Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of CMOS-process-compatible interconnect technology for 3D-stacking of NAND flash memory chips

Through-silicon-via (TSV) technology has been demonstrated to be capable of being applied into many microelectronics products, e.g., CMOS image sensor (CIS), DRAM, flash memory, 3D-MEMS, RF-SiP, logic-SiP, LED, etc. However, new IC design is needed to implement the TSV interconnect into a chip and the specific TSV line is required for TSV fabrication, the facts of long time needed for new IC design qualification and implementation plus big facility investment required for setting-up a full functional TSV line result in high manufacturing cost which further hinders the applications of TSV interconnect technology into many products, e.g., DRAM and flash memory. In this paper, a new TSV-based interconnect technology, named under-pad interconnect (UPI), has been developed for 3D-stacking of NAND flash memory chips using existing CMOS-compatible processes. The basic idea is to use the existing wire-bonding (WB) based NAND flash memory wafer to fabricate blind-via interconnect under bond pad from the backside of a wafer, followed by stacking the chips with UPIs onto the substrate to build a 3D-module. The details of the fabrication process development and the NAND flash memory 3D-stacking methodology will be reviewed and discussed.
Do tinted lenses or filters improve visual performance in low vision? A review of the literature

This is a review of studies that have investigated the proposed rehabilitative benefit of tinted lenses and filters for people with low vision. Currently, eye care practitioners have to rely on marketing literature and anecdotal reports from users when making recommendations for tinted lens or filter use in low vision. Our main aim was to locate a prescribing protocol that was scientifically based and could assist low vision specialists with tinted lens prescribing decisions. We also wanted to determine if previous work had found any tinted lens/task or tinted lens/ocular condition relationships, i.e. were certain tints or filters of use for specific tasks or for specific eye conditions. Another aim was to provide a review of previous research in order to stimulate new work using modern experimental designs. Past studies of tinted lenses and low vision have assessed effects on visual acuity (VA), grating acuity, contrast sensitivity (CS), visual field, adaptation time, glare, photophobia and TV viewing. Objective and subjective outcome measures have been used. However, very little objective evidence has been provided to support anecdotal reports of improvements in visual performance. Many studies are flawed in that they lack controls for investigator bias, and placebo, learning and fatigue effects. Therefore, the use of tinted lenses in low vision remains controversial and eye care practitioners will have to continue to rely on anecdotal evidence to assist them in their prescribing decisions. Suggestions for future research, avoiding some of these experimental shortcomings, are made.
Unsupervised saliency detection and a-contrario based segmentation for satellite images

In recent years, salient region detection techniques are widely used in image segmentation. The traditional image segmentation techniques primarily depend on human to label or mark the target areas interactively, which is far insufficient for real-time image processing. Therefore, in this paper we propose a new method of unsupervised saliency detection based segmentation, for high-resolution satellite images, which requires no manual interaction and prior knowledge of their content. Our proposed model of saliency at the considered pixel is a weighted average of dissimilarities between the pixel involved patch and the other patches. Moreover, we evaluated global and multi-scale contrast differences in order to extend the saliency calculation window to the entire image. To acquire an appropriate threshold for the remote sensing images segmentation, we apply a probabilistic a-contrario framework based on perception principle to measure the meaningfulness of such saliencies. According to the experimental results, our method is feasible and practicable for satellite image segmentation.
Analysis of Heavy ioninduced ioninduced ioninduced chromosome aberrations in human fibroblast cells using in situ hybridization

Confluent human fibroblast cells (AG1522) were irradiated with y rays, 490 MeV/nucleon Si, or with Fe ions at either 200 or 500 MeV/nucleon. The cells were allowed to repair at 37 0 C for 24 hours after exposure, and a chemically induced premature chromosome condensation (PCC) technique was used to condense chromosomes in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. Unrejoined chromosomal breaks and complex exchanges were analyzed in the irradiated samples. In order to verify that chromosomal breaks were truly unrejoined, chromosome aberrations were analyzed using a combination of whole chromosome specific probes and probes specific for the telomere region of the chromosome. Results showed that the frequency ofunrejoined chromosome breaks was higher after bigh-LET radiation, and consequently, the ratio of incomplete to complete exchanges increased steadily with LET up to 440 keV//-lm, the bighest LET value in the present study. For samples exposed to 200 MeV/nucleon Fe ions, chromosome aberrations were analyzed using the multicolor FISH (mFISH) technique that allows identification of both complex and truly incomplete exchanges. Results of the mFISH study showed that 0.7 and 3 Gy dose of the Fe ions produced similar ratios of complex to simple exchanges and incomplete to complete exchanges, values for which were higher than those obtained after a 6 Gy y exposure. After 0.7 Gy of Fe ions, most complex aberrations were found to involve three or four chromosomes, indicating the maximum number of chromosome domains traversed by a single Fe ion track.
Towards the issue of atmospheric air quality improvement strategy in Tomsk

The article discusses the principles of monitoring and atmospheric air quality management in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as one of the most successful country in this field. Under National Air Quality Strategy they developed national system of automated measurements of the concentrations of main atmospheric air pollutants. There are about 120 stations located mostly in the most urban areas and in the areas with rather background air pollution level. Local authorities create their own systems of monitoring, develop computer monitoring systems, that might replace the instrumental monitoring systems in the future. The key players in environmental protection movement in the UK are partnerships - associations of influential enterprises and municipal departments. Financial contributions of the members of the partnership in various environmental protection activities may succeed the environmental protection part of local budgets. On the basis of the comparative analysis of monitoring and atmospheric air quality management systems the rough draft of clean air strategy in Tomsk was developed. It covers the formation of a similar city partnership; development of the computer model of emissions' distribution in the atmosphere; development and implementation of environmental protection activities aiming at atmospheric air quality improvement in Tomsk.
Evaluation Capacity Development: Lessons Learned

The DAC Working Party on Aid Evaluation, as part of its mandate, has the promotion of evaluation capacity in developing countries. One of the instruments has been regional seminars organized jointly with the regional development banks (Africa in 1990, Asia in 1992, Latin America in 1993, in Africa again in 1998, and in Beijing in 1999 – I have had the privilege to attend most of them) and through the direct assistance of the members. Since I attended the first of these in Abidjan in 1990, progress towards establishing credible and capable evaluation functions or institutions in developing countries has been rather slow. But in recent years considerable progress has been made. In particular, the professional capacity has increased – as witnessed by the many participants from developing countries at this important event. Evaluation institutions exist in many developing countries, but most have little impact on policy and management decisions due to a number of barriers: poor demand; lack of a culture of accountability (often related to ethics or corruption); and lack of feedback mechanisms into decision-making processes. The strongest barrier appears to be the lack of demand: credible evaluation is a function of good governance, i.e. demand for accountability more than of institutionalization of evaluation and/or professional capacity. How, then, can donors contribute to enhancing evaluation capacity in our partner countries? In 1996 the Working Party conducted a survey of donor support for and experiences from evaluation capacity building. The following is a list of the key findings of the study, which, I believe, are still valid. These findings generally apply to both donor and recipient agencies.
Parotid duct transposition in dogs: a retrospective review of 92 eyes from 1999 to 2009.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to perform a retrospective review of parotid duct transposition (PDT) in the dog to determine the rate and nature of complications, the success and failure rates and to evaluate owner satisfaction. METHODS Medical records of 56 dogs (92 eyes) that underwent PDT and subsequent follow-up by a veterinary ophthalmologist were reviewed. Forty owners (40 dogs/66 eyes) were contacted by telephone and 37 owners (37 dogs/60 eyes) also completed a visual analog scale questionnaire. Statistical evaluation included Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests, one-way analysis of variance and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with Wilcoxon and Log-rank tests. RESULTS The mean follow-up was 38.7 months (range 1-109 months). The surgical success rate was 92% (85/92 eyes). Total failures (8%, 7/92 eyes) were because of severe saliva intolerance (n = 5 eyes) and PDT failure (n = 2 eyes). The complication rate was 50% (46/92 eyes) of which 61% (28/46 eyes) were managed medically and 39% (18/46 eyes) required further surgery. Ninety percent (36/40) of owners indicated that they would proceed with surgery again. Statistically significant improvements in owner perception of ocular comfort, number of daily topical treatments, ocular wetness, and postoperative vision were identified. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that PDT is a successful procedure based on clinical findings and in terms of owner perception. It has also demonstrated that PDT improves ocular comfort and vision in medically refractive cases of keratoconjunctivitis sicca, and that a low level of on-going management is required in 33% of cases.
Extra-Articular Distal Tibia Fractures: A Mechanical Evaluation of 4 Different Treatment Methods

Objective: This cadaveric biomechanical study compared the mechanical properties of standard plating (SP), locked plating (LP), intramedullary nailing (IMN), and angular stable intramedullary nailing (ASN) for the treatment of axially unstable distal tibia metaphyseal fractures (OTA type 43.A3) with an intact fibula. Methods: A distal tibia metaphyseal fracture was created in 30 fresh frozen cadaveric specimens by performing an osteotomy 30 mm above the plafond. The fibula was left intact. Specimens were divided into 4 groups. Specimens underwent fracture fixation with a standard distal tibia plate, a medial locked plate, an intramedullary nail, or an angular stable intramedullary nail. Specimens were loaded vertically along the tibial axis to 700 N, followed by cyclical loading at 700 N for 10,000 cycles, and then to failure. Results: The IMN group demonstrated greater stiffness and load to failure than the LP group, which was greater than the SP group. The ASN group was not different in terms of stiffness and load to failure from the LP group for the number of specimens tested. The IM group required the greatest energy to failure, and all groups were significantly greater than the SP group. Conclusions: Under axial loading conditions with an intact fibula, both IMN and LP provide stable fixation. There was no advantage to the use of an ASN over a standard IMN. IMN resulted in the highest stiffness, load to failure, and failure energy for OTA type 43.A3 fractures with as little as 3 cm of distal bone stock.
Improving gain of Class-E amplifier using DTMOS for biomedical devices

This paper presents a new approach for increasing the gain of CMOS Class-E amplifier. The proposed approach is based on using dynamic threshold MOS transistor. The proposed amplifier is able to work at a low supply voltage of 1V and consumes a very small power. The proposed class-E amplifier offers very stable sinusoidal signal to drive the load. The most attractive feature of the proposed amplifier is its simple structure and is particularly interesting for biomedical devices. Simulation results for 180nm CMOS technology validate the proposed approach.
Visual evoked potentials and pattern electroretinograms in Parkinson's disease and control subjects.

2 Al-Ubaidy SS, Nally FF. Adverse reactions to carbamazepine (Tegretol). Br J Oral Surg 1976;13:289-93. 3 Criss WE. Carbamazepine. Ann Intern Med 1973;79:844-7. 4 Simpson JR. Collagen disease due to carbamazepine (Tegretol). Br Med J 1966; 2:1434. 5 Ford JR, Bieder L. Exfoliative dermatitis due to carbamazepine. NZ MedJ 1968;68:386-7. 6 Coombes BW. Stevens-Johnson Syndrome associated with carbamazepine (Tegretol). Med J Aust 1965;1:895-6. 7 Mullick FG, McAllister HA, Wager BM, etal. Drug related vasculitis. Hum Pathol 1979; 10:313-25. 8 McCoombs RP. Systemic allergic vasculitis. JAMA 1965;194:1059-64. 9 Cluff LE. Clinical Problems with Drugs. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders Co, 1975:200-1. 10 Gammon R. Leucocytoclastic vasculitis. Clin Rheum Dis 1982;8:397-413. 1243
Sylow Theory for Quasigroups II: Sectional Action

The first paper in this series initiated a study of Sylow theory for quasigroups and Latin squares based on orbits of the left multiplication group. The current paper is based on so‐called pseudo‐orbits, which are formed by the images of a subset under the set of left translations. The two approaches agree for groups, but differ in the general case. Subsets are described as sectional if the pseudo‐orbit that they generate actually partitions the quasigroup. Sectional subsets are especially well behaved in the newly identified class of conflatable quasigroups, which provides a unified treatment of Moufang, Bol, and conjugacy closure properties. Relationships between sectional and Lagrangean properties of subquasigroups are established. Structural implications of sectional properties in loops are investigated, and divisors of the order of a finite quasigroup are classified according to the behavior of sectional subsets and pseudo‐orbits. An upper bound is given on the size of a pseudo‐orbit. Various interactions of the Sylow theory with design theory are discussed. In particular, it is shown how Sylow theory yields readily computable isomorphism invariants with the resolving power to distinguish each of the 80 Steiner triple systems of order 15.
Interaction of primary human endometrial cells with Neisseria gonorrhoeae expressing green fluorescent protein

Infection of the endometrium by Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a pivotal stage in the development of pelvic inflammatory disease in women. An ex vivo model of cultures of primary human endometrial cells was developed to study gonococcal–host cell interactions. To facilitate these studies, gonococci were transformed with a hybrid shuttle vector containing the gfp gene from Aequoria victoria, encoding the green fluorescent protein (GFP), to produce intrinsically fluorescent bacteria. The model demonstrated that both pili and Opa proteins were important for both mediating gonococcal interactions with endometrial cells and inducing the secretion of pro‐inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Pil+ gonococci showed high levels of adherence and invasion, regardless of Opa expression, which was associated with increased secretion of IL‐8 chemokine and reduced secretion of IL‐6 cytokine. Gonococcal challenge also caused increased secretion of TNF‐α cytokine, but this did not correlate with expression of pili or Opa, suggesting that release of components from non‐adherent bacteria may be involved in TNF‐α induction. Thus, the use of cultured primary endometrial cells, together with gonococci expressing green fluorescent protein, has the potential to extend significantly our knowledge, at the molecular level, of the role of this important human pathogen in the immunobiology of pelvic inflammatory disease.
Research Review: What do we know about psychopathic traits in children?

BACKGROUND Research on the topic of child psychopathy has advanced over the past decade increasing what we know. METHOD This qualitative review examines the research base for child psychopathy and emphasizes its three dimensions: grandiose-manipulative, callous-unemotional, and daring-impulsive. Literature is reviewed addressing the cognitive, emotional, motivational, personality, parenting, and biological correlates. RESULTS Support has emerged for the phenotypic construct of child psychopathy, while questions remain regarding definitional issues and key external correlates (e.g., reward and punishment processing, parenting, molecular genetics, brain imaging). CONCLUSIONS While the construct appears to be valid, future work should broaden its focus from callous unemotional traits to all three dimensions of the construct, enhance measurement precision, and examine dimension interactions. Such research could have important implications for CD specification for future versions of the DSM and ICD and speed etiological knowledge and clinical care for youth with conduct problems.
RalA Functions as an Indispensable Signal Mediator for the Nutrient-sensing System*

Cells sense nutrients present in the extracellular environment and modulate the activities of intracellular signaling systems in response to nutrient availability. This study demonstrates that RalA and its activator RalGDS participate in nutrient sensing and are indispensable for activation of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) induced by extracellular nutrients. Knockdown of RalA or RalGDS abolished amino acid- and glucose-induced mTORC1 activation, as judged by phosphorylation of S6 kinase and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1. The amount of GTP-bound RalA increased in response to increased amino acid availability. In addition, RalA knockdown suppressed Rheb-induced S6 kinase phosphorylation, and the constitutively active form of RalA induced mTORC1 activation in the absence of Rheb. These results collectively suggest that RalGDS and RalA act downstream of Rheb and that RalA activation is a crucial step in nutrient-induced mTORC1 activation.
Efficient hardware implementation of a new pseudo-random bit sequence generator

In this paper we propose a new linear congruential generator (LCG) based pseudo random bit-sequence generator (PRBG) and its hardware implementation. Linear congruential generators (LCGs) of the form xi+1 = axi + b(mod m), have been used to generate pseudorandom numbers. However these generators have been known to be insecure. The proposed PRBG couples four such LCGs and is secure. A preliminary proof of security is outlined in this paper. The PRBG generates bit-sequences that pass all NIST pseudo randomness tests. Our PRBG has a very efficient hardware implementation because the modulo operation is with respect to 2n as opposed to p × q in the Blum-Blum-Shub (BBS) generator, where p and q are large prime numbers. We also show that the hardware implementation can be easily pipelined, thereby increasing the throughput in spite of the hardware having large word-length inputs (n ≥ 128). A 4-stage pipelined hardware was implemented in VHDL for n = 128 and the synthesized hardware was simulated. Simulation results showed a 2.81 fold increase in throughput (number of pseudo-random bits output per unit time) compared to the non-pipelined version.
Topsy‐turvy locomotion: biomechanical specializations of the elbow in suspended quadrupeds reflect inverted gravitational constraints

Some tetrapods hang upside down from tree branches when moving horizontally. The ability to walk in quadrupedal suspension has been acquired independently in at least 14 mammalian lineages. During the stance (supportive) phase of quadrupedal suspension, the elbow joint flexor muscles (not the extensors as in upright vertebrates moving overground) are expected to contract to maintain the flexed limb posture. Therefore muscular control in inverted, suspended quadrupeds may require changes of muscle control, and even morphologies, to conditions opposite to those in upright animals. However, the relationships between musculoskeletal morphologies and elbow joint postures during the stance phase in suspended quadrupeds have not been investigated. Our analysis comparing postures and skeletal morphologies in Choloepus (Pilosa), Pteropus (Chiroptera), Nycticebus (Primates) and Cynocephalus (Dermoptera) revealed that the elbow joints of these animals were kept at flexed angles of 70–100 ° during the stance phase of quadrupedal suspension. At these joint angles the moment arms of the elbow joint flexors were roughly maximized, optimizing that component of antigravity support. Our additional measurements from various mammalian species show that suspended quadrupeds have relatively small extensor/flexor ratios in both muscle masses and maximum moment arms. Thus, in contrast to the pattern in normal terrestrial quadrupeds, suspended quadrupeds emphasize flexor over extensor muscles for body support. This condition has evolved independently multiple times, attendant with a loss or reduction of the ability to move in normal upright postures.
Assessment of Spatial Data Mining Tools for Integration into an Object-oriented GIS ( GIDB )

A variety of data mining techniques are under evaluation on the spatial data of concern in our setting. We are planning to integrate a number of these techniques into our geospatial system (GIDB). Three approaches are under special consideration and are described in the paper. A COTS data mining system has been successfully used to develop predictive models of near-shore conditions such as wave height for naval amphibious operations. Attribute generalization was applied to seafloor data to obtain statements about conditions relevant to mine warfare. Finally an extension of association rule discovery applied to fuzzy spatial data that is under development is discussed.