Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 170GB/s 16Mb Embedded DRAM with Data-Bus Charge-Recycling

Embedded DRAM is well suited for integrated graphics applications that require extremely high bandwidth and large amounts of memory. High per-pin data rate, very wide I/O, and concurrent read/write together provide a high total data rate. The highest previous total data rate for a 16Mb macro reported at this conference is 92GB/s. This work demonstrates a 16Mb DRAM macro test chip with data rates of 2.66Gb/s/pin and 170GB/s total.
5.5 A forward-body-bias tuned 450MHz Gm-C 3rd-order low-pass filter in 28nm UTBB FD-SOI with >1dBVp IIP3 over a 0.7-to-1V supply

Due to the absence of internal nodes, inverter-based Gm-C filters [1,2] allow achieving bandwidths beyond what is possible with opamp-RC techniques. The class-AB behavior of the inverter, together with the high transconductance for a given quiescent current, results in a high dynamic range for a given power consumption when optimally biased [3]. The major disadvantage of traditional inverter-based Gm-C filters is that they are tuned with the supply voltage, VDD, and hence require a finely controllable supply. Voltage regulators used to accomplish this require a voltage headroom (including margin for tuning) and degrade total power efficiency by tens of percent. In this paper, we show that by exploiting body biasing in an ultra-thin buried oxide (BOX) and body, fully-depleted SOI (UTBB FD-SOI) CMOS technology, we overcome the requirement for a tunable VDD in inverter-based Gm-C filters, while achieving high linearity over a wide supply voltage range.
6.4 A 64Gb/s PAM-4 transmitter with 4-Tap FFE and 2.26pJ/b energy efficiency in 28nm CMOS FDSOI

Electrical link migration requires serial interfaces to operate at increasing data rates. Despite the fact that most standards still employ NRZ, practical signal integrity constraints demand PAM-4 modulation, especially for some interconnect applications and low-loss profiles [1]. Nevertheless, compared to NRZ, the design of high-speed PAM-4 transmitters entails several challenges. Achieving high linearity without reducing the output amplitude is key to preserve high SNR, which is tightened by the intrinsic 1/3 eye amplitude reduction. Moreover, transitions between non-adjacent levels reduce horizontal eye openings, demanding wide bandwidth and tight timing constraints. In light of the above issues, pushing the transmitter to high data-rates while maintaining signal integrity and energy efficiency is challenging. In fact, published PAM-4 transmitters [2–5] do not meet the CEI-56G-PAM4 standard [1], requiring up to 56Gb/s and 4-taps of feedforward equalization (FFE). To reach the target, improvements on both the architecture and the circuit side are required. A serializer architecture is presented in this paper. To save power, clocking signals are generated and distributed at quarter-rate, but the last stage employs 2∶1 multiplexers (MUXs) driven by half-rate clocks generated locally to overcome the speed limitation of 4∶1 MUXs. Moreover, a new current-mode driver allows high swing and good linearity by raising the power supply without compromising speed and reliability, and a double T-coil splits transistors and ESD parasitics to meet the bandwidth requirements for the target data rate.
FUNCTIONAL COMPLEXITY AND ECOSYSTEM STABILITY

The hypothesis that complexity and stability are positively correlated was experimentally tested at the ecosystem level of organization using intact terrestrial microcosms. Power spectral densities of hourly CO/sub 2/ efflux, from 11 old-field microcosms, were analyzed for the number of low-frequency components. We postulate that the number of peaks is related to functional interactions among system components (i.e., population interactions, physical-chemical reactions, and biological turnover rates) influenced by nonlinearities, feedbacks, and time delays. Thus, the number of low-frequency peaks can be taken as an index of functional complexity. Relative stability was based on the capacity of the system to retain essential nutrients and was measured by net loss of calcium after the system was stressed with a heavy metal, cadmium. Rank correlation supported the hypothesis that increasing ecosystem functional complexity leads to increasing ecosystem stability.
Physics-based inverse design of cholesterol attracting transmembrane helices reveals a paradoxical role of hydrophobic length

The occurrence of linear cholesterol-recognition motifs in alpha-helical transmembrane domains has long been debated. Here, we demonstrate the ability of a genetic algorithm guided by coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations—a method coined evolutionary molecular dynamics (Evo-MD)—to directly resolve the sequence which maximally attracts cholesterol for single-pass alpha-helical transmembrane domains (TMDs). We illustrate that the evolutionary landscape of cholesterol attraction in membrane proteins is characterized by a sharp, well-defined global optimum. Surprisingly, this optimal solution features an unusual short, slender hydrophobic block surrounded by three successive lysines. Owing to the membrane thickening effect of cholesterol, cholesterol-enriched ordered phases favor TMDs characterized by a long rather than a too short hydrophobic length (a negative hydrophobic mismatch). However, this short hydrophobic pattern evidently offers a pronounced net advantage for the attraction of free cholesterol in both coarse-grained and atomistic simulations. We illustrate that optimal cholesterol attraction is in fact based on the superposition of two distinct structural features: (i) slenderness and (ii) hydrophobic mismatch. In addition, we explore the evolutionary occurrence and feasibility of the two features by analyzing existing databases of membrane proteins and through the direct expression of analogous short hydrophobic sequences in live cell assays. The puzzling sequence variability of proposed linear cholesterol-recognition motifs is indicative of a sub-optimal membrane-mediated attraction of cholesterol which markedly differs from ligand binding based on shape compatibility. Significance Statement Our work demonstrates how a synergy between evolutionary algorithms and high-throughput coarse-grained molecular dynamics can yield fundamentally new insights into the evolutionary fingerprints of protein-mediated lipid sorting. We illustrate that the evolutionary landscape of cholesterol attraction in isolated transmembrane domains is characterized by a well-defined global optimum. In contrast, sub-optimal attraction of cholesterol is associated with a diverse solution space and features a high sequence variability despite acting on the same unique molecule. The contrasting physicochemical nature of the resolved attraction optimum suggests that cholesterol attraction via linear motifs does not pose a dominant pressure on the evolution of transmembrane proteins.
Effect of Observing a Virtual Double on Paranoia in Social Virtual Environments: Experiment Preliminary Presentation

We present an experiment designed to investigate whether seeing a virtual double performing an action in a social context can impact participants’ psychological state. With the help of a 3D scanning process, we are interested in exposing participants suffering from moderate paranoid thinking to a ubiquitous social situation where they see their virtual double carry out a social interaction task, in order to observe if this can reduce anxiety and paranoia levels prior to carrying out the task themselves.
Optimal Search Auctions 1

We study the design of profit maximizing single unit auctions under the assumption that the seller needs to incur costs to contact prospective bidders and inform them about the auction. With independent bidders’ types and possibly interdependent valuations, the seller’s problem can be reduced to a search problem in which the surplus is measured in terms of virtual utilities minus search costs. Compared to the socially efficient mechanism, the optimal mechanism features fewer participants, longer search conditional on the same set of participants, and inefficient sequence of entry.
Preferential dissolution of benthic foraminiferal calcite during laboratory reductive cleaning

We have investigated the effect of cleaning procedures on eight element/Ca ratios in three widely used benthic foraminifera species from core top and down core sediments. Two cleaning techniques were employed: (1) comparison between “Mg‐cleaning” and “Cd‐cleaning” methods and (2) comparison between the various constituent reagents. Li/Ca, B/Ca, and Sr/Ca ratios remained unchanged for samples subjected to different treatments, but Mg/Ca, Mn/Ca, Zn/Ca, Cd/Ca, and U/Ca were substantially decreased when foraminifera shells were cleaned with reagents containing citrate. In contrast, no significant decreases in element/Ca ratios were observed for samples cleaned in N2H4 without citrate, indicating that the role of N2H4 was insignificant during reductive cleaning and that citrate is responsible for decreases of Mg/Ca, Mn/Ca, Zn/Ca, Cd/Ca, and U/Ca. Decreases in these ratios are most likely due to (1) removal of contaminant particles enriched in Mg, Mn, Zn, Cd and U and/or (2) preferential leaching of CaCO3 by the formation of stable metal complexes through chelation between citrate and metals heterogeneously distributed in foraminiferal shells. Due to the negligible effect of N2H4 and preferential dissolution of CaCO3 during reductive cleaning, it is suggested that the reductive cleaning step should be omitted and the “Mg‐cleaning” method [Barker et al., 2003] could be employed to clean foraminiferal shells for trace element measurements.
THE VECTOR FIELD HISTOGRAM-FAST OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE FOR MOBILE ROBOTS

A new real-time obstacle avoidance method for mobile robots has been developed and implemented. This method, named the vector field histogram (VFH), permits the detection of unknown obstacles and avoids collisions while simultaneously steering the mobile robot toward the target. The VFH method uses a two-dimensional Cartesian histogram grid as a world model. This world model is updated continuously with range data sampled by on-board range sensors. The VFH method subsequently employs a two-stage data-reduction process in order to compute the desired control commands for the vehicle. In the first stage the histogram grid is reduced to a onedimensional polar histogram that is constructed around the robot's momentary location. Each sector in the polar histogram contains a value representing the polar obstacle density in that direction. In the second stage, the algorithm selects the most suitable sector from among all polar histogram sectors with a low polar obstacle density, and the steering of the robot is aligned with that direction. Experimental results from a mobile robot traversing densely cluttered obstacle courses in smooth and continuous motion and at an average speed of 0.6 0.7m/sec demonstrate the power of the VFH method.
Evaluation of allelopathy as a mechanism by which buckwheat suppresses Canada thistle and its mycorrhizae

approved:_ Garvin D. Crabtree Experiments were conducted to determine if allelopathy is a mechanism by which buckwheat interferes with a) the growth of Canada thistle and/or b) mycorrhizae colonization in Canada thistle roots. In a competition experiment, buckwheat plant biomass was only affected by the intraspecific competition from other buckwheat plants and not by the interspecific competition from Canada thistle plants. Canada thistle plant biomass was only affected by the interspecific competition from buckwheat and not the intraspecific competition from other Canada thistle plants. Since one of the interspecific competition components was missing (Canada thistle did not affect buckwheat), the value for niche differentiation is greater than unity, indicating that buckwheat and Canada thistle are not exploiting the same resources. A niche differentiation value less than unity would have indicated that not all available resources were being used. Allelopathy is one mechanism that prevents use of all available resources. In root-shoot isolation experiments, Canada thistle biomass was significantly affected by buckwheat when growing only in the presence of buckwheat roots (shoots trained away). When growing under buckwheat's canopy, Canada thistle biomass was greater when Canada thistle roots were isolated from the buckwheat roots than when roots were not isolated. In both cases, plants were irrigated with water containing a soluble 20-20-20 (nitrogen (N)-phosphorous-potassium) fertilizer at an N concentration of 100 parts/million (wt/vol) to reduce or eliminate competition for nutrients and water. Canada thistle biomass, when both Canada thistle roots and shoots were separated from buckwheat roots and shoots, was reduced when exposed to leachates from buckwheat's root system. A 10% Hoagland's solution was circulated between buckwheat's and Canada thistle's root systems to reduce or eliminate competition for light, water, and nutrients. Results from the rootshoot isolation experiments suggest that allelopathy may be a mechanism by which buckwheat interferes with Canada thistle. Results from mycorrhizae experiments indicate that buckwheat did not become mycorrhizal possibly because of extensive root hair development. Also, results suggest that buckwheat suppressed the colonization and growth of mycorrhizae in Canada thistle roots because of the low light condition created by buckwheat's canopy and not because of allelopathy. Evaluation of Allelopathy as a Mechanism by which Buckwheat Suppresses Canada Thistle and its Mycorrhizae by Steven R. Eskelsen
DETERMINISTIC EXTRACTORS FOR BIT-FIXING SOURCES AND EXPOSURE-RESILIENT CRYPTOGRAPHY

We give an efficient deterministic algorithm that extracts Ω(n2γ) almost-random bits from sources where n 1 2 +γ of the n bits are uniformly random and the rest are fixed in advance. This improves upon previous constructions, which required that at least n/2 of the bits be random in order to extract many bits. Our construction also has applications in exposure-resilient cryptography, giving explicit adaptive exposure-resilient functions and, in turn, adaptive all-or-nothing transforms. For sources where instead of bits the values are chosen from [d], for d > 2, we give an algorithm that extracts a constant fraction of the randomness. We also give bounds on extracting randomness for sources where the fixed bits can depend on the random bits.
A study on the use of radar and lidar for characterizing ultragiant aerosol

From 19 April to 19 May 2010, volcanic aerosol layers originating from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano were observed at the Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis of the National Research Council of Italy Atmospheric Observatory, named CIAO (40.60°N, 15.72°E, 760 m above sea level), in Southern Italy with a multiwavelength Raman lidar. During this period, ultragiant aerosols were also observed at CIAO using a colocated 8.45 mm wavelength Doppler radar. The Ka‐band radar signatures observed in four separate days (19 April and 7, 10, and 13 May) are consistent with the observation of nonspherical ultragiant aerosols characterized by values of linear depolarization ratio (LDR) higher than –4 dB. Air mass back trajectory analysis suggests a volcanic origin of the ultragiant aerosols observed by the radar. The observed values of the radar reflectivity (Ze) are consistent with a particle effective radius (r) larger than 50–75 µm. Scattering simulations based on the T‐matrix approach show that the high LDR values can be explained if the observed particles have an absolute aspect ratio larger than 3.0 and consist of an internal aerosol core and external ice shell, with a variable radius ratio ranging between 0.2 and 0.7 depending on the shape and aspect ratio. Comparisons between daytime vertical profiles of aerosol backscatter coefficient (β) as measured by lidar and radar LDR reveal a decrease of β where ultragiant particles are observed. Scattering simulations based on Mie theory show how the lidar capability in typing ultragiant aerosols could be limited by low number concentrations or by the presence of an external ice shell covering the aerosol particles. Preferential vertical alignment of the particles is discussed as another possible reason for the decrease of β.
Nitrate fate and transport through current and former depressional wetlands in an agricultural landscape, Choptank Watershed, Maryland, United States

Understanding local groundwater hydrology and geochemistry is critical for evaluating the effectiveness of wetlands at mitigating agricultural impacts on surface waters. The effectiveness of depressional wetlands at mitigating nitrate (NO3) transport from fertilized row crops, through groundwater, to local streams was examined in the watershed of the upper Choptank River, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Hydrologic, geochemical, and water quality data were collected from January of 2008 through December of 2009 from surface waters and networks of piezometers installed in and around current or former depressional wetlands of three major types along a gradient of anthropogenic alteration: (1) natural wetlands with native vegetation (i.e., forested); (2) prior-converted croplands, which are former wetlands located in cultivated fields; and (3) hydrologically restored wetlands, including one wetland restoration and one shallow water management area. These data were collected to estimate the orientation of groundwater flow paths and likely interactions of groundwater containing NO3 from agricultural sources with reducing conditions associated with wetlands of different types. Natural wetlands were found to have longer periods of soil saturation and reducing conditions conducive to denitrification compared to the other wetland types studied. Because natural wetlands are typically located in groundwater recharge areas along watershed divides, nitrogen (N) from nearby agriculture was not intercepted. However, these wetlands likely improve water quality in adjacent streams via dilution. Soil and geochemical conditions conducive to denitrification were also present in restored wetlands and prior-converted croplands, and substantial losses of agricultural NO3 were observed in groundwater flowing through these wetland sediments. However, delivery of NO3 from agricultural areas through groundwater to these wetlands resulting in opportunities for denitrification were limited, particularly where reducing conditions did not extend throughout the entire thickness of the surficial aquifer allowing NO3 to pass conservatively beneath a wetland along deeper groundwater flow paths. The complexity of N fate and transport associated with depressional wetlands complicates the understanding of their importance to water quality in adjacent streams. Although depressional wetlands often contribute low NO3 water to local streams, their effectiveness as landscape sinks, for N from adjacent agriculture varies with natural conditions, such as the thickness of the aquifer and the extent of reducing conditions. Measurement of such natural geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical conditions are therefore fundamental to understanding N mitigation in individual wetlands.
Revising the role of integrin subunit beta 4 expression in colon cancer progression and survival

Purpose Integrin subunit β4 (β4) has been proposed to play an important role in colon cancer progression through its involvement in hemidesmosome disassembly processes and tumor cell migration. However, the association between β4 expression and clinicopathological outcomes in colon cancer remains unclear. Methods Expression of β4 was assessed by immunohistochemistry in a large cohort of 651 colon cancer patients, the largest colon cancer cohort so far. Chi-squared tests were used to study the association between β4 expression and clinicopathological features. Overall and disease-free survival were assessed by Cox proportional hazard models. Results Loss of β4 expression was associated with local tumor invasion. Only 17.9% of the pT1 tumors displayed weak β4 expression level versus 28.1% of pT4 tumors, and 25.0% of the pT1 tumors had a high expression level versus 8.6% of the pT4 tumors ( p = 0.012). No association between β4 expression and overall ( p = 0.845) or disease-free survival ( p = 0.767) was encountered, which disputes the role of β4 as a biomarker of malignant behavior in colon cancer. Conclusion Contradictory reports have suggested opposite roles for β4 expression in (colon) cancer progression. In the pre-sent large cohort of colon cancer patients, we found that β4 expression was not associated with worse clinical prognosis, but decreased with advanced pathological tumor stage. Future studies should establish whether loss of β4 expression promotes invasive characteristics of colon cancer cells.
Pathogen genetic control of transcriptome variation in the Arabidopsis thaliana – Botrytis cinerea pathosystem

Disease symptoms arise from the interaction of the host and pathogen genomes. However, little is known about how genetic variation in the interaction modulates both organisms’ transcriptomes, especially in complex interactions like those between generalist pathogens and their plant hosts. To begin mapping how polygenic pathogen variation influences both organisms’ transcriptomes, we used the Botrytis cinerea - Arabidopsis thaliana pathosystem. We measured the co-transcriptome across a genetically diverse collection of 96 B. cinerea isolates infected on the Arabidopsis wildtype, Col-0. Using the B. cinerea genomic variation, we performed genome-wide association (GWA) for each of 23,947 measurable transcripts in the host, and 9,267 measurable transcripts in the pathogen. Unlike other eGWA studies, there was a relative absence of cis-eQTL that is likely explained by structural variants and allelic heterogeneity within the pathogen’s genome. This analysis identified mostly trans-eQTL in the pathogen with eQTL hotspots dispersed across the pathogen genome that altered the pathogen’s transcripts, the host’s transcripts, or both the pathogen and the host. Gene membership in the trans-eQTL hotspots suggests links to several known and many novel virulence mechanisms in the plant-pathogen interaction. Genes annotated to these hotspots provide potential targets for blocking manipulation of the host response by this ubiquitous generalist pathogen. This shows that genetic control over the co-transcriptome is polygenic, similar to the virulence outcome in the interaction of Botrytis cinerea on Arabidopsis thaliana.
Percolation on stationary tessellations: models, mean values and second order structure

We consider a stationary face-to-face tessellation $X$ of $\mathbb{R}^d$ and introduce several percolation models by colouring some of the faces black in a consistent way. Our main model is cell percolation, where cells are declared black with probability $p$ and white otherwise. We are interested in geometric properties of the union $Z$ of black faces. Under natural integrability assumptions we first express asymptotic mean-values of intrinsic volumes in terms of Palm expectations associated with the faces. In the second part of the paper we study asymptotic covariances of intrinsic volumes of $Z\cap W$, where the observation window $W$ is assumed to be a polytope. Here we need to assume the existence of suitable asymptotic covariances of the face processes of $X$. We check these assumptions in the important special case of a Poisson Voronoi tessellation. In the case of cell percolation on a normal tessellation, especially in the plane, our formulae simplify considerably.