gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Effect of a thin W interlayer on the thermal stability and electrical characteristics of NiSi film (2005)

A silicide method was for the first time studied to improve the thermal stability of nickel monosilicide by adding a thin W interlayer within the nickel film. The results show that after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at temperatures ranging from 650°Cto800°C, the sheet resistance of formed Ni(W)Si samples was lower than that of nickel monosilicide without the interlayer. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and raman spectra results both reveal that only the NiSi phase exists in these samples, but the high resistance NiSi2 phase does not. According to the Gibbs free energy theory, the incorporation of a 7.3 atomic ratio of the W element in the ternary silicide can delay the appearance of the high resistivity NiSi2 phase, and thus enhance the thermal stability of the NiSi film. Fabricated Ni(W)Si∕Si Schottky barrier diodes displayed good quality, with the barrier height being located generally between 0.64eV and 0.66eV and the ideality factor approaching unity. This further shows that the presence of the W interlayer in nickel silicide is effective in promoting the thermal stability and electrical characteristics of nickel monosilicide.
Inhibition of gas hydrates by methanol (1986)

Abstract A molecular‐thermodynamic correlation has been developed for calculating the inhibition effect of methanol on the formation of hydrates in moist gas mixtures. Six phases are potentially present in these mixtures: gas, aqueous liquid, hydrocarbon liquid, ice, and hydrate structures I and II. For a given temperature and system composition, the molecular‐thermodynamic method described here allows computation of the hydrate‐point pressure as well as relative amounts and compositions of all coexisting phases. Good agreement is obtained when calculated results are compared with diverse experimental data reported in the literature. The correlation given here may be useful for computeraided design for gas processing and transportation.
Inhalation of swine dust induces cytokine release in the upper and lower airways (1997)

In healthy subjects, acute inhalation of swine dust causes an influx of inflammatory cells into the airways and increased bronchial responsiveness. The exposure may also cause fever and generalized symptoms. It seems likely that proinflammatory cytokines are involved in the response to inhaled swine dust. Nasal and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were performed before, and 7 and 24 h after the start of 3 h exposure to swine dust, during a period of work in a swine confinement building, in 22 healthy subjects. Lavage fluids were analysed with regard to the cellular response and concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Each subject carried personal samplers for exposure measurements. Inhalable dust and airborne endotoxin, 3-hydroxylated (2-OH) fatty acid and muramic acid were measured. Bronchial responsiveness to methacholine was investigated 1-2 weeks before and 7 h after the start of the exposure. Exposure caused fever (> 38 degrees C) in three subjects, and approximately 25% of the subjects experienced symptoms. Bronchial responsiveness to methacholine increased by 3.5 (1.6-4.8) doubling doses (median (25th-75th percentile)). Following exposure, granulocytes increased more than 50 fold in BAL fluid and more than 40 fold in nasal lavage fluid. IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta increased significantly in BAL fluid (p < 0.05) and nasal lavage fluid (p < 0.01). IL-6 increased 25 fold in BAL and 15 fold in nasal lavage fluid (p < 0.001). TNF-alpha was below detection limit (0.25 ng.L-1) in most subjects before exposure and increased following exposure to 3.8 (2.4-5.7) and 1.3 (0.6-2.3) ng.L-1 in BAL and nasal lavage fluid, respectively, (p < 0.001). Total inhalable dust was 20.5 (14.6-30.0) mg.m-3 and the concentrations of airborne endotoxin, 3-OH fatty acid and muramic acid were 1.2 (0.8-1.4), 3.5 (2.2-4.5) and 0.9 (0.3-1.9) microgram.m-3, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the IL-6 response in BAL fluid and exposure to dust endotoxin activity and 3-OH fatty acids (p < 0.05). Otherwise, no significant correlations were found between exposure and the cytokine response. We conclude that exposure to swine dust causes an intense upper and lower airway inflammation, which involves the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1, interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha.
Lithium amide catalyzed anionic polyaddition of 1,4‐divinylbenzene with <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>′‐diethylethylenediamine (1979)

Abstract Lithium amide catalyzed anionic polyaddition of N,N′ ‐diethylethylenediamine ( 6 ) to 1,4‐divinylbenzene ( 9 ) was carried out to obtain a new type of polyamine possessing a polymerizable vinyl group at the chain end, a so‐called “macromer”. Analyses of the reaction and of the resulting polyamine by means of 13 C NMR and GPC revealed that this polyaddition reaction is a typical equilibrium reaction which is not accompanied with any side reactions, except with a possible cyclization reaction. The equilibrium constants K and their temperature dependence were determined and compared with those of model reactions. The rate constants k 1 of the first step reaction and k 2 of the second step were also determined independently.
System-level modeling and reliability analysis of microprocessor systems (2013)

In this paper, we have developed a framework to study wearout of state-of-the-art microprocessor systems. Taking into account the detailed thermal and electrical stress profiles, which are determined by running benchmarks on the system, we present a methodology to accurately estimate the lifetime due to each mechanism. The lifetime-limiting blocks and paths of a circuit are highlighted using standard benchmarks.
Screening the pathogenic genes and pathways related to DMBA (7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene)-induced transformation of hamster oral mucosa from precancerous lesions to squamous cell carcinoma (2011)

This study aimed to screen the pathogenic genes and pathways that relate to the transformation of hamster buccal mucosa from precancerous lesions to squamous cell carcinoma by whole genome microarray and bioinformatics analysis. A DMBA (7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene)-induced hamster model of a precancerous lesion and squamous cell carcinoma was established. The differentially expressed genes were detected using an Agilent whole rat genome microarray, which contains 41,000 genes/ESTs. Gene ontology (GO) functional classification and pathway analyses were performed, and a subset of differentially expressed genes were validated using RT-PCR. The results showed that during the transformation of hamster buccal mucosa from the precancerous lesion to squamous cell carcinoma, a total of 1,981 genes were differentially expressed, of which 1,037 were up-regulated and 944 were down-regulated. GO analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes are mainly involved in 14 functional groups including those of metabolism and cell structure. Additionally, 9 significantly altered pathways were identified. Among the 1,861 known differentially expressed genes, 14 genes including Casp3, CCL5 and CXCL12 were enriched in the 9 altered pathways. The up-regulation of SPARC and down-regulation of Casp3 were confirmed by RT-PCR. In conclusion, a total of 1,981 differentially expressed genes and 9 significantly altered pathways were identified in the transformation of hamster buccal mucosa from precancerous lesions to squamous cell carcinoma. A total of 14 pathway-enriched genes including Casp3, CCL5 and CXCL12 may play critical roles in the alteration of cellular pathways leading to the transformation of buccal mucosa from precancerous lesions to squamous cell carcinoma. Future studies focusing on these genes and pathways are required in order to gain a better understanding and provide effective prevention and treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma.
In vitro growth and activity of primary chondrocytes on a resorbable polylactide three-dimensional scaffold (2000)

Sheep articular chondrocytes were cultured for 3, 6, and 9 weeks on a three-dimensional porous scaffold from poly(L/DL-lactide) 80/20%. Cell growth and activity was estimated from the amount of proteoglycans attached to the polylactide scaffold and the amounts of DNA and proteins measured in the cell lysate. Cell morphology was assessed from scanning electron microscopy. Histochemical staining of proteoglycans present in the sponge was used to visualize the chondrocyte ingrowth in the scaffold. The amounts of DNA, proteins, and proteoglycans increased with time of culturing. Chondrocytes on the polylactide scaffold maintained their round shape. The cell ingrowth into the sponge progressed with time of culturing and proceeded from the upper surface of the sponge toward its lower surface. At 9 weeks, the chondrocytes filled the whole scaffold and reached the opposite side of the sponge. The proteoglycans network was, however, more dense at the upper half of the scaffold.
Microscopic Laminotomies for Degenerative Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (1998)

In this retrospective study, we investigated 50 patients who had undergone primary lumbar microsurgical multiple laminotomy without spinal fusion for degenerative spinal stenosis. There were 31 men and 19 women with a median age of 66 years (35-85 years). Thirteen patients had grade I spondylolisthesis, most at L4-L5 levels (11 of 13). Single-level laminotomy was done in 13 patients, two levels in 30, and three levels in 7. The median follow-up period was 27 months (range, 15-48 months). A standardized self-reported questionnaire was used for clinical outcome study. The demographic data and clinical features of these patients were analyzed for the prognostic factors. The analysis showed excellent results in 18 patients, good in 16, fair in 8, and poor in 8, whereas 30 patients reported that they were very satisfied with the surgery results, 10 were somewhat satisfied, 2 were somewhat dissatisfied, and 8 were very dissatisfied. Therefore, the satisfactory rate of the surgery was higher if judged by patient satisfaction. Among the parameters analyzed, the presence of neurogenic claudication (p = 0.008), coexisting disease (p = 0.04), and the absence of motor deficit (p = 0.03) were associated with lower total scores. In addition, longer duration of symptoms (p = 0.04) was associated with less improvement of back pain score, whereas the absence of motor deficit (p = 0.004) was associated with less improvement of leg pain score. The presence of spondylolisthesis did not affect outcomes.
HeteroScouts (2011)

Designing heterogeneous chip multiprocessors (CMPs) with a mix of big cores (complex superscalar out-of-order pipelines) and small cores (simple in-order pipeline) is emerging as an attractive option for future architectures. Such architectures have the potential to deliver both high performance and power efficiency but this requires operating systems (OS) or virtual machine monitors (VMMs) to efficiently schedule each software thread on the type of core that is best suited for it. In this paper, we highlight the need for architectural support for OS scheduling in a heterogeneous CMP. We propose HeteroScouts, a hardware mechanism to assist the OS to efficiently predict the performance of a task on different cores in the platform.
Construction of orthogonal and nearly orthogonal latin hypercube designs from orthogonal designs (2011)

Latin hypercube designs (LHDs), widely used for computer experiments, are a very large class of designs with desirable properties. Recently, a number of methods have been proposed to construct orthogonal LHDs. In this paper, we in- troduce an approach to constructing 2 r -order orthogonal designs. The methods are simple and easy to implement. Using orthogonal designs, we propose some methods for constructing orthogonal and nearly orthogonal LHDs so that the elementwise square of each column and the elementwise product of any two distinct columns are orthogonal to all columns. Further, the resulting nearly orthogonal LHDs with 2 r+1 +2 runs and 2 r factors have the minimum correlation between any two distinct columns.
Is MK2 (mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase 2) the key for understanding post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression? (2002)

The phenotype of mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase-2 (MK2) knockout mice revealed the essential role of this enzyme in post-transcriptional regulation of lipopolysaccharide-induced expression of cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin-6 and interferon-gamma, at the level of mRNA stability and translation. In the case of TNF-alpha, this regulation depends on the AU-rich element in TNF-alpha mRNA. In addition to cytokine expression, MK2 is also essential for cell migration in vitro. Although the role of MK2 in cytokine expression depends mainly on catalytic activity, its role in cell migration is also dependent on a proline-rich N-terminal motif. However, the molecular mechanisms involved and the relevant protein targets for MK2 are not completely defined. Here we discuss the possible mechanisms by which two potential target proteins of MK2, small heat-shock protein 25/27 (Hsp25/27) and tristetraprolin, could contribute to our understanding of the above regulation.
Alinidine Reduces the Incidence of Ischemic Ventricular Fibrillation in a Conscious Canine Model, a Protective Effect Antagonized by Overdrive Atrial Pacing (1989)

The antiarrhythmic and antifibrillatory effects of the specific bradycardic agent alinidine were evaluated in a conscious canine model of myocardial infarction and sudden death, and by determination of ventricular fibrillation thresholds (VFT) in anesthetized dogs. Programmed electrical stimulation (PES) was performed in conscious animals, 3-5 days after a 2-h occlusion/reperfusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). Dogs in which PES resulted in a reproducible nonsustained or sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) were randomized to receive either intravenous alinidine (1 mg/kg, n = 11) or intravenous vehicle (n = 10). Programmed electrical stimulation and measurement of electrophysiologic parameters were repeated after 30 min, and the animals were entered into the sudden death protocol by introducing a 150 microA anodal current to the lumen of the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) via a surgically implanted silver wire electrode. A second alinidine-treated group (n = 3) had heart rates controlled by atrial pacing during this period. Alinidine failed to prevent the programmed electrical induction of VT in 10 of 11 animals, but significantly reduced both sudden (less than 1 h ischemia) and 24-h mortality as compared to the ventricle group. Infarct sizes were similar in the two groups, but the ischemia-related increase in heart rate was attenuated (p less than 0.05) by alinidine and the onset of ischemia tended to be delayed. All of the atrial-paced animals died acutely. Heart rate decreased after alinidine (p less than 0.01), but apart from a single index of refractoriness, the drug was without electrocardiographic or electrophysiologic effects. Neither alinidine nor vehicle demonstrated any effect upon VFT in two groups of five animals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Low-rank representation of neural activity and detection of submovements (2013)

In this study, Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA) is applied to neural spike datasets to extract neural signatures that signify the onset of submovements, a type of motor primitive. Given neural activity recorded from rhesus macaques during a set of reaches between targets in a horizontal plane, we aim to identify common event-related neural features and validate submovement-based motor primitives inferred from the hand velocity profiles. Such features represent common dynamic patterns across many experimental trials and may be used as a signature to detect discrete events such as submovement onset. We present RPCA, a method well suited for extracting data matrices' low-rank component and this method allows (1) removal of task-irrelevant signal from data, (2) identification of task-related dynamic patterns, and (3) detection of submovements. We also explored using the Random Projection (RP) technique and applying RP to data prior to applying RPCA improved the submovement prediction performance by de-sparsifying neural data while preserving certain statistical characteristics of aggregate neural activity.
The editing generator and its cryptanalysis (2005)

In this paper, we present a new pseudo-random sequence generator, constructed by using two ternary linear feedback shift registers (LFSR). This new generator is called an editing generator which is a combined model of the clock-control generator (viewed as insertion) and the shrinking generator (viewed as deletion). It is shown that the editing generator has good properties of randomness, such as large periods, high linear spans, large ratio of linear span per symbol and small bias of occurrences of symbols. It is known that clock-control generators and shrinking generators are both insecure. These attacks work only for a single model based stream cipher. Thus, our combined model is secure against these attacks. We devise two different attacks for recovering the initial states of the two LFSRs, i.e., the parity-check attack and the unconstraint embedding attack (analogous to the binary case). Both of these two attacks have exponential running time. It follows that the security is not affected.
Arc-aggregation: a new method of range of motion analysis in hemophilia. (1984)

Arc-aggregation is a new graphic method of analysis of progressive loss of range of motion that can be applied to any diarthrodial joint undergoing a specific degenerative process. It is based on the premise that loss of motion (LOM) for a specific condition occurs in a predictable way or pattern. Using this method to analyze a population of 48 hemophilic patients with various stages of joint involvement, we studied 95 knees, 93 ankles, and 83 elbows for a total of 271 joints. We found a predictable pattern of progressive loss of range of motion for each joint. To detect the early onset of joint involvement, the first LOM is important. The early loss with the knee was in flexion, which gravitated toward fusion at 40 degrees. For the elbow, the early LOM was extension with fixation, occurring at 90 degrees of flexion, the preferred position for fusion. For the ankle, the early LOM was dorsiflexion with final ankylosis in slight equinus.
New Algorithms for Address Decoder Delay Faults and Bit Line Imbalance Faults (2009)

Due to the rapid decrease of technology feature size speed related faults, such as Address Decoder Delay Faults (ADDFs), are becoming very important. In addition, increased leakage currents demand for improved tests for Bit Line Imbalance Faults (BLIFs)(caused by memory cell pass transistor leakage). This paper contributes to new and improved algorithms for detecting these faults. First it provides an improved version of existing GalPat algorithm and introduces two new algorithms to detect ADDFs; the paper also shines a new light on the use of the different stress combinations (counting methods, data-backgrounds) and their importance for the detection of ADDFs. Second, it provides an improved algorithm for detecting BLIFs; it increases the defect coverage by being able to detect lower leakage currents.
Excitotoxic mechanisms of epileptic brain damage. (1986)

It is well established that the putative excitatory neurotransmitters, glutamate (Glu) and aspartate (Asp), are neurotoxins that have the potential of destroying central neurons by an excitatory mechanism. Kainic acid (KA), a rigid structural analog of Glu, powerfully reproduces the excitatory neurotoxic (excitotoxic) action of Glu on central neurons and, in addition, causes sustained limbic seizures and a pattern of seizure-linked brain damage in rats that closely resembles that observed in human epilepsy. In the course of studying the seizure-related brain damage syndrome induced by KA, we observed that a similar type of brain damage occurs as a consequence of sustained seizure activity induced by any of a variety of methods. These included intraamygdaloid or supradural administration of known convulsants such as bicuculline, picrotoxin and folic acid, or systemic administration of lithium and cholinergic agonists or cholinesterase inhibitors that have not commonly been viewed as convulsants. We have further observed that this type of brain damage can be reproduced in the hippocampus by persistent electrical stimulation of the perforant path, a major excitatory input to the hippocampus that is thought to use Glu as transmitter. It is a common feature of all such neurotoxic processes that the acute cytopathology resembles the excitotoxic type of damage induced by Glu or Asp, which is acute swelling of dendrites and vacuolar degeneration of neuronal soma, without acute changes in axons or axon terminals. We have found that the seizure-brain damage syndrome induced by cholinergic agents can be prevented by pretreatment with atropine and that the syndrome induced by any of the above methods, cholinergic or noncholinergic, can be either prevented or aborted respectively by either pre-or posttreatment with diazepam. Our findings in experimental animals may be summarized in terms of their potential relevance to human epilepsy as follows. Sustained complex partial seizure activity consistently results in cellular damage if allowed to continue for longer than 1 hr. Hippocampal, or Ammon's horn, sclerosis is the primary pathological result. It may be a priority goal, therefore, in the management of human epilepsy to control such seizure activity within very narrow limits. This proposal is discussed in terms of three major transmitter systems that may be involved; cholinergic, GABAergic, and glutamergic/aspartergic. The cholinergic system may play a role in generating or maintaining this type of seizure activity, and anticholinergics may protect against it provided they are given prior to commencement of behavioral seizures.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)