Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nanostructures in Te/Sb/Ge/Ag (TAGS) thermoelectric materials induced by phase transitions associated with vacancy ordering.

Te/Sb/Ge/Ag (TAGS) materials with rather high concentrations of cation vacancies exhibit improved thermoelectric properties as compared to corresponding conventional TAGS (with constant Ag/Sb ratio of 1) due to a significant reduction of the lattice thermal conductivity. There are different vacancy ordering possibilities depending on the vacancy concentration and the history of heat treatment of the samples. In contrast to the average α-GeTe-type structure of TAGS materials with cation vacancy concentrations <∼3%, quenched compounds like Ge0.53Ag0. 13Sb0.27□0.07Te1 and Ge0.61Ag0. 11Sb0.22□0.06Te1 exhibit "parquet-like" multidomain nanostructures with finite intersecting vacancy layers. These are perpendicular to the pseudocubic <111> directions but not equidistantly spaced, comparable to the nanostructures of compounds (GeTe)nSb2Te3. Upon heating, the nanostructures transform into long-periodically ordered trigonal phases with parallel van der Waals gaps. These phases are slightly affected by stacking disorder but distinctly different from the α-GeTe-type structure reported for conventional TAGS materials. Deviations from this structure type are evident only from HRTEM images along certain directions or very weak intensities in diffraction patterns. At temperatures above ∼400 °C, a rock-salt-type high-temperature phase with statistically disordered cation vacancies is formed. Upon cooling, the long-periodically trigonal phases are reformed at the same temperature. Quenched nanostructured Ge0.53Ag0. 13Sb0.27□0.07Te1 and Ge0.61Ag0. 11Sb0.22□0.06Te1 exhibit ZT values as high as 1.3 and 0.8, respectively, at 160 °C, which is far below the phase transition temperatures. After heat treatment, i.e., without pronounced nanostructure and when only reversible phase transitions occur, the ZT values of Ge0.53Ag0. 13Sb0.27□0.07Te1 and Ge0.61Ag0. 11Sb0.22□0.06Te1 with extended van der Waals gaps amount to 1.6 at 360 °C and 1.4 at 410 °C, respectively, which is at the top end of the range of high-performance TAGS materials.
Accelerating Geospatial Modeling in ArcGIS with Graphical Processor Units

Geospatial data can be enormous in size and tedious to process efficiently on standard computational workstations. Distributing the processing tasks through highly parallelized processing reduces the burden on the primary processor and processing times can drastically shorten as a result. ERSI's ArcGIS, while widely used in the military, does not natively support multi-core processing or utilization of graphic processor units (GPUs). However, the ArcPy Python library included in ArcGIS 10 provides geospatial developers with the means to process geospatial data in a flexible environment that can be linked with GPU application programming interfaces (APIs). This research extends a custom desktop geospatial model of spatial similarity for remote soil classification which takes advantage of both standard ArcPy/ArcGIS geoprocessing functions and custom GPU kernels, operating on an NVIDIA Tesla S2050 equipped with potential access to 1792 cores. The author will present their results which describe hardware and software configurations, processing efficiency gains, and lessons learned.
The applied research of ERP in logistics management of petroleum company

Oil material supplies in the oil fields' production and construction plays an important role. It is significant to manage the materials using the theory and method of ERP. In this paper, with the use of computer and network information technology, we research and developed the ERP system based on WEB in logistics management of a petroleum company. It is actualized to plan, organize and control the purchase, repertory and use of all materials. And the enterprise acquired a huge profitability by using ERP.
Production of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by monocytes and large granular lymphocytes stimulated with Mycobacterium avium-M. intracellulare: activation of bactericidal activity by GM-CSF

Treatment of monocytes with recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was shown to enhance their antimycobacterial activity in an in vitro assay. Furthermore, Mycobacterium avium-M. intracellulare was found to induce the production of this hemopoietic growth factor. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were fractionated by plastic adherence and Percoll density centrifugation, and each population of cells was stimulated with mycobacteria. GM-CSF was produced by both monocytes and large granular lymphocytes (LGL) but not T lymphocytes. The phenotype of the GM-CSF-producing LGL was found to be CD2+, CD16+, and HLA-DR+ but negative for T-cell and monocyte markers. Kinetic studies demonstrated that GM-CSF appeared in the supernatant fluids within 2 days of culture of either monocytes or LGL and continued to be produced up to 7 days of incubation. Northern (RNA) blot analysis of RNA from both cell types demonstrated the expression of GM-CSF message within 24 h of stimulation. From these studies, LGL and monocytes are capable of responding to M. avium-M. intracellulare by producing factors that augment normal immune functions, including the antibacterial capability of monocytes.
Survival of Staphylococcus aureus Inside Neutrophils Contributes to Infection1

Neutrophils have long been regarded as essential for host defense against Staphylococcus aureus infection. However, survival of the pathogen inside various cells, including phagocytes, has been proposed as a mechanism for persistence of this microorganism in certain infections. Therefore, we investigated whether survival of the pathogen inside polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) contributes to the pathogenesis of S. aureus infection. Our data demonstrate that PMN isolated from the site of infection contain viable intracellular organisms and that these infected PMN are sufficient to establish infection in a naive animal. In addition, we show that limiting, but not ablating, PMN migration into the site of infection enhances host defense and that repletion of PMN, as well as promoting PMN influx by CXC chemokine administration, leads to decreased survival of the mice and an increased bacterial burden. Moreover, a global regulator mutant of S. aureus (sar−) that lacks the expression of several virulence factors is less able to survive and/or avoid clearance in the presence of PMN. These data suggest that the ability of S. aureus to exploit the inflammatory response of the host by surviving inside PMN is a virulence mechanism for this pathogen and that modulation of the inflammatory response is sufficient to significantly alter morbidity and mortality induced by S. aureus infection.
Comparative Evaluation of Hydroxyapatite, Potassium Nitrate and Sodium Monofluorophosphate as in Office Desensitising Agents-A Double Blinded Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: The search for an agent that would predictably and permanently occlude the tubules, and blend with them led to the discovery of HYDROXYAPATITE (HAP). The present double blinded randomsed controlled clinical trial aimed to compare the desensitizing effects of two forms of HAP with 2 other popular agents, potassium nitrate and potassium nitrate with sodium monofluorophosphate. Methods: Clinical study: 716 hypersensitive teeth in 50 patients with hypersensitive symptoms, confirmed by visual analogue scale (VAS) and verbal rating scale (VRS), were randomly divided into 4 groups (A,B,C and D) treated with HAP dry sol gel and liquid precipitate form, potassium nitrate and sodium monofluorophosphate respectively. The responses were evaluated at 0, 1 day, 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks respectively for all groups and later statistically analysed. Results: HAP treated teeth showed statistically significant reduction in hypersensitive symptoms (p<0.001) requiring fewer applications compared to other groups at the end of 1st day, 2 and 8 weeks respectively. At the end of 8 weeks, all 4 groups showed significant change from baseline scores (p<0.001). Conclusion: HAP showed definite potential as an effective permanent desensitizer when compared to potassium nitrate and sodium monofluorophosphate when used as an in-office procedure. However, its efficacy when used as part of dentifrice like the other 2 agents needs further research.
Cell Membrane Pore Formation and Change in Ion Channel Activity in High-Gradient Magnetic Fields

We examine membrane pores and the channel stability of cells exposed to high-gradient magnetic fields (HGMFs). As an HGMF generates stress and deformation in the cell membrane through magnetic gradient forces, stretch-activated and voltage-gated ion channels are gated by both the effective membrane tension (σ) and the membrane potential (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{U}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>). By calculating a (σ, <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{U}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>)-phase diagram, we find an unexpected region of stability for the pores in a cell membrane subjected to an HGMF. Within this region, the cell membrane does not lose its integrity and is stable against pore creation by electric and magnetic fields. Our theoretical arguments lead to predictions for changes in membrane ion channel selectivity in cells treated with magnetic fields. Overall, the results demonstrate that HGMFs can be used as a tool to create a specific stress field in a cell to drive its machinery.
Characteristics of Work Groups and Their Relationship with Social and Task Cohesion in Student Teams

Results of an exploratory study of relationships between work-group characteristics and the social and task cohesion of 18 business students engaged in team class projects. Regression analysis of scores on workload sharing, team spirit, task flexibility, and team cohesiveness for scales of the Work Group Characteristics Inventory indicated sharing of the workload was significantly associated with both task and social cohesion; team spirit with task cohesion but not social cohesion; and task flexibility with social cohesion but not task cohesion.
On general Gilbert bounds

We define a distance measure for block codes used over memoryless channels and show that it is related to upper and lower bounds on the low-rate error probability in the same way as Hamming distance is for binary block codes used over the binary symmetric channel. We then prove general Gilbert bounds for block codes using this distance measure. Some new relationships between coding theory and rate-distortion theory are presented.
A Visual Analytics Framework for Microblog Data Analysis at Multiple Scales of Aggregation

Real‐time microblogs can be utilized to provide situational awareness during emergency and disaster events. However, the utilization of these datasets requires the decision makers to perform their exploration and analysis across a range of data scales from local to global, while maintaining a cohesive thematic context of the transition between the different granularity levels. The exploration of different information dimensions at the varied data and human scales remains to be a non‐trivial task. To this end, we present a visual analytics situational awareness environment that supports the real‐time exploration of microblog data across multiple scales of analysis. We classify microblogs based on a fine‐grained, crisis‐related categorization approach, and visualize the spatiotemporal evolution of multiple categories by coupling a spatial lens with a glyph‐based visual design. We propose a transparency‐based spatial context preserving technique that maintains a smooth transition between different spatial scales. To evaluate our system, we conduct user studies and provide domain expert feedback.
Ensemble Weight Enumerators for Protograph LDPC Codes

Recently, LDPC codes with projected graph, or protograph structures have been proposed. In this paper, finite length ensemble weight enumerators for LDPC codes with protograph structures are obtained. Asymptotic results are derived as the block size goes to infinity. In particular, we are interested in obtaining ensemble average weight enumerators for protograph LDPC codes which have typical minimum distance that grows linearly with block size. As with irregular ensembles, linear minimum distance property is sensitive to the proportion of degree-2 variable nodes. In this paper, the derived results on ensemble weight enumerators show that linear minimum distance condition on degree distribution of unstructured irregular LDPC codes is a sufficient but not a necessary condition for protograph LDPC codes
Proton tolerance of advanced SiGe HBTs fabricated on different substrate materials

The proton tolerance of SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) fabricated on a variety of substrate materials is investigated for the first time. The present SiGe HBT BiCMOS technology represents only the second commercially-available SiGe process to be reported for radiation effects. SiGe HBT dc and ac performance is compared for devices fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI), low resistivity, and high resistivity silicon substrates, and all are found to be total dose tolerant to multi-Mrad radiation levels. We also compare these radiation results to those previously reported for other commercially-available SiGe technologies.
How Realistic Should Knowledge Diffusion Models Be?

Knowledge diffusion models typically involve two main features: an underlying social network topology on one side, and a particular design of interaction rules driving knowledge transmission on the other side. Acknowledging the need for realistic topologies and adoption behaviors backed by empirical measurements, it becomes unclear how accurately existing models render real-world phenomena: if indeed both topology and transmission mechanisms have a key impact on these phenomena, to which extent does the use of more or less stylized assumptions affect modeling results? In order to evaluate various classical topologies and mechanisms, we push the comparison to more empirical benchmarks: real-world network structures and empirically measured mechanisms. Special attention is paid to appraising the discrepancy between diffusion phenomena (i) on some real network topologies vs. various kinds of scale-free networks, and (ii) using an empirically-measured transmission mechanism, compared with canonical appropriate models such as threshold models. We find very sensible differences between the more realistic settings and their traditional stylized counterparts. On the whole, our point is thus also epistemological by insisting that models should be tested against simulation-based empirical benchmarks.
Student Perceptions of Collaboration Skills in an Interprofessional Context: Development and Initial Validation of the Self-Assessed Collaboration Skills Instrument

An integral component of interprofessional education (IPE) is the development of a collaboration-ready health-care workforce. While collaboration is a fundamental element of IPE, there is no existing measure of collaboration skills that is not context specific. This article describes the development and initial validation of the Self-Assessed Collaboration Skills (SACS) measure. Items were initially drawn from the Collaboration Skills Assessment Tool rubric, an educational assessment tool. The SACS measure was piloted in a sample of students in an introductory IPE course. Following scale revision, the SACS was piloted a second time in a sample of students in an IPE health systems course and then validated in a sample of students in an introductory IPE course. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess scale factor structure in Pilots 1 and 2 and confirmatory factor analysis to confirm factor structure in the validation sample. Convergent and discriminant validity were also assessed. The final SACS measure is an 11-item scale consisting of three dimensions of collaboration: information sharing, learning, and team support. The SACS measure demonstrates high internal consistency and both convergent and discriminant validity as a measure of collaboration. The SACS can be implemented in any setting for assessing collaboration in clinical and nonclinical contexts.
Physiologic and symptomatic responses of cardiac patients to resistance exercise.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the symptomatic and physiologic responses during moderate to heavy resistance exercise in a population with coronary artery disease. After at least 12 weeks of aerobic training without experiencing complications, 15 male cardiac patients were selected for the study. Approximately one week after a graded exercise test (GXT), each patient's maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) was determined on seven upper-body Nautilus machines. Resistance exercises, consisting of two sets of seven repetitions at a submaximal intensity (75% MVC) for each exercise, were then performed on two nonconsecutive occasions; symptomatic, hemodynamic, and electrocardiographic responses were recorded and analyzed for patients both on and off beta-blockers. During the MVC and submaximal exercise trials, no significant untoward hemodynamic change was noted with heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, or rate pressure product, and no patient complained of angina or developed ischemic electrocardiographic changes. However, three incidences of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) occurred. During the GXT, there were 13 incidences of angina, ischemia, or PVCs. Patients taking beta-blockers had significantly lower (p less than .01) values for heart rate and rate pressure product during the GXT, MVC, and submaximal trials. These results suggest that clinically stable, aerobically trained cardiac patients may perform moderate to heavy resistance exercises without experiencing complications.
Serum leptin and ghrelin levels and their relationship with serum cortisol, thyroid hormones, lipids, homocysteine and folic acid in dogs with compulsive tail chasing.

The aim of this study was to investigate serum leptin and ghrelin levels and their relations with circulating cortisol, thyroid hormones, lipids, homocysteine (Hcy) and folic acid in dogs with compulsive tail chasing (CTC). The material of this study consists of fifteen dogs with CTC and 15 healthy controls of various weights, breeds, ages of both sexes were enrolled in the study. CTC was diagnosed on the basis of the dog’s behavioral history, clinical signs, and results of other medical assessments. None of the dogs were considered to have concurrent medical disease that would account for CTC. Dogs with CTC had a higher leptin (8.3±0.9 ng/mL vs 1.7±0.2 ng/mL, P<0.001) and lower ghrelin levels (74±7 pg/mL vs 144±41 pg/mL, P<0.05) than those of healthy controls. Serum cortisol, lipids (cholesterol, phospholipids and NEFA) and Hcy levels increased (P<0.05), whereas serum folic acid decreased (P<0.001) in dogs with CTC as compared with controls. Serum ghrelin correlated negatively with cholesterol (P<0.05), but serum leptin correlated positively with cholesterol, fT4, and phospholipids (P<0.05). These results suggest that serum leptin and ghrelin levels may bring up a new perspective on our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms associated with CTC. Serum levels of both hormones may be associated with serum levels of lipids and free T4.
Anisotropic nutrient transport in three‐dimensional single species bacterial biofilms

The ability for a biofilm to grow and function is critically dependent on the nutrient availability, and this in turn is dependent on the structure of the biofilm. This relationship is therefore an important factor influencing biofilm maturation. Nutrient transport in bacterial biofilms is complex; however, mathematical models that describe the transport of particles within biofilms have made three simplifying assumptions: the effective diffusion coefficient (EDC) is constant, the EDC is that of water, and/or the EDC is isotropic. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we determined the EDC, both parallel to and perpendicular to the substratum, within 131 real, single species, three‐dimensional biofilms that were constructed from confocal laser scanning microscopy images. Our study showed that diffusion within bacterial biofilms was anisotropic and depth dependent. The heterogeneous distribution of bacteria varied between and within species, reducing the rate of diffusion of particles via steric hindrance. In biofilms with low porosity, the EDCs for nutrient transport perpendicular to the substratum were significantly lower than the EDCs for nutrient transport parallel to the substratum. Here, we propose a reaction–diffusion model to describe the nutrient concentration within a bacterial biofilm that accounts for the depth dependence of the EDC. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012; 109:1280–1292. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Timing aware power minimization in VLSI circuits by simultaneous multilayer wire spacing

Due to continuous technology scaling, the interconnect delay and power reduction is becoming one of the most important design challenges. In this paper, we present a novel algorithm for simultaneous multilayer interconnect spacing so that on the one hand the total power of interconnect is reduced and on the other hand, delay constraints are not violated. We first present an optimization problem and show that it is convex and therefore has unique optimal solution. Then, we develop algorithm which solves the optimization problem. The optimization we propose can be applied to individual nets as well as to large layouts due to smart layout partitioning scheme applied. We demonstrate algorithm effectiveness by showing power reduction of 5-12% of interconnect power on clips from real industrial layout of 32 nm technology node. In addition, we show relation of new optimization technique with previously reported Weighted Power-Delay Sum optimization (WPDS).
Propofol Increases Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Myofilament Calcium Sensitivity: Role of Protein Kinase C

Background Vascular smooth muscle tone is regulated by changes in intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity. These cellular mechanisms could serve as targets for anesthetic agents that alter vasomotor tone. This study tested the hypothesis that propofol increases myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity in pulmonary artery smooth muscle (PASM) via the protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathway. Methods Canine PASM strips were denuded of endothelium, loaded with fura-2/AM, and suspended in modified Krebs- Ringer's buffer at 37°C for simultaneous measurement of isometric tension and [Ca2+]i. Results The KCl (30 mm) induced monotonic increases in [Ca2+]i and tension. Verapamil, an L-type Ca2+ channel blocker, attenuated KCl-induced increases in [Ca2+]i and tension to an equal extent. In contrast, propofol attenuated KCl-induced increases in [Ca2+]i to a greater extent than concomitant changes in tension and caused an upward shift in the peak tension-[Ca2+]i relation. Increasing extracellular Ca2+ in the presence of 30 mm KCl resulted in similar increases in [Ca2+]i in control and propofol-pretreated strips, whereas concomitant increases in tension were greater during propofol administration. The Ca2+ ionophore, ionomycin (0.1 &mgr;m), increased [Ca2+]i to approximately 50% of the value induced by 60 mm KCl. Under these conditions, propofol (10, 100 &mgr;m) caused increases in tension equivalent to 11 ± 2 and 28 ± 3% of the increases in tension in response to 60 mm KCl, whereas [Ca2+]i was slightly decreased. Similar effects were observed in response to the PKC activator, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA, 1 &mgr;m). Specific inhibition of PKC with bisindolylmaleimide I before ionomycin administration decreased the propofol- and PMA-induced increases in tension and abolished the propofol- and PMA-induced decreases in [Ca2+]i. Selective inhibition of Ca2+-dependent PKC isoforms with Gö 6976 also attenuated propofol-induced increases in tension. Conclusion These results suggest that propofol increases myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity in PASM, and this effect involves the PKC signaling pathway.