Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strain compensation by relieving defects in SiGe channel for FinFET technologies

Current generations of FinFET devices are incorporating SiGe alloys as stressor material in channel regions in order to enhance hole mobility, drive current and channel conductivity. However, the presence of SiGe gives rise to new issues to be controlled during the device fabrication process, such as the strain retention or defectivity control, as they may seriously impact the quality of the strained SiGe channel and so the final device performance. The present work addresses the study of defect formation during the optimized integration of SiGe FinFETs for 10 nm technology nodes, aimed at determining the Ge threshold content for the nucleation of defects. Due to the relevance of atomistic models in determining the mechanisms and nature of defect formation, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed to emulate the FinFET fabrication process. The channel region is generated by removing a portion of the total volume of the Si substrate, further refilled with Si1 − xGex alloy to form the co-integrated FinFETs. After deposition, the presence of Ge induces a lattice distortion which is expected to be relieved by defect formation. Samples are annealed varying the Ge fraction, allowing to determine that threshold Ge content for the nucleation of defects is x = 0.27. MD provides also the nature of the formed defects, which have been suggested to be twinning developed at {111} planes and 60 ° misfit dislocations. Simulation results have been compared to experimental observations, both in good agreement.
Nonlinear Aeroelastic in-Plane Behavior of Suspension Bridges under Steady Wind Flow

The nonlinear aeroelastic behavior of suspension bridges, undergoing dynamical in-plain instability (galloping), is analyzed. A nonlinear continuous model of bridge is formulated, made of a visco-elastic beam and a parabolic cable, connected each other by axially rigid suspenders, continuously distributed. The structure is loaded by a uniform wind flow which acts normally to the bridge plane. Both external and internal damping are accounted for the structure, according to the Kelvin-Voigt rheological model. The nonlinear aeroelastic effects are evaluated via the quasi-static theory, while structural nonlinearities are not taken into account. First, the free dynamics of the undamped bridge are addressed, and the natural modes determined. Then, the nonlinear equations ruling the dynamics of the aeroelastic system, close to the bifurcation point, are tackled by the Multiple Scale Method. This is directly applied to the partial differential equations, and provides the finite-dimensional bifurcation equations. From these latter, the limit-cycle amplitude and its stability are evaluated as function of the mean wind velocity. A case study of suspension bridge is analyzed.
Noise robust speech recognition system using multimodal audio-visual approach using different deep learning classification techniques

Multimodal speech recognition is proved to be one of the most promising solutions for designing robust speech recognition system, especially when the audio signal is corrupted by noise. The visual signal can be used to obtain more information to enhance the recognition accuracy in a noisy system, whereas the reliability of the visual signal is not affected by the acoustic noise. The critical stage in designing a robust speech recognition system is the choice of an appropriate feature extraction method for both audio and visual signal and the choice of a reliable classification method from a large variety of existing classification techniques. This paper proposes an Audio-Visual Speech Recognition (AV-ASR) system using both audio and visual speech modalities to improve recognition accuracy in a clean and noisy environment. The contributions of this paper are two-folded: The first is the methodology of choosing the visual features by comparing different features extraction methods like discrete cosine transform (DCT), blocked DCT, and histograms of oriented gradients with local binary patterns (HOG+LBP), and applying different dimension reduction techniques like principal component analysis (PCA), auto-encoder, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), t-distributed Stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) to find the most effective features vector size. These features are then early integrated with audio features obtained by Mel frequency Cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) and feed into classification process. The second contribution of this research is the methodology of developing the classification process using deep learning, comparing different deep neural network (DNN) architectures like bidirectional long-short term memory (BiLSTM), and convolution neural network (CNN), with the traditional hidden Markov models (HMM). The effectiveness of the proposed model is demonstrated on two multi-speakers AV-ASR benchmark datasets named AVletters and GRID with different SNR. The model performs speaker-independent experiments in AVlettter dataset and speaker-dependent for the GRID dataset. The experimental results show that early integration between audio feature obtained by a MFCC and visual feature obtained by DCT demonstrate higher recognition accuracy when used with BiLSTM classifier compared to other methods for features extraction and classification techniques. In case of GRID, using integrated audio-visual features achieved highest recognition accuracy of 99.13% and 98.47%, with enhancement up to 9.28% and 12.05% over audio-only for clean and noisy data respectively. For AVletters, the highest recognition accuracy is 93.33% with enhancement up to 8.33% over audio-only. The obtained results show the performance enhancement compared to previously obtain audio-visual recognition accuracies on GRID and AVletters and prove the robustness of our BiLSTM-AV-ASR model when compared with CNN and HMM, because BiLSTM takes into account the sequential characteristics of the speech signal.
High-Pressure Raman and Infrared Spectroscopic Study of Prehnite

High-pressure Raman and infrared spectra of a natural sample of prehnite, with a chemical composition of Ca2(Al0.74,Fe0.26)2Si3O10(OH)2, are presented. Analyses of the spectra indicate that prehnite undergoes a reversible structural change between 6 and 8 GPa that is most likely associated with a subtle alteration in the orientation and/or deformation of the polyhedra comprising the framework of the structure. At pressures in excess of ~11 GPa, the high-pressure spectra indicate that prehnite undergoes a reversible phase transition involving the collapse of the framework structure.
Snow Water Equivalent Measurements in Remote Arctic Alaska Watersheds

Snow surveys in two Arctic watersheds located in Alaska, USA, provide 32 years of spatially distributed snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow depth observations. Annual snow surveys from the Imnavait Creek (20,036 measurements from 1985 to 2017) and Upper Kuparuk River (5,804 measurements from 1997 to 2017) watersheds were conducted to capture end‐of‐winter snow accumulation. The average end‐of‐winter SWE in the Upper Kuparuk River watershed (102 ± 29 mm) is consistently less than the Imnavait Creek watershed (130 ± 34 mm) during the common period of record (1997–2017). The average end‐of‐winter SWE in both watersheds indicates a positive trend. Comparison of SWE records with cumulative solid precipitation measured at the Imnaviat [sic] SNOTEL site highlights the undercatch of gauge precipitation and difference in long‐term trends. In this paper, we present a historic overview of data collection, discuss data accuracy, and point out advantages and limitations associated with ground‐based snow measurements in remote Arctic locations. As new methods and techniques of measuring SWE and solid precipitation become available, the presented data set will provide a historic perspective for new observations and will quantitatively relate current or future snow conditions to those that have occurred since the late twentieth century.
Response of doe rabbits to dietary antioxidant vitamins E and C during pregnancy and lactation.

A seven-treatment experiment was carried out to evaluate the response to dietary supplementation with the antioxidant vitamins α-tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), provided individually or in a combination, on some performance traits of 49 two-year old multiparous New Zealand White (NZW) doe rabbits during pregnancy and lactation. Does were equally assigned to one of the following supranutritional levels of the two vitamins: 1) Control of no supplement (40 mg Vit. E/kg diet); 2) 80 mg Vit. E/kg (E80); 3) 160 mg Vit. E/kg (E160); 4) 200 mg Vit. C/kg (C200); 5) 400 mg Vit. C/kg (C400); 6) 80 mg Vit.E+200 mg Vit. C/kg (E80C200); and 7) 160 mg Vit. E+400 mg Vit. C/kg (E160C400). Results indicate that vitamin C groups C400, then, alternately C200 or E80C200 with a few exceptions were ranked first, second and third as had the highest values for feed intake during pregnancy (P<0.01), and lactation (P<0.05), litter size at birth (P<0.01) and weaning (P=0.08), litter weight at birth (P<0.01) and weaning (P<0.05), and milk production at the 1 (P<0.01), 2 (P=0.06), 3 (P<0.01) and 4 (P<0.01) week of lactation. The eminent exception was that E80 group came second for litter weight at weaning. Conversely, the E160 and E160C400 treatments negatively affected these traits. Plasmatic concentrations of α-tocopherol and ascorbate, the total antioxidant capacity during lactation, and hematological parameters (PCV % and Hb concentration) were increased (P<0.01), especially as the vitamin level was increased either individually or in a combination. In conclusion, it is recommended to boost the diets of pregnant and lactating doe rabbits with extra doses of vitamin C either individually or combined to αtocopherol at low doses to improve the performance traits during these critical periods.
Evaluating the Minimum-Wage Exemption of the Long-Term Unemployed in Germany

The authors evaluate the exemption of long-term unemployed job seekers from Germany’s national minimum wage. Using linked survey and administrative micro data, they rely on a regression discontinuity design to identify the effects of the policy by comparing hiring rates, employment stability, and entry wages around the administrative threshold between short-term and long-term unemployment. They find that the exemption is very rarely used and that the minimum wage binds irrespective of past unemployment duration. While the minimum wage led to a relative rise in entry wages for the long-term unemployed compared to the short-term unemployed, the authors do not detect a relative deterioration in their employment prospects.
Broadening the view of morality, and a study of moral development 1

This chapter analyses how the conceptualisation of what is moral has broadened in recent decades and how it influences the study of moral development. We begin with a brief discussion of the definitions of morality and moral domain, and present three key theories of morality. The first one is the Big Three model of morality by Richard Shweder and colleagues (Shweder, Much, Mahapatra, & Park, 1997) and it includes the moral codes of Autonomy, Community, and Divinity. The second key theory is Moral Foundations Theory by Jonathan Haidt and colleagues (Haidt & Kesebir, 2010), which includes five different moral foundations. The third is the cultural-developmental model by Lene Arnett Jensen (2008) and it focuses on the interaction between development and culture in moral thinking. The key conclusion is that the definitions of morality have gone through profound changes and become broader and varied. The three models address the diversity in the definitions of morality and its development. However, what they do not (yet) address is the context-dependence of moral concerns. Finally, we suggest new ways to study morality and moral development.
Characterization of a novel cation channel in cardiac ventricular myocytes and investigation of its role in electrical activity

1) A. Gwanyanya, B. Amuzescu, J. Vereecke, K. Mubagwa. TRPM6/7-like cardiac ion channel: divalent cation permeability and regulation by pH Pflugers ArchivEuropean Journal of Physiology 44: R1-R10, 2004. 2) A. Gwanyanya, B. Amuzescu, J. Vereecke, K. Mubagwa. Magnesium-inhibited cation channel in cardiac myocytes: intracellular ATP-dependent activation and G protein-mediated modulation. Pflugers ArchivEuropean Journal of Physiology 449: R1-R13, 2005. 3) A. Gwanyanya, B. Amuzescu, J. Vereecke, K. Mubagwa. Mg-inhibited cation channel in cardiac myocytes: dependence of activation on intracellular ATP and modulation by guanine nucleotide analogues. Biophysical Journal 88: 117A-118A, 2005. 4) A. Gwanyanya, J. Vereecke, K. Mubagwa. Regulation of the TRPM6/7-like cation channel in cardiac myocytes by ATP and PIP2. Acta Physiologica 185 supp 646:PO-13, 2005. 5) A. Gwanyanya, J. Vereecke, K. Mubagwa. ATPand PIP2-dependent regulation of the TRPM6/7-like cation channel in cardiac myocytes. Biophysical Journal 901: 414A,2006. 6) A. Gwanyanya, J. Vereecke, K. Mubagwa. Is the cardiac ventricular action potential modulated by the magnesium-inhibited, TRPM7-like current? Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology 22:224,2008. 7) R. Macianskiene, A. Gwanyanya, KR. Sipido, J.Vereecke, K. Mubagwa. Modulation of the cardiac TRPM7-like channel by G proteins coupled to phosphoinositide metabolism.Acta Physiologica 192 supp 66:PO-14,2008. 8) A. Gwanyanya, J. Vereecke, K. Mubagwa. N-(p-amylcinnamoyl) anthranilic acid (ACA)-induced cation current in ventricular myocytes. Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology 22:227, 2008.
Interspecific crossing between blue‐tailed damselflies Ischnura elegans and I. senegalensis in the laboratory

Ischnura species (Odonata) are among the most common damselflies in the world, which often exhibit female color polymorphisms. One morph, called androchrome, is similar to males in its color pattern, whereas the other morphs, generally referred to as gynochromes, exhibit female‐specific colors. In several Ischnura species, the female polymorphism is heritable, although molecular and genetic mechanisms remain largely unknown. The dominant‐recessive patterns of the female color morphs may differ between species. For example, androchromic females are dominant to gynochromic females in Ischnura elegans, whereas androchromic females are recessive in Ischnura senegalensis. Here we report a case of interspecific hybridization between a gynochrome female of I. elegans and a male of I. senegalensis in the laboratory. We obtained 61 hybrid adult offspring, of which all 31 females were of gynochrome morph. DNA analyses of the hybrids confirmed that nuclear DNA sequences were derived from both parent species, whereas mitochondrial DNA sequences were maternally inherited. In the hybrids, the postocular spots of female heads, the shape of male appendages, and the color of female's cerci resembled those of I. elegans, whereas the size of abdominal blue spots was similar to that of I. senegalensis. The shape of prothorax and basal abdominal markings were intermediate in females. The larval developmental traits and the morphological changes in the final larval instar of the hybrids were similar to those of I. senegalensis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of hybrids between two damselfly species with different dominant‐recessive patterns of female color morphs.
The role of geographical clusters in the success of reward-based crowdfunding campaigns

This article studies whether some salient characteristics of the geographical area in which a crowdfunding campaign is launched affect its success. Drawing on a data set of 792 crowdfunded projects, we conduct an empirical study aimed at studying the role played by geographical clusters (GCs) in fostering the crowdfunding of new entrepreneurial ventures. The results offer insights into the phenomenon of crowdfunding and shed light on the role of GCs in the success of reward-based crowdfunding campaigns of early-stage entrepreneurial projects.
Endogenous Education and Long-Run Factor Shares

We study the determinants of factor shares in a neoclassical environment with capital-skill complementarity and endogenous education. In this environment estimates of the elasticity of substitution between capital and labor that fail to account for human capital levels will be biased upward. We develop a model with overlapping generations, technology-driven neoclassical growth, and ongoing increases in educational attainment. For a class of production functions featuring capital-skill complementarity, a balanced growth path exists and is characterized by an inverse relationship between the rates of capital-and labor-augmenting technological progress and the capital share in national income. (JEL D33, E25, J24, O33)
Efficacy of some fungicides against seed-borne mycoflora of wheat.

Efficacy of four fungicides namely Acrobat MZ, Dithane M-45, Aliette and Metalaxyl plus Mancozeb was tested against seed-borne mycoflora of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Four fungal species viz. Drechslera australiensis (Bugnicourt) Subramanian & Jain, Aspergillus terreus Thom, Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler and Fusarium oxysporum were isolated from the stored grains of wheat collected from three different sources from district Kasur. Drechslera australiensis was found to be the most frequently occurring fungal species from wheat grains exhibiting 43% incidence. A variable effect of different concentrations of the test fungicides viz. recommended dose (R), 0.75R, 0.50R, and 0.25R was recorded against D. australiensis. Metalaxyl plus Mancozeb and Dithane were found to be the most effective fungicide. All the employed concentrations of Metalaxyl plus Mancozeb significantly suppressed D. australiensis. Similarly all applied concentrations of Dithane except 0.25R completely arrested the growth of this fungus. Effect of Acrobat was intermediate where 7–17% incidence of D. australiensis was recorded in different concentrations as compared to 43% in control. Aliette was found to be the least effective fungicide were only higher doses partially suppressed the D. australiensis. Effect of different fungicides on germination and seedling growth of wheat was also variable. Effect of fungicides on seed germination and shoot biomass was significant. Application 0.50R Dithane and 0.50R & 0.75R Aliette significantly enhanced shoot length. Dithane and Aliette application enhanced root biomass while lower concentrations of 0.25R and 0.50R of Metalaxyl plus Mancozeb reduced the root biomass
What can education bring to entrepreneurship? Formal versus non-formal education

ABSTRACT Building on a dynamic view of human capital for the entrepreneurship field, our article covers research performed in this field by examining: the effect of formal versus non-formal Entrepreneurial Education (EE) investments and the development of entrepreneurial human capital assets on the entrepreneurial intention; learning approaches (behavioral, cognitive, or constructive) that are prevalent in formal and non-formal education systems in terms of teaching methods and acquired competences and their effects on entrepreneurial intention, considering different settings at individual and country context level. More than 650 respondents from three countries (Macedonia, Slovenia, and Lithuania) are included in the sample. The research applies structural equation modeling, using two standardized and relevant measurement tools: Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire (EIQ) and Assessment Tools and Indicators for Entrepreneurship Education (ASTEE). Non-formal entrepreneurial education has proven to be a stronger effect on human capital assets. On the other hand, entrepreneurial mindset and constructive entrepreneurial skills have a greater impact on personal attitudes and perceived behavioral control. This could mean that decision-makers should complement formal with non-formal entrepreneurial education, that they should design the entrepreneurial study programs with non-cognitive (that is, constructive) teaching methods and learning outcomes.
Near‐Field Effects of Earthquake Rupture Velocity Into Tsunami Runup Heights

Tsunamis have often been treated as an isolated phenomena from the earthquake itself. In tsunami modeling, seafloor deformation is generated from an earthquake. That deformation is copied into the sea surface, and then, the tsunami is propagated over the ocean. On the other hand, rupture velocities from earthquakes are in the span of 1.5–2.5 km/s; therefore, it is safe to approximate the earthquake rupture propagation as an instantaneous phenomena relative to the tsunami propagation. However, this is not necessarily true for all earthquakes. Several types of large slow earthquakes or nonregular earthquakes, such as low frequency earthquakes and very low frequency earthquakes, and tsunami earthquakes have been detected and observed in certain zones around the world. A key question is: Do giant thrust tsunamigenic earthquakes produce slow rupture (0.1–0.5 km/s) velocities? In this study, we model heterogeneous earthquakes sources using very slow rupture velocities (0.1– 2.5 km/s) with the aim of understanding how this parameter affects the tsunami propagation and runup. We compute the amplification due to a very slow moment release in megathrust earthquakes. Our research shows that rupture velocity plays a key role on runup amplification, and the classic instantaneous case might not work as expected for every case.
Prognostic Role of Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase in Patients With Urothelial Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: To investigate the potential prognostic role of serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in patients with urothelial carcinoma (UC) using the method of systematic review and meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science for eligible studies up to February 2020. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the relationship. Results: A total of 14 studies including 4,009 patients with UC were incorporated. The results showed that a high pretreatment serum LDH was associated with an inferior overall survival (OS, HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.39–1.87, p < 0.001), cancer-specific survival (CSS, HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.05–1.90, p = 0.022), and disease-free survival (DFS, HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.04–2.59, p = 0.034) in UC. Subgroup analyses identified that a high pretreatment serum LDH was associated with a poor OS (HR 1.97, 95% CI 1.02–3.81, p = 0.042) and DFS (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.04–2.59, p = 0.034) in upper tract urothelial carcinoma, a short OS (HR 1.71, 95% CI 1.37–2.15, p < 0.001) in urothelial carcinoma of bladder. Conclusion: Our findings indicated that a high level of pretreatment serum LDH was associated with inferior OS, CSS, and DFS in patients with UC. This biomarker can be an important factor incorporated into the prognostic models for UC.
Using the Team Environment AssessMent (TEAM) to Enhance Team Building in Sport

Team building (TB) is recognized as one of the most prevalent and promising group-development interventions applied in sport. However, most coaches lack the necessary information to effectively and efficiently target and enhance specific group characteristics and processes. The aim of this study was to develop and apply the Team Environment AssessMent (TEAM) to better inform a TB intervention. Twenty-three male adolescent athletes (mean age 17.9 years) from an elite hockey team completed the TEAM and measures of cohesion before and after a TB intervention. Based on initial TEAM scores, role acceptance and leadership were identified and purposefully targeted in the TB intervention. Athletes’ perceptions of role acceptance, leadership, and task cohesion were stronger after the TB intervention. Furthermore, follow-up interviews with team members and coaches provided additional empirical support for the utility of the TEAM to assess and enhance the efficiency of a TB intervention in sport.