Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structures de protection innovantes contre les décharges électrostatiques dédiées aux entrées/sorties hautes tensions de technologies SmartPower

Les travaux effectues au cours de cette these visent a developper des structures de protections contre les decharges electrostatiques (ESD) adaptees aux Entrees/Sorties hautes tensions (40V100V) dans le cadre d'applications automobiles et Ethernet. Pour satisfaire ce type de specification, caracterise par une fenetre de conception ESD etroite, la protection doit presenter une caracteristique electrique a faible repliement, ou sans repliement, une tension de fonctionnement elevee et une resistance a l'etat passant (RON) faible. De plus, la robustesse ESD requise est d'au moins 2kV HBM (Human Body Model) et peut atteindre 8kV. Le transistor bipolaire autopolarise a ete retenu comme composant de base des protections developpees, en raison de ses bonnes proprietes en termes de robustesse et de RON. Dans un premier temps, nous avons mene une etude theorique approfondie dans l'optique de determiner les parametres controlant son declenchement et son comportement a l'etat passant, sous l'effet des fortes densites de courant et des temperatures elevees induites par les ESD. En particulier, un nouveau modele a ete etabli lorsque la diminution du rapport d'injection en forte injection conduit a de tres faibles valeurs. Des regles de dessin adaptees aux specifications visees ont ainsi pu etre definies. Dans ce travail, nous proposons differentes solutions permettant de repondre aux exigences de protection des Entrees/Sorties hautes tensions. Ainsi, quatre types de protections innovantes ont ete developpes : des transistors bipolaires PNP dont le RON est optimise, des structures couplant un transistor PNP lateral avec une diode verticale, un transistor NPN dont le gain est fortement degrade afin d'augmenter la tension de fonctionnement et des transistors NPN avec une region flottante dans la base ou dans le collecteur. Dans chaque cas, en s'appuyant sur l'analyse des mecanismes physiques a l'aide de la simulation physique 2D, nous avons defini les strategies d'optimisation appr opriees. Les resultats obtenus permettent de diviser par deux la surface des protections par rapport a la solution classique de mise en serie de plusieurs protections basses tensions.
Use of the Fieller–Hinkley Distribution of the Ratio of Random Variables in Testing for Noninferiority

We address the noninferiority assessment problem defined in terms of the ratio of population means in a parallel group design analysis of variance setting. The sample ratio as a point estimate of the corresponding population ratio has been considered. It has been shown that the Fieller–Hinkley distribution of the ratio of two correlated normally distributed random variables readily provide a technique for constructing confidence intervals comparable to the bootstrap percentile and Fieller's confidence intervals. A finite parameter space based level α test of an inferiority hypothesis formulated in terms of a fixed margin has been derived. We illustrate our approach using the forced vital capacity (FVC) data. We claim that it is easy to construct and straight forward to interpret our bootstrap equivalent confidence intervals that are used to assess noninferiority. We discuss appropriate methods for calculation of sample sizes.
A CMOS mobile TV tuner with precise RF gain control and fast locking PLL for multiband FM/T-DMB/DAB applications

A fully integrated tuner IC based on low-IF architecture is developed for triple-band FM/T-DMB/DAB applications. A precise RF gain control with 50 dB dynamic range is achieved in RF VGA by employing a capacitive ladder type attenuator. A novel coarse tuning scheme based on a RF frequency-to-digital converter allows fast and agile automatic VCO frequency calibration, leading to fast locking in PLL. Implemented in 0.13 µm CMOS, the tuner consumes 57 mA from 1.2 V supply. Measured results are NF &#60; 1.5 dB at the maximum gain and IIP3 > 0 dBm with LNA bypassed. The integrated phase noise of ΔΣ fractional-N PLL is less than 1 rms degree, and the coarse tuning time is less than 2.03 µsec.
Oxidative Stress and Aging: Still a Hypothesis

The idea that oxidative stress may play an important role in many chronic diseases and, indeed, in the aging process itself is not a new one. • Cancer, heart disease, and cataracts are but a few of the diseases for which an oxidative mechanism has been invoked. :' Despite wide-spread speculation, our understanding of the role of oxidative stress in aging and disease causation is still fragmentary and incomplete. Oxidation of glucose and fats is central to energy generation in all mammalian cells, and thus, in a sense, is synonymous with life itself. Some byproducts of oxidation have an unpaired electron, and these "free radicals" and closely related reactive oxygen species are highly and indiscriminately reactive with nearby molecules, damaging proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. In addition to the oxidative damage secondary to normal cellular metabolism, other sources of oxidative stress include endogenous substances generated in response to infection and ischemia, ionizing radiation, and compounds in the environment (e.g., those in cigarette smoke). There are a number of strategies for limiting oxidative damage. • Oxidative processes within the cell tend to be compartmentalized in mitochondria and other organelles such as peroxisomes, thereby placing physical distance between oxidative processes and important cellular structures. Copper and iron are bound to specialized transport proteins like transferrin and ceruloplasmin that prevent them from catalyzing oxidative reactions. Several enzymatic systems exist to control oxidative damage, including Mn-superoxide dismutase, CuZn-superoxide disrnutase, catalase, and the glutathione system. There are also a large number of endogenously produced compounds, such as protein thiols (containing sulfhydryl groups), urate, lipoic acid, and ubiquinol, that may be important antioxidants. Finally, there are also a number of nutritionally derived compounds, such as tocopherols (vitamin E and related compounds), carotenoids, and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), that have important antioxidant properties. As the interest in oxidative stress increases, new dietary constituents with antioxidant properties are being described. However,it remains to be demonstrated which ones are quantitatively important in vivo. The organism's overall oxidative balance appears to be a regulated phenomena. Endogenous antioxidant systems are up-regulated in response to oxidative stress and down-regulated when exogenous antioxidants are introduced. " In humans, physical exercise constitutes an oxidative stress, but regular exercise or conditioning induces increased antioxidant mechanisms. "
Expression of testis-specific genes, TEX101 and ODF4, in chronic myeloid leukemia and evaluation of TEX101 immunogenicity

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Cancer-testis (CT) antigens are a group of antigens with a restricted expression in normal tissues, except testis, and they have aberrant expression in different tumors. This pattern of expression has made them promising targets for immunotherapy and cancer detection. Our aim was to find new members of this group that might be useful as markers in the detection of cancer and immunotherapy. DESIGN AND SETTING A descriptive study conducted in referral centers of Tehran University of Medical Science from january 2008 to January 2009. PATIENTS AND METHODS We analyzed the expression of two testis-specific genes named ODF4 (outer dense fiber of sperm tails 4) and TEX101 (testis expressed 101) in 20 chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and 20 normal samples by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Immunogenicity of TEX101 was evaluated by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS These two genes were expressed in 30% of CML patients but not in any of the healthy donors. Humoral response against TEX101 was not detected in any samples. CONCLUSIONS TEX101 and ODF4 are CT genes useful for detection of CML. Unlike many CT genes, overexpression of TEX101 was not shown to induce immunologic responses in these samples. According to the previous studies, overexpression of TEX101 leads to suppression of cancer invasion and metastasis; thus, the induction of the expression of TEX101 in cancer by epigenetic mechanisms may be a treatment strategy.
Modifications of Glucose Storage and Oxidation in Nonobese Diabetics, Measured by Continuous Indirect Calorimetry

A new application of continuous indirect calorimetry is described for measuring the disposal of a glucose load. In a group of 10 normal subjects, 3 h after a 100 g oral glucose load, 20 g glucose was oxidized at basal rate, 19 g in response to the load and 63 g stored, while a decrease of 2 g was observed in the glucose space (GS). In a group of four type I, insulin-dependent diabetics, both glucose oxidation (9 g at the basal rate and 4 g in response to the load) and glucose storage (9 g) were markedly decreased, with the remainder either being lost in the urine (36 g) or remaining in the glucose space (42 g). In a group of eight nonobese type II, non-insulin-dependent diabetics, glucose oxidation both at the basal rate and in response to the load was slightly decreased (13 and 14 g, respectively) and glucose storage decreased to 40 g. These results suggest that, in type I diabetics, complete insulin deficiency seriously impairs two major mechanisms regulating glucose homeostasis, i.e., glucose storage and oxidation, while, in type II diabetics, the remaining insulin secretion attentuates these disturbances.
Description of human body shape using an isomorphic polygon

A novel polygon model describing human body shape is developed. Firstly, a method of expressing an arbitrary point on a polygon mesh using the UV plane is proposed. An isomorphic feature of the model enables us to fit the polygon model to three-dimensional (3D) measurements by means of the least square method. Secondly, in order to optimise the model structure, vertices of the model are allocated to trunk shape based on multiple sets of 3D measurements of Japanese women. Finally, the experimental results show that the derived generic model consisting of 1,087 vertices can reconstruct the original shapes with the average error of 1.19 mm, sufficient for practical use.
Time-resolved correlation: a new tool for studying temporally heterogeneous dynamics

We introduce a new scheme for investigating temporally heterogeneous dynamics, which is termed time-resolved correlation (TRC). TRC is applied to data obtained by diffusing wave spectroscopy probing the slow dynamics of a strongly aggregated colloidal gel. Other examples of TRC data, collected for different jammed materials in single and multiple scattering, are provided to demonstrate the wide range of applicability of this method. In all cases we find evidence that the slow dynamics results from a series of discrete steps rather than from a continuous motion, suggesting temporal heterogeneities to be a general feature of slow dynamics in jammed systems.
Examining intention to control preschool children's sugar snacking: a study of carers in Uganda.

AIM The aims of this study were to investigate parents' intention to control their children's sugar consumption and whether that behaviour is reported to occur in 3-5-year-old preschool children according to sociodemographics and attitudinal factors derived from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). DESIGN Some 589 children aged 3-5 years (51% boys, response rate = 85%) attending nursery schools in Kampala Central (urban) and Nakawa (suburban), Uganda, were examined clinically for dental caries. A questionnaire to assess sociodemographic factors, sugar intake and the constructs of the TPB was completed by their parents'/caregivers in face-to-face interviews. RESULTS Analyses of variance revealed more positive attitudes and stronger intention to control children's intake of sugared snacks in highly as compared to less highly educated parents. Independent of educational level, parents having children with caries perceived themselves to have less control over their child's intake of sugared snacks and perceived them to be more susceptible to tooth decay compared to parents of children without caries. In multiple linear regression, the TPB provided a significant prediction of intention with attitude (b = 0.16, P < 0.001), subjective norms (b = 0.18, P < 0.001) and perceived barriers (b = 0.11, P = 0.01), significant and reported sugar intake with attitudes (b = -0.10, P = 0.02), and perceived susceptibility (b = 16, P < 0.001) all significant. CONCLUSION The TPB components predict parental intention to control sugar snacking and whether that behaviour occurs in preschool children. The strengths of parents' attitudes and reported level of child sugar snacking varied between diverse socioeconomic family groups. Implications for oral health education are discussed.
Forecasting Zika Incidence in the 2016 Latin America Outbreak Combining Traditional Disease Surveillance with Search, Social Media, and News Report Data

Background Over 400,000 people across the Americas are thought to have been infected with Zika virus as a consequence of the 2015–2016 Latin American outbreak. Official government-led case count data in Latin America are typically delayed by several weeks, making it difficult to track the disease in a timely manner. Thus, timely disease tracking systems are needed to design and assess interventions to mitigate disease transmission. Methodology/Principal Findings We combined information from Zika-related Google searches, Twitter microblogs, and the HealthMap digital surveillance system with historical Zika suspected case counts to track and predict estimates of suspected weekly Zika cases during the 2015–2016 Latin American outbreak, up to three weeks ahead of the publication of official case data. We evaluated the predictive power of these data and used a dynamic multivariable approach to retrospectively produce predictions of weekly suspected cases for five countries: Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Venezuela, and Martinique. Models that combined Google (and Twitter data where available) with autoregressive information showed the best out-of-sample predictive accuracy for 1-week ahead predictions, whereas models that used only Google and Twitter typically performed best for 2- and 3-week ahead predictions. Significance Given the significant delay in the release of official government-reported Zika case counts, we show that these Internet-based data streams can be used as timely and complementary ways to assess the dynamics of the outbreak.
Efforts to Decriminalize Suicide in Ghana, India and Singapore

In recent years, many nations have decriminalized suicide and attempted suicide, including Canada, Ireland and Sri Lanka. The present paper discusses three countries that are moving toward decriminalizing suicidal behavior (India, Ghana and Singapore) and notes the different pressures for this change - in India from the Supreme Court, in Ghana from NGOs and healthcare professionals, and in Singapore from the legislature.
The shape of field emitters and the ion trajectories in three‐dimensional atom probes

The lateral resolution of three‐dimensional atom probes is mainly controlled by the aberrations of the ion trajectories near the specimen surface. For the first time, a simulation program has been developed to reconstruct the ion trajectories near a sharp hemispherical electrode defined at the atomic scale. Surface atoms submitted to the highest field were removed one by one. The consecutive gradual change of the surface topology was taken into account in the calculation of ion trajectories. As the tip was ‘field evaporated’, the initial spherical shape of the emitter was observed to transform gradually into a polygonal shape. When the tip reached its equilibrium shape, the field distribution at the tip surface was found to be much more uniform compared to the initial distribution. The calculated distribution of ion impacts on the detector exhibits the presence of depleted zones both at the centre of low index poles and along <001> zone axes. These predictions are in excellent agreement with experiments.
Towards objective evaluation of perceived roughness and breathiness: An approach based on mel-frequency cepstral analysis

Abstract Within this paper, the authors report on an experiment on automatic labelling of perceived voice roughness (R) and breathiness (B), according to the GRBAS scale. The main objective of the experiment has not been to correlate objective measures to perceived R and B, but to automatically evaluate R and B. For this purpose, a system has been trained that extracts the first mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) of available sustained vowel phonations. Afterwards, a classifier has been trained to estimate the corresponding degrees of roughness and breathiness. The obtained results reveal a significant correlation between subjective and automatic labelling, hence indicating the feasibility of objective evaluation of voice quality by means of perceptually meaningful measures.
Ultrastructural alterations in the seminiferous epithelium of immobilized monkeys.

THE MIAMINLIAN Tsris responds to a varietv of chemical and phvsical agents bv undergoing changes in spermatogenesis. Alkv-lating and ischemia " can all interfere with the spermatogenic process. In a previous report,-' we described the effects of immobilization on spermatogenesis in monkeys undergoing pre-spaceflight tests. The principal changes apparent bv light microscopv were degeneration of the seminiferous epithelium and rapid disappearance of spermatocvtes and spermatids. After 14 davs of immobilization, the seminiferous tubules contained only spermatogonia and Sertoli cells. Biopsies taken at 30 and 60 davs after release showed apparent recoverv of spermatogenesis. The purpose of the present report is to describe the electron microscopic appearance of the seminiferous epithelium during immobilization, and to discuss the significance of the cellular changes associated with spermatogenic inhibition. After 14 days, the monkevs were released and returned to their cages. Six testicular specimens were obtained: (1) initial, prior to immobilization; (2) after 7 days of immobilization; (3) after 10 days of immobilization; (4) after 14 days of immobil- ization; (5) 30 days after release; (6) 60 days after release. Initial biopsies were taken from the cranial surface of the right testis. Subsequent specimens were obtained from alternate testes and surfaces, in sequence. Detailed description of biopsy technic and reasons for selecting biopsy approach have been given in a previous publication.21 Tissue was prepared for electron microscopy by fixing finely minced fragments in ice-cold 1% osmium tetroxide with salts added for 1 hour, followed by dehy-dration in graded alcohols and embedding in Araldite. Sections cut with an LKB ultramicrotome were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and examined with a Hitachi HUIIC electron microscope.
MGMT promoter methylation status and prognosis of patients with primary or recurrent glioblastoma treated with carmustine wafers

Abstract The prognostic role of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation in glioblastoma patients treated with carmustine (BCNU) wafer implantation is unclear. Here, we report on a retrospective study of 47 patients with either newly diagnosed (30 patients) or recurrent (17 patients) glioblastoma (WHO grade IV) treated with BCNU (bis-chloroethylnitrosourea) wafers. Thirteen of the newly diagnosed patients received local BCNU and irradiation only (first-line BCNU), while 17 patients additionally received concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) radiochemotherapy (first-line BCNU + TMZ). Of the 17 patients treated for recurrent glioblastoma (second-line BCNU), 16 had received radiotherapy with concomitant and adjuvant TMZ as an initial treatment. Median overall survival (OS) did not significantly differ between 19 patients with MGMT promoter methylated tumors when compared to 28 patients with unmethylated tumors (18.9 vs 15.0 months; p = 0.1054). In the first-line BCNU + TMZ group, MGMT promoter methylation was associated with longer OS (21.0 vs 11.1 months, p = 0.0127), while no significant survival differences were detected in the other two subgroups. Progression-free survival did not significantly differ between patients with and without MGMT promoter methylated tumors in the entire patient cohort or any of the three subgroups. The first-line BCNU + TMZ group showed no significant difference in OS when compared to the first-line BCNU group (18.9 vs 14.7 months), but tended to have more therapy-related adverse effects (53% vs 24%, p = 0.105). In summary, MGMT promoter methylation showed a non-significant trend toward longer survival in our patient cohort. The combination of TMZ radiochemotherapy with local delivery of BCNU did not provide a significant survival benefit compared to local BCNU alone, but was associated with a higher rate of adverse effects. Owing to the small number of patients investigated, however, these findings would need to be corroborated in larger patient cohorts.
Elements de phonologie et de morphologie tigrigna : ethiopien septentrional

Cette these analyse quelques aspects de la phonologie et de la morphologie gie du tigrigna, langue semitique ethiopienne encore un peu decrite. Elle est aussi l'evaluation implicite d'un modele dans le cadre de la phonologie plurilineaire. Le formalisme retenu est caracterise par la representation du rythme (angoujard, 1984) et des segments (kaye, lowenstamm, vergnaud, 1985). La segmentation de la chaine parlee se refere non a la syllabe mais a un "patron rythmique" ou la relation entre phonie et distribution est strictement etablie par la distinction entre obstruantes et sonantes. Dans la representation phonologique, l'element est le constituant premier du segment. L'analyse consiste a identifier le modele rythmique tigrigna, c'est-a-dire les parametres qui regissent distribution segmentales et combinaisons des unites prosodiques. Cette reference au rythme permet d'expliquer avec un minimum de stipulations un certain nombre de faits jusqu'alors seulement enumeres, voire ignores, de predire les alternances segmentales. Celles-ci, expressions de la hierarchie rythmique, sont predictibles, qu'elles soient liees a la substance (semi-voyelles, occlusive gottale), a un ajustement prosodique (abregement, renforcement), a la propagation d'un element (harmonie).
Towards Suppressing Attacks on and Improving Resilience of Building Automation Systems - an Approach Exemplified Using BACnet

Different concepts of IT security, like communication encryption, have already been applied to building automation systems (BAS). However, no research is available to mitigate malicious or incompliant network traffic in BAS. Both aspects are covered by traffic normalizers. We present the first work-in-progress research on traffic normalization for building automation networks exemplified using building automation control and network (BACnet) protocol.