Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhancing Microinverter Energy Capture With Submodule Differential Power Processing

Differential power processing (DPP) is a power electronics system architecture that configures dc-dc converters in parallel with the PV string to improve its power yield. The parallel nature of the DPP architecture brings a number of benefits, such as low converter power rating and low power losses, all of which make DPP especially suitable for submodule-level maximum power point tracking (MPPT). Meanwhile, microinverters typically perform only module-level MPPT and do not address power losses due to uncompensated submodule mismatch. In this paper, we introduce DPP converters into a microinverter system to improve its energy capture by recovering power losses due to submodule mismatch. The control method to interface DPP converters with a microinverter for submodule MPPT is presented and the tradeoff between tracking accuracy and control overhead is analyzed. A small-footprint DPP converter is designed. A digitally assisted windowed sensing technique is also implemented to address the challenge of precise current sensing. Altogether, the proposed solution seamlessly integrates DPP into the existing microinverter design. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution, a hardware prototype has been built and tested with an off-the-shelf commercial microinverter. The improvement in energy capture with DPP converters has been experimentally verified.
Diagnosing early Barrett’s neoplasia and oesophageal squamous cell neoplasia by bioimpedance spectroscopy in human tissue

Background Detection of early oesophageal cancer in surrounding normal tissue can be challenging, but detection is essential to determine the subsequent treatment. Dysplastic tissue can be detected by using electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Objective The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility and value of EIS in the diagnosis of oesophageal neoplasia. Methods This prospective ex-vivo study included 23 patients with early oesophageal cancer (17 with Barrett’s cancer and six with early squamous cell cancer). Immediately after endoscopic resection, the electrical properties of the resected specimens were investigated using a pencil probe (5 mm in diameter, frequency range from 100 Hz to 1 MHz). Punch biopsies were taken from the measured site in order to compare the results of EIS with histology. Results EIS was able to detect dysplastic oesophageal mucosa with a high rate of accuracy (82% in Barrett’s oesophagus and 100% in squamous oesophagus) A total of 54 different sites in 26 tumours were evaluated. Conclusions EIS was able to differentiate reliably between non-neoplastic and neoplastic oesophageal mucosa. Using EIS, it might be possible to use it for targeted biopsies and to avoid unnecessary biopsies during cancer surveillance in future.
Meta-Analysis of social relationships and posttreatment drinking outcomes: comparison of relationship structure, function and quality.

OBJECTIVE Alcoholism treatment programs are recognizing the importance of social relationships by addressing interpersonal as well as intrapersonal factors in treatment. This shift in treatment orientation is occurring, however, in the absence of extensive information on the magnitude of the relationship between interpersonal factors and drinking outcomes. This article examines the association between alcoholism treatment drinking outcomes and social relationships. METHOD Studies of the relationship between drinking outcomes and social relationships reported from 1965 to 1996 were coded for inclusion in this study. Analysis was a conceptually based meta-analytic review and synthesis of some of these findings. Through illustration, the manner in which components of social relationships (structure, function and quality) are associated with drinking outcomes was analyzed. RESULTS Marital status, a structural construct, was less strongly correlated with drinking outcomes (average r = 0. 11) than was social support, a functional construct (average r = 0.22) or marital and family adjustment, a construct indicative of quality (average r = 0.17). Marital status was more strongly related to drinking outcomes for men than for women, whereas having significant others in treatment predicted stronger relationships between drinking outcomes and both social support and marital/family adjustment for both genders. CONCLUSIONS The effect of social relationships on drinking outcomes is variable, inconsistent and weak. That this is not the case for some subpopulations and constructs encourages us to continue the examination of these complex interrelationships.
On the connectivity of large multi-channel cognitive radio networks

Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs) have become promising network components to improve spectrum utilization efficiency, where secondary (unlicensed) users exploit spectrum opportunistically without interfering with the coexisting primary users. A challenging yet open question is how to ensure that information can be disseminated to the entire CRN, which is a prerequisite to applications of wireless networks. In this paper, we address the connectivity of large multi-channel CRNs. Particularly, we study full connectivity and percolation of secondary networks. The former is the existence of a communication path between any two nodes and the latter is the existence of a large component of secondary users. We find that the sufficient and necessary condition to achieve full connectivity is λ = Θ(log n/πr2 Ps), where λ is the density, n is the number and r is the transmission range of secondary users respectively, and Ps is the probability that any two secondary users can communicate with each other without interfering with primary users. We further show that the required density for percolation is a constant, and identify an upper bound on λ, above which the network is percolated and a lower bound on λ below which the network is not percolated. Our results provide a theoretical understanding of connectivity in large multi-channel cognitive radio networks.
Coevolution of Yuccas and Yucca Moths

The relationship between yucca moths and yucca plants is an example of obligate mutualism. Many species of yucca plant can be pollinated by only one species of yucca moth, while those yucca moths use the yucca flowers as a safe space to lay their eggs. The traits found in yucca plants and yucca moths that enabled them to cooperate were originally suspected to have arisen due to coevolution. However, the majority of these traits appear to have been present before yuccas became the host plant. In addition, there is a delay in speciation of yucca moth lineages when compared with the phylogenies of yucca plants, suggesting that coevolution was not the main driving force of the mutualistic relationship between the two species. Yucca moths may have acquired adaptations as selection drove the populations to complement the unique template already established by yucca plants.
[OBSERVANT II: OBservational Study of Effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve implantation with new geneRation deVices for severe Aortic steNosis Treatment. Study protocol].

BACKGROUND The rapid spread of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for the treatment of severe symptomatic aortic stenosis in the last decade in Italy has led to a gradually increasing use of TAVI procedures also in patients potentially eligible for aortic valve replacement (AVR). For this subset of patients, the OBSERVANT study (2011-2012) evaluated the short- and medium term outcome of TAVI vs AVR, at least for the first generations of TAVI devices, but failed to gather information on all the technological innovations occurred in recent years. The launch of a phase II of the study will allow to recruit a new series of TAVI, with different risk profiles compared with the historical OBSERVANT TAVI cohort, in order to assess whether and how much the use of new-generation devices mitigate the differences in outcomes recorded in the OBSERVANT study. METHODS OBSERVANT II is an observational multicenter, prospective, cohort study collecting data on patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis undergoing TAVI in Italian hospitals since December 15, 2016, for at least 12 months. For each patient, data on demographic characteristics, health status, type of intervention and presence of comorbidities will be collected. Mortality and incidence of in-hospital major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) within 36 months of intervention will be the primary adverse outcome. Secondary outcomes will include 30-day mortality and the incidence of MACCE at 12 and 24 months. The statistical hypotheses were formulated considering the results from the OBSERVANT study. Testing these hypotheses will require the recruitment of at least 823 new TAVI. The risk/propensity-adjustment techniques will be used to comparatively evaluate the effectiveness of TAVI vs AVR. EXPECTED RESULTS Safety and efficacy profiles of the new-generation TAVI prosthesis; comparative effectiveness of the new TAVI prosthesis as compared to TAVI procedures of the OBSERVANT historical cohort; comparative effectiveness of the new TAVI prosthesis as compared to AVR procedures of the OBSERVANT historical cohort. CONCLUSIONS The results of OBSERVANT II will provide information on the effectiveness of TAVI employing new-generation devices and will be a valuable support to give professionals and policy makers evidence-based results useful for decision-making processes.
Downlink capacity comparison between different smart antenna concepts in a mixed service W-CDMA system

The capacity of W-CDMA systems in which base stations are equipped with adaptive antennas (AA) is investigated in mixed service scenarios. The simulations show that generally, a threefold downlink (DL) capacity increase can be gained by employing a fixed or steered beam antenna system. For some scenarios, DL capacity gains of 4 to 6 times can be achieved. Further, a DL capacity comparison between the steered beam concept and the fixed (multi) beam AA concept is presented.
The Stromal Chloroplast Deg 7 Protease Participates in the Repair of Photosystem II after Photoinhibition in Arabidopsis 1 [ W ] [ OA ]

Light is the ultimate source of energy for photosynthesis; however, excessive light leads to photooxidative damage and hence reduced photosynthetic efficiency, especially when combined with other abiotic stresses. Although the photosystem II (PSII) reaction center D1 protein is the primary target of photooxidative damage, other PSII core proteins are also damaged and degraded. However, it is still largely unknown whether degradation of D1 and other PSII proteins involves previously uncharacterized proteases. Here, we show that Deg7 is peripherally associated with the stromal side of the thylakoid membranes and that Deg7 interacts directly with PSII. Our results show that Deg7 is involved in the primary cleavage of photodamaged D1, D2, CP47, and CP43 and that this activity is essential for its function in PSII repair. The double mutants deg5 deg7 and deg8 deg7 showed no obvious phenotypic differences under normal growth conditions, but additive effects were observed under high light. These results suggest that Deg proteases on both the stromal and luminal sides of the thylakoid membranes are important for the efficient PSII repair in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana).
Male circumcision and risk of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveTo systematically review studies of male circumcision and the risk of HIV-1 infection in men in sub-Saharan Africa, and to summarize the findings in a meta-analysis. DesignA meta-analysis of observational studies. MethodsA systematic literature review was carried out of studies published up to April 1999 that included circumcision as a risk factor for HIV-1 infection among men in sub-Saharan Africa. A random effects meta-analysis was used to calculate a pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for all studies combined, and stratified by type of study population. Further analyses were conducted among those studies that adjusted for potential confounding factors. ResultsTwenty-seven studies were included. Of these, 21 showed a reduced risk of HIV among circumcised men, being approximately half that in uncircumcised men (crude RR = 0.52, CI 0.40–0.68). In 15 studies that adjusted for potential confounding factors, the association was even stronger (adjusted RR = 0.42, CI 0.34–0.54). The association was stronger among men at high risk of HIV (crude RR = 0.27; adjusted RR = 0.29, CI 0.20–0.41) than among men in general populations (crude RR = 0.93; adjusted RR = 0.56, CI 0.44–0.70). ConclusionMale circumcision is associated with a significantly reduced risk of HIV infection among men in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly those at high risk of HIV. These results suggest that consideration should be given to the acceptability and feasibility of providing safe services for male circumcision as an additional HIV prevention strategy in areas of Africa where men are not traditionally circumcised.
In vivo dynamics of antigen-specific regulatory T cells not predicted from behavior in vitro

Adoptive transfer of antigen-specific CD25+CD4+ regulatory T cells was used to analyze the stability of their phenotype, their behavior after immunization, and their mode of suppressing cotransferred naive T cells in vivo. We found that regulatory T cells maintained their phenotype in the absence of antigen, were not anergic in vivo, and proliferated as extensively as naive CD4+ T cells after immunization without losing their suppressive function in vivo and in vitro. In vivo, the expansion of cotransferred naive T cells was suppressed relatively late in the response such that regulatory T cells expressing mostly IL-10 but not IL-2 or IFN-γ represented the dominant subset of cells. Our results reveal properties of regulatory T cells that were not predicted from in vitro studies.
TWO‐STEP INFECTION PROCESSES CAN LEAD TO COEVOLUTION BETWEEN FUNCTIONALLY INDEPENDENT INFECTION AND RESISTANCE PATHWAYS

There is growing evidence that successful infection of hosts by pathogens requires a series of independent steps. However, how multistep infection processes affect host–pathogen coevolution is unclear. We present a coevolutionary model, inspired by empirical observations from a range of host–pathogen systems, where the infection process consists of the following two steps: the first is for the pathogen to recognize and locate a suitable host, and the second is to exploit the host while evading immunity. Importantly, these two steps conform to different models of infection genetics: inverse‐gene‐for‐gene (IGFG) and gene‐for‐gene (GFG), respectively. We show that coevolution under this scenario can lead to coupled gene frequency changes across these two systems. In particular, selection often favors pathogens that are infective at the first, IGFG, step and hosts that are resistant at the second, GFG, step. Hence, there may be signals of positive selection between functionally independent systems whenever there are multistep processes determining resistance and infectivity. Such multistep infection processes are a fundamental, but overlooked feature of many host–pathogen interactions, and have important consequences for our understanding of host–pathogen coevolution.
Implementation of a point-of-care satellite laboratory in the emergency department of an academic medical center. Impact on test turnaround time and patient emergency department length of stay.

CONTEXT Emergency department (ED) overcrowding has reached crisis proportions in the United States. Many hospitals are seeking to identify process reengineering efforts to reduce crowding and ED patient length of stay (LOS). OBJECTIVES To investigate the impact of a point-of-care testing (POCT) satellite laboratory in the ED of a large academic medical center. SETTING The ED of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass. DESIGN AND OUTCOME MEASURES Evaluation of physician satisfaction, turnaround time (TAT), and ED LOS before and after implementation of a POCT laboratory. ED LOS was measured by patient chart audits. TAT was assessed by manual and computer audits. Clinician satisfaction surveys measured satisfaction with test TAT and test accuracy. RESULTS Blood glucose, urine human chorionic gonadotropin, urine dipstick, creatine kinase-MB, and troponin tests were performed in the ED POCT laboratory. Test TAT declined an average of 87% after the institution of POCT. The ED LOS decreased for patients who received pregnancy testing, urine dipstick, and cardiac markers. Although these differences were not significant for individual tests, when the tests were combined, the decreased LOS was, on average, 41.3 minutes (P =.006). Clinician satisfaction surveys documented equivalent satisfaction with test accuracy between the central laboratory and the POCT laboratory. These surveys also documented dissatisfaction with central laboratory TAT and increased satisfaction with TAT of the POCT program (P <.001). CONCLUSIONS The POCT satellite laboratory decreased test TAT and decreased ED LOS. There was excellent satisfaction with test accuracy and TAT.
Mechanical action of the blood onto atheromatous plaques: influence of the stenosis shape and morphology

The vulnerability of atheromatous plaques in the carotid artery may be related to several factors, the most important being the degree of severity of the endoluminal stenosis and the thickness of the fibrous cap. It has recently been shown that the plaque length can also affect the mechanical response significantly. However, in their study on the effect of the plaque length, the authors did not consider the variations of the plaque morphology and the shape irregularities that may exist independently of the plaque length. These aspects are developed in this paper. The mechanical interactions between the blood flow and an atheromatous plaque are studied through a numerical model considering fluid–structure interaction. The simulation is achieved using the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian scheme in the COMSOL TM commercial finite element package. The stenosis severity and the plaque length are, respectively, set to 45% and 15 mm. Different shapes of the stenosis are modelled, considering irregularities made of several bumps over the plaque. The resulting flow patterns, wall shear stresses, plaque deformations and stresses in the fibrous cap reveal that the effects of the blood flow are amplified if the slope upstream stenosis is steep or if the plaque morphology is irregular with bumps. More specifically, the maximum stress in the fibrous cap is 50% larger for a steep slope than for a gentle slope. These results offer new perspectives for considering the shape of plaques in the evaluation of the vulnerability.
AN OPTIMAL POLICY FOR LAY-UP DECISIONS

Summary The paper is concerned with the problem of deciding when a ship should be laid up and when it should be put back into operation, when revenue is a stationary random walk and cost parameters constant over time. The solution is given in terms of a decision rule of the form: If revenue falls to y, lay up; if it rises to z, start operation. Optimal values for z and y are derived, and some interesting properties of the solution discussed.
Pure boron-doped photodiodes: A solution for radiation detection in EUV lithography

A pure boron chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology, which forms delta-doped boron surface layers during diborane B2H6 exposure at 700degC, has been successfully used to fabricate silicon-based p+n photodiodes for radiation detection in the extreme-ultra-violet (EUV) spectral range. Outstanding electrical and optical performance has been achieved in terms of extremely low dark current (< 50 pA at reverse bias of 10 V), near theoretical responsivity (0.266 A/W at 13.5 nm wavelength), and excellent stability to high radiation doses (< 1% responsivity degradation after 0.2 MJ/cm2 exposure). Therefore, the diodes are suitable candidates for photon detection functions in the next-generation EUV lithography systems.
The current view for the silencing of the spindle assembly checkpoint

Chromosome bipolar attachment is achieved when sister kinetochores are attached by microtubules emanating from opposite spindle poles, and this process is essential for faithful chromosome segregation during anaphase. A fundamental question in cell biology is how cells ensure that chromosome segregation only occurs after bipolar attachment. It is well documented that unattached kinetochores activate the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) to delay chromosome segregation. Therefore, the silencing of the SAC is thought to trigger anaphase onset, but how correct chromosome attachment is coupled with SAC silencing and the subsequent anaphase onset is poorly understood. The establishment of chromosome bipolar attachment not only results in the occupancy of kinetochores by microtubules but also applies tension on sister kinetochores. A long-standing debate is whether the kinetochore attachment (occupancy) or the tension silences the SAC. Recent work in budding yeast reveals the SAC silencing network SSN that prevents SAC silencing prior to tension generation at kinetochores. Therefore, this signaling pathway ensures that SAC silencing and the subsequent anaphase onset occur only after chromosome bipolar attachment applies tension on chromosomes. This review will summarize the recent advances in the understanding of the SAC silencing process.
Fuzzy data mining: effect of fuzzy discretization

When we generate association rules, continuous attributes have to be discretized into intervals while our knowledge representation is not always based on such discretization. For example, we usually use some linguistic terms (e.g., young, middle age, and old) for dividing our ages into some fuzzy categories. We describe the extraction of linguistic association rules and examine the performance of extracted rules. First we modify the definitions of the two basic measures (i.e., confidence and support) of association rules for extracting linguistic association rules. The main difference between standard and linguistic association rules is the discretization of continuous attributes. We divide the domain interval of each attribute into some fuzzy regions (i.e., linguistic terms) when we extract linguistic association rules. Next, we compare fuzzy discretization with standard non-fuzzy discretization through computer simulations on a pattern classification problem with many continuous attributes. The classification performance of extracted rules on unseen test patterns is examined under various conditions. Simulation results show that linguistic association rules with rule weights have high generalization ability even when the domain of each continuous attribute is homogeneously partitioned.
Novel electrostatic repulsion forces in MEMS applications by nonvolatile charge injection

This paper demonstrates, for the first time, electrostatic repulsion forces between two isolating beams as a viable actuation mechanism in MEMS applications by nonvolatile charge injection. Devices integrating MEMS beams and EEPROM structures have been fabricated and an actuation force of /spl sim/0.2 /spl mu/N has been recorded across a 3 /spl mu/m gap for beams 360 /spl mu/m in length. Larger actuation forces can be achieved through smaller gaps. A capacitor-network model is presented for analyzing such systems. This scheme holds promises in complimenting attractive electrostatic actuation and also finds valuable applications in achieving wear-free micro-bearings, hinges and turbines.