Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gate Oxide Wear-Out and Breakdown Effects on the Performance of Analog and Digital Circuits

To investigate the impact of gate oxide degradation and breakdown (BD) on complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuit functionality, an accurate description of the electrical characteristics of the stressed devices, which can be included in circuit simulators, is needed. In this paper, a description of the stressed device performance that considers, on the one hand, the variation of the channel current and, on the other, the increase in the gate current due to the oxide degradation and BD is presented, which is able to account for different levels of oxide damage. The parameters extracted from device experimental data have been introduced in a circuit simulator to evaluate the effect of the oxide degradation and BD on simple analog (current mirror) and digital [reset set (RS) latches] circuits. The impact of the increase in the gate leakage current and the variation of the conduction along the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor channel due to the oxide degradation on the circuit performances has been separately analyzed.
Effectiveness of Emergency Department Asthma Management Strategies on Return Visits in Children: A Population-Based Study

BACKGROUND. Emergency departments play an important role in the care of children with asthma. Emergency department return-visit rates provide a measure of the quality of acute asthma care. OBJECTIVE. Our goal was to describe the characteristics of children treated in emergency departments for asthma, the resources and asthma management strategies used by emergency departments, and their effect on return visits within 72 hours. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS. We used a population-based cohort study that incorporated both comprehensive administrative heath and survey data from all 152 emergency departments in Ontario, Canada. We studied all 2- to 17-year-old children who had a visit to an emergency department for asthma from April 2003 to March 2005. RESULTS. A total of 32996 children (>9% of children with asthma in Ontario) had at least 1 visit to an emergency department for the care of asthma, and most of these visits (68.5%) were triaged as high acuity. The vast majority (148 of 152 [97%]) of emergency departments reported using at least 1 asthma management strategy, and 74% used 3 or more. The overall return-visit rate was 5.6%. Logistic regression models that accounted for the clustering of patients in emergency departments and controlled for patient and emergency department characteristics indicated that preprinted order sheets and access to a pediatrician for consultation were strategies significantly associated with a reduction in return visits. The 11 (17%) emergency departments that used both of these strategies had return visit rates of 4.4% compared with 6.9% in the 95 (63%) that used neither strategy. CONCLUSIONS. Emergency departments use a range of strategies to manage asthma in children. Preprinted order sheets and access to pediatricians are associated with important reductions in return-visit rates, and more emergency departments should consider using these strategies.
Pharmacogenetic variation of SLC 47 A 1 gene and metformin response in type 2 diabetes patients

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a worldwide epidemic disorder with considerable health and economic consequences. Metformin is one of the most commonly prescribed oral antidiabetic drugs. Pharmacogenetic studies showed that variants in genes related to the pharmacokinetics of metformin were associated with glucose-lowering effect of metformin. The aim of this study was to evaluate pharmacogenetic variation in SLC47A1 (rs2289669) and metformin response in type 2 diabetes patients. Seventy one patients with type 2 diabetes were included in the study. The genotypes were determined by Tetra–ARMS–PCR method. There was a significant association between the study polymorphism and the response to metformin treatment with the highest HbA1C reduction in AG genotype. In the dominant model for A allele (AA+AG vs GG), patients with A allele had highest HbA1C reduction in response to metformin.
Polypeptide chain folding in the hydrophobic core of hamster scrapie prion: analysis by X-ray diffraction.

Conversion of the noninfectious, cellular form of the scrapie prion (PrPC) to the infectious form (PrPSc) is thought to be driven by an alpha-helical to beta-sheet conformational transition. The N-truncated polypeptide PrP27-30, which encompasses residues 90-231 of PrPSc and from which the truncated peptide is derived by limited proteolysis, assembles into amyloid rods that are rich in the beta-sheet conformation. The N-terminal half of PrP27-30, which includes residues 90-145 of PrP (SHa90-145) and contains the two putative alpha-helical domains H1 (PrP109-122) and H2 (PrP129-141), appears to be particularly crucial in the alpha --> beta conversion. To assess their role in this conformational transition, we have analyzed in detail X-ray diffraction patterns from the prion-related peptides A8A (PrP113-120), H1, and SHa90-145. We used iterative Fourier synthesis with beta-silk as an initial model for assigning phases. For H1, the lyophilized and acetonitrile-solubilized/dehydrated specimens gave two different electron density maps. The former showed that the beta-sheets were composed of small side chains as in A8A. The latter showed two types of beta-sheets having smaller and larger side chains, suggesting a turn. Such a turn was not observed in the lyophilized H1, indicating that the internal turn in H1 depends on the physical-chemical environment. In SHa90-145, the beta-chains are assembled in approximately 40 A-wide crystal domains (termed beta-crystallites), and the electron density maps of these crystallites showed evidence for turns within both the H1 and H2 domains. The molecular folding of H1-H2 is compared here with the recent NMR solution structure of recombinant hamster prion, and the effect of pH on the conformational change is discussed. The most compact structure based on the X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the N-terminal, smaller residues of H2 fold back and are hydrogen-bonded with the C-terminal, smaller residues of H1. Similar folding is observed in the NMR solution structure. Comparison of the NMR structures at different pH with the X-ray diffraction results suggests that histidine and lysine residues in the N-terminal sequence of PrP may figure in the alpha --> beta structure transition of PrP.
The availability of diseases for medical students in a university hospital

The Dutch national objectives for the education of medical doctors (in terms of diseases), expressed in the form of a student compiled logbook, must be attained at the time of graduation. The diseases that are required are divided into the categories 'essential' and 'compulsory choice'. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the inpatient department of internal nedicine offers medical students sufficient diseases during two four-week periods in the clerkship, such that the required diseases related to Internal Medicine as described in our logbook can be met. At five subdivisions, medical doctors recorded the diseases available for students. Of the 37 'essential' diseases students may be expected to encounter during one four-week stay in the department: 57% in internal medicine-I; 55% in internal medicine-II; 47% in nephrology; 41% in respiratory medicine; 13% in oncology. Of the 65 'compulsory choice' diseases the number of diseases encountered is respectively: 78%; 57%; 41%; 34%; 33%. We conclude that a considerable number of the diseases required by the Blueprint and therefore by the government is available in two four-week periods in the inpatient clerkship, when this comprises a stay at a general subdivision and a specialist-oriented subdivision. To be more precise about the fulfilment of the logbook requirements, further research is necessary.
PMOS Hole Mobility Enhancement Through SiGe Conductive Channel and Highly Compressive ILD- $\hbox{SiN}_{x}$ Stressing Layer

In this letter, the SiGe-channel PMOS transistors integrated with a highly compressive contact-etching stop-layer (CESL) interlayer-dielectric-SiNx stressing layer have been successfully fabricated. The performance improvements of devices with a gate length (Lg )of down to 40 nm were studied. For long-channel SiGe-channel PMOS, the mobility is at least 50% higher than that of the conventional bulk-Si PMOS. Moreover, compared to the conventional short-channel SiGe-channel devices, the highly compressive CESL stressor shows 32% current gain for Lg = 40 nm PMOS with the thinnest 9 A Si-cap. Therefore, integrating the stressed CESL technique into the SiGe-channel structure is an efficient method for improving PMOS device performance.
Information Privacy Values, Beliefs and Attitudes: An Empirical Analysis of Web 2.0 Privacy

The commercial potential and rapid growth of Web 2.0 phenomenon have been accompanied by concerns regarding the collection, dissemination, and re-identification of personal information by website operators, marketers, and other users on the social networks. To address critical and acute concerns for information privacy, this study investigated users' privacy perceptions in the Web 2.0 context by integrating privacy values, beliefs and attitudes into a theoretical framework. The research model was tested through a survey study among 218 users of Web 2.0-related sites. In addition to enhancing our theoretical understanding of privacy issues in the Web 2.0 context, this research is also potentially useful to privacy advocates, the website operators, and marketers to help shape or justify their decisions concerning the development and deployment of Web 2.0 features.
A Microsoft Kinect-Based Virtual Rehabilitation System to Train Balance Ability for Stroke Patients

The ability to track joint positions for Microsoft Kinect is useful for rehabilitation in both clinical and home settings. Unfortunately, most available commercial Kinect video games are not developed for rehabilitation purposes. In this study, a low-cost rehabilitation game training system has been developed for patients with movement disorders, it is suitable for use at home under the distant supervision of a therapist. This research explores the potential and the limitations of the Kinect-based system in the applications of e-rehabilitation. A prototypic system including 4 video games was developed for e-rehabilitation. In order to test the usefulness and effectiveness of the Kinect Virtual Rehabilitation System (KVRS), the Balance Recovery game was used to train patients with stroke to recover their balance abilities. It was demonstrated that balance training using the Kinect e-rehabilitation system exhibited a significant effect in recovering balance function for the stroke patients. Additionally, the outcome of questionnaire survey revealed that the KVRS video game was perceived as effective and easy in operation.
Fórmula de valoração racional (RVF) e variabilidade no tempo das taxas de retornos de ativos

The present study examines the long-term relationship between aggregate price and dividend data and the corresponding mechanism for shortterm error correction using the rational valuation formula and time-varying cointegration and based on Muth's (1961) theory of rational expectations and price movements. The study assumes the variability of asset rates of return and tests the null hypotheses of error-correction mechanisms for time-constant cointegration vectors and inequality between fundamental value and share price. The series used were provided by Shiller (2005) and refer to aggregate price and dividend data for the U.S. stock market over the period 1871 to 2010. The data were analyzed using Johansen's cointegration models with the use of restricted variables resulting from the combination of the variables studied with the Chebyshev time polynomial, as proposed by Bierens and Martins (2010). The results indicate rejection of the null hypothesis of constancy of cointegration vectors as well as the non-rejection of the null hypothesis of inequality between fundamental value and share price. These results are consistent with those obtained by Bierens and Martins (2010) and do not corroborate Muth's (1961) theory of rational expectations. It is therefore concluded that investors have different expectations of return for different future periods. The results suggest the validation of the model used and that there is a possibility of the occurrence of speculative movements supported by rationality or rational speculative bubbles.
Acute and intermediate‐term results of percutaneous coronary stenting in octogenarian patients

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in octogenarian patients has been associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess acute and intermediate‐term clinical outcomes among octogenarians undergoing PCI. METHODS: The authors identified 97 consecutive patients aged ≥80 years who underwent PCI using stents between November 2000 and February 2002 at their institution. The patients were divided into three groups according to clinical presentation: (1) acute myocardial infarction (AMI, n = 31); (2) unstable angina pectoris (UAP, n = 28); and (3) stable angina pectoris (SAP, n = 38). Procedural data, and in‐hospital and six‐month clinical outcomes were obtained and adjudicated for all patients. RESULTS: Overall mean age was 84 ± 3 years, 67% of patients were males and 73% had multivessel coronary disease. In‐hospital outcomes varied according to clinical presentation: procedural success was 78% in AMI patients (including shock patients), 93% in UAP, and 95% in SAP patients. Likewise, hospital mortality was 26% in AMI, 3.6% in UAP, and 0% in SAP patients (p = 0.0003). Among AMI patients, hospital mortality was extremely high in patients with cardiogenic shock (67% versus 4.6% in AMI without shock, p < 0.0001). Cumulative event rate at six months also varied according to clinical presentation: mortality/MI and target vessel revascularization (TVR) rates were 29%, 3.6%, and 0% in AMI, 7.1%, 7.4%, and 11% in UAP and 0%, 5.3%, and 7.9% in SAP patients. Multivariate analysis identified cardiogenic shock as the most powerful risk factor for predicting mortality (odds ratio = 42, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: These results show that clinically stable octogenarian patients undergoing PCI have favorable procedural and intermediate‐term prognosis. In contrast, cardiogenic shock has a profound negative prognostic impact on octogenarians despite ‘aggressive’ PCI attempts. (Int J Cardiovasc Intervent 2003; 5: 195–199)
How'd They Do It? Malingering Strategies on Symptom Validity Tests

Twenty-five undergraduate students were instructed to feign believable impairment following a brain injury from a car accident and 27 students were told to perform like they had recovered from such an injury. Three forced-choice tests, the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), Victoria Symptom Validity Test (VSVT), and Word Memory Test (WMT) were given. Test-taking strategies were evaluated by means of a questionnaire given at the end of the test session. The results revealed that all the tasks differentiated between groups. Using conventional cut-scores, the WMT proved most efficient while the VSVT captured the most participants in the definitive below-chance category. Individuals instructed to feign injury were more likely to prepare prior to the experiment, with feigning of memory loss as the most frequently reported strategy. Regardless, preparation effort did not translate into believable performance on the tests.
IgE-mediated hypersensitivity and contact sensitivity to multiple environmental allergens in atopic dermatitis.

BACKGROUND AND DESIGN Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic eczematous skin disease that develops in a patient with atopic diathesis, which is characterized by an increased liability to produce IgE antibodies for environmental allergens mostly derived from other living organisms. Experimentally, eczematous skin lesions cannot be induced by immediate IgE-mediated reactions alone. They are produced by cell-mediated allergic contact reactions, and recently contact sensitivity to various environmental allergens has been demonstrated in patients with AD. However, the pathologic role of IgE-mediated skin hypersensitivity or that of delayed-type hypersensitivity to various environmental allergens in AD is not fully evaluated. They have been studied separately and against only specific allergens. Thus, we performed a combined testing procedure consisting of radioallergosorbent test, prick, and scarification patch tests for eight environmental allergens in 97 Japanese adult patients with AD; 48 of them had a history of atopic respiratory diseases (ARD), whereas the remaining 49 had no history of ARD (pure AD). RESULTS Patients with AD, particularly those with ARD (AD+ARD), showed a higher incidence of positive radioallergosorbent test and prick test results as well as patch test results against multiple environmental allergens than healthy age-matched control subjects. Among them, we found a significantly high positive correlation between radioallergosorbent test scores and patch test reactions to two allergens, Japanese cedar, and Dermatophagoides farinae allergens in patients with AD. However, the patients with AD displayed a significantly lower incidence of positive patch test reactions to Candida albicans allergen than the healthy control subjects. Patients with AD with negative C albicans patch tests tended to have higher levels of total serum IgE including anti-C albicans IgE antibody. We found negative correlations between total serum IgE levels including specific antibodies and patch test reactions to C albicans allergen. CONCLUSIONS Except for the dissociated reactivities to C albicans allergen consisting of decreased contact sensitivity and heightened IgE response, generally both IgE-mediated skin hypersensitivity and delayed-type hypersensitivity to various environmental allergens are pronounced in patients with AD. The combined use of these in vivo and in vitro tests is useful to estimate the immunological state of patients with AD.
Telecentre functionality in South Africa: Re-enabling the community ICT access environment

The problems with telecentres are well documented. Based on a participatory action research project that directly contributed to improved quality of life for 35% of participants and indirectly for another 41% of participants, this paper presents key factors affecting the use of telecentres by poorer people to empower themselves to improve their quality of life. Understanding the numerous interlinking problems surrounding the functionality and use of telecentres as factors of structure and agency as presented in Kleine’s Choice Framework (2011), provides a useful departure point to re-invent telecentres as active citizen development centres.
The Redox Cycler Plasmodione Is a Fast-Acting Antimalarial Lead Compound with Pronounced Activity against Sexual and Early Asexual Blood-Stage Parasites

ABSTRACT Previously, we presented the chemical design of a promising series of antimalarial agents, 3-[substituted-benzyl]-menadiones, with potent in vitro and in vivo activities. Ongoing studies on the mode of action of antimalarial 3-[substituted-benzyl]-menadiones revealed that these agents disturb the redox balance of the parasitized erythrocyte by acting as redox cyclers—a strategy that is broadly recognized for the development of new antimalarial agents. Here we report a detailed parasitological characterization of the in vitro activity profile of the lead compound 3-[4-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl]-menadione 1c (henceforth called plasmodione) against intraerythrocytic stages of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. We show that plasmodione acts rapidly against asexual blood stages, thereby disrupting the clinically relevant intraerythrocytic life cycle of the parasite, and furthermore has potent activity against early gametocytes. The lead's antiplasmodial activity was unaffected by the most common mechanisms of resistance to clinically used antimalarials. Moreover, plasmodione has a low potential to induce drug resistance and a high killing speed, as observed by culturing parasites under continuous drug pressure. Drug interactions with licensed antimalarial drugs were also established using the fixed-ratio isobologram method. Initial toxicological profiling suggests that plasmodione is a safe agent for possible human use. Our studies identify plasmodione as a promising antimalarial lead compound and strongly support the future development of redox-active benzylmenadiones as antimalarial agents.
Serum anti-p53 antibodies and prognosis of patients with small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND Some patients with cancer develop antibodies against the p53 tumor suppressor protein. The presence of these antibodies in serum has been associated with the expression of mutant p53 by the tumor and in some studies with a poorer survival. PURPOSE The goals of this study were to determine the prevalence of anti-p53 antibodies in the serum of patients with newly diagnosed small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and to assess the clinical relevance of the presence of these antibodies in the serum, particularly their relationship with tumor response to treatment and with patient survival. METHODS In this prospective study, serum was obtained from 170 patients at the time of diagnosis of SCLC who were to subsequently receive platinum- or doxorubicin-based chemotherapy at any one of four hospitals in Barcelona, Spain, from October 1991 through June 1994. Normal human sera from blood bank donors (n = 50) served as controls. The presence of anti-p53 antibodies was determined by western blot analysis with the use of purified recombinant p53 protein. As of January 1996, 96.5% of the patients had been treated and observed in the study, for a median follow-up time of 33.5 months. Survival was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards regression and unconditional logistic regression analyses were conducted. All P values resulted from two-sided tests. RESULTS Anti-p53 antibodies were detected in the serum of 27 (16%) of the 170 patients studied. None of 50 serum samples from normal individuals contained anti-p53 antibodies. Analysis of pretreatment clinical characteristics demonstrated that a weight loss of less than 5% (P = .025), a serum lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH) level of less than 450 U/L (P = .002), and limited stage disease (i.e., tumor confined to one hemithorax, with local and regional lymph node positivity for tumor cells and/or ipsilateral pleural effusion allowed) (P < .001) were associated with a statistically significant complete response to therapy. The presence of serum anti-p53 antibodies was not associated with clinical characteristics, such as age (P = .622), functional status (P = 1.0), disease stage (P = .634), complete response to treatment (P = .572), and survival (P = .492) or with any laboratory parameters including known prognostic factors in SCLC, such as serum sodium or LDH concentration (P values of .731 and .246, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The presence of anti-p53 antibodies in the serum of patients with newly diagnosed SCLC was not associated with any clinical characteristics or prognostic markers, suggesting that, in this context, the measurement of anti-p53 antibodies is not a useful prognostic marker.
F-pure thresholds and F-jumping exponents in dimension two

Using an argument based on an idea of Monsky, we prove the rationality of the F-pure thresholds of curve singularities on a smooth surface defined over a finite field. More generally, we prove in this setting the rationality and discreteness of F-jumping exponents, the smallest positive one of which is the F-pure threshold. We also give a lower bound for F-pure thresholds in the homogeneous case.