Influence of In and Ga additives onto SnO2 inkjet-printed semiconductor

Tin oxide is a multifunctional semiconductor that offers excellent capabilities in a variety of applications such as solar cells, catalysis and chemical sensors. In this work, tin-based semiconductors have been obtained by means of solution synthesis and inkjet, and compared to similar materials with In and Ga as additives. The effect of different thermal treatments after deposition is also studied. n-Type behavior with saturation mobility N2 cm2 /Vs has been observed, and suitability as a semiconductor for thin-film transistors (TFTs) demonstrated with on/off ratios of more than 8 decades. Both In and InGa additives are shown to provide superior environmental stability, as well as significant change from depletion to enhancement operation modes in TFTs

A Grouping Harmony Search Algorithm for Assigning Resources to Users in WCDMA Mobile Networks

This paper explores the feasibility of a particular implemen- tation of a Grouping Harmony Search (GHS) algorithm to assign re- sources (codes, aggregate capacity, power) to users in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) networks. We use a problem for- mulation that takes into account a detailed modeling of loads factors, including all the interference terms, which strongly depend on the as- signment to be done. The GHS algorithm aims at minimizing a weighted cost function, which is composed of not only the detailed load factors but also resource utilization ratios (for aggregate capacity, codes, power), and the fraction of users without service. The proposed GHS is based on a particular encoding scheme (suitable for the problem formulation) and tailored Harmony Memory Considering Rate and Pitch Adjusting Rate processes. The experimental work shows that the proposed GHS algorithm exhibits a superior performance than that of the conventional approach, which minimizes only the load factors

Impact of circulating bacterial DNA in long-term glucose homeostasis in non-diabetic patients with HIV infection: cohort study

In HIV-infected patients, the damage in the gut mucosal immune system is not completely restored after antiretroviral therapy (ART). It results in microbial translocation, which could influence the immune and inflammatory response. We aimed at investigating the long-term impact of bacterial-DNA translocation (bactDNA) on glucose homeostasis in an HIV population. This was a cohort study in HIV-infected patients whereby inclusion criteria were: patients with age >18 years, ART-naïve or on effective ART (<50 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL) and without diabetes or chronic hepatitis C. Primary outcome was the change in HbA1c (%). Explanatory variables at baseline were: bactDNA (qualitatively detected in blood samples by PCR [broad-range PCR] and gene 16SrRNA - prokaryote), ART exposure, HOMA-R and a dynamic test HOMACIGMA [continuous infusion of glucose with model assessment], hepatic steatosis (hepatic triglyceride content - 1H-MRS), visceral fat / subcutaneous ratio and inflammatory markers. Fifty-four men (age 43.2 ± 8.3 years, BMI 24.9 ± 3 kg/m2, mean duration of HIV infection of 8.1 ± 5.3 years) were included. Baseline HbA1c was 4.4 ± 0.4% and baseline presence of BactDNA in six patients. After 8.5 ± 0.5 years of follow-up, change in HbA1c was 1.5 ± 0.47% in patients with BactDNA vs 0.87 ± 0.3% in the rest of the sample p < 0.001. The change in Hba1c was also influenced by protease inhibitors exposure, but not by baseline indices of insulin resistance, body composition, hepatic steatosis, inflammatory markers or anthropometric changes. In non-diabetic patients with HIV infection, baseline bacterial translocation and PI exposure time were the only factors associated with long-term impaired glucose homeostasis

Inverse association between negative symptoms and body mass index in chronic schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: We investigated whether negative symptoms, such as poor motivation or anhedonia, were associated with higher body mass index (BMI) in stable patients with schizophrenia chronically treated with antipsychotic medication. METHODS: 62 olanzapine- or clozapine-treated patients with illness duration of at least four years were selected from an international multicenter study on the characterization of negative symptoms. All participants completed the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Bivariate correlations between BMI and negative symptoms (BNSS) were explored, as well as multiple regression analyses. We further explored the association of two principal component factors of the BNSS and BMI. Subsidiary analyses re-modeled the above using the negative symptoms subscale of the PANSS and the EMSLEY factor for negative symptoms for convergent validity. RESULTS: Lower negative symptoms (BNSS score) were associated with higher BMI (r=-0.31; p=0.015). A multiple regression analysis showed that negative symptoms (BNSS score) and age were significant predictors of BMI (p=0.037). This was mostly driven by the motivation/pleasure factor of the BNSS. Within this second factor, BMI was negatively associated with anhedonia (r=-0.254; p=0.046) and asociality (r=-0.253; p=0.048), but not avolition (r=-0.169; p=0.188). EMSLEY score was positively associated with BNSS (r=0.873, p<0.001), but negatively associated with BMI (r=-0.308; p=0.015). The association between PANSS and BMI did not reach significance (r=-224, p=0.080). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that lower negative symptoms were associated with higher BMI (assessed using both the BNSS and EMSLEY) in chronic stable schizophrenia patients, mostly due to lower anhedonia and asociality levels

Lead-Free Perovskite-Inspired Absorbers for Indoor Photovoltaics

With the exponential rise in the market value and number of devices part of the Internet of Things (IoT), the demand for indoor photovoltaics (IPV) to power autonomous devices is predicted to rapidly increase. Lead-free perov skite-inspired materials (PIMs) have recently attracted significant attention in photovoltaics research, due to the similarity of their electronic structure to high-performance lead-halide perovskites, but without the same toxicity limitations. However, the capability of PIMs for indoor light harvesting has not yet been considered. Herein, two exemplar PIMs, BiOI and CsSbClxI-x are examined. It is shown that while their bandgaps are too wide for single-junction solar cells, they are close to the optimum for indoor light harvesting. As a result, while BiOI and CsSbClxI-x devices are only circa %-ecient under -sun illumination, their eciencies increase to –% under indoor illumination. These eciencies are within the range of reported values for hydrogenated amorphous silicon, i.e., the industry standard for IPV. It is demonstrated that such performance levels are already sucient for millimeter-scale PIM devices to power thin-film-transistor circuits. Intensity-dependent and optical loss analyses show that future improvements in eciency are possible. Furthermore, calculations of the optically limited eciency of these and other low-toxicity PIMs reveal their considerable potential for IPV, thus encouraging future eorts for their exploration for powering IoT devic

Nonlocal similarity image filtering

Abstract. We exploit the recurrence of structures at different locations, orientations and scales in an image to perform denoising. While previous methods based on “nonlocal filtering ” identify corresponding patches only up to translations, we consider more general similarity transformations. Due to the additional computational burden, we break the problem down into two steps: First, we extract similarity invariant descriptors at each pixel location; second, we search for similar patches by matching descriptors. The descriptors used are inspired by scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT), whereas the similarity search is solved via the minimization of a cost function adapted from local denoising methods. Our method compares favorably with existing denoising algorithms as tested on several datasets.

Adaptable Security in Wireless Sensor Networks by Using Reconfigurable ECC Hardware Coprocessors

Specific features of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) like the open accessibility to nodes, or the easy observability of radio communications, lead to severe security challenges. The application of traditional security schemes on sensor nodes is limited due to the restricted computation capability, low-power availability, and the inherent low data rate. In order to avoid dependencies on a compromised level of security, a WSN node with a microcontroller and a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is used along this work to implement a state-of-the art solution based on ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography). In this paper it is described how the reconfiguration possibilities of the system can be used to adapt ECC parameters in order to increase or reduce the security level depending on the application scenario or the energy budget. Two setups have been created to compare the software- and hardware-supported approaches. According to the results, the FPGA-based ECC implementation requires three orders of magnitude less energy, compared with a low power microcontroller implementation, even considering the power consumption overhead introduced by the hardware reconfiguratio

Natural images from the birthplace of the human eye

Here we introduce a database of calibrated natural images publicly available through an easy-to-use web interface. Using a Nikon D70 digital SLR camera, we acquired about 5000 six-megapixel images of Okavango Delta of Botswana, a tropical savanna habitat similar to where the human eye is thought to have evolved. Some sequences of images were captured unsystematically while following a baboon troop, while others were designed to vary a single parameter such as aperture, object distance, time of day or position on the horizon. Images are available in the raw RGB format and in grayscale. Images are also available in units relevant to the physiology of human cone photoreceptors, where pixel values represent the expected number of photoisomerizations per second for cones sensitive to long (L), medium (M) and short (S) wavelengths. This database is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial Unported license to facilitate research in computer vision, psychophysics of perception, and visual neuroscience.Comment: Submitted to PLoS ON

Smoking cessation improves clinical outcome in severe mental disorders and is modulated by genetic variability at CHRNA5 gene

Smoking has been traditionally tolerated for patients with mental disorders due to its hypothesized self-medication function (Schroeder and Morris, 2010).[...