Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 0.033-mm2 21.5-aF to 114.9-aF Resolution Continuous-Time Δ Σ Capacitance-to-Digital Converter Achieving Parasitic Capacitance Immunity Up to 480 pF

This article presents a continuous-time (CT) delta–sigma (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta \Sigma $ </tex-math></inline-formula>) capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC) intended for use in applications with high capacitance resolution (tens of aF), and a large parasitic capacitance <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${C}_{P}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$>$ </tex-math></inline-formula>400 pF). It consists of a current conveyor (CC) front-end and a CT <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta \Sigma $ </tex-math></inline-formula> modulator. The CC-based front-end isolates <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${C}_{P}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> from the first integrator of the modulator, and the CC’s output current is directly coupled to the CT <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta \Sigma $ </tex-math></inline-formula> modulator. The CC uses a class-AB configuration, which enables to maintain energy efficiency and its capacitance resolution even with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${C}_{P}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The proposed CDC is fabricated in a 110-nm CMOS process and occupies only 0.033 mm<sup>2</sup>. It achieves a capacitance resolution of 21.5–59 aF with an input range of 0.2–1.5 pF. This corresponds to an effective resolution of 14.3 bits in a conversion time of 1.2 ms, while drawing only 120 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> from a 1.5-V supply. It also achieves a capacitance resolution of 119.4 aF with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${C}_{P}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 480 pF, offering robust capacitance resolution with external noise interference (10 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {PP}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>).
Zum Kriechen von Beton mit Superabsorbierenden Polymeren unter Druckbeanspruchung

Superabsorbierende Polymere (SAP) speichern im Beton Wasser und geben es während der Hydratation des Zements ab, was eine innere Nachbehandlung darstellt, oder stellen es zur Aktivierung von nicht hydratisiertem Zement in Mikrorissen zur Verfügung, was einer Selbstheilung gleichkommt. Der zweite Effekt liegt den Untersuchungen zugrunde, da Kriechen von Beton, neben viskosen Verformungen des Zementsteins, auch durch Mikrorisse verursacht wird. In einer Versuchsreihe wurden fünf Betonzusammensetzungen einer Druckspannung unterworfen und die dabei auftretenden Verformungen gemessen. Es zeigte sich, dass geringe Mengen von SAP das Kriechen signifikant vermindern.
Effects of Continuous Fascia Iliaca Compartment Block on Early Quality of Recovery After Total Hip Arthroplasty in Elderly Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose In recent years, patient-centered postoperative quality of recovery has gained attention. This study aimed to assess the influence of ultrasound-guided continuous fascia iliaca compartment block (CFICB) on early quality of recovery in elderly patients after total hip arthroplasty (THA) using the QoR-15 score. Patients and Methods In this single-center, randomized, prospective study, 60 patients scheduled for unilateral THA were randomized to the CFICB or patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) group. The primary outcome was the QoR-15 score. The secondary outcomes were pain score, number of patients requiring rescue analgesics, time of first postoperative ambulation, incidence of postoperative complications, Bromage score, and length of hospital stay. Results The QoR-15 score was significantly higher in the CFICB group than in the PCIA group at 24 h (P < 0.001) after surgery. However, the QoR-15 score was not significantly different at 48 h (P = 0.074) between the two groups. Pain scores at rest and during movement were lower in the CFICB group than in the PCIA group at 12, 24, and 48 h postoperatively (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the number of patients requiring rescue analgesics, time of first postoperative ambulation, incidence of postoperative complications apart from dizziness, or length of hospital stay between the two groups. In addition, Bromage score of 1 point was reported by four patients in the CFICB group at 24 h (P = 0.048) after THA. Conclusion In elderly patients following THA, CFICB improved the quality of recovery at 24 h and reduced pain scores compared with PCIA. The time of first postoperative ambulation and length of hospital stay were not significantly affected.
Isolation and Characterization of Urinary Extracellular Vesicles from Healthy Donors and Patients with Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy among men in developed countries. The five-year survival rate for men diagnosed with early-stage PCa is approximately 100%, while it is less than 30% for castration-resistant PCa (CRPC). Currently, the detection of prostate-specific antigens as biomarkers for the prognosis of CRPC is criticized because of its low accuracy, high invasiveness, and high false-positive rate. Therefore, it is important to identify new biomarkers for prediction of CRPC progression. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from tumors have been highlighted as potential markers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Specifically, urinary EVs directly reflect changes in the pathophysiological conditions of the urogenital system because it is exposed to prostatic secretions. Thus, detecting biomarkers in urinary EVs provides a promising approach for performing an accurate and non-invasive liquid biopsy for CPRC. In this study, we effectively isolated urinary EVs with low protein impurities using size-exclusion chromatography combined with ultrafiltration. After EV isolation and characterization, we evaluated the miRNAs in urinary EVs from healthy donors and patients with CRPC. The results indicated that miRNAs (miR-21-5p, miR-574-3p, and miR-6880-5p) could be used as potential biomarkers for the prognosis of CRPC. This analysis of urinary EVs contributes to the fast and convenient prognosis of diseases, including CRPC, in the clinical setting.
The Effectiveness of Hydrodissection with 5% Dextrose for Persistent and Recurrent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Retrospective Study

Patients with failure of primary surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) present a frustrating clinical problem because there are no relevant treatment guidelines, and the effect of current conservative management or revision surgery is unsatisfactory. Hydrodissection with 5% dextrose is emerging as an effective treatment for primary CTS and may be an effective alternative treatment method for persistent or recurrent post-surgical CTS. We retrospectively investigated the long-term effectiveness of hydrodissection with 5% dextrose for persistent or recurrent CTS. Thirty-six of forty consecutively-treated patients with either persistent or recurrent symptoms of CTS after surgery, who were treated with ultrasound-guided hydrodissection of the median nerve using 10 mL of 5% dextrose, were available to provide outcome data by a structured phone interview at least six months after treatment completion. Symptom relief ≥ 50% represented an effective outcome, while symptom relief < 50% was rated as a poor outcome. Nearly 2/3 (61.1%) of patients reported an effective outcome after a mean of 3.1 injections, with a post-injection follow-up mean of 33 (6–67) months. A non-significant trend toward a more frequently-effective outcome was observed in those with recurrent versus persistent symptoms following CTS (76.9% vs. 52.2%, p = 0.165). However, a significantly higher percentage of those with recurrent symptoms reported an excellent outcome, defined as a greater than 70% improvement (8/13 [61.6%] vs. 3/23 [13%], p = 0.006). The percentage of patients achieving an effective outcome was not significantly different between <2, 2–4, and >4 years of post-treatment follow-up (36.4% vs. 77.8% vs. 57.1%; p = 0.077). Hydrodissection with 5% dextrose may result in a clinically important and durable benefit in those experiencing persistent or recurrent CTS after surgery.
Functional Regulation of KATP Channels and Mutant Insight Into Clinical Therapeutic Strategies in Cardiovascular Diseases

ATP-sensitive potassium channels (KATP channels) play pivotal roles in excitable cells and link cellular metabolism with membrane excitability. The action potential converts electricity into dynamics by ion channel-mediated ion exchange to generate systole, involved in every heartbeat. Activation of the KATP channel repolarizes the membrane potential and decreases early afterdepolarization (EAD)-mediated arrhythmias. KATP channels in cardiomyocytes have less function under physiological conditions but they open during severe and prolonged anoxia due to a reduced ATP/ADP ratio, lessening cellular excitability and thus preventing action potential generation and cell contraction. Small active molecules activate and enhance the opening of the KATP channel, which induces the repolarization of the membrane and decreases the occurrence of malignant arrhythmia. Accumulated evidence indicates that mutation of KATP channels deteriorates the regulatory roles in mutation-related diseases. However, patients with mutations in KATP channels still have no efficient treatment. Hence, in this study, we describe the role of KATP channels and subunits in angiocardiopathy, summarize the mutations of the KATP channels and the functional regulation of small active molecules in KATP channels, elucidate the potential mechanisms of mutant KATP channels and provide insight into clinical therapeutic strategies.
Multibattery-Fed Neutral-Point-Clamped DC–AC Converter With SoC Balancing Control to Maximize Capacity Utilization

This paper studies a multilevel multiphase dc–ac conversion system configured by a neutral-point-clamped converter fed by multiple battery packs connected in series. A virtual-vector modulation is selected and a state-of-charge (SoC) balancing control is designed to be able to employ the full battery bank capacity, even under different battery initial SoC values or different battery nominal capacities. The SoC balancing among battery packs is accomplished through the multilevel converter operation in a lossless manner, by simply distributing the dc-to-ac power flow among the batteries according to their SoC. A simple average system model is also presented, which allows performing very fast system simulations over long periods of time and serves as a convenient tool to tune the compensator parameters. The satisfactory performance of the proposed system configuration and control, which can be applied with any number of levels and phases, has been verified through simulations and experiments in a four-level three-phase dc–ac converter fed by three lithium-ion battery packs. The results prove the feasibility and advantages of the proposed system configuration, which can be used to implement conversion systems with different specifications combining several instances of a standard battery pack and a standard power semiconductor device.
Diagnosis 101: diabetic kidney disease

ABSTRACT Chronic kidney disease (CKD) attributed to diabetes occurs in 20%–40% of patients with diabetes mellitus. Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is recognized as the most common cause of end-stage kidney disease in the USA and most Western countries. For quite some time, it has been recognized that treatments based on inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) can reduce the rates of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with DKD. Recently however, several novel agents, namely sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, were demonstrated to not only improve glycemic control but also to improve cardiovascular and renal outcomes. Another agent, a nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid antagonist, has also been shown to have cardiorenal benefits in patients with DKD. With such new developments, one would expect that it would eventually translate into further slowing CKD progression in the DKD population, provided that patients are diagnosed appropriately and in a timely manner. In this study, the authors attempt to investigate real-world data, looking at how well providers are establishing the diagnosis of DKD and its potential implications.
Glacially Induced Stress Across the Arctic From the Eemian Interglacial to the Present—Implications for Faulting and Methane Seepage

Strong compressive and shear stresses generated by glacial loading and unloading have a direct impact on near‐surface geological processes. Glacial stresses are constantly evolving, creating stress perturbations in the lithosphere that extend significant distances away from the ice. In the Arctic, periodic methane seepage and faulting have been recurrently associated with glacial cycles. However, the evolution of the Arctic glacial stress field and its impact on the upper lithosphere have not been investigated. Here, we compute the evolution in space and time of the glacial stresses induced in the Arctic lithosphere by the North American, Eurasian and Greenland ice sheets during the latest glaciation. We use glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) methodology to investigate the response of spherical, viscoelastic Earth models with varying lithospheric thickness to the ice loads. We find that the GIA‐induced maximum horizontal stress (σH) is compressive in regions characterized by thick ice cover, with magnitudes of 20–25 MPa in Fennoscandia and 35–40 MPa in Greenland at the last glacial maximum. Simultaneously, a tensile regime with σH magnitude down to −16 MPa dominates across the forebulges with a mean of −4 MPa in the Fram Strait. At present time, σH in the Fram Strait remains tensile with an East‐West orientation. The evolution of GIA‐induced stresses from the last glaciation to present could destabilize faults along tensile forebulges, for example, the west‐coast of Svalbard. A more tensile stress regime as during the Last Glacial Maximum would have more impact on pre‐existing faults that favor gas seepage from gas reservoirs.
Comparative Study of the Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus Biofilm Formation on Antioxidants Containing Siloxane Composite Coatings

No systematic study of antioxidant containing coatings and their anti-biofilm action has been reported so far. The utilization of antioxidants in protective coatings to inhibit marine biofilm formation is a current challenge. The aim of this preliminary study was to prepare, characterize and compare the efficiency of low adhesive siloxane composite coatings equally loaded with different antioxidants against mono-species biofilms formation. Most often participating in the marine biofilms formation, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus was the test bacterium. Both the biofilm covered surface area (BCSA) and corrected total cell fluorescence (CTCF) (by fluorescent microscopy) were selected as the parameters for quantification of the biofilm after 1 h and 4 h incubation. Differing extents of altered surface characteristics (physical-chemical; physical-mechanical) and the specific affection of M. hydrocarbonoclasticus biofilm formation in both reduction and stimulation, were found in the studied antioxidant containing coatings, depending on the chemical nature of the used antioxidant. It was concluded that not all antioxidants reduce mono-species biofilm formation; antioxidant chemical reactivity stipulates the formation of an altered vulcanization network of the siloxane composites and thus microbial adhesion which influences the surface characteristics of the vulcanized coatings; and low surface energy combined with a low indentation elastic modulus are probably pre-requisites of low microbial adhesion.
Legislative Transparency in the European Parliament: Disclosing Legislators' Meetings with Interest Groups

Research on transparency in the EU and at the European Parliament, in particular, has extensively examined the adoption and implementation of transparency initiatives as well as the conditions under which interest groups have access to and in ﬂ uence on EU policy-making. However, the question of whether Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are transparent regarding their interactions with interest group representatives has been overlooked by the literature. This study addresses the question of the conditions under which MEPs are more likely to provide information about their meetings with interest groups. The study engages with institutional theory by emphasizing that formal and informal rules incentivize MEPs ’ behaviour. Drawing on a dataset on MEPs ’ reports on their meetings with interest group representatives, the study demonstrates that procedural rules, party ’ s position on the cultural dimension and the national corruption tradition affect legislators ’ propensity to disclose information about their meetings with interest groups.
Workflow for adding 4D seismic data in history matching

In this document we present a workflow for ensemble-based 4D seismic history matching. Ensemble-based history matching has become standard for production data, but 4D seismic data poses a number of additional challenges. One issue is that the amount of data is considerably larger, but another, probably more complicating factor is that for utilizing the seismic data, either the seismic data must be inverted to properties that is included in the reservoir simulation model, or a seismic response must be modeled, given the current estimate of the reservoir properties. This leads to a number of choices on how to utilize the information of the 4D seismic data. We will discuss this, as well as point to approaches for handling large amounts of data in ensemble-based history matching. The developed approach has been applied on the Norne field and is currently being evaluated at the Ekofisk field. This document is primarily addressed to reservoir engineers and researchers that are working on history matching 4D seismic data, but it might also be of interest to those working with 4D seismic data from a geophysical perspective. After all, 4D seismic history matching should be viewed as an interdisciplinary subject. Although, our focus has been on ensemble-based history matching, some of the choices that have to be made in utilizing 4D seismic data is independent of the actual method used for history matching.
Robust Enhancement of Intrusion Detection Systems Using Deep Reinforcement Learning and Stochastic Game

The incorporation of advanced networking technologies makes modern systems vulnerable to cyber-attacks that can result in a number of harmful outcomes. Due to the increase of security incidents and massive activities on networks, existing works have mainly focused on designing Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) based on traditional machine learning and deep learning models. In recent times, state of the art performance has been achieved in various fields through Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL), which combines deep learning with reinforcement learning. In this paper, we propose a new DRL-based IDS for network traffics using Markov decision process (MDP) to improve the IDS decision-making performance. In addition, an extensive analysis of the IDS behavior is provided through modeling the interaction between the well-behaving IDS and attacker players using Stochastic Game Theory. Specifically, we used a non-zero-sum stochastic game, where the transitions between states depend on both the IDS and the attacker’s actions at each stage of the game. We show that our game reaches a Nash Equilibrium upon convergence to seek the optimal solution, which corresponds to the optimal decision policy where both players maximize their profits. We compared the performance of our proposed DRL-IDS to the baseline benchmark of standard reinforcement learning (RL) and several machine learning algorithms using NSL-KDD dataset. As a result, our proposed DRL-IDS outperforms the existing models by improving both the detection rate and the accuracy while reducing false alarms. Results were provided to demonstrate the convergence of the game theory-based IDS under various settings toward equilibrium. This equilibrium corresponds to the safe state where both players are playing their respective best strategies.
Dissociative Identity Disorder in an Adolescent With Nine Alternate Personality Traits: A Case Study

Since dissociative identity disorder (DID) has symptoms similar to schizophrenia, such as auditory hallucinations and delusional thoughts of being controlled, there are difficulties in its differential diagnosis. A 16-year-old adolescent male patient who was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia from a different hospital was admitted to our inpatient psychiatric unit for the evaluation of auditory hallucinations and suicide attempts. Through psychiatric evaluations, it was determined that the patient suffered from identity alternation, dissociation, and amnesia. As for the diagnostic evaluations, the following measures were implemented: a psychiatric interview regarding the diagnostic criteria, mental status examination, laboratory tests, brain imaging studies, electroencephalography, and full psychological test for adolescents, and the self-reported measure of the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale. The patient was diagnosed with DID, and the following treatments were administered: pharmacotherapy, ego state therapy, psychoeducation regarding emotions, trauma-focused psychotherapy including stabilization, and family therapy. Following treatment, in the internal dimensions, the patient was able to recognize the nine alternate identities in charge of his emotions, which established a basis for the potential integration of identities. In the external dimensions, he showed improvements in the aspects of family conflicts and issue of school refusal. This is the first reported case of DID in an adolescent in Korea; it emphasizes the consideration of DID in the differential diagnosis of other mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder and expands the treatment opportunities for DID by sharing the procedures of ego state therapy.
Comparative Physiological and Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal Mechanisms of Exogenous Spermidine-Induced Tolerance to Low-Iron Stress in Solanum lycopersicum L

Iron (Fe) deficiency in plants is a major problem in agriculture. Therefore, we investigated both the physiological features and molecular mechanisms of plants’ response to low-Fe (LF) stress along with the mitigation of LF with exogenous spermidine (Spd) in tomato plants. The results showed that exogenous Spd foliar application relieved the suppressing effect of LF stress on tomato plants by regulating the photosynthetic efficiency, chlorophyll metabolism, antioxidant levels, organic acid secretion, polyamine metabolism and osmoregulatory systems. Analysis of transcriptomic sequencing results revealed that the differentially expressed genes of iron-deficiency stress were mainly enriched in the pathways of phytohormone signaling, starch and sucrose metabolism and phenyl propane biosynthesis in both leaves and roots. Moreover, Spd-induced promotion of growth under LF stress was associated with upregulation in the expression of some transcription factors that are related to growth hormone response in leaves (GH3, SAUR, ARF) and ethylene-related signaling factors in roots (ERF1, ERF2). We propose that traits associated with changes in low-iron-tolerance genes can potentially be used to improve tomato production. The study provides a theoretical basis for dealing with the iron deficiency issue to develop efficient nutrient management strategies in protected tomato cultivation.