Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
p–n homo-junction arrays of aligned single walled carbon nanotubes fabricated by selective patterning of polyethyleneimine film

We describe the fabrication and electrical performance of p–n homo-junction diode arrays of horizontally aligned single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Horizontally aligned SWCNTs grown on stable temperature-cut quartz with a density of ∼ 6 SWCNTs µm − 1 were transferred onto a SiO2/Si substrate. After the electrical breakdown, aligned SWCNT field effect transistors (FETs) showed unipolar p-type characteristics with a large current on/off ratio of 106 at 1 V and a hole mobility per tube of 1500 cm2 V − 1 s − 1. Spin-coating of polyethyleneimine (PEI) onto p-type SWCNT FETs showed the n-type transfer characteristics. Patterning of spin-coated PEI film enabled the fabrication of p–n homo-junction arrays of aligned SWCNTs in an easy way, where the rectifying behavior was observed with a rectification ratio of ∼ 104 at ± 2 V. A comparative study with a p–n homo-junction of random networks of SWCNTs confirmed the advantage of aligned SWCNTs for applications in high performance electronic devices.
Diagnosis and Management of Fibroadenomas in the Adolescent Breast

Abstract Fibroadenomas are benign breast masses that can present a management challenge in adolescent populations. Most fibroadenomas may be managed conservatively without surgery, but those masses that are symptomatic or increasing in size may require surgical excision. In adolescents, the implications of surgical intervention in the breast are unclear, and there is little outcomes data. In this article, the authors discuss the presentation, diagnosis, and management of fibroadenoma in adolescents. Key considerations for physicians in treating these masses in this population are reviewed.
Maternal Licorice Consumption During Pregnancy and Pubertal, Cognitive, and Psychiatric Outcomes in Children

Earlier puberty, especially in girls, is associated with physical and mental disorders. Prenatal glucocorticoid exposure influences the timing of puberty in animal models, but the human relevance of those findings is unknown. We studied whether voluntary consumption of licorice, which contains glycyrrhizin (a potent inhibitor of placental 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2, the "barrier" to maternal glucocorticoids), by pregnant women was associated with pubertal maturation (height, weight, body mass index for age, difference between current and expected adult height, Tanner staging, score on the Pubertal Development Scale), neuroendocrine function (diurnal salivary cortisol, dexamethasone suppression), cognition (neuropsychological tests), and psychiatric problems (as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist) in their offspring. The children were born in 1998 in Helsinki, Finland, and examined during 2009-2011 (mean age = 12.5 (standard deviation (SD), 0.4) years; n = 378). Girls exposed to high maternal glycyrrhizin consumption (≥500 mg/week) were taller (mean difference (MD) = 0.4 SD, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1, 0.8), were heavier (MD = 0.6 SD, 95% CI: 0.2, 1.9), and had higher body mass index for age (MD = 0.6 SD, 95% CI: 0.2, 0.9). They were also 0.5 standard deviations (95% CI: 0.2, 0.8) closer to adult height and reported more advanced pubertal development (P < 0.04). Girls and boys exposed to high maternal glycyrrhizin consumption scored 7 (95% CI: 3.1, 11.2) points lower on tests of intelligence quotient, had poorer memory (P < 0.04), and had 3.3-fold (95% CI: 1.4, 7.7) higher odds of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder problems compared with children whose mothers consumed little to no glycyrrhizin (≤249 mg/week). No differences in cortisol levels were found. Licorice consumption during pregnancy may be associated with harm for the developing offspring.
Increased G2 chromosomal radiosensitivity in cancer patients: the role of cdk1/cyclin-B activity level in the mechanisms involved.

PURPOSE To test the hypothesis that deficient DNA repair as measured by increased G2 chromosomal radiosensitivity results from up-regulation of cdk1/cyclinB and cell cycle control mechanisms during the G2 to M transition. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 185 cancer patients and 25 normal individuals were tested for G2 chromosomal radiosensitivity. The chromatid breaks were analysed in metaphase using the G2 assay or directly in G0 and G2 phase using premature chromosome condensation (PCC). The activity of cdk1/cyclinB, a key regulator of the G2 to M-phase transition, was measured by histone H1 kinase activity and correlated with the development of chromatid breaks after irradiation of cell lines in vitro. RESULTS Based on the G2 assay, cancer patients on average showed increased chromosomal radiosensitivity above controls. When the analysis was carried out directly in G0 or G2 lymphocytes using PCC, no differences in the induction of chromosomal damage and its repair were observed between G2 assay-sensitive and G2-normal donors. Using the G2 assay to test G2 radiosensitivity in various cell lines, it was found that the higher the cdk1/cyclinB activity level of the cell line tested, the higher the yield of chromatid breaks scored. Furthermore, when mitotic cells from these cell lines were used for PCC induction in irradiated G2 lymphocytes it was observed that the higher the cdk1/cyclinB activity level of mitotic cells used, the higher was the induced yield of chromatid breaks. CONCLUSION The cdk1/cyclin-B activity levels during the G2 to M transition impair DNA repair processes and play a major role in the yield of chromatid breaks induced after G2-irradiation. Regulation of cdk1/cyclinB complex activity rather than deficient repair enzymes of DNA damage may underlie the mechanisms of G2 radiosensitivity.
Exploiting Multiple Semantic Resources for Answer Selection

This paper describes the utility of semantic resources such as the Web, WordNet and gazetteers in the answer selection process for a question-answering system. In contrast with previous work using individual semantic resources to support answer selection, our work combines multiple resources to boost the confidence scores assigned to correct answers and evaluates different combination strategies based on unweighted sums, weighted linear combinations, and logistic regression. We apply our approach to select answers from candidates produced by three different extraction techniques of varying quality, focusing on TREC questions whose answers represent locations or proper-names. Our experimental results demonstrate that the combination of semantic resources is more effective than individual resources for all three extraction techniques, improving answer selection accuracy by as much as 32.35% for location questions and 72% for proper-name questions. Of the combination strategies tested, logistic regression models produced the best results for both location and proper-name questions.
Using Natural Language Processing for Automatic Extraction of Ontology Instances

Ontologies are used by modern knowledge-based systems to represent and share knowledge about an application domain. Ontology population looks for identifying instances of concepts and relationships of an ontology. Manual population by domain experts and knowledge engineers is an expensive and time consuming task so, automatic and semi-automatic approaches are needed. This article proposes an initial approach for automatic ontology population from textual sources that use natural language processing and machine learning techniques. Some experiments using a family law corpus were conducted in order to evaluate it. Initial results are promising and indicate that our approach can extract instances with good
The Effect of Bank Bailouts on CEO Careers

We examine the impact of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) on the careers of chief executive officers. During the crisis, CEOs of banks receiving TARP were 18% more likely to retain their job compared with their non-TARP peers. After the crisis, however, TARP CEOs were less likely to be employed. We further find that TARP banks that kept their CEO increased their risk-taking behavior and changed CEOs after losing political connections. These findings suggest that during the crisis TARP saved the job of some CEOs, but in the long run the labor market punished CEOs who were bailed out.
Capital structure effects on banking performance: a case study of Jordan

This study examines the impact of capital structure on performance of Jordanian banks. The annual financial statements of 12 commercial banks listed on Amman Stock Exchange were used for this study which covers a period of five (5) years from 2007-2011. Multiple regressions was applied on performance indicators such as Net Profit (NP), Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), Return on Equity (ROE) and Net Interest Margin (NIM) as well as Total Debt to Total Funds (TDTF) and Total Debt to Total Equity (TDTE) as capital structure variables. Multiple regression models are applied to estimate the relationship between capital structure and banking performance. The results show that bank performance, which is measured by net profit, return on capital employed and net interest margin is to be significantly and positively associated with total debt; while total debt is found to be insignificant in determining return on equity in the banking industry of Jordan.
Framework for the implementation of a supplier Kanban System in a small and medium scale industry

In the competitive environment of the automotive components industry, where the survival of a company is highly dependent on its ability to keep cost manageable and selling price low, an efficient inventory management system will reduce the cash tied down in inventory and improve the financial cost associated with it.This paper provided a step by step framework for small and medium scale industries (SMI) within the automotive component industry to implement a Supplier Kanban System (SKS) for managing and controlling the volume of stocks housed in their respective warehouse.The main benefit to be gained from implementing the Supplier Kanban System (SKS) is the reduction of inventory and manpower required to manage this inventory.When effectively implemented, the company will hold only three days inventory and the supplier will continuously replenish the inventory to sustain a three day stock level.The three day stock level is necessary because of the volatility of demand within the automotive industry in Malaysia and is designed to strike a balance between keeping Just in Time (JIT) stock and overstocking. The framework is divided into three levels and the first level evaluates a company‟s suitability to implement the Supplier Kanban System, the second level guides the company towards the preparation for the implementation and third level guides the company on the implementation and sustainability.Each of these levels has a series of steps, which has to be executed sequentially and one can move to the next level only when the current level has been successfully implemented.
Electromigration in Interconnect Structures of Microelectronics Circuits

We present a comprehensive physical model for the whole life cycles of electromigration induced voids. Special emphasis is put on explaining the void morphology and its impact on interconnect resistance. Investigations for common twoand three-dimensional interconnect structures are presented. Implications of the theoretical analysis and the simulation results for modern interconnect design are discussed.
Algorithmic skeletons for multi-core, multi-GPU systems and clusters

Due to the lack of high-level abstractions, developers of parallel applications have to deal with low-level details such as coordinating threads or synchronising processes. Thus, parallel programming still remains a difficult and error-prone task. In order to shield the user from these low-level details, algorithmic skeletons have been proposed. They encapsulate typical parallel programming patterns and have emerged to be an efficient approach to simplifying the development of parallel applications. In this paper, we present our skeleton library Muesli, which not only simplifies parallel programming. Additionally, it allows to write a single application that may be executed on a variety of parallel machines ranging from simple multi-core processors with shared memory to clusters of multi-and many-core processors with distributed memory as well as multi-GPU systems and GPU clusters. The level of platform independence is not reached by other existing approaches, that simplify parallel programming. Internally, the skeletons are based on MPI, OpenMP and CUDA. We demonstrate portability and efficiency of our approach by providing experimental results.
Design of Secure Multilingual CAPTCHA Challenge

Growing demand for native languages in web applications has made multilingual implementation of web user interfaces and dialogs essential. However, use of insecure foreign language text CAPTCHA challenges to prove human interaction in the native language pages of web applications has rendered CAPTCHA protected services unusable, insecure and inaccessible. This paper analyses CAPTCHA and multilingual functionalities of 410 multilingual websites 240 government and 170 non-government and discusses their accessibility and usability. It enumerates deficiencies of currently in use CAPTCHA scripts and services open and closed source. It discusses the design, algorithm, pseudo code, and working of a secure multilingual text CAPTCHA script having desired security, accessibility and usability features. The designed script offers localized onscreen keyboard, random patterns, fonts, and audio alternatives to improve usability and security. The results of experiments, security tests, and users study with the CAPTCHA tests generated through the proposed technique have validated its design, security, usability, and accessibility.
Identification, control and robustness analysis of a robotic system using fractional control

This paper presents the identification, control and robustness analysis for a robotic system of 1 degree of freedom using fractional and integer PID controllers. Initially, an ADAMS-MATLAB co-simulation model is built to simulate the dynamic model of robotic system. The identification of the dynamic model parameters of the system employs the recursive least-squares method. The controller design uses a linearized model of the robotic system obtained by the method of input-output linearization, and then, the fractional PID and integer PID controllers are designed based on it. The robustness of the PID controllers is analyzed in the frequency and the time domain. The robustness analysis in the frequency domain uses The Gang of Four (sensibility, complementary sensibility, sensibility of the plant and sensibility of the controller effort). The time domain analysis uses the ADAMS-MATLAB co-simulation model, considering external disturbances, noise in the feedback loop, parametric uncertainty and set-point variation, using as performance criteria ISE, average value and standard deviation of the control action. The tests are performed for positioning and tracking tasks. The obtained results show that the fractional PID controller has a better behavior in presence of external disturbances and lower energy consumption.
Disturbed circadian variation of serum thyrotropin in patients with endogenous depression

The relationship between the degree of depression and the circadian variation of serum TSH, T3 and T4 was investigated in 19 endogenously depressed patients. The difference between the hormone concentrations at 2 p.m. and at 12 p.m. was taken as an estimate of the magnitude of circadian variation. It was found that the circadian variation in serum TSH was inversely related to the degree of endogenous depression. This was mainly due to a diminution or absence of the night increase of TSH in severely depressed patients. A circadian variation of serum free T3 was found in the less depressed patients whereas no diurnal change was found in serum free T4. In severely depressed patients there were no significant diurnal changes in free thyroid hormone concentrations. The results indicate a hypothalamic dysfunction in manic‐depressive psychosis.
Role of the Peripheral Myelin Protein 22 N‐Linked Glycan in Oligomer Stability

Abstract: Peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) is a 22‐kDa glycoprotein containing a single N‐linked carbohydrate moiety. This posttranslational modification is conserved in PMP22 across species and within members of the PMP22 gene family; however, the function of the oligosaccharide is not known. To study the role of the PMP22 carbohydrate, site‐directed mutagenesis was used to alter the glycosylation consensus sequence and produce a glycosylation‐deficient mutant protein. This modified PMP22 was expressed in primary Schwann cells (SCs), and the effect of the N‐glycan on the turnover rate, oligomerization, and intracellular trafficking of PMP22 was determined. Our data show a slight decrease in turnover rate from a half‐life of ∼70 min for the wild‐type (wt) protein to 100 min for the glycosylation mutant. Although the presence of glycosylation‐deficient PMP22 oligomers could be detected in SCs, we observed a decrease in oligomer stability compared with the wt oligomers. Both wt and mutant proteins showed similar localization in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi compartments and were transported to the SC surface. These results suggest that the N‐glycan of PMP22 facilitates, in part, the stability of the PMP22 oligomer; however, the implications of PMP22 oligomerization remain unknown.
Vascularization of human glioma spheroids implanted into rat cortex is conferred by two distinct mechanisms

Aim of this study was to develop and characterize an applicable in vivo model to investigate angiogenesis of human gliomas. An established glioblastoma spheroid model was used to investigate the neovascularization of a standardized avascular solid tumor mass. Spheroids of two human glioma cell lines were labeled with an in vivo fluorescent dye. Single spheroids were implanted into the cortex of athymic rats. After 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 days, brain sections containing the spheroid were immunostained for endothelial cells or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The dye‐stained glioma spheroid and the endothelial cells were visualized by confocal microscopy. Two distinct mechanisms of tumor vascularization could be observed. (1) “Classical” angiogenesis with new vessels sprouting from existing host vessels into the spheroid was seen. (2) Individual endothelial cells were found to migrate towards and into the center of the spheroid where they coalesced to form new vessels. This process occurred as early as 24 hr after spheroid implantation. Spheroid vascularization was accompanied by an increase of VEGF expression, which peaked 7 days after implantation and returned to normal patterns by 14–21 days. Besides the “classical” angiogenesis by angiogenic blood vessels, the recruitment of individual endothelial cells seems to be an additional mechanism in early glioma vascularization. Our model proves to be a reliable, reproducible system to study in vivo angiogenesis of human gliomas. J. Neurosci. Res. 55:486–495, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Socioeconomic factors affecting non-timber forest product collection in the Komi Republic, Russia.

There is continued interest in the effects of socioeconomic factors on the collection of nontimber forest products (NTFPs) across the world. Studies in both developing and developed countries have found that, socioeconomic factors can describe why and how stakeholders collect NTFPs. This study was conducted to determine key socioeconomic factors that influence the collection of non-timber forest products in the Komi Republic, Russia, which is historically, politically, ecologically, economically and socially different from both developing and developed countries. This study used qualitative methods (participant observation, focus groups, informal interviews, document review) and quantitative (questionnaires) methods. The results indicated that, in the Komi Republic, gender affected the collection of firewood and chaga, while educational level affected the collection firewood, berries, birch bark and birch sap. However, age, occupational type, household size and income level did not affect the collection of NTFPs. The study found that while women and men collect NTFPs for the same reasons, they use NTFPs differently within the household. The study also found that culture and alcoholism have a significant effect on NTFP collection. The results of this study contribute to the body of knowledge on the general role of NTFPs in rural livelihoods and key socioeconomic factors that affect NTFP collection in the Komi Republic.
Defective Activation of ERK in Macrophages Lacking the p50/p105 Subunit of NF-κB Is Responsible for Elevated Expression of IL-12 p40 Observed after Challenge with Helicobacter hepaticus1

Helicobacter hepaticus is an enterohepatic Helicobacter species that induces lower bowel inflammation in susceptible mouse strains, including those lacking the p50/p105 subunit of NF-κB. H. hepaticus-induced colitis is associated with elevated levels of IL-12 p40 expression, and p50/p105-deficient macrophages express higher levels of IL-12 p40 than wild-type macrophages after challenge with H. hepaticus. However, the molecular mechanisms by which the p50/p105 subunit of NF-κB suppresses IL-12 p40 expression have not yet been elucidated. In this study we have demonstrated that H. hepaticus challenge of macrophages induces ERK activation, and this event plays a critical role in inhibiting the ability of H. hepaticus to induce IL-12 p40. Activation of ERK requires both p50/p105 and the MAPK kinase kinase, Tpl-2. Inhibition of the induction of IL-12 p40 by ERK was independent of c-Rel, a known positive regulator of IL-12 p40. Instead, it was linked to the induction of c-Fos, a known inhibitor of IL-12 p40 expression. These results suggest that H. hepaticus induces ERK activation by a pathway dependent upon Tpl-2 and p105, and that activation of ERK inhibits the expression of IL-12 p40 by inducing c-Fos. Thus, a defect in ERK activation could play a pivotal role in the superinduction of IL-12 p40 observed after challenge of macrophages lacking the p50/p105 subunit of NF-κB with H. hepaticus.
Automatic Corpus Extension for Data-driven Natural Language Generation

As data-driven approaches started to make their way into the Natural Language Generation (NLG) domain, the need for automation of corpus building and extension became apparent. Corpus creation and extension in data-driven NLG domain traditionally involved manual paraphrasing performed by either a group of experts or with resort to crowd-sourcing. Building the training corpora manually is a costly enterprise which requires a lot of time and human resources. We propose to automate the process of corpus extension by integrating automatically obtained synonyms and paraphrases. Our methodology allowed us to significantly increase the size of the training corpus and its level of variability (the number of distinct tokens and specific syntactic structures). Our extension solutions are fully automatic and require only some initial validation. The human evaluation results confirm that in many cases native speakers favor the outputs of the model built on the extended corpus.
Mode matching analysis of metallic plates in radial waveguide

Mode matching method is a useful way to analyze the mode characteristics during the section change of the waveguide. By applying this method to the radial waveguide and solving specific problems due to the radial transmission of electromagnetic wave, a calculating method in radial waveguide based on mode matching is presented. The scattering characteristic of metallic plates in radial waveguide is calculated, and the calculated result is proved qualitatively by simulation, which indicates the validity of this method.