Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Numerical simulation of nonuniform multiconductor transmission lines with HF losses in Matlab: Laplace-domain and time-domain approaches

The paper describes two approaches to a numerical simulation of waves propagation on multiconductor transmission lines (MTL) in case the additional losses at high frequencies (HF), like is a skin effect, are to be taken into account. Such numerical simulations can be required at solving signal integrity issues in current high-speed electronic systems where the interconnect structures, often modelled as general MTLs, play an important role. Both the Laplace-domain and time-domain approaches are discussed, corresponding to telegraph equations with a half-order derivative term. A simple example is simulated in Matlab, based on Laplace domain and a numerical inverse Laplace transform (NILT). Basic starting points for a direct time-domain solution are also briefly sketched, as well as utilization of a modified nodal analysis (MNA) method enabling to cover the MTL systems with more complex load circuits.
A study on penetration testing process and tools

Information is more vulnerable than ever; and every technological advance raises new security threat that requires new security solutions. Penetration testing is conducted to evaluate the security of an IT infrastructure by safely exposing its vulnerabilities. It also helps in assessing the efficiency of the defense mechanisms tools and policy in place. The Penetration testing is conducted regularly to identify risks and manage them to achieve higher security standards. In this paper we discuss the importance of penetration testing, factors and components considered while conducting a penetration test, we present a survey of tools and procedures followed, role of penetration test while implementing in the IT governance in an organisation and finally the professional ethics to be possessed by the team involved in penetration test.
Stabilization of keplerate-type spheric porous nanocluster polyoxometalate Mo72Fe30

Kinetic characteristics of destruction of keplerate-type spheric porous nanocluster polyoxometalate Mo<inf>72</inf>Fe<inf>30</inf> in alkaline media are investigated. Data that indicate the possibility of stabilization of Mo<inf>72</inf>Fe<inf>30</inf> as a result of interaction with blood serum components are obtained.
Electroencephalographic activities as biomarker in the accumulative dose of alcoholic drinker: A preliminary study

The attentional processing of the human brain during the discrimination of supra-segmental features of Thai phonemes related to working memory was investigated. The electroencephalographic activities of accumulative dose of alcohol were investigated while the measurement of brain function of the cognitive task of discrimination of supra-segmental features of Thai phonemes. The cognitive effort caused changes by the difficulty in discriminating supra-segmental features of Thai phonemes were reflected in specific electroencephalographic signals. A 14-channels electroencephalogram (EMOTIV Inc., USA) was used to record the electrical activities. The electrode array was placed according to the international 10–20 system. Both earlobes were used as references. Electroencephalographic activities were recorded in two different periods; resting period and cognitive task. In the cognitive task, the participants were asked to perform the cognitive task in order to measure their brain function of discrimination of supra-segmental features of Thai phonemes. The SuperLab program were used to deliver all stimuli to the participants. The result showed that there was a neuronal population related to the working memory activating strongly at the right medial temporal gyrus.
Optimal resource allocation in ultra-low power fog-computing SWIPT-based networks

In this paper, we consider a fog computing system consisting of a multi-antenna access point (AP), an ultra-low power (ULP) single antenna device and a fog server. The ULP device is assumed to be capable of both energy harvesting (EH) and information decoding (ID) using a time-switching simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) scheme. The ULP device deploys the harvested energy for ID and either local computing or offloading the computations to the fog server depending on which strategy is most energy efficient. In this scenario, we optimize the time slots devoted to EH, ID and local computation as well as the time slot and power required for the offloading to minimize the energy cost of the ULP device. Numerical results are provided to study the effectiveness of the optimized fog computing system and the relevant challenges.
Position Detection and Direction Prediction for Arbitrary-Oriented Ships via Multitask Rotation Region Convolutional Neural Network

Ship detection is of great importance and full of challenges in the field of remote sensing. The complexity of application scenarios, the redundancy of detection region, and the difficulty of dense ship detection are all the main obstacles that limit the successful operation of traditional methods in ship detection. In this paper, we propose a brand new detection model based on multitask rotational region convolutional neural network to solve the problems above. This model is mainly consisting of five consecutive parts: dense feature pyramid network, adaptive region of interest (ROI) align, rotational bounding box regression, prow direction prediction and rotational nonmaximum suppression (R-NMS). First of all, the low-level location information and high-level semantic information are fully utilized through multiscale feature networks. Then, we design adaptive ROI align to obtain high quality proposals which remain complete spatial and semantic information. Unlike most previous approaches, the prediction obtained by our method is the minimum bounding rectangle of the object with less redundant regions. Therefore, the rotational region detection framework is more suitable to detect the dense object than traditional detection model. Additionally, we can find the berthing and sailing direction of ship through prediction. A detailed evaluation based on SRSS for rotation detection shows that our detection method has a competitive performance.
Deep Power Control: Transmit Power Control Scheme Based on Convolutional Neural Network

In this letter, deep power control (DPC), which is the first transmit power control framework based on a convolutional neural network (CNN), is proposed. In DPC, the transmit power control strategy to maximize either spectral efficiency (SE) or energy efficiency (EE) is learned by means of a CNN. While conventional power control schemes require a considerable number of computations, in DPC, the transmit power of users can be determined using far fewer computations enabling real-time processing. We also propose a form of DPC that can be performed in a distributed manner with local channel state information, allowing the signaling overhead to be greatly reduced. Through simulations, we show that the DPC can achieve almost the same or even higher SE and EE than a conventional power control scheme, with a much lower computation time.
The complexity of symbiotic interactions influences the ecological amplitude of the host: A case study in Stereocaulon (lichenized Ascomycota)

Symbiosis plays a fundamental role in nature. Lichens are among the best known, globally distributed symbiotic systems whose ecology is shaped by the requirements of all symbionts forming the holobiont. The widespread lichen‐forming fungal genus Stereocaulon provides a suitable model to study the ecology of microscopic green algal symbionts (i.e., phycobionts) within the lichen symbiosis. We analysed 282 Stereocaulon specimens, collected in diverse habitats worldwide, using the algal ITS rDNA and actin gene sequences and fungal ITS rDNA sequences. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a great diversity among the predominant phycobionts. The algal genus Asterochloris (Trebouxiophyceae) was recovered in most sampled thalli, but two additional genera, Vulcanochloris and Chloroidium, were also found. We used variation‐partitioning analyses to investigate the effects of climatic conditions, substrate/habitat characteristic, spatial distribution and mycobionts on phycobiont distribution. Based on an analogy, we examined the effects of climate, substrate/habitat, spatial distribution and phycobionts on mycobiont distribution. According to our analyses, the distribution of phycobionts is primarily driven by mycobionts and vice versa. Specificity and selectivity of both partners, as well as their ecological requirements and the width of their niches, vary significantly among the species‐level lineages. We demonstrated that species‐level lineages, which accept more symbiotic partners, have wider climatic niches, overlapping with the niches of their partners. Furthermore, the survival of lichens on substrates with high concentrations of heavy metals appears to be supported by their association with toxicity‐tolerant phycobionts. In general, low specificity towards phycobionts allows the host to associate with ecologically diversified algae, thereby broadening its ecological amplitude.
Power control optimization for uplink grant-free URLLC

Ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC) presents the most challenging use cases for fifth generation (5G) mobile networks. Traditionally the focus for mobile broadband has been to optimize the system throughput for high speed data traffic. However the optimization criteria for URLLC should focus on achieving small packets transmissions under strict targets such as 99.999% reliability within 1 ms. Power control is one candidate technology component for improving reliability and latency. In this work we investigate the power control for grant-free URLLC transmissions through extensive system level simulations in a urban outdoor scenario. We initially compare different settings for open loop power control (OLPC) with full and with fractional path loss compensation. Then we evaluate whether power boosting the retransmission can reduce the probability of packets delays under the 1 ms constraint. We also discuss the practical implication of applying power boosting. With full path loss compensation and boosting retransmissions, we show that a URLLC load such as 1200 small packets per second per cell can be achieved in the considered scenario.
Epidemiology of nontuberculous mycobacterial infections in the U.S. Veterans Health Administration

Objective We identified patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA), examined the distribution of diseases by NTM species, and explored the association between NTM disease and the frequency of clinic visits and mortality. Methods We combined mycobacterial isolate (from natural language processing) with ICD-9-CM diagnoses from VHA data between 2008 and 2012 and then applied modified ATS/IDSA guidelines for NTM diagnosis. We performed validation against a reference standard of chart review. Incidence rates were calculated. Two nested case-control studies (matched by age and location) were used to measure the association between NTM disease and each of 1) the frequency of outpatient clinic visits and 2) mortality, both adjusted by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), other structural lung diseases, and immunomodulatory factors. Results NTM cases were identified with a sensitivity of 94%, a specificity of >99%. The incidence of NTM was 12.6/100k patient-years. COPD was present in 68% of pulmonary NTM. NTM incidence was highest in the southeastern US. Extra-pulmonary NTM rates increased during the study period. The incidence rate ratio of clinic visits in the first year after diagnosis was 1.3 [95%CI 1.34–1.35]. NTM patients had a hazard ratio of mortality of 1.4 [95%CI 1.1–1.9] in the 6 months after NTM identification compared to controls and 1.99 [95%CI 1.8–2.3] thereafter. Conclusions In VHA, pulmonary NTM disease is commonly associated with COPD, with the highest rates in the southeastern US. After adjustment, NTM patients had more clinic visits and greater mortality compared to matched patients.
Comparison of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Assessment by Martin/Hopkins Estimation, Friedewald Estimation, and Preparative Ultracentrifugation: Insights From the FOURIER Trial

Importance Recent studies have shown that Friedewald underestimates low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) at lower levels, which could result in undertreatment of high-risk patients. A novel method (Martin/Hopkins) using a patient-specific conversion factor provides more accurate LDL-C levels. However, this method has not been tested in proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor–treated patients. Objective To investigate accuracy of 2 different methods for estimating LDL-C levels (Martin/Hopkins and Friedewald) compared with gold standard preparative ultracentrifugation (PUC) in patients with low LDL-C levels in the Further Cardiovascular Outcomes Research With PCSK9 Inhibition in Patients With Elevated Risk (FOURIER) trial. Design, Setting, and Participants The FOURIER trial was a randomized clinical trial of evolocumab vs placebo added to statin therapy in 27 564 patients with stable atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The patients’ LDL-C levels were assessed at baseline, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks, and every 24 weeks thereafter, and measured directly by PUC when the level was less than 40 mg/dL per the Friedewald method (calculated as non–HDL-C level − triglycerides/5). In the Martin/Hopkins method, patient-specific ratios of triglycerides to very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) ratios were determined and used to estimate VLDL-C, which was subtracted from the non–HDL-C level to obtain the LDL-C level. Main Outcomes and Measures Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol calculated by the Friedewald and Martin/Hopkins methods, with PUC as the reference method. Results For this analysis, the mean (SD) age was 62.7 (9.0) years; 2885 of the 12 742 patients were women (22.6%). A total of 56 624 observations from 12 742 patients had Friedewald, Martin/Hopkins, and PUC LDL-C measurements. The median difference from PUC LDL-C levels for Martin/Hopkins LDL-C levels was −2 mg/dL (interquartile range [IQR], −4 to 1 mg/dL) and for Friedewald LDL-C levels was −4 mg/dL (IQR, −8 to −1 mg/dL; P < .001). Overall, 22.9% of Martin/Hopkins LDL-C values were more than 5 mg/dL different than PUC values, and 2.6% were more than 10 mg/dL different than PUC levels. These were significantly less than respective proportions with Friedewald estimation (40.1% and 13.3%; P < .001), mainly because of underestimation by the Friedewald method. The correlation with PUC LDL-C was significantly higher for Martin/Hopkins vs Friedewald (&rgr;, 0.918 [95% CI 0.916-0.919] vs &rgr;, 0.867 [0.865-0.869], P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance In patients achieving low LDL-C with PCSK9 inhibition, the Martin/Hopkins method for LDL-C estimation more closely approximates gold standard PUC than Friedewald estimation does. The Martin/Hopkins method may prevent undertreatment because of LDL-C underestimation by the Friedewald method. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01764633
Orofacial strength, dysarthria, and dysphagia in congenital myotonic dystrophy

Introduction: Herein we present an exploratory study of orofacial function in children with congenital myotonic dystrophy (CDM) vs. healthy controls. Methods: We evaluated 41 children with CDM and 29 healthy controls for speech and swallow function and for lingual and labial strength. Results: The Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI), measuring tongue strength, and a lip force meter (LFM), measuring lip strength, had excellent interrater reliability with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of 0.75 (n = 19, P < 0.001) and 0.96 (n = 20, P < 0.001), respectively. Mean overall lingual strength was 3.5‐fold less and labial strength was about 7‐fold less in CDM patients than in healthy controls. Eighteen of 24 children with CDM demonstrated dysarthria and an additional 11 participants were nonverbal. Dysarthria correlated moderately with lingual strength, age, and dysphagia. Strength measures correlated moderately with dysphagia. Discussion: Children with CDM have impaired orofacial functioning that affects communication and swallowing. Reliability of strength measures may be useful for future therapeutic trials. Muscle Nerve 58: 413–417, 2018
Improving Stealth Assessment in Game-based Learning with LSTM-based Analytics

A key affordance of game-based learning environments is their potential to unobtrusively assess student learning without interfering with gameplay. In this paper, we introduce a temporal analytics framework for stealth assessment that analyzes students’ problem-solving strategies. The strategy-based temporal analytic framework uses long short-term memory network-based evidence models and clusters sequences of students’ problem-solving behaviors across consecutive tasks. We investigate this strategy-based temporal analytics framework on a dataset of problem-solving behaviors collected from student interactions with a game-based learning environment for middle school computational thinking. The results of an evaluation indicate that the strategy-based temporal analytics framework significantly outperforms competitive baseline models with respect to stealth assessment predictive accuracy.
Lévy walk-based search strategy: Application to destructive foraging

In this paper a Search strategy based on Lévy Walk is proposed. Lévy Walk increases the diversity of solutions, and constitutes good strategies to move away from local to global search. The amount of exploration and exploitation and the fine balance between them determine the efficiency of search algorithm. The highly diffusive behavior of the original Lévy Walk algorithm results in more global search. Thus, in the proposed algorithm, the time spent in local search is increased according to the fluctuation of the searched region. Moreover, a case study on destructive foraging is presented in this paper, with the aim to apply it to several swarm robotics problems. In order to present simulations in a finite two dimensional landscape with a limited number of clustered and scattered targets, the ArGOS simulator has been used.
Cephalometric aspects of thalassemic children in the Indian subcontinent: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: To compare the cephalometric characteristics of thalassemic children in the Indian subcontinent with the controls, matched for sex and dental age. Methodology: A total of 31 thalassemic children were a part of the study. Cephalometric readings were recorded for the study and the control group. Results: Within the Group I stage, the anterior cranial base length was 68.40±2.93 mm, shorter when compared to the control group. In the Group II stage, the maxillary/mandibular angle was 31.58° for the case group and the mandibular length was shorter in comparison to the controls. In the Group III stage, the SNB angle was 76.42°, lesser than the control group. A relative maxillary prognathism of 9.88 mm and 12.85 mm was observed in thalassemic males and females respectively through the Wiley's analysis. Conclusion: The overall picture depicted a retruded position of the maxilla and a retrognathic mandible within the study group. A class II profile has also been observed among the study subjects.
Effects of process parameters on depth of cut in Abrasive Waterjet Cutting of phosphate glass

Abrasive Waterjet Cutting (AWJC) process is superior to many other cutting techniques in processing variety of materials and has found wide applications in manufacturing industries. There are several associated parameters in this method, among which water pressure, abrasive flow rate, jet traverse rate and standoff distance are of great importance but accurately controllable. This project is conducted to investigate the effects of these variable parameters on depth of cut of phosphate glass. It is experimentally demonstrated that if the cutting parameters are selected properly, AWJC can increase the depth of cut.
Duality of Function: Activation for Meaningless Nonwords and Semantic Codes in the Same Brain Areas

Abstract Studies of the neural substrates of semantic (word meaning) processing have typically focused on semantic manipulations, with less consideration for potential differences in difficulty across conditions. While the idea that particular brain regions can support multiple functions is widely accepted, studies of specific cognitive domains rarely test for co-location with other functions. Here we start with standard univariate analyses comparing words to meaningless nonwords, replicating our recent finding that this contrast can activate task-positive regions for words, and default-mode regions in the putative semantic network for nonwords, pointing to difficulty effects. Critically, this was followed up with a multivariate analysis to test whether the same areas activated for meaningless nonwords contained semantic information sufficient to distinguish high- from low-imageability words. Indeed, this classification was performed reliably better than chance at 75% accuracy. This is compatible with two non-exclusive interpretations. Numerous areas in the default-mode network are task-negative in the sense of activating for less demanding conditions, and the same areas contain information supporting semantic cognition. Therefore, while areas of the default mode network have been hypothesized to support semantic cognition, we offer evidence that these areas can respond to both domain-general difficulty effects, and to specific aspects of semantics.
BLDC motor specific PCOTLC converter with active current wave shaping for torque ripple minimization

In this paper a new converter configuration has been proposed for the active wave shaping of phase currents in BLDC motors without PWM generators. Current waveshaping has been achieved without the implementation of rectangular current generators, comparators, hysteresis and PI controllers. Also the sensing of phase currents is not required for feedback to current comparators. In proposed BLDC specific converter, a new concept of Phase Current Overlap Time Limiting Cell (PCOTLC) converter topology, comprised of three sets of Freewheeling Phase Current Limiting (FPCL) transformer has been introduced, which results into tremendous reduction in phase current overlap time i.e. rise and fall time of the currents in switches of incoming and outgoing phases. Together, proposed converter also reduces freewheeling time, which is generally large due to the effect of load and inductance of motor. The proposed topology minimizes the torque ripple without any switching operation. The resulting phase current wave shape is purely rectangular at steady state with very low speed and torque ripple. The speed of the BLDC motor with proposed converter configuration is DC link switch controlled. The dynamic response of the proposed BLDC motor drive system has been investigated using the MATLAB/Simulink.