Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Properties of GeXOY:H Thin Films Produced by Plasma-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition

Amorphous germanium oxide (GexOy:H) films, 0.2 μm – 1.2 μm thick, produced by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition from a mixture of tetramethylgermanium (TMGe) and oxygen (O2) in radio-frequency (13.56 MHz) glow discharge, were investigated. Highly transmitting (> 80 % at wavelength 300 nm – 800 nm) GexOy:H films grew at rate of approx. 0.8 nm/s. The film structure and morphology were determined by XPS, X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The thickness of the films was evaluated by ellipsometry. Optical interferometry was used, in turn, to measure the residual stress in the GexOy:H films. The correlation between the residual stress and chemical composition of the films was analyzed.
Hydralazine for treatment of severe hypertension in pregnancy: meta-analysis

Abstract Objective To review outcomes in randomised controlled trials comparing hydralazine against other antihypertensives for severe hypertension in pregnancy. Study design Meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (published between 1966 and September 2002) of short acting antihypertensives for severe hypertension in pregnancy. Independent data abstraction by two reviewers. Data were entered into RevMan software for analysis (fixed effects model, relative risk and 95% confidence interval); in a secondary analysis, risk difference was also calculated. Results Of 21 trials (893 women), eight compared hydralazine with nifedipine and five with labetalol. Hydralazine was associated with a trend towards less persistent severe hypertension than labetalol (relative risk 0.29 (95% confidence interval 0.08 to 1.04); two trials), but more severe hypertension than nifedipine or isradipine (1.41 (0.95 to 2.09); four trials); there was significant heterogeneity in outcome between trials and differences in methodological quality. Hydralazine was associated with more maternal hypotension (3.29 (1.50 to 7.23); 13 trials); more caesarean sections (1.30 (1.08 to 1.59); 14 trials); more placental abruption (4.17 (1.19 to 14.28); five trials); more maternal oliguria (4.00 (1.22 to 12.50); three trials); more adverse effects on fetal heart rate (2.04 (1.32 to 3.16); 12 trials); and more low Apgar scores at one minute (2.70 (1.27 to 5.88); three trials). For all but Apgar scores, analysis by risk difference showed heterogeneity between trials. Hydralazine was associated with more maternal side effects (1.50 (1.16 to 1.94); 12 trials) and with less neonatal bradycardia than labetalol (risk difference -0.24 (-0.42 to -0.06); three trials). Conclusions The results are not robust enough to guide clinical practice, but they do not support use of hydralazine as first line for treatment of severe hypertension in pregnancy. Adequately powered clinical trials are needed, with a comparison of labetalol and nifedipine showing the most promise.
Grafting of polystyrene chains on surfaces of nanosilica particles via peroxide bulk polymerization

This article describes an in situ bulk polymerization process of styrene in the presence of silica nanoparticles. In this peroxide bulk polymerization process, two polystyrene fractions are formed: A polystyrene (PS) fraction attached to the particle's surface, which cannot be detached by hot xylene extraction, and an unattached PS fraction which dissolves in xylene. Solvent extraction and TGA measurements have confirmed the existence of grafted PS chains to the silica surfaces. FTIR measurements have indicated the existence of SiOC bonds connecting the PS grafts to the silica surface. Polypropylene (PP) was blended with the extracted PS-g-silica particles to produce concentrations of 1–3% nanoparticles in the PP composites. A remarkably improved dispersability of the nanoparticles was achieved, thus grafting reduces re-agglomeration and increases the affinity of the grafted surface to the polymer matrix. POLYM. COMPOS. , 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers
Melanin and Melanin-Related Polymers as Materials with Biomedical and Biotechnological Applications—Cuttlefish Ink and Mussel Foot Proteins as Inspired Biomolecules

The huge development of bioengineering during the last years has boosted the search for new bioinspired materials, with tunable chemical, mechanical, and optoelectronic properties for the design of semiconductors, batteries, biosensors, imaging and therapy probes, adhesive hydrogels, tissue restoration, photoprotectors, etc. These new materials should complement or replace metallic or organic polymers that cause cytotoxicity and some adverse health effects. One of the most interesting biomaterials is melanin and synthetic melanin-related molecules. Melanin has a controversial molecular structure, dependent on the conditions of polymerization, and therefore tunable. It is found in animal hair and skin, although one of the common sources is cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) ink. On the other hand, mussels synthesize adhesive proteins to anchor these marine animals to wet surfaces. Both melanin and mussel foot proteins contain a high number of catecholic residues, and their properties are related to these groups. Dopamine (DA) can easily polymerize to get polydopamine melanin (PDAM), that somehow shares properties with melanin and mussel proteins. Furthermore, PDAM can easily be conjugated with other components. This review accounts for the main aspects of melanin, as well as DA-based melanin-like materials, related to their biomedical and biotechnological applications.
The Bank Assets Allocation under Equilibrium Liquidity Management Strategy

Bank assets allocation is one of the most important project of bank management. In this paper, we built sub-optimization models within DD model's three-period framework to study bank's assets allocation under equilibrium liquidity management strategy when bank faces depositors' early withdrawals. Our study shows that when a variety of interest rates and parameters satisfy certain conditions, the equilibrium liquidity management strategy will reduce bank's cash holding and increase bank's profit and max solvency in varying degrees, so that the bank can balance its profit and liquidity. The empirical tests show that Chinese commercial banks have the problem of assets solid-state which can make bank face liquidity risk, so we need to concern about it.
Droplet-Based Optofluidic Switch as a Controllable Optical Pulse-Width Modulator

In this letter, we have experimentally realized a controllable optical pulse-width modulator (PWM) based on an optofluidic switch configuration. The modulating frequency and the duty cycle of this on-chip PWM can be tuned via changing the mass flow rate of the injected fluids into a right angle T-junction. The droplet generation and its relation to PWM parameters are studied experimentally and the functional parameters of the PWM are characterized through a mathematical model. The modulating frequency and the duty cycle of the proposed PWM can be controlled in the range of 7.1–43.7 Hz and 24.1%–70.5%, respectively. This type of PWM is convenient for integration as a complementary optical component into the microfluidic systems.
Calculation of thermal noise in an atomic force microscope with a finite optical spot size

We present a method to calculate the thermal noise in an atomic force microscope (AFM) that employs the optical beam deflection (‘optical lever’) detection technique with a finite focused optical spot size. This method is based on optical diffraction theory and extends the formulation by Butt and Jaschke (1995 Nanotechnology 6 1), who assumed a spot of infinitesimal size. We consider multiple flexural vibration modes of the cantilever and show that the measured thermal noise strongly depends on the spot size. In general, larger focused spots result in less measured thermal noise, while this dependence is more pronounced for a cantilever with a pinned tip than for a cantilever with a free tip. We analyse the amount of thermal noise that appears in contact mode and force spectroscopy measurements, and discuss how to reduce it by selecting beneficial experimental conditions.
Analysis of the steps involved in Dengue virus entry into host cells.

The initial steps of dengue viral entry have been divided into adsorption and penetration using acid glycine treatment to inactivate extracellular virus after attachment to baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells but prior to penetration. First, we showed that virus infection was accomplished within 2 h after adsorption. Second, the assay was used to examine the properties of dengue envelope E protein-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), lectins, and heparin. We found that three MAbs, 17-2, 46-9, and 51-3, may neutralize dengue 2 virus (DEN-2) through inhibition of not only viral attachment but also of penetration. However, one MAb, 56-3.1, interfered specifically with attachment. Therefore, the functional domains of E protein involved in attachment and penetration may be different. Moreover, studies with lectins indicated that carbohydrates, especially alpha-mannose residues, present on the virion glycoproteins may contribute to binding and penetration of the virus into BHK and mosquito C6/36 cells. Finally, virus infectivity was inhibited by heparin through its blocking effects at both virus attachment and penetration. This suggests that cell surface heparan sulfate functions in both viral attachment and penetration of DEN-2 virus. In conclusion, our results further elucidated some aspects of the dengue virus entry process.
Short-term relationships between plasma LH, FSH and progesterone concentrations in post-partum dairy cows and the effect of Gn-RH injection.

Jugular venous blood samples were obtained from 7 dairy cows every 10 min for 10-19 h during the early- or mid-luteal phase of the oestrous cycle, and each cow was given 1 or 2 i.v. injections of 100 micrograms synthetic Gn-RH. Four of these cows were also sampled in a different cycle with no treatment being administered. Peaks of plasma LH, FHS and progesterone were detected in each animal in the absence of treatment; those of LH and progesterone often occurred in parallel. Injection of Gn-RH was always followed by a significant increase in plasma LH and progesterone concentrations and in most cases by a significant FSH increase. There was a significant temporal relationship between the peaks of all 3 hormones. A further 8 cows were sampled during the first 10 days post partum when the mean plasma progesterone concentration was low. An i.v. injection of 200 micrograms synthetic Gn-RH was given to each animal and this resulted in a significant increase in plasma LH and FSH concentrations, but in only one cow was the Gn-RH injection followed by a significant increase in plasma progesterone concentration. The LH response to Gn-RH injection was significantly less in cows injected on or before Day 5 post partum than in cows injected on Days 7-10 post partum.
Interference Alignment Algorithms for the $K$ User Constant MIMO Interference Channel

This paper considers the degrees of freedom (DOF) for a K user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) M × N interference channel using interference alignment (IA). A new performance metric for evaluating the efficacy of IA algorithms is proposed, which measures the extent to which the desired signal dimensionality is preserved after zero-forcing the interference at the receiver. Inspired by the metric, two algorithms are proposed for designing the linear precoders and receive filters for IA in the constant MIMO interference channel with a finite number of symbol extensions. The first algorithm uses an eigenbeamforming method to align sub-streams of the interference to reduce the dimensionality of the interference at all the receivers. The second algorithm is iterative, and is based on minimizing the interference leakage power while preserving the dimensionality of the desired signal space at the intended receivers. The improved performance of the algorithms is illustrated by comparing them with existing algorithms for IA using Monte Carlo simulations.
Optical fiber surface plasmon resonance sensor with surface modified gold nanorods for biochemical detection

A novel gold nanorods (GNRs) modified optical fiber localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensor for biochemical detection is demonstrated. The gold nanorods (GNRs) assembled film as the sensing layer was built on the polyelectrolyte (PE) multilayer modified sidewall of an unclad optical fiber. Poly (allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH)/poly (sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) films were formed through layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly. The influence of the thickness of polyelectrolyte films was investigated. Simultaneously, the feasibility of the proposed film coupled nanorods optical fiber LSPR sensor in monitoring a series of concentration sucrose solutions with different refractive index is examined. Results suggest that the compact sensor can perform qualitative and quantitative detection in real-time biomolecular sensing.
Kinetic Study of Oxygen Adsorption over Nanosized Au/γ-Al2O3 Supported Catalysts under Selective CO Oxidation Conditions

O2 adsorption is a key process for further understanding the mechanism of selective CO oxidation (SCO) on gold catalysts. Rate constants related to the elementary steps of O2 adsorption, desorption and surface bonding, as well as the respective activation energies, over a nanosized Au/γ-Al2O3 catalyst, were determined by Reversed-Flow Inverse Gas Chromatography (RF-IGC). The present study, carried-out in a wide temperature range (50–300 °C), both in excess as well as in the absence of H2, resulted in mechanistic insights and kinetic as well as energetic comparisons, on the sorption processes of SCO reactants. In the absence of H2, the rate of O2 binding, over Au/γ-Al2O3, drastically changes with rising temperature, indicating possible O2 dissociation at elevated temperatures. H2 facilitates stronger O2 bonding at higher temperatures, while low temperature binding remains practically unaffected. The lower energy barriers observed, under H2 rich conditions, can be correlated to O2 dissociation after hydrogenation. Although, H2 enhances both selective CO reactant’s desorption, O2 desorption is more favored than that of CO, in agreement with the well-known mild bonding of SCO reactant’s at lower temperatures. The experimentally observed drastic change in the strength of CO and O2 binding is consistent both with well-known high activity of SCO at ambient temperatures, as well as with the loss of selectivity at higher temperatures.
Describing the Chinese HIV Surveillance System and the Influences of Political Structures and Social Stigma

China’s public health surveillance system for HIV was established in late 1980s and has evolved significantly during the past three decades. With the gradually changing mode of HIV transmission from sharing of intravenous injecting equipment to sexual exposure and the rapid spread of HIV infection among Chinese homosexual men in recent years, an efficient and comprehensive population-level surveillance system for describing epidemics trends and risk behaviours associated with HIV acquisition are essential for effective public health interventions for HIV. The current review describes the overall strength of the Chinese HIV surveillance system and its structural weaknesses from a political and social perspective. The HIV surveillance system in China has undergone substantial revamping leading to a comprehensive, timely and efficient reporting system. However, large data gaps and lack of quality control and sharing of information obstruct the full performance of the system. This is largely due to fragmented authoritarianism brought about by the underlying political structure. Social stigma and discrimination in health institutes are also key barriers for further improvements of HIV diagnosis and surveillance in China.
The efficient implementation of distributed indexing with Hadoop for digital investigations on Big Data

Big Data brings new challenges to the field of e-Discovery or digital forensics and these challenges are mostly connected to the various methods for data processing. Considering that the most important factors are time and cost in determining success or failure of digital investigation, the development of a valid indexing method for efficient search should come first to more quickly and accurately find relevant evidence from Big Data. This paper, therefore, introduces a Distributed Text Processing System based on Hadoop called DTPS and explains about the distinctions between DTPS and other related researches to emphasize the necessity of it. In addition, this paper describes various experimental results in order to find the best implementation strategy in using Hadoop MapReduce for the distributed indexing and to analyze the worth for practical use of DTPS by comparative evaluation of its performance with similar tools. To be short, the ultimate purpose of this research is the development of useful search engine specially aimed at Big Data indexing as a major part for the future e-Discovery cloud service.
High-speed transport components

An overview of research of high-speed transport components is given. High-speed protocols as well as high-speed implementations are considered. The use of parallelism to increase the performance of communication nodes is considered. A parallel implementation of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) protocols on transputer networks based on the parallel concepts discussed is described. Selected performance values of the implementations are presented. The outlook on the design of high-speed transport components for future communication systems is examined. <<ETX>>
YAFIMA: Yet Another Frequent Itemset Mining Algorithm

Efficient discovery of frequent patterns from large databases is an active research area in data mining with broad applications in industry and deep implications in many areas of data mining. Although many efficient frequent-pattern mining techniques have been developed in the last decade, most of them assume relatively small databases, leaving extremely large but realistic datasets out of reach. A practical and appealing direction is to mine for closed or maximal itemsets. These are subsets of all frequent patterns but good representatives since they eliminate what is known as redundant patterns. The practicality of discovering closed or maximal itemsets comes from the relatively inexpensive process to mine them in comparison to finding all patterns. In this paper we introduce a new approach for traversing the search space to discover all frequent patterns, the closed or the maximal patterns efficiently in extremely large datasets. We present experimental results for finding all three types of patterns with very large database sizes never reported before. Our implementation tested on real and synthetic data shows that our approach outperforms similar state-of-the-art algorithms by at least one order of magnitude in terms of both execution time and memory usage, in particular when dealing with very large databases.
Estimation of the air-tissue boundaries of the vocal tract in the mid-sagittal plane from electromagnetic articulograph data

Electromagnetic articulograph (EMA) provides movement data of sensors attached to a few flesh points on different speech articulators including lips, jaw, and tongue while a subject speaks. In this work, we quantify the amount of information these flesh points provide about the vocal tract (VT) shape in the mid-sagittal plane. VT shape is described by the air-tissue boundaries, which are obtained manually from the recordings by real-time magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI) of a set of utterances spoken by a subject, from whom the EMA recordings of the same set of utterances are also available. We propose a two-stage approach for reconstructing the VT shape from the EMA data. The first stage involves a co-registration of the EMA data with the VT shape from the rtMRI frames. The second stage involves the estimation of the air-tissue boundaries from the co-registered EMA points. Co-registration is done by a spatio-temporal alignment of the VT shapes from the rtMRI frames and EMA sensor data, while radial basis function (RBF) network is used for estimating the air tissue boundaries (ATBs). Experiments with the EMA and rtMRI recordings of five sentences spoken by one male and one female speakers show that the VT shape in the mid-sagittal plane can be recovered from the EMA flesh points with an average reconstruction error of 2.55 mm and 2.75 mm respectively.
Characterization of Carbon Nanotube Based Thin Film Field Emitter

In recent years, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have emerged as one of the best field emitters for a variety of technological applications. The field emitting cathodes have several advantages over the conventional thermionic cathodes: (i) current density from field emission would be orders of magnitude greater than in the thermionic case, (ii) a cold cathode would minimize the need for cooling, and (iii) a field emitting cathode can be miniaturized. In spite of good performance of such cathodes, the procedure to estimate the device current is not straight forward and the required insight towards design optimization is not well understood. In addition, the current in CNT-based thin film devices shows fluctuation. Such fluctuation in field emission current is not desirable for many biomedical applications such as x-ray devices. The CNTs in a thin film undergo complex dynamics during field emission, which includes processes such as (i) evolution, (ii) electromechanical interaction, (iii) thermoelectric heating, (iv) ballistic transport, and (v) electron gas flow. These processes are coupled and nonlinear. Therefore, they must be analyzed accurately from the stability and long-term performance point of view. In this research, we develop detailed physics-based models of CNTs considering the aspects mentioned above. The models are integrated in a systematic manner to calculate the device current by using the Fowler-Nordheim equation. Using the models, we were able to capture the fluctuations in the field emission current, which have been observed in actual experiments. A detailed analysis of the results reveals the deflected shapes of the CNTs in an ensemble and the extent to which the initial state of geometry and orientation angles affect the device current. In addtion, investigations on the influence of defects and impurities in CNTs on
LASER STRAIGHT CUTTING BRONZE SHEETS: THERMAL STRESS ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENT

Laser straight cutting of bronze sheet is carried out. Temperature and stress fields in the cutting section are simulated using the finite element method. Temperature predictions are validated with the thermocouple measurements. The kerf surfaces are examined using optical and scanning electron microscopes. To prevent the oxidation reactions taking place during the cutting process, nitrogen at high pressure is used as the assisting gas. It is found that high stress levels are generated in the neighborhood of the cut edges due to the high temperature gradients formed in this region. Two stress peaks are observed along the cutting direction: i) one is in the re-cast layer and ii) the other is in the frontal region of the laser beam. The striations formed at the kerf surface have shallow depths and the dross attachment is observed at the edges of the kerf exit, which is associated with the low viscosity of the molten flow and the momentum loss of the assisting gas towards the kerf exit.