gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Music through hearing aids: perception and modeling (2010)

Historically, the primary focus of hearing aid development has been on improving speech perception for those with hearing loss. Modern-day hearing-aid wearers, however, face many different types of acoustic signals, such as music, that require different types of processing. Music signals differ from speech signals in a variety of fundamental ways and relevant perceptual information is conveyed via different signal attributes in the two types of signals. The research described here is an effort to improve music perception in listeners with hearing impairment. First, methods have been developed to quantitatively measure deficits in music perception for impaired and aided listeners. Second, specific perceptual features have been evaluated as to their relative importance in the successful perception of music and that information has been used to guide signal processing development. Finally, the relevant perceptual features have been modeled and the models have been used to evaluate and compare signal processing algorithms designed to improve music perception through hearing aids. An overview of our research will be presented along with key recent results.
Crystal structure of catena-octachlorotrisiloxane, Si3O2CI8 (2002)

No. 62), a = 10
Kinetic Study of the Effect of Catalyst in the Polycondensation of Lactic Acid to Produce Low Molecular Weight Polymers (2007)

The synthesis of low molecular weight (less than 30000 Da) lactic acid polymers (PLA) by polycondensation of a racemic mixture of D and L lactic acid was investigated. All polymerizations were carried out in the melt both in the absence and presence of catalysts at various temperatures. The obtained polymers were characterized by viscosimetry GPC and titrimetric methods. As catalysts it has been adopted both protic (sulphuric and phosphoric acid) and aprotic (SnCl2, SnCl4, AlCl3, AlF3, FeCl3, NiCl2, Al2O3) acids. Since it is known that these reacting systems can reach the equilibrium, different experiments were carried out in closed conditions to estimate the equilibrium constants for these reactions. According to our results, the best polycondensation catalyst was SnCl2, that produced the highest molecular weights in the operating conditions (reaction time of 24 hours at 180 °C). Successively we studied the polycondensation of lactic acid adopting SnCl2 as catalyst under different operating conditions. In particular we focalized our research on the temperature and residence time effect after being optimized the pre-treatment of the reactants.
Direct Covalent Grafting of Polyoxometalates onto Si Surfaces (2009)

A diazonium salt-derived organoimido hexamolybdate was synthesized and directly covalently immobilized on Si surfaces using diazonium chemistry to form both monolayers and multilayers. These monolayers and multilayers were characterized by ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electrochemical analysis. The results of electrochemical analysis have shown a strong electronic interaction between the surface-confined clusters and the Si substrate through the organic conjugated bridge.
Stackable, Covalently Fused Gels: Repair and Composite Formation (2015)

Combining modeling and experiment, we created multilayered gels where each layer was “stacked” on top of the other and covalently interconnected to form mechanically robust materials, which could integrate the properties of the individual layers. In this process, a solution of new initiator, monomer, and cross-linkers was introduced on top of the first gel, and these new components then underwent living (co)polymerization to form the subsequent layer. We simulated this process using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) to isolate factors that affect the formation and binding of chemically identical gel as well as incompatible layers. Analysis indicates that the covalent bond formation between the different layers is primarily due to reactive chain-ends, rather than residual cross-linkers. In the complementary experiments, we synthesized multilayered gels using either free radical (FRP) or atom transfer radical polymerizations (ATRP) methods. Polymerization results demonstrated that chemically identical materials preserved their structural integrity independent of the polymerization method. For gels encompassing incompatible layers, the contribution of reactive chain-ends plays a particularly important role in the integrity of the material, as indicated by the more mechanically robust systems prepared by ATRP. These studies point to a new approach for combining chemically distinct components into one coherent, multifunctional material as well as an effective method for repairing severed gels.
Strongly enhanced self-phase modulation of femtosecond optical pulses in silicon nanowires with graphene oxide films (2022)

We experimentally demonstrate enhanced spectral broadening of femtosecond optical pulses after propagation through silicon-on-insulator (SOI) nanowire waveguides integrated with two-dimensional (2D) graphene oxide (GO) films. Owing to the strong mode overlap between the SOI nanowires and the GO films with a high Kerr nonlinearity, the self-phase modulation (SPM) process in the hybrid waveguides is significantly enhanced, resulting in greatly improved spectral broadening of the femtosecond optical pulses. A solution-based, transfer-free coating method is used to integrate GO films onto the SOI nanowires with precise control of the film thickness. Detailed SPM measurements using femtosecond optical pulses are carried out, achieving a broadening factor of up to ~4.3 for a device with 0.4-mm-long, 2 layers of GO. By fitting the experimental results with theory, we obtain an improvement in the waveguide nonlinear parameter by a factor of ~3.5 and the effective nonlinear figure of merit (FOM) by a factor of ~3.8, relative to the uncoated waveguide. Finally, we discuss the influence of GO film length on the spectral broadening and compare the nonlinear optical performance of different integrated waveguides coated with GO films. These results confirm the improved nonlinear optical performance for silicon devices integrated with 2D GO films.
Oxalic Acid-promoted Preparation of Dithioacetals from Carbonyl Compounds or Acetals (2006)

Abstract This letter describes oxalic acid-promoted syntheses of dithioacetals from carbonyl compounds and thiols. Acetals are also converted into dithioacetals by the reaction with thiols under similar conditions.
Home Fruit: Diseases and Insects. p. 3-1 – 3-23. In: 2016 Pest Management Guide for Home Grounds and Animals (2016)

Growing fruits in the home orchard or garden can be an interesting and satisfying hobby, as well as a source of nutritious food for the home gardener. Tree fruits and small fruits require considerable care, and the needs of tree fruit plants and small fruit plants differ considerably. Generally, the flowers and fruit of most fruit varieties should be protected from diseases and insects by protective sprays from early pre-blossom time until near harvest. Gardeners who don’t wish to maintain their fruit plantings on a weekly basis may be disappointed with their harvests.
GPU Port of A Parallel Incompressible Navier-Stokes Solver based on OpenACC and MVAPICH2 (2014)

OpenACC is a directive-based programing standard aim to provide a highly portable programming model for massively-parallel accelerators, such as General-purpose Computing on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU), Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) and Many Integrated Core Architecture (MIC). The heterogeneous nature of these accelerators stresses a demand for careful planning of data movement and novel approaches of parallel algorithms not commonly involved in scientific computation. By following a similar concept of OpenMP, the directive-based approach of OpenACC hides many underlying implementation details, thus significantly reduces the programming complexity and increases code portability. However, many challenges remain, due to the relatively narrow interconnection bandwidth among GPUs and the very fine granularity of GPGPU architecture. The first is particularly restrictive when cross-node data exchange is involved in a cluster environment. Furthermore, GPGPU’s fine-grained parallelism is in conflict with certain types of inherently serial algorithms, posing further restrictions on performance. In our study, an implicit multi-block incompressible Navier-Stokes solver is ported for GPGPU using OpenACC and MVAPICH2. A performance analysis is carried out based on the profiling of this solver running in a InfiniBand cluster with nVidia GPUs, which helps to identify the potentials of directive-based GPU programming and directions for further improvement.
Discrete Nanostructures of Quantum Dots/Au with DNA (2004)

Nanostructures of colloidal CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) surrounded by a discrete number of Au nanoparticles were generated via DNA hybridization and purified by gel electrophoresis. Statistics from TEM analysis showed a high yield of designed structures. The distance between Au particles and QD, the number of Au around the central QD, and the size of Au and QD can be adjusted. Rationally designed structures such as these hold great promise for researching the physical interactions between semiconductor and Au nanoparticles and for developing more efficient nanoprobes.
Determination of Enantiomers of Terpenic Hydrocarbons in Essential Oils Obtained from Species of Pinus and Abies (2002)

The enantiomeric contents of monoterpenes have been determined in essential oils from the following species: Pinus cembra, Pinus nigra, Pinus pinaster, Pinus montana, Pinus sylvestris, Abies alba and Abies sibirica. A gas chromatographic method with a formamide solution of a-cyclodextrin as a stationary phase was applied for the separation and determination of enantiomers.
Combined Optical and Electrical Spectrum Shaping for High-Baud-Rate Nyquist-WDM Transceivers (2016)

We discuss the benefits and limitations of optical time-division multiplexing (OTDM) techniques based on the optical generation of a periodic train of sinc pulses for wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) transmission at high baud rates. It is shown how the modulated OTDM spectrum bandwidth is related to the optical comb parameters and the pulse shaping of the modulating waveforms in the electrical domain. Such dependence may result in broadening of the modulated spectra, which can degrade the performance of Nyquist-WDM systems due to interchannel crosstalk penalties. However, it is shown and experimentally demonstrated that the same technique of optical pulse train generation can be allied with digital pulse shaping to improve the confinement of the modulated spectrum toward the Nyquist limit independently of the number of OTDM tributaries used. To investigate the benefits of the proposed approach, we demonstrate the first WDM Nyquist-OTDM signal generation based on the periodic train of sinc pulses and electrical spectrum shaping. Straight line transmission of five 112.5-Gbd Nyquist-OTDM dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) channels is demonstrated over a dispersion uncompensated link up to 640 km, with full-field coherent detection at the receiver. It is shown that such a design strategy effectively improves the spectral confinement of the modulated OTDM signal, providing a minimum intercarrier crosstalk penalty of 1.5 dB in baud-rate-spaced Nyquist-WDM systems.
Robust control of rapid thermal processes applied to vapor deposition processing (2014)

Rapid thermal processes are an essential part of vapor deposition processing, which is widely used in semiconductor production; quality of the produced semiconductors significantly depends on accuracy of temperature control in an epitaxy process. From control point of view, temperature control is a nonlinear control problem. In the paper a control law for a family of nonlinear systems with polynomial nonlinearity is proposed and proved to provide asymptotic stability. The proposed control law is applied to a rapid thermal process control problem; experimental results for a vapor deposition processing are presented and illustrate a good tracking performance.
The I‐V characteristics of polycrystalline silicon diodes and the energy distribution of traps in grain boundaries (1992)

Abstract The current‐voltage characteristics of p + pn + structure polycrystalline silicon diodes and the energy distribution of traps in the grain boundaries are measured before and after plasma hydrogenation. Plasma hydrogenation increases the forward current and reduces the reverse current. The energy distribution of nonhydrogenated film has a peak around the midgap; this peak disappears after hydrogenation. The change in diode current produced by plasma hydrogenation can be explained by this difference in the energy distribution of the traps.
Factors that Affect Pancreatic Islet Cell Autophagy in Adult Rats: Evaluation of a Calorie-Restricted Diet and a High-Fat Diet (2016)

Aging may be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes in the elderly. Dietary intervention can affect glucose tolerance in adults, which may be due to body composition and islet cell autophagy. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of various dietary interventions on islet cell autophagy. Pancreatic tissue and blood samples were collected from Sprague Dawley rats (14-16 months old, n = 15 for each group) that received a normal diet (ND), a high-fat diet (HFD), or a calorie-restricted diet (CRD). The body weight (BW), visceral fat, serum lipid levels, fasting serum glucose, insulin levels, and β/α cell area were determined in 14-16-(0-w), 16-18-(8-w), and 18-20(16-w)-month-old rats. Pancreatic islet autophagy (LC3B and LAMP2), AP (Acid Phosphatase) and apoptosis (apoptosis index, AI (TUNEL assay) and cleaved caspase-3) were detected using immunohistochemistry, ELISA and western blot. At 16 weeks, the expressions of LC3B, LAMP2 and AP markedly increased in both the HFD (P<0.01) and CRD (P<0.05) groups; however, an increase in the AI (P<0.05), cleaved caspase-3 and Beclin1 expression and a decrease in the expressions of BCL2 and BCLXL (P<0.05) were observed in only the HFD group. FFA, triglyceride levels, HOMA-IR, insulin levels and glucagon levels were significantly increased in the HFD group but decreased in the CRD group at 16 weeks (P<0.05). The degree of islet cell autophagy was potentially regulated by the levels of FFA and islet cell insulin and glucagon, which may have been due to the effects of Beclin1/BCL2.
Dopamine-Dependent Tuning of Striatal Inhibitory Synaptogenesis (2010)

Dopaminergic projections to the striatum, crucial for the correct functioning of this brain region in adulthood, are known to be established early in development, but their role is currently uncharacterized. We demonstrate here that dopamine, by activating D(1)- and/or D(2)-dopamine receptors, decreases the number of functional GABAergic synapses formed between the embryonic precursors of the medium spiny neurons, the principal output neurons of the striatum, with associated changes in spontaneous synaptic activity. Activation of these receptors reduces the size of postsynaptic GABA(A) receptor clusters and their overall cell-surface expression, without affecting the total number of clusters or the size or number of GABAergic nerve terminals. These changes result from an increased internalization of GABA(A) receptors, and are mediated by distinct signaling pathways converging at the level of GABA(A) receptors to cause a transient PP2A/PP1-dependent dephosphorylation. Thus, tonic D(1)- and D(2)-receptor activity limits the extent of collateral inhibitory synaptogenesis between medium spiny neurons, revealing a novel role of dopamine in controlling the development of intrinsic striatal microcircuits.
Friction Stir Welding of Industrial Steels (2011)

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Objective Friction Stir Welding Tool Materials Workpiece Materials and Equipment Results and Discussion Conclusions
Low-temperature crack-free Si3N4 nonlinear photonic circuits for CMOS-compatible optoelectronic co-integration (2017)

In this communication, authors report for the first time on the fabrication and testing of Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> non-linear photonic circuits for CMOS-compatible monolithic co-integration with silicon-based optoelectronics. In particular, a novel process has been developed to fabricate low-loss crack-free Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> 750-nm-thick films for Kerr-based nonlinear functions featuring full thermal budget compatibility with existing Silicon photonics and front-end Si optoelectronics. Briefly, differently from previous and state-of-the-art works, our nonlinear nitride-based platform has been realized without resorting to commonly-used high-temperature annealing (~1200&deg;C) of the film and its silica upper-cladding used to break N-H bonds otherwise causing absorption in the C-band and destroying its nonlinear functionality. Furthermore, no complex and fabrication-intolerant Damascene process - as recently reported earlier this year - aimed at controlling cracks generated in thick tensile-strained Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> films has been used as well. Instead, a tailored Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> multiple-step film deposition in 200-mm LPCVD-based reactor and subsequent low-temperature (400&deg;C) PECVD oxide encapsulation have been used to fabricate the nonlinear micro-resonant circuits aiming at generating optical frequency combs via optical parametric oscillators (OPOs), thus allowing the monolithic co-integration of such nonlinear functions on existing CMOS-compatible optoelectronics, for both active and passive components such as, for instance, silicon modulators and wavelength (de-)multiplexers. Experimental evidence based on wafer-level statistics show nitride-based 112-&mu;m-radius ring resonators using such low-temperature crack-free nitride film exhibiting quality factors exceeding <i>Q </i>&gt;3 x 10<sup>5</sup>, thus paving the way to low-threshold power-efficient Kerr-based comb sources and dissipative temporal solitons in the C-band featuring full thermal processing compatibility with Si photonic integrated circuits (Si-PICs).
Oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction: Therapeutic implications (2011)

In a previous issue of Annals of Medicine, we presented evidence in support of the concept that an abnormally increased production of reactive oxygen species plays a central role in the genesis and progression of cardiovascular disease. While a number of preclinical lines of evidence support this concept, and despite the results of many studies suggesting a beneficial impact of antioxidant drugs on endothelial function, large clinical trials have failed to demonstrate a benefit of antioxidants on cardiovascular outcomes. Studies exploring the possibility that classical antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, or folic acid may improve the prognosis of patients with cardiac disease have substantially reported neutral-and occasionally negative-results. In contrast, medications such as statins, ACE inhibitors, certain β-blockers, or angiotensin I receptor blockers, which possess indirect 'ancillary' antioxidant properties, have been associated with beneficial effects in both preclinical studies and large clinical trials. The reasons for the failure of the 'direct' approach to antioxidant therapy, and for the success of the therapy with these drugs, are discussed in the present review.
Supplementary Figure S6 from Loss of PTEN Promotes Resistance to T Cell–Mediated Immunotherapy (2023)

&lt;p&gt;The effect of PI3Kbeta inhibitor on melanoma with PTEN loss.&lt;/p&gt;
Combinations of Preplant‐Banded and Seed‐Banded Applications of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilizer for Winter Wheat Production1 (1986)

Abstract The application of N and P fertilizers together in deep, preplant bands is an effective method of fertilizer placement for winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.). However, it produces uneven growth of wheat with the greatest growth directly over the preplant bands. Two field studies were conducted on a Crete series soil (fine, montmorillonitic, mesic Pachic Argiustoll) to determine if the addition of N and P fertilizer banded with the seed could eliminate this uneven growth and, in turn, increase grain yields. Wheat was planted in rows perpendicular to the preplant bands so that plant and spike samples could be taken from row sections located at different distances from the preplant band. In 1980‐1981, seed‐banded fertilizer increased tillering and early dry‐matter production in all row sections. However, these increases did not translate into higher spike densities or grain yields. In 1981‐1982, seed‐banded fertilizer increased tillering and early dry‐matter production in row sections between preplant bands, which reduced but did not eliminate the uneven growth caused by preplant bands. Although significant grain yield increases were obtained in row sections between preplant bands, no significant increases in overall grain yield were found. Results indicate that the addition of seed‐banded fertilizer can increase overall early dry‐matter production and may reduce, although not eliminate, the uneven growth caused by preplant bands.
Design, operation, and testing of the fly ash Carbon Burn-Out pilot plant. Final report (1996)

The Carbon Burn-Out process beneficiates fly ash by reducing its carbon content, thus producing a byproduct with commercial potential as a concrete admixture while recovering heat liberated from the carbon in the fly ash. A one ton per hour Fly Ash Carbon Burn-Out pilot plant was designed and constructed in Tampa, Florida to demonstrate the process. Processing occurs in a unique fluidized bed containing only the fly ash particles. To date over 700 tons of fly ash from 11 different power plants have been processed at the plant. Feedstock fly ash carbon content varied from approximately 5 to 18%. The processed fly ash has carbon content in the 1 to 3% range. Test show that the low carbon fly ash product performs well in concrete as a cement extender or admixture.
Catabolism of 2,7-dichloro- and 2,4,8-trichlorodibenzofuran by Sphingomonas sp strain RW1 (1999)

Due to their physicochemical and toxicological properties, polychlorinated dibenzofurans are regarded as a class of compounds providing reason for serious environmental concern. While the nonhalogenated basic structure dibenzofuran is effectively mineralized by appropriate bacterial strains, its polychlorinated derivatives are not. To elucidate the ability of the strain Sphingomonas sp RW1 to metabolize some of these chlorinated derivatives, we performed turnover experiments using 2,7-dichloro- and 2,4,8-trichlorodibenzofuran. As indicated by the oxygen-uptake rates determined for these two chlorinated dibenzofurans, Sphingomonassp RW1 can catabolize these chlorinated dibenzofurans yielding small quantities of oxidation products, which we isolated and subsequently characterized employing GC/MS and (1)H- as well as (13)C-NMR spectroscopy. In the case of 2,7-dichlorodibenzofuran, two metabolites accumulated, which we identified as 6-chloro- and 7-chloro-2-methyl-4H-chromen-4-one. The single metabolite isolated from the turnover experiments performed with 2,4,8-trichlorodibenzofuran was unequivocally identified as 6,8-dichloro-2-methyl-4H-chromen-4-one.
ABSTENSION FROM TREATMENT OF LOW-LEVEL pp65 CYTOMEGALOVIRUS ANTIGENEMIA AFTER LIVER TRANSPLANTATION: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY (2000)

CMV antigenemia less than 50 in liver transplant recipients with low and intermediate risk for CMV disease does not mandate preemptive ganciclovir treatment. Close surveillance with repeated determination of antigenemia until its negativization and careful clinical and laboratory monitoring is advisable.