Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal vector selection for low power BIST

In the last decade, researchers have devoted increasing efforts to reduce the average power consumption in VLSI systems during normal operation mode, while power consumption during test operation mode was usually neglected. However, during test application the circuits are subject to an activity higher than the normal one: the extra power consumption due to test application may thus give rise to severe hazards to the circuit reliability. Moreover, it can dramatically shorten the battery life when periodic testing of battery-powered systems is considered. In this paper we propose a low power BIST architecture devised for full scan testing of sequential circuits. Experimental results show that our approach can achieve an average power reduction ranging from 37% to 89% without affecting the quality of the test. The new architecture can be easily integrated into an existing design flow and is barely invasive with respect to the original BIST circuit.
The Diagnosis 2 of Cardiac Arrhythmias

Patients with cardiac arrhythmias may come to the attention of their physicians in a variety of ways. An asymptomatic arrhythmia may be fortuitously discovered on a routine electrocardiogram (ECG) or physical exam. Alternatively, a patient may present with a complaint suggestive of arrhythmia, usually palpitations, syncope, or presyncope. Finally, patients who have no history of arrhythmia, but who may be prone to ventricular tachyarrhythmias because of underlying heart disease, may undergo routine testing to evaluate their level of risk. Patients in each category may be evaluated by invasive or noninvasive means. This chapter focuses on the noninvasive evaluation of patients with suspected arrhythmias and discusses indications for invasive testing.
IgG Subclass Concentrations in Preterm Neonates

Serum IgG subclass concentrations were measured in 158 sera from preterm, appropriate for gestational age, infants born between 27 and 37 weeks of gestation, pregnancy, delivery and neonatal period being uncomplicated in all cases. At birth the IgG subclass concentrations were inversely correlated to the degree of prematurity. The IgG subclass concentrations decreased mainly proportionately during the neonatal period. The most immature infants born before the 30th week of gestation had critically low concentrations of all IgG subclasses. All immature infants, already in the first week after birth, showed capacity for IgGl and IgG3 synthesis.
Narrow band imaging in gastroesophageal reflux disease and Barrett's esophagus.

Narrow Band Imaging (NBI), developed by Olympus Medical Systems (Olympus, Japan), is a new and well-recognized advance in endoscopic imaging. Although conventional white-light endoscopy uses the entire spectrum of visible light (400 nm to 700 nm) to examine tissue, the NBI system uses optic filters to isolate two specific bands of light: 415 nm blue and 540 nm green (1–4). By isolating these two bands of light and taking into account their absorptive and reflective properties on the mucosal surface, an image that enhances visualization of superficial mucosal and vascular structures is created. The highlight of NBI endoscopy is the proposed ability to predict pathology in real-time based on the mucosal and vascular changes detected. NBI has been investigated for use as a diagnostic modality in a variety of lesions in the gastrointestinal, respiratory and genitourinary tract (4–6). Conveniently, the NBI mode on an endoscope can be activated with the depression of a switch similar to taking a picture. Dr Robert Enns NBI, often referred to as ‘digital chromoendoscopy’, was developed as an alternative method of obtaining visual enhancement of tissue similar to that seen in chromoendoscopy – a procedure that uses the absorptive properties of various dyes, such as indigo carmine, rather than optical filters (1–4). Although much research concerning the use of chromoendoscopy has been conducted, its widespread use has not been adopted for various reasons including the increased time involved with the procedure and the lack of training (ie, many training centres do not use it regularly). In the January 2009 issue of The Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology, we discussed the role of NBI for the detection of neoplastic lesions of the lower gastrointestinal tract; specifically its utility in the diagnosis of adenomatous polyps and dysplasia in ulcerative colitis, hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer and screening colonoscopy. The purpose of the present paper is to review the use of NBI endoscopy as a diagnostic modality for lesions of the upper gastrointestinal tract with particular emphasis on Barrett’s esophagus (BE).
Phosphorylation of tyrosine 474 of the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) Tir receptor molecule is essential for actin nucleating activity and is preceded by additional host modifications

The enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) Tir protein becomes tyrosine phosphorylated in host cells and displays an increase in apparent molecular mass. The interaction of Tir with the EPEC outer membrane protein, intimin, triggers actin nucleation beneath the adherent bacteria. The enterohaemorrhagic E. coli 0157:H7 (EHEC) Tir molecule is not tyrosine phosphorylated. In this paper, Tir tyrosine phosphorylation is shown to be essential for actin nucleation activity, but not for the increase in apparent molecular mass observed in target cells. Tyrosine phosphorylation had no role in Tir molecular mass shift, indicating additional host modifications. Analysis of Tir intermediates indicates that tyrosine‐independent modification functions to direct Tir's correct insertion from the cytoplasm into the host membrane. Deletion analysis identified Tir domains participating in translocation, association with the host membrane, modification and antibody recognition. Intimin was found to bind a 55‐amino‐acid region (TIBA) within Tir that topological and sequence analysis suggests is located in an extracellular loop. Homologous TIBA sequences exist in integrins, which also bind intimin. Collectively, this study provides definitive evidence for the importance of tyrosine phosphorylation for EPEC Tir function and reveals differences in the pathogenicity of EPEC and EHEC. The data also suggest a mechanism for Tir insertion into the host membrane, as well as providing clues to the mode of intimin–integrin interaction.
A diverse superfamily of enzymes with ATP‐dependent carboxylate—amine/thiol ligase activity

The recently developed PSI‐BLAST method for sequence database search and methods for motif analysis were used to define and expand a superfamily of enzymes with an unusual nucleotide‐binding fold, referred to as palmate, or ATP‐grasp fold. In addition to d‐alanine‐d‐alanine ligase, glutathione synthetase, biotin carboxylase, and carbamoyl phosphate synthetase, enzymes with known three‐dimensional structures, the ATP‐grasp domain is predicted in the ribosomal protein S6 modification enzyme (RimK), urea amidolyase, tubulin‐tyrosine ligase, and three enzymes of purine biosynthesis. All these enzymes possess ATP‐dependent carboxylate‐amine ligase activity, and their catalytic mechanisms are likely to include acylphosphate intermediates. The ATP‐grasp superfamily also includes succinate‐CoA ligase (both ADP‐forming and GDP‐forming variants), malate‐CoA ligase, and ATP‐citrate lyase, enzymes with a carboxylate‐thiol ligase activity, and several uncharacterized proteins. These findings significantly extend the variety of the substrates of ATP‐grasp enzymes and the range of biochemical pathways in which they are involved, and demonstrate the complementarity between structural comparison and powerful methods for sequence analysis.
Long-term researches on post fire recovery techniques of cork oak stands

The cork oak shows a good resistance to fire events due to the properties of its bark and a high capacity to resprout after intense fire events from basal suckers. Two experimental trials aiming to evaluate post fire recovery techniques enclosing the influence of the grazing disturbance were conducted in Sardinia. In the first trial, where the experimental activities started in the 1985 in northern hills of Sardinia, a traditional coppicing of severe damaged cork oak trees was compared with the branch pruning. The coppicing, suggested when high damage levels due to the fire occur, showed a percentage of recovered plants higher than 95%. The early sucker thinning did not produce any significant advantage. The branch pruning showed lower percentages of living trees, going from 20% to 77% in relation to the number of the bark stripping the plants have before the fire. The second case study (Sardinia, central hills) was mainly addressed to the evaluation of the grazing effects after fire. As in the first case, the fire event occurred two years after the bark stripping. The results reveal that the intense grazing after fire causes the death of all coppiced trees. On the other hand, almost all plants recovered after the fire in not grazed plots. The trials showed that a preliminary evaluation of the degree of the trees damage due to the fire is necessary before to apply any recovery technique. Finally, the results give useful information for the management of cork oak stands after fire events, a very common situation in the Mediterranean areas where cork oak is diffuse.
Effect of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I on prostate diseases: an ultrasonographic and endocrine study in acromegaly, GH deficiency, and healthy subjects.

The role of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in prostate development is currently under thorough investigation because it has been claimed that IGF-I is a positive predictor of prostate cancer. To assess the effect of GH and IGF-I levels on prostate pathophysiology, 46 acromegalic (30 in active disease, 10 cured from acromegaly, and 6 affected from GH deficiency) and 30 age-matched male controls, free from previous or concomitant prostate disorders, underwent pituitary, androgen, and prostate hormonal assessments and transrectal ultrasonography. Compared to control values, GH (P < 0.0001), IGF-I (P < 0.0001), and IGFBP-3 (P < 0.001) levels were increased, whereas testosterone (P < 0.0001) and dihydrotestosterone levels (P < 0.0001) were reduced in active acromegalic patients. Hypogonadism was present in 28 of the 46 acromegalic patients (60.8%). The anteroposterior (P < 0.05), and transverse (P < 0.0001) prostate diameters and the transitional zone volume (P < 0.05) were increased in acromegalic patients compared to those in controls. Prostate volume (PV) was significantly higher in untreated acromegalic patients than in controls (41.7 +/- 3.2 vs. 21.9 +/- 1.4 mL; P < 0.0001), cured patients (23.6 +/- 1.6 mL; P < 0.0001), and GH-deficient patients (17.5 +/- 1.1 mL; P < 0.0001). In the patients, PV was correlated with disease duration (r = 0.606; P < 0.0001) and age (r = 0.496; P < 0.0001), whereas in controls it was correlated with age (r = 0.476; P < 0.01) and IGF-I levels (r = -0.448; P < 0.05). Benign prostate hyperplasia (PV > or = 30 mL) was found in 58% of the acromegalics and 26.6% of the controls. When grouped by age (<40, 40-60, and >60 yr), PV was increased in elderly patients compared to younger patients (P < 0.05) and to controls (P < 0.01). The prevalence of structural abnormalities, including calcifications, nodules, cysts, and vesicle inflammation, was significantly increased in patients compared to controls (78.2% vs. 23.3%; chi2 = 5.856; P < 0.05). No clinical, transrectal ultrasonography, or cytological evidence of prostate cancer was detected in acromegalic or control subjects. In conclusion, chronic excess of GH and IGF-I cause prostate overgrowth and further phenomena of rearrangement, but not prostate cancer.
Local Government Capability and Public Spending Efficacy: Evidence from a Decentralized Government Transfer Program in Indonesia ψ

This paper investigates the association between pre -existing local government capability and the size of grants from the central government that is actually delivered to intended beneficiaries by the local government. Combining administrative data and household survey datasets, we show that only 78 per cent of the grants under the Inpres Desa Tertinggal (IDT)‐Indonesia’s poverty alleviation program‐were received by intended beneficiaries. IDT’s decentralized dist ribution scheme suggests that this loss took place at the village level. Failing to ta king this into account leads to misleading conclusion about the program’s targeting performance. We find that preexisting administrative and organizational skills o f village governments are positively associated with the share of funds reaching benefic iaries. The results of our panel analysis further reveal that the capability of vill age government became particularly important over time. To the extent that these resul ts reflect a causal relationship, they imply that training of local government officials i s likely to reduce the disappearance of public resources and improve public spending eff icacy.
Effects of barium on stimulus‐induced rises in [K+]o in juvenile rat hippocampal area CA1

IMMATURE glia may not be able to buffer K+ ions released during neuronal activity. Therefore, we investigated entorhinal-hippocampal slices of juvenile rats (ages P15–18 and P22–26) using a perfusion medium containing 2 mM BaCl2 in order to block glial inward rectifying and leak potassium channels. In contrast to adult animals, rises in [K+]o in slices from juvenile animals elicited by repetitive alvear stimulation were not augmented by Ba2+. Ba2+ effects on fast field potentials, slow field potentials and the applied current sink source distribution were roughly similar as in adult rats. We conclude that the capacity to buffer large quantities of K+ ions by mechanisms involving Ba2+-sensitive K+ channels has not yet developed in juveniles.
A Twenty-Year Follow-up Case Study of an Office Worker Who Returned to Work despite Serious Memory Disorder Caused by Herpes Encephalitis

This study followed a 52-year-old male patient, who had suffered from severe impairment in recent memory due to se- quelae of herpes encephalitis, for 20 years. He returned to his highly intellectual work and performed well despite his doctor’s prediction. While the patient showed consistently poor results on various neuropsychological memory tests, he demonstrated incredible performance at work. This case exemplifies an extreme case that declarative memory is formed with the support of semantic memory, procedural memory, and his strong interests. Additionally, it offers lessons that results on memory tests do not necessarily correspond to the actual level of competence. The focal sites were found on both sides of the medial temporal lobe, predominantly on the left side. The T2-weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI) obtained 9 years after the onset confirmed widespread damage to the left brain including parahippocampal gyrus, hippocampus, spindle gyrus, and amygdaloid complex, with microlesions extending from the right parahippocampal gyrus to its antero-interior rim. However, the damage to hippocampus was presumed to be minor.
Discordance among commercially available diagnostics for latent tuberculosis infection.

RATIONALE There is uncertainty regarding how to interpret discordance between tests for latent tuberculosis infection. OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to assess discordance between commercially available tests for latent tuberculosis in a low-prevalence population, including the impact of nontuberculous mycobacteria. METHODS This was a cross-sectional comparison study among 2,017 military recruits at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, from April to June 2009. Several tests were performed simultaneously with a risk factor questionnaire, including (1) QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test, (2) T-SPOT.TB test, (3) tuberculin skin test, and (4) Battey skin test using purified protein derivative from the Battey bacillus. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS In this low-prevalence population, the specificities of the three commercially available diagnostic tests were not significantly different. Of the 88 subjects with a positive test, only 10 (11.4%) were positive to all three tests; 20 (22.7%) were positive to at least two tests. Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccination, tuberculosis prevalence in country of birth, and Battey skin test reaction size were associated with tuberculin skin test-positive, IFN-γ release assay-negative test discordance. Increasing agreement between the three tests was associated with epidemiologic criteria indicating risk of infection and with quantitative test results. CONCLUSIONS For most positive results the three tests identified different people, suggesting that in low-prevalence populations most discordant results are caused by false-positives. False-positive tuberculin skin test reactions associated with reactivity to nontuberculous mycobacteria and bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccination may account for a proportion of test discordance observed.
Segregation of CD4 and CXCR4 into Distinct Lipid Microdomains in T Lymphocytes Suggests a Mechanism for Membrane Destabilization by Human Immunodeficiency Virus

ABSTRACT Recent evidence has suggested that plasma membrane sphingolipids and cholesterol spontaneously coalesce into raft-like microdomains and that specific proteins, including CD4 and some other T-cell signaling molecules, sequester into these rafts. In agreement with these results, we found that CD4 and the associated Lck tyrosine kinase of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and H9 leukemic T cells were selectively and highly enriched in a low-density lipid fraction that was resistant at 0°C to the neutral detergent Triton X-100 but was disrupted by extraction of cholesterol with filipin or methyl-β-cyclodextrin. In contrast, the CXCR4 chemokine receptor, a coreceptor for X4 strains of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), was almost completely excluded from the detergent-resistant raft fraction. Accordingly, as determined by immunofluorescence with confocal microscopy, CD4 and CXCR4 did not coaggregate into antibody-induced cell surface patches or into patches of CXCR4 that formed naturally at the ruffled edges of adherent cells. The CXCR4 fluorescent patches were extracted with cold 1% Triton X-100, whereas the CD4 patches were resistant. In stringent support of these data, CD4 colocalized with patches of cholera toxin bound to the raft-associated sphingoglycolipid GM1, whereas CXCR4 did not. Addition of the CXCR4-activating chemokine SDF-1α did not induce CXCR4 movement into rafts. Moreover, binding of purified monomeric gp120 envelope glycoproteins from strains of HIV-1 that use this coreceptor did not stimulate detectable redistributions of CD4 or CXCR4 between their separate membrane domains. However, adsorption of multivalent gp120-containing HIV-1 virion particles appeared to destabilize the local CD4-containing rafts. Indeed, adsorbed HIV-1 virions were detected by immunofluorescence microscopy and were almost all situated in nonraft regions of the cell surface. We conclude that HIV-1 initially binds to CD4 in a raft domain and that its secondary associations with CXCR4 require shifts of proteins and associated lipids away from their preferred lipid microenvironments. Our evidence suggests that these changes in protein-lipid interactions destabilize the plasma membrane microenvironment underlying the virus by at least several kilocalories per mole, and we propose that this makes an important contribution to fusion of the viral and cellular membranes during infection. Thus, binding of HIV-1 may be favored by the presence of CD4 in rafts, but the rafts may then disperse prior to the membrane fusion reaction.
E2F and its developmental regulation in Xenopus laevis

The transcription factor E2F has been implicated in cell cycle control by virtue of its association with cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases, and pRb-related tumor suppressor gene products. Eggs and embryos from the frog Xenopus laevis have been used to investigate the characteristics of E2F-like molecules in the Xenopus cell cycle and throughout early development. We find multiple E2F species in Xenopus eggs, at least one of which is modified by phosphorylation. The vast majority of E2F remains in the free form throughout the very early embryonic cell cycle, and it also remains predominantly free until some time after the mid-blastula transition, the onset of zygotic transcription. At this time, E2F complexes significantly to pRb but not to cdk2, although cdk2 binding is found in tissue culture cells from a very advanced stage in embryogenesis. This suggests that the complexing of E2F to cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases, and tumor suppressor gene products may be controlled separately in early Xenopus development. Thus, the association of E2F with other molecules may not result solely from processes affecting cell cycle progression but may also reflect developmental and differentiation cues.
Improved short channel device characteristics with stress relieved pre-oxide (SRPO) and a novel tantalum carbon alloy metal gate/HfO/sub 2/ stack

Threshold voltage instability is a critical problem for high-K dielectric implementation. This problem is much more serious for short channel devices due to process induced gate edge damage. A novel stress relieved pre-oxide (SRPO) followed by ALD of HfO/sub 2/ reduces the local charge density near the gate edge and short channel threshold voltage instability. Excellent cross wafer CETinv uniformity is achieved for the SRPO process. A new tantalum carbon alloy metal gate achieves a lower Vtsat than TaSiN gated devices due to a lower work function. Compared to HfO/sub 2//TaSiN devices using standard RCA pre-clean, HfO/sub 2//tantalum carbon alloy metal gate stack using the novel SRPO demonstrates a 3/spl times/ smaller Vt shift for short channel devices and a 16% Ion/Ioff improvement.
Sensitivity-based imaging with near-zone microwave raster scanning

A real-time imaging algorithm is presented which operates on data acquired with a microwave raster scanning system. The algorithm performance is studied through analytical forward models in order to establish its intrinsic limitations in terms of sensitivity and resolution, without the corrupting influence of noise. The study shows that the algorithm features excellent imaging sensitivity, which is limited only by the assumed voxel size used in the discretization of the response-sensitivity integral. With near-zone field data, the algorithm features sub-wavelength resolution in both range and cross range.
Modeling and experimental verification of on-line PD detection in MV covered-conductor overhead networks

The falling trees on covered-conductor (CC) overhead distribution lines produce partial discharges (PDs). The measurements have been taken in the laboratory and PD signal characteristics under various circumstances have been described. In this paper, an on-line single-phase PD monitoring system using Rogowski coil is simulated in EMTP-ATP. The simulation results are compared with those obtained from the laboratory measurements. The proposed model can be used to estimate the length of the practical CC lines at which PDs due to falling trees can be detected and localized; thus, deciding the number and positioning of the sensors over a particular length of the CC lines. The different noise sources have been described that cause interference with low level PD signals, which is a major challenge for on-line/on-site condition monitoring. The design aspects of the wireless sensor for this specific application are also discussed. Automatic detection of falling trees will reduce visual inspection work after storms and it will improve reliability and safety of the CC distribution system.