Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electrothermal Effects on Hot-Carrier Reliability in SOI MOSFETs—AC Versus Circuit-Speed Random Stress

Computational study of electrothermal effects on hot-carrier injection (HCI) in 100-nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) MOSFET for digital integrated circuit is performed using in-house developed time-domain finite element algorithm. The simulated I-V curve is obtained by solving diffusive carrier transport equations, and it agrees well with our measured results. The time-dependent thermal conduction equation is solved to get the transient temperature response of the device. Furthermore, according to the transient temperature responses to different signal stresses, including step pulse, ac signal, and pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS), HCI-induced threshold voltage shift (TVS) is captured by accounting for the temperature dependence of HCI. It is shown that the TVS of device under PRBS stress, which is used to mimic the circuit speed operation, is slightly larger than that of the device under ac signal with the same frequency. With the frequency of signal stress decreasing from gigahertz to tens of megahertz, TVS becomes more severe, because the temperature during ON-state is higher for the SOI MOSFET under low-frequency stress. Thick buried oxide leads to high temperature in channel and deteriorates the HCI. The method presented in this paper should also be applicable to the other MOSFET counterparts.
Efficacy of massage on muscle soreness, perceived recovery, physiological restoration and physical performance in male bodybuilders

Abstract It is believed that sport massage after intensive exercise might improve power and perceptual recovery in athletes. However, few studies have been done in this area. This study aimed to examine the effect of massage on the performance of bodybuilders. Thirty experienced male bodybuilders were randomly assigned to either a massage group (n = 15) or a control group (n = 15). Both groups performed five repetition sets at 75–77% of 1RM of knee extensor and flexor muscle groups. The massage group then received a 30-min massage after the exercise protocol while the control group maintained their normal passive recovery. Criteria under investigation included: plasma creatine kinase (CK) level, agility test, vertical jump test, isometric torque test, and perception of soreness. All variables were measured over 6 time periods: baseline, immediately after the DOMS inducing protocol, right after the massage, and 24, 48, and 72 h after the massage. Both groups showed significant (P < .001) decreases in jumping, agility performance, and isometric torque, but significant (P < .001) increases in CK and muscle soreness levels. The massage group in general demonstrated a better recovery rate. As such, a post-exercise massage session can improve the exercise performance and recovery rate in male bodybuilders after intensive exercise.
Development of the female voxel phantom, NAOMI, and its application to calculations of induced current densities and electric fields from applied low frequency magnetic and electric fields

This paper outlines the development of a 2 mm resolution voxel model, NAOMI (aNAtOMIcal model), designed to be representative of the average adult female. The primary medical imaging data were derived from a high-resolution MRI scan of a 1.65 m tall, 23 year old female subject with a mass of 58 kg. The model was rescaled to a height of 1.63 m and a mass of 60 kg, the dimensions of the International Commission on Radiological Protection reference adult female. There are 41 tissue types in the model. The application of NAOMI to the calculations of induced current densities and electric fields from applied low frequency magnetic and electric fields is described. Comparisons are made with values from the male voxel model, NORMAN. The calculations were extended from 50 Hz up to 10 MHz. External field reference levels are compared with the ICNIRP guidelines.
Energy-Sharing Model With Price-Based Demand Response for Microgrids of Peer-to-Peer Prosumers

According to the feed-in tariff for encouraging local consumption of photovoltaic (PV) energy, the energy sharing among neighboring PV prosumers in the microgrid could be more economical than the independent operation of prosumers. For microgrids of peer-to-peer PV prosumers, an energy-sharing model with price-based demand response is proposed. First, a dynamical internal pricing model is formulated for the operation of energy-sharing zone, which is defined based on the supply and demand ratio (SDR) of shared PV energy. Moreover, considering the energy consumption flexibility of prosumers, an equivalent cost model is designed in terms of economic cost and users’ willingness. As the internal prices are coupled with SDR in the microgrid, the algorithm and implementation method for solving the model is designed on a distributed iterative way. Finally, through a practical case study, the effectiveness of the method is verified in terms of saving PV prosumers’ costs and improving the sharing of the PV energy.
Kiss‐and‐run and full‐collapse fusion as modes of exo‐endocytosis in neurosecretion

Neurotransmitters and hormones are released from neurosecretory cells by exocytosis (fusion) of synaptic vesicles, large dense‐core vesicles and other types of vesicles or granules. The exocytosis is terminated and followed by endocytosis (retrieval). More than fifty years of research have established full‐collapse fusion and clathrin‐mediated endocytosis as essential modes of exo‐endocytosis. Kiss‐and‐run and vesicle reuse represent alternative modes, but their prevalence and importance have yet to be elucidated, especially in neurons of the mammalian CNS. Here we examine various modes of exo‐endocytosis across a wide range of neurosecretory systems. Full‐collapse fusion and kiss‐and‐run coexist in many systems and play active roles in exocytotic events. In small nerve terminals of CNS, kiss‐and‐run has an additional role of enabling nerve terminals to conserve scarce vesicular resources and respond to high‐frequency inputs. Full‐collapse fusion and kiss‐and‐run will each contribute to maintaining cellular communication over a wide range of frequencies.
Variability-tolerant Convolutional Neural Network for Pattern Recognition applications based on OxRAM synapses

Software implementations of artificial Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), taking inspiration from biology, are at the state-of-the-art for Pattern Recognition (PR) applications and they are successfully used in commercial products [1]. However, they require power-hungry CPU/GPU to perform convolution operations based on computationally expensive sums of multiplications. This hinders their integration in portable devices. Some full CMOS-based hardware implementations of CNN have been suggested, but they still require the computation of multiplications [2]. In this work, we present for the first time to our knowledge a spike-based hardware implementation of CNN using HfO2 based OxRAM devices as binary synapses. OxRAM devices are chosen for their low switching energy [3] and promising endurance performance [4]. We perform an experimental and theoretical study of the impact of programming conditions at both device and system levels. A complex visual pattern recognition application is demonstrated with a spike-based hierarchical CNN, inspired from the mammalian visual cortex organization. A high accuracy (pattern recognition rate >94%) is obtained for all the tested programming conditions, even if the variability associated to weaker programming conditions is larger.
Troglitazone Attenuates High-Glucose–Induced Abnormalities in Relaxation and Intracellular Calcium in Rat Ventricular Myocytes

Diabetes is associated with impaired cardiac diastolic dysfunction. Isolated ventricular myocytes from diabetic animals demonstrate impaired relaxation concomitant with prolonged intracellular Ca2+ transients. We have recently shown that maintaining normal adult rat ventricular myocytes in a “diabetic-like” culture medium (low insulin and high glucose) produces abnormalities in excitation-contraction coupling similar to in vivo diabetes. Troglitazone (TRO), a novel insulin-sensitizing agent, significantly lowers blood pressure and modestly increases cardiac output in vivo, but its direct impact on cardiac function is unknown. To determine whether TRO could prevent high-glucose-induced dysfunction, normal myocytes were maintained in culture for 1–2 days in either normal medium containing 5 mmol/l glucose or high-glucose medium containing 25 mmol/l glucose. TRO (5 μmol/l) was added to both normal and high-glucose media. Mechanical properties were evaluated using a high-resolution video-edge detection system, and Ca2+ transients were recorded in fura-2–loaded myocytes. Relaxation from peak contraction was significantly longer in myocytes cultured in high glucose. Treating cells with TRO either attenuated or prevented the high-glucose effects, without changing the mechanical properties of myocytes cultured in normal medium. TRO also prevented the abnormally slow rates of Ca2+ transient decay induced by high glucose. Collectively, these data demonstrate that TRO can protect against the high-glucose-induced relaxation defects, perhaps through changes in intracellular Ca2+ handling. If TRO has both vasodilatory actions and beneficial cardiac properties (e.g., improvement of diastolic function) in the presence of hyperglycemia, this antidiabetic agent may prove to have significant salutary cardiovascular effects in type II diabetes.
Using specification and description language for life cycle assesment in buildings

The definition of a Life Cycle Assesment (LCA) for a building or an urban area is a complex task due to the inherent complexity of all the elements that must be considered. Furthermore, a multidisciplinary approach is required due to the different sources of knowledge involved in this project. This multidisciplinary approach makes it necessary to use formal language to fully represent the complexity of the used models. In this paper, we explore the use of Specification and Description Language (SDL) to represent the LCA of a building and residential area. We also introduce a tool that uses this idea to implement an optimization and simulation mechanism to define the optimal solution for the sustainability of a specific building or residential.
Propofol in subanesthetic doses terminates status epilepticus in a rodent model

Status epilepticus is commonly refractory to first‐line therapy, and thus better treatments are needed. We have investigated an experimental model of drug‐resistant self‐sustaining status epilepticus (SSSE) induced by 2 hours of perforant path stimulation. Propofol in subanesthetic doses administered shortly after the end of stimulation and also after a further 3 hours of SSSE terminated the SSSE without recurrence. This finding calls for a trial of propofol in refractory status epilepticus and also raises the possibility of using it as first‐line therapy. Ann Neurol 2001;49:260–263
Systemic immunoregulatory and proteogenomic effects of tacrolimus to sirolimus conversion in liver transplant recipients

Immunosuppression (IS) withdrawal from calcineurin inhibitors is only possible in ∼20% of liver transplant recipients. However, mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors (e.g., sirolimus; SRL) appear to be more immunoregulatory and might promote a tolerant state for withdrawal. Our aim was to determine whether systemic (i.e., blood, marrow, and allograft) signatures of immunoregulation are promoted by conversion from tacrolimus (TAC) to SRL. We therefore performed the following serial assays before and after SRL conversion in liver transplant recipients to test for enhanced markers of immunoregulation: (1) flow‐cytometry immunophenotyping of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and bone marrow aspirates for regulatory T cells (Tregs) (e.g., CD4+CD25+++FOXP3+) and regulatory dendritic cells (DCregs) (immunoglobulin‐like transcript 3+/4+); (2) liver biopsy immunohistochemical staining (e.g., FOXP3:CD3 and CD4:CD8 ratios) and immunophenotyping of biopsy‐derived Tregs after growth in culture; (3) effects of pre‐ versus postconversion sera on Treg generation in mixed lymphocyte reactions; (4) peripheral blood nonspecific CD4 responses; and (5) peripheral blood gene transcripts and proteomic profiles. We successfully converted 20 nonimmune, nonviremic recipients (age, 57.2 ± 8.0; 3.5 ± 2.1 years post–liver transplantation) from TAC to SRL for renal dysfunction. Our results demonstrated significant increases in Tregs in PBMCs and marrow and DCregs in PBMCs (P < 0.01) after conversion. In biopsy staining, FOXP3:CD3 and CD4:CD8 ratios were significantly higher after conversion and a number of biopsy cultures developed new or higher FOXP3+ cell growth. Nonspecific CD4 responses did not change. Both pre‐ and postconversion sera inhibited mixed lymphocyte reactions, although only TAC sera suppressed Treg generation. Finally, 289 novel genes and 22 proteins, several important in immunoregulatory pathways, were expressed after conversion. Conclusions: TAC to SRL conversion increases systemic Tregs, DCregs, and immunoregulatory proteogenomic signatures in liver transplant recipients and may therefore facilitate IS minimization or withdrawal. (HEPATOLOGY 2013)
A synchrosqueezing transform based method for rotor fault diagnosis of squirrel-cage induction motors

For the diagnosis of rotor faults in squirrel-cage induction motors (SCIM), the time-frequency (TF) analysis of the stator current signal plays an important role in many effective diagnosis methods, especially in those aimed at the run-up and frequency conversion adjusting speed periods. However, the feature that two sideband frequencies close to fundamental frequency of rotor fault signal usually cannot be directly extracted from the blurred time-frequency representation (TFR) caused by bad resolution of traditional TFR, such as WT and STFT. To solve this problem, a new method based on the synchrosqueezing transform (SST) is studied to detect and diagnose rotor faults. The stator current signal is first mapped into the wavelet basis to facilitate synchrosqueezing of the TF picture in the direction of frequency-scale domain. The clear instantaneous frequency profiles with concentrated TFR are presented. The rotor fault, if any, can then be detected by observing the presence of fundamental frequency and sideband components in the TFR. The proposed method is evaluated by using both simulated data and experimental stator current signals. All results show that the SST-based method outperforms the existing methods for SCIM rotor fault diagnosis.
Attitude of Parents-Teachers towards the use of Instructional Technology in Teaching Numeracy to Children with Mild Intellectual Disability: A Case of Penang Malaysia

Integrating instructional technology into teaching and learning numeracy for the individual with mild intellectual disability not only make teachers' job easier but also impose a responsibility on them. This study investigates attitude of parents-teachers towards the use of instructional technology in teaching numeracy to children with mild intellectual disability in Penang Malaysia. The study adopted pure descriptive method and the sample comprised sixty participants. It was revealed from the result of the study that students with mild intellectual disability parents and teachers are familiar with usage of computer. More so, there was no significant difference between the teachers and parents. However, female teachers have higher mean compare to that of male teachers, and also, female parents have higher mean than male parents on the use of instructional technology in assisting the learning of their children at home. It is therefore, recommended that parents and teachers should keep it up with the use of computer and other instructional technology in teaching and learning children with mild intellectual disability.
Update on emerging treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia

Introduction: As survival of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is dramatically improved over time, the prevalence of the disease is steadily increasing. At this moment, five different tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) (imatinib, nilotinib, dasatinib, bosutinib and ponatinib) are approved for the treatment of CML. Medical and patients needs nowadays are attention to quality of life (QoL) and drug side effects; overcoming suboptimal responses; preventing progression and possibly discontinuing the drugs. Monitoring is essential to improve on treatment and on the possibility of cure, because it allows patient adapted therapies, according to patients morbidities and early responses. Areas covered: This review focuses on clinical results of imatinib and second- and third-generation TKIs that have been tested in the setting of second-line and front-line treatments. The most promising new drugs in course of clinical investigations are also reported. Expert opinion: The scientific community is focusing on the optimization of the use of the drugs already available, to be also used in association with other experimental drugs directed to several signaling transduction pathways of BCR-ABL, in order to improve the efficacy on resistant cases, and on leukemic stem cells, keeping in mind the issues of long-term safety, QoL and the need for treatment – free remission.
The Neuroimaging Signature of Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Associated with Granulin Mutations: An Effective Connectivity Study

It has been suggested that monogenic frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) due to Granulin (GRN) mutations might present a specific pattern of atrophy, as compared with FTLD GRN-negative disease. Recent literature has suggested that the study of functional neural networks, rather than regional structural damage, might better elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms, showing complex relationships among structural alterations observed with conventional neuroimaging. The aim of this study was to evaluate effective brain connectivity in FTLD patients carrying GRN mutations (GRN+), compared with FTLD patients without pathogenetic GRN mutations (GRN−) and healthy controls (HCs). Methods: Twenty-six FTLD patients (13 GRN+ and 13 GRN− matched for age, sex, and phenotype) and 13 age- and sex-matched HCs underwent brain perfusion SPECT. Brain regions involved in FTLD (dorsolateral, anterior cingulate, orbitofrontal, posterior temporal, temporal pole, and parietal) were used as regions of interest to identify functionally interconnected areas. An effective connectivity (path) analysis was defined with a PC algorithm (named after its inventors Peter Spirtes and Clark Glymour) search procedure and structural equation fitting. Statistically significant differences among the 3 groups were determined. Results: The best-fitting model was obtained by the data-driven approach, and brain connectivity pathways resembling state-of-the-art anatomic knowledge were obtained. When GRN+ and GRN− groups were considered, the former presented a selective bilateral parietotemporal disconnection, compared with GRN− patients. Furthermore, in FTLD GRN+ patients an increased compensative connectivity of the temporal regions (temporal pole and posterior temporal cortices) was observed. Conclusion: The present work suggests that impairment of effective functional connectivity of the parietotemporal regions is the hallmark of GRN-related FTLD. However, compensative mechanisms—which should be further investigated—may occur.
CASSANDRA - heterogeneous reconnaissance robotic system for dangerous environments

Robotic system consisting of multiple different remotely operated robots and one operator's station is described. The system consists of two small robots, two bigger robots, and one flying machine, while each of them has different features to form balanced system for variety of missions. The robots, as well as the whole system and its possible mission configurations are described in the article. Great attention is paid to the communication subsystem, i.e. not only robot-to-operator's station communication, but also signal retranslation.
Having a Pap smear, quality of life before and after cervical screening: a questionnaire study

Please cite this paper as: Korfage I, van Ballegooijen M, Wauben B, Looman C, Habbema J, Essink‐Bot M. Having a Pap smear, quality of life before and after cervical screening: a questionnaire study. BJOG 2012;119:936–944.
An efficient RNM compensation topology with voltage buffer and nulling resistors for large-capacitive-load three-stage OTAs

This work proposes and develops an original compensation approach for low-power three-stage operational transconductance amplifiers driving large capacitive loads. The proposed solution is based on the basic reversed nested Miller compensation and exploits a voltage buffer and two nulling resistors in the compensation network, along with a feedforward stage to improve slewing and settling performance. A well-defined design procedure using the loop gain phase margin as the main design parameter is also developed. Simulations on a three-stage amplifier are carried out and are found to be in excellent agreement with the theoretical analysis, showing a significant improvement of the proposed approach over traditional compensation strategies in terms of small-signal and large-signal performance.
Role of extracellular calcitonin gene-related peptide in spinal cord mechanisms of cancer-induced bone pain

Abstract Severe pain is a common and debilitating complication of metastatic bone cancer. Current analgesics provide insufficient pain relief and often lead to significant adverse effects. In models of cancer-induced bone pain, pathological sprouting of sensory fibers at the tumor-bone interface occurs concomitantly with reactive astrocytosis in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. We observed that calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-fiber sprouting in the bone was associated with an increase in CGRP content in sensory neuron cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and increased basal and activity-evoked release of CGRP from their central terminals in the dorsal horn. Intrathecal administration of a peptide antagonist (&agr;-CGRP8-37) attenuated referred allodynia in the hind paw ipsilateral to bone cancer. CGRP receptor components (CLR and RAMP1) were up-regulated in dorsal horn neurons and expressed by reactive astrocytes. In primary cultures of astrocytes, CGRP incubation led to a concentration-dependent increase of forskolin-induced cAMP production, which was attenuated by pretreatment with CGRP8-37. Furthermore, CGRP induced ATP release in astrocytes, which was inhibited by CGRP8-37. We suggest that the peripheral increase in CGRP content observed in cancer-induced bone pain is mirrored by a central increase in the extracellular levels of CGRP. This increase in CGRP not only may facilitate glutamate-driven neuronal nociceptive signaling but also act on astrocytic CGRP receptors and lead to release of ATP.
Fuzzy control of nonlinear plants through rule-based cooperative particle swarm optimization

This paper applies rule-based cooperative particle swarm optimization (RCPSO) to fuzzy controller design. Initially, there are no rules in the RCPSO-designed fuzzy rule-based system. An on-line clustering-based algorithm is used to generate new fuzzy rules automatically during fuzzy control process. For each newly generated fuzzy rule, the RCPSO optimizes all of its antecedent and consequent parameters using the idea of cooperative particle swarm optimization. Performance of the RCPSO is verified through a nonlinear plant control problem.