Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Approach to the Design of Axial-Flux Switched-Reluctance Motors

This paper presents the design of a new axial-flux switched-reluctance motor (AFSRM) topology for in-wheel drive vehicle applications. The features of the topology include a short flux path and an outer-rotor configuration. The proposed topology also uses a sintered-lamellar soft magnetic composite core material, and permits displacement of the rotor along the suspension axis, which reduces damage to the stator caused by impacts and vibrations. The combination of these features makes this new topology competitive with other in-wheel motors in regard to torque density, durability, and cost. To describe the behaviour of the topology, a model of the topology is developed using a new integral inductance function. That model is used to select the design parameters of an 8/6 AFSRM, for which a fuzzy controller is also developed to control the phase current. Several simulations of the 8/6 AFSRM are performed to calculate its energy conversion efficiency, thermal performance, and torque density, and results indicate that the new AFSRM has a higher energy conversion efficiency, and can produce more torque/kg than other switched-reluctance motors used for in-wheel drive vehicle applications.
Terrestriality of Wild Sapajus cay (Illiger, 1815) as Revealed by Camera Traps

Although primarily arboreal, the capuchin monkey (Sapajus cay) descends to the ground for several reasons. We used terrestrial records obtained by camera-trapping surveys to investigate seasonality in the terrestriality of capuchin monkeys, reasons to descend to the ground, and periods of the day when terrestriality was more pronounced. We carried out the study in the Urucum Massif, Brazilian Pantanal. We obtained data from 2 camera-trapping surveys carried out in the dry and rainy seasons. Terrestrial behaviours were categorized, and terrestrial activity patterns were described using a kernel density approach. We observed a seasonal effect on the frequency of terrestrial behaviours of capuchin monkeys, who used the ground more during the dry season. We identified 6 different types of terrestrial behaviour, but travelling (33.3%), foraging (23.3%), and drinking water (23.3%) were the most frequently observed. All records occurred during the day, with 2 peaks in terrestrial activity. Seasonal terrestriality was mainly linked to ecological needs during periods of scarce food and water.
From the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery Effect of temporary shunting on extremity vascular injury : An outcome analysis from the Global War on Terror vascular injury initiative

Objective: Extremity vascular injury during the current war has been defined by anecdotal description and case series. These reports focused on estimation of short-term limb viability and technical description of commonly used adjuncts. Temporary vascular shunting (TVS) has been advocated in current care structures, yet mostly due to war environments, broader statistical scrutiny is lacking. This study’s purpose is to provide perspective on TVS’s impact on limb salvage, and estimate longer-term freedom from amputation. Methods: Data from the Joint Theater Trauma Registry (JTTR), Balad Vascular Registry (BVR), Walter Reed Vascular Registry (WRVR), electronic medical records, and patient interviews were collected on American Troops sustaining extremity vascular injury from June 2003 through December 2007. Those in whom arterial TVS utilization was identified comprise the TVS group. These were compared with controls with similar injury date and anatomic location managed without TVS. Descriptive statistics were employed establishing overall univariate predictors of amputation and comparison between groups. Proportional-hazards modeling, with propensity score adjustment for systemic injury severity and Level 2 care, characterized risk factors of limb loss and effect of TVS. Freedom from amputation was estimated using Kaplan Meier log-rank methods. Results: Cases and controls consisted of 64 and 61 extremity arterial injuries, respectively. Mean follow-up was 22 months (range: 1-54 months). The TVS group was more severely injured (mean injury severity score [ISS]: 18 [SD 10] TVS vs. 15 [SD 10] control, P .05) and more likely to receive Level 2 care (TVS: 26%; control: 10%, P .02). Overall, a total of 26 amputations occurred (21%). Penetrating blasts, compared with gunshot wounds, were associated with amputation (30% vs. 6%, P .002). After propensity score adjustment, use of TVS suggested a reduced risk of amputation (relative risk [RR] 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.18-1.19]; P .11). Venous repair was associated with limb salvage (RR 0.2; 95% CI [0.04-0.99], P .05). Associated fracture (RR 5.0; 95% CI [1.45-17.28], P .01), and elevated mangled extremity severity score (MESS) ([MESS 5-7] RR 3.5, 95% CI [0.97-12.36], P .06; [MESS 8-12] RR 16.4; 95% CI (3.79-70.79), P < . 001) predicted amputation. Amputation-free survival was 78% in the TVS group and 77% in the control group at three years (P .5). Conclusion: Temporary vascular shunting used as a damage control adjunct in management of wartime extremity vascular injury does not lead to worse outcomes. Benefit from TVS is suggested, but not statistically significant. Injury specific variables of venous ligation, associated fracture, and penetrating blast mechanism are associated with amputation. Amputation-free survival after vascular injury in Operation Iraqi Freedom is 79% at three years. Further studies to statistically define any possible benefits of TVS are needed. (J Vasc Surg 2009;50:549-56.)
Oocyte Donation and Endometriosis: What Are the Lessons?

Abstract Outcomes of in vitro fertilization cycles in women with endometriosis are significantly worse than in patients without this condition. The impact of endometriosis on ovarian reserve and the quality of retrieved oocytes seems evident. Lower implantation rates, however, raise the question whether this finding is purely the consequence of lower number and poorer quality of embryos, or whether it also reflects compromised endometrial receptivity. Oocyte donation provides an interesting model to investigate reproductive outcome because factors affecting the oocytes are excluded, especially if cycles using oocytes derived from the same donor are analyzed. These studies have shown lower implantation rates in nonendometriotic patients who received oocytes from women with endometriosis, whereas healthy donated oocytes have proven to contribute to a pregnancy with similar chances in women without the disease. The question still to be answered is whether this situation applies for natural cycles or whether it is the use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs and hormonal replacement therapy used for endometrial priming in oocyte recipients that reestablishes an adequate uterine environment. Using a genomic tool based on microarray technology (endometrial receptivity array), the study of differential gene expression in the eutopic endometrium of endometriosis patients undergoing oocyte donation treatment is still underway.
Numerical Modeling of Air Cushion Vehicle Flexible Seals

Air cushion vehicle flexible seals operate in a complex and chaotic environment dominated by fluid-structure interaction. An efficient means to explore interdependencies between various governing parameters that affect performance is through high fidelity numerical simulation. As previous numerical efforts have employed separate iterative partitioned solvers, or have implemented simplified physics, the approaches have been complex, computationally expensive, or of limited utility. This research effort performs numerical simulations to verify and validate the commercial multi-physics tool STAR-CCM+ as a stand-alone partitioned approach for fluidstructure interaction problems with or without a free surface. A dimensional analysis is first conducted to identify potential non-dimensional forms of parameters related to seal resistance. Then, an implicit, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes finite volume fluid solver is coupled to an implicit, nonlinear finite element structural solver to successfully replicate benchmark results for an elastic beam in unsteady laminar flow. To validate the implementation as a seal parameter exploratory tool, a planer bow seal model is developed and results are obtained for various cushion pressures and inflow speeds. Previous numerical and experimental results for deflection and resistance are compared, showing good agreement. An uncertainty analysis for inflow velocity reveals an inversely proportional resistance dependency. Using Abaqus/Explicit, methodologies are also developed for a two-way, loosely coupled explicit approach to large deformation fluid-structure interaction problems, with and without a free surface. Following numerous verification and validation problems, Abaqus is ultimately abandoned due to the inability to converge the fluid pressure field and achieve steady state. This work is a stepping stone for future researchers having interests in ACV seal design and other large deformation, fluid-structure interaction problems. By modeling all necessary physics within a verified and validated stand-alone approach, a designer’s ability to comprehensively investigate seal geometries and interactions has never been more promising. Numerical Modeling of Air Cushion Vehicle Flexible Seals
Improving the Cross-Polar Discrimination of Compact Antenna Test Range using the CXR Feed

The polarization purity of an antenna system is an important performance parameter. Accurate polarization testing, requires a significantly higher polarization purity of the test system than the test object. The Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) is widely used for antenna system testing purposes [1]. It provides convenient testing, directly in far-field conditions of the antenna placed in the Quiet Zone (QZ). Polarization performance is often a motivation for choosing the complex and expensive CATR based on compensated dual reflectors rather than a single reflector. Recently, a novel Cross-polar Reduction (CXR) feed has been presented. It is based on conjugate matching of the undesired cross-polar QZ fields to improve the polarization purity of the single reflector CATR [2-3]. A dual-polarized proofof-concept demonstrator with a limited bandwidth of 1.25:1 has been validated experimentally by QZ probing in standard sidefed and corner-fed CATR configurations. A numerical investigation of the final CXR feed on a full 1.6:1 bandwidth was presented in [4]. It was shown that cross-polar discrimination can be improved 8-10 dB with respect to standard feeds. In previous papers, the CXR feed concept has been discussed and demonstrated using limited scope demonstrators and numerical analysis. In this paper, the QZ cross-polar reduction properties of the CXR feed is measured in a standard corner-fed CATR in both orthogonal polarization over the full 1.6:1 bandwidth. The advantages of the CXR in general measurement scenarios are investigated by measurement of an antenna with low crosspolarization level at different QZ positions and frequencies. It is shown that a cross-polar discrimination improvement up to 10dB is achievable. Keywords— Compact Range, Quiet Zone, Cross Polarization Compensation
Development of a Refractive Index Sensor Based on the Deposition of Gold and Silver Nanowires on ITO Glass for CA15-3 Detection

As a step towards the development of highly sensitive and accurate biosensors for the early detection and monitoring of breast cancer, we have developed a refractive index sensor for the detection of CA15-3 breast cancer biomarker based on the deposition of gold and silver nanowires on ITO glass. 1 cm × 1 cm ITO glass was washed and vacuum dried. Gold films were sputtered on the clean dried ITO glass using an ion sputtering machine and labelled ITO/ Au electrode. Silver nanowires solution were deposited on the ITO/Au electrode and labelled ITO/AU/AgNWs electrode. The ITO/Au/AgNWs electrode was then embedded in a 12 well-plate containing CA15-3 antibody and labelled ITO/Au/ AgNWS/CA15-3 antibody electrode, which was used to detect CA15-3 antigen. The UV absorption wavelength of the sensor was found to be within the range of 320 nm to 350 nm. The sensor has a linear response to CA 15-3 antigen at concentrations ranging from 3 IU/mL to 32 IU/mL, and showed good CA15-3 detection properties with significant linear relationships between the wavelength change and the CA15-3 antigen concentration, the wavelength change and the refractive index, and the CA15-3 antigen concentration and refractive index. Our study provides a new and sure way towards the development of highly sensitive, accurate and efficient biosensors for the early detection and monitoring of breast cancer during therapy because Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) based detection techniques has an advantage over other detection techniques. Moreover, LSPR is superior to conventional methods when it comes to long term monitoring applications since LSPR of metallic nanoparticles do not bleach or blink. Also, the binding of nanoparticles to organic molecules increases the local refractive index since the index of refraction of typical buffer solutions are smaller than that of organic molecules.
Image evaluation using a color visual difference predictor (CVDP)

In order to automate the image evaluation task, an engineering model for predicting the visual differences of color images is developed. The present CVDP consists of a color appearance model, a set of contrast sensitivity functions, the modified cortex transform, and a multichannel interaction model for masking effects. Based ona pixel-by- pixel difference metric similar to the CIELAB color difference, the predictions of the simplified CVDP are found to correlate fairly with the psychophysical test results over 51 pairs of natural images with some detection failures. These failures can be eliminated by including additional image quality metrics: the clarity in the shadow and highlight areas and the graininess in the mid-tone areas. The modified model is found to be able to identify 55 percent of those visually indistinguishable image pairs. The preliminary results using the complete CVDP for selected image pairs indicate that the effects of masking introduce only little changes to the results of the simplified CVDP.
A Systems Level, Functional Genomics Analysis of Chronic Epilepsy

Neither the molecular basis of the pathologic tendency of neuronal circuits to generate spontaneous seizures (epileptogenicity) nor anti-epileptogenic mechanisms that maintain a seizure-free state are well understood. Here, we performed transcriptomic analysis in the intrahippocampal kainate model of temporal lobe epilepsy in rats using both Agilent and Codelink microarray platforms to characterize the epileptic processes. The experimental design allowed subtraction of the confounding effects of the lesion, identification of expression changes associated with epileptogenicity, and genes upregulated by seizures with potential homeostatic anti-epileptogenic effects. Using differential expression analysis, we identified several hundred expression changes in chronic epilepsy, including candidate genes associated with epileptogenicity such as Bdnf and Kcnj13. To analyze these data from a systems perspective, we applied weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify groups of co-expressed genes (modules) and their central (hub) genes. One such module contained genes upregulated in the epileptogenic region, including multiple epileptogenicity candidate genes, and was found to be involved the protection of glial cells against oxidative stress, implicating glial oxidative stress in epileptogenicity. Another distinct module corresponded to the effects of chronic seizures and represented changes in neuronal synaptic vesicle trafficking. We found that the network structure and connectivity of one hub gene, Sv2a, showed significant changes between normal and epileptogenic tissue, becoming more highly connected in epileptic brain. Since Sv2a is a target of the antiepileptic levetiracetam, this module may be important in controlling seizure activity. Bioinformatic analysis of this module also revealed a potential mechanism for the observed transcriptional changes via generation of longer alternatively polyadenlyated transcripts through the upregulation of the RNA binding protein HuD. In summary, combining conventional statistical methods and network analysis allowed us to interpret the differentially regulated genes from a systems perspective, yielding new insight into several biological pathways underlying homeostatic anti-epileptogenic effects and epileptogenicity.
Caring for Dying and Meeting Death: Experiences of Iranian and Swedish Nurses

Objective: Our world is rapidly becoming a global community, which creates a need to further understand the universal phenomena of death and professional caring for dying persons. This study thus was conducted to describe the meaning of nurses’ experiences of caring for dying people in the cultural contexts of Iran and Sweden. Materials and Methods: Using a phenomenological approach, phenomenon of caring for dying people was studied. Eight registered nurses who were working in oncology units in Tehran, Iran and eight registered nurses working in hospital and home care in North part of Sweden were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed using the principles of phenomenological hermeneutics. Results: The findings were formulated based on two themes included: (1) “Sharing space and time to be lost”, and (2) “Caring is a learning process. Conclusions: The results showed that being with dying people raise an ethical demand that calls for personal and professional response, regardless of sex, culture or context. The physical and organizational context must be supportive and enable nurses to stand up to the demands of close relationships. Specific units and teamwork across various personnel seem to be a solution that is missing in Iran.
The International Journal of Biostatistics Type I Error Rates , Coverage of Confidence Intervals , and Variance Estimation in Propensity-Score Matched Analyses

Propensity-score matching is frequently used in the medical literature to reduce or eliminate the effect of treatment selection bias when estimating the effect of treatments or exposures on outcomes using observational data. In propensity-score matching, pairs of treated and untreated subjects with similar propensity scores are formed. Recent systematic reviews of the use of propensity-score matching found that the large majority of researchers ignore the matched nature of the propensity-score matched sample when estimating the statistical significance of the treatment effect. We conducted a series of Monte Carlo simulations to examine the impact of ignoring the matched nature of the propensity-score matched sample on Type I error rates, coverage of confidence intervals, and variance estimation of the treatment effect. We examined estimating differences in means, relative risks, odds ratios, rate ratios from Poisson models, and hazard ratios from Cox regression models. We demonstrated that accounting for the matched nature of the propensity-score matched sample tended to result in type I error rates that were closer to the advertised level compared to when matching was not incorporated into the analyses. Similarly, accounting for the matched nature of the sample tended to result in confidence intervals with coverage rates that were closer to the nominal level, compared to when matching was not taken into account. Finally, accounting for the matched nature of the sample resulted in estimates of standard error that more closely reflected the sampling variability of the treatment effect compared to when matching was not taken into account.
Microwave Processing in Diagnostic Electron Microscopy

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) continues to play an important role in diagnostic surgical pathology, particularly in such areas as kidney pathology and tumor diagnosis, among others. Diagnostic TEM is subject to unique time constraints, quality control regulations, and other problems not seen in other TEM applications. The diagnostic TEM laboratory must produce high-quality electron microscopy on small samples which frequently are suboptirnal in fixation and tissue quality due to the pathology involved and time factors associated with biopsy and surgery.
Response-Ability and its Complexity

We propose a new formal model of cognitive structures and offer a first analysis of their mathematical complexity features. The structures we consider should have response-ability in all — but only in— the situations they experience. Therefore they have to be coherent, but not necessarily complete. Our understanding of knowledge is constructivistic and thus ignores some of the assumptions that characterise logical approaches. Instead, it vindicates structural economy; not only because of pragmatic reasons, but as a defining attribute of cognition. Then, mathematical complexity theory permits us to conclude that sometimes cognition is impossible. That —if P 6= NP— there is no efficient computational way to decide the existence of a structure that responds to an extensionally given set of experiences. Nonetheless, mathematics brings good news, when the set of experiences is already given in a comprehensive manner: There is a computational algorithm that, given any other comprehension, subexponentially decides if this second one responds to all situations the first is able to ma-
Gingival Overgrowth in Renal Transplant Subjects Medicated With Tacrolimus in the Absence of Calcium Channel Blockers

Background. The results from reports analyzing the occurrence of gingival overgrowth (GO) induced by tacrolimus are controversial. In addition, the role of pharmacological and periodontal variables on the development and severity of GO have not been well-established. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the effect of potential risk variables for GO in a Brazilian population comprising renal transplant recipients medicated with tacrolimus in the absence of calcium channel blockers. Materials and Methods. Demographic, pharmacological, and periodontal data, recorded from 125 subjects selected to participate in the study, was analyzed with the use of the independent sample t test, the chi-squared statistic, or Mann–Whitney test. The effects of risk variables on GO scores were subsequently examined using multivariate regression analysis and general linear model. Results. The prevalence of clinically significant GO (≥30%) in the study population was of 7.25%. These subjects showed greater averages of plaque scores (P=0.0043) as well as papillary bleeding index (P=0.0026) when compared to subjects with GO <30%. Papillary bleeding index, time since transplant and azathioprine dosage were significant in the univariate and multivariate models (adjusted R2=43.8%), whereas plaque index was significant only in the univariate model. Conclusions. This study revealed that, in the absence of calcium channel blockers, gingival inflammation, represented by the papillary bleeding index, was a variable associated with Tcr-induced GO, indicating the importance of periodontal maintenance of subjects under Tcr immunosuppressive regimens.