Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of Breakfast Quality and Energy Density with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Overweight/Obese Children: Role of Physical Activity

There is a general belief that having breakfast is an important healthy lifestyle factor; however, there is scarce evidence on the influence of breakfast quality and energy density on cardiometabolic risk in children, as well as on the role of physical activity in this association. The aims of this paper were (i) to examine the associations of breakfast quality and energy density from both solids and beverages with cardiometabolic risk factors, and (ii) to explore whether physical activity levels may attenuate these relationships in children with overweight/obesity from two projects carried out in the north and south of Spain. Breakfast consumption, breakfast quality index (BQI) score, BEDs/BEDb (24 h-recalls and the KIDMED questionnaire), and physical activity (PA; accelerometry) were assessed, in 203 children aged 8–12 years who were overweight or obese. We measured body composition (Dual X-ray Absorptiometry), uric acid, blood pressure, lipid profile, gamma-glutamyl-transferase (GGT), glucose, and insulin, and calculated the HOMA and metabolic syndrome z-score. The BQI score was inversely associated with serum uric acid independently of a set of relevant confounders (β = −0.172, p = 0.028), but the relationship was attenuated after further controlling for total PA (p < 0.07). BEDs was positively associated with total and HDL cholesterol, and systolic blood pressure regardless of confounders (all p < 0.05), while BEDb was positively associated with HOMA in either active/inactive children (all p < 0.03). In conclusion, higher breakfast quality and lower breakfast energy density should be promoted in overweight/obesity children to improve their cardiometabolic health.
Micro-Silver Sinter Paste Developed for Pressure Sintering on Bare Cu Surfaces under Air or Inert Atmosphere

Die attach on power semiconductor using leadfree technique has attracted considerable interest. Silver sinter has demonstrated significant develop over the past years to be considered one of frontrunner non-lead containing die attach solution. Pressure silver sintering by far offers superior thermal and electrical conductivity properties which enables power electronics applications to operate at high temperature. Eliminating precious metal finishing on substrate would represent significant compatibility to present supply chain and lower the entry barrier to adopt silver sinter solution. This paper explores the development of a safe-to-use micro-Ag sinter paste for pressure sintering on bare Cu for power electronics packaging. We attached Ag metallized mechanical Si dies on silicon nitride active metal brazed copper substrates with Ag and Au metallization as well as without metallization by silver sintering at 230°C with a pressure of 10 MPa for 3 min. We observed that the average initial die shear strength for Ag metallized substrate is higher than that for Au metallized and bare Cu substrates. This observation points to the self-diffusion of Ag is faster than the silver/gold and silver/copper interdiffusion. The average die shear strength for all the samples increased remarkable after temperature cycling test with a condition of -40°C/+150°C and after a long term storage at 250°C. It is highly likely that the sintering process is not yet completed under the mild sintering process conditions we used in this study and consequently Ag, Au and Cu continued to diffuse during temperature cycling test and high temperature storage and as a result strengthen the sintered joint. It is strongly believed that the sintering process is completed after a certain time of storage at 250°C as we observed no further increase in die shear strength after 250 h storage. The bending test results further confirm the increase of bonding strength by thermal cycling. It is worth noting that cohesive break in the Cu layer was observed for Ag metallized and bare Cu substrates after 1000 h storage at 250°C. Elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy demonstrates that interdiffusion between Ag and Cu occurred during high temperature storage in which Cu from the substrate diffused into the silver sintered layer and concurrently Ag from the silver sintered layer diffused into the substrate. In contrast, we observed cohesive break in the sintered layer after 1000 h storage at 250°C for Au metallized substrate indicating that Au metallized layer acts as a barrier to prevent Cu from the substrate from diffusion into the silver sintered layer.
ABSI: An Adaptive Binary Splitting Algorithm for Malicious Meter Inspection in Smart Grid

Electricity theft is a widespread problem that causes tremendous economic losses for all utility companies around the globe. As many countries struggle to update their antique power systems to emerging smart grids, more and more smart meters are deployed throughout the world. Compared with analog meters which can be tampered with by only physical attacks, smart meters can be manipulated by malicious users with both physical and cyber-attacks for the purpose of stealing electricity. Thus, electricity theft will become even more serious in a smart grid than in a traditional power system if utility companies do not implement efficient solutions. The goal of this paper is to identify all malicious users in a neighborhood area in a smart grid within the shortest detection time. We propose an adaptive binary splitting inspection (ABSI) algorithm which adopts a group testing method to locate the malicious users. There are two considered inspection strategies in this paper: a scanning method in which users will be inspected individually, and a binary search method by which a specific number of users will be examined as a whole. During the inspection process of our proposed scheme, the inspection strategy as well as the number of users in the groups to be inspected are adaptively adjusted. Simulation results show that the proposed ABSI algorithm outperforms existing methods.
Resilience of Critical Infrastructures: Review and Analysis of Current Approaches

In crisis situations, systems, organizations, and people must react and deal with events that are inherently unpredictable before they occur: vital societal functions and thus infrastructures must be restored or adapted as quickly as possible. This capacity refers to resilience. Progress concerning its conceptualization has been made but it remains difficult to assess and apply in practice. The results of this article stem from a literature review allowing the analysis of current advances in the development of proposals to improve the management of infrastructure resilience. The article: (i) identifies different dimensions of resilience; (ii) highlights current limits of assessing and controlling resilience; and (iii) proposes several directions for future research that could go beyond the current limits of resilience management, but subject to compliance with a number of constraints. These constraints are taking into account different hazards, cascade effects, and uncertain conditions, dealing with technical, organizational, economical, and human domains, and integrating temporal and spatial aspects.
Alternative Deposition Solution for Cost Reduction of TSV Integration

As one of the key enabler of 3D integration, Through Silicon Via (TSV) was widely investigated but not largely adopted in the advanced packaging industry. TSV key films, i.e. isolation, barrier and Cu seed layers, are depending on (Plasma Enhanced) Chemical Vapor Deposition ((PE)CVD) and Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) systems in high volume manufacturing. Those deposition methods are not able to answer actual and future TSV needs: thick and conformal layers. They have forced engineers to compensate with other TSV fabrication steps while degrading fabrication cost. The innovative Fast Atomic Sequential Technology (F.A.S.T.®), a unique combination of optimized CVD reactor with Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) pulsing capability, has been extensively evaluated to solve this thick and conformal equation. Compared to standards, it can reduce integration cost of TSV of more than 20%. A comparative study of those deposition methods is presented to evidence their influences with respect to the TSV aspect ratio increase need, mandatory to pursue die size reduction.
School-based oral health education increases caries inequalities.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of one and half years of an oral health promotion program in primary schools. DESIGN A cluster-randomized controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS 740 students aged 9-12 years (48% female) recruited from the fifth grade of 18 different primary schools in West Pomerania, Germany. METHODS General and oral health education was provided to the teachers in the intervention schools, which they conveyed to their students. No additional measures were conducted in the control schools. Medical and dental school examinations, as well as questionnaires for the students and their parents were conducted at baseline and follow-up. Data were analysed using Poisson regression models. RESULTS A significant incident rate ratio between caries increment was found, with a 35% higher risk in the control group. However, parents' socioeconomic characteristics modified the effect of the program on their children, as high socio-economic status in the intervention group was associated with 94% reduction in the incidence risk ratio (p ⟨ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The program was effective in improving dental health among students with higher socio-economic status. No preventive effect could be found in low socio-economic status groups.
CHAPTER 4 Visual Processing in the Primate Brain

Vision is the most widely studied and dominant sensory system in human and nonhuman primates. Of the total surface area of the cerebral cortex roughly 50% in macaque monkey, and 20 to 30% in human, is largely or exclusively involved in visual processing (Van Essen, 2004; Van Essen & Drury, 1997). Intensive study of vision in nonhuman primates, and particularly the macaque, has produced a detailed anatomical and functional description of processing at many levels of the neural visual pathway. In the past 20 years, the advent and development of functional brain imaging, and in particular functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), has enabled the detailed study of cortical, and in some cases subcortical, visual processing in humans. This chapter will synthesize findings from both human and nonhuman primates toward an understanding of the visual processing stream.
A Compact 75 GHz LNA with 20 dB Gain and 4 dB Noise Figure in 22nm FinFET CMOS Technology

This paper presents E-band (71–76 GHz) LNA design in 22nm CMOS FinFET technology. Stacked topology with DC current re-use for 2-stage cascaded LNA results in power efficient design with high performance. Measurement shows peak gain of 20 dB and minimum noise figure of 4 dB with 10.8 mA current consumption from 1 V supply. Measured 3-dB bandwidth is 10.4 GHz and input P1dB is −22.8 dBm. The active layout area of the LNA is 0.155 mm2. To the authors' knowledge, these are the state-of-art values in terms of noise figure and DC power consumption among E-band CMOS LNAs reported in the literature.
Constraint-based verification of abstract models of multitreaded programs

We present a technique for the automated verification of abstract models of multithreaded programs providing fresh name generation, name mobility, and unbounded control. As high level specification language we adopt here an extension of communication finite-state machines with local variables ranging over an infinite name domain, called TDL programs. Communication machines have been proved very effective for representing communication protocols as well as for representing abstractions of multithreaded software. The verification method that we propose is based on the encoding of TDL programs into a low level language based on multiset rewriting and constraints that can be viewed as an extension of Petri Nets. By means of this encoding, the symbolic verification procedure developed for the low level language in our previous work can now be applied to TDL programs. Furthermore, the encoding allows us to isolate a decidable class of verification problems for TDL programs that still provide fresh name generation, name mobility, and unbounded control. Our syntactic restrictions are in fact defined on the internal structure of threads: In order to obtain a complete and terminating method, threads are only allowed to have at most one local variable (ranging over an infinite domain of names).
Multi-Task Feature Learning Via Efficient l2, 1-Norm Minimization

The problem of joint feature selection across a group of related tasks has applications in many areas including biomedical informatics and computer vision. We consider the l2, 1-norm regularized regression model for joint feature selection from multiple tasks, which can be derived in the probabilistic framework by assuming a suitable prior from the exponential family. One appealing feature of the l2, 1-norm regularization is that it encourages multiple predictors to share similar sparsity patterns. However, the resulting optimization problem is challenging to solve due to the non-smoothness of the l2, 1-norm regularization. In this paper, we propose to accelerate the computation by reformulating it as two equivalent smooth convex optimization problems which are then solved via the Nesterov's method---an optimal first-order black-box method for smooth convex optimization. A key building block in solving the reformulations is the Euclidean projection. We show that the Euclidean projection for the first reformulation can be analytically computed, while the Euclidean projection for the second one can be computed in linear time. Empirical evaluations on several data sets verify the efficiency of the proposed algorithms.
A SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHIC APPROACH TO EXPLORATION AND RE-DEVELOPMENT IN THE ABIDJAN MARGIN , COTE D ’ IVOIRE

The Abidjan Margin, Côte d’Ivoire, has been the subject of exploration activity for forty years and has generated reasonable hydrocarbon success. From 1974-1992 the Espoir and Belier fields were produced with 31 mmbo and 20 mmbo of cumulative production respectively. More recently, as a result of improved fiscal terms established by the Ivorian government, several independent oil companies have come to the area to develop existing discoveries (Lion, Panthere, Gazelle, and Foxtrot), re-develop old fields (Espoir with 93 mmbo and 190 bcf of remaining recoverable reserves) and explore for new hydrocarbon traps.
Intended Hydration Strategies and Knowledge of Exercise-Associated Hyponatraemia in Marathon Runners: A Questionnaire-Based Study.

CONTEXT Exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) is a potentially fatal condition that can be prevented by avoiding excessive fluid intake. Running has become more popular in recent years, so it is important to assess the safety of runners' hydration strategies. OBJECTIVE (1) To explore the intended hydration strategies of a sample of marathon runners before the 2014 London Marathon, (2) to examine their sources of information and knowledge about fluid intake and their understanding of EAH, and (3) to compare these findings with the results of a similar study carried out before the 2010 London Marathon. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING The 2014 London Marathon. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS A total of 298 runners (148 males, 150 females), 0.83% of all race finishers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Planned frequency, type, and volume of hydration; sources of information about appropriate drinking; and understanding of hyponatremia were explored. Comparisons were made with data collected from a sample of participants at the 2010 London Marathon. Data relating to the 2014 cohort are presented in descriptive form. Comparisons of the 2010 and 2014 cohorts were conducted using parametric and nonparametric methods. RESULTS A total of 48.7% of the 2014 cohort listed drinking to thirst as the most important factor affecting their hydration strategy during the race. This compared with 25.3% of runners from the 2010 cohort and represented an increase (χ2 = 29.1, P = .001); 5.8% of the 2014 cohort planned on drinking more than 3.5 L, compared with 12% of the 2010 cohort (χ2 = 4.310, P = .038). CONCLUSIONS The number of sampled individuals using thirst to guide hydration strategies in the 2014 London Marathon increased from 2010. However, more than half of the 2014 cohort was not planning to drink to thirst. Runners still need to be educated about the risks of overdrinking as they continue to demonstrate a lack of knowledge and understanding.
Numerical and Experimental Studies on the Interactions Between the Radio-Frequency Glow Discharge Plasma Jet and the Shielding Gas at Atmosphere

It is a useful method to lengthen the cold atmospheric plasma jet with the aid of gas shielding. In this paper, the interactions between the shielding gas and the radio-frequency atmospheric-pressure glow discharge plasma jet are studied numerically and experimentally. The modeling results show that both the chemical compositions and flowrates of the shielding gas strongly influence the characteristics of the plasma jets. A long helium-shielding plasma jet with a length of 34–35 mm is obtained. The predicted lengths of the plasma shielding jets under specified operating conditions are qualitatively consistent with the experimental measurements.
An Introduction to Field Analysis Techniques: The Power Spectrum and Coherence

Article history: Accepted 21 June 2006 Available online 1 August 2006 The traditional belief is that the event-related alpha response can solely be described in terms of suppression or event-related desynchronization (ERD). Recent research, however, has shown that under certain conditions alpha responds reliably with an increase in amplitudes (event-related synchronization or ERS). ERS is elicited in situations, where subjects withhold or control the execution of a response and is obtained over sites that probably are under, or exert top-down control. Thus, we assume that alpha ERS reflects topdown, inhibitory control processes. This assumption leads over to the timing aspect of our hypothesis. By the very nature of an oscillation, rhythmic amplitude changes reflect rhythmic changes in excitation of a population of neurons. Thus, the time and direction of a change – described by phase – is functionally related to the timing of neuronal activation processes. A variety of findings supports this view and shows, e.g., that alpha phase coherence increases between task-relevant sites and that phase lag lies within a time range that is consistent with neuronal transmission speed. Another implication is that phase reset will be a powerful mechanism for the event-related timing of cortical processes. Empirical evidence suggests that the extent of phase locking is a functionally sensitivemeasure that is related to cognitive performance. Our general conclusion is that alpha ERS plays an active role for the inhibitory control and timing of cortical processing whereas ERD reflects the gradual release of inhibition associatedwith the emergence of complex spreading activation processes. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Elaboration and investigation about the mechanical properties of reinforced aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube carpets composites

Carbon nanotubes are very promising materials thanks to their high aspect ratio, specific area, lightness and their outstanding mechanical, thermal and electrical properties at the nanometer scale. Among them vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) are very interesting candidates as reinforcement for multifunctional composite materials. 1D oriented-nanocomposites resulting from an impregnation of VACNTs carpets with an organic matrix, above all epoxy grades, are particularly interesting because they would bring both an important mechanical stiffness of the polymeric matrix [1], [2] and a significant improvement of the thermal conduction [3], [4] according to several recent papers. Moreover, anisotropic measured properties would be clearly higher than those reached with randomly dispersed CNTs filled composites. However until now, very few studies have been carried out about the development of such materials at a macroscopic scale and the study of the effect of these linked and oriented nanotubes on the final properties of these ones. This paper is going to try to answer some of these issues.
Six-Week Pelvic Floor Muscle Activity (sEMG) Training in Pregnant Women as Prevention of Stress Urinary Incontinence

Background Pelvic floor muscle exercises are a widely used and well-established form of stress incontinence treatment, with success rates varying from 21% to 84%, although with a better subjective than objective outcome. Material/Methods “Incontinence Impact Questionnaire” (IIQ), PFM EMG assessment was done at the beginning and after the 6-week training program. Results Statistically significant differences appeared in the BASE and R values. In the symptomatic group (with SUI symptoms), the value of BASE was 3.26 μV, and after training it was 3.95 μV. The R values before and after training were 4.55 μV and 4.25 μV. In the symptomatic group (without SUI symptoms), the value of BASE was 2.88 μV and 3.52 μV and R values were 7.16 μV and 3.92 μV. In the control group, BASE was 3.05 μV and 4.11 μV and R was 7.82 μV and 4.39 μV. Conclusions The results indicate that a 6-week training process influences PFM EMG activity in pregnant women. During Q, the value of PFM activity after a training session tended to increase in the symptomatic and control groups, but in the symptomatic group it remains practically unchanged. Our results show the probable process of decreasing control of PFM activity during long-lasting contractions in symptomatic and control women. The comparison of BASE before and after training averaged the values of R after five 10-s contractions and showed an increase in the Base and decrease in the R.
Adaptive Radon–Fourier Transform for Weak Radar Target Detection

The Radon–Fourier transform (RFT) with a long coherent integration time has recently been proposed for detecting a moving target with an across range cell (ARC) effect. However, without effective clutter suppression, clutter will also be integrated via the RFT, which may affect weak target detection. Based on the maximal signal-to-clutter-plus-noise ratio (SCNR) criteria, a novel adaptive RFT (ARFT) is proposed in this paper to effectively detect a “low-observable” target in a clutter background. The proposed ARFT can combine RFT and adaptive clutter suppression by introducing an optimal filter weight, which is determined from the clutter's covariance matrix as well as a steering vector for a moving target with the ARC effect. In the transformed range-velocity space, the proposed ARFT can suppress background clutter and optimally integrate the target's energy. Nevertheless, with the increase in the integration time, the ARFT needs to address two difficulties in its real implementation. One is the lack of independently and identically distributed (i.i.d.) training samples in a heterogeneous clutter background, and the other is that the computational complexity is too high due to the large number of pulse samples. Therefore, a subaperture ARFT (SA-ARFT) is further proposed in this paper. It divides all coherent pulse samples into several subapertures and accomplishes adaptive clutter suppression in each subaperture. Subsequently, SA-ARFT implements coherent integration among the outputs of different subapertures. The proposed SA-ARFT method can obtain a similar SCNR improvement factor (SCNR IF) with a large number of i.i. d. training samples, while it can obtain a much higher SCNR IF than the ARFT with limited i.i. d. training samples and much lower computational complexity in a heterogeneous clutter background. Finally, some numerical results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the two proposed methods.