # 0) allows us to control the crosssectional and serial correlation among the idiosyncratic errors of the panel. A remarkable result emerges. Under suitable regularity conditions the traditional principal component analysis yields super-consistent estimates of the factors at each point in time. Namely, contrary to the root-N standard normal consistency we find N -consistency, also standard normal, due to the fact that the high frequency sampling scheme is tied to the size of the cross-section, boosting the rate of convergence.
Does Corticothalamic Feedback Control Cortical Velocity Tuning?

The thalamus is the major gate to the cortex, and its contribution to cortical receptive field properties is well established. Cortical feedback to the thalamus is, in turn, the anatomically dominant input to relay cells, yet its influence on thalamic processing has been difficult to interpret. For an understanding of complex sensory processing, detailed concepts of the corticothalamic interplay need to be established. To study corticogeniculate processing in a model, we draw on various physiological and anatomical data concerning the intrinsic dynamics of geniculate relay neurons, the cortical influence on relay modes, lagged and nonlagged neurons, and the structure of visual cortical receptive fields. In extensive computer simulations, we elaborate the novel hypothesis that the visual cortex controls via feedback the temporal response properties of geniculate relay cells in a way that alters the tuning of cortical cells for speed.
On the Undecidability of Second-Order Unification

There is a close relationship between word unification and second-order unification. This similarity has been exploited, for instance, in order to prove decidability of monadic second-order unification and decidability of linear second-order unification when no second-order variable occurs more than twice. The attempt to prove the second result for (nonlinear) second-order unification failed and led instead to a natural reduction from simultaneous rigid E-unification to this second-order unification. This reduction is the first main result of this paper, and it is the starting point for proving some novel results about the undecidability of second-order unification presented in the rest of the paper. We prove that second-order unification is undecidable in the following three cases: (1) each second-order variable occurs at most twice and there are only two second-order variables; (2) there is only one second-order variable and it is unary; (3) the following conditions (i)? (iv) hold for some fixed integer n: (i) the arguments of all second-order variables are ground terms of size
Seroprevalence of brucellosis in HIV-infected patients in Sanandaj, Iran.

Results: The mean age of participants in the experimental and control groups were 33.31 ± 7.47 and 34.38 ± 11.29 years, respectively. In the Wright tube test for the HIV + group, 71 individuals (79.8%) did not have an antibody against Brucella spp. , while 18 patients (20.2%) were positive for the antibody. According to the results of Wright tube test for the control group, 63 (12.5%) participants were positive for anti- Brucella antibody. The frequency of antibody against Brucella spp. in the HIV + group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P = 0.042). Conclusions: HIV positive individuals in areas endemic for brucellosis must be investigated for the disease.
Methylglyoxal Mediates Adipocyte Proliferation by Increasing Phosphorylation of Akt1

Methylglyoxal (MG) is a highly reactive metabolite physiologically presented in all biological systems. The effects of MG on diabetes and hypertension have been long recognized. In the present study, we investigated the potential role of MG in obesity, one of the most important factors to cause metabolic syndrome. An increased MG accumulation was observed in the adipose tissue of obese Zucker rats. Cell proliferation assay showed that 5–20 µM of MG stimulated the proliferation of 3T3-L1 cells. Further study suggested that accumulated-MG stimulated the phosphorylation of Akt1 and its targets including p21 and p27. The activated Akt1 then increased the activity of CDK2 and accelerated the cell cycle progression of 3T3-L1 cells. The effects of MG were efficiently reversed by advanced glycation end product (AGE) breaker alagebrium and Akt inhibitor SH-6. In summary, our study revealed a previously unrecognized effect of MG in stimulating adipogenesis by up-regulation of Akt signaling pathway and this mechanism might offer a new approach to explain the development of obesity.
The Complexity of Bounded Length Graph Recoloring

We study the following question: Given are two $k$-colorings $\alpha$ and $\beta$ of a graph $G$ on $n$ vertices, and integer $\ell$. The question is whether $\alpha$ can be modified into $\beta$, by recoloring vertices one at a time, while maintaining a $k$-coloring throughout, and using at most $\ell$ such recoloring steps. This problem is weakly PSPACE-hard for every constant $k\ge 4$. We show that it is also strongly NP-hard for every constant $k\ge 4$. On the positive side, we give an $O(f(k,\ell) n^{O(1)})$ algorithm for the problem, for some computable function $f$. Hence the problem is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by $k+\ell$. Finally, we show that the problem is W[1]-hard (but in XP) when parameterized only by $\ell$.
Inhibitory network properties shaping the light evoked responses of cat alpha retinal ganglion cells

Cat retinal ganglion cells of the Y (or alpha) type respond to luminance changes opposite those preferred by their receptive-field centers with a transient hyperpolarization. Here, we examine the spatial organization and synaptic basis of this light response by means of whole-cell current-clamp recordings made in vitro. The hyperpolarization was largest when stimulus spots approximated the size of the receptive-field center, and diminished substantially for larger spots. The hyperpolarization was largely abolished by bath application of strychnine, a blocker of glycinergic inhibition. Picrotoxin, an antagonist of ionotropic GABA receptors, greatly reduced the attenuation of the hyperpolarizing response for large spots. The data are consistent with a model in which (1) the hyperpolarization reflects inhibition by glycinergic amacrine cells of bipolar terminals presynaptic to the alpha cells, and perhaps direct inhibition of the alpha cell as well; and (2) the attenuation of the hyperpolarization by large spots reflects surround inhibition of the glycinergic amacrine by GABAergic amacrine cells. This circuitry may moderate nonlinearities in the alpha-cell light response and could account for some excitatory and inhibitory influences on alpha cells known to arise from outside the classical receptive field.
Hypertension and clustering of cardiovascular risk factors in a community in Southeast Brazil--The Bambuí Health and Ageing Study.

OBJECTIVE A population-based prospective study was analysed to: a) determine the prevalence of hypertension; b) investigate the clustering of other cardiovascular risk factors and c) verify whether older differed from younger adults in the pattern of clustering. METHODS The data comprised a representative sample of the population of Bambuí, Brazil. Multiple logistic regression was used to investigate the independent association between hypertension and selected factors. RESULTS A total of 820 younger adults (82.5%) and 1494 older adults (85.9%) participated in this study. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 24.8% (SE=1.4 %), being higher in women (26.9+/-1.5%) than in men (22.0+/- 1.7%) (p=0.033). Hypertension was positively and significantly associated with physical inactivity, overweight, hypercholesterolemia hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia. The coexistence of hypertension with 4 or more of these risk factors occurred 6 times more than expected by chance, after adjusting for age and sex (OR=6.3; 95%CI: 3.4-11.9). The pattern of risk factor clustering in hypertensive individuals differed with age. CONCLUSION Our results reinforce the need to increase detection and treatment of hypertension and to approach patients' global risk profiles.
Reply to Comments on “the Cenozoic Fold‐and‐Thrust Belt of Eastern Sardinia: Evidences from the Integration of Field Data With Numerically Balanced Geological Cross Section” by Arragoni et al. (2016)

The comment by Berra et al. (2017) on the evidence of Alpine tectonics in Eastern Sardinia proposed by Arragoni et al. (2016) is based on the sedimentological interpretations of few local outcrops in a marginal portion of the study area. The Cenozoic Alpine fold‐and‐thrust setting, which characterizes this region, presents flat‐over‐flat shear planes acting along originally stratigraphic contacts, where stratigraphic continuity is obviously maintained. The ramp sectors present steeply dipping bedding attitudes, and there is no need to invoke and to force prograding clinoforms with unrealistic angles to justify them. The balanced geological cross section proposed by Arragoni et al. (2016) is fully supported by robust newly collected structural data and is compatible with the overall tectonic setting, while the interpretation proposed by Berra et al. (2017) lacks a detailed structural investigation. We believe that the partial application of the techniques available to modern geology may lead to incorrect interpretations, thus representing an obstacle for the progress of knowledge in the Earth sciences.
Implementation of a lung cancer multidisciplinary team standardised template for reporting to general practitioners: a mixed-method study

Objectives Few interventions have been designed that provide standardised information to primary care clinicians about the diagnostic and treatment recommendations resulting from cancer multidisciplinary team (MDT) (tumour board) meetings. This study aimed to develop, implement and evaluate a standardised template for lung cancer MDTs to provide clinical information and treatment recommendations to general practitioners (GPs). Specific objectives were to (1) evaluate template feasibility (acceptability, appropriateness and timeliness) with GPs and (2) document processes of preimplementation, implementation and evaluation within the MDT setting. Design A mixed-method study design using structured interviews with GPs and qualitative documentation of project logs about implementation processes. Setting Two hospitals in Central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Participants: 61 GPs evaluated the template. Two lung cancer MDTs, consisting of 33 clinicians, and eight researchers participated in template development and implementation strategy. Results The MDT-reporting template appears to be a feasible way of providing clinical information to GPs following patient presentation at a lung cancer MDT meeting. Ninety-five per cent of GPs strongly agreed or agreed that the standardised template provided useful and relevant information, that it was received in a timely manner (90%) and that the information was easy to interpret and communicate to the patient (84%). Implementation process data show that the investment made in the preimplementation stage to integrate the template into standard work practices was a critical factor in successful implementation. Conclusions This study demonstrates that it is feasible to provide lung cancer MDT treatment recommendations to GPs through implementation of a standardised template. A simple intervention, such as a standardised template, can help to address quality gaps and ensure that timely information is communicated between tertiary and primary care healthcare providers.
Expression of Mesothelin, Fascin, and Prostate Stem Cell Antigen in Primary Ovarian Mucinous Tumors and Their Utility in Differentiating Primary Ovarian Mucinous Tumors From Metastatic Pancreatic Mucinous Carcinomas in the Ovary

Metastatic pancreatic mucinous adenocarcinomas in the ovaries can be difficult to distinguish from primary ovarian mucinous neoplasms because the former can simulate the latter grossly and histologically and both tumor types share the same cytokeratin 7/cytokeratin 20 immunoprofile. We previously reported the utility of loss of Dpc4 expression in distinguishing metastatic pancreatic carcinomas from primary ovarian mucinous tumors. Recently several new pancreatic carcinoma markers have been identified, including mesothelin, fascin, and prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA). In this study we investigate the expression patterns of these markers in 35 primary ovarian mucinous tumors (28 atypical proliferative [borderline] tumors and 7 invasive carcinomas) and 11 metastatic pancreatic mucinous carcinomas in the ovary. Primary ovarian mucinous tumors expressed mesothelin (17%), fascin (26%), and PSCA (43%) less frequently than metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinomas (73%, 73%, and 82%, respectively). Expression of all three markers was seen only in metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinomas (45%), and coexpression of at least two markers was observed significantly more frequently in metastatic (82%) than primary ovarian mucinous tumors (17%). Our results indicate that an immunohistochemical panel including Dpc4, mesothelin, fascin, and PSCA is useful for evaluating difficult mucinous tumors in the ovary when the differential diagnosis includes metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Cluster Analysis of Physical and Cognitive Ageing Patterns in Older People from Shanghai

This study investigated the relationship between education, cognitive and physical function in older age, and their respective impacts on activities of daily living (ADL). Data on 148 older participants from a community-based sample recruited in Shanghai, China, included the following measures: age, education, ADL, grip strength, balance, gait speed, global cognition and verbal memory. The majority of participants in the present cohort were cognitively and physically healthy and reported no problems with ADL. Twenty-eight percent of participants needed help with ADL, with the majority of this group being over 80 years of age. Significant predictors of reductions in functional independence included age, balance, global cognitive function (MMSE) and the gait measures. Cluster analysis revealed a protective effect of education on cognitive function that did not appear to extend to physical function. Consistency of such phenotypes of ageing clusters in other cohort studies may provide helpful models for dementia and frailty prevention measures.
Multi-Camera Crowd Monitoring: The SAFEST Approach

This paper presents the current state of people counting approach created for the SAFEST project. A video based surveillance system for monitoring crowd behaviour is developed. The system detects dangerous situations by analysing the dynamics of the crowd density. Therefore we developed a grid-based people counting algorithm which provides density per cell for the global view on the monitored area. Since multiple cameras may observe same parts of the monitored area, the challenge is not only to count people seen by single cameras , but also to merge the views. Therefore we first detect people seen by each camera separately and then sum the results to a global representation. In order to avoid multiple counting of same objects, the output of cameras in the overlapped regions are weighted.
Petrogenesis of Mafic Garnet Granulite in the Lower Crust of the Kohistan Paleo-arc Complex (Northern Pakistan): Implications for Intra-crustal Differentiation of Island Arcs and Generation of Continental Crust

We report the results of a geochemical study of the Jijal and Sarangar complexes, which constitute the lower crust of the Mesozoic Kohistan paleo-island arc (Northern Pakistan). The Jijal complex is composed of basal peridotites topped by a gabbroic section made up of mafic garnet granulite with minor lenses of garnet hornblendite and granite, grading up-section to hornblende gabbronorite. The Sarangar complex is composed of metagabbro. The Sarangar gabbro and Jijal hornblende gabbronorite have melt-like, light rare earth element (LREE)-enriched REE patterns similar to those of island arc basalts. Together with the Jijal garnet granulite, they define negative covariations of LaN, YbN and (La/Sm)N with Eu* [Eu* 1⁄4 2 · EuN/(SmN þ GdN), where N indicates chondrite normalized], and positive covariations of (Yb/Gd)N with Eu*. REE modeling indicates that these covariations cannot be accounted for by high-pressure crystal fractionation of hydrous primitive or derivative andesites. They are consistent with formation of the garnet granulites as plagioclase–garnet assemblages with variable trapped melt fractions via either high-pressure crystallization of primitive island arc basalts or dehydration-melting of hornblende gabbronorite, provided that the amount of segregated or restitic garnet was low (<5 wt %). Field, petrographic, geochemical and experimental evidence is more consistent with formation of the Jijal garnet granulite by dehydration-melting of Jijal hornblende gabbronorite. Similarly, the Jijal garnet-bearing hornblendite lenses were probably generated by coeval dehydration-melting of hornblendites. Melting models and geochronological data point to intrusive leucogranites in the overlying metaplutonic complex as the melts generated by dehydration-melting of the plutonic protoliths of the Jijal garnetbearing restites. Consistent with the metamorphic evolution of the Kohistan lower arc crust, dehydration-melting occurred at the mature JOURNAL OF PETROLOGY VOLUME 47 NUMBER 10 PAGES 1873–1914 2006 doi:10.1093/petrology/egl030
Prolonged outbreak of adenovirus A31 in allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients

An outbreak of human adenovirus (HAdV) A31 occurred from December 2011 to March 2012 at the Center for Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation (CAST), Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden. We analyzed the outbreak, the routes of transmission, and report the medical consequences.
White matter hyperintensities and medial temporal lobe atrophy in clinical subtypes of mild cognitive impairment: the DESCRIPA study

Background: Clinical subtypes of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may represent different underlying aetiologies. Methods: This European, multicentre, memory clinic based study (DESCRIPA) of non-demented subjects investigated whether MCI subtypes have different brain correlates on MRI and whether the relation between subtypes and brain pathology is modified by age. Using visual rating scales, medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) (0–4) and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) (0–30) were assessed. Results: Severity of MTA differed between MCI subtypes (p<0.001), increasing from a mean of 0.8 (SD 0.7) in subjective complaints (n = 77) to 1.3 (0.8) in non-amnestic MCI (n = 93), and from 1.4 (0.9) in single domain amnestic MCI (n = 70) to 1.7 (0.9) in multiple domain amnestic MCI (n = 89). The association between MCI subtype and MTA was modified by age and mainly present in subjects >70 years of age. Severity of WMH did not differ between MCI subtypes (p = 0.21). However, the combination of MTA and WMH differed between MCI subtypes (p = 0.02) Conclusion: We conclude that MCI subtypes may have different brain substrates, especially in older subjects. Isolated MTA was mainly associated with amnestic MCI subtypes, suggesting AD as the underlying cause. In non-amnestic MCI, the relatively higher prevalence of MTA in combination with WMH may suggest a different pathophysiological origin.