Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Fluorine on the NBTI Reliability and Low-Frequency Noise Characteristics of p-MOSFETs

The concurrent effect of fluorine implantation with various energy and dose on reliability and low-frequency noise characteristics of p-MOSFETs was investigated. The <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta $ </tex-math></inline-formula>VT degradation that represents device lifetime of p-MOSFETs with fluorine implantation under negative-bias temperature instability stress was less than that without fluorine implantation. The device lifetimes were improved as the fluorine implantation energy and dose increase. The power law exponent <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n $ </tex-math></inline-formula>with the fluorine implantation was larger than that without fluorine implantation. This was related to boron diffusion within the gate oxide because the F atoms enhance the diffusivity of the boron. The difference of flicker noise levels between simulation and measurement data at 1 kHz was much greater than that at 10 Hz, which means that F atoms were mainly located near the Si/SiO<sub>2</sub> interface rather than in the bulk oxide. The fluorine implantation reduced the ID-RTS noise amplitude, which was believed to contribute to the effective passivation of the dominant traps within the gate oxide. Also, the flicker noise was less dependent on implantation energy. But, flicker noise was reduced with increasing implantation dose. Therefore, fluorine implantation is potentially significant for reducing low-frequency noise as well as improving reliability characteristics.
Mechanism of Threshold Voltage Shift in  ${p}$ -GaN Gate AlGaN/GaN Transistors

In this letter, we investigate the threshold voltage (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) shift in a p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN transistor by designed gate-bias pulse measurements. It was found that the forward gate bias causes positive <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> shift. The dynamics of electron trapping was revealed from the dependences of the consequent <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> shift on the bias duration at different voltages. A time constant smaller than 0.1 ms for the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> shift saturation at 6-V gate bias was obtained. It was also found that the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> became inversely proportional to the gate-bias voltages exceeding 7 V. This inverse proportionality of the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {TH}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> shift resulted from the threshold of the hole-injection/electroluminescence (EL) and the sequential optical pumping effect on the electron traps. The EL emission was confirmed by a self- and <italic>in-situ</italic> photon detection measurement.
Full-Duplex Decode-and-Forward Cooperative Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) scheme is considered as a promising technology for 5G networks due to its ability to increase the spectral efficiency. In this paper, by combining the principle of NOMA and full-duplex (FD) transmission, a downlink FD cooperative NOMA (C- NOMA) scheme is proposed to enhance the system performance. We consider a practical approach where the weak user's signal is only forwarded in the second timeslot after it is decoded, while at the same time the base station (BS) retransmits the weak user's signal again and new information to the strong user. The analytical expressions for the sum rate using maximal ratio combining (MRC) and maximum ratio transmission (MRT) are formulated to investigate the performance of the proposed schemes. Also, in contrary to most existing C-NOMA methods, we assume that the signal from the BS and from the strong user cannot be separated for diversity combining. Hence, accurate analytical sum rates for half-duplex (HD) C-NOMA with MRC and MRT are derived. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that the proposed FD C-NOMA system using MRT offers better sum rate performance than FD C-NOMA using MRC and the HD C- NOMA schemes. Furthermore, the proposed scheme attains a close sum rate performance compared to NOMA and a superior fairness for the weak user.
Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Xinmailong Injection for the Treatment of Chronic Heart Failure: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is one of the most stubborn cardiovascular disease. Xinmailong (XML), a bioactive fraction extracted from Periplaneta americana L. , has been commonly used for CHF treatment in China. However, there is few comprehensive evaluation for the clinical efficacy and safety of XML for CHF. Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the beneficial and adverse effects of Xinmailong Injection (XMLI) on CHF treatment with the use of meta-analysis. Methods: In accordance with the Cochrane Handbook and transparent reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analysis protocol (CRD42018087091), seven English and Chinese electronic databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang database, VIP medicine information system and China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), were searched to retrieve potential randomized controlled trials (RCTs) before November 2017. The eligible trials were evaluated for methodological quality. The main outcome measures were analyzed with RevMan 5.3 software. Results: 26 RCTs involving 3447 participants were subjected to meta-analysis. The total effective rate was improved by XMLI plus conventional therapy (OR 3.10, 95% CI 2.47–3.90, P < 0.00001). When compared to the conventional treatment alone, the combination of XMLI and conventional treatment increased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF, MD 4.93, 95% CI 3.96–5.89, P < 0.00001) and 6-min walking distance (6-MWD, MD 46.76, 95% CI 32.51 to 61.01, P < 0.00001), and decreased left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD, MD −4.73, 95% CI−5.64 to−3.83, P < 0.00001), serum brain natriuretic peptide (BNP, MD −149.59, 95% CI −211.31 to −87.88, P < 0.00001) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP, MD −322.35, 95% CI −517.87 to −126.83, P = 0.001). However, the frequency and severity of adverse effects was similar between these two different medications. Poor methodological quality and the limitations also existed in this study. Conclusions: The combinational use of XMLI on conventional treatment may exert better therapeutic effects on improving cardiac function in CHF patients, indicating that XMLI was suggested to be considered during the conventional treatment of CHF. High-quality and large scale RCTs are still required to confirm the impacts of XMLI.
On sampling from a log-concave density using kinetic Langevin diffusions

Langevin diffusion processes and their discretizations are often used for sampling from a target density. The most convenient framework for assessing the quality of such a sampling scheme corresponds to smooth and strongly log-concave densities defined on $\mathbb R^p$. The present work focuses on this framework and studies the behavior of Monte Carlo algorithms based on discretizations of the kinetic Langevin diffusion. We first prove the geometric mixing property of the kinetic Langevin diffusion with a mixing rate that is, in the overdamped regime, optimal in terms of its dependence on the condition number. We then use this result for obtaining improved guarantees of sampling using the kinetic Langevin Monte Carlo method, when the quality of sampling is measured by the Wasserstein distance. We also consider the situation where the Hessian of the log-density of the target distribution is Lipschitz-continuous. In this case, we introduce a new discretization of the kinetic Langevin diffusion and prove that this leads to a substantial improvement of the upper bound on the sampling error measured in Wasserstein distance.
Interleaved CRC for Polar Codes

A method of distributing CRC bits from a single CRC polynomial over a block of information bits for Polar codes via an interleaver to facilitate early termination and enhanced error correction is proposed and investigated. The interleaver is designed such that each CRC bit is placed in a decoding position as early as possible while keeping all the information bits that the CRC bit depends on in front of it in the successive decoding order. This allows the CRC bits to be used as dynamic frozen bits to assist surviving path selection during SC/SCL decoding to improve error performance. Furthermore, it allows the distributed CRC bits to be used for early error detection in the list decoding process and thus reduces the average decoding latency. Simulation results show that interleaved CRC can provide moderate benefits in improving error correction and reducing decoding latency through early error detection.
Resistive Sensors for Organic Vapors Based on Nanostructured and Chemically Modified Polyanilines

Resistive sensors for organic vapors were made using polyaniline (PANI) and functionalized PANI as thin films or deposits of PANI nanofibers. PANI thin films were synthesized by in situ chemical polymerization onto flat polyethylene films. PANI nanofibers were produced by interfacial polymerization. Both polymeric materials were chemically modified through aromatic electrophilic substitution or nucleophili addition and used as active materials in resistive sensors. The analysis of the resistance-time sensor profiles suggested that chemical modification affects strongly the sensor response. Moreover, the magnitude, the sign, and the rate of the sensor response showed differences for active materials with the same chemical structure and different morphologies. It is demonstrated that using only one conducting polymer but creating material diversity by chemical functionalization or morphological changes different sensors responses for the same volatiles can be obtained. This behavior allows a simple way to produce sensors arrays which can be used in electronic noses.
Image Translation by Domain-Adversarial Training

Image translation, where the input image is mapped to its synthetic counterpart, is attractive in terms of wide applications in fields of computer graphics and computer vision. Despite significant progress on this problem, largely due to a surge of interest in conditional generative adversarial networks (cGANs), most of the cGAN-based approaches require supervised data, which are rarely available and expensive to provide. Instead we elaborate a common framework that is also applicable to the unsupervised cases, learning the image prior by conditioning the discriminator on unaligned targets to reduce the mapping space and improve the generation quality. Besides, domain-adversarial training inspired by domain adaptation is proposed to capture discriminative and expressive features, for the purpose of improving fidelity. Effectiveness of our method is demonstrated by compelling experimental results of our method and comparisons with several baselines. As for the generality, it could be analyzed from two perspectives: adaptation to both supervised and unsupervised setting and the diversity of tasks.
Persistent expression of Cotesia plutellae bracovirus genes in parasitized host, Plutella xylostella

Cotesia plutellae (= vestalis) bracovirus (CpBV) is symbiotic to an endoparasitoid wasp, C. plutellae, and plays crucial roles in parasitism against the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. CpBV virion genome consists of 35 circular DNAs encoding 157 putative open reading frames (ORFs). This study re-annotated 157 ORFs with update genome database and analyzed their gene expressions at early and late parasitic stages. Re-annotation has established 15 different viral gene families, to which 83 ORFs are assigned with remaining 74 hypothetical genes. Among 157 ORFs, 147 genes were expressed at early or late parasitic stages, among which 141 genes were expressed in both parasitic stages, indicating persistent nature of gene expression. Relative frequencies of different viral circles present in the ovarian lumen did not explain the expression variation of the viral ORFs. Furthermore, expression level of each viral gene was varied during parasitism along with host development. Highly up-regulated CpBV genes at early parasitic stage included BEN (BANP, E5R and NAC1), ELP (EP1-like protein), IkB (inhibitor kB), P494 (protein 494 kDa) family genes, while those at late stage were mostly hypothetical genes. Along with the viral gene expression, 362 host genes exhibited more than two fold changes in expression levels at early parasitic stage compared to nonparasitized host. At late stage, more number (1,858) of host genes was regulated. These results suggest that persistent expression of most CpBV genes may be necessary to regulate host physiological processes during C. plutellae parasitism.
Quantitative Evaluation of in Vivo Target Efficacy of Anti-tumor Agents via an Immunofluorescence and EdU Labeling Strategy

Current methods used to evaluate in vivo target efficacy of selected compound include western blot to semi-quantitatively analyze protein expression. However, problems arise as it is difficult to compare in vivo target efficacy of anti-tumor agents with the same mode of action. It is therefore desirable to develop a protocol that can quantitatively display in vivo target efficacy while also providing other useful information. In this study EdU labeling was used to mark out the proliferating area. The tumor tissue was accordingly divided into proliferating and non-proliferating areas. Fifteen tumor related proteins were stained by immunofluorescence and were found to express in either the proliferating or non-proliferating areas. This allows the quantitative analysis of protein expressions within the precise area. With simple image analysis, our method gave precise percent changes of protein expression and cell proliferation between the drugs treated group and the control group. Additional information, such as, the status of protein expression can also be obtained. This method exhibits high sensitivity, and provides a quantitative approach for in vivo evaluation of target efficacy.
A Scoping Review of the Quality and the Design of Evaluations of Mobile Health, Telehealth, Smart Pump and Monitoring Technologies Performed in a Pharmacy-Related Setting

Background: There is currently a need for high quality evaluations of new mobile health, telehealth, smart pump and monitoring technologies undertaken in a pharmacy-related setting. We aim to evaluate the use of these monitoring technologies performed in this setting. Methods: A systematic searching of English articles that examined the quality and the design of technologies conducted in pharmacy-related facilities was performed using the following databases: MEDLINE and Cumulative index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) to identify original studies examining the quality and the design of technologies and published in peer-reviewed journals. Extraction of articles and quality assessment of included articles were performed independently by two authors. Quality scores over 75% are classed as being acceptable using a “relatively conservative” quality benchmark. Scores over 55% are included using a “relatively liberal” cut-off point. Results: Screening resulted in the selection of 40 formal evaluations. A substantial number of studies (32, 80.00%) were performed in the United States, quantitative in approach (33, 82.50%) and retrospective cohort (24, 60.00%) in study design. The most common pharmacy-related settings were: 22 primary care (55.00%); 10 hospital pharmacy (25.00%); 7 community pharmacy (17.50%); one primary care and hospital pharmacy (2.50%). The majority of the evaluations (33, 82.50%) reported clinical outcomes, six (15.00%) measured clinical and economic outcomes, and one (2.50%) economic only. Twelve (30.00%) quantitative studies and no qualitative study met objective criteria for “relatively conservative” quality. Using a lower “relatively liberal” benchmark, 27 quantitative (81.82%) and four qualitative (57.41%) studies met the lower quality criterion. Conclusion: Worldwide, few evaluations of mobile health, telehealth, smart pump and monitoring technologies in pharmacy-related setting have been published.Their quality is often below the standard necessary for inclusion in a systematic review mainly due to inadequate study design.
Bioinformatics: Past and Present

The paper is devoted to the history of emergence of a new discipline, bioinformatics. There is a whole range of approaches to define the subject of bioinformatics and describe its history. We directly link this discipline with the development of computer technologies and analysis of huge masses of biological information that began in the 1980s. The 1990s saw the rapid worldwide spread of bioinformatics when genome sequencing and mapping data for different species began to come fast like an avalanche. Scientists began to build up computerized databases to store this information. In the 2000s, these information bases were significantly improved and contained information not only on these giant molecules' sequences but also on their functionality. During the same period, DNA biochips (microarrays) began to be used to simultaneously measure expression of a large number of genes and to genotype multiple regions of a genome, and the Human Genome Project was completed. Presently, bioinformatics is a fast-growing separate discipline in its own right, with its own well-developed institutional basis.
Quantitative MRI Brain Studies in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: A Methodological Review

Classifying and predicting Alzheimer's disease (AD) in individuals with memory disorders through clinical and psychometric assessment is challenging, especially in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects. Quantitative structural magnetic resonance imaging acquisition methods in combination with computer-aided diagnosis are currently being used for the assessment of AD. These acquisitions methods include voxel-based morphometry, volumetric measurements in specific regions of interest (ROIs), cortical thickness measurements, shape analysis, and texture analysis. This review evaluates the aforementioned methods in the classification of cases into one of the following three groups: normal controls, MCI, and AD subjects. Furthermore, the performance of the methods is assessed on the prediction of conversion from MCI to AD. In parallel, it is also assessed which ROIs are preferred in both classification and prognosis through the different states of the disease. Structural changes in the early stages of the disease are more pronounced in the medial temporal lobe, especially in the entorhinal cortex, whereas with disease progression, both entorhinal cortex and hippocampus offer similar discriminative power. However, for the conversion from MCI subjects to AD, entorhinal cortex provides better predictive accuracies rather than other structures, such as the hippocampus.
Use of a Modified All-Epiphyseal Technique for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in the Skeletally Immature Patient

Background: Multiple surgical approaches have been described for the management of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears in skeletally immature patients. Purpose: To provide a detailed description of a modified all-epiphyseal ACL reconstruction and report early outcomes and complications with this new technique. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: A retrospective review of all skeletally immature patients undergoing ACL reconstruction via a modified all-epiphyseal technique prior to July 2015 was performed. Skeletally immature male patients with a bone age of 8 to 15 years and female patients with a bone age of 8 to 12 years were selectively indicated for this procedure. The surgical technique involved an all-epiphyseal femoral tunnel drilled parallel and distal to the physis as well as an all-epiphyseal tibial tunnel. Both tunnels were placed in the anatomic footprint of the ACL. Tibial fixation was achieved first with a suspensory cortical fixation device followed by fixation on the femur with an interference screw. Results: During the study period, 30 patients with a mean bone age of 11.8 years underwent ACL reconstruction with this physeal-sparing technique; 26 patients (87%) achieved a minimum follow-up of 2 years. At final follow-up, the mean Lysholm score, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score, patient satisfaction, return-to-sport rate, and Tegner activity score were 93, 89, 9.2, 94%, and 7.6, respectively. Four graft failures (15%) and 3 (12%) contralateral ACL tears were identified. One patient was noted to have a 12-mm leg-length discrepancy at final follow-up, which required no additional treatment. No other leg-length discrepancies or angular deformities were identified. Conclusion: The modified all-epiphyseal ACL reconstruction technique achieved good functional outcomes, a high rate of return to sport, low failure rates, and low physeal injury rates at a mean follow-up of 3.2 years. Skeletally immature patients with an ACL tear requiring reconstruction pose a unique challenge for sports medicine clinicians. While several previous approaches have been described for this patient population, the proposed benefits of this new technique are that it is anatomic, it is physeal sparing, it uses osseous tunnels, and it provides good initial graft fixation strength.
Early Prediction of Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury by a New Panel of Biomarkers in a Population of Term Newborns

This research paper is aimed at evaluating the predictive role of a default panel of oxidative stress (OS) biomarkers for the early identification of infants at high risk of HIE and their validation through the correlation with MRI findings. A multicenter prospective observational study was performed between March 2012 and April 2015 in two European tertiary NICUs. Eighty-four term infants at risk for HIE (pH < 7, BE < −13 mmol/L, and 5′ Apgar < 5) were enrolled. Three were excluded for chromosomal abnormalities and one due to lack of blood samples. The final population was divided according to the severity of perinatal hypoxia into 2 groups: mild/moderate HIE and severe HIE. Advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), non-protein-bound iron (NPBI), and F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs) were measured in blood samples at P1 (4–6 hours), P2 (24–72 hours), and P3 (5 days), in both groups. MRIs were scored for the severity of brain injury, using a modified Barkovich score. The mean GA was 39.8 weeks (SD 1.4) and the mean birth weight 3538 grams (SD 660); 37 were females and 43 males. Significantly lower 5′ Apgar score, pH, and BE and higher Thompson score were found in group II compared to group I at birth. Group II showed significantly higher AOPP and NPBI levels than group I (mean (SD) AOPP: 15.7 (15.5) versus 34.1 (39.2), p = 0.033; NPBI 1.1 (2.5) versus 3.9 (4.4), p = 0.013) soon after birth (P1). No differences were observed in OS biomarker levels between the two groups at P2 and P3. A regression model, including adjustment for hypothermia treatment, gender, and time after birth, showed that AOPP levels and male gender were both risk factors for higher brain damage scores (AOPP: OR 3.6, 95% CI (1.1–12.2) and gender: OR 5.6, 95% CI (1.2–25.7), resp. ). Newborns with severe asphyxia showed higher OS than those with mild asphyxia at birth. AOPP are significantly associated with the severity of brain injury assessed by MRI, especially in males.