Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spin and Heat Currents in Magnetic Nanostructures

Keywords: magnetoresistance ; nanocontact ; domain wall ; electromigration ; laser heating ; thermoelectric voltage ; magnetic imaging ; spin caloritronics ; ferromagnetic resonance These Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne EPFL, n° 5640 (2013)Programme doctoral PhysiqueFaculte des sciences de baseInstitut de physique de la matiere condenseeLaboratoire de physique des materiaux nanostructuresJury: N. Grandjean (president), U. Ebels, D. Grundler, H. Ronnow Public defense: 2013-2-8 Reference doi:10.5075/epfl-thesis-5640Print copy in library catalog Record created on 2013-02-04, modified on 2017-05-12
New flying-capacitor-based multilevel converter with optimized number of switches and capacitors controlled with a new logic-form-equation based active voltage balancing technique

The flying-capacitor-based multicell converter is one of the well-known breeds of multilevel power converters. This paper proposes a new flying-capacitor-based multilevel converter to minimize the number of flying capacitors (FCs) and power switches. The advantage of the proposed FC-based multilevel converter in comparison with the conventional flying capacitor multicell converter is the fewer number of FCs. In comparison with the stacked multicell converter, the proposed multilevel converter requires less number of the semiconductor switches. In order to balance the voltage of the FCs in proposed multilevel converter, a new active voltage balancing method which is fully implemented utilizing logic-form equations is presented. The proposed voltage balancing method, measures output current and FC voltages to generate switching states to produce the required output voltage level as well as balance FC voltages at their reference values. The output voltage of the proposed multilevel converter controlled with suggested active voltage balancing method can be modulated with any pulse-width-modulation (PWM) method such as phase-shifted-carrier PWM (PSC-PWM) or level-shifted-carrier PWM (LSC-PWM). Simulation results and experimental measurements of proposed FC-based multilevel are presented to verify performance of the proposed converter, and its novel switching and modulation strategy which is based on the active voltage balancing method.
Minimization of undercutting in electrochemical micromachining of patterned aluminum–copper films

Al–0.5%Cu films patterned with an anodization mask of barrier Al2O3 are micromachined by porous-type anodization followed by chemical dissolution of porous Al2O3. Electrochemical micromachining results in well-defined metallic pillars separated by micro-grooves. The trapezoidal shape of the pillars is due to the lateral pore propagation under the anodization mask. Regardless of undercutting, porous-type anodization shows a higher degree of anisotropy than mostly isotropic wet chemical etching. The vertical growth of pores is accelerated with respect to the lateral propagation of pores by increasing the voltage of porous-type anodization. Consequently, the lateral pore propagation is minimized and for ∼3 µm thick Al–0.5%Cu films the etch factor increases from 2.6 to 4.3 when the voltage is increased from 20 V to 60 V. Comparing the results obtained with the micromachining of ∼3 µm and ∼10 µm thick films at the same voltage, the etch factor decreases as the depth of micro-grooves increases. The etch factor depends on the distribution of secondary current density at the pattern scale during porous-type anodization, which is defined by the anodization mask coverage. A higher degree of anisotropy of porous-type anodization (in comparison to wet chemical etching) allows for more accurate shape control of three-dimensional metallic microstructures.
Visualizing bacterial tRNA identity determinants and antideterminants using function logos and inverse function logos

Sequence logos are stacked bar graphs that generalize the notion of consensus sequence. They employ entropy statistics very effectively to display variation in a structural alignment of sequences of a common function, while emphasizing its over-represented features. Yet sequence logos cannot display features that distinguish functional subclasses within a structurally related superfamily nor do they display under-represented features. We introduce two extensions to address these needs: function logos and inverse logos. Function logos display subfunctions that are over-represented among sequences carrying a specific feature. Inverse logos generalize both sequence logos and function logos by displaying under-represented, rather than over-represented, features or functions in structural alignments. To make inverse logos, a compositional inverse is applied to the feature or function frequency distributions before logo construction, where a compositional inverse is a mathematical transform that makes common features or functions rare and vice versa. We applied these methods to a database of structurally aligned bacterial tDNAs to create highly condensed, birds-eye views of potentially all so-called identity determinants and antideterminants that confer specific amino acid charging or initiator function on tRNAs in bacteria. We recovered both known and a few potentially novel identity elements. Function logos and inverse logos are useful tools for exploratory bioinformatic analysis of structure-function relationships in sequence families and superfamilies.
Circadian rhythm genes mediate fenvalerate-induced inhibition of testosterone synthesis in mouse Leydig cells

ABSTRACT Fenvalerate (Fen), a widely used pesticide, is known to impair male reproductive functions by mechanisms that remain to be elucidated. Recent studies indicated that circadian clock genes may play an important role in successful male reproduction. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Fen on circadian clock genes involved in the biosynthesis of testosterone using TM3 cells derived from mouse Leydig cells. Data demonstrated that the circadian rhythm of testosterone synthesis in TM3 cells was disturbed following Fen treatment as evidenced by changes in the circadian rhythmicity of core clock genes (Bmal1, Rev-erbα, Rorα). Further, the observed altered rhythms were accompanied by increased intracellular Ca2+ levels and modified steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) mRNA expression. Thus, data suggested that Fen inhibits testosterone synthesis via pathways involving intracellular Ca2+ and clock genes (Bmal1, Rev-Erbα, Rorα) as well as StAR mRNA expression in TM3 cells.
Growth and properties of gold and nickel nanorods in thin film alumina

Arrays of nickel and gold nanorods have been grown on glass and silicon substrates using porous alumina templates of less than 500 nm thickness. A method is demonstrated for varying the diameter of the nanorods whilst keeping the spacing constant. Optical extinction spectra for the gold nanorods show two distinct maxima associated with the transverse and longitudinal axes of the rods. Adding small quantities of oxygen to the aluminium before anodization is found to improve the sharpness of the extinction peaks. The spectral position of the longitudinal peak is shown to be sensitive to the nanorod diameter for constant length and spacing. For the nickel nanorods it is shown that the magnetic properties are governed by both interactions between the wires and shape anisotropy.
Using Simulations in Teaching Experimental Design

All too often, a course on experimental design turns into a course that is almost entirely devoted to analysis of experimental data, with design issues in the background. The reason for this is that to learn to design experiments, you actually have todo experiments, and that is much harder to organize than lectures. Design-conscious teachers often incorporate project work in a course. Such activities are extremely valuable to students; but there are problems too. Real experiments are often very time-consuming, and it is hard to handle more than one or two per semester. If students are given the freedom to choose their own project topics, the instructor has little opportunity to focus projects on specific instructional goals. An alternative approach is to develop scenarios and ask students to design and carry out experiments using software that simulates the data. There is a range of possibilities for how structured or unstructured is the activity. In this article, I illustrate my experiences in teaching design with simulation projects, and demonstrate some Web-based software that I have written to facilitate developing design scenarios.
Attacker Identification in Mobile Ad hoc Networks

A Mobile Ad-hoc network (MANET) is a multi-hop wireless network where nodes communicate with each other without any pre-deployed infrastructure. An attack is an attempt to bypass the security controls on a computer. The attack may alter, release, or deny data. Intrusion Detection System is a process of monitoring activities in a system, which can be a computer or network system. The mechanism by which this is achieved is called an intrusion detection system. Once an IDS determines that an unusual activity occurs, it then generates an alarm to alert the security administrator. This paper proposes an artificial neural network (ANN) method to find misuse detection in MANETs. Proposed method detects the attacks, corresponding to known pattern at the mobile nodes. At each mobile node whether the known attack is present or not is detected by comparing it with known patterns. These patterns are trained to ANN. Back propagation algorithm is used to train the network. To test the operative effectiveness of the proposed system, the proposed detection method is analyzed in terms of mean square error, number of iterations, computation path time taken to reach required accuracy, and change in learning rate parameter for various network scenarios.
Structural analysis of the variable major proteins of Borrelia hermsii

Borrelia hermsii undergoes spontaneous antigenic variation in vivo and in vitro. Serotype specificity is associated with expression of one of a family of molecular weight-variable proteins, the pI proteins. We studied the structure of the pI proteins as well as the molecular weight-invariable pII proteins of three serotypes of B. hermsii HS1: C, 7, and 21. The techniques used were one-dimensional (1-D) mapping of Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease-generated peptides and two- dimensional (2-D) mapping of alpha-chymotrypsin-generated peptides. The pI and pII proteins were isolated by excision of polypeptides from stained polyacrylamide gel electropherograms. The 1-D peptide patterns were visualized by fluorography of intrinsically [14C]leucine-labeled proteins or by silver stain. Before 2-D mapping, polypeptides in excised gel fragments were labeled with 125I in the presence of chloramine-T. We also compared the 2-D peptide maps of pI proteins, pI7 and pI21, after their surface-exposed portions were radioiodinated using 1,3,4,6-tetrachloro-3 alpha,6 alpha-diphenylglycoluril (Iodogen). The I-D and 2-D peptide maps demonstrated the following: (a) pI proteins of the three serotypes have few V8 protease- or chymotrypsin- generated peptides in common, and (b) pI proteins of each serotype appear to be identical. The findings suggest that pI protein variability derives from extensive differences in the amino acid sequences of these proteins.
Dual-Wavelength Single-Mode Optical Fiber Raman Laser

In order to realize the dual-wave length lasing based on stimulated Raman scattering principle, the dual-wavelength single-mode optical fiber Raman laser is established. Firstly, 80m long G652b single-model quartz fiber is pumped by Nd3+:YAG solid pulse laser, and its output spectra when without grating which are measured and studied. Then, a linear external-cavity fiber laser is designed with fiber Bragg grating as mirrors to gain 1062nm and 1066.5nm laser output. To change pump energy (65.2uJ~100.4uJ), the mean-variances of energy percentages are all about 7.58%,and dual-wavelength energy ratio is close to 1:1. Pump pulse widths are close to 32.14ns. Finally, the main parameters of laser are analyzed too. The dual-wavelength single-mode optical fiber Raman laser can be applied to Raman amplifier filed.
Parameter Estimation for Generalized Thurstone Choice Models

We consider the maximum likelihood parameter estimation problem for a generalized Thurstone choice model, where choices are top-1 items from comparison sets of two or more items. We provide tight characterizations of the mean square error, as well as necessary and sufficient conditions for correct classification when each item belongs to one of two classes. These results provide insights into how the estimation accuracy depends on the choice of a generalized Thurstone choice model and the structure of comparison sets. We find that for a priori unbiased structures of comparisons, e.g., when comparison sets are drawn independently and uniformly at random, the number of observations needed to achieve a prescribed estimation accuracy depends on the choice of a generalized Thurstone choice model. For a broad set of generalized Thurstone choice models, which includes all popular instances used in practice, the estimation error is shown to be largely insensitive to the cardinality of comparison sets. On the other hand, we found that there exist generalized Thurstone choice models for which the estimation error decreases much faster with the cardinality of comparison sets.
High efficiency DC-DC buck converter with 60/120-MHz switching frequency and 1-A output current

This DC-DC buck converter is able to operate up to 120-MHz switching frequency with peak power efficiency of 87% for 75% duty cycle and 93% at 60 MHz. Key feature of this design is a new control method that replaces the conventional op-amp based scheme. The proposed circuit uses a current-mode control and a voltage-to-pulse converter for the PWM. The circuit, fabricated using a 0.18-µm CMOS technology, reaches a peak load regulation of 20 mV/V and line regulation of 0.5 mV/V at 300 mA. The used 36-nH inductance and 4.7-µF capacitor are suitable for SiP realizations.
Identifying Similar and Co-referring Documents Across Languages

This paper presents a methodology for finding similarity and co-reference of documents across languages. The similarity between the documents is identified according to the content of the whole document and co-referencing of documents is found by taking the named entities present in the document. Here we use Vector Space Model (VSM) for identifying both similarity and co-reference. This can be applied in cross-lingual search engines where users get documents of very similar content from different language documents.
Invited Lecture An Introduction to Cavitation Fundamentals

In this opening lecture I will summarize some of the fundamentals of cavitation in the hope that this will allow attendees greater insight into the more advanced lectures which follow. Whether your primary interest is in the turbomachinery field or in the biological and bioengineering contexts in which cavitation is important these fundamentals are important in understanding the observed phenomena. NOMENCLATURE A0 Initial radius of the cloud of bubbles. AN Nuclei capture streamtube area CPMIN Minimum pressure coefficient in the flow f Frequency G (f) Spectral density function
The Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Systemic Inflammation in People With Type 2 Diabetes: Findings From the South London Diabetes Study

OBJECTIVE The prevalence of depression and depressive symptoms is increased twofold in people with type 2 diabetes compared with the general population and is associated with worse biomedical outcomes and increased mortality. Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression in nondiabetes subjects are independently associated with raised concentrations of circulating inflammatory markers, but it is not known if a similar association is observed in type 2 diabetes. We tested the hypothesis that higher depressive symptom scores in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients were associated with higher concentrations of inflammatory markers. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Depressive symptoms in adults with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes recruited from primary care were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Twelve markers of inflammation (C-reactive protein [hs-CRP], interleukin-4 [IL-4], IL-6, IL-10, vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF], tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α], IL-1β, IL-1 receptor antagonist [IL-1RA], monocyte chemotactic protein-1 [MCP-1], white blood cell count [WBC], adiponectin, and triglyceride [TG]) were measured. Covariates included sociodemographic factors, adiposity, macrovascular disease, HbA1c, and prescribed medication. The association between each inflammatory marker and depressive symptom score was estimated by multiple linear regression. RESULTS The baseline cohort consisted of 1,790 participants. After adjusting for covariates, CRP (B = 0.13, P < 0.001), IL-1β (B = 0.06, P = 0.047), IL-1RA (B = 0.13, P < 0.001), MCP-1 (B = 0.11, P = 0.001), WBC (B = 0.13, P < 0.001), and TG (B = 0.10, P < 0.001) were associated with depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Increased inflammation may be involved in the pathogenesis of depressive symptoms in type 2 diabetes and contribute to the increased risk of complications and mortality in this group.
Examining the Factor Structure of the 39-Item and 15-Item Versions of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Before and After Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for People With Recurrent Depression

Research into the effectiveness and mechanisms of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) requires reliable and valid measures of mindfulness. The 39-item Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-39) is a measure of mindfulness commonly used to assess change before and after MBIs. However, the stability and invariance of the FFMQ factor structure have not yet been tested before and after an MBI; pre to post comparisons may not be valid if the structure changes over this period. Our primary aim was to examine the factor structure of the FFMQ-39 before and after mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in adults with recurrent depression in remission using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Additionally, we examined whether the factor structure of the 15-item version (FFMQ-15) was consistent with that of the FFMQ-39, and whether it was stable over MBCT. Our secondary aim was to assess the general psychometric properties of both versions. CFAs showed that pre-MBCT, a 4-factor hierarchical model (excluding the “observing” facet) best fit the FFMQ-39 and FFMQ-15 data, whereas post-MBCT, a 5-factor hierarchical model best fit the data for both versions. Configural invariance across the time points was not supported for both versions. Internal consistency and sensitivity to change were adequate for both versions. Both FFMQ versions did not differ significantly from each other in terms of convergent validity. Researchers should consider excluding the Observing subscale from comparisons of total scale/subscale scores before and after mindfulness interventions. Current findings support the use of the FFMQ-15 as an alternative measure in research where briefer forms are needed.
Quality and Safety in Health Care, Part XXXVI: Anticoagulation Therapy, Atrial Fibrillation, and Fellow Training PINNACLE Studies

Abstract There have been numerous publications in the scientific literature based on data from the PINNACLE Registry. The current article includes PINNACLE studies on cardiology outpatients regarding anticoagulation therapy, the relationship between weight loss and atrial fibrillation, and the usefulness of the registry information for training cardiac fellows.
Bmc Infectious Diseases Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Taipei

Background: The control of tuberculosis in densely populated cities is complicated by close human-to-human contacts and potential transmission of pathogens from multiple sources. We conducted a molecular epidemiologic analysis of 356 Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates from patients presenting pulmonary tuberculosis in metropolitan Taipei. Classical antibiogram studies and genetic characterization, using mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit-variable-number tandem-repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing and spoligotyping, were applied after culture.
EEG Patterns and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Abstract This study examined the relationship between EEG recordings of 28 females with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and age matched controls of the same gender. CFS subjects' EEG recordings were also compared to their responses on the Profile of Fatigue Related Symptoms, and two questionnaires developed specifically for this study. EEG electrodes were placed in a monopolar arrangement (active lead at CZ, ground lead in the center of the forehead, and two reference electrodes clipped to the earlobes) according to the international 10–20 system, and impedance was kept below 6 kohms. The data were collected under two conditions: eyes closed and serial sevens (while the subjects silently counted backward from 900 by seven). CFS EEG microvolt levels were significantly higher in the 5–7 Hz range in both conditions and were significantly lower in the 9–11 Hz range during the serial sevens task. In the eyes closed condition, peak alpha (the frequency between 8 to 13 Hz at which the greatest amount of energy wa.
Syntactic annotation of spoken utterances: A case study on the Czech Academic Corpus

Corpus annotation plays an important role in linguistic analysis and computational processing of both written and spoken language. Syntactic annotation of spoken texts becomes clearly a topic of considerable interest nowadays, driven by the desire to improve automatic speech recognition systems by incorporating syntax in the language models, or to build language understanding applications. Syntactic annotation of both written and spoken texts in the Czech Academic Corpus was created thirty years ago when no other (even annotated) corpus of spoken texts has existed. We will discuss how much relevant and inspiring this annotation is to the current frameworks of spoken text annotation.
Secure M-PSK communication via directional modulation

In this work, a directional modulation-based technique is devised to enhance the security of a multi-antenna wireless communication system employing M-PSK modulation to convey information. The directional modulation method operates by steering the array beam in such a way that the phase of the received signal at the receiver matches that of the intended M-PSK symbol. Due to the difference between the channels of the legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper, the signals received by the eavesdropper generally encompass a phase component different than the actual symbols. As a result, the transceiver which employs directional modulation can impose a high symbol error rate on the eavesdropper without requiring to know the eavesdropper's channel. The optimal directional modulation beamformer is designed to minimize the consumed power subject to satisfying a specific resulting phase and minimal signal amplitude at each antenna of the legitimate receiver. The simulation results show that the directional modulation results in a much higher symbol error rate at the eavesdropper compared to the conventional benchmark scheme, i.e., zero-forcing precoding at the transmitter.
A Simple Proof of Toda's Theorem

Toda in his celebrated paper showed that the polynomial-time hierarchy is contained in P #P. We give a short and simple proof of the first half of Toda's Theorem that the polynomial-time hierarchy is contained in BPP P. Our proof uses easy consequences of relativizable proofs of results that predate Toda. For completeness we also include a proof of the second half of Toda's Theorem.