Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A simple model for the overlap capacitance of a VLSI MOS device

A simple approximate analytical expression for the overlap capacitance between gate- and source-drain of a VLSI MOS device is derived. The expression takes into account finite polysilicon gate thickness, source-drain junction depth and different dielectric constants of silicon and oxide. A numerical procedure is also described to calculate the exact overlap capacitance with fringing, using the solution of Laplace's equation. A comparison is made to check the accuracy of the analytical expression. Good agreement is found. Experimently obtained gate-source capacitance curves are described. Overlap capacitance and fringing component values derived from these curves are also in good agreement to those predicted by the model.
XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language): A Research Perspective

XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) is going to revolutionize the business reporting. It will make sharing, communicating, transporting, and accessing of information much more efficient and cost effective without any human interaction and irrespective of computer platform. Also, the XBRL technology will eliminate human-caused errors when typing and retyping information for sharing, reporting, and decision making purposes. In this paper we provide a brief introduction to the XBRL technology and summarize the research findings related to the following topics: value of XBRL and XBRL formatted reports, transparency and corporate governance, and assurance on XBRL instance documents. Also, we provide a list of research opportunities in the XBRL domain.
Warm-start of interior point methods for second order cone optimization via rounding over optimal Jordan frames

Interior point methods (IPM) are the most popular approaches to solve Second Order Cone Optimization (SOCO) problems, due to their theoretical polynomial complexity and practical performance. In this paper, we present a warm-start method for primal-dual IPMs to reduce the number of IPM steps needed to solve SOCO problems that appear in a Branch and Conic Cut (BCC) tree when solving Mixed Integer Second Order Cone Optimization (MISOCO) problems. Our method exploits the optimal Jordan frame of a related subproblem and provides a conic feasible primal-dual initial point for the self-dual embedding model by solving two auxiliary linear optimization problems. Numerical results on test problems in the CBLIB library show on average around 61% reduction of the IPM iterations for a variety of MISOCO problems. Keywords— mixed integer optimization, conic optimization, interior point method, branch and bound, warm-start
On the Maximum and Minimum of Double Generalized Gamma Variates With Applications to the Performance of Free-Space Optical Communication Systems

In this paper, we derive the exact statistical characteristics of the maximum and the minimum of two modified double generalized gamma variates in closed form in terms of Meijer's G-function, Fox's H-function, the extended generalized bivariate Meijer's G-function, and H-function, in addition to simple closed-form asymptotic results in terms of elementary functions. Then, we rely on these new results to present the performance analysis of 1) a dual-branch free-space optical selection combining (FSO SC) diversity and 2) a dual-hop (DH) FSO relay transmission system over double generalized gamma fading channels with the impact of pointing errors. In addition, we provide asymptotic results of the bit error rate (BER) of the two systems at a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime. Computer-based Monte Carlo simulations verify our new analytical results.
Hantavirus-Specific CD8+-T-Cell Responses in Newborn Mice Persistently Infected with Hantaan Virus

ABSTRACT The relationship between virus-specific CD8+-T-cell responses and viral persistence was studied in mice by using Hantaan virus (HTNV). We first established a simple method for measuring levels of virus-specific CD8+ T cells by flow cytometry. Next, to produce a mouse model of persistent HTNV infection, newborn mice were inoculated subcutaneously within 24 h of birth with 1 or 0.1 50% newborn mouse lethal dose of HTNV. All mice that escaped lethal infection were persistently infected with HTNV until at least 30 days after virus inoculation and had no virus-specific CD8+ T cells producing gamma interferon (IFN-γ). Subsequently, the virus was eliminated from some of the mice, depending on the appearance of functional virus-specific CD8+ T cells, which have the ability to produce IFN-γ and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and have cytotoxic activity. Neutralizing antibodies were detected in all mice, regardless of the presence or absence of virus. In the acute phase, which occurs within 30 days of infection, IFN-γ-producing HTNV-specific CD8+ T cells were detected on day 15 after virus inoculation. However, TNF-α production and the cytotoxic activity of these specific CD8+ T cells were impaired and HTNV was not removed. Almost all of these specific CD8+ T cells disappeared by day 18. These results suggest that functional HTNV-specific CD8+ T cells are important for clearance of HTNV.
Measuring the Informational Value of Interpretive Shelf Nutrition Labels to Shoppers

We use the voluntary adoption of the NuVal shelf nutrition labels by a grocery retailer to estimate the value of these labels to shoppers in the yogurt category. Using an incomplete quadratic almost ideal demand system to represent consumer demand, we found a statistically significant positive effect of these shelf labels on demand for yogurt with above-average NuVal scores. The coefficients on the NuVal treatment variable in the demand equations for yogurt with below-average NuVal scores and unlabeled yogurt are not statistically significant. The value of nutrition information brought by NuVal labels is estimated to be 3.1% of consumer expenditures on yogurt at the store that uses the labels.
Trade Credit, Bank Credit and the 2008 Financial Crisis: Evidence from Western Europe

This paper studies the effect of the 2008 financial crisis on trade credit and bank credit for a sample of 1982 firms in thirteen countries in Western Europe. We find that net trade credit decreases gradually for the whole period. On the other hand bank credit stays stable for the first 2 years of the studied period (2006-2010), increases when the crisis starts and decreases for the next two years. We also find that net trade credit is negatively related to the credit depth of information and the strength of legal rights. In contrast, net trade credit is positively related to the 10-year government bond yield.
LEAN MANAGEMENT IN BANKING

The main objective of this study is to clarify the concept of Lean Management by describing the system and the key concepts and techniques that underline its implementation. The study shows what organizations, in particular commercial banks, can gain from Lean Management. To achieve this objective, it has been conceived a comparative study of Lean Management using available literature, critical analysis and professional experience of the author. The implementation of a Lean Management program in a bank will result in a Lean Organization (less waste, less bureaucracy, but more employee knowledge and empowerment, more productivity, more satisfied customers). As practical implications, the study shows how to address change, how to implement Lean in different parts of business. The originality and value of the study comes from the suggestions that are made regarding concepts and methods that would contribute a Lean Organization through an integrated program.
A multi-objective batch infill strategy for efficient global optimization

High-fidelity simulations and/or physical experiments are often required to evaluate performance of products and processes. Although accurate, they are often time consuming and/or costly, which makes it prohibitive to use them within a global optimization framework. To deal with this issue, Surrogate Assisted Optimization (SAO) approaches have been commonly used in literature. Efficient Global Optimization (EGO) is one such approach which relies on Kriging model and maximizes the expected improvement to identify the best location for sampling. Most EGO approaches studied in the literature sample one point at a time. However, this approach is inefficient for the cases when it is possible to evaluate a batch of solutions at the same cost as a single solution. This might happen for example, when a number of physical samples could be tested in an experimental setup simultaneously, or a number of simulations could be run in parallel on a cluster. This study presents an approach to sample multiple locations at each iteration. To achieve this, a multi-objective (MO) formulation is proposed and solved which considers maximization of expected improvement and maximization of distance from existing truly evaluated solutions. A decomposition based approach is then used to sample the infill solutions from the resulting non-dominated front. Numerical experiments are presented on ten well known benchmarks and a comparison is done with existing methods to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach. The results obtained for constrained optimization problems are particularly encouraging.
Identification of meningococcal serosubtypes by polymerase chain reaction

The polymerase chain reaction was used as the basis of a novel typing method for Neisseria meningitidis. Southern hybridization experiments demonstrated that it was possible to identify genes encoding different serological variants of the meningococcal class 1 outer membrane protein by probing with polymerase chain reaction products corresponding to known epitopes. A set of 14 defined variable regions was prepared in bacteriophage M13mp19 by the cloning of polymerase chain reaction products. The phage were dot blotted onto membrane filters, which were used as targets for hybridization of radiolabeled amplified class 1 outer membrane protein genes. Thus, the presence of many different subtype-specific epitopes could be investigated in one experiment. This technique was evaluated with a set of serological reference strains, mainly of serogroup B organisms, and provided an alternative, rapid, and comprehensive typing system that was capable of distinguishing known serosubtypes and also of defining currently untypeable strains independently of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis or serological analysis. An additional advantage of this technique was that in the case of an unknown serosubtype (i.e., one that did not hybridize with any of the known samples), the DNA amplified from the original sample could be used to determine the nucleotide sequence of the novel serosubtype and to clone the corresponding variable region into bacteriophage M13. It may be possible to develop this procedure for the diagnostic detection and typing of meningococci directly from clinical samples even when culture is not possible because of antibiotic treatment of an acute case.
Supply chain coordination with contracts under twice producing and ordering mode

We examine the problem of supply chain coordination with contracts under twice producing and ordering mode when considering supply chain members' cost of handling returned products and comparative liquidation advantage, and determine conditions under which either return contracts or markdown allowance contracts will be more desirable. Efficient return contracts and efficient markdown allowance contracts are designed to coordinate the retailer to order the same quantities as in central control mode. Using means of numerical study, we find that as return price or markdown allowance increases, the retailer's expected profit and overall order quantity increase and the retailer tends to order more in period 1, order less in period 2; the manufacturer's producing quantity in period 1 increases according to the retailer's order and his producing quantity in period 2 doesn't vary much; the manufacture's performance decreases with increasing return price; increasing markdown allowance in certain range can improve the manufacturer's performance, then after a threshold his expected profit decreases.
Detection of gyrA Mutations in Quinolone-Resistant Salmonella enterica by Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

ABSTRACT Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) was evaluated as a rapid screening and identification method for DNA sequence variation detection in the quinolone resistance-determining region of gyrA from Salmonella serovars. A total of 203 isolates of Salmonella were screened using this method. DHPLC analysis of 14 isolates representing each type of novel or multiple mutations and the wild type were compared with LightCycler-based PCR-gyrA hybridization mutation assay (GAMA) and single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analyses. The 14 isolates gave seven different SSCP patterns, and LightCycler detected four different mutations. DHPLC detected 11 DNA sequence variants at eight different codons, including those detected by LightCycler or SSCP. One of these mutations was silent. Five isolates contained multiple mutations, and four of these could be distinguished from the composite sequence variants by their DHPLC profile. Seven novel mutations were identified at five different loci not previously described in quinolone-resistant salmonella. DHPLC analysis proved advantageous for the detection of novel and multiple mutations. DHPLC also provides a rapid, high-throughput alternative to LightCycler and SSCP for screening frequently occurring mutations.
Humanin exerts cardioprotection against cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury through attenuation of mitochondrial dysfunction.

AIM Myocardial reperfusion via the re-canalization of occluded coronary arteries is gold standard for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction. However, reperfusion itself can cause myocardial damage due to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, a process known as ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Cardiac mitochondria are the major organelle of ROS production in the heart. Cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction caused by an increased ROS production can increase cardiac arrhythmia incidence, myocardial infarct size, and cardiac dysfunction. Thus, preservation of cardiac mitochondrial function is a promising pharmacological approach to reduce cardiac I/R injury. Humanin (HN), a newly discovered 24-amino acid polypeptide, has been shown to exert antioxidative stress and antiapoptotic effects. Although the cardioprotective effects of HN against I/R injury has been reported, the effect of HN on cardiac mitochondrial function has not yet been investigated. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that HN exerts its cardioprotective effects against I/R injury through the attenuation of cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction. METHODS I/R protocol was carried out using a 30-minutes occlusion of a left anterior descending coronary artery followed by a 120-minutes of reperfusion. The plasma HN level, infarct size, arrhythmia incidence, left ventricular function, and cardiac mitochondrial function were determined. RESULTS Endogenous HN level before I/R injury showed no difference between groups, but was markedly decreased after I/R injury. HN analogue pretreatment decreased arrhythmia incidence and infarct size, improved cardiac mitochondrial function, and attenuated cardiac dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS Humanin analogue pretreatment exerted cardioprotective effects against I/R injury through the attenuation of cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction.
Phase I study of recombinant human CD40 ligand in cancer patients.

PURPOSE To determine the toxicity, maximum-tolerated dose (MTD), and pharmacokinetics of recombinant human CD40 ligand (rhuCD40L) (Avrend; Immunex Corp, Seattle, WA), suggested in preclinical studies to mediate cytotoxicity against CD40-expressing tumors and immune stimulation. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with advanced solid tumors or intermediate- or high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) received rhuCD40L subcutaneously daily for 5 days in a phase I dose-escalation study. Subsequent courses were given until disease progression. RESULTS Thirty-two patients received rhuCD40L at three dose levels. A total of 65 courses were administered. The MTD was 0.1 mg/kg/d based on dose-related but transient elevations of serum liver transaminases. Grade 3 or 4 transaminase elevations occurred in 14%, 28%, and 57% of patients treated at 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15 mg/kg/d, respectively. Other toxicities were mild to moderate. At the MTD, the half-life of rhuCD40L was calculated at 24.8 +/- 22.8 hours. Two patients (6%) had a partial response on study (one patient with laryngeal carcinoma and one with NHL). For the patient with laryngeal cancer, a partial response was sustained for 12 months before the patient was taken off therapy and observed on no additional therapy. Three months later, the patient was found to have a complete response and remains biopsy-proven free of disease at 24 months. Twelve patients (38%) had stable disease after one course, which was sustained in four patients through four courses. CONCLUSION The MTD of rhuCD40L when administered subcutaneously daily for 5 days was defined by transient serum elevations in hepatic transaminases. Encouraging antitumor activity, including a long-term complete remission, was observed. Phase II studies are warranted.
Impact of Different Concentrations of Zinc and Cadmium Chloride on Micro Algae Chroococcus Minutus

In the present investigation the effect of different concentrations of zinc and cadmium chloride (ZnCl2 and CdCl2) on one of the Cyanophyta "Chroococcus minutus" isolated from ponds in Sana'a Yemen was evaluated. The two heavy metals adversely affected cell division; however the protein and glucose contents of the cells were slightly affected. They caused destruction of chlorophyll a as the result obtained by measuring the optical density and the chlorophyll content. These observations were interpreted in terms of the action of metals on the reduction and oxidation steps in the biosynthesis pathway of pigments.
Nonisolated High Step-up Boost Converter Integrated With Sepic Converter

For a nonisolated high step-up converter, the combination of a boost converter with a series output module is investigated in this paper. As a solution to supplement the insufficient step-up ratio and distribute a voltage stress of a classical boost converter, a sepic-integrated boost (SIB) converter, which provides an additional step-up gain with the help of an isolated sepic converter, is proposed. Since the boost converter and the sepic converter share a boost inductor and a switch, its structure is simple. Moreover, the SIB converter needs no current snubber for the diodes, since the transformer leakage inductor alleviates the reverse recovery. The operational principle and characteristics of SIB converter are presented, and verified experimentally with a 200 W, 42 V input, 400 V output prototype converter.
Antibodies with the cell-type specificity to the morula cells of the solitary ascidians Styela rustica and Boltenia echinata.

The separation of the blood cells of Styela rustica (Styelidae, Stolidobranchiae) in discontinuous Percoll gradient showed 4 fractions. The 4th and bottom most fraction contained 90-100% of morula cells. The protein composition of the morula cell fraction revealed on SDS-PAGE showed two major proteins with m.w. 47 and 26 kDa. These proteins were heavily positively charged. Polyclonal antiserums against these proteins were raised. Each antiserum reacted with both proteins only in morula cells on the blot after SDS-PAGE and stained the proper protein without crossreaction on the blot after AU-PAGE. The only type of cells stained with antibodies in circulating blood, in the tunic and on the tunic wound surface in paraffin sections of another species Boltenia echinata (Pyuridae, Stolidobranchiae) were morula cells. The morula-type specific antibodies obtained recognized major positively charged proteins which were apparently structural substrates for the phenoloxidase tanning.
A scenario guideline for designing new teletreatments: a multidisciplinary approach

Lack of user acceptance of telemedicine services is an important barrier to deployment and stresses the need for involving users, i.e. medical professionals. However, the involvement of users in the service development process of telemedicine services is difficult because of (a) the knowledge gap between the expertise of medical and technical experts; (b) the language gap, i.e. the use of different terminologies between the medical and the technical professions; and (c) the methodological gap in applying requirement methods to multidisciplinary scientific matters. We have developed a guideline in which the medical and technical domains meet. The guideline can be used to develop a scenario from which requirements can be elicited. In a retrospective analysis of a myofeedback-based teletreatment service, the technically-oriented People-Activities-Context-Technology (PACT) framework and medically-oriented principles of evidence-based medicine were incorporated into a guideline. The guideline was developed to construct the content of a scenario which describes the new teletreatment service. This allows the different stakeholders to come together and develop the service. Our approach provides an arena for different stakeholders to take part in the early stages of the design process. This should increase the chance of user acceptance and thus adoption of the service being developed.
Comparison of two forms of intensive speech treatment for Parkinson disease.

This study investigated the effect of two forms of intensive speech treatment, (a) respiration (R) and (b) voice and respiration (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment [LSVT]), on the speech and voice deficits associated with idiopathic Parkinson disease. Forty-five subjects with Idiopathic Parkinson disease completed extensive pretreatment neurological, otolaryngological, neuropsychological, and speech assessments. All subjects completed 16 sessions of intensive speech treatment, 4 times a week for 1 month. Pre- and post-treatment measures included intensity and maximum duration during sustained vowel phonation. Intensity, habitual fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency variability, and utterance and pause duration were measured during reading of the "Rainbow Passage" and conversational monologue as well. Family and subject self-ratings were completed pre- and post-treatment for the perceptual variables loudness, monotonicity, hoarseness, overall intelligibility, and initiation of conversation. Significant pre- to post-treatment improvements were observed for more variables and were of greater magnitude for the subjects who received the voice and respiration treatment (LSVT). Only subjects who received the LSVT rated a significant decrease post-treatment on the impact of Parkinson disease on their communication. Correlations between descriptive prognostic variables (i.e., stage of disease, speech/voice severity rating, depression, and time since diagnosis) and magnitude of treatment-related change indicated these factors did not significantly predict treatment effectiveness. These findings suggest that intensive voice and respiration (LSVT) treatment, focusing on increased vocal fold adduction and respiration, is more effective than respiration (R) treatment alone for improving vocal intensity and decreasing the impact of Parkinson disease on communication.