Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transparent and Conductive Carbon Nanotube Multilayer Thin Films Suitable as an Indium Tin Oxide Replacement

Transparent and Conductive Carbon Nanotube Multilayer Thin Films Suitable as an Indium Tin Oxide Replacement. (May 2011) Yong Tae Park, B.S., Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; M.S., Pohang University of Science and Technology Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Jaime C. Grunlan Transparent electrodes made from metal oxides suffer from poor flexibility and durability. Highly transparent and electrically conductive thin films based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were assembled as a potential indium tin oxide (ITO) replacement using layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly. The ultimate objective of this dissertation work is to produce CNT-based assemblies with sheet resistance below 100 Ω/sq and visible light transmission greater than 85%. The alternate deposition of positively charged poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) [PDDA] and CNTs stabilized with negatively charged deoxycholate (DOC) exhibit linear film growth and thin film properties can be precisely tuned. Ellipsometry, quartz crystal microbalance, and UV-vis were used to measure the growth of these films as a function of PDDA-CNT bilayers deposited, while TEM, SEM, and AFM were used to visualize the nanostructure of these films. Following a literature review describing potential ITO substitutes and LbL technology, the influence of CNT type on optoelectronic performance of LbL assemblies is described. Three different types of nanotubes were investigated: (1) multiwalled
Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles: A Review

One of the greatest challenges in the field of medicine is the effective and efficient drug delivery to the defected cells or tumor cells with minimal toxic side effects. Due to lacking properties like specification and solubility of drug molecule, patient requires high doses of the drug to attain the desired therapeutic effect for the disease treatment. To overcome this problem various drug carriers are available in the pharmaceutical field, which help in delivering the therapeutic drug/ gene to the target site. For this purpose, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are found to be biocompatible, chemically and thermally stable nanoparticles. Their unique structural properties facilitate the loading of drug/gene and subsequent controlled delivery of drug to the target site. During recent years research on MSNs has been extensively increase. Since 2001, when MCM-41 was first proposed and later on SBA-15 and MCM-48 as drug carrier for controlled delivery system. Morphological characteristics like pore size, pore volume, particle size, surface area, pH and loading capacity of drug are widely effects the MSNs, when altered. Meanwhile, functionalization of MSNs using organic and inorganic group elaborates the delivery of drug to targeted site. This review article also deals with the recent research on synthesis methods of MSNs and their applications in the field of medicine, imaging, diagnosis, cellular uptake, target drug delivery, cell tracing and bio-sensing.
Multilevel Differential Control of Hormone Gene Expression Programs by hnRNP L and LL in Pituitary Cells

ABSTRACT The pituitary-derived somatolactotrophe GH3 cells secrete both growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL). We have found that the hnRNP L and L-like (LL) paralogs differentially regulate alternative splicing of genes in these cells. Here, we show that hnRNP L is essential for PRL only, but LL is essential for both PRL and GH production. Transcriptome-wide RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis indicates that they differentially control groups of hormone or hormone-related genes involved in hormone production/regulation at total transcript and alternative exon levels. Interestingly, hnRNP L also specifically binds and prevents the aberrant usage of a nonconserved CA-rich intron piece of Prl pre-mRNA transcripts, and many others involved in endocrine functions, to prevent mostly cryptic last exons and mRNA truncation. Essential for the full hnRNP L effect on specific exons is a proline-rich region that emerged during evolution in vertebrate hnRNP L only but not LL. Together, our data demonstrate that the hnRNP L and its paralog, LL, differentially control hormone gene expression programs at multiple levels, and hnRNP L in particular is critical for protecting the transcriptome from aberrant usage of intronic sequences. The multilevel differential control by hnRNPs likely tailors the transcriptome to help refine and safeguard the different gene expression programs for different hormones.
Discretization of Continuous Variables in Bayesian Networks Based on Matrix Decomposition

Discretization of continuous variables (DCV) which could directly affect the results of Bayesian network inference (BNI) has been an important issue in Bayesian network (BN). Some common methods of DCV by the equal interval, the equal frequency, etc. always result in data loss which would make the results of BNI inaccurate. In this paper, a method of DCV in BN based on matrix decomposition is presented. This method could discretize the value of continuous variable into more states with different probability rather than one state, so it's more scientific and accurate. This paper makes a BN with two nodes, height and weight of each person, as an example and the simulation result demonstrates that the proposed method of DCV based on matrix decomposition can achieve discretization without data loss and ensure the accuracy of BNI.
Dielectric properties measurement of bulk wheat samples using reflection and transmission techniques

Dielectric properties are the intrinsic properties of material, which explain their interaction with electromagnetic energy. Two measurement techniques (i.e., reflection and transmission) for measuring dielectric properties of bulk wheat samples were implemented. An Open-ended coaxial probe was used with Impedance/Vector network analyzer was used for measuring reflection coefficients. The transmission measurements were made using horn antennas with vector network analyzer. An open-ended coaxial probe did not succeed in measuring dielectric properties of bulk wheat samples, because the dielectric constant measured using coaxial probe was highly variable ranging from 1.2 to 6.7. The dielectric loss factor values however, were in the expected range (0.1 to 1) but the trend was highly variable. The dielectric constant values increased rather decreased with the increase in frequency and ranged from 0.65 to 0.95. The results also indicated a noisy pattern of dielectric loss factor values ranging from 0.7 to 6.
Expression of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin mRNA among Staphylococcus aureus Isolates Associates with Specific Clinical Presentations

Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL; gene designation lukF/S-PV) is likely an important virulence factor for Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), as qualitative expression of the protein correlates with severity for specific clinical presentations, including skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Development of genetic approaches for risk-assessment of patients with S. aureus infections may prove clinically useful, and whether lukF/S-PV gene expression correlates with specific clinical presentations for S. aureus has been largely unexplored. In the present study, we quantified lukS-PV mRNA among 96 S. aureus isolates to determine whether expression levels correlated with specific clinical presentations in adults and children. Expression level of lukS-PV mRNA among isolates from skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) was significantly greater than among isolates from blood stream infection (BSIs), and expression level of lukS-PV mRNA among BSI isolates from children was significantly greater than for BSI isolates among adults. Moreover, expression level of lukS-PV mRNA among community-acquired (CA) isolates was significantly greater than for hospital-acquired (HA) isolates. These data justify additional studies to determine the potential clinical utility for lukS-PV mRNA quantification as a predictive tool for severity of S. aureus infection.
Effect of skull shape approximations in Gamma Knife dose calculations

Doses in Leksell GammaPlan (Elekta, Stockholm, Sweden) are calculated for each shot by summing the contribution from the 201 radiation beams emitted by the Gamma Knife (Elekta), weighted for attenuation in the tissue traversed. The patient's head is modeled based on 24 skull measurements, from which the depth to the calculation point is determined for each beam. The limited number of measurement points associated with this approach can result in substantial discrepancies between the skull model used for dose calculations and the actual skull contour from computed tomography or magnetic resonance data. A review of 24 patients found that differences between the actual and approximated skull shape gave treatment time errors as large as 4.1%, although in most instances, the errors were less than 1%. The conclusion was that the Leksell GammaPlan head model provides a quick and convenient approach for specifying the shape of the patient's head in all but extreme cases, where discrepancies as large as ~5% can result. PACS number: 87.53. Ly
American Journal of Epidemiology Original Contribution Separate and Joint Effects of Alcohol and Smoking on the Risks of Cirrhosis and Gallbladder Disease in Middle-aged Women on Behalf of the Million Women Study Collaborators

The separate and joint effects of alcohol and smoking on incidences of liver cirrhosis and gallbladder disease were examined in a prospective study of 1,290,413 United Kingdom women (mean age, 56 years) recruited during 1996–2001. After a mean follow-up of 6.1 years (1996–2005), incidence rates of cirrhosis and gallbladder disease were 1.3 per 1,000 persons (n ¼ 2,105) and 15 per 1,000 persons (n ¼ 23,989), respectively, over 5 years. Cirrhosis risk increased with increasing alcohol consumption, while the risk of gallbladder disease decreased (P trend < 0.0001 for each). Comparing women who drank 15 units/week with those who drank 1–2 units/week, the relative risk was 4.32 (95% confidence interval (CI): 3.71, 5.03)) for cirrhosis and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.55, 0.64) for gallbladder disease. Increasing numbers of cigarettes smoked daily increased the risk of both conditions (P trend < 0.0001 for each). Comparing current smokers of 20 cigarettes/day with never smokers, the relative risk was 3.7637) for gallbladder disease. Effects of alcohol and smoking were more than multiplicative for cirrhosis (P interaction ¼ 0.02) but not for gallbladder disease (P interaction ¼ 0.4). Findings indicate that alcohol and smoking affect the risks of the 2 conditions in different ways. For cirrhosis, alcohol and smoking separately increase risk, and their joint effects are particularly hazardous. For gallbladder disease, alcohol reduces risk and smoking results in a small risk increase. Both alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking are believed to affect the hepatobiliary system. Studies have consistently found an increased risk of liver cirrhosis with increasing alcohol consumption (1, 2), whereas the reverse has been reported for gallbladder disease, with some evidence that alcohol may be protective against symptomatic gallstones and cholecystitis (3). Some studies on the effects of smoking suggest a modest increase in the risks of both cirrhosis and gallbladder disease (4–9); however, since alcohol drinking is associated with smoking and vice versa, it is often difficult to disentangle the effects of the 2 exposures. Because studies suggest opposing effects of alcohol on the risks of liver and gallbladder disease (harmful and protective , respectively) but similar effects for smoking (harmful for both conditions), we examined the separate and joint effects of alcohol use and smoking on these 2 outcomes in a large prospective study of middle-aged women.
Chemokine CXCL7 Heterodimers: Structural Insights, CXCR2 Receptor Function, and Glycosaminoglycan Interactions

Chemokines mediate diverse fundamental biological processes, including combating infection. Multiple chemokines are expressed at the site of infection; thus chemokine synergy by heterodimer formation may play a role in determining function. Chemokine function involves interactions with G-protein-coupled receptors and sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAG). However, very little is known regarding heterodimer structural features and receptor and GAG interactions. Solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and molecular dynamics characterization of platelet-derived chemokine CXCL7 heterodimerization with chemokines CXCL1, CXCL4, and CXCL8 indicated that packing interactions promote CXCL7-CXCL1 and CXCL7-CXCL4 heterodimers, and electrostatic repulsive interactions disfavor the CXCL7-CXCL8 heterodimer. As characterizing the native heterodimer is challenging due to interference from monomers and homodimers, we engineered a “trapped” disulfide-linked CXCL7-CXCL1 heterodimer. NMR and modeling studies indicated that GAG heparin binding to the heterodimer is distinctly different from the CXCL7 monomer and that the GAG-bound heterodimer is unlikely to bind the receptor. Interestingly, the trapped heterodimer was highly active in a Ca2+ release assay. These data collectively suggest that GAG interactions play a prominent role in determining heterodimer function in vivo. Further, this study provides proof-of-concept that the disulfide trapping strategy can serve as a valuable tool for characterizing the structural and functional features of a chemokine heterodimer.
Neurodevelopmental outcome of fetal isolated ventricular asymmetry without dilation: a cohort study

Fetal isolated ventricular asymmetry (IVA) is a relatively common finding in pregnancy, but data regarding its effect on neurodevelopmental outcome are scarce and founded principally on ultrasound‐based studies. The purpose of this study was to assess the neurodevelopmental outcome of IVA cases in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)‐based study.
Formation and Diffusion of Metal Impurities in Perovskite Solar Cell Material CH3NH3PbI3: Implications on Solar Cell Degradation and Choice of Electrode

Solar cells based on methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) have shown remarkable progress in recent years and have demonstrated efficiencies greater than 20%. However, the long‐term stability of MAPbI3‐based solar cells has yet to be achieved. Besides the well‐known chemical and thermal instabilities, significant native ion migration in lead halide perovskites leads to current–voltage hysteresis and photoinduced phase segregation. Recently, it is further revealed that, despite having excellent chemical stability, the Au electrode can cause serious solar cell degradation due to Au diffusion into MAPbI3. In addition to Au, many other metals have been used as electrodes in MAPbI3 solar cells. However, how the external metal impurities introduced by electrodes affect the long‐term stability of MAPbI3 solar cells has rarely been studied. A comprehensive study of formation energetics and diffusion dynamics of a number of noble and transition metal impurities (Au, Ag, Cu, Cr, Mo, W, Co, Ni, Pd) in MAPbI3 based on first‐principles calculations is reported herein. The results uncover important general trends of impurity formation and diffusion in MAPbI3 and provide useful guidance for identifying the optimal metal electrodes that do not introduce electrically active impurity defects in MAPbI3 while having low resistivities and suitable work functions for carrier extraction.
Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale versus Medical Therapy after Cryptogenic Stroke: Meta-Analysis of Five Randomized Controlled Trials with 3440 Patients

Objective We aimed to determine whether patent foramen ovale closure reduces the risk of stroke, also assessing some safety outcomes. Introduction The clinical benefit of closing a patent foramen ovale after a cryptogenic stroke has been an open question for several decades, so that it is necessary to review the current state of published medical data in this regard. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL/CCTR, SciELO, LI-LACS, Google Scholar and reference lists of relevant articles were searched for randomized controlled trials that reported any of the following outcomes: stroke, death, major bleeding or atrial fibrillation. Five studies fulfilled our eligibility criteria and included 3440 patients (1829 for patent foramen ovale closure and 1611 for medical therapy). Results The risk ratio (RR) for stroke in the "device closure" group compared with the "medical therapy" showed a statistically significant difference between the groups, favouring the "device closure" group (RR 0.400; 95% CI 0.183-0.873, P=0.021). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups regarding the safety outcomes death and major bleeding, but we observed an increase in the risk of atrial fibrillation in the "device closure group (RR 4.000; 95% CI 2.262-7.092, P<0.001). We also observed that the larger the proportion of effective closure, the lower the risk of stroke. Conclusion This meta-analysis found that stroke rates are lower with percutaneously implanted device closure than with medical therapy alone, being these rates modulated by the rates of effective closure.
Research on Reactive Power Optimization Algorithm of Power System Based on Improved Genetic Algorithm

Reactive power optimization of power system is an effective means to ensure the safety and economic operation of the system. It is an important measure to reduce the power loss and improve the power quality. In this paper, an Improved Genetic Algorithm (IGA) is proposed to solve the problem that the Simple Genetic Algorithm (SGA) is inefficient in the application of power system reactive power optimization. IGA has improved the coding method, fitness function, initial population generation, crossover and mutation strategy, and improves the computational efficiency and global optimization ability. In this paper, the IEEE14 node system is simulated in MATLAB environment. The results show that IGA improves the convergence ability and convergence speed, and effectively reduces the active power loss of the power system.
A dose‐volume‐based tool for evaluating and ranking IMRT treatment plans

External beam radiotherapy is commonly used for patients with cancer. While tumor shrinkage and palliation are frequently achieved, local control and cure remain elusive for many cancers. With regard to local control, the fundamental problem is that radiotherapy‐induced normal tissue injury limits the dose that can be delivered to the tumor. While intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) allows for the delivery of higher tumor doses and the sparing of proximal critical structures, multiple competing plans can be generated based on dosimetric and/or biological constraints that need to be considered/compared. In this work, an IMRT treatment plan evaluation and ranking tool, based on dosimetric criteria, is presented. The treatment plan with the highest uncomplicated target conformity index (TCI+) is ranked at the top. The TCI+ is a dose‐volume‐based index that considers both a target conformity index (TCI) and a normal tissue‐sparing index (NTSI). TCI+ is designed to assist in the process of judging the merit of a clinical treatment plan. To demonstrate the utility of this tool, several competing lung and prostate IMRT treatment plans are compared. Results show that the plan with the highest TCI+ values accomplished the competing goals of tumor coverage and critical structures sparing best, among rival treatment plans for both treatment sites. The study demonstrates, first, that dose‐volume‐based indices, which summarize complex dose distributions through a single index, can be used to automatically select the optimal plan among competing plans, and second, that this dose‐volume‐based index may be appropriate for ranking IMRT dose distributions. PACS numbers: 87.53. ‐j, 87.53. Tf
Determination of the critical congestion point in urban traffic networks: A case study

At present, most of the attempts to quantify urban traffic flow have completely ignored its predominant social footprint, while literature concerning the appearance and forecasting of congestion points remains scarce. This paper presents a methodology for determining the critical point leading to congestion in urban traffic, based on analyzing the network topology and flow using an innovative mixture of complex network metrics and state of the art traffic simulation. To validate the concepts and methodology we conducted a case study over the city of Timisoara. At around 0.5 million inhabitants we believe it provides, which provides a suitable benchmark for deriving empirical, results and qualitative interpretations.
SyncGAN: Synchronize the Latent Space of Cross-modal Generative Adversarial Networks

Generative adversarial network (GAN) has achieved impressive success on cross-domain generation, but it faces difficulty in cross-modal generation due to the lack of a common distribution between heterogeneous data. Most existing methods of conditional based cross-modal GANs adopt the strategy of one-directional transfer and have achieved preliminary success on text-to-image transfer. Instead of learning the transfer between different modalities, we aim to learn a synchronous latent space representing the cross-modal common concept. A novel network component named synchronizer is proposed in this work to judge whether the paired data is synchronous/corresponding or not, which can constrain the latent space of generators in the GANs. Our GAN model, named as SyncGAN, can successfully generate synchronous data (e.g., a pair of image and sound) from identical random noise. For transforming data from one modality to another, we recover the latent code by inverting the mappings of a generator and use it to generate data of different modality. In addition, the proposed model can achieve semi-supervised learning, which makes our model more flexible for practical applications.
Analyzing Topology Parameters for Achieving Energy-Efficient k-ary n-cubes

Achieving an optimal performance/energy ratio is a challenge for massively parallel computer architects, and in particular for the interconnection network designers. The k-ary n-cube is one of the most popular topologies used in the largest current supercomputers. In this paper, we present a study that considers two alternatives to build k-ary n-cube topologies taking advantage of the high-radix switches currently available: a topology with more dimensions and one NIC per router, or a topology with less dimensions, link aggregation and several NICs per router. The fact of using link aggregation eases the implementation of simple power consumption reduction techniques. Using a simple power model, we evaluate by trace-driven simulation the impact on energy and performance of several network sizes for both topology proposals. In order to do a fair comparison, we keep fixed the theoretical network bandwidth.
Hellander Initial Design Build Surrogate Model Accurate ? Stop Sample Selection

Cellular regulatory mechanisms are typically governed by biochemical reaction networks. Discrete stochastic models are widely used in computational systems biology to analyze such networks. Often, the models involve a large number of highly uncertain parameters and many interacting chemical species. However, one is often interested in observing the output of one, or a few of the species rather than the entire network. Simulating the complete reaction network is inefficient in such cases. This paper explores the use of surrogate models to learn partial stochastic biochemical reaction networks and enable fast near-instant evaluation. The efficacy of the proposed method is demonstrated on a model from the systems biology literature.