Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decoupled DQ-PLL with positive sequence voltage normalization for wind turbine LVRT control

The behavior of PLL under usual and nonstandard operational circumstances is a vital facet, as the RES is anticipated to function to meet grid code requirement. This paper proposes a positive sequence voltage normalization method to be applied in conventional dq-PLL which is normally used as the last stage of positive-negative sequence voltage decoupled PLL scheme. The benefit of this solution is that it helps to eliminate the effect of positive voltage amplitude in PLL control loop bandwidth. Therefore, the dynamic functionality of the decoupled PLL scheme can be improved in grid voltage dip conditions. The proposed solution has been studied in DDSRF-NOM-PLL (decoupled double synchronous reference frame normalized PLL) scheme. Simulation results show that DDSRF-NOM-PLL has less frequency overshoot compared to DDSRF-PLL scheme and has identical dynamic performance as DHRF-PLL. The suggested solution can also be readily implemented to improve the dynamic response of MCCF-NOM-PLL scheme (Multiple Complex coefficient filters PLL with positive sequence normalization) or other positive-negative sequence decoupling schemes with conventional dq-PLL as its last stage for frequency and phase estimation.
Thermal Transport at Superhydrophobic Surfaces in Impinging Liquid Jets, Natural Convection, and Pool Boiling

Thermal Transport at Superhydrophobic Surfaces in Impinging Liquid Jets, Natural Convection, and Pool Boiling Matthew Clark Searle Department of Mechanical Engineering, BYU Doctor of Philosophy This dissertation focuses on the effects of superhydrophobic (SHPo) surfaces on thermal transport. The work is divided into two main categories: thermal transport without phase change and thermal transport with phase change. Thermal transport without phase change is the topic of four stand-alone chapters. Three address jet impingement at SHPo surfaces and the fourth considers natural convection at a vertical, SHPo wall. Thermal transport with phase change is the topic of a single stand-alone chapter exploring pool boiling at SHPo surfaces. Two chapters examining jet impingement present analytical models for thermal transport; one considered an isothermal wall and the other considered an isoflux wall. The chapter considering the isothermal scenario has been archivally published. Conclusions are presented for both models. The models indicated that the Nusselt number decreased dramatically as the temperature jump length increased. Further, the influence of radial position, jet Reynolds number, Prandtl number and isoflux versus isothermal heating become negligible as temperature jump length increased. The final chapter concerning jet impingement reports an experimental exploration of jet impingement at post patterned SHPo surfaces with varying microfeature pitch and cavity fraction. The empirical results show a decrease in Nusselt number relative to smooth hydrophobic surfaces for small pitch and cavity fraction and the isoflux model agrees well with this data when the ratio of temperature jump length to slip length is 3.1. At larger pitch and cavity fractions, the empirical results have higher Nusselt numbers than the SHPo surfaces with small pitch and cavity fraction but remain smaller than the smooth hydrophobic surface. We attribute this to the influence of small wetting regions. The chapter addressing natural convection presents an analytical model for buoyant flow at a vertical SHPo surface. The Nusselt number decreased dramatically as temperature jump length increased, with greater decrease occurring near the lower edge and at higher Rayleigh number. Thermal transport with phase change is the topic of the final stand-alone chapter concerning pool boiling, which has been archivally published. Surface heat flux as a function of surface superheat was reported for SHPo surfaces with rib and post patterning at varying microfeature pitch, cavity fraction, and microfeature height. Nucleate boiling is more suppressed on post patterned surfaces than rib patterned surfaces. At rib patterned surfaces, transition superheat decreases as cavity fraction increases. Increasing microfeature height modestly increases the transition superheat. Once stable film boiling is achieved, changes in surface microstructure negligibly influence thermal transport.
Examining driver's eye-movements and cognitive workload: An exploratory study using electrooculography

Previous research has suggested a link between cognitive workload and gaze concentration. As mental workload increases, humans begin to stare straight ahead. If drivers’ scanning behaviors are attenuated as a result of secondary in-vehicle tasks, then their situation awareness and their ability to react to unpredictable events may be impaired. Using video-based eye tracking technology in a naturalistic setting is notoriously difficult; however, electrooculography (EOG) may provide a reliable, real-time measure of changes in visual scanning under manipulated levels of cognitive workload. This study assessed the viability of EOG to measure changes in scanning behavior when drivers performed common in-vehicle tasks while driving an automobile. Notably, EOG measures were not sensitive to driver’s workload, but instead demonstrated that speech production inherent to a task contributes to an additive effect in identified eye movements.
Early Clinical Complications After ABO-Incompatible Live-Donor Kidney Transplantation: A National Study of Medicare-Insured Recipients

Background Descriptions of the sequelae of ABO-incompatible (ABOi) kidney transplantation are limited to single-center reports, which may lack power to detect important effects. Methods We examined U.S. Renal Data System registry data to study associations of ABOi live-donor kidney transplantation with clinical complications in a national cohort. Among 14,041 Medicare-insured transplants in 2000 to 2007, 119 non–donor-A2 ABOi transplants were identified. A2-incompatible (n=35) transplants were categorized separately. Infection and hemorrhage events were identified by diagnosis codes on billing claims. Associations of ABO incompatibility with complications were assessed by multivariate Cox regression. Results Recipients of ABOi transplants experienced significantly (P<0.05) higher incidence of wound infections (12.7% vs. 7.3%), pneumonia (7.6% vs. 3.8%), and urinary tract infections (UTIs) or pyelonephritis (24.5% vs. 15.3%) in the first 90 days compared with ABO-compatible recipients. In adjusted models, ABO incompatibility was associated with twice the risk of pneumonia (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14–4.33) and 56% higher risk of UTIs or pyelonephritis (aHR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.05–2.30) in the first 90 posttransplantation days, and 3.5 times the relative risk of wound infections in days 91 to 365 (aHR, 3.55; 95% CI, 1.92–6.57). ABOi recipients, 19% of whom underwent pre- or peritransplant splenectomy, experienced twice the adjusted risk of early hemorrhage (aHR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.19–3.24). A2-incompatible transplantation was associated only with early risk of UTIs or pyelonephritis. Conclusion ABOi transplantation offers patients with potential live donors an additional transplant option but with higher risks of infectious and hemorrhagic complications. Awareness of these complications may help improve protocols for the management of ABOi transplantation.
Feeding and the Rhodopsin Family G-Protein Coupled Receptors in Nematodes and Arthropods

In vertebrates, receptors of the rhodopsin G-protein coupled superfamily (GPCRs) play an important role in the regulation of feeding and energy homeostasis and are activated by peptide hormones produced in the brain-gut axis. These peptides regulate appetite and energy expenditure by promoting or inhibiting food intake. Sequence and function homologs of human GPCRs involved in feeding exist in the nematode roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), and the arthropod fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster), suggesting that the mechanisms that regulate food intake emerged early and have been conserved during metazoan radiation. Nematodes and arthropods are the most diverse and successful animal phyla on Earth. They can survive in a vast diversity of environments and have acquired distinct life styles and feeding strategies. The aim of the present review is to investigate if this diversity has affected the evolution of invertebrate GPCRs. Homologs of the C. elegans and D. melanogaster rhodopsin receptors were characterized in the genome of other nematodes and arthropods and receptor evolution compared. With the exception of bombesin receptors (BBR) that are absent from nematodes, a similar gene complement was found. In arthropods, rhodopsin GPCR evolution is characterized by species-specific gene duplications and deletions and in nematodes by gene expansions in species with a free-living stage and gene deletions in representatives of obligate parasitic taxa. Based upon variation in GPCR gene number and potentially divergent functions within phyla we hypothesize that life style and feeding diversity practiced by nematodes and arthropods was one factor that contributed to rhodopsin GPCR gene evolution. Understanding how the regulation of food intake has evolved in invertebrates will contribute to the development of novel drugs to control nematodes and arthropods and the pests and diseases that use them as vectors.
Two Essays On The Economics Of Education

In this dissertation I address different topics in education policy, taking advantage of utilizing both micro-data and economic theory. The dissertation consists of two chapters, both using Chilean data. In chapter 1, The Impact of College Admissions Policies on The Performance of High School Students, I empirically evaluate the effects of college admissions policies on high school students' performance. In particular, I empirically demonstrate how increasing equality of opportunity may lead to a boost in average academic effort and shed light on the efficiency of alternative affirmative action policies. The results of this chapter suggest that affirmative action should not be seen only as a way to democratize the access to tertiary education, but also as a way to increase the motivation and performance of high school students. Methodologically speaking, this research contributes to the economic literature by estimating a rank-order tournament with heterogeneousability contestants. In Chapter 2, A Dynamic Model of Elementary School Choice, I study how parents choose a primary school for their child. The approach of this chapter has three main contributions to the previous literature. The empirical strategy allows me to distinguish between first among different sources of observed preferences for private vis-`a-vis public schools, and second among different causes of unequal access to high-quality schools. In the paper I model and empirically estimate how parents may have misperceptions about school quality, because test scores depend on school quality and on the socioeconomic status (SES) of the school's population, parents can confound these two effects, confusing high quality schools with schools that have higher SES students. The paper contributes to the sparse literature on structural estimation with bounded rationality. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Economics First Advisor Kenneth I. Wolpin
PI3K Catalytic Isoform Alteration Promotes the LIMK1-related Metastasis Through the PAK1 or ROCK1/2 Activation in Cigarette Smoke-exposed Ovarian Cancer Cells.

AIM To investigate the molecular mechanisms by which long-term exposure to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) contributes to ovarian cancer metastasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Western blot analysis for diverse p110 isoforms of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-related signaling pathway and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers was performed to analyze the underlying mechanisms. Migratory activity of CSE-exposed ovarian cancer cells was determined by transendothelial migration and invasion assay. RESULTS After exposure to CSE for four weeks, CaOV3 (primary) and SKOV3 (metastatic) ovarian cancer cells showed enhanced mesenchymal characteristics and produced EMT-related cytokines [intwerleukin-8 (IL-8), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1)]. CSE exposure activated the Src-p110δ-p21 protein-activated kinase 1 (PAK1) in CaOV3 cells and the Lyn-p110β-Rho-associated kinases 1/2 (ROCK1/2) in SKOV3 cells, which led to the stimulation of LIM kinase 1 (LIMK1) phosphorylation and TGF-β1 release. LIMK1 knockdown efficiently blocked the migratory activity and suppressed the mesenchymal phenotypes of CSE-treated ovarian cancer cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) initiated the CSE-mediated EMT processes in ovarian cancer cells. CONCLUSION Characterization of the p110 isotypes of PI3K is critical for regulating cancer metastasis; LIMK1 could be a common therapeutic target of ovarian cancer metastasis.
The influence of shape on the perception of material reflectance

Visual observation is our principal source of information in determining the nature of objects, including shape, material or roughness. The physiological and cognitive processes that resolve visual input into an estimate of the material of an object are influenced by the illumination and the shape of the object. This affects our ability to select materials by observing them on a point-lit sphere, as is common in current 3D modeling applications. In this paper we present an exploratory psychophysical experiment to study various influences on material discrimination in a realistic setting. The resulting data set is analyzed using a wide range of statistical techniques. Analysis of variance is used to estimate the magnitude of the influence of geometry, and fitted psychometric functions produce significantly diverse material discrimination thresholds across different shapes and materials. Suggested improvements to traditional material pickers include direct visualization on the target object, environment illumination, and the use of discrimination thresholds as a step size for parameter adjustments.
Clomipramine and Exposure for Obsessive-Compulsive Rituals: 1

Summary Forty chronic obsessive-compulsive ritualizers were randomly assigned to treatment with oral clomipramine or placebo for 8 months. During weeks 4 to 7 these two groups were each randomly split into treatment by relaxation or by exposure in vivo, and during weeks 7 to 10 all patients had exposure in vivo. Double blind assessments were made at weeks 4, 7, 10, 18, 36, 62 and 114. Results are reported to one year. Clomipramine produced significant improvement in rituals, mood and social adjustment, but only in those patients who initially had depressed mood. The clomipramine effect was maximum from weeks 10 to 18 and diminished thereafter. On stopping clomipramine patients often relapsed and improved again on restarting the drug. Relaxation produced little change. Exposure produced significant lasting improvement in rituals, but less change in mood; improvement generalized to social adjustment at follow-up. Clomipramine plus exposure had a slight additive but not interactional effect. Clomipramine enhanced compliance both with exposure and with relaxation. Clomipramine is useful for compulsive ritualizers with depressed mood, but may need continuation for over a year and combination with exposure in vivo. Exposure in vivo remains the treatment of choice for rituals without depressed mood.
Practice, stimulus-specific effects and individual differences in task switching

This thesis points to the important roles of learning, individual differences in emotional intelligence (EI) and general intelligence (IQ), and culture (British vs. South Asian), on task switching. Participants switched between word identities and colour and between different face dimensions (emotion, gender and occupation). In general switch costs were reduced as participants practiced. Most interestingly, Stroop interference across blocks of trials was stronger for stimuli that form integrated representations, providing evidence that learned bindings between word forms and colours influence Stroop effects. In a separate study, people with high IQ were generally better able to task-switch while EI had a selective effect depending on the task. Individuals with high EI had low switch costs when emotion classification was involved, but not when switches were made between gender and occupation decisions. In a third set of studies, culture was found to affect the speed of face categorization, which may reflect cultural biases to emotion (in the White British population) and unfamiliarity in using facial cues to gender in South Asian participants. Finally, there was also evidence of implicit coding of facial emotion and gender - but not occupation. The implications for understanding task switching were reviewed in a final chapter.
Molecular basis of evolutionary adaptation at the lactate dehydrogenase-B locus in the fish Fundulus heteroclitus.

At the extremes of its natural distribution, populations of the common killifish Fundulus heteroclitus experience a difference of more than 15 degrees C in mean annual temperature. These populations are virtually fixed for two different codominant alleles at the heart-type lactate dehydrogenase locus (Ldh-B) which code for allozymes with different and adaptive kinetic responses to temperature. Two populations near the extremes of the species range (i.e., Maine and Georgia) were further studied for thermal adaptation at this locus. In the absence of any kinetic differences one would predict that to maintain a constant reaction velocity, 2 to 3 times as much enzyme would be required for each 10 degrees C decrease in environmental temperature. Consistent with this adaptive strategy and in addition to the adaptive kinetic characteristics, the LDH-B4 enzyme (EC 1.1.1.27) concentration and its mRNA concentration were approximately twice as great in the northern population as in the southern population. Acclimation experiments allow us to conclude that these differences are due to a combination of fixed genetic traits (evolutionary adaptation) and plastic responses to temperature (physiological acclimation). Furthermore, our calculations show that the LDH-B4 reaction velocities are essentially equivalent for these two populations, even though they live in significantly different thermal environments.
Role of socio-economic factors and cytology in cervical erosion in reproductive age group women.

A cross-sectional study involving 357 females in the reproductive age group (15-44) was conducted in an urban community of Nagpur with the objective of studying the role of socio-economic factors & cytology in cervical erosion. Cervical erosion was detected in 82 (22.96%) females. Out of these mild dysplasia was seen in 9.75% females & moderate dysplasia in 2.43% females. High percentages of inflammatory smears i.e. (75.68%) were obtained in women with cervical erosion. Cervical erosion was more common in illiterate & women with low literacy status as compared to women with higher education. Majority of cases of cervical erosion (75.6%) were detected in women with high parity. A statistically significant association was found between lower socio-economic status, early age at marriage & ocurrence of cervical erosion (p<0.001 & p<0.01 respectively). The study concludes that socio-economic factors such as illiteracy and low literacy status, lower socio-economic status, early age at marriage and high parity are contributory for the occurrence of cervical erosion and regular cytological screening by Pap smear will help in early detection of carcinoma cervix and thereby reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by the same.
Building engagement for MOOC students: introducing support for time management on online learning platforms

The main objectives of massive open online courses (MOOC) are to foster knowledge through free high quality learning materials procurement; to create new knowledge through diverse users' interactions with the providing platform; and to empower research on learning. However, MOOC providers are also businesses (either profit or not-for-profit). They are still in the early stages of their development, but sooner or later, in order to secure their existence and assure their longterm growth, they will have to adapt a business model and monetize the services they provide. Nevertheless, despite their popularity MOOCs are characterized by a very high drop-out rate (about 90%), which may turn out to be a problem regardless of the adapted business model. Hence, MOOC providers can either assume the scale benefits to be sufficiently high to ignore the problem of low MOOC completion rate or tackle this problem. In this paper we explore the problem of the high drop-out rate in massive open online courses. First, we identify its main cause by conducting an online survey, namely bad time organization. Secondly, we provide suggestions to reduce the rate. Specifically, we argue that MOOC platforms should not only provide their users with high quality educational materials and interaction facilities. But they should also support and assist the users in their quest for knowledge. Thus, MOOC platforms should provide tools helping them optimize their time usage and subsequently develop metacognitive skills indispensable in proper time management of learning processes.
Interferon-α-Enhanced CD100/Plexin-B1/B2 Interactions Promote Natural Killer Cell Functions in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Background CD100, also known as Sema4D, is an immune semaphorin constitutively expressed on natural killer (NK) cells and T cells. As an immune activation molecule, CD100 has important immunoregulatory effects on NK functions by enhancing the interactions between NK cells and target cells. The aim of this study was to investigate whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects CD100 expression, and whether interferon-α treatment enhances NK killing activity to facilitate HCV clearance via CD100. Methods Expression of CD100 on NK cells was evaluated by flow cytometry in patients with chronic HCV infection, with or without pegylated interferon-α-based therapy. NK cell cytotoxicity and interferon (IFN)-γ production were measured by flow cytometry upon culturing the NK cells with K562 and Huh7.5 or HCV JFH-1-infected Huh7.5 cells. Results The frequency of CD100+ NK cells in HCV-infected individuals was slightly suppressed compared to healthy subjects. IFN-α treatment could significantly upregulate CD100 expression, which was confirmed by in vitro studies using peripheral blood mononuclear cells cocultured with HCV-expressing Huh7.5 cells or IFN-α. Importantly, the expression of CD100 on NK cells from HCV patients was inversely associated with the HCV-RNA levels in the early phase of IFN-α therapy, and the IFN-α upregulated CD100 led to an enhanced NK killing activity through ligations with its receptors plexin-B1/B2 on target cells. Conclusion These results implied a novel mechanism by which IFN-α enhanced CD100/Plexin-B1/B2 interaction plays an important role in promoting NK functions in patients with chronic hepatitis C.