Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Solid state lasers for 193-nm photolithography

Advances in technology now make possible solid-state 193 nm lasers. Solid-state can operate with pulse repetition rates of > 10 kHz, minimizing peak-power damage to stepper optics. Furthermore, solid-state lasers are potentially more reliable and could have lower operating costs than ArF excimer lasers. Achievement of spectral linewidths < 0.1 pm for use with refractive lens systems is straightforward in solid-state laser systems. Ultraviolet solid-state laser technology is much less mature than excimer laser technology; so while there is far to go, there is much more potential for rapid progress in solid-state lasers than in excimer lasers. Aculight has begun a program to develop a multiwatt, 10 kHz solid-state 193 nm laser. Although efficient conversion from 1064 nm to 193 nm is easier for high peak power pulses, minimization of lens damage requires low peak power. Eventual goals for the technology are to achieve output powers 10 - 20 W at > 20 kHz repetition rate in > 10 ns pulses, limiting peak powers to < 200 kW. High pulse repetition rates will permit excellent dose control, and facilitate decoherence of the high-coherence beam from the solid-state laser system.
The effect of a copper-deficient diet on the concentration of copper in the nervous system and other tissues of the rat

It has been clearly established that the experimental production of a copper deficiency in sheep, pigs and rats gives rise to severe anaemia, hypocupraemia, and a marked reduction in the concentration of Cu in the liver (Bennetts & Chapman, 1937; Underwood, 1956). Bennetts & Chapman (1937) have also shown that a severe Cu deficiency in pregnant ewes can produce a neonatal ataxia in their lambs. This original observation has been verified by many workers in different parts of the world, with animals under natural or experimental conditions. More recently, Howell & Davison (1959) have shown that the Cu content of the brain and the liver of lambs with swayback was significantly lower than that in normal animals. T o my knowledge there have been no reports of the appearance of demyelination or abnormality of the brain or spinal cord in the rat after Cu depletion. Frick & Lamp1 (1953) attempted to produce such lesions in young and adult rats by deficient diets, but without success. The results of Mandelbrote, Stanier, Thompson & Thruston (1948) have suggested the possibility of reducing the Cu content of the rat's brain by giving repeated daily injections of British Anti-Lewisite (BAL) for a period of 10 weeks. Unfortunately, disadvantages have been found in the use of BAL for the removal of Cu from the tissues of human subjects and animals. Its toxicity and the painful abscesses sometimes produced at the site of the injection during treatment have restricted its use for experimental studies on Cu depletion. Some workers, notably Walshe (1956), have used D-penicillamine hydrochloride, a compound which has been found very effective in removing Cu from the body without any of these adverse effects. He found a considerable increase in the urinary Cu excretion of human patients with hepatolenticular degeneration, a disease in which Cu accumulates in the liver and the brain. Because of the general interest in the role of Cu in the metabolism of the nervous system it seemed desirable to study two main problems. First, whether giving a Cudeficient diet to young growing rats reduces the concentration of Cu in the central nervous system as well as in other tissues. Secondly, whether the concentration of Cu in the nervous system can be further reduced by the administration of D-penicillamine, by mouth, to the animals during the period on the deficient diet.
Rutin-Enriched Extract from Coriandrum sativum L. Ameliorates Ionizing Radiation-Induced Hematopoietic Injury

Hematopoietic injury is a major cause of mortality in radiation accidents and a primary side effect in patients undergoing radiotherapy. Ionizing radiation (IR)-induced myelosuppression is largely attributed to the injury of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Coriander is a culinary herb with multiple pharmacological effects and has been widely used in traditional medicine. In this study, flavonoids were identified as the main component of coriander extract with rutin being the leading compound (rutin-enriched coriander extract; RE-CE). We evaluated the radioprotective effect of RE-CE against IR-induced HSPCs injury. Results showed that RE-CE treatment markedly improved survival, ameliorated organ injuries and myelosuppression, elevated HSPCs frequency, and promoted differentiation and proliferation of HSPCs in irradiated mice. The protective role of RE-CE in hematopoietic injury is probably attributed to its anti-apoptotic and anti-DNA damage effect in irradiated HSPCs. Moreover, these changes were associated with reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) and enhanced antioxidant enzymatic activities in irradiated HSPCs. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that RE-CE is able to ameliorate IR-induced hematopoietic injury partly by reducing IR-induced oxidative stress.
Game-Theoretical Design of an Adaptive Distributed Dissemination Protocol for VANETs

Road safety applications envisaged for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) depend largely on the dissemination of warning messages to deliver information to concerned vehicles. The intended applications, as well as some inherent VANET characteristics, make data dissemination an essential service and a challenging task in this kind of networks. This work lays out a decentralized stochastic solution for the data dissemination problem through two game-theoretical mechanisms. Given the non-stationarity induced by a highly dynamic topology, diverse network densities, and intermittent connectivity, a solution for the formulated game requires an adaptive procedure able to exploit the environment changes. Extensive simulations reveal that our proposal excels in terms of number of transmissions, lower end-to-end delay and reduced overhead while maintaining high delivery ratio, compared to other proposals.
What explains anorectal chlamydia infection in women? Implications of a mathematical model for test and treatment strategies

Objectives Female anorectal Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) infections are common irrespective of recent anal sex. We explored the role of anorectal infections in chlamydia transmission and estimated the impact of interventions aimed at improved detection and treatment of anorectal infections. Methods We developed a pair compartmental model of heterosexuals aged 15–29 years attending STI clinics, in which women can be susceptible to or infected with chlamydia urogenitally and/or anorectally and men urogenitally. Transmission probabilities per vaginal and anal sex act, together with an autoinoculation probability, were estimated by fitting to anatomic site-specific prevalence data (14% urogenital; 11% anorectal prevalence). We investigated the 10-year reduction in female chlamydia prevalence of interventions (universal anorectal testing of female STI clinic attendees or doxycycline use for urogenital chlamydia) relative to continued current care (anorectal testing on indication and doxycycline for anorectal and azithromycin for urogenital chlamydia). Results The transmission probability per anal sex act was 5.8% (IQR 3.0–8.3%), per vaginal sex act 2.0% (IQR 1.7–2.2%) and the daily autoinoculation probability was 0.7% (IQR 0.5–1.0%). More anorectal chlamydia infections were caused by autoinoculation than by recent anal sex. Universal anorectal testing reduced population prevalence modestly with 8.7% (IQR 7.6–9.7%), yet the reduction was double that of doxycycline use for urogenital infections (4.3% (IQR 3.5–5.3%)) relative to continued current care. Conclusions Autoinoculation between anatomic sites in women might play a role in sustaining high chlamydia prevalence. A shift to more anorectal testing of female STI clinic attendees may be considered for its (albeit modest) impact on reducing prevalence.
SNDR Limits of Oscillator-Based Sensor Readout Circuits

This paper analyzes the influence of phase noise and distortion on the performance of oscillator-based sensor data acquisition systems. Circuit noise inherent to the oscillator circuit manifests as phase noise and limits the SNR. Moreover, oscillator nonlinearity generates distortion for large input signals. Phase noise analysis of oscillators is well known in the literature, but the relationship between phase noise and the SNR of an oscillator-based sensor is not straightforward. This paper proposes a model to estimate the influence of phase noise in the performance of an oscillator-based system by reflecting the phase noise to the oscillator input. The proposed model is based on periodic steady-state analysis tools to predict the SNR of the oscillator. The accuracy of this model has been validated by both simulation and experiment in a 130 nm CMOS prototype. We also propose a method to estimate the SNDR and the dynamic range of an oscillator-based readout circuit that improves by more than one order of magnitude the simulation time compared to standard time domain simulations. This speed up enables the optimization and verification of this kind of systems with iterative algorithms.
HU protein is involved in intracellular growth and full virulence of Francisella tularensis

ABSTRACT The nucleoid-associated HU proteins are small abundant DNA-binding proteins in bacterial cell which play an important role in the initiation of DNA replication, cell division, SOS response, control of gene expression and recombination. HU proteins bind to double stranded DNA non-specifically, but they exhibit high affinity to abnormal DNA structures as four-way junctions, gaps or nicks, which are generated during DNA damage. In many pathogens HU proteins regulate expression of genes involved in metabolism and virulence. Here, we show that the Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica gene locus FTS_0886 codes for functional HU protein which is essential for full Francisella virulence and its resistance to oxidative stress. Further, our results demonstrate that the recombinant FtHU protein binds to double stranded DNA and protects it against free hydroxyl radicals generated via Fenton's reaction. Eventually, using an iTRAQ approach we identified proteins levels of which are affected by the deletion of hupB, among them for example Francisella pathogenicity island (FPI) proteins. The pleiotropic role of HU protein classifies it as a potential target for the development of therapeutics against tularemia.
Soft shadow art

Shadow art is a form of sculptural art in which the configuration of lights and sculptures cast 2D shadows for artistic effect. Previous computational methods for the creation of shadow art assumes a single point light that casts a bitonal shadow with sharp boundary. The goal of our study is to generate grayscale shadows using an area light (or an array of point lights) and multiple layers of occluder cells. The area light source casts soft shadows consisting of penumbra and umbra. The penumbra is the region in which only a portion of the light source is obscured by the occluders and the umbra is the region where the light sources are completely blocked by the occluders. The key challenge is to find the arrangement of the occluders such that each pixel in the shadow region gathers light from the partially occluded light source to yield a desired tone level. The problem can be formulated as combinatorial optimization with many binary variables. We present a stochastic algorithm that converges quickly to the target shadow image. Our algorithm generalizes easily to deal with arbitrary lighting and geometry setups. We demonstrate the potential of our system with a number of tonal images and the fabrication of artistic ornaments that cast grayscale shadows.
BEM analysis of inter-fibre failure under compression in composites: comparison between carbon and glass fibre systems

The heterogeneous character of fibrous composite materials implies mechanisms of damage that are frequently associated, at least at the micromechanical level, with the generation of interface cracks and, thus, with interfacial fracture mechanics. The particular case of matrix/interfibre failure, typically appearing in impact problems and in cross-ply laminates, and caused by a dominant traction acting transversely to the fibres, is directly associated to the appearance and growth of cracks at the fibre/matrix interfaces that eventually lead to macrofailure. The present work studies the evolution of this mechanism of damage under compression and compares the results obtained for two different bimaterial systems: glass fibre–epoxy matrix and carbon fibre–epoxy matrix. To this end, a boundary element model of a single fibre cell is performed, and its results are analysed using the concepts derived from interfacial fracture mechanics. The conclusions obtained establish the morphological differences existing in the generation of this mechanism for both material systems, supporting the idea of a weak dependence of the development of the interfibre failure under compression on fibre elastic properties.
Genetic variations in the dopaminergic system and alcohol use: a system‐level analysis

Alcohol use is highly heritable and has been associated with many gene variants, including those related to dopamine (DA). However, single gene association studies have shown inconsistent and small effects. Using a system‐level approach, the current study aimed to estimate the overall effect of genetic variations in the DA system on alcohol use among male drinkers. One hundred seventy‐six male college students who reported to have ever drunk alcohol were enrolled. Alcohol use was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Ninety‐eight representative polymorphisms in all major DA neurotransmitter genes were genotyped. Using analysis of variance, we identified six single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)s that made statistically significant contributions to alcohol use. Next, main effects and interactions of these SNPs were assessed using multiple regression. The final model accounted for approximately 20% of the variance for alcohol use. Finally, permutation analyses ascertained the probability of obtaining these findings by chance to be low, p ranging from 0.024 to 0.048. These results confirmed that DA‐related gene variants made strong contributions to reported alcohol use and suggest that multiple regression can be a promising way to explore the genetic basis for multi‐gene‐determined human behaviors.
Same-Day Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Bacteria in Positive Blood Culture Broths Using Short-Term Incubation on Solid Medium with the MicroFlex LT, Vitek-MS, and Vitek2 Systems

Background Early and appropriate antibiotic treatment improves the clinical outcome of patients with septicemia; therefore, reducing the turn-around time for identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) results is essential. We established a method for rapid ID and AST using short-term incubation of positive blood culture broth samples on solid media, and evaluated its performance relative to that of the conventional method using two rapid ID systems and a rapid AST method. Methods A total of 254 mono-microbial samples were included. Positive blood culture samples were incubated on blood agar plates for six hours and identified by the MicroFlex LT (Bruker Daltonics) and Vitek-MS (bioMeriéux) systems, followed by AST using the Vitek2 System (bioMeriéux). Results The correct species-level ID rates were 82.3% (209/254) and 78.3% (199/254) for the MicroFlex LT and Vitek-MS platforms, respectively. For the 1,174 microorganism/antimicrobial agent combinations tested, the rapid AST method showed total concordance of 97.8% (1,148/1,174) with the conventional method, with a very major error rate of 0.5%, major error rate of 0.7%, and minor error rate of 1.0%. Conclusions Routine implementation of this short-term incubation method could provide ID results on the day of blood culture-positivity detection and one day earlier than the conventional AST method. This simple method will be very useful for rapid ID and AST of bacteria from positive blood culture bottles in routine clinical practice.
Determination of the Gyrotropic Characteristics of Hexaferrite Ceramics From 75 to 600 GHz

The work reported in this paper is in support of applications of ferrites in measurement systems operating at frequencies in the range 100-600 GHz. Measurements of the magneto-optical characteristics of selected grain-oriented hexaferrite ceramics from 75 to 600 GHz are described; a quasi-optical transmissometer driven by a multiband vector-network-analyser is used to provide the required high dynamic range, spectral-resolution, and scan-speeds. The implications of the results of the measurements are examined.
Single Large Inguinal Lymph Node Metastasis in Human Papillomavirus-Induced Early Invasive Vulvar Cancer of the Anterior Fourchette in Two Young Women

The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced vulvar cancer in young women is increasing and often presents as microinvasive or early invasive tumors in a grade 3 vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia. So far, the risk of lymph node metastases in early invasive vulvar carcinoma (depth of invasion 1.1–2.0 mm) is reported to be less than 8%. We present 2 cases of young women with early invasive vulvar cancers (depth of invasion 1.5 and 2.0 mm) induced by HPV 16 and 42. In both cases, the cancers are located between the clitoris and urethra and are each accompanied by one groin macro-metastatic lymph node. This case report highlights the necessity for complete inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy and/or adequate radiation therapy of the groin in early invasive tumors in young women to prevent cancer recurrence in the groin. Additionally, the indication for a sentinel node procedure in these specific cases requires particular caution.
Depression and Its Comorbid Conditions More Serious in Women than in Men in the United States.

BACKGROUND Depression is a major public health problem by itself and for its comorbid conditions. We aimed to determine gender differences in the prevalence of depression and how depression is related to comorbid conditions and metabolic biomarkers. METHODS This study included men (n=986) and women (n=1,280) aged 20-79 years who were included in the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Depression was assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The associations between depression (PHQ-9 score ≥10), self-reported comorbid conditions, and metabolic biomarkers of comorbid conditions were determined by multivariable logistic regressions adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS The prevalence of depression in men and women were 7.9% and 12.1%, respectively (p<0.01). The odds ratios (OR) of various comorbid conditions (asthma, arthritis, gout, coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, diabetes mellitus, thyroid problem, and metabolic syndrome) by the status of depression were significantly higher in women. High C-reactive protein (CRP) was a significant predictor of depression in men (OR 2.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-3.67) in unadjusted model. In women, high fasting blood glucose, high glycohemoglobin, and high CRP were significant predictors of depression (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.28-3.01; OR 2.44, 95% CI 1.21-4.92; OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.01-2.06; OR 1.79, 95% CI 0.19-2.67, respectively) after controlling for age, education, race/ethnicity, marital status, ratio of family income to poverty, and physical activity. CONCLUSIONS Women had higher prevalence of depression and higher number of significant associations between socioeconomic status, comorbid conditions, and metabolic risk factors by the status of depression than men. Public health attentions are needed to improve women's mental health.
Collusive Eavesdropping in Interference Alignment Based Wireless Networks

Interference alignment (IA) can be secure due to the fact that the received signal of a targeted user at the eavesdropper may be embedded by interference from other concurrent users. However, when some malicious users inside the network cooperate to eavesdrop one specific user, the network will not be secure any more. Thus, we focus on eavesdropping attacks, and propose a novel collusive eavesdropping scheme (CES) in a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-user IA-based network. In this scheme, one user is eavesdropped on by an eavesdropper with the aid of the other <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(K-2)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> users. To perform passive eavesdropping without being noticed by the targeted user, the precoding and decoding matrices of the eavesdropper and its cooperators are redesigned, and some of the cooperators sacrifice their own quality of transmission to help the eavesdropper meet the feasibility condition. Therefore, the feasibility condition of CES is derived, based on which the minimal number of low-quality cooperators and the maximal number of receiving antennas at each user are obtained. The received power of eavesdropping is analyzed with different numbers of antennas at each receiver, which also affects the eavesdropping performance. Extensive simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of CES.
The Concomitant Relationship Shared by Sleep Disturbances and Type 2 Diabetes: Developing Telemedicine as a Viable Treatment Option

Individually, sleep disturbances and type 2 diabetes pose pervasive challenges to health. In addition, the negative symptomology associated with each condition is exacerbated further when presenting concomitantly. This relationship formulates a destructive loop wherein those with diabetes experience decreased sleep quality, which, in turn, worsens a wide range of health threats experienced by those with diabetes, including obesity and glucose intolerance. Because major lifestyle changes and daily care are needed to effectively manage both diabetes and sleep disturbances, an efficient and timely modality of treatment is essential. Advanced technology incorporating telemedicine and telehealth has the potential to enhance treatment by delivering accepted standard of care, medical monitoring, and education quickly and seamlessly—even in rural locations. This type of intervention has the added potential benefit of fostering patient empowerment.
Study on the Test of Soil Water Characteristic Curve

The test of soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) and its mathematic model are present. The SWCC can describe the relationship between unsaturated soil matric suction and water content. Matric suction is an important parameter to address when studying the engineering properties of unsaturated soil. And while the measurement of substrate attraction is a very difficult issue, it is also one of the biggest obstacles in the engineering applications of unsaturated soil. By analyzing and researching the test data of SWCC researchers can initially establish the mathematic model which is the SWCC equation. The Van Genuchten model and the Fredlund and Xing model were used to simulate better the changes between the volume water content and the matric suction. Predictions were compared with experimental results to determine the simulation capability of the model for the soil of Beijing.