Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of High-$\kappa$ (HfO$_2$) Gate Dielectrics in Double-Gate and Cylindrical-Nanowire FETs Scaled to the Ultimate Technology Nodes

In this work we investigate the performance of double-gate and cylindrical nanowire FETs with high-kappa gate dielectrics at their extreme miniaturization limits. The model fully accounts for quantum electrostatics; current transport is simulated by an improved quantum drift-diffusion approach supported by a new thickness-dependent mobility model which nicely fits the available measurements for both SiO2 and HfO2 gate dielectrics. The on-current is simulated using both the quantum drift-diffusion model and a full-quantum transport approach based on the quantum transmitting boundary method, which assumes a purely ballistic transport. The performance comparison between SiO2 and HfO2 insulated-gate FETs with the same electrical oxide thickness demonstrates that the latter provides a slight degradation of the short-channel effect compared with the former but, at the same time, gives an improved on-current due to lateral capacitive-coupling effects, despite the inherent degradation of the low-field mobility
Bis{2,4-dibromo-6-[(E)-(4-fluorobenzyl)iminomethyl]phenolato-κ2 N,O}cobalt(II)

The complete molecule of the title complex, [Co(C14H9Br2FNO)2], is generated by crystallographic twofold symmetry, with the CoII atom lying on the rotation axis. The coordination of the metal atom by the two N,O-bidentate ligands results in a squashed CoN2O2 tetrahedron. The six-membered chelate ring is an envelope, with the metal atom as the flap. The dihedral angle between the planes of the aromatic rings within each ligand is 84.1 (6)°.
Soluble adhesion molecules reflect endothelial cell activation in ischemic stroke and in carotid atherosclerosis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Activation of endothelial cells and platelets plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis and thrombotic disorders. Soluble adhesion molecules originating from these cells can be demonstrated in plasma. We hypothesized that elevated plasma concentrations of soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin), soluble intercellular adhesion mole-cule-1 (sICAM-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), and soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin) can reflect activation of endothelial cells and/or platelets in acute ischemic stroke and in previously symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis. METHODS Plasma was sampled from patients within 2 days of acute ischemic stroke (n = 28), from patients with a previous (> 1 week) transient or persistent ischemic neurological deficit associated with stenosis of the internal carotid artery (n = 34), and from control patients without a history of vascular disease (n = 34). Concentrations of sP-selectin, sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, and sE-selectin were measured by means of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS Compared with control subjects, sP-selectin and sE-selectin were significantly elevated in the acute stage of ischemic stroke (P < .0001 and P = .001, respectively) as well as in previously symptomatic carotid stenosis (P < .0001 and P = .0007). sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 were not increased. CONCLUSIONS The elevated levels of sE-selectin indicate that endothelial cell activation occurs both in the acute stage of ischemic stroke and in previously symptomatic carotid atherosclerosis. Increased sP-selectin concentrations reflect endothelial cell activation as well but may also be caused by platelet activation.
Density functional study of Ag in Ge2Se3

We present density functional calculations of isolated Ag atoms in a crystalline model for Ge2Se3. We present defect levels for interstitial and substitutional sites. Absent other defects, we show that interstitial Ag donates an electron to the conduction band of Ge2Se3 because the highest occupied atomic level is well above the Kohn-Sham conduction band edge. Thus, we predict that Ag is always positively charged, although its charge state is fractional and significantly below +1. This results accounts for both the conductive properties of Ge2Se3:Ag and the persistence of field-driven Ag motion. The presence of three fold-coordinated Ge alters the physics considerably. The midgap Ge states are electron sinks for the conduction electrons donated by Ag. Finally, we present evidence that Ag will displace Ge into interstitial sites, creating both dangling Ge orbitals and substitutional Ag with a strong Ag-Ge bond.
Are Short Sellers Superior Traders?

Using two practitioner measures of intraday trading skill, Boni and Rosen show that short sellers are little or no better than the average trader. Using the first measure, the authors find that short sellers beat the day’s volume-weighted average price by 4 basis points, or about 1.3 cents per share, on average. Using the second measure, the Kissell and Glantz [2003] relative performance measure, they find that short sellers are not measurably better than average. With the exception of short sales of stocks on the SEC’s September 18, 2008, Emergency Order ban list, the authors’ findings are robust for the different short-sale regulatory regimes that existed during the third quarter of 2008.
bor1-1, an Arabidopsis thaliana Mutant That Requires a High Level of Boron

bor1–1 (high boron requiring), an Arabidopsis thaliana mutant that requires a high level of B, was isolated. When the B concentration in the medium was reduced to 3 [mu]M, the expansion of rosette leaves was severely affected in bor1–1 but not in wild-type plants. In a medium containing 30 [mu]M B the mutant grew normally but showed female sterility, whereas the wild type was able to set seeds. These defects of the bor1–1 mutant were not detected with supplementation of 100 [mu]M B. In vivo concentrations of B in bor1–1 mutants were lower than those of the wild type, especially in the inflorescence stems. Tracer experiments using 10B suggested that the mutant has defects in uptake and/or translocation of B. The mutation was mapped on the lower arm of chromosome 2.
Future Changes in Global Precipitation Projected by the Atmospheric Model MRI-AGCM3.2H with a 60-km Size

We conducted global warming projections using the Meteorological Research Institute-Atmospheric General Circulation Model Version 3.2 with a 60-km grid size (MRI-AGCM3.2H). For the present-day climate of 21 years from 1983 through 2003, the model was forced with observed historical sea surface temperature (SST). For the future climate of 21 years from 2079–2099, the model was forced with future SST projected by conventional couple models. Twelve-member ensemble simulations for three different cumulus convection schemes and four different SST distributions were conducted to evaluate the uncertainty of projection. Annual average precipitation will increase over the equatorial regions and decrease over the subtropical regions. The future precipitation changes are generally sensitive to the cumulus convection scheme, but changes are influenced by the SST over the some regions of the Pacific Ocean. The precipitation efficiency defined as precipitation change per 1° surface air temperature warming is evaluated. The global average of precipitation efficiency for annual average precipitation was less than the maximum value expected by thermodynamical theory, indicating that dynamical atmospheric circulation is acting to reduce the conversion efficiency from water vapor to precipitation. The precipitation efficiency by heavy precipitation is larger than that by moderate and weak precipitation.
Indirect matrix converter based open-end winding AC drives with zero common-mode voltage

Common-mode voltage (CMV) generated by semiconductor switching causes stray currents and mechanical failure in modern drive systems. Solutions employed to attenuate or isolate the common-mode voltage (CMV) require additional components, and may still fail to eliminate the detrimental effects. Matrix converter based open-end winding drives, when modulated using synchronous vectors, do not generate CMV to begin with. Additionally, these drives do not rely upon a large DC capacitor that is used in the state-of-the-art systems; and are therefore expected to be more compact and reliable. This paper will present prototypes of two distinct indirect matrix converter based open-end winding drives that eliminate output common-mode voltage, provide high voltage transfer ratio (up to 1.5), and allow input power factor control. These indirect drives have the additional advantages of clamp circuit elimination, lower voltage stress on the devices, naturally intelligent commutation, and natural low-voltage ride-through integration over their direct matrix converter counterpart. Experimental evidence of the voltage transfer ratio and input power factor control will be provided. Compared to 2-level and 3-level inverters, significant reduction in the CMV induced shaft voltage and ground currents will be shown. An optimal third-order grid filter applicable to all matrix converter based drives will also be discussed. This filter will be used with the presented drives to validate its superior performance.
Adaptive video pacing method based on the prediction of stochastic TCP throughput

Many of the video streaming services on the Internet and mobile networks use HTTP/TCP for video transport. Video streaming clients are generally designed to download a sufficient amount of data to avoid playback interruption caused by the lower TCP throughput. Storing more video data than necessary may generate a large amount of wasted traffic when users quit playing video before all of the downloaded video data are played. To prevent downloading unnecessary video data, HTTP downloading with just-in-time delivery features, called video pacing, is focused on. However, video pacing may cause playback discontinuity, resulting from a decrease in the playout buffer size. This is because conventional video pacing methods control the playout buffer size without considering the TCP throughput fluctuation. In this paper, we propose an adaptive video pacing method that enables both reducing unnecessary video traffic and maintaining user-perceived quality. The proposed method has two unique video-pacing functionalities, namely, predicting the stochastic diffusion of TCP throughput and controlling the playout buffer size by taking into account the future throughput. Experimental results from simulating mobile networks show that the proposed method can decrease the average playout buffer size in stable environments by up to 42.62% compared with the conventional methods. Moreover, the frequency of the playback discontinuity of the proposed method is shown to be up to 34.1% less than that of the conventional methods in unstable environments.
Role of conserved glycosylation sites in maturation and transport of influenza A virus hemagglutinin

The role of three N-linked glycans which are conserved among various hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes of influenza A viruses was investigated by eliminating the conserved glycosylation (cg) sites at asparagine residues 12 (cg1), 28 (cg2), and 478 (cg3) by site-directed mutagenesis. An additional mutant was constructed by eliminating the cg3 site and introducing a novel site 4 amino acids away, at position 482. Expression of the altered HA proteins in eukaryotic cells by a panel of recombinant vaccinia viruses revealed that rates and efficiency of intracellular transport of HA are dependent upon both the number of conserved N-linked oligosaccharides and their respective positions on the polypeptide backbone. Glycosylation at two of the three sites was sufficient for maintenance of transport of the HA protein. Conserved glycosylation at either the cg1 or cg2 site alone also promoted efficient transport of HA. However, the rates of transport of these mutants were significantly reduced compared with the wild-type protein or single-site mutants of HA. The transport of HA proteins lacking all three conserved sites or both amino-terminally located sites was temperature sensitive, implying that a polypeptide folding step had been affected. Analysis of trimer assembly by these mutants indicated that the presence of a single oligosaccharide in the stem domain of the HA molecule plays an important role in preventing aggregation of molecules in the endoplasmic reticulum, possibly by maintaining the hydrophilic properties of this domain. The conformational change observed after loss of all three conserved oligosaccharides also resulted in exposure of a normally mannose-rich oligosaccharide at the tip of the large stem helix that allowed its conversion to a complex type of structure. Evidence was also obtained suggesting that carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions between neighboring oligosaccharides at positions 12 and 28 influence the accessibility of the cg2 oligosaccharide for processing enzymes. We also showed that terminal glycosylation of the cg3 oligosaccharide is site specific, since shifting of this site 4 amino acids away, to position 482, yielded an oligosaccharide that was arrested in the mannose-rich form. In conclusion, carbohydrates at conserved positions not only act synergistically by promoting and stabilizing a conformation compatible with transport, they also enhance trimerization and/or folding rates of the HA protein.
[The relationship between psychological factors and health care-seeking behavior in fibromyalgia patients].

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine whether cognitive factors, such as attributions, expectations, and anger management style, contribute to the decision to seek medical care for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). METHOD We recruited 3 groups of subjects; patients from a FMS tertiary care setting, community residents with FMS who had not sought medical care for their FMS symptoms (nonpatients), and healthy controls. In all, 38 FMS nonpatients were compared to 37 FMS patients and 41 healthy controls on measures of anxiety, depression, anger, locus of control (LOC), attributions, pain intensity, and disability, as well as demographic characteristics. RESULTS The prevalence of FMS non-patients was 2%. There was a significant difference between the 3 groups on the measures of anxiety, depression, LOC, and somatic and normalizing subscale scores of the symptom interpretation questionnaire (SIQ). FMS nonpatients, relative to FMS patients and healthy controls, were characterized by a significantly higher measure of both LOC and normalizing subscale score on the SIQ. There were no differences between the 2 FMS groups in demographical percentage and other psychometric measures. A hierarchical logistic regression model showed that the number of tender points, normalizing attribution style, and depression were independent predictors of help-seeking behavior. CONCLUSION The rate of psychiatric and medical history is not related to the FMS syndrome. Expectations and a normalizing attribution style may contribute to help-seeking behavior for FMS.
Inhibition of alpha4 integrin and ICAM-1 markedly attenuate macrophage homing to atherosclerotic plaques in ApoE-deficient mice.

BACKGROUND Monocytes/macrophages play a central role in many stages of development of atherosclerotic plaques, including the conversion to an unstable morphology with rupture and fissuring. A better understanding of the mechanism of attachment of monocytes to activated endothelial cells would prove useful in developing strategies aimed at blocking this initial step. Here we describe a novel in vivo model that directly demonstrates homing of macrophages to atherosclerotic plaques. METHODS AND RESULTS Macrophages were loaded with fluorescent microspheres and injected intravenously into 40-week-old apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. After 48 hours, labeled macrophages were observed adhering to all stages of atherosclerotic plaques from the early fatty streak to mature calcified lesion. The mean number of macrophages adherent to atherosclerotic plaques located in the proximal 1 mm of the aortic root was quantitated by counting serial frozen sections and found to be 143 +/- 17 macrophages per aortic root. Pretreatment of the apolipoprotein E-deficient mice with monoclonal antibodies directed against the alpha-subunit of the alpha4beta1 integrin and against intracellular cell adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) reduced macrophage homing by 75% and 65%, respectively, as compared with isotype-matched controls (P<.05). Pretreatment with a monoclonal antibody directed against E-selectin did not significantly reduce macrophage homing. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate that alpha4 integrin and ICAM-1 play major roles in the recruitment of macrophages to atherosclerotic plaques, whereas E-selectin does not appear to contribute significantly to macrophage recruitment. This model will be useful for studying the mechanism of macrophage recruitment to atherosclerotic plaques and for evaluating the efficacy of inhibitors to adhesion molecules in preventing macrophage recruitment.
Reactive Nitrogen Species Modulate the Effects of Rhein, an Active Component of Senna Laxatives, on Human Epithelium In Vitro

Background Senna laxatives are used worldwide. However, their misuse can lead to chronic mucosal inflammation with the accumulation of pigment-laden leukocytes and may cause colon cells to undergo apoptosis. This study explores the mechanisms by which rhein, an active component of senna, acts on a human intestinal cell line to induce ion secretion, apoptosis, and indirect chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Methods Human colonic adenocarcinoma (CaCo-2) monolayer cells, in the presence or in the absence of rhein, were used to monitor the production of reactive nitrogen species using the Griess reaction. Modified Ussing chambers were used to study electrolyte secretion. The capacity to recruit human polymorphonuclear leukocytes was evaluated using masked well chemotaxis chambers. Rhein-induced apoptosis was investigated by counting apoptotic nuclei stained with Hoechst 33258 dye. Results Rhein caused a dose-dependent increase in short-circuit current that was abolished in chloride-free bathing buffer or by preincubating with 100 &mgr;mol/L NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NAME) methyl ester. The concentration that maximally stimulated intestinal secretion, 50 &mgr;mol/L rhein, induced nitrate production. Supernatants obtained from CaCo-2 cultures after incubation with 50 &mgr;mol/L rhein stimulated a time-dependent polymorphonuclear leukocytes chemotaxis that was significantly decreased with 100 &mgr;mol/L L-NAME, whereas rhein per se was not active. Neutralizing antibodies anti–interleukin-8 (IL-8) and anti-ENA78 also inhibited chemotaxis. Overnight rhein incubation produced an increased number of apoptotic cells in the culture supernatant that was significantly decreased by preincubation with 100 &mgr;mol/L L-NAME. Light-degraded rhein had no effects on CaCo-2 monolayers. Conclusions The integrity of rhein is crucial to generating nitric oxide, which mediates, with different time courses, ion secretion, chemotaxis, and apoptosis of human-derived cells.
Automatic Target Detection in High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images Using Spatial Sparse Coding Bag-of-Words Model

Automatic detection for targets with complex shape in high-resolution remote sensing images is a challenging task. In this letter, we propose a new detection framework based on spatial sparse coding bag-of-words (BOW) (SSCBOW) model to solve this problem. Specifically, after selecting a processing unit by the sliding window and extracting features, a new spatial mapping strategy is used to encode the geometric information, which not only represents the relative position of the parts of a target but also has the ability to handle rotation variations. Moreover, instead of K-means for visual-word encoding in the traditional BOW model, sparse coding is introduced to achieve a much lower reconstruction error. Finally, the SSCBOW representation is combined with linear support vector machine for target detection. The experimental results demonstrate the precision and robustness of our detection method based on the SSCBOW model.
DIAGNOSIS OF VENTRICULAR DRAINAGE‐RELATED BACTERIAL MENINGITIS BY BROAD‐RANGE REAL‐TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION

OBJECTIVE To compare a broad-range real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic strategy with culture to evaluate additional effects on the etiological diagnosis and the quantification of the bacterial load during the course of ventricular drainage-related bacterial meningitis (VR-BM). METHODS We applied a PCR that targeted conserved regions of the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with external ventricular drainage or a ventriculoperitoneal shunt during the course of VR-BM. We compared the PCR results with CSF cultures. A total of 350 routine CSF samples were consecutively collected from 86 patients. The CSF deoxyribonucleic acid was automatically purified and subjected to PCR. Amplicons from the PCR samples that were positive for VR-BM were subsequently deoxyribonucleic acid sequenced for final identification. Clinical data were extracted from patient files. RESULTS Sixteen patients had at least one VR-BM-positive sample as diagnosed from culture or PCR. Nineteen episodes were diagnosed with signs of VR-BM (n = 16 patients) or were determined to be contaminated (n = 3 patients). Four episodes of VR-BM were diagnosed via PCR alone and were predominantly caused by gram-negative pathogens, five episodes were diagnosed via culture alone, and seven episodes were diagnosed via both culture and PCR. Five patients had mixed infections. Overall, 71 samples were positive for VR-BM as indicated by either one or both of the methods. Eighteen CSF samples were VR-BM positive as indicated by culture alone, and 21 CSF samples were positive as indicated via PCR alone. CONCLUSIONS Culture supplemented with broad-range, real-time PCR may increase the number of etiologically diagnosed VR-BM episodes, particularly when these are caused by gram-negative bacteria.
New surface micromachined angular rate sensor for vehicle stabilizing systems in automotive applications

Current developments in vehicle dynamics control systems and future advanced high performance vehicle stabilizing systems demand higher performance of the inertial signals of the vehicle's dynamics, especially the angular rate signals: higher accuracy and better signal to noise ratio, high signal refresh rates, higher robustness and insensitivity against external interference, higher system availability and reliability, easier applicability (e.g. additional measuring axes). This paper presents a third generation angular rate sensor cluster MM3.x suitable for high volume production, meeting those demands. Design concepts of the core component - the new angular rate sensor module SMG - are unveiled, giving it outstanding functional performance compared to similar surface micromachined gyroscopes.
Spectral Unmixing With Multiple Dictionaries

Spectral unmixing aims at recovering the spectral signatures of materials, called endmembers, mixed in a hyperspectral image (HSI) or multispectral image, along with their abundances. A typical assumption is that the image contains one pure pixel per endmember, in which case spectral unmixing reduces to identifying these pixels. Many fully automated methods have been proposed in recent years, but little work has been done to allow users to select areas where pure pixels are present manually or using a segmentation algorithm. Additionally, in a nonblind approach, several spectral libraries may be available rather than a single one, with a fixed number (or an upper or lower bound) of endmembers to chose from each. In this letter, we propose a multiple-dictionary constrained low-rank matrix approximation model that addresses these two problems. We propose an algorithm to compute this model, dubbed multiple matching pursuit alternating least squares, and its performance is discussed on both synthetic and real HSIs.