Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Dielectrics on the Characteristics of Large-Area Silicon Microstrip Sensors

An 8×4 cm2 single-sided silicon microstrip sensor with coupling capacitors and polysilicon bias resistors has been fabricated with planar technology. The oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) films have been chosen to replace the usual SiO2 layer as the dielectric of the coupling capacitor. In conjunction with a reordering of the process sequence for layer formations, the proposed process could be used to fabricate sensors with self-moisture protection and free from the effect of pinholes. From the measurement results of special p-n junction test structures, we found that their leakage current was dominated by that of the sidewall one. Stress measurement and Sirtl-etch analysis revealed that the sidewall leakage current was increased by the dielectric stress and implantation damage. A boron solid-source predeposition process was employed to reduce this leakage current. From the results of electrical measurement and beam test on sensors, it was shown that the proposed process was able to produce sensors having very good performance.
Upscaling emerging niche technologies in sustainable energy: an international comparison of policy approaches

To speed up the transformation to low-carbon energy systems, transition policy approaches highlight the importance of purposive experimentation with sustainable niche technologies. An important policy challenge that has followed from various ‘real’ transition experiments concerns the crucial issue of ‘upscaling’ or ‘aggregating’ the niche technologies towards broader and more widespread application in society. To address the question ‘which policy mix supports the upscaling of emergent niche technologies in a transition to sustainable energy systems? ’ the paper adopts a comparative approach. Two successful cases where upscaling of emergent technology niches has taken place are contrasted with an unsuccesful fail case. The success cases entail the emergence and diffusion of bioenergy and biofuels in Sweden as well as windpower in Denmark whereas the fail case consists of biofuels in the Netherlands.
The Future of Columbus Operations

After 6 years of successful Columbus operations a decision point for the Columbus Control Center has been reached. The trade-off between operational flexibility and cost saving effects has to be well balanced. Based on the experience of the operations of a manned vehicle in orbit and the science goals for the experiments performed in Columbus over the next years the way forward has to be determined. Looking at the mid- and long-term plan the tasks for the Columbus Control Center will increase over the next years. On the one side a large number of new payloads and experiments are ready to be executed, which will enhance the science return from the Columbus module and will ask for a control center in full swing to support science operations. On the other side there is high activity time for European Astronauts on ISS in the next two years with Luca Parmitano already in orbit during Incr. 36/37, Alexander Gerst in Increment 40/41 launched in May 2014, Samantha Cristoforetti during Increment 42/43 starting December 2014 and Timothy Peake in Increment 46/47 from December 2015 onwards. This will be complemented by the shortterm flight of Andreas Mogensen in September 2015. Additionally the last ATV-5 flight will be supported by Col-CC in 2014. These missions will need full support from the control center to ensure the success of the mission and to achieve the envisaged science return. To be able to support these European payloads and missions and in addition to support the NASA payloads in Columbus continuously, a minimum infrastructure for the control center is needed. Col-CC has already severely reduced the costs for operations in the last years and increased the efficiency to support long-term Columbus operations until 2020 and beyond. Now a stable configuration is necessary to be able to achieve the goals set for Columbus science return in the next years.
Novel Pathways for Targeting Tumor Angiogenesis in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women and is the second leading cause of cancer related death worldwide. Angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel development from pre-existing vasculature, has been implicated in the growth, progression, and metastasis of cancer. Tumor angiogenesis has been explored as a key therapeutic target for decades, as the blockade of this process holds the potential to reduce the oxygen and nutrient supplies that are required for tumor growth. However, many existing anti-angiogenic approaches, such as those targeting Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, Notch, and Angiopoietin signaling, have been associated with severe side-effects, limited survival advantage, and enhanced cancer regrowth rates. To address these setbacks, alternative pathways involved in the regulation of tumor angiogenesis are being explored, including those involving Bone Morphogenetic Protein-9 signaling, the Sonic Hedgehog pathway, Cyclooxygenase-2, p38-mitogen-activated protein kinase, and Chemokine Ligand 18. This review article will introduce the concept of tumor angiogenesis in the context of breast cancer, followed by an overview of current anti-angiogenic therapies, associated resistance mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets.
Mechanical Evaluation of Concrete Containing Lightweight Aggregates

Since the invention of modern concrete, in the mid-nineteenth century until the early 80s, the concrete remained a mixture of aggregate, cement and water, with no major innovations that significantly alter the performance of its properties. But in recent decades, concrete technology has undergone tremendous development that has occurred due to the development of techniques and equipment for the study of the concrete and the use of new materials.The concrete with lightweight aggregate have been used, mainly due to the low values of density, thus demonstrating the great potential of using this material in several areas of construction [. With the objective of analyzing the influence of the consumption of cement in conventional concrete and light, were molded, tested and compared body-of-evidence containing two different values of cement consumption. The values were compared with those obtained by other researchers, as well as with the ABNT NBR 6118:2003 [ and ACI 213R-03:2003 [.
0-40 GHz GaAs MESFET distributed baseband amplifier ICs for high-speed optical transmission

We describe distributed amplifiers built using advanced circuit design techniques to improve gain and noise performance at low frequencies. Using these techniques we have developed an amplifier IC with a 0-36 GHz bandwidth and a noise figure of 4 dB at low frequencies. This frequency range starting from 0 Hz makes it possible to use the IC as a baseband amplifier for SDH optical transmission systems and this noise figure is about 1 dB better than conventional distributed amplifiers. We also present another amplifier IC built using our loss compensation technique to improve high-frequency performance of the amplifier. This IC has a 0-44-GHz bandwidth, which is the widest among all reported GaAs MESFET baseband amplifiers.
Specific Plasticity Loci and Their Synergism Mediate Operant Conditioning

Despite numerous studies examining the mechanisms of operant conditioning (OC), the diversity of OC plasticity loci and their synergism have not been examined sufficiently. In the well-characterized feeding neural circuit of Aplysia, in vivo and in vitro appetitive OC increases neuronal excitability and electrical coupling among several neurons leading to an increase in expression of ingestive behavior. Here, we used the in vitro analog of OC to investigate whether OC reduces the excitability of a neuron, B4, whose inhibitory connections decrease expression of ingestive behavior. We found OC decreased the excitability of B4. This change appeared intrinsic to B4 because it could be replicated with an analog of OC in isolated cultures of B4 neurons. In addition to changes in B4 excitability, OC decreased the strength of B4's inhibitory connection to a key decision-making neuron, B51. The OC-induced changes were specific without affecting the excitability of another neuron critical for feeding behavior, B8, or the B4-to-B8 inhibitory connection. A conductance-based circuit model indicated that reducing the B4-to-B51 synapse, or increasing B51 excitability, mediated the OC phenotype more effectively than did decreasing B4 excitability. We combined these modifications to examine whether they could act synergistically. Combinations including B51 synergistically enhanced feeding. Taken together, these results suggest modifications of diverse loci work synergistically to mediate OC and that some neurons are well suited to work synergistically with plasticity in other loci. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ways in which synergism of diverse plasticity loci mediate the change in motor patterns in operant conditioning (OC) are poorly understood. Here, we found that OC was in part mediated by decreasing the intrinsic excitability of a critical neuron of Aplysia feeding behavior, and specifically reducing the strength of one of its inhibitory connections that targets a key decision-making neuron. A conductance-based computational model indicated that the known plasticity loci showed a surprising level of synergism to mediate the behavioral changes associated with OC. These results highlight the importance of understanding the diversity, specificity and synergy among different types of plasticity that encode memory. Also, because OC in Aplysia is mediated by dopamine (DA), the present study provides insights into specific and synergistic mechanisms of DA-mediated reinforcement of behaviors.
Waste Management in KFC and Pizza Hut Case Study in Semarang, Indonesia

The study looked into the extent of the proper waste management of KFC and Pizza Hut, fast food restaurants in Semarang City, Indonesia. The waste management of fast food restaurant highlighted on reducing the food establishment demand for virgin raw materials through increasing waste prevention and recycling. The aim of the research is to clarify the importance of waste management to keep our environment and also to implement waste management policy properly as well as to support the customer participation in waste management which could done by improving human behavior in dealing with waste generated by fast-food restaurants such as KFC and Pizza Hut due to a huge amount of waste generated by them. The method of this study Samples were collected through guided interviews using the snowball method, the result found out that daily volume of waste generated by these restaurants varies by day of the week for example, the KFC waste volume increases in the days of the weekend, which generates about 2 m3 per day, either for Pizza Hut generates less than KFC, it's about 1, 5-2 m3 per day.
A hierarchical fuzzy TOPSIS approach to assess improvement areas when implementing green supply chain initiatives

Implementing green supply chain management (GSCM) initiatives can generate more business opportunities for firms. It also requires changes in firms’ operational capabilities and resources that may have an adverse effect on firms’ operations performance. In order to achieve sustainable economic and environmental performance, it is essential for companies to evaluate different green initiatives and assess improvement areas when implementing green initiatives. This study proposes a fuzzy hierarchical TOPSIS approach to support such an assessment. It enables decision makers to better understand the complete evaluation process and provide a more accurate, effective and systematic decision support tool. An illustrative case is presented to help researchers and practitioners understand the importance of developing an appropriate organisation strategy in implementing green practices.
Exploration of Psychological Resilience during a 25-Day Endurance Challenge in an Extreme Environment

Psychological resilience is the ability to use personal qualities to withstand pressure, consisting of the interaction between the individual and the environment over time. It is essential when operating in extreme environments which are typically characterised by a complex combination of stressors with increased elements of risk and adversity. Psychological resilience has never been investigated “live” (e.g., in the moment) throughout the duration of an extreme endurance challenge, despite anecdotal accounts of the need for resilience to successfully function in such environments. The aim of the study was to explore psychological resilience with challenge team members (n = 4, mean age = 46.0 years) involved in a 25-day extreme endurance challenge. The object of the challenge was to ‘TAB’ (Tactical Advance to Battle, fast marching with weighted packs) 100 peaks in the UK in 25 days and complete long-distance bike rides between base camps. A mixed-methods approach with a focus on qualitative methods was utilised. Specifically, individual reflective video diaries (n = 47) and focus groups (n = 4) were completed and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). At the same time, the 10-item Connor Davidson Resilience Scale was employed to measure resilience, which highlighted the individualised and dynamic nature of resilience. Two superordinate themes were identified from the video diaries and focus groups, namely, the identification of the stressors within extreme environments and strategies to maintain functioning. Stressors were split into subordinate themes of significant and every day, and collectively, they created a cluster effect which contributed to pressure associated with operating in these environments. Challenge team members employed various strategies to maintain functioning, including using a challenge mindset to positively appraise pressure as a challenging learning experience. Further research should continue to develop an understanding of how participants completing challenges within extreme environments utilise and develop personal qualities to maintain functioning.
Hateful and Other Negative Communication in Online Commenting Environments: Content, Structure and Targets

Information and communication technologies are increasingly interacting with modern societies. One specific manifestation of this interaction concerns hateful and other negative comments in online environments. Various terms appear to denote this communication, from flaming, indecency and intolerance to hate speech. However, there is still a lack of an umbrella term that broadly captures this communication. Therefore, this paper introduces the concept of socially unacceptable discourse, which serves as the basis for an empirical study that evaluated online comments scraped from the Facebook pages of the three most-visited Slovenian news outlets. Machine-learning algorithms were used to narrow the focus to topics related to refugees and LGBT rights. Ten thousand comments were manually coded to identify and structure socially undesirable discourse. The results show that about half of all comments belonged to this type of discourse, with a surprisingly stable level and structure across media (i.e., right-wing versus mainstream) and topics. Most of these comments could also be considered a potential violation of hate speech legislation. In the context of these findings, the political and ideological consequences and implications of mediatised emotions are discussed.
Evaluation and Selection of Aggregate Gradations for Asphalt Mixtures Using Superpave

The design of asphalt mixtures is a complex process that requires the proper proportioning of materials to satisfy mixture volumetric and mechanical properties. The majority of time spent in the mix design process is used in evaluating and selecting aggregate gradations to meet project requirements. The latest set of requirements for asphalt mixtures is the Superpave system, developed during the Strategic Highway Research Program. This system incorporates materials selection, evaluation of trial aggregate structures, selection of design asphalt binder content, moisture sensitivity, and, in some cases, determination of performance properties of the selected asphalt-aggregate blend. The selection of a design aggregate structure reduces to selecting an aggregate gradation that will meet minimum volumetric and densification criteria, and selecting an aggregate structure that will provide adequate resistance to permanent deformation, fatigue, and thermal cracking. In the Superpave volumetric mix design process, achieving voids in mineral aggregate (VMA) is the most difficult task facing the mix designer. One phase of this evaluation focuses on providing Guidelines to achieve VMA requirements with Superpave mix designs. This phase was accomplished by evaluating the existing database of information on Superpave mix designs at the Asphalt Institute. The second phase examines the relationship between properties determined during the Superpave volumetric mix design process, and material properties determined by mix analysis tests.
Organic Food in the Diet of Residents of the Visegrad Group (V4) Countries—Reasons for and Barriers to Its Purchasing

This study aimed to determine the differences in the frequency of, reasons for, and barriers to purchasing organic food among the inhabitants of the Visegrád Group member states. The selection of the countries for the study was dictated by the fact that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe play the role of a niche market in the European organic food market. This research employed the method of a diagnostic survey and the discriminant function. A chi-squared test, ANOVA, and Fisher’s Post Hoc LSD test were also used to present differences in individual groups. This research shows that respondents from Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia were guided by similar behaviors regarding the purchase of organic food. However, the attitudes of the respondents slightly differed between countries. In the case of the reasons for choosing organic food, the most important thing was that it is non-genetically modified food, especially for Polish consumers. The following were also mentioned: lack of chemical compounds (Slovaks and Czechs), high health value of such food (Czechs and Slovaks), and excellent taste (Hungarians). The most critical barriers against purchasing are the price (Poles and Hungarians), difficult access (Poles and Hungarians), and the short expiry time of such products (Slovaks).
Finding the missing link: Do principal qualifications make a difference in student achievement?

Despite the growing scholarly interest in the effects of principal leadership on student achievement, empirical evidence concerning how principal qualifications might be related to student learning outcomes has been limited. This study investigates the relationship between different principal qualifications (prior experience in teaching, principalship and other school management roles, formal education, principal training, and professional development) and student achievement by analyzing cross-national teaching and learning international survey and program on international student assessment data from seven countries. The results showed that experience in principalship and other school management positions, principal training, and participation in networking activities and teaching/pedagogy-focused seminars had small but statistically significant associations with student achievement, though the results were not consistent across different subjects. Level of education and years of teaching experience did not, however, predict student achievement. Implications of the findings are offered for policy and further research.
Prenatal exposure to antibiotics and risk of childhood overweight or obesity: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Infant antibiotic use has been modestly associated with childhood overweight, while evidence on prenatal exposures remains less clear. A systematic review and meta‐analysis were conducted to examine associations between maternal antibiotic exposure and subsequent risk of childhood overweight/obesity. Publications were retrieved from PubMed and Web of Science databases up to December 2019. A random effects model was used to summarize risk estimates, overall, and by period and frequency of exposure. Ten observational studies were included in the narrative synthesis. We did not observe a clear pattern of association between prenatal antibiotic use and childhood overweight/obesity. There were suggestive associations for repeated exposures (≥3 courses) and those taking place during the second trimester of gestation, which were also pointed out in our meta‐analysis (relative risk, RR2T = 1.15 (95% CI 1.04; 1.28, I2 = 18%), and RR3courses = 1.31 (95% CI 1.03; 1.67, I2 = 65%), respectively). In most studies, however, confounding by underlying infections cannot be ruled out. Overall, current data do not conclusively support the hypothesis that prenatal exposure to antibiotics is a risk factor for childhood obesity/overweight. Further studies, controlling for underlying infections and exploring the association according to frequency, period (both prenatal and intrapartum) and type of antibiotic, are needed to clarify this association.
Experimental and simulation analysis of the transient operation of a turbocharged multi-cylinder IDI diesel engine

SUMMARY An experimental and theoretical analysis is carried out to study the response of a multi-cylinder, turbocharged, IDI (indirect injection) compression ignition engine, under transient operating conditions. To this aim, a comprehensive digital computer model is developed which solves the governing di⁄erential equations individually for each cylinder, providing thus increased accuracy over previous ‘single-cylinder’ simulations. Special attention has been paid for diversifying the transient operation from the steady-state one, providing improved or even new relations concerning combustion, heat transfer to the cylinder walls, friction, turbocharger and aftercooler operation, and dynamic analysis for the transient case. An extended steady state and transient experimental work is conducted on a specially developed engine test bed configuration, located at the authors’ laboratory, which is connected to a high-speed data acquisition and processing system. The steady-state measurements are used for the calibration of the individual submodel constants. The transient investigation includes both speed and load changes operating schedules. During each transient test four major measurements are continuously made, i.e. engine speed, fuel pump rack position, main chamber pressure and turbocharger compressor boost pressure. The hydraulic brake coupled to the engine possesses a high mass moment of inertia and long nonlinear load-change times, which together with the indirect injection nature of the engine are important challenges for the simulation code. Explicit multiple diagrams are given to describe the engine and turbocharger transient behaviour including smoke predictions. The agreement between experimental and predicted responses is satisfactory, for all the cases examined, proving the validity of the simulation process, while providing useful information for the engine response under various transient operations. ( 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.