Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electronic properties of thin niobium doped barium titanate films

This work presents results of investigations of barium titanate thin ﬁlms with Nb 2 O 5 admixture, deposited on Si substrates by means of Radio Frequency Plasma Sputtering (RF PS) of sintered BaTiO 3 + Nb 2 O 5 target. Round, aluminum (Al) electrodes were evaporated on the top of deposited layers. Thus, metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structures were created with BaTiO 3 thin ﬁlms playing the role of the insulator. They enabled subsequent electrical characterization (current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance--voltage (C-V) measurements) of studied material. This allowed extraction of several electronic parameters (e.g. ε ri , ρ , V FB , ∆ V H , ). Films composition were additionally studied using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) techniques. devices, microwave ﬁlters and resonators, optical waveguides, embedded
Synthesis of Linear Antenna Array using Genetic Algorithm to Maximize Sidelobe Level Reduction

Genetic algorithm optimization method is used in this paper for the synthesis of antenna array radiation pattern in adaptive beamforming. The synthesis problem in this paper discussed is to finding the weights of the antenna array elements that are optimum to provide the radiation pattern with maximum reduction in the sidelobe level. This technique proved its effectiveness in improving the performance of the antenna array.
Microbial Iron Cycling in Acidic Geothermal Springs of Yellowstone National Park: Integrating Molecular Surveys, Geochemical Processes, and Isolation of Novel Fe-Active Microorganisms

Geochemical, molecular, and physiological analyses of microbial isolates were combined to study the geomicrobiology of acidic iron oxide mats in Yellowstone National Park. Nineteen sampling locations from 11 geothermal springs were studied ranging in temperature from 53 to 88°C and pH 2.4 to 3.6. All iron oxide mats exhibited high diversity of crenarchaeal sequences from the Sulfolobales, Thermoproteales, and Desulfurococcales. The predominant Sulfolobales sequences were highly similar to Metallosphaera yellowstonensis str. MK1, previously isolated from one of these sites. Other groups of archaea were consistently associated with different types of iron oxide mats, including undescribed members of the phyla Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota. Bacterial sequences were dominated by relatives of Hydrogenobaculum spp. above 65–70°C, but increased in diversity below 60°C. Cultivation of relevant iron-oxidizing and iron-reducing microbial isolates included Sulfolobus str. MK3, Sulfobacillus str. MK2, Acidicaldus str. MK6, and a new candidate genus in the Sulfolobales referred to as Sulfolobales str. MK5. Strains MK3 and MK5 are capable of oxidizing ferrous iron autotrophically, while strain MK2 oxidizes iron mixotrophically. Similar rates of iron oxidation were measured for M. yellowstonensis str. MK1 and Sulfolobales str. MK5. Biomineralized phases of ferric iron varied among cultures and field sites, and included ferric oxyhydroxides, K-jarosite, goethite, hematite, and scorodite depending on geochemical conditions. Strains MK5 and MK6 are capable of reducing ferric iron under anaerobic conditions with complex carbon sources. The combination of geochemical and molecular data as well as physiological observations of isolates suggests that the community structure of acidic Fe mats is linked with Fe cycling across temperatures ranging from 53 to 88°C.
A pr 2 00 0 Collider Signatures of Sneutrino Cold Dark Matter

Decays of sneutrinos are considered in the case that in the presence of leptonnumber violation in the sneutrino sector the lighter τ -sneutrino is the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle and the Cold Dark Matter in the Universe. In such circumstances the signals from sparticle decays differ considerably from the “standard” case where the lightest neutralino is the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle and it is found that in a wide range of parameters compatible with the sneutrino Cold Dark Matter hypothesis signatures characteristic for such a scenario should be easily observable at for example a Next Linear Collider. Recently there has been particular interest in sneutrinos, the scalar counterparts of the neutrinos appearing in supersymmetric (SUSY) extensions of the Standard Model (SM) [1], due to the fact that Lepton-number (L) violation present in the sneutrino sector of the low-energy SUSY Lagrangian [2, 3] has huge impacts both on sneutrino and neutrino phenomenology. The intimate connection between sneutrino and neutrino properties implies that if the sneutrino bears “Majorana” properties so does the neutrino, and vice versa. Sheding light on the as yet unresolved questions concerning the neutrino mass [4] is an unexpected feature of the SUSY version of the SM once L violation by sneutrinos exists. Further potentially observable consequences include L-violating processes such as neutrinoless double beta 0νββdecay (without the need of R-parity violation) [5], ee → χχ and sneutrino oscillations [6, 3]. Particularly interesting is the impact of neutrino/sneutrino properties on Cosmology and the still unresolved questions of nature and origin of the dark matter in the universe. Whereas massive neutrinos are long known to be an interesting candidate for the hot component of dark matter in the universe, it emerged only recently that in the presence of L violation sneutrinos may well serve as cold component of dark matter [7]. The big experimental efforts (for a recent overview see
Genome editing for blood disorders: state of the art and recent advances

Abstract In recent years, tremendous advances have been made in the use of gene editing to precisely engineer the genome. This technology relies on the activity of a wide range of nuclease platforms — such as zinc-finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, and the CRISPR–Cas system — that can cleave and repair specific DNA regions, providing a unique and flexible tool to study gene function and correct disease-causing mutations. Preclinical studies using gene editing to tackle genetic and infectious diseases have highlighted the therapeutic potential of this technology. This review summarizes the progresses made towards the development of gene editing tools for the treatment of haematological disorders and the hurdles that need to be overcome to achieve clinical success.
Input Image Masked Image Prior logits Masked Conv Masked Conv . . . Cond logits Regular Conv Regular Conv Output logits Prior network Conditioning network

Semantic inpainting is the task of inferring missing pixels in an image given surrounding pixels and high level image semantics. Most semantic inpainting algorithms are deterministic: given an image with missing regions, a single inpainted image is generated. However, there are often several plausible inpaintings for a given missing region. In this paper, we propose a method to perform probabilistic semantic inpainting by building a model, based on PixelCNNs, that learns a distribution of images conditioned on a subset of visible pixels. Experiments on the MNIST and CelebA datasets show that our method produces diverse and realistic inpaintings.
Dynamic Pricing of Perishable Assets under Competition

We study dynamic price competition in an oligopolistic market with a mix of substitutable and complementary perishable assets. Each firm has a fixed initial stock of items and competes in setting prices to sell them over a finite sales horizon. Customers sequentially arrive at the market, make a purchase choice, and then leave immediately with some likelihood of no purchase. The purchase likelihood depends on the time of purchase, product attributes, and current prices. The demand structure includes time-variant linear and multinomial logit demand models as special cases. Assuming deterministic customer arrival rates, we show that any equilibrium strategy has a simple structure, involving a finite set of shadow prices measuring capacity externalities that firms exert on each other: equilibrium prices can be solved from a one-shot price competition game under the current-time demand structure, taking into account capacity externalities through the time-invariant shadow prices. The former reflects the transient demand side at every moment, and the latter captures the aggregate supply constraints over the sales horizon. This simple structure sheds light on dynamic revenue management problems under competition, which helps capture the essence of the problems under demand uncertainty. We show that the equilibrium solutions from the deterministic game provide precommitted and contingent heuristic policies that are asymptotic equilibria for its stochastic counterpart, when demand and supply are sufficiently large. This paper was accepted by Yossi Aviv, operations management.
Generation and Characterization of Anti-MUC4 Monoclonal Antibodies Reactive with Normal and Cancer Cells in Humans

We have previously cloned the full-length cDNA (approximately 28 Kb) and established the complete genomic organization (25 exons/introns over 100 kb) of the human MUC4 mucin. This large molecule is predicted to protrude over 2 μm above the cell surface, in which MUC4α is an extracellular mucin-type glycoprotein subunit and MUC4β is the transmembrane subunit. Over two thirds of the encoded protein sequence consists of 16-amino-acid tandem repeats (TR), which are flanked by unique sequences. In this study we generated and characterized monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against the TR region of MUC4. Mice were immunized with a KLH-conjugated MUC4 TR peptide, STGDT-TPLPVTDTSSV. Several clones were purified by three rounds of limited dilutions and stable clones presenting a sustained antibody production were selected for subsequent characterization. Antibodies were tested for their reactivity and specificity to recognize the MUC4 peptide and further screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting analyses. One of the MAbs (8G7) was strongly reactive against the MUC4 peptide and with native MUC4 from human tissues or pancreatic cancer cells in Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and confocal analysis. Anti-MUC4 MAb may represent a powerful tool for the study of MUC4 function under normal and pathological conditions and for diagnosis of solid tumors including those in the breast, pancreas, lungs, and ovaries.
Nitric oxide synthase inhibition reduces muscle inflammation and necrosis in modified muscle use

The objective of this study was to determine the role of nitric oxide in muscle inflammation, fiber necrosis, and apoptosis of inflammatory cells in vivo. The effects of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition on the concentrations of neutrophils, ED1+ and ED2+ macrophages, apoptotic inflammatory cells, and necrotic muscle fibers in rats subjected to 10 days of hindlimb unloading and 2 days of reloading were determined. Administration of NOS inhibitor Nω‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester (l‐NAME) significantly reduced the concentrations of neutrophils, ED1+ and ED2+ macrophages, and necrotic fibers in soleus muscle relative to water‐treated controls. The concentration of apoptotic inflammatory cells was also significantly lower for l‐NAME‐treated animals compared with water‐treated controls. However, the proportion of the inflammatory cell population that was apoptotic did not differ between l‐NAME‐treated and control animals, suggesting that l‐NAME treatment did not decrease inflammatory cell populations by increasing the frequency of apoptosis. Thus, nitric oxide or one of its intermediates promotes muscle inflammation and fiber necrosis during modified muscle use and plays no more than a minor role in the resolution of muscle inflammation by inducing apoptosis of inflammatory cells. J. Leukoc. Biol. 64: 427–433; 1998.
Structure of a Type IV Secretion System Core Complex

Type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) are important virulence factors used by Gram-negative bacterial pathogens to inject effectors into host cells or to spread plasmids harboring antibiotic resistance genes. We report the 15 angstrom resolution cryo–electron microscopy structure of the core complex of a T4SS. The core complex is composed of three proteins, each present in 14 copies and forming a ∼1.1-megadalton two-chambered, double membrane–spanning channel. The structure is double-walled, with each component apparently spanning a large part of the channel. The complex is open on the cytoplasmic side and constricted on the extracellular side. Overall, the T4SS core complex structure is different in both architecture and composition from the other known double membrane–spanning secretion system that has been structurally characterized.
Providing User Quality of Service Specification for Communities with Low Connectivity

The Internet has the potential to provide universal and easy access to the various types of information services on a single multi-service, but unreliable quality connection can sometime prevent access to the Internet altogether. There are many efforts have been started to resolve the Internet access problem. The main idea behind them is to provide a set of objective parameters that can be used to compare and negotiate in a network. Relatively little emphasis has been put on issues concerning end users, especially on the relationship of user perception and subjective Quality of Service parameters. In order to implement Quality of Service schemes successfully, users must be taken into account to establish users' subjective perceptions of Quality of Service. This paper is concerned to the study of mechanism of providing Quality of Service specification for Internet access in low-quality connection. We propose the conceptual model for the specification of user access and allow the users to specify their subjective preferences through the Quality of Service parameters. This model provides the alternative option for user access if resource availability in the system is limited. The user is given opportunity to define their access and determine the parameter for each application which they are chosen. The system will check the resource availability and then compare to the user preferences. In the case resource availability is lower than user preferences, the system can exchange to another option as determined by
Dietary-linolenic acid inhibits proinflammatory cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in hypercholesterolemic subjects 1 – 3

Background: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease. We previously reported that a diet high in -linolenic acid (ALA) reduces lipid and inflammatory cardiovascular disease risk factors in hypercholesterolemic subjects. Objective: The objective was to evaluate the effects of a diet high in ALA on serum proinflammatory cytokine concentrations and cytokine production by cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from subjects fed the experimental diets. Design: A randomized, controlled, 3-diet, 3-period crossover study design was used. Hypercholesterolemic subjects (n 23) were assigned to 3 experimental diets: a diet high in ALA (ALA diet; 6.5% of energy), a diet high in linoleic acid (LA diet; 12.6% of energy), and an average American diet (AAD) for 6 wk. Serum interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1 , and tumor necrosis factor(TNF) concentrations and the production of IL-6, IL-1 , and TNFby PBMCs were measured. Results: IL-6, IL-1 , and TNFproduction by PBMCs and serum TNFconcentrations were lower (P 0.05 and P 0.08, respectively) with the ALA diet than with the LA diet or AAD. PBMC production of TNFwas inversely correlated with ALA (r 0.402, P 0.07) and with eicosapentaenoic acid (r 0.476, P 0.03) concentrations in PBMC lipids with the ALA diet. Changes in serum ALA were inversely correlated with changes in TNFproduced by PBMCs (r 0.423, P 0.05). Conclusions: Increased intakes of dietary ALA elicit antiinflammatory effects by inhibiting IL-6, IL-1 , and TNFproduction in cultured PBMCs. Changes in PBMC ALA and eicosapentaenoic acid (derived from dietary ALA) are associated with beneficial changes in TNFrelease. Thus, the cardioprotective effects of ALA are mediated in part by a reduction in the production of inflammatory cytokines. Am J Clin Nutr 2007;85:385–91.
cient Bayes Risk Estimation for Cost-Sensitive Classi cation

In some real world applications, acquiring covariates for classi cation can be costintensive and should be limited as much as possible. For example, in the medical setting, a doctor cannot just perform all possible types of tests to classify whether the patient has diabetes or not. The decision of classifying or acquiring more covariates before classifying is dependent on the costs of new covariates and the expected optimal cost of misclassi cation (Bayes risk). However, estimating the latter is a formidable task due to the estimation of a high dimensional probability density and intractable integrals. In this work, we show that for linear classi ers this task can be considerably simpli ed, leading to a one dimensional integral for which we propose an e cient approximation. Experimental results on three datasets show consistent improvements over previously proposed methods for cost-sensitive classi cation. We also demonstrate that our proposed Bayes risk estimation procedure can bene t from additional unlabeled data which can be helpful when only small amount of labeled data is available.
THE PHYSICALLY NONLINEAR CONTACT ANALYSIS OF CIRCULAR PLATE ON DEFORMABLE FOUNDATION BY ANSYS SOFTWARE

A circular reinforced concrete plate on deformable foundation is investigated in this paper. A foundation is composed of three layers of soil which are defined as isotropically nonlinear materials with variable physical properties. The reinforced plate is treated as an elastic body. Dissymmetrical half-circular loading of linearly variable pressure is subjected on the plate. Generally the unified system “structure-foundation” is the contact analysis problem, which is modeled by ANSYS software. The plastic shear deformations are evaluated in solving of contact problem by the finite element method. Comparable analysis with treatment of physically linear system “structure-foundation” is performed. After linear analysis the comparison shows, that rigidity of the foundation generates bigger extreme stresses in the plate in context of the Huber-Mises criterion. However in nonlinear analysis, intensity of stresses is naturally decreasing when more flexible model of the foundation is used.
Network model of coupled integrated antennas

In this paper we propose a broadband equivalent circuit model of coupled integrated antennas using a generalized Foster approach. A large-signal multi-harmonic X-parameter model representation of On-Chip Schottky Diodes is derived for effective Antenna-Detector Co-Simulation, Co-Design and Co-Verification. Concurrent optimization of the Schottky Diode arrays geometry and large-signal electrical performances (such as with respect to cutoff frequency, parasitics, quality-factor, sensitivity, responsiveness, etc.) is carried out based on careful experimental characterizations.
Seasonal activity patterns of Ixodes pacificus nymphs in relation to climatic conditions

Abstract In western North America, the tick Ixodes pacificus Cooley & Kohls (Acari: Ixodidae) is the primary vector to humans and domestic animals of the disease agents causing Lyme disease and granulocytic ehrlichiosis. We examined the seasonal activity patterns of I. pacificus nymphs over a 4‐year period, including the wet and cold El Niño winter/spring of 1998, in a dry oak/madrone woodland, and for one year in a cooler and moister redwood/tanoak woodland in Mendocino County, California. Linear regressions were used to estimate when nymphal densities first exceeded and then fell below 25, 50 and 75% of the recorded yearly peak densities. In oak/madrone woodland, nymphs typically were active by mid‐March, reached 50% of their yearly peak densities in early to mid‐April, peaked by early May, fell below 50% of their peak densities by early to mid‐June, and were absent by late July to mid‐August. The lengths of the periods with nymphal densities exceeding 50 and 75% of the recorded yearly peaks in oak/madrone woodland were associated positively with rainfall and negatively with maximum air temperatures during April–May. Moreover, nymphal numbers typically reached 50% of their peak 10–15 days later, remained at levels above 50% of the peak 1.3–1.5 times longer, and started declining 4–6 weeks later under cooler, moister climatic conditions (oak/madrone woodland in 1998 and redwood/tanoak woodland in 2000) relative to warmer, drier conditions (oak/madrone woodland in 2000–2001). In oak/madrone woodland, nymphal densities typically started to decline when mean maximum daily air temperatures exceeded 23°C. Nymphal densities were higher in dry oak/madrone relative to moist redwood/tanoak woodland from mid‐March to late May 2000, similar in both habitat types in early June, but higher in redwood/tanoak woodland from late June onwards. We conclude that large‐scale studies of the density of I. pacificus nymphs in California need to consider spatial variation in the length of nymphal activity periods and select temporal sampling regimens that yield representative data for all included habitat types.
The Role of Multi-detector CT Angiography in Surgical Planning for Congenital Cervicothoracic Kyphoscoliosis: A Case Report.

Surgical correction of a cervicothoracic deformity is difficult with a potential risk of vascular injury. Comprehensive preoperative vascular evaluation is important for safe and successful surgery. The use of multi-detector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) allows a combined display of vascular and osseous structures of the musculoskeletal system. However, no clinical reports have described the use of MDCTA for surgical planning of anterior cervicothoracic surgery in patients with vascular malformation. The case of a 7-year-old girl with congenital cervicothoracic kyphoscoliosis who underwent preoperative MDCTA evaluation and successful correction is presented in this report.
Surface Circulation in the Solomon Sea Derived from Lagrangian Drifter Observations

AbstractVelocity measurements from satellite-tracked surface drifters collected between 1994 and 2010 are used to map the surface circulation in the Solomon Sea, the last passageway for waters of subtropical origin flowing northward toward the equator, where they replenish the Pacific warm pool. Pseudo-Eulerian statistics of the drifter observations show a strong seasonal cycle in both the mean circulation and the eddy kinetic energy in the region. The circulation is characterized by a strong northward flow from June to November (the season of strong southeasterly trade winds over the Solomon Sea) and a mostly southward flow with increased variability from December to May (when the winds over the sea are weak). The seasonal velocity signal has the largest magnitude narrowly along the double western boundary formed by the eastern coastlines of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, suggesting that direct wind driving with its much larger spatial scales is not the main influence. In addition, the surface circu.