Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Focused Ion Beam Microscopy and Micromachining

The fairly recent availability of commercial focused ion beam (FIB) microscopes has led to rapid development of their applications for materials science. FIB instruments have both imaging and micromachining capabilities at the nanometer–micrometer scale; thus, a broad range of fundamental studies and technological applications have been enhanced or made possible with FIB technology. This introductory article covers the basic FIB instrument and the fundamentals of ion–solid interactions that lead to the many unique FIB capabilities as well as some of the unwanted artifacts associated with FIB instruments. The four topical articles following this introduction give overviews of specific applications of the FIB in materials science, focusing on its particular strengths as a tool for characterization and transmission electron microscopy sample preparation, as well as its potential for ion beam fabrication and prototyping.
Diel variations in the photosynthetic parameters of Prochlorococcus strain PCC 9511: Combined effects of light and cell cycle

We examined the mechanisms related to the diel variations in the parameters of the relationship between the rate of carbon fixation of phytoplankton and irradiance (P vs. E curve). Our goal was to understand what determines the phase of these variations relative to that of the light cycle. We grew the marine prokaryote Prochlorococcus in an axenic cyclostat culture system under a light–dark cycle that mimicked natural conditions at sea surface and followed changes in cell physiology with a 2‐h resolution. Individual cells divide mostly in phase with each other, once a day at the beginning of the dark period. The quantum yields of chlorophyll fluorescence, the maximum quantum yield of carbon fixation (φCmax) and the maximum rate of carbon fixation (PBmax) exhibited diel variations over about factors of 2, 4, and 4, respectively, with maxima at the beginning of the light period. The morning drop in φCmax and the quantum yield of fluorescence, which was accompanied by only a small decrease (<15%) of photochemial efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm), suggests regulation by light and preceded the drop in PBmax by 4 h. The decrease in PBmax during the day matched a decrease in the transcription level of Rubisco. The quantum yield of fluorescence, φCmax, and PBmax increased again during the dark period, but this recovery was slowed at the time of cell division. Our results suggest that the pattern of diel variations in the photosynthetic parameters is determined both by photoacclimation and the cell‐division cycle.
Modular Design of High-Efficiency Hardware Median Filter Architecture

This paper presents the hardware design and implementation of 1-D median filter that uses modular architecture, which produces median results hierarchically. Different types of submodules could be applied to form a customized architecture in order to meet different constraints and requirements. Complete analysis and hardware-oriented optimization were performed to achieve the optimal configurations when the input size and data length were changed. As the data length increases, the required resources and latency increase linearly, while the maximal operation frequency is nearly independent to data length. When our filter is synthesized using 90-nm process technology, its operating frequency could achieve more than 2000 MHz and resource consumption is reduced by 23.29% when compared with the state-of-the-art design. The experimental results show that the proposed cascaded architecture is superior to existing designs in terms of maximal operating speed and resource costs.
Ground-referenced signaling for intra-chip and short-reach chip-to-chip interconnects

While high-speed single-ended signaling maximizes pin and wire utilization within on- and off-chip serial links, problems associated with conventional signaling methods result in energy inefficiencies. Ground-referenced signaling (GRS) solves many of the problems of single-ended signaling systems and can be adapted for signaling across RC-dominated channels and LC transmission lines. The combination of GRS and clock forwarding enables simple but efficient signaling across on-chip communication fabrics, off-chip organic packages, and off-package printed circuit boards. Various methodologies compatible with GRS are presented in this paper, including design considerations and various circuit architectures. Experimental results for multiple generations of GRS-based serial links are presented, which includes a 16Gb/s 170fJ/b/mm on-chip link, a 20Gb/s 0.58pJ/b link across an organic package, and a 25Gb/s 1.17pJ/b link signaling over a printed-circuit board.
Germanium on Insulator Fabrication for Monolithic 3-D Integration

A low temperature (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${T} _{\max}=350$ </tex-math></inline-formula> °C) process for Germanium (Ge) on insulator (GOI) substrate fabrication with thicknesses of less than 25 nm is reported in this paper. The process is based on a single step epitaxial growth of a Ge/SiGe/Ge stack on Si, room temperature wafer bonding and an etch-back process using Si<sub>0.5</sub>Ge<sub>0.5</sub> as an etch-stop layer. GOI substrates with surface roughness below 0.5 nm, 0.15% tensile strain, thickness nonuniformity of less than 3 nm and residual p-type doping of less than 10<sup>16</sup> cm<sup>−3</sup> were fabricated. Ge pFETs are fabricated (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${T} _{\max}=600$ </tex-math></inline-formula> °C) on the GOI wafer with 70% yield. The devices exhibit a negative threshold voltage of −0.18 V and 60% higher mobility than the SOI pFET reference devices.
A Single-Ended With Dynamic Feedback Control 8T Subthreshold SRAM Cell

A novel 8-transistor (8T) static random access memory cell with improved data stability in subthreshold operation is designed. The proposed single-ended with dynamic feedback control 8T static RAM (SRAM) cell enhances the static noise margin (SNM) for ultralow power supply. It achieves write SNM of 1.4× and 1.28× as that of isoarea 6T and read-decoupled 8T (RD-8T), respectively, at 300 mV. The standard deviation of write SNM for 8T cell is reduced to 0.4× and 0.56× as that for 6T and RD-8T, respectively. It also possesses another striking feature of high read SNM 2.33×, 1.23×, and 0.89× as that of 5T, 6T, and RD-8T, respectively. The cell has hold SNM of 1.43×, 1.23×, and 1.05× as that of 5T, 6T, and RD-8T, respectively. The write time is 71% lesser than that of single-ended asymmetrical 8T cell. The proposed 8T consumes less write power 0.72×, 0.6×, and 0.85× as that of 5T, 6T, and isoarea RD-8T, respectively. The read power is 0.49× of 5T, 0.48× of 6T, and 0.64× of RD-8T The power/energy consumption of 1-kb 8T SRAM array during read and write operations is 0.43× and 0.34×, respectively, of 1-kb 6T array. These features enable ultralow power applications of 8T.
Marginal Likelihoods in Phylogenetics: A Review of Methods and Applications

Abstract By providing a framework of accounting for the shared ancestry inherent to all life, phylogenetics is becoming the statistical foundation of biology. The importance of model choice continues to grow as phylogenetic models continue to increase in complexity to better capture micro- and macroevolutionary processes. In a Bayesian framework, the marginal likelihood is how data update our prior beliefs about models, which gives us an intuitive measure of comparing model fit that is grounded in probability theory. Given the rapid increase in the number and complexity of phylogenetic models, methods for approximating marginal likelihoods are increasingly important. Here, we try to provide an intuitive description of marginal likelihoods and why they are important in Bayesian model testing. We also categorize and review methods for estimating marginal likelihoods of phylogenetic models, highlighting several recent methods that provide well-behaved estimates. Furthermore, we review some empirical studies that demonstrate how marginal likelihoods can be used to learn about models of evolution from biological data. We discuss promising alternatives that can complement marginal likelihoods for Bayesian model choice, including posterior-predictive methods. Using simulations, we find one alternative method based on approximate-Bayesian computation to be biased. We conclude by discussing the challenges of Bayesian model choice and future directions that promise to improve the approximation of marginal likelihoods and Bayesian phylogenetics as a whole.
Neurofibromatosis type 2 tumor suppressor protein is expressed in oligodendrocytes and regulates cell proliferation and process formation

The neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) tumor suppressor protein Merlin functions as a negative regulator of cell growth and actin dynamics in different cell types amongst which Schwann cells have been extensively studied. In contrast, the presence and the role of Merlin in oligodendrocytes, the myelin forming cells within the CNS, have not been elucidated. In this work, we demonstrate that Merlin immunoreactivity was broadly distributed in the white matter throughout the central nervous system. Following Merlin expression during development in the cerebellum, Merlin could be detected in the cerebellar white matter tract at early postnatal stages as shown by its co-localization with Olig2-positive cells as well as in adult brain sections where it was aligned with myelin basic protein containing fibers. This suggests that Merlin is expressed in immature and mature oligodendrocytes. Expression levels of Merlin were low in oligodendrocytes as compared to astrocytes and neurons throughout development. Expression of Merlin in oligodendroglia was further supported by its identification in either immortalized cell lines of oligodendroglial origin or in primary oligodendrocyte cultures. In these cultures, the two main splice variants of Nf2 could be detected. Merlin was localized in clusters within the nuclei and in the cytoplasm. Overexpressing Merlin in oligodendrocyte cell lines strengthened reduced impedance in XCELLigence measurements and Ki67 stainings in cultures over time. In addition, the initiation and elongation of cellular projections were reduced by Merlin overexpression. Consistently, cell migration was retarded in scratch assays done on Nf2-transfected oligodendrocyte cell lines. These data suggest that Merlin actively modulates process outgrowth and migration in oligodendrocytes.
2 Use Cases 2 . 1 Contextual History Search Scenario

In our increasingly networked world, web browsers are important applications. Originally an interface tool for accessing distributed documents, browsers have become ubiquitous, incorporating a significant portion of user interaction. A modern browser now also reads email, plays media, edits documents, and runs applications. Consequently, browsers process large quantities of data, and must record metadata, such as history, to help users manage their data. Most of the metadata that modern browsers record is actually provenance – metadata that captures the causality and lineage of data obtained via the browser. We demonstrate that characterizing browser metadata as provenance and then applying techniques from the provenance research community enables new browser functionality. For example, provenance can improve both history and web search by indicating contextual and personal relationships between data items. Users can also answer complex questions about the origins of their data by querying provenance. Our initial results suggest these features are feasible to implement and could perform well in modern browsers.
Horticultural Therapy on Autistic Children's Social Communication Disorder

The main target of Autism intervention is that various treatments are used to promote social interaction skills of autistic children.Horticultural therapy,as an eco-therapy,is getting more and more attention in the field of autism intervention in recent years.This paper reviews the research of horticultural therapy and social communication disorders of autistic children,suggests that horticultural therapy can be used to intervene in social communication disorders of autistic children,and briefly analyzes its feasibility and validity,which can provide theoretical support for further rectification and intervention.The authors also explain the specific application of horticultural therapy in autistic children's psychotherapy and put forward five implementation principles,including children-based principle,safety principle,overall and individual combination principle,patience and responsibility principle and development principle.
Functional roles and potential clinical application of miRNA‐345‐5p in prostate cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non‐coding RNAs, which negatively regulate gene expression and impact prostate cancer (PCa) growth and progression. Circulating miRNAs are stable and detectable in cell‐free body fluids, such as serum. Investigation of circulating miRNAs presents great potential in uncovering new insights into the roles of miRNAs in PCa diagnosis and therapy.
Cheap, easy, and massively effective viral marketing in social networks: truth or fiction?

Online social networks (OSNs) have become one of the most effective channels for marketing and advertising. Since users are often influenced by their friends, "word-of-mouth" exchanges so-called viral marketing in social networks can be used to increases product adoption or widely spread content over the network. The common perception of viral marketing about being cheap, easy, and massively effective makes it an ideal replacement of traditional advertising. However, recent studies have revealed that the propagation often fades quickly within only few hops from the sources, counteracting the assumption on the self-perpetuating of influence considered in literature. With only limited influence propagation, is massively reaching customers via viral marketing still affordable? How to economically spend more resources to increase the spreading speed? We investigate the cost-effective massive viral marketing problem, taking into the consideration the limited influence propagation. Both analytical analysis based on power-law network theory and numerical analysis demonstrate that the viral marketing might involve costly seeding. To minimize the seeding cost, we provide mathematical programming to find optimal seeding for medium-size networks and propose VirAds, an efficient algorithm, to tackle the problem on large-scale networks. VirAds guarantees a relative error bound of O(1) from the optimal solutions in power-law networks and outperforms the greedy heuristics which realizes on the degree centrality. Moreover, we also show that, in general, approximating the optimal seeding within a ratio better than O(log n) is unlikely possible.
A Belief-Based Model of Investor Trading Behavior

We explore whether irrational beliefs can predict a disposition effect. We propose a model of an overconfident investor whose beliefs can change over time. We find that such an investor exhibits a disposition effect. Moreover, we predict that the disposition effect may be driven by investors being most likely to hold onto an asset after the asset has experienced a small loss. We also find that our predictions match empirical evidence on trading behavior as a function of magnitude of return. ∗I would like to profusely thanks Prof. Barberis for advising me. This essay would not be possible without his guidance and feedback. All errors are my own.
Design and Simulation of Fuzzy Logic Controller for a Single Stage Three Level Ac-Dc Converter

Voltage fed single stage converters suffer from two main drawbacks: The efficiency is affected due to the reduced values of maximum DC link capacitor voltage and the power factor is not close to unity. To overcome these drawbacks, a boost type - input current shaping converter, integrated with diode clamped topology is used. Since this converter is a multilevel converter, it can be operated with high DC bus voltage. The power factor is also maintained close to unity. This converter is made to operate with fuzzy logic controller to regulate the output voltage. The fuzzy logic controller is designed and the performance of the ac-dc converter is tested using MATLAB/SIMULINK based closed loop simulation.
In vivo antiasthmatic studies & phytochemical characterization on the stem extracts of Alternanthera sessilis L. using Guinea pigs model

The present investigation has been carried out to evaluate the antiasthmatic activity by in vitro and in vivo models in guinea pigs followed by phytochemical characterization using Gas chromatography Mass spectrum analysis of the hydroalcoholic and acetone extracts of the stem extracts of Alternanthera sessilis. In histamine and acetylcholine-induced bronchospasm studies acetone extracts of the plant have significantly increased PCT 10.52 and 11.36 by Tukey’s test (**p<0.01), compared with control. Histamine and acetylcholine-induced ileum contraction studies also showed that the acetone extracts exhibited response was1.8 with 63.3% and 2.7 with 51% inhibition by Dunnett’s test (p<*0.05). The results of GC-MS analysis depicted following phytoconstituents with major peak area namely 79.29% methoxy-bis (cyclopentadiene), 2.83% 5,10-dihexyl-5,10-dihydroindolo[3,2-b]indole-2,7-dicarbaldehyde and 1.84% 1,2-bis[3,4-dimethoxy benzyl]-1,2-bis (methoxymethyl) ethane respectively. The results of present study suggest the usage of plant extracts as antiasthmatic agents due to the phytochemicals reported through GC-MS.
Dynamic NoC platform for varied application needs

Many-core processing platforms are gaining significant interest for a wide range of applications, viz., Internet of Things (IoT), consumer electronics, single-chip cloud computers, supercomputers, defense applications etc. Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) are accepted as the communication backbone for these many-core platforms. However, energy consumption in NoC components still remains considerably high. Specifically for large systems with many nodes in the network, a significant amount of energy is consumed by the communication infrastructure. The usage of the routers and resources associated with it are application dependent and for most applications performance requirements can be met without operating the whole communication infrastructure to its maximum limit. Dynamic reconfigurable system that can switch between both high performance and low power modes will be able to exploit the variable workload conditions provided by different applications. Among all the NoC components, Virtual Channels (VCs) are the most power hungry modules. This paper proposes a dynamic NoC platform (DNoC) that optimizes VC utilization for different applications using a smart router architecture. Power Management Controller (PMC) along with Utilization Computation Unit (UCU) controls and predicts the number of active VCs to achieve the required performance with minimum overhead. In our experiments the proposed solution provides 83.3% power benefit (best case scenario) with negligible throughput penalty compared to a baseline mesh router.
Low-Cost Turbidity Sensor for Low-Power Wireless Monitoring of Fresh-Water Courses

This paper reports on a low-cost turbidity sensor design for continuous on-line water quality monitoring applications. The measurement of turbidity by agricultural and environmental scientists is restricted by the current cost and functionality of available commercial instruments. Although there are a number of low-cost turbidity sensors exploited within domestic ‘white-goods’, such as dishwashers, the lack of sensitivity, and power-usage of these devices make them unsuitable for fresh-water quality monitoring purposes. The recent introduction of wireless protocols and hardware, associated with the ‘Internet-of-Things’ concept for machine-to-machine autonomous sensing and control, has enabled the large-scale networked intelligent water turbidity monitoring system that implements relatively low-cost sensors to be developed. The proposed sensor uses both transmitted light and orthogonal (90 degrees) scattered light detection principles, and is 2–3 orders of magnitude lower in cost compared to the existing commercial turbidity sensors. With an 850-nm infrared LED, and dual orthogonal photodetectors, the proposed design is capable of measuring turbidity within the range of 0–1000 Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) with improved accuracy and robustness as compared with the existing low cost turbidity sensors. The combination of orthogonal and transmitted light detection unit provides both 0–200 NTU high resolution and accuracy sensing and 0–1000 NTU lower resolution and accuracy sensing capability. Results from calibration experiment are presented, which proved that the proposed sensor design produced comparable turbidity readings as that of a commercial turbidity sensor.
Combining Artificial and Natural Background Noise in Personal Audio Systems

Personal audio systems are designed to deliver spatially separated regions of audio to individual listeners. This paper presents a method for improving the privacy of such systems. The level of a synthetic masking signal is optimised to provide specified levels of intelligibility in the bright and dark sound zones and reduce the potential for annoyance of listeners in the dark zone by responding to changes in ambient noise. Results from a simulated personal audio system indicate that less acoustic contrast is required to produce the same level of privacy when artificial masking is included in the system design, compared with relying on the masking effect of background noise alone. As privacy requirements become more challenging, the advantage gained by incorporating artificial masking increases.
On MIMO Linear Physical-Layer Network Coding: Full-Rate Full-Diversity Design and Optimization

This paper considers a multiuser communication network, where a receiver is set to compute functions of the messages from $K$ users. All user nodes and the receiver are equipped with multi-antenna. We propose a space–time (ST) coded multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) linear physical-layer network coding (LPNC) scheme that promises full-rate and full-diversity, while achieving the maximum coding gain of LPNC. In the proposed framework, the users’ messages are encoded by the same linear dispersion ST code and transmitted simultaneously. The receiver exploits the MIMO LPNC mapping in reconstructing an arbitrary number of linearly network-coded (NC) messages. We derive the NC generator matrix that leads to the greatest coding gain and minimized error probability at the receiver. On top of that, we analytically show that the proposed ST coded LPNC scheme guarantees the full-diversity and full-rate transmission. The proposed method applies to a wide range of network configurations. Two case studies on: (1) MIMO two-way relay network and (2) MIMO multiple-access relay network are presented in this paper. For both case studies, numerical results are shown to demonstrate the performance improvement of the proposed scheme over conventional schemes by more than 4 dB, while the full-rate and full-diversity behaviors are in line with our analysis.