Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Behavior modelling for LC tank based oscillators

A design methodology for differential LC based oscillators is presented. The topology studied here makes use of an NMOS cross coupled pair, inversion mode PMOS varactors and a differential symmetrical inductor for the oscillator implementation. Simple test circuits are used to obtain the differential S-parameters for the individual building blocks. A mathematical empirical function is then assigned for each block to model its behavior as a function of the bias point and geometrical parameters. The results for the extracted models are in excellent agreement with simulation data for a typical 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology library. Finally, the models developed are manipulated together to provide an accurate graphical representation for the startup condition and design constraints lines where the interdependence of different design variables is taken into account. The approach is flexible in the sense that it enables designers to track and tune different design parameters during the optimization cycle. It can also be extended by analogy to other existing different topologies.
Informative Armstrong Relations: Application to Database Analysis

Given a set F of functional dependencies (FDs), Armstrong relations for F are example relations satisfying exactly F. Instead of starting from F, an interesting issue is to consider an existing relation, say r, and compute Armstrong relations for dep(r), the set of FDs satisfied in r. In this setting, the main contribution of this paper is to define so ­called Infor­mative Armstrong Relations (IAR), say s, for r such that s is a subset of r and s is an Armstrong relation for dep(r). Such a relation always exists since r itself is obviously an IAR for dep(r), but the challenge is to compute IAR whose size is as small as possible. First, we proof that generating the smallest IAR is NP­complete. Then, we give an heuristic to construct small IARs for a given relation. Some expe­riments have been performed on relations available in the KDD archive; they point out the interest of IARs to sample existing relations.
Ultrasonic Speckle Tracking with an Adaptive Frame Interval for the Measurement of Blood Flow Velocities

Blood flow velocity profile (BFVP) is commonly used to calculate hemodynamic parameters. Traditional speckle tracking (TST) estimates the displacements of image blocks between adjacent frame images to measure the BFVP. However, quantized errors caused by the transformation from image pixels to physical distances negatively impact on the accuracy of the BFVP measurement. In the present study, an improved speckle tracking (IST) is proposed to adaptively determine the frame intervals between two frame images based on the correlation of speckles. Firstly, the maximum normalized correlation coefficients (MNCCs) are calculated by finding the matches of the kernel blocks in subsequent comparison frame images (CFIs) after the reference frame image (RFI). Then, the largest frame interval with the MNCC greater than 0.6, is chosen to determine the velocity of the kernel block. In the experiments, the ultrasound transducer is used to scan a vessel-mimicking phantom with the peak velocities of 0.1 m/s and 0.2 m/s, respectively. The echo signals are off-line processed to yield B-mode images. The normalized root mean square errors of the TST-based results are 23.06±3.36 % and 19.92±3.08 %, and reduced to 8.36±1.86 % and 7.76±1.90 % by the IST method for the two different peak velocities. In conclusion, the IST method can improve the measurement accuracy of the BFVP, from which accurate diagnosis information could be hopefully acquired in clinics.
Activator protein‐2α functions as a master regulator of multiple transcription factors in the mouse liver

Aim: Activator protein 2α (AP‐2α) belongs to the AP‐2 family of transcription factors that are involved in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and carcinogenesis and has been suggested to function as a tumor suppressor in many cancers. However, the physiological role of AP‐2α in hepatocytes is unknown. The present study is to characterize the expression and function of AP‐2α in the liver of conscience mouse.
Spectacles May Improve Reading Speed in Children with Hyperopia

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of (hyperopic or myopic) spectacle correction in reading speed of 9- to 10-year-old children. Methods Subjects were recruited at their schools. Initial selection was based on reduced distance acuity and/or a positive blur test. Final inclusion depended on cycloplegic refraction. Forty-three myopes were prescribed glasses. Sixty-five hyperopes were randomized to three groups: (1) no glasses, (2) +0.5DS for both eyes, and (3) full correction. Before and 4 to 6 months after prescription of glasses, reading speed was tested: One-Minute Test (reading speed of genuine words) and the Klepel (reading speed of nonwords). Data for this second reading test were obtained in 34 myopes and 48 hyperopes. Results At baseline, myopes had about 11% higher One-Minute scores (p = 0.005) and about 9% higher Klepel scores (p = 0.066) than hyperopes. At follow-up, the hyperopia–full correction group improved its One-Minute score by about 13% more than both the no-glasses group (p = 0.012) and +0.5DS group (p = 0.019). Spectacles did not, or only slightly, improve reading scores of myopes (One-Minute scores, p = 0.068; Klepel scores, p = 0.021). Conclusions Correction of hyperopia may increase speed of reading (as reflected by the One-Minute score). The fact that reading speed of nonwords does not increase after correction suggests that hyperopia affects speed of recognition but not decoding per se.
Intercalated disks in tissue cultures

For many years intercalated disks hare been seen in fixed and stained preparations of cardiac iiiuwle cells. I n 1910 Pabezewska, a student of Zimmermaiin, published his method for fixing and staining cardiac muscle wliicli clearly demonstrated their presence. I n 1911 Jordan studied them in liumming bird liearts and in 1912 Jordan and Steele found them in the hearts of a large number of adult rerterbrates. They also examined the hearts of some young rertebrates and found intercalated disks in a 4-pear-olcl child, a 4-clay-old cat, and a guinea pig in the last week of gestation. They found the disks appeared when the cross striations becanie visible. F o r a long time we have been lookiiig for intercalated disks in our tissue cultures growing in hanging drops but we had not been able to find them. Even the culture which lived to be 180 days old (Hogue, '37) did not show them. It was made from the heart of an 8-day-old cliick enibq-0. Recently we have been moye fortunate and have found them when we cultured the hearts of 10-day-old chick embryos aiid grew them in test tubes in a roller-tube apparatus (Gey and Gey, '36) at 37°C. The explants were attached to the walls of the test tubes by chicken plasma coagulated with haemostatic globulin. They were bathed with a nutrient fluid made of equal parts of Tyrode Locke-Lewis solution (Hogue, '3'7) and chick embryo extract made up witli the same solutioii
Surface-associated and secreted factors of Streptococcus suis in epidemiology, pathogenesis and vaccine development

Abstract Streptococcus suis is an invasive porcine pathogen associated with meningitis, arthritis, bronchopneumonia and other diseases. The pathogen constitutes a major health problem in the swine industry worldwide. Furthermore, S. suis is an important zoonotic agent causing meningitis and other diseases in humans exposed to pigs or pork. Current knowledge on pathogenesis is limited, despite the enormous amount of data generated by ‘omics’ research. Accordingly, immunprophylaxis (in pigs) is hampered by lack of a cross-protective vaccine against virulent strains of this diverse species. This review focuses on bacterial factors, both surface-associated and secreted ones, which are considered to contribute to S. suis interaction(s) with host factors and cells. Factors are presented with respect to (i) their identification and features, (ii) their distribution among S. suis and (iii) their significance for virulence, immune response and vaccination. This review also shows the enormous progress made in research on S. suis over the last few years, and it emphasizes the numerous challenging questions remaining to be answered in the future.
Empirical Assessment of Test-First Approach

The test-first approach, which is based on an iterative process of "setting up test cases, implementing the functionality, and having all test cases passed", has been put forward for decades however knowledge on test-first approach is limited. This research abstract states the limitations that previous studies in this area have, describes a controlled experiment with undergraduate students in the context of Sheffield Software Engineering Observatory (SSEO) environment to investigate the distinction between test-first and test-last approach (traditional approach), presents research questions and hypotheses set up before the experiment from the quality and productivity perspective, and expounds methods of data collection and validation
Effects of nutritional components on aging

Nutrients including carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, and minerals regulate various physiological processes and are essential for the survival of organisms. Reduced overall caloric intake delays aging in various organisms. However, the role of each nutritional component in the regulation of lifespan is not well established. In this review, we describe recent studies focused on the regulatory role of each type of nutrient in aging. Moreover, we will discuss how the amount or composition of each nutritional component may influence longevity or health in humans.
Dispersal-Dormancy Relationships in Annual Plants: Putting Model Predictions to the Test

Bet hedging is a means to increase fitness in environments that vary unpredictably in space and time. In such environments, models predict a trade-off between the bet-hedging strategies dispersal and dormancy, while the increasing importance of risk reduction with decreasing predictability should lead to an increase in dispersal and dormancy along gradients of environmental predictability. However, so far there has been no experimental study to test these predictions in the field. Here, we used a set of novel field experiments that enabled us to quantify and separate seedling recruitment from three sources: local reproduction, dormancy, and dispersal. The study included the entire plant community from five environments differing considerably in predictability. Evidence for both the existence of a trade-off between dispersal and dormancy within environments and their increased use in unpredictable environments was very weak. The importance of dispersal for population and community dynamics in our system was extremely low relative to dormancy and local reproduction. This indicates that the role of dispersal for buffering environmental variation may be negligible compared with other risk-reducing strategies. Our findings highlight the urgent need for multispecies and multisite experiments in empirical tests of theoretical predictions.
Parametric presentation of dielectric function of laser pumped wide-zone semiconductor material: Does this function satisfy the Kramers-Kronig relations?

Dielectric function of wide-zone semiconductor nanoparticles (titanium dioxide) was studied under the condition of laser pumping at various wavelengths. A closed-aperture z-scan method with simultaneous measurements of the right-anglescattered intensity was used to retrieve the real and imaginary parts of dielectric function in the dependence on the pump intensity. It was found that the efficiency of dielectric function modulation by pumping light strongly depends on detuning of the wavelength of pumping light with respect to the fundamental absorption band of nanoparticles. The ColeCole diagrammatic technique was applied for interpretation of the pump-induced changes of the dielectric function in the optical range. Applicability of the Kramers-Kronig relations for description of the observed behavior of the dielectric function is discussed.
A Census of Plane Graphs with Polyline Edges

It is shown that on every n-element point set in the plane, at most exp(O(kn)) labeled planar graphs can be embedded using polyline edges with k bends per edge. This is the first exponential upper bound for the number of labeled plane graphs where the edges are polylines of constant size. Several standard tools developed for the enumeration of straight-line graphs, such as triangulations and crossing numbers, are unavailable in this scenario. Furthermore, the exponential upper bound does not carry over to other popular relaxations of straight-line edges: for example, the number of plane graphs realizable with x-monotone edges on n points is already super-exponential.
Laser in dentistry: An innovative tool in modern dental practice

The term LASER is an acronym for ‘Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation’. As its first application in dentistry by Miaman, in 1960, the laser has seen various hard and soft tissue applications. In the last two decades, there has been an explosion of research studies in laser application. In hard tissue application, the laser is used for caries prevention, bleaching, restorative removal and curing, cavity preparation, dentinal hypersensitivity, growth modulation and for diagnostic purposes, whereas soft tissue application includes wound healing, removal of hyperplastic tissue to uncovering of impacted or partially erupted tooth, photodynamic therapy for malignancies, photostimulation of herpetic lesion. Use of the laser proved to be an effective tool to increase efficiency, specificity, ease, and cost and comfort of the dental treatment.
The Role of Diet, Prebiotic and Probiotic in the Development and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD)

Abdulamir, A.S. 1,2, Muhammad Zukhrufuz Zaman3, Hafidh R.R. 1,4 and Abu Bakar F.1,3 1Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, 2Microbiology department, College of Medicine, Alnahrain University, Baghdad 3Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 4Microbiology department, College of Medicine, Baghdad University 1,3Malaysia 2,4Iraq
Flourishing, Substance Use, and Engagement in Students Entering College: A Preliminary Study

Abstract Objective: The present study explores the association between positive mental health or flourishing, depression, and engaged learning in undergraduates. Participants: Entering first year students (N = 428) at a liberal arts college. Methods: Students completed measures of depression, flourishing, substance use, and student engagement. Results: Based on Keyes’ model of mental health, 1 69.1% of students were flourishing, 29.0% were moderately mentally healthy, and 1.9% were languishing. In addition, 21.8% of students had elevated depression scores, and these scores were highly correlated with languishing. Alcohol consumption and binge drinking were not associated with measures of mental health. However, certain kinds of student engagement were associated with flourishing. Conclusions: Results suggest more flourishing in this sample entering college than in previous studies of high school students or adults. Future research should explore flourishing in undergraduates in more diverse samples across educational institutions, and employ prospective designs.
A young patient with multisystem complications after cytomegalovirus infection

We are describing a case of an 18-year-old male patient with cytomegalovirus (CMV) associated guillain-barre syndrome (GBS) who presented with an acute onset of generalized weakness and numbness in the extremities, dysphagia, and facial diplegia, followed by respiratory failure, which led to mechanical ventilation. He had positive immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M antibodies against CMV, and CMV polymerase chain reaction was positive with <2000 copies of deoxyribonucleic acid. Human immunodeficiency virus test was negative. He received a course of ganciclovir, intravenous immunoglobulin, and plasmapheresis. After improving from acute episode, patient was transferred to a rehabilitation facility for physical and occupational therapy. At the rehabilitation facility, he exhibited signs of acute abdomen with pain in the left upper quadrant secondary to peritonitis from dislodged gastrostomy tube and underwent exploratory laparotomy. During the hospital course he was found to have splenic infarct and colitis on the computed tomography of abdomen. This case showed an immunocompetent young patient with multisystem complications including guillain-barre syndrome (GBS), splenic infarct, hepatitis, and colitis due to CMV.
A modular tooling set-up for incremental sheet forming (ISF) with subsequent stress-relief annealing under partial constraints

Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is a manufacturing process most suitable for small-batch production of sheet metal parts. In ISF, a CNC-controlled tool moves over the sheet metal, following a specified contour to form a part of the desired geometry. This study focuses on one of the dominant process limitations associated with the ISF, i.e., the limited geometrical accuracy. In this regard, a case study is performed which shows that increased geometrical accuracy of the formed part can be achieved by a using stress-relief annealing before unclamping. To keep the tooling costs low, a modular die design consisting of a stiff metal frame and inserts made from inexpensive plastics (Sika®) were devised. After forming, the plastics inserts are removed. The metal frame supports the part during stress-relief annealing. Finite Element (FE) simulations of the manufacturing process are performed. Due to the residual stresses induced during the forming, the geometry of the formed part, from FE simulation and the actua.
Ionizing radiation-induced DNA damage, response, and repair.

SIGNIFICANCE Ionizing radiation (IR) is an effective and commonly employed treatment in the management of more than half of human malignancies. Because IR's ability to control tumors mainly relies on DNA damage, the cell's DNA damage response and repair (DRR) processes may hold the key to determining tumor responses. IR-induced DNA damage activates a number of DRR signaling cascades that control cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and the cell's fate. DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) generated by IR are the most lethal form of damage, and are mainly repaired via either homologous recombination (HR) or nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathways. RECENT ADVANCES In recent years, immense effort to understand and exploit the differences in the use of these repair pathways between tumors and normal cells will allow for an increase in tumor cell killing and a decrease in normal tissue injury. CRITICAL ISSUES Regulation of the two major DSB repair mechanisms (HR and NHEJ) and new strategies, which may improve the therapeutic ratio of radiation by differentially targeting HR and NHEJ function in tumor and normal tissues, is of intense interest currently, and is the focus of this article. FUTURE DIRECTIONS By utilizing the strategies outlined above, it may be possible to exploit differences between tumor and somatic cell DRR pathways, specifically their DSB repair mechanisms, to improve the therapeutic ratio of IR.
Non-vital loads

As the frequency gap between main memory and modern microprocessor grows, the implementation and efficiency of on-chip caches become more important. The growing latency to memory is motivating new research into load instruction behavior and selective data caching. This work investigates the classification of load instruction behavior. A new load classification method is proposed that classifies loads into those vital to performance and those not vital to performance. A limit study is presented to characterize different types of non-vital loads and to quantify the percentage of loads that are non-vital. Finally, a realistic implementation of the non-vital load classification method is presented and a new cache structure called the Vital Cache is proposed to take advantage of non-vital loads. The Vital Cache caches data for vital loads only, deferring non-vital loads to slower caches. Results: The limit study shows 75% of all loads are non-vital with only 35% of the accessed data space being vital for caching. The Vital Cache improves the efficiency of the cache hierarchy and the hit rate for vital loads. The Vital Cache increases performance by 17%.
The value of quality-of-life questionnaires in head and neck cancer

Purpose of reviewTo review the recent literature on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Recent findingsHRQOL is an important part of well designed clinical trials. HRQOL seems to be an independent predictor of survival, but this association may be influenced by various cancer-related, personal, biological, psychobehavioural, physical, lifestyle-related, and social factors. Less is known about the course of HRQOL over time and about the same above-mentioned possible factors associated with (change in) HRQOL of HNC patients. Symptom management and psychosocial care may be beneficial for HNC patients to improve HRQOL, but more randomized controlled trials are needed. Studies on HRQOL in HNC are most often based on cross-sectional designs. The variability in the outcome measures hampers the generalizability of the results of these studies. Information on HRQOL of caregivers is scarce. SummaryBetter information on all aspects of the course of HRQOL from diagnosis and treatment to long-term survivorship or death is highly needed in both patients and their caregivers, enabling reliable and valid predictive modelling. More evidence of efficacy of (new) treatment options, symptom management, and psychosocial care is needed, also in the context of increasing long-term survival and growing attention for cancer survivorship.
Device optimised chirp stimulus for ABR measurements with an active middle ear implant

Abstract Objective: Active middle ear implants are widely used to treat adults and children with sensorineural, conductive, or mixed hearing loss. Currently, there is no adequate method to determine the performance of active middle ear implant systems. Design: The proposed method is based on measuring the auditory brainstem response while stimulating the hearing system via the active middle ear implant (Vibrant SoundbridgeTM, VSB; MEDEL, Austria). The acoustic stimulation was achieved via an optimised chirp stimulus (CE-Chirp), implemented in the Eclipse system (Interacoustics, Denmark). To compensate for the frequency-specific delays in the VSB system, the underlying model function of the CE-Chirp was adjusted accordingly (VSB-CE-Chirp). Study samples: The study includes 12 subjects having mild to profound sensorineural, conductive or mixed hearing loss. Results: The use of an optimised VSB-CE-Chirp instead of the CE-Chirp increases significantly the ABR wave V amplitudes (1.63 times) and so also increases their identifiability (by 15.2%). On average, wave V could be identified at a 7.5 dB lower stimulation level. Conclusion: The constructed VSB-CE-Chirp stimulus, after it had been transmitted through the VSB system, follows well the shape of the original CE-Chirp. Preliminary measurements in VSB patients demonstrated a significantly improved ABR amplitude with the VSB-CE-Chirp.