Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two-dimensional time-division multiplexing for 3D-SoCs

Through-silicon vias (TSVs) are used as high-speed interconnects between dies in a 3D System-on-Chip (SoC). However, their speed cannot be utilized during test application due to inherent limitations of the scan chains of the cores, which prevent the use of high shift frequencies. Moreover, due to their high area cost, only a limited number of TSVs can be used for test application. As a result, the time needed for transferring test data to the cores in multiple dies can be considerable. We propose an efficient test-access mechanism (TAM) architecture, which exploits the high speed of TSVs to minimize the time for testing 3D SoCs. By the means of time-division multiplexing and an effective test scheduling method, the proposed TAM architecture offers significant savings in test time, TSV count and TAM cost.
Assessment of Risk Factors Associated With Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries and Impact on Health Care Utilization and Cost Outcomes in US Hospitals

Hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) are a societal burden and considered potentially preventable. Data on risk factors and HAPI burden are important for effective prevention initiatives. This study of the 2009-2014 US Premier Healthcare Database identified HAPI risk factors and compared outcomes after matching HAPI to non-HAPI patients. The cumulative incidence of HAPI was 0.28% (47 365 HAPI among 16 967 687 total adult inpatients). Among the matched sample of 110 808 patients (27 702 HAPI), the strongest risk factors for HAPI were prior PI (odds ratio [OR] = 12.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 11.93-13.15), prior diabetic foot ulcer (OR = 3.43, 95% CI = 3.20-3.68), and malnutrition (OR = 3.11, 95% CI = 3.02-3.20). HAPI patients had longer adjusted length of stay (3.7 days, P < .0001), higher total hospitalization cost ($8014, P < .0001), and greater odds of readmissions through 180 days (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.55-1.65). This study demonstrates how big data may help quantify HAPI burden and improve internal hospital processes by identifying high-risk patients and informing best practices for prevention.
Wavelet Transform Method for Coupled Map Lattices

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition for local synchronization in coupled map lattices (CMLs) with symmetric coupling. In particular, we also identify the best choice of coupling strength in the sense that such a coupling strength gives the fastest convergence rate of initial values toward the synchronous manifold. Furthermore, such a coupling strength is independent of the choice of the individual chaotic map. In addition, it is demonstrated that the wavelet transform method, which is proposed by Wei et al., can greatly increase the applicable ranges of coupling strengths, the parameters of the individual chaotic map, and the number of nodes for local synchronization of CMLs.
Reconfigurable NC-OFDM Processor for 5G Communications

The proliferation of new wireless communication technologies and services led to a boost in the number of different available communication standards and spectrum usage. As the electromagnetic spectrum is a finite resource, concerns about its efficient management became an important aspect. Given this scenario, Cognitive Radio emerged as a solution for future wireless communication devices, by supporting multiple standards and improving spectrum utilization through opportunistic wireless access. The purpose of this research is to study and design a reconfigurable FPGA-based NC-OFDM baseband processor meeting the requirements of next generation Cognitive Radio devices in terms of multi-carrier, multi-standard communications and spectral agility in changing environments. The processor will be the core of a flexible NC-OFDM transceiver for future 5G communications with support for spectrum aggregation and runtime selection of modulation schemes and active sub-carriers. The goal is to achieve higher levels of system adaptability, upgradeability and efficiency, by employing dynamic partial reconfiguration of FPGAs.
From sounds to meaning: the role of attention during auditory scene analysis

Purpose of reviewFrom the cochlea to associative auditory cortex, incoming acoustic data undergo a series of transformations that allow us to build up representations of the various sound sources present in the environment. Here, we examine the role of selective attention in this process, with an emphasis on studies understanding how the human brain solves complex auditory scenes. We also examine the potential usefulness of the scene analysis framework in research and clinical application to hearing problems. Recent findingsEvidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggests that auditory scene analysis engages attention-independent as well as attention-dependent processes. Selective attention may enhance figure–ground segregation via a sensory gain control mechanism that enhances the processing of task-relevant acoustic data, and a suppression mechanism that attenuates neuronal responses to task-irrelevant stimuli. Moreover, selective attention keeps sound representations active in memory, thereby easing their integration and comparison with stored (schemata) representations of prior sound objects. SummaryUnderstanding an auditory scene requires complex interactions between data-driven and higher level schema-driven processes that reflect listeners' knowledge and experiences with the auditory environment. Such interactions are at the forefront of hearing and determine our perceptual experience.
Low-Power Ternary Content-Addressable Memory Design Using a Segmented Match Line

Power consumption in match lines is the most critical issue for low-power ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM) designs. In the proposed match-line architecture, the match line in each TCAM word is partitioned into four segments and is selectively pre-charged to reduce the match-line power consumption. The partially charged match lines are evaluated to determine the final comparison result by sharing the charges deposited in various parts of the partitioned segments. This arrangement reduces the match-line power consumption by reducing effective capacitor loading and voltage swing at match lines. The segmented architecture also enhances operational speed by evaluating multiple segments in parallel and by overlapping the pre-charging and evaluation stages. 512 times 72 TCAM is designed using 0.18-mum CMOS technology. The extracted RC values are used to show the power reduction benefits. The sample design demonstrated that the match-line power consumption using a segmented match line was conservatively 44% of that produced by traditional parallel TCAM. The power savings by segmenting match lines can be up to 41% over a low-voltage swing technique due to the independent discharge capability in segmented match-line architecture.
Response to Comment on “The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation without a role for ocean circulation”

Zhang et al. interpret the mixed-layer energy budget in models as showing that “ocean dynamics play a central role in the AMO. ” Here, we show that their diagnostics cannot reveal the causes of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and that their results can be explained with minimal ocean influence. Hence, we reaffirm our findings that the AMO in models can be understood primarily as the upper-ocean thermal response to stochastic atmospheric forcing.
Demosthenes-A technology-independent power DMOS layout generator

A methodology to automate DMOS layout generation starting from electrical specifications is presented. The main features of the Demosthenes technology independent layout generator that make it possible to synthesize lateral and vertical DMOS in different low and high voltage technologies are described. The built-in electrical model used by the generator to extract the device layout resistance is exposed and the accuracy of the model, ranging from 1% to 15%, is reported, according to comparisons with silicon measurements. In the future, the Demosthenes generator will be extended to support the next generation of BCD technology. In addition, electrical modeling capabilities will be improved by generating detailed electrical simulation models that make it possible to accurately simulate DMOS switching. <<ETX>>
GAFPGA: Genetic algorithm for FPGA technology mapping

A method for solving the technology mapping problem for field-programmable gate arrays that is based on the genetic algorithm is presented. The genetic algorithm simultaneously optimizes a set of solutions, which makes it a very powerful optimization technique. However, due to the highly constrained search spaces for design automation problems, the application of the genetic algorithm is not straightforward. It is shown that this limitation can be overcome by enhancing the genetic search appropriately. The performance of the enhanced genetic search is demonstrated through experimental results for the technology mapping problem. <<ETX>>
Virtual reality applications in manufacturing industries: Past research, present findings, and future directions

Today, manufacturing industries are trying to improve their competitiveness by combining manufacturing per se with information technology. Virtual reality is being used in product development processes in manufacturing enterprises as a helpful technology to achieve rapid consolidation of information and decision-making through visualization and experience. In this article, 154 articles relevant to virtual reality’s application to manufacturing were surveyed and analyzed. For this, (1) an analysis map was created, based on a virtual reality technology classification and the new product development process; (2) the articles investigated were located on the map; and (3) bibliometric analyses were carried out. Trends in past and present research were examined and future virtual reality research directions and application plans for manufacturing enterprises are discussed.
Observer-Controller Digital PLL

A digital phase-locked loop (DPLL) has been recently developed to exploit the increasing transistor speed of modern process technology. By employing a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) and a time-to-digital converter (TDC), the loop filter of a DPLL becomes all-digital. Instead of designing the loop filter by digitizing a continuous-time loop response as has been commonly done, more sophisticated control schemes can be employed. In this paper, we propose to design the feedback loop in the time-domain by first modeling the DCO and TDC as a noisy ¿plant¿ in state-space form. Based on a Kalman observer of the ¿plant,¿ the proposed approach then generates optimal control signals that accurately account for the additive noise as well as the transport delay in the digital feedback system. The proposed observer-controller loop filter achieves rapid transient response time and significantly reduces the steady-state phase noise jitter compared to the conventional DPLL. Furthermore, the proposed approach enables modeling of other noise sources such as due to oscillator pulling, which is a common problem in many modern transceivers. By employing the observer-controller loop filter, the effect of oscillator pulling can be effectively removed without degrading the overall phase noise performance.
Detection of the plant parasite Cuscuta reflexa by a tomato cell surface receptor

Resistance is not, after all, futile The parasitic plant known as dodder attaches to its hosts and sucks the life out of them. Oddly, the common tomato stands tall when under attack. Hegenauer et al. have leveraged that difference to identify part of the molecular defense system that protects tomato plants (see the Perspective by Ntoukakis and Gimenez-Ibanez). In a process analogous to defenses mounted against microbial infection, the host plant perceives a small-peptide signal from the parasitic plant and initiates defense responses. The candidate receptor isolated from the tomato plant provided partial protection when transferred to two other susceptible plant species. Science, this issue p. 478; see also p. 442 Tomato plants rebuff attack by a parasitic plant upon perceiving a peptide signal from the invader. Parasitic plants are a constraint on agriculture worldwide. Cuscuta reflexa is a stem holoparasite that infests most dicotyledonous plants. One exception is tomato, which is resistant to C. reflexa. We discovered that tomato responds to a small peptide factor occurring in Cuscuta spp. with immune responses typically activated after perception of microbe-associated molecular patterns. We identified the cell surface receptor-like protein CUSCUTA RECEPTOR 1 (CuRe1) as essential for the perception of this parasite-associated molecular pattern. CuRe1 is sufficient to confer responsiveness to the Cuscuta factor and increased resistance to parasitic C. reflexa when heterologously expressed in otherwise susceptible host plants. Our findings reveal that plants recognize parasitic plants in a manner similar to perception of microbial pathogens.
Minimax Design of Low-Complexity Allpass Variable Fractional-Delay Digital Filters

This paper proposes noniterative and iterative linear programming (LP) procedures for designing low-complexity allpass variable fractional-delay (VFD) digital filters in the minimax sense. Expressing each coefficient of an allpass VFD filter as a polynomial in the VFD parameter p, we show that the frequency response error of an allpass VFD filter can be written as a pure imaginary part divided by its denominator. Thus, the minimax design can be approximately formulated as an LP problem through neglecting the denominator, which leads to a noniterative minimax design. To improve the minimax design accuracy, we propose an iterative LP procedure that utilizes the denominator from the preceding iteration as a known. The iterative LP minimization is repeated until it converges to the minimax solution. Moreover, we also present a two-stage algorithm for optimizing the optimal variable range p ∈ [pMin, pMax] of the VFD parameter p and successively reducing the subfilter orders. Design examples are given to show that both noniterative and iterative LP methods can achieve much better minimax designs (smaller peak errors) than the existing iterative weighted-least-squares (WLS) approaches, which aim to minimize the peak errors of VFD response and variable phase response, respectively. Moreover, the resulting allpass VFD filters have lower complexities than those from the iterative WLS approaches.
Frigate birds track atmospheric conditions over months-long transoceanic flights

Understanding how animals respond to atmospheric conditions across space is critical for understanding the evolution of flight strategies and long-distance migrations. We studied the three-dimensional movements and energetics of great frigate birds (Fregata minor) and showed that they can stay aloft for months during transoceanic flights. To do this, birds track the edge of the doldrums to take advantage of favorable winds and strong convection. Locally, they use a roller-coaster flight, relying on thermals and wind to soar within a 50- to 600-meter altitude band under cumulus clouds and then glide over kilometers at low energy costs. To deal with the local scarcity of clouds and gain longer gliding distances, birds regularly soar inside cumulus clouds to use their strong updraft, and they can reach altitudes of 4000 meters, where freezing conditions occur.
The Health and Well-being of Jewish People Aged 65 to 85 Years Living at Home in the East End of London

ABSTRACT Relatively little is known about what has been termed cultural gerontology, or the experience of ageing among members of particular ethnic minority groups. One of the greatest gaps in current knowledge relates to the subjective health status and use of health services among elderly people in ethnic minorities, particularly those who are Jewish. The research results reported here are from a survey of elderly people in City and Hackney, London, of whom 16% were Jewish. They show that Jewish respondents were more likely than other elderly people to report problems with emotional well-being, with mental and physical health and with functional ability (tasks of daily living). Jewish respondents were also more likely to use services, particularly health services, than other respondents. The associations with service use generally remained after health status had been controlled for.
Northeastern North America as a potential refugium for boreal forests in a warming climate

A future for boreal forests Conservation under climate change presents the challenge of predicting where will be suitable for particular organisms and ecological communities in the future. D'Orangeville et al. assess the probable future range for boreal forests in eastern North America, which are expected to be subject to large temperature increases in their natural range. Using tree-ring data from many thousands of forest stands, they delineate the geographical extent of the region where tree growth responds favorably to higher temperatures and where the forest should persist at least until 2070. Science, this issue p. 1452 Tree-ring data from black spruce indicate increased growth in response to increased temperatures. High precipitation in boreal northeastern North America could help forests withstand the expected temperature-driven increase in evaporative demand, but definitive evidence is lacking. Using a network of tree-ring collections from 16,450 stands across 583,000 km2 of boreal forests in Québec, Canada, we observe a latitudinal shift in the correlation of black spruce growth with temperature and reduced precipitation, from negative south of 49°N to largely positive to the north of that latitude. Our results suggest that the positive effect of a warmer climate on growth rates and growing season length north of 49°N outweighs the potential negative effect of lower water availability. Unlike the central and western portions of the continent’s boreal forest, northeastern North America may act as a climatic refugium in a warmer climate.
Two-dimensional nanofluidics

Restacked exfoliated sheets create interconnected nanofluidic channels for ion transport The remarkable electronic properties of graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials result from the confinement of electrons within the material. Similarly, the interstitial space between 2D materials can enable the 2D confinement of ions and electrolytes and alter their transport. Many different 2D sheets can be obtained by exfoliation of natural layered materials (1), and an exfoliation-reconstruction strategy can convert powders of layered materials into continuous, robust bulk forms in which lamellar nanochannels occupy a substantial volume fraction (up to several tens of percent). Nanofluidics, which enables the manipulation of confined ions and electrolytes, has applications in electrochemical energy conversion and storage, biosensing, and water purification.
Sorter-Based Arithmetic Circuits for Sigma-Delta Domain Signal Processing—Part I: Addition, Approximate Transcendental Functions, and Log-Domain Operations

We construct arithmetic modules for signal processing with sigma-delta modulated signal form which has advantage in signal quality over other pulsed signal forms. In the first part of this paper, adders and exponential function modules are presented first and secondly. By utilizing the two modules, several transcendental functions including hyperbolic and logarithmic functions are constructed. The exponential functions and logarithmic functions provide log-domain arithmetic operations including multiplication, division, and power functions. Only two bit-manipulations, bit-permutation with sorting networks and bit-reversal with NOT gates, have built up all the arithmetic operations on any form of sigma-delta modulated signals. These modules, together with algebraic functions to be presented in the second part of this paper, organize an extensive module library for the sigma-delta domain signal processing.
Anatomic Study of Distribution, Numbers, and Size of Lymph Nodes in Mesorectum in Indians: A Autopsy Study

This study was conducted to find the number, size, and distribution of the lymph nodes in the mesorectum in fresh cadavers without rectal cancer in Indians and to compare fat clearance method versus manual dissection of lymph nodes in terms of efficacy of lymph node yield. Thirty fresh cadavers underwent total mesorectal excision (TME) by midline incision. TME specimen was divided transversely (upper, middle, and lower thirds), and then further divided radially into 4 equal areas and the right lateral, left lateral, and posterior areas were taken for lymph node harvesting. In the first 15 cases (group A), lymph nodes were dissected manually from each of 9 areas. Number and diameters of harvested nodes were noted, and specimens were histopathologically examined. In the next 15 cases (group B), fat clearing technique was used, and the procedure was repeated. Mean number of lymph nodes recovered per cadaver was 6.2 (SD = 1.3; range, 5 to 9, group A = 5.86 ± 1.24, group B = 6.60 ± 1.29, P = .126) and mean size of the lymph node was 2.1 mm (SD = 0.38; range, 2 to 8 mm). Size and numbers of nodes in all the areas were similar between the 2 groups except in lower third, where smaller nodes were identified in greater numbers in group B. Manual dissection is an effective technique for node harvesting after TME, except for very small nodes found in the lower third of mesorectum. Accurate pathological examination of TME specimen is mandatory to avoid understaging of disease.
Health Orientation as a Predictor of Exercising: A Psychographic Approach

This article offers a psychographic framework for approaching exercise participation. More specifically, it investigates the role of an overall preventative orientation toward health as an underlying dimension that promotes exercise behavior. Based on two sources of data, results provide preliminary support that individual propensity to engage in physical activity is related to his or her underlying sense of health orientation. Theoretically, these results support past attempts to increase our understanding of the factors underlying individual predispositions to support a healthy lifestyle. Specific recommendations are made for campaign initiatives that take a comprehensive and long-term approach to health behavior change in populations in addition to the traditional, more episodic approach found in much of the literature.
Primary Extragonadal Germinoma of the Medulla Oblongata

Extragonadal germ cell tumors rarely arise from the brain stem. In this report, the authors present a rare case of germinoma developing in the medulla oblongata. A 31-year-old woman complained of intractable hiccups, hoarseness, and swallowing disturbance. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a tumor located on the dorsal part of the medulla oblongata without any abnormalities in the pineal body and suprasellar regions. Histological diagnosis of surgically resected tumor was germinoma. Tumor cells were positive for alkaline phosphatase, c-kit, octamer-binding transcription factor 3/4, cytokeratin, and epithelial membrane antigen in immunohistochemistry. The patient received adjuvant chemotherapy and irradiation to the residual tumor and cerebral ventricles. The patient is alive without recurrence 6 months after the surgery.