Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gradient-Based Source and Mask Optimization in Optical Lithography

Source and mask optimization (SMO) has been proposed recently as an effective solution to extend the lifespan of conventional 193 nm lithography, although the process is computationally intensive. In this study, we propose a highly effective and efficient method for source optimization and improve a previous method for mask optimization. An SMO framework is implemented by integrating them. Based on pixel-based source and mask representation, the gradients of the objective function are utilized to guide optimization. In addition to maintain the image fidelity, extra penalties are added into the objective function to increase the depth of focus (DOF) and regularize the source and mask patterns. In our SMO framework, a specially designed mask optimization procedure is performed to enhance the algorithm robustness. Afterward, the source optimization and mask optimization are performed alternatively. Convergence results can be acquired using only two or three iteration cycles. This method is demonstrated using two mask patterns with critical dimensions of 45 nm, including a periodic array of contact holes and a cross gate design. The results show that our method can provide great improvements in both image quality and DOF. The robustness of our method is also verified using different initial conditions.
Implicit mapping of the peripersonal space by gazing and reaching

Primates often perform coordinated eye and arm movements, contextually fixating and reaching towards nearby objects. This combination of looking and reaching to the same target is used by infants to establish an implicit visuomotor representation of the peripersonal space, useful for both oculomotor and arm motor control. In this work, taking inspiration from such behavior and from primate visuomotor mechanisms, a shared sensorimotor map of the environment, built on a radial basis function framework, is configured and trained by the coordinated control of a humanoid robot eye and arm movements. Simulated results confirm that mixed neural populations, such as those found in some particular brain areas modeled in this work, are especially suitable to the problem at hand. In the final experimental setup, by exploratory gazing and reaching actions, either free or goal-based, the artificial agent learns to perform direct and inverse transformations between stereo vision, oculomotor and joint-space representations. The integrated sensorimotor map that allows to contextually represent the peripersonal space through different vision and motor parameters is never made explicit, but rather emerges thanks to the interaction of the agent with the environment.
An improved procedure for derivatization of controlled-pore glass beads for solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis

A simplified and economical method for the attachment of 2'-deoxyribo, ribo and arabinonucleosides onto long-chain alkylamidopropanoic acid controlled-pore glass (LCAAP-CPG, P-3) is described. In this procedure, 5'-O-tritylated nucleosides are coupled directly to LCAAP-CPG in excellent yields using 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide (DEC) as coupling reagent. The conventional and time-consuming preparation of nucleoside-3'-O-succinates is no longer required.
Acoustic distance measurement method measurable from zero meters based on the interference between transmitted and reflected waves using power and phase spectra of single channel observations

Since the distance to target is very important information, we have proposed an acoustic distance measurement using a standing wave, which is generated by interference between transmitted and reflected waves. This method is given in a very simple form such that the distance between microphone and target is estimated as a peak value of the range spectrum (i.e., the absolute value of Fourier transform with respect to the power spectrum of the observed wave). However, to measure the short distance, the wide bandwidth of the transmitted wave is required. This paper describes a new distance estimation method measurable from 0 m based on the interference between transmitted and reflected audible sound, especially using only a single microphone (i.e., single channel observations). More concretely, we introduce an analytic signal instead of the power spectrum and examine the validity and effectiveness of our method through computer simulation and by applying it to an actual sound field with a band-limited impulse sound.
Asymmetric dimethylarginine is increased in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

RATIONALE Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), a potent endogenous nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, is increased in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and associated with unfavorable outcome. OBJECTIVES Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), although principally amenable to surgical removal of major pulmonary arterial obstructions by pulmonary endarterectomy, may show a small-vessel pulmonary arteriopathy similar to idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. We hypothesized that ADMA plasma levels are increased in patients with CTEPH. METHODS We measured ADMA by high-performance liquid chromatography at the time of diagnosis in 135 patients with CTEPH. Inoperability in 66 patients was based on an imbalance between severity of pulmonary hypertension and morphologic lesions. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS ADMA plasma levels were significantly elevated in patients, compared with 40 matched control subjects (0.62 [0.51-0.73] vs. 0.51 [0.45-0.6] micromol/L, P = 0.0002). At baseline, ADMA plasma concentrations correlated with mixed venous saturation (r = -0.25, P = 0.005), right atrial pressure (r = 0.35, P < 0.0001), and cardiac index (r = -0.21, P = 0.01). Patients who underwent surgery demonstrated lower ADMA levels at baseline than inoperable patients (0.60 [0.5-0.68] vs. 0.63 [0.53-0.85] micromol/L, P = 0.02), with a further decrease 12 +/- 1 months after pulmonary endarterectomy (P = 0.02). Endothelial NOS expression in endothelial cells was low in patients with elevated ADMA plasma levels. Survival of patients with ADMA plasma levels >/= 0.64 micromol/L was worse than in patients with ADMA plasma levels < 0.64 micromol/L. CONCLUSIONS ADMA plasma levels correlate with the severity of pulmonary vascular disease and predict outcome in patients with CTEPH. Measurement of ADMA plasma levels may be useful for estimating the degree of small-vessel arteriopathy in CTEPH.
Learning to Select Expert Demonstrations for Deformable Object Manipulation

Automated manipulation of deformable objects tends to be challenging due to high-dimensional, continuous state-action spaces and due to the complicated dynamics of deformable objects. Direct planning or optimal control techniques are often intractable for this setting. Despite these challenges, recent work [2, 3] has leveraged expert demonstrations to make progress on robotic manipulation of deformable objects. This work uses non-rigid registration between a demonstration scene and a test scene to find a geometric mapping between the two scenes. This mapping is used to perform trajectory transfer for the demonstrated gripper trajectory. This approach has been validated in simulated and real-world environments for knot-tying, suturing, and folding tasks. Full demonstrations of complex tasks with multiple steps are hard to collect and transfer successfully. As such, we assume that demonstrations often correspond to steps in the task, rather than the entire task itself. Figure 1 shows an example of the steps involved in tying an overhand knot. Furthermore, a single demonstration for a step in the task cannot be expected to cover all possible scenarios that arise during execution. The natural solution to this is to use a library of demonstrations with multiple demonstrations for each step. Realizing the benefits of a demonstration library requires a robust technique to select a good trajectory to transfer. Certain trajectories will generalize better than others, and particular sequences of demonstrations may perform tasks more efficiently than others. The original paper on the approach of trajectory transfer prescribes choosing the trajectory segment from the demonstrations library with the lowest warping cost onto the current scene [3]. This approach does not account for the inherent generalizability of a particular demonstration. For brittle demonstrations (e.g. grabbing near the edge of a rope), a small change in the rope can have low registration cost, but the transferred trajectory will fail. As a result, such an approach may fail to accomplish tasks that would be possible with a different sequence of trajectories. In this work, we present a solution to the demonstration selection problem that can account for the variability in robustness of demonstrations and incorporates the sequential nature of our tasks. Our contributions are as follows: (i) We formulate the demonstration selection problem as a Markov Decision Process (MDP); (ii) We present a method for approximating Q-functions from expert-guided task executions, Fig. 1: The overhand knot manipulation task in our benchmark. A standard knot tie takes three steps, as shown in this particular execution from our benchmark.
Peptide Hydrogelation and Cell Encapsulation for 3D Culture of MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture plays an invaluable role in tumor biology by providing in vivo like microenviroment and responses to therapeutic agents. Among many established 3D scaffolds, hydrogels demonstrate a distinct property as matrics for 3D cell culture. Most of the existing pre-gel solutions are limited under physiological conditions such as undesirable pH or temperature. Here, we report a peptide hydrogel that shows superior physiological properties as an in vitro matrix for 3D cell culture. The 3D matrix can be accomplished by mixing a self-assembling peptide directly with a cell culture medium without any pH or temperature adjustment. Results of dynamic rheological studies showed that this hydrogel can be delivered multiple times via pipetting without permanently destroying the hydrogel architecture, indicating the deformability and remodeling ability of the hydrogel. Human epithelial cancer cells, MCF-7, are encapsulated homogeneously in the hydrogel matrix during hydrogelation. Compared with two-dimensional (2D) monolayer culture, cells residing in the hydrogel matrix grow as tumor-like clusters in 3D formation. Relevant parameters related to cell morphology, survival, proliferation, and apoptosis were analyzed using MCF-7 cells in 3D hydrogels. Interestingly, treatment of cisplatin, an anti-cancer drug, can cause a significant decrease of cell viability of MCF-7 clusters in hydrogels. The responses to cisplatin were dose- and time-dependent, indicating the potential usage of hydrogels for drug testing. Results of confocal microscopy and Western blotting showed that cells isolated from hydrogels are suitable for downstream proteomic analysis. The results provided evidence that this peptide hydrogel is a promising 3D cell culture material for drug testing.
Is Backdating Executive Stock Options Always Harmful to Shareholders?

Current accounting rules relating to the issuance of employee stock options (ESOs) treat ESOs as a corporate expense. Prior to 2005, accounting rules required corporations that issued ESOs to treat at-the-money options differently from in-the-money options for financial reporting purposes. A corporation that granted in-the-money options was required to expense the intrinsic value of the options, while no expense had to be recognized when at-the-money options were granted. Since 2005, corporations have been required to expense all ESOs at their grant-date fair value. This paper considers the ex ante cost to shareholders when the firm awards backdated stock options to its executives, selecting a date when the stock price is below the award date price, thus granting in-the-money rather than at-the-money options. Using a binomial model, we show that the non-transferability of ESOs and the risk aversion of the manager receiving them make it possible for the firm to grant in-the-money ESOs at a lower cost than at-the-money ESOs without reducing the manager's utility level. This result is always true when the underlying stock's expected return is equal to the risk-free rate. Only if the underlying stock's expected return exceeds a certain spread over the risk-free rate-and the manager is made no worse off having been awarded in-the-money rather than at-the-money ESOs – are shareholders made worse off. For a given level of the risk-free rate, the threshold expected return at which granting in-the-money rather than at-the-money ESOs cannot simultaneously benefit shareholders and managers is positively related to the manager's level of risk aversion and is negatively related to the manager's non-option wealth. In the majority of cases, issuing in-the-money ESOs is welfare-enhancing for both managers and shareholders.
Does smoking really harm your earnings so much? Biases in current estimates of the smoking wage penalty

Empirical studies on the earnings effects of tobacco use have found significant wage penalties attached to smoking. This article produces evidence that suggests that these estimates are significantly upward biased. The bias arises from a general failure in the literature to control for past smoking behaviour of individuals. Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regressions show that the smoking wage penalty is reduced by as much as a third, if past smoking of individuals is controlled for.
Handwritten sentence recognition

We present a system for reading handwritten sentences and paragraphs. The system's main components are preprocessing, feature extraction and recognition. In contrast to other systems, whole lines of text are the basic units for the recognizer. Thus the difficult problem of segmenting a line of text into individual words can be avoided. Another novel feature of the system is the incorporation of a statistical language model into the recognizer. Experiments on the database described previously by the authors (1999) have shown that a recognition rate on the word level of 79.5% and 60.05% for small (776 words) and larger (7719 words) vocabularies can be reached. These figures increase to 84.3% and 67.32% if the top ten choices are taken into account.
Differences in relaxation by means of guided imagery in a healthy community sample.

OBJECTIVE This study investigated differences in relaxation induced by guided imagery in healthy community samples. METHODS One hundred forty-eight people took part in our investigation. The mean age of the 50 males and 98 females was 39.36 +/- 11.86 years. We took saliva samples to measure salivary cortisol (SC) before the first session, after the first session, and after the second session. Subjects were asked to complete the short form of the Multiple Mood Scale (MMS) questionnaire before the first session and after the second session. The shortened form of Betts' Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (QMI) was collected once before the first session, and vividness of the imagery was measured using a visual analogue scale once after the second session. RESULTS SC levels were significantly decreased after the first session and after the second session in all participants. We found, most significantly, that age and QMI scores were strongly related to changes in SC level throughout the relaxation sessions. CONCLUSIONS Unpleasant information, a cause of mental stress, is replaced by a comfortable image, and this replacement affects a participant's SC level. The greater one's imagery ability is, the more successful the displacement of stress and the shift toward a comfortable mental and emotional state will be. This study provides a basis for explaining the mechanism through which relaxation by means of guided imagery is effective in reducing stress.
Design and analysis of novel friction controlling mechanism with minimal energy for in-pipe robot applications

In-pipe wheeled robots require friction on the wheels to maintain traction. Ability to vary this friction is highly desirable but conventionally used linkage mechanism is not suitable for it. This paper presents a novel mechanism generating adjustable friction with minimal energy consumption for in-pipe robots. The mechanism uses permanent magnets to achieve the objective. An appropriate model for the system is also presented and discussed. The paper identifies the important design parameters, and more importantly establishes the relation between the design parameters and the system's performance. In addition, a prototype of the mechanism was designed, fabricated and tested for validation.
Survival of Mature CD4 T Lymphocytes Is Dependent on Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II–expressing Dendritic Cells

Thymic T cell development is controlled by T cell receptor (TCR)–major histocompatibility complex (MHC) interactions, whereas a further dependence of peripheral mature T cells on TCR–MHC contact has not been described so far. To study this question, CD4 T cell survival was surveyed in mice lacking MHC class II expression and in mice expressing MHC class II exclusively on dendritic cells. Since neither of these mice positively select CD4 T cells in the thymus, they were grafted with MHC class II–positive embryonic thymic tissue, which had been depleted of bone marrow derived cells. Although the thymus grafts in both hosts were repopulated with host origin thymocytes of identical phenotype and numbers, an accumulation of CD4+ T cells in peripheral lymphoid organs could only be observed in mice expressing MHC class II on dendritic cells, but not in mice that were completely MHC class II deficient. As assessed by histology, the accumulating peripheral CD4 T cells were found to be in close contact with MHC class II+ dendritic cells, suggesting that CD4 T cells need peripheral MHC class II expression for survival and that class II+ dendritic cells might play an important role for the longevity of CD4 T cells.
Adjust to Target in Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE—Carbohydrate counting is an effective approach to mealtime insulin adjustment in type 1 diabetes but has not been rigorously assessed in type 2 diabetes. We sought to compare an insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio with a simple algorithm for adjusting the dose of prandial insulin glusiline. RESEARCH AND DESIGN METHODS—This 24-week, multicenter, randomized, controlled study compared two algorithms for adjusting mealtime (glulisine) insulin along with a standard algorithm for adjusting background (glargine) insulin in 273 intent-to-treat patients with type 2 diabetes. Glulisine and glargine were adjusted weekly in both groups based on self-monitored blood glucose (SMBG) results from the previous week. The simple algorithm group was provided set doses of glulisine to take before each meal. The carbohydrate counting (carb count) group was provided an insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio to use for each meal and adjusted their glulisine dose based on the amount of carbohydrate consumed. RESULTS—A1C levels at week 24 were 6.70% (simple algorithm) and 6.54% (carb count). The respective mean A1C changes from baseline to 24 weeks were −1.46 and −1.59% (P = 0.24). A1C <7.0% was achieved by 73.2% (simple algorithm) and 69.2% (carb count) (P = 0.70) of subjects; respective values for A1C <6.5% were 44.3 and 49.5% (P = 0.28). The total daily dose of insulin was lower, and there was a trend toward less weight gain in carb count group patients. Severe hypoglycemia rates were low and equal in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS—Weekly basal-bolus insulin adjustments based on premeal and bedtime glucose patterns resulted in significant reductions in A1C. Having two effective approaches to delivering and adjusting rapid-acting mealtime insulin may increase physicians' and patients' willingness to advance therapy to a basal-bolus insulin regimen.
Automatic Speech Sentence Segmentation from Multi-paragraph Databases

Speech sentence is the input of automatic phonetic segmentation or transcription. This paper discusses our efforts on automatic speech sentence segmentation from multi-paragraph speech databases for building Text-To-Speech (TTS) system speech corpus automatically. We present a) a system of automatic speech sentence segmentation from broadcasting audio based on forced alignment technique, in which a checking Mechanism based on speech recognition technique is also used, b) an iterative algorithm to improve the system, c) a music detector based on a scheme combination of Variable Duration Hidden Markov Model (VDHMM) and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Experiments show that the improved system has 98.93% of Sentence Accurate Rate (SAR) and generates 646 correct sentences, compared with 97.85% of SAR, and 155 correct sentences in original system.
Finite-length analysis for secret random number generation and coding theorems

Shannon theory had been considered as an unpractical engineering theory because the obtained optimizations focused on the asymptotic analysis, which are far from a practical setting. However, recent progresses are resolving this defect from achieving finite-length analysis on several information theoretical topics based on the traditional asymptotic results. These progresses enable us to evaluate the performances of realizable systems. The main factors of this research stream are the reflection for the traditional stream and the progress of the method of information spectrum, which has mainly been developed in Japan. However, we cannot ignore the effect by the min entropy developed in cryptography community and the practical demands required by the quantum cryptography system. As results, the finite-length theory has been developed in an interdisciplinary area across information theory community, the communication theory, cryptography theory, and quantum information theory. In this talk, we review the finite-length analysis for the secure random number generation as the most successful case, and briefly explain its extension to source coding, channel coding, and the quantum extension.
Can the outcome of induction of labour with oral misoprostol be predicted.

OBJECTIVE To determine predictors of outcome for induction of labour using oral misoprostol. SETTING Labour ward at Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, that serves an indigent South African urban population. METHODS Data were collected prospectively on all women undergoing induction of labour with oral misoprostol from 1 March 2004 to 28 February 2005. Patients with contraindications to misoprostol induction were excluded. Univariate analysis and logistical regression analysis were performed to determine the significant predictors of success of induction of labour. Successful induction was defined as a vaginal delivery achieved within 24 hours. RESULTS Five hundred and fifty-eight patients were included. There were three major indications for induction of labour, namely hypertension (45%), postdates (22.1%) and prelabour rupture of membranes (20.6%). Vaginal delivery was achieved within 24 hours in 52.4% of patients. The caesarean section rate was 42.1%. Fetal heart rate changes occurred in 25.6% and hyperstimulation in 1.4% of patients. Logistical regression analysis identified the following parameters as independent predictors of vaginal delivery achieved within 24 hours: primiparity (p < 0.001), Bishop score < 3 (p < 0.001), Bishop score 4 - 6 (p = 0.029), ruptured membranes (p < 0.001) and pre-eclampsia (p = 0.006). A method of scoring (Mbele score) has been developed making use of the results of this analysis in order to predict the successful outcome of induction. CONCLUSIONS Primigravidity, intact membranes, pre-eclampsia and a low Bishop score were indicators of an unsuccessful outcome for induction of labour. It is thought that the Mbele score will be helpful in counselling patients on methods of delivery when they are admitted for induction of labour.