Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A combined top-down/bottom-up approach to structuring multi-sensing zones on a thin film and the application to SPR sensors

The development of a thin film with well-defined metallic micro/nanostructures, diverse surface functionalities, and superior electronic/optical properties has been a great challenge to researchers seeking an efficient method for the detection of various analytes in chemical and biological sensing applications. Herein, we report a facile and effective approach to the fabrication of an ordered gold island pattern on a glass substrate with contrasted chemical functionalities, which can provide spatially separated sensing zones for multi-detection. In the proposed method, the combination between the micro/nano-imprint lithography and sequential self-assembly approaches exhibited synergistic effects that allowed well-defined structuring and easy surface functionalization in separated sensing zones. Via imprint lithography, the uniform gold islands/glass structure was successfully fabricated from a readily available gold-coated glass film. In addition, a sequential self-assembling strategy and specific chemical–substrate interactions, such as thiol–gold and silane–glass, enabled the surfaces of gold islands and exposed portions of the glass substrate with contrasting chemical functionalities—SH-functionalized gold islands and NH2-functionalized glass substrate. A proof-of-concept experiment for the multi-detection of heavy metal ions (Hg2+ and Cu2+) in an aqueous media was also successfully conducted using the dual-functionalized gold islands/glass structure and surface plasmon resonance measurements. The SH groups on the gold islands and the NH2 groups on the glass substrate functioned as spatially separated and selective receptors for Hg2+ and Cu2+ ions, respectively. Therefore, both the detection and quantification of Hg2+ and Cu2+ ions could be achieved using a single sensing substrate.
Coupled-Filter-Inductor Soft-Switching Techniques: Principles and Topologies

Pulsewidth-modulation inverters and rectifiers are required in widespread applications such as energy-storage power plants, telecommunication systems, and electric-vehicle propulsion systems. Some of the stringent requirements of these applications can be achieved by high switching frequency. On the other hand, the use of high switching frequency may degrade the overall system efficiency, which can be alleviated by the utilization of soft-switching techniques. In this paper, a generic soft-switching diagram that can generate topologies for turn-on snubber, zero- voltage transition, zero-current-zero-voltage transition inverters with coupled filter inductor is proposed. This approach facilitates the understanding of these techniques by both newcomers and senior engineers, making the advantages and disadvantages of each soft-switching technique much clearer.
Glauber Dynamics on Trees

This paper deals with Glauber dynamics for the Ising model on trees, with [5] as the primary reference. As explained below, Ising model on trees has an interpretation in terms of information flow along the edges, which makes it trivial to sample from the Gibbs distribution. Glauber dynamics is studied, not for sampling purposes, but because similar results are expected to be valid on other non-amenable graphs where there is no alternative interpretation. Indeed, some results generalize (viz. polynomial mixing at all temperatures), whereas some are not known yet (viz. existence of an intermediate phase in nonamenable transitive graphs)
R-DEVICE: an Object-Oriented Knowledge Base System for RDF Metadata

In this paper we present R-DEVICE, a deductive object-oriented knowledge base system for reasoning over RDF metadata. R-DEVICE imports RDF documents into the CLIPS production rule system by transforming RDF triples into COOL objects and uses a deductive rule language for reasoning about them. R-DEVICE is based on an OO RDF data model, different than the established triple-based model, which maps resources to objects and encapsulates properties inside resource objects, as traditional OO attributes. In this way, fewer joins are required to access the properties of a single resource resulting in better inferencing/querying performance, as it is experimentally shown in the paper. Furthermore, RDF can interoperate seamlessly with other web data models and languages. The descriptive semantics of RDF may call for dynamic redefinitions of resource classes, which are handled by R-DEVICE effectively. Furthermore, R-DEVICE features a powerful deductive rule language for reasoning on top of RDF metadata. The rule language includes features such as normal and generalized path expressions, stratified negation, aggregate, grouping, and sorting, functions. The rule language supports a second-order syntax, which is efficiently translated into sets of firstorder logic rules using metadata, where variables can range over classes and properties, so that reasoning over the RDF schema can be made. Users can define views which are materialized and incrementally maintained by translating deductive rules into CLIPS production rules that preserve truth. Users can choose between an OPS5/CLIPS-like and a RuleML-like syntax. Finally, users can define and use functions through the CLIPS host language.
Spirituality factors in the prediction of outcomes of PTSD treatment for U.S. military veterans.

Spirituality is a multifaceted construct that might affect veterans' recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adaptive and maladaptive ways. Using a cross-lagged panel design, this study examined longitudinal associations between spirituality and PTSD symptom severity among 532 U.S. veterans in a residential treatment program for combat-related PTSD. Results indicated that spirituality factors at the start of treatment were uniquely predictive of PTSD symptom severity at discharge, when accounting for combat exposure and both synchronous and autoregressive associations between the study variables, βs = . 10 to . 16. Specifically, veterans who scored higher on adaptive dimensions of spirituality (daily spiritual experiences, forgiveness, spiritual practices, positive religious coping, and organizational religiousness) at intake fared significantly better in this program. In addition, possible spiritual struggles (operationalized as negative religious coping) at baseline were predictive of poorer PTSD outcomes, β = . 11. In contrast to these results, PTSD symptomatology at baseline did not predict any of the spirituality variables at posttreatment. In keeping with a spiritually integrative approach to treating combat-related PTSD, these results suggest that understanding the possible spiritual context of veterans' trauma-related concerns might add prognostic value and equip clinicians to alleviate PTSD symptomatology among those veterans who possess spiritual resources or are somehow struggling in this domain.
TNF-α modulation by natural bioactive molecules in mouse RAW 264.7 macrophage cells

Abstract Background: The present study was designed to examine the anti-inflammatory effects of plant-derived products marketed for human health benefits. Methods: The tumor necrotic factor-α (TNF-α) was used as a proinflammatory biomarker generated by mouse macrophage RAW 264.6 cells. The in vitro tested plant products include Saskatoon berry (SKB), quercetin, purified oat beta-glucan (OBG), curcumin, and turmeric. Quantification of TNF-α in cell culture supernatants was carried out using mouse TNF-α assay kit and the cell proliferation was determined by MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The cells were grown in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum and 100 U/mL penicillin and 100 µg/mL streptomycin. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at a concentration of 500 ng/mL was employed to stimulate the TNF-α production in mouse macrophage cells. Results: Results showed that curcumin at 10 µM (3.7 µg/mL) level effectively attenuated the LPS-induced inflammatory response, and at 100 µM completely inhibited macrophage RAW cell growth (p<0.05). The aqueous turmeric extract caused inhibitory effect on TNF-α at 25, 50, 100, and 500 µg/mL. SKB inhibited TNF-α production at 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 µg/mL. On the other hand, at 10, 25, 500, and 1,000 µg/mL SKB promoted significant cell growth/proliferation. Quercetin at 10, 25, 50 and 100 µg/mL inhibited TNF-α, but at 500 and 1,000 µg/mL stimulated cell growth. OBG at 10, 25, and 50 µg/mL inhibited TNF-α, but in some cases OBG stimulated TNF-α At 1,000 and 10,000 µg/mL OBG proved to be extremely toxic or lethal to the macrophage cells. Conclusions: Overall, the plant products showed anti-inflammatory effects as well as cell proliferation or inhibition in the in vitro system used in this investigation. The underlying mechanisms of dualistic actions caused by plant-derived ingredients, viz., macrophage cellular growth stimulation or retardation, remain to be elucidated.
Zero skew clock routing with minimum wirelength

The deferred-merge embedding (DME) algorithm, which embeds any given connection topology to create a clock tree with zero skew while minimizing total wirelength, is presented. The algorithm always yields exact zero skew trees with respect to the appropriate delay model. Experimental results show an 8% to 15% wire length reduction over some previous constructions. The DME algorithm may be applied to either the Elmore or linear delay model, and yields optimal total wirelength for linear delay. DME is a very fast algorithm, running in time linear in the number of synchronizing elements. A unified BB+DME algorithm, which constructs a clock tree topology using a top-down balanced bipartition (BB) approach and then applies DME to that topology, is also presented. The experimental results indicate that both the topology generation and embedding components of the methodology are necessary for effective clock tree construction. >
Fluid Flow Turbulence in the Proximities of the Metal-Slag Interface in Ladle Stirring Operations

Three-phase interactions (metal-slag-argon) in ladle stirring operations have strong effects on metal-slag mass transfer processes. Specifically, the thickness of the slag controls the fluid turbulence to an extent that once trespassing a critical thickness, increases of stirring strength have not further effects on the flow. To analyze these conditions, a physical model considering the three phases was built to study liquid turbulence in the proximities of the metal-slag interface. A velocity probe placed close to the interface permitted the continuous monitoring and statistical analyses of turbulence. The slag-eye opening was found to be strongly dependent on the stirring conditions, and the mixing times decreased with thin slag thicknesses. Slag entrainment was enhanced with thick slag layers, and high flow rates of the gas phase. A multiphase model was developed to simulate these results finding a good agreement between experimental and numerical results.
Cyclodextrin Complexes: Utility in Improving Drug Bioavailability and Other Applications

The oral route is the most common and preferred method of drug administration because of its convenience and ease of delivery as well as cost-effectiveness and better patient compliance. However, for many active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), this route of administration is associated with some drawbacks such as poor aqueous solubility and low permeability of the compound resulting in limited drug absorption and consequent poor bioavailability. For any drug to be absorbed, it must be available in an aqueous solution at the site of absorption. It is known that for drugs with solubilities < 0.1 mg/ml, their absorption are likely to be dissolution limited. Conversely, if a drug is extremely water soluble, its ability to traverse lipophilic biomembranes (permeability) will be poor and this also limits the bioavailability. The critical impacts of aqueous solubility and intestinal permeability of drugs on their bioavailability have been utilized in classifying APIs into four classes, as reflected in the Biopharmaceutics Classification Systems (BCS). These two factors along with dissolution process, govern the rate and extent to which a drug appears in the systemic circulation, and this depicts bioavailability. For the BCS class II drugs (low aqueous solubility/high permeability) the rate-limiting step in drug absorption is the dissolution process. While for the BCS Class IV drugs (low aqueous solubility/low permeability), both dissolution process and intestinal permeability determine the drug absorption. Thus, increasing the aqueous solubility can translate to increase in the dissolution rate with a resultant improvement in the oral bioavailability of BCS Classes II and IV drugs. The BCS classes 1 and III drugs are not subject to bioavailability problems since they both have high aqueous solubility but with high and low permeability, respectively.
Identifying victims of violence using register-based data

Aims: The aim of this study was twofold. Firstly we identified victims of violence in national registers and discussed strengths and weaknesses of this approach. Secondly we assessed the magnitude of violence and the characteristics of the victims using register-based data. Methods: We used three nationwide registers to identify victims of violence: The National Patient Register, the Victim Statistics, and the Causes of Death Register. We merged these data and assessed the degree of overlap between data sources. We identified a reference population by selecting all individuals in Denmark over 15 years of age that had not been exposed to violence. For the study population and the reference population, socioeconomic and demographic information were retrieved from Statistics Denmark. We used logistic regression models in a cross-sectional analysis to identify characteristics of victims of violence. Results: In 2006, 22,000 individuals were registered as having been exposed to violence. About 70% of these victims were men. Most victims were identified from emergency room contacts and police records, and few from the Causes of Death Register. There was some overlap between the two large data sources. We found significant differences between victims and non-victims according to socio-economic status, education, marital status, and ethnic origin, and also between victims by source of identification. Conclusions: We have identified a study population consisting of individual victims of violence that opens for further studies on violence. The use of different data sources is a strength but also a potential weakness to epidemiological, health economic, and other analyses using these data.
Time-resolved photoluminescence on double graded Cu(In,Ga)Se2 – Impact of front surface recombination and its temperature dependence

ABSTRACT Time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) is applied to determine an effective lifetime of minority charge carriers in semiconductors. Such effective lifetimes include recombination channels in the bulk as well as at the surfaces and interfaces of the device. In the case of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers used for solar cell applications, trapping of minority carriers has also been reported to impact the effective minority carrier lifetime. Trapping can be indicated by an increased temperature dependence of the experimentally determined photoluminescence decay time when compared to the temperature dependence of Shockley–Read–Hall (SRH) recombination alone and can lead to an overestimation of the minority carrier lifetime. Here, it is shown by technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations and by experiment that the intentional double-graded bandgap profile of high efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers causes a temperature dependence of the PL decay time similar to trapping in case of a recombinative front surface. It is demonstrated that a passivated front surface results in a temperature dependence of the decay time that can be explained without minority carrier trapping and thus enables the assessment of the absorber quality by means of the minority carrier lifetime. Comparison with the absolute PL yield and the quasi-Fermi-level splitting (QFLS) corroborate the conclusion that the measured decay time corresponds to the bulk minority carrier lifetime of 250 ns for the double-graded CIGS absorber under investigation. Graphical Abstract
Effects of sensor-augmented pump therapy on glycemic variability in well-controlled type 1 diabetes in the STAR 3 study.

BACKGROUND Compared with multiple daily injections (MDI), sensor-augmented pump (SAP) insulin therapy may reduce glycemic variability and oxidative stress in type 1 diabetes in a glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C)-independent manner. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The STAR 3 study compared SAP with MDI therapy for 1 year. Week-long continuous glucose monitoring studies were conducted at baseline and 1 year for assessment of glycemic variability in both groups. Soluble CD40 ligand (CD40L), a biomarker of inflammation and thrombocyte function, was measured at baseline and 1 year. Subjects were classified according to treatment group and 1-year A1C levels (<6.5%, 6.5-6.9%, 7-7.9%, ≥8%). Glycemic parameters were compared between SAP and MDI subjects in each A1C cohort. RESULTS At 1 year, sensor glucose values at A1C levels ≥6.5% were similar in the SAP and MDI groups. However, sensor glucose SD and coefficient of variation (CV) values were lower at A1C levels <8% among SAP than among MDI subjects; the overall between-group difference was significant for both SD (P<0.01) and CV (P=0.01). The overall mean amplitude of glycemic excursion was similar in MDI and SAP groups (P=0.23). CD40L levels fell over the course of the study in both groups, but the between-group difference was not significant (P=0.18). CD40L concentrations were unrelated to A1C, change in A1C from baseline, or glycemic variability. CONCLUSIONS At comparable A1C levels of <8%, SAP reduced glycemic variability as measured by SD and CV compared with MDI. SAP may provide beneficial reductions in the number and severity of glycemic excursions.
Split-Delta Background Calibration for SAR ADCs

This brief introduces a unified performance benchmarking framework that allows us to map existing successive approximation register mismatch calibration methods and compare their performance under identical circumstances. Using this framework, an analysis of advantages and disadvantages of popular state-of-the-art methods is presented. Combining the strengths of some of these methods leads to the proposal of a new calibration scheme, which we call the split-delta method. This calibration approach is a modification of the split ADC yet avoids the more complex architectural modifications required by other split-ADC schemes while preserving good convergence speed and performance. Finally, the effects that the dynamic effects on top of capacitor mismatch and offset have on the converter's signal-to-noise ratio are analyzed.
Posttraumatic stress symptoms predict impaired neutrophil recovery in stem cell transplant recipients

Despite the potentially life‐saving effects of stem cell transplant (SCT), many transplant patients experience traumatic stress reactions due to mortality threat, interpersonal isolation, financial and occupational loss, and invasive medical procedures. Emerging evidence suggests that trauma‐related stress symptoms (TSS) predict significant health complications following SCT. The aim of the current prospective study was to examine TSS in the acute aftermath of SCT as a predictor of neutrophil recovery following SCT, a crucial component of immune defense against infection.
Enhancing the Classroom Learning Experience with Web Lectures

In this paper, we present continuing research into the use of web lectures to enhance the classroom learning experience. By using web lectures to present lecture material in advance of class, more in-class time can be spent engaging students with authentic learning activities; our goal is to use class time for more learning by doing, less learning by listening. A longitudinal quasiexperiment was conducted during the Spring 2005 semester with two sections of the same course: one using web lectures and one using traditional lectures. The web lecture section’s grades were significantly higher than the lecture section, and web lecture students reported increasingly strong positive attitudes about the intervention. We also present multiple threads of future work motivated by these positive results.
Evaluation of a Runyankore grammar engine for healthcare messages

Natural Language Generation (NLG) can be used to generate personalized health information, which is especially useful when provided in one’s own language. However, the NLG technique widely used in different domains and languages—templates—was shown to be inapplicable to Bantu languages, due to their characteristic agglutinative structure. We present here our use of the grammar engine NLG technique to generate text in Runyankore, a Bantu language indigenous to Uganda. Our grammar engine adds to previous work in this field with new rules for cardinality constraints, prepositions in roles, the passive, and phonological conditioning. We evaluated the generated text with linguists and non-linguists, who regarded most text as grammatically correct and understandable; and over 60% of them regarded all the text generated by our system to have been authored by a human being.
On the Schedulability of Deadline-Constrained Traffic in TDMA Wireless Mesh Networks

In this paper, we evaluate the schedulability of trafﬁc with arbitrary end-to-end deadline constraints inWirelessMeshNetworks(WMNs). Weformulatetheproblemasamixedintegerlinearoptimization problem,andshowthat,dependingontheﬂowaggregationpolicyusedinthenetwork,theproblem canbeeitherconvexornon-convex.Weoptimallysolvetheprobleminbothcases,andprovethat theschedulabilitydoesdependontheaggregationpolicy.Thisallowsustoderiverulesofthumb toidentifywhichpolicyimprovestheschedulabilitywithagiventrafﬁc. Furthermore,wepropose aheuristicsolutionstrategythatallowsgoodsuboptimalsolutionstotheschedulingproblemtobe computedinrelativelysmalltimes,comparabletothoserequiredforonlineadmissioncontrolin relativelylargeWMNs.
Virtual and Dynamic Hierarchical Architecture : an overlay network topology for discovering grid services with high performance

This paper presents an overlay network topology called Virtual and Dynamic Hierarchical Architecture (VDHA) for discovering Grid services with high performance. Service discovery based on VDHA has scalable, autonomous, efficient, reliable and quick responsive. We propose two service discovery algorithms. Full Search Query and Discovery Protocol (FSQDP) discovers the nodes that match the request message from all N nodes, which has time complexity O(logN), space complexity O(nvg) (nvg being node numbers of each virtual group), and message-cost O(N), and Domain-Specific Query and Discovery Protocol (DSQDP) searches nodes in only specific domains with time complexity O(nvg), space complexity O(nvg), and message-cost O(nvg). In this paper, we also describe VDHA, its formal definition, and Grid Group Management Protocol.