Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
σ T from the SSCR L(fn) with Application to Clock Sources for High-Speed ADCs

This document introduces a general formula to translate the phase noise of a clock source, rated via the Single Sideband to Carrier Ratio (SSCR), to the cycle-to-cycle jitter of the oscillation period. The link allows to seamlessly aggregate the external clock source phase noise, usually given in dBc/Hz, to the phase stability figure of the on-chip clock synchronization circuitry, usually rated in ps-RMS. This permits in turn to evaluate their impact on the total aperture jitter of a sampling circuit, finally enabling the determination of the SNR for systems like, as shown in this document, an analogto-digital converter. The validity of the relationship between the time- and frequency-domain figures of merit has been first tested on the phase noise spectrum featured by bipolar and CMOS integrated VCOs; thereafter, the most popular case of PLL-based frequency synthesizers has been treated both by adopting time-to-amplitude conversion techniques, or dedicated phase-noise testing equipment. The optimal performance enabled by a state-of-the-art aperture jitter, optimized by making use of the formulas here proposed and rigorously quantified in 250fs, is demonstrated on Texas Instruments ADS5420, a high-speed 14b 65MSps ADC for 3G wireless infrastructure BTS applications.
Design and feasibility of “PREMATurity as predictor of children's Cardiovascular–renal Health” (PREMATCH): A pilot study

Abstract The microvasculature and macrovasculature undergo extensive, organ-specific perinatal maturation. Multiple studies show associations between low birth weight and subsequent cardiovascular dysfunction in adulthood, suggesting that extreme preterm birth interferes with this maturation process. Therefore, we designed PREMATCH (PREMATurity as predictor of Cardiovascular–renal Health) to phenotype the microcirculation and macrocirculation during childhood in former preterm infants. A well-characterized cohort of former extreme preterm birth survivors and gender- and age-matched controls (aged 8–13 years) will be investigated for microvascular and macrovascular structure and function. In addition to cognitive performance and anthropometrics, we will investigate (i) the microvascular structure and function by endothelial function (photoplethysmography), sublingual capillary glycocalyx function (sidestream dark field imaging) and retinal structure (diameters of arterioles and venules); and (ii) the macrovascular phenotype by cardiac and renal ultrasound, repeated blood pressure measurements and arterial pulse-wave recordings. The PREMATCH study is unique in its design, and ongoing recruitment demonstrates excellent feasibility. The expectation is that the results of this study will identify risk factors during childhood for subsequent cardiovascular–renal disease in the adult life of former preterm infants, while further analysis on mediators in neonatal life of this cardiovascular–renal outcome may provide new information on perinatal risk factors. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02147457.
Activation of cyclin E/CDK2 is coupled to site‐specific autophosphorylation and ubiquitin‐dependent degradation of cyclin E.

A yeast screen was developed to identify mutations in human cyclin E that lead to stabilization of the protein in order to identify determinants important for cyclin E turnover. Both C‐terminal truncations and missense mutations near the C‐terminus of cyclin E conferred hyperstability in vivo, suggesting that sequences in this region were critical for turnover. The following observations indicate that autophosphorylation of CDK2/cyclin E on Thr380 of the cyclin regulates cyclin E destruction: (i) mutation of Thr380 to Ala stabilizes cyclin E in yeast and mammalian cells; (ii) cyclin E/CDK2 autophosphorylates on cyclin E in vitro and cyclin E is a phosphoprotein in vivo in mammalian cells; (iii) the T380A mutation eliminates phosphorylation on the same site in mammalian cells and in vitro; (iv) inhibiting CDK2 activity in vivo stabilizes cyclin E; (v) the T380A mutation prevents ubiquitination of cyclin E. These results suggest a model where activation of cyclinE/CDK2 is coupled to cyclin E turnover via site‐specific phosphorylation, which acts as a signal for ubiquitination and proteasome processing.
The effect of annealing on properties of AISI 316L base and weld metals

Results of mechanical testing and of microstructural analysis of AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel carried out before and after welding and post-weld heat treatment are presented. Steel plates of 15 mm thickness were welded by manual electric arc welding process. Heat treatment consisted of annealing at 600, 700, 800, and 900 °C for two hours, and was followed by cooling in the air. For microstructure examination an optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope were used. The weld metal microstructure demonstrated the presence of austenite, ferrite, and microslag inclusions before annealing, and of sigma phase after annealing. The tensile strength increased and impact energy values decreased with the increasing annealing temperature. Complex Mn-Cr-Si-Ti inclusions in the dimples were observed in the tensile and Charpy tested specimens.
HOW CLOSE ARE THE OPTION PRICING FORMULAS OF BACHELIER AND BLACK–MERTON–SCHOLES?

We compare the option pricing formulas of Louis Bachelier and Black–Merton–Scholes and observe—theoretically as well as for Bachelier's original data—that the prices coincide very well. We illustrate Louis Bachelier's efforts to obtain applicable formulas for option pricing in pre‐computer time. Furthermore we explain—by simple methods from chaos expansion—why Bachelier's model yields good short‐time approximations of prices and volatilities.
Towards Handwritten Mathematical Expression Recognition

In this paper, we propose a new framework for online handwritten mathematical expression recognition. The proposed architecture aims at handling mathematical expression recognition as a simultaneous optimization of symbol segmentation, symbol recognition, and 2D structure recognition under the restriction of a mathematical expression grammar. To achieve this goal, we consider a hypothesis generation mechanism supporting a 2D grouping of elementary strokes, a cost function defining the global likelihood of a solution, and a dynamic programming scheme giving at the end the best global solution according to a 2D grammar and a classifier. As a classifier, a neural network architecture is used; it is trained within the overall architecture allowing rejecting incorrect segmented patterns. The proposed system is trained with a set of synthetic online handwritten mathematical expressions. When tested on a set of real complex expressions, the system achieves promising results at both symbol and expression interpretation levels.
Coping Strategies and Associations With Depression Among 12- to 15-Year-Old Norwegian Adolescents Involved in Bullying

Abstract The aim of this study was to examine coping styles among young adolescents involved in bullying, both as victims or aggressors, and the relationships between coping styles and depressive symptom levels. The possible moderating and mediating roles of coping in the relationships between bullying involvement and depression are also investigated. A representative community sample of 2464 adolescents was assessed. Coping styles were measured by the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire. Analysis of variance and standard linear regression methods were applied. Adolescents being bullied or being aggressive toward others both showed more emotional coping than did noninvolved adolescents (p < 0.001). Being bullied and high emotional, low task, and high avoidant coping styles were independently related to more depressive symptoms. The association between being bullied and depressive symptoms was both moderated and partially mediated by emotional coping.
Improvement in Left Ventricular Remodeling by the Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Enhancer AVE9488 After Experimental Myocardial Infarction

Background— Reduced endothelial nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability contributes to the progression of heart failure. In this study, we investigated whether the transcription enhancer of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) AVE9488 improves cardiac remodeling and heart failure after experimental myocardial infarction (MI). Methods and Results— Starting 7 days after coronary artery ligation, rats with MI were treated with placebo or AVE9488 (25 ppm) as a dietary supplement for 9 weeks. AVE9488 therapy versus placebo substantially improved left ventricular (LV) function, reduced LV filling pressure, and prevented the rightward shift of the pressure-volume curve. AVE9488 also attenuated the extent of pulmonary edema, reduced LV fibrosis and myocyte cross-sectional area, and prevented the increases in LV gene expression of atrial natriuretic factor, brain natriuretic peptide, and endothelin-1. eNOS protein levels and calcium-dependent NOS activity were decreased in the surviving LV myocardium from placebo MI rats and normalized by AVE9488. The beneficial effects of AVE9488 on LV dysfunction and remodeling after MI were abrogated in eNOS-deficient mice. Aortic eNOS protein expression and endothelium-dependent NO-mediated vasorelaxation were significantly enhanced by AVE9488 treatment after infarction, whereas increased vascular superoxide anion formation was reduced. Moreover, AVE9488 prevented the marked depression of circulating endothelial progenitor cell levels in rats with heart failure after MI. Conclusions— Long-term treatment with the eNOS enhancer AVE9488 improved LV remodeling and contractile dysfunction after MI. Molecular alterations, circulating endothelial progenitor cell levels, and endothelial vasomotor dysfunction were improved by AVE9488. Pharmacological interventions designed to increase eNOS-derived NO constitute a promising therapeutic approach for the amelioration of postinfarction ventricular remodeling and heart failure.
Non-rheumatic 'subvalvar' mitral regurgitation. Surgical pathology and results of operation in 37 patients.

Tlhirty-seven patients with non-rheumatic subvalvar mitral regurgitation are reported, representing 16% of all patients with mitral regurgitation submitted to open operation over a five-and-a-half-year period. In 22 older patients with 'idiopathic' chordal lesions, the commonest finding was rupture of chordae to the posterior leaflet. The aortic leaflet chordae were most frequently involved following myocardial infarction (7 patients) or bacterial endocarditis (3 patients). Three other younger patients had ruptured chordae and two patients had rupture of the posteromedial papillary muscle following acute myocardial infarction. The mitral valve was repaired in 16 patients with ruptured chordae, of whom only eight obtained a satisfactory late result. In the other 21 patients the valve was replaced with a mounted aortic homograft or a Starr-Edwards prosthesis. It is concluded that mitral valve repair should be reserved for patients with symmetrical rupture of the chordae controlling the centre of the posterior leaflet, as regurgitation may reappear after other forms of repair due to progressive rupture of other abnormal chordae or breakdown of the repair. The early and late mortality in the patients with a definite antecedent myocardial infarction was much higher than in the other groups, and emergency valve replacement soon after rupture of the papillary muscle was unsuccessful in both patients.
On the ( In ) Feasibility of Fine Grained Transmit Power Control

Spectral efficiency has been a major focus of research in wireless networks. Recent theoretical work has shown that ideal medium access protocol using optimal power control can improve channel utilization by up to a factor of √ ρ, where ρ is the density of nodes in the region [2]. Although power control mechanisms have been extensively studied in theory and simulations, their practical evaluation has not been done throughly. Most of the power control mechanisms proposed in literature [4, 6, 5] assume a very fine grained handle on transmit power of wireless nodes and exercise this control to provide sophisticated mechanisms of sharing wireless medium among competing flows. In this work, we investigate the (in)feasibility of fine-grained power control in wireless networks using real testbed experiments. We perform detailed experiments to highlight fundamental issues with power control mechanisms , that cannot be captured by using a network simulator. Our experiments indicate that fine grained power control may not be a viable solution for indoor wireless networks and most power control mechanisms may need to be adapted to be suitable for practical settings. Implementation of fine grained power control mechanisms has been limited by the hardware support in current 802.11 wireless cards which have only limited number of discrete power levels. As shown in [1] , most of the wireless cards support only 4 to 5 power levels at the hardware, which is in stark contrast to the fine grained power control assumed by most power control schemes. This being a limitation of current state of the art hardware, can be resolved in future wireless cards that may support fine grained power levels. However we argue that there are fundamental limitations to power control mechanism in wireless networks, which limits the number of feasible power levels that can be used in such mechanisms. Multipath and fading effects of the wireless medium are well studied [3]. Due to such multipath and fading effects, received signal strength (RSS) can vary significantly in an indoor environment , even in the absence of explicit interference from other flows. A difference of an order of wavelength in the paths taken by the wireless signals from the transmitter, can lead to the two signals being out of phase [3], resulting in variations in the signal strength at the receiver. In addition to multipath and fading effects, external interference from other flows in the network can also contribute …
Improvement of mode conversion for LTCC multilayer common mode filter by twisted differential lines structure

In high-speed differential signaling interfaces, the multi-layered common-mode filter is one of the methods used to reduce common-mode noise. But since the differential traces in multi-layer structure is not perfect symmetric. The mode conversion will occur. By using the proposed twisted differential lines architecture, the asymmetrical circuit introduced between positive and negative traces is improved, so the mode conversion can be reduced. By inserting more twisted structures in each circuit design, the suppression effectiveness of mode conversion with twisted structure is also discussed.
Development and testing of nano-porous micro-carriers for corrosion inhibitor release from protective organic coatings

The use of carriers doped with environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors has been proposed in the last years as an alternative to existing highly efficient but toxic corrosion inhibitors based on chromium VI. Despite the promising results using synthetically produced nano-carriers, limitations related to their production and protection of big damages makes the search for carrier alternatives a necessary step for a successful introduction of the concept in industrial applications. This work explores for the first time the feasibility of using a biobased nano-porous silica micro-carrier obtained from the exoskeletons (frustules) of the algae group known as diatoms. For the doping, frustules obtained from diatomaceous earth (fossil frustules) of one location where the main diatom species is Aulacoseira and Ce(NO3)3 as corrosion inhibitor were used. In order to evaluate the doping degree and release kinetics of the diatom frustules a new in-situ detection system was developed and validated. Out of this detailed study, one diatom-doped system was selected for further proof of the active corrosion protection in a coating system. For the purpose an epoxy coating and an aerospace aluminium alloy AA2024-T3 were used. The protection degree was then evaluated by an in-situ opto-electrochemical technique, combining crucial optical information about delamination and underfilm corrosion processes with electrochemical signals. In order to advice on the best possible carrier geometry for active corrosion protection and establish the first steps to the theoretical limits of the concept, a modeling approach was followed. The work presented here demonstrates that the use of diatom frustules as carriers for active corrosion inhibition in coatings is feasible and very promising. The results show that, without further optimization of the formulation or the doping and release mechanism, protection of AA2024 coated plates of up to 27 days immersion in 0.05 M NaCl are possible. Moreover, two in-situ evaluation set-ups have been proposed and validated allowing future research in a much more efficient and reliable manner. Furthermore, the model applied in this work shows that the corrosion protection can be tuned by the carrier size and further optimized by using shapes with a high aspect ratio, combined with the implementation of controlled release systems and more efficient inhibiting agents. This work sets up the basis for future research in the use of the big diatom family with more than 10.000 different architectures as carriers for controlled release in coatings.
Staging by positron emission tomography predicts survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning is used increasingly to detect and stage lung cancer, but the test performance characteristics and relationship of PET to patient outcomes remain undefined. OBJECTIVE To determine the test performance characteristics and relationship of PET scanning stage to patient outcomes relative to the 1997 International System for the Staging of Lung Cancer. DESIGN Survival analysis using pathologic staging as the criterion standard for comparison of survival as predicted by staging by PET and CT. SETTING University-based hospital. PATIENTS All consecutive patients undergoing PET scanning for the evaluation of possible non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) during a 5-year period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Long-term survival of patients with NSCLC after staging by PET. RESULTS One hundred fifty-two thoracic PET scans were obtained for the staging of possible NSCLC during a 5-year period. One hundred twenty-three patients (81%) demonstrated increased (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake. The overall sensitivity and specificity of PET for detecting malignancy were 95% and 67%, respectively, compared with 100% and 27% for chest CT. PET and CT had similar accuracy for staging the overall extent of disease (91% and 89%, respectively). PET stage correlated highly with survival using either nodal location or overall stage (p = 0.003, p = 0.002), as did pathologic staging (p = 0.0001, p = 0.0001). CT scan results did not accurately predict survival (p = 0.608, p = 0.338). CONCLUSION PET scanning is a highly sensitive technologic advance in detecting and staging of thoracic malignancy and may more accurately predict the likelihood of long-term survival in patients with NSCLC than chest CT does.
Memory Bypassing: Not Worth the Effort

Memory dependence prediction establishes a read after write dependence between a store and a load instruction. If the processor accurately predicts the data dependence between a store and a subsequent load, we can completely bypass memory and forward the data directly from the store’s producer to the load’s consumer. Our simulation studies show that even in the case of processors with oracle dependence predictors, memory bypassing only provides a 2.3% IPC improvement over dependence prediction alone. Given the small potential gains in the ideal case and the hardware complexity required to implement memory bypassing, we argue that computer microarchitects should focus on memory dependence prediction and ignore memory bypassing.
A combined experimental and modelling approach to elucidate FeCO3 scale formation kinetics

In CO2 corrosion, when the local concentrations of Fe2+ and CO32- ions exceed the solubility limit, precipitation of iron carbonate (FeCO3) can occur internally within pipework, forming a protective corrosion barrier at the steel-electrolyte interface. Accurately quantifying the rate of precipitation of this film is important within the oil and gas industry as it can be implemented into corrosion prediction tools to provide a more reliable estimate of anticipated corrosion rates. Existing precipitation rate models are based on measurements conducted in a glass cell in static conditions where the kinetics of FeCO3 precipitation are accelerated by the addition of FeCl2.4H2O and correlated with bulk solution properties. They do not address the key aspects of FeCO3 formation in real corroding systems which relate to the local surface supersaturation produced as a result of the production of Fe2+ ions due to the corrosion process. In the following thesis, a combined experimental and modelling approach is carried out to investigate the development in the morphology of the FeCO3 film under different environmental conditions and its consequent effect on the degradation rates of a pipeline. A thin channel flow cell is designed to extend the analysis to a fluid flow environment and a mechanistic model is developed to predict the nature of the near surface layer. It is found from the experimental analysis that FeCO3 precipitation is a simultaneous nucleation and growth process and the characteristics of the surface film significantly changes under varying parameters. Results show that the existing precipitation models based on measuring the dissolved ferrous ions in the bulk solution overestimate the precipitation of iron carbonate by a large margin and the precipitation model developed through the direct weight change approach is limited to the experimental conditions in which it was carried out. The models are correlated with bulk solution properties and it has been clearly demonstrated within this work that the precipitation of FeCO3 is directly related to the conditions at the steel surface which can be very different from that in the bulk. A combined model and experimental analysis shows that a higher initial surface saturation ratio indicates a more protective film formation over time.