Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spectral analysis of left ventricular area variability as a tool to improve the understanding of cardiac autonomic control

Spectral analysis of the fluctuations in heart rate (HR) or blood pressure (BP) has been extensively used as a tool for the noninvasive assessment of autonomic control of the heart. The recently developed echocardiographic acoustic quantification allows noninvasive continuous measurement of the left ventricular cross-sectional area (LVA) signal. In this study, we investigated whether the LVA signal, and more specifically its fluctuations, can be reliably subjected to spectral analysis, and whether the results of such analysis may improve the understanding of the cardiovascular control mechanisms. Our results show that the general pattern of power spectra of LVA fluctuations, as well as their reproducibility, is similar to the power spectra of HR and BP fluctuations. Analysis of LVA signals obtained in normal subjects at rest as well as under vagal blockade and under held respiration, and in patients with known autonomic dysfunction, showed significant differences between groups and states. The effects of age, related to the reduction in parasympathetic activity, were not evident in the spectral content of the LVA and BP signals. The high frequency LVA fluctuations are mainly of mechanical origin, since they were eliminated by breath-holding. We observed an increase in the high frequency LVA fluctuations under vagal blockade, indicating that under normal (control) conditions, these high frequency fluctuations are attenuated by parasympathetic activity. The enhancement in high frequency fluctuations in LVA observed in diabetic patients can thus be attributed to reduced parasympathetic activity. The analysis of LVA variability may be used as a tool for basic research and, possibly, as a quantitative clinical measure for specific disease states.
An Interleaved Nonisolated ZVS Ultrahigh Step-Down DC–DC Converter With Low Voltage Stress

This paper presents a nonisolated ultrahigh step-down dc–dc converter for low-voltage high-current applications. The converter provides extended duty cycle for all power switches while low voltage and current stresses are imposed on semiconductor devices that cause low conduction losses and low output current ripple. In addition, soft-switching condition is achieved for all semiconductor devices without adding any active element. To achieve the improved voltage conversion ratio, a pair of coupled inductors and series capacitors is used in the interleaved step-down structure. The two auxiliary inductors provide zero-voltage zero-current switching turn on for all switches and zero-current switching turn on and turn off for all diodes. Thus, the losses associated with semiconductor components are reduced impressively and the overall efficiency of the proposed converter is improved considerably. The accuracy of the converter operation is confirmed by a 450-W laboratory prototype operating at 400-V input, 12-V output, and 100 kHz switching frequency.
Density perturbation growth in teleparallel cosmology

We study the cosmological perturbations in teleparallel dark energy models in which there is a dynamical scalar field with a non-minimal coupling to gravity. We find that the propagating degrees of freedom are the same as in quintessence cosmology despite that variables of the perturbed vierbein field are greater than those in metric theories. We numerically show some evident discrepancy from general relativity in the evolutions of the perturbations on all scales of the universe. We also demonstrate that the gravitational interactions are enhanced during the unique tracker evolutions in these models.
A Cooperative Car-Following/Emergency Braking System With Prediction-Based Pedestrian Avoidance Capabilities

Urban environments are among the most challenging scenarios for car-following systems, since pedestrians may interfere with the platoon unexpectedly. To address this problem, this paper proposes a cooperative system using vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian communication links. A fractional-order control-based cooperative adaptive cruise control benefits of communication for tighter inter-vehicle distances, while pedestrian communication is fused with LiDAR sensing to allow the detection of occluded pedestrians. The prediction of the pedestrians’ trajectories is used to perform a speed reduction or an emergency braking that interrupts the car-following yif necessary. Whenever a platoon decoupling occurs, a gap-closing maneuver is executed so that the ego-vehicle rejoins the platoon in a string stable way. The complete system was tested on experimental platforms at inria facilities, providing encouraging results and demonstrating the correct performance of the integrated systems.
Physical and hydraulic properties of aridisols as affected by nutrient and crop-residue management in a cotton-wheat system - doi: 10.4025/actasciagron.v35i1.14683

A 5-year cotton-wheat rotation field experiment was conducted on two alkaline-calcareous soils to investigate the impact of integrated nutrient-management and crop-residue incorporation on soil physical and hydrological properties. The nutrient treatments were: T1-farmers' fertilizer use; T2- balanced nutrient management (recommended N, P, Zn. and B from mineral sources); T3-integrated nutrient management, same as T2, except that 75% N was applied from fertilizer and 25% as FYM; and T4 same as T2, except that every alternate year, wheat was substituted by Berseem green manure. All treatments were compared with and without crop residue incorporation. Soil organic matter (SOM) content in both the soils was significantly increased with T2, T3 and T4 as compared with T1, and was increased further where the nutrient-management treatments were applied in combination with crop-residue recycling. Higher increase in SOM content was observed in soil having relatively lower initial SOM (0.61%) than soil having initial 0.80% SOM content. Increased SOM content, in return, decreased soil bulk density, improved macro- and meso-porosity, and enhanced percent recovery of stable aggregates correspondingly. Infiltration rates were 20, 49 and 26% higher with T2, T3 and T4, respectively, over T1 and 64% higher with crop-residue incorporation over crop-residue removal. Positive impacts on soil physical properties were also observed in the sub-soil layers.
Pattern formation in the one-dimensional Gray - Scott model

In this work, we analyse a pair of one-dimensional coupled reaction-diffusion equations known as the Gray - Scott model, in which self-replicating patterns have been observed. We focus on stationary and travelling patterns, and begin by deriving the asymptotic scaling of the parameters and variables necessary for the analysis of these patterns. Single-pulse and multi-pulse stationary waves are shown to exist in the appropriately scaled equations on the infinite line. A (single) pulse is a narrow interval in which the concentration U of one chemical is small, while that of the second, V, is large, and outside of which the concentration U tends (slowly) to the homogeneous steady state , while V is everywhere close to . In addition, we establish the existence of a plethora of periodic steady states consisting of periodic arrays of pulses interspersed by intervals in which the concentration V is exponentially small and U varies slowly. These periodic states are spatially inhomogeneous steady patterns whose length scales are determined exclusively by the reactions of the chemicals and their diffusions, and not by other mechanisms such as boundary conditions. A complete bifurcation study of these solutions is presented. We also establish the non-existence of travelling solitary pulses in this system. This non-existence result reflects the system's degeneracy and indicates that some event, for example pulse splitting, `must' occur when two pulses move apart from each other (as has been observed in simulations): these pulses evolve towards the non-existent travelling solitary pulses. The main mathematical techniques employed in this analysis of the stationary and travelling patterns are geometric singular perturbation theory and adiabatic Melnikov theory. Finally, the theoretical results are compared to those obtained from direct numerical simulation of the coupled partial differential equations on a `very large' domain, using a moving grid code. It has been checked that the boundaries do not influence the dynamics. A subset of the family of stationary single pulses appears to be stable. This subset determines the boundary of a region in parameter space in which the self-replicating process takes place. In that region, we observe that the core of a time-dependent self-replicating pattern turns out to be precisely a stationary periodic pulse pattern of the type that we construct. Moreover, the simulations reveal some other essential components of the pulse-splitting process and provide an important guide to further analysis.
Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) Pyrolysis Model Analysis of Heavy Goods Vehicle Fires in Road Tunnels

An analytical method and a genetic algorithm searching method are used to estimate the kinetic properties of wood based on the assumptions of two different multiple-component schemes. The pyrolysis model in Fire Dynamics Simulator is used to model material-scale and bench-scale experiments using the kinetic properties derived from the two methods. It is found that the use of the kinetic properties from the different methods and the different component assumptions cause slight differences in the prediction of pyrolysis behaviour for the material-scale experiments, however, no significant differences are found in the prediction of heat release rate for bench-scale experiments.
More about vacuum spacetimes with toroidal null infinities

Recently Bernd Schmidt has given three explicit examples of spacetimes with toroidal null infinities. In this paper all solutions with a toroidal null infinity within Schmidt's metric ansatz (polarized Gowdy models) are constructed. The members of the family are determined by two smooth functions of one variable. For the unpolarized Gowdy models the same kind of analysis carries through.
UV cascade in classical Yang-Mills theory via kinetic theory

We show that classical Yang-Mills theory with statistically homogeneous and isotropic initial conditions has a kinetic description and approaches a scaling solution at late times. We find the scaling solution by explicitly solving the Boltzmann equations, including all dominant processes (elastic and number-changing). Above a scale ˜ pmax ∝ t 1 7 the occupancy falls exponentially in p. For asymptotically late times and sufficiently small momenta the occupancy scales as f(p) ∝ 1/p, but this behavior sets in only at very late time scales. We find quantitative agreement of our results with lattice simulations, for times and momenta within the range of validity of kinetic theory.
Inverse scattering at a fixed quasi-energy for potentials periodic in time

We prove that the scattering matrix at a fixed quasi-energy determines uniquely a time-periodic potential that decays exponentially at infinity. We consider potentials that for each fixed time belong to L3/2 in space. The exponent 3/2 is critical for the singularities of the potential in space. For this singular class of potentials the result is new even in the time-independent case, where it was only known for bounded exponentially decreasing potentials.
Torsional Resistance of Drilled Shaft Foundations

ii Acknowledgments. iv List of Tables . x List of Figures . xii Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Background . 1 1.2 Objectives . 3 1.3 Thesis Organization . 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review . 5 2.1 Soil Strength and Design Parameters . 8 2.1.1 Correlations for Cohesionless Soils . 10 2.1.2 Correlations for Cohesive Soils . 12 2.1.3 Comments . 14 2.2 Typical Behavior and Failure Criteria . 15 2.3 Analytical Solutions for Torque-Twist Response . 16 2.4 Review of Methods for Nominal Torsional Resistance . 19 2.4. 1 a method – Cohesive Soils . 21 2.4. 2 Colorado DOT – Cohesive Soils . 22 2.4. 3 Florida DOT – Cohesive . 22
Dark energy cosmology with the alternative cosmic microwave background data

Recently, in a series of works by Liu and Li (L&L), they claimed that there exists a timing asynchrony of -25.6 ms between the spacecraft attitude and radiometer output timestamps in the original raw WMAP time-ordered data (TOD). L&L reprocessed the WMAP data while the aforementioned timing asynchrony has been corrected, and they obtained an alternative CMB map in which the quadrupole dropped to nearly zero. In the present work, we try to see the implications to dark energy cosmology if L&L are right. While L&L claimed that there is a bug in the WMAP pipeline which leads to significantly different cosmological parameters, an interesting question naturally arises, namely, how robust is the current dark energy cosmology with respect to systematic errors and bugs? So, in this work, we adopt the alternative CMB data of L&L as a strawman to study the robustness of dark energy predictions.
Assessment of the combined in‐plane and out‐of‐plane behavior of brick infill walls within reinforced concrete frames under seismic loading

Understanding the out‐of‐plane response of masonry infill walls and preventing their progressive collapse mechanisms is very important for earthquake‐prone countries to prevent loss of life and economic loss. In fact, having a realistic collapse mechanism assessment allows suitable prevention measures to be adopted. With this purpose in mind, two full‐scale one‐bay one‐story substructures of reinforced concrete frames (RCF) with infill walls were tested on a shake table. These 2 specimens were designed to represent the response of a typical RC Frame at the fifth floor of an 8‐story building, namely the out‐of‐plane failure of its infill wall under combined bidirectional seismic load. Both specimens were composed of a single‐leaf clay brick infill wall surrounded by the RC Frame. However, while the first specimen corresponds to an unreinforced masonry configuration, the second specimen includes horizontal bed joint reinforcement as a strengthening/retrofitting technique. The main novelty of this study is the application of a bidirectional and simultaneous dynamic loading to the specimen, such that in‐plane and out‐of‐plane effects are evaluated together. This work presents several interesting experimental results, with particular emphasis on the bearing capacity of the specimens against out‐of‐plane failure. As expected, the in‐plane capacity of the reinforced infill specimen is larger than that of the unreinforced infill specimen. Nevertheless, the out‐of‐plane bearing capacities of the two specimens are very similar, in contrast to their ductility capacity, which is significantly increased in the reinforced masonry specimen. The capacities of the two specimens for both in‐plane and out‐of‐plane directions, as predicted by formulations in the literature, are given. The differences found between these calculations and the results of the tests are discussed, and may possibly be explained by the parameters considered in the different formulations.
Notes on BPS Wilson Loops and the Cusp Anomalous Dimension in ABJM theory

We introduce a new purely bosonic, 1 BPS Wilson loop for ABJM theory on S 3 that couples scalar elds to a latitude at an angle on S 2 2 CP 3 . Through localization of this operator, we relate the expansion of the cusp anomalous dimension at small cusp angles to the logarithmic derivative of the ABJM Wilson loop. This denes, non-perturbatively in the 't Hooft coupling, the bremsstrahlung function B( ) describing in three dimensions the soft radiation of a W -boson undergoing a sudden change in trajectory. We compare our results for B( ) to the known weak/strong coupling expansions of the function h( ) that enters integrability. At weak coupling we precisely match the previously known two-loop result. At strong coupling we nd agreement at leading order in p , but a mismatch of the constant coecient. We comment on the striking similarity that we observe between these two, in principle, unrelated functions.
Measuring the Success of E-Cargo Implementation at One of Indonesian Airlines using DeLone and McLean Model

This research is aimed at measuring the success of e-cargo implementation in Indonesia. There are three analyzed districts: Tanjung Pandan (TJQ), Palembang (PLM), and Jakarta (CGK). The research uses information system’s success model proposed by Delone and McLean. The research will analyze the factors that measure the success of using DeLone & McLean model of success information systems. Data from 53 respondents were collected through a survey, then the author created a path with the Partial Least Squares (PLS) path analysis using the software SmartPLS (v.3.2.6). The results of this study proved that the information quality variable did not significantly affect use variable, the information quality variable had no significant effect on the user satisfaction variable and the service quality variable had no significant effect on the use variable, while the other variables were tested significant in measuring the success of the use of information systems with R-square value that has a moderate effect of user satisfaction variable by 0.577, the use variable by 0.396, and a net benefit variable by 0.615.
EFFECTS OF MULTIDIRECTIONAL SEA STATES AND FLEXIBLE FOUNDATION ON DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE SYSTEM

One reliable simulation tool was developed to be able to predict dynamic response of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWTs) to various sea states. To represent real environmental condition in field site, multidirectional wave simulation was carried out in this research to investigate effect of wave spreading on dynamic response of FOWT. On the other hand, effect of tower frequency change due to flexible foundation on fatigue load was studied. It was found that unidirectional assumption is conservative in terms of prediction of dynamic motion of platform and multidirectional sea state should be employed to reach cost-effect design. In addition, when wind turbine is supported by flexible foundation, the change of tower natural frequency will result in significant increase of fatigue load. Therefore, Effect of flexible foundation on tower frequency change needs to be taken into consideration in the design of platform and commercial wind turbine.
Experimental studies of shallow spherical shell piezoceramic actuators as acoustic boundary control elements

This paper presents an experimental study of the shallow spherical shell piezoceramic RAINBOW actuator, to follow up the theoretical modeling and numerical studies of this actuator reported in a previous paper. A comparison of theoretically predicted and experimentally determined natural frequencies of the RAINBOW actuator with free edge boundary conditions is presented in the paper. Also presented are results from experiments performed on a prototype of a low profile piezoelectrically driven baffled acoustic piston developed at the Smart Trim Technology Laboratory. Experimentally generated volume velocity curves of the piston are presented. The possible use of this device in active noise control applications is discussed.
Fluctuation-induced forces in periodic slabs: Breakdown of ϵ expansion at the bulk critical point and revised field theory

Systems described by n-component ϕ4 models in a ∞d − 1×L slab geometry of finite thickness L are considered at and above their bulk critical temperature Tc,∞. The renormalization-group improved perturbation theory commonly employed to investigate the fluctuation-induced forces (“thermodynamic Casimir effect”) in d = 4 − ϵ bulk dimensions is re-examined. It is found to be ill-defined beyond two-loop order because of infrared singularities when the boundary conditions are such that the free propagator in slab geometry involves a zero-energy mode at bulk criticality. This applies to periodic boundary conditions and the special-special ones corresponding to the critical enhancement of the surface interactions on both confining plates. The field theory is reorganized such that a small-ϵ expansion results which remains well behaved down to Tc,∞. The leading contributions to the critical Casimir amplitudes Δper and Δsp,sp beyond two-loop order are ∼ (u*)(3 − ϵ)/2, where u* = O(ϵ) is the value of the renormalized ϕ4 coupling at the infrared-stable fixed point. Besides integer powers of ϵ, the small-ϵ expansions of these amplitudes involve fractional powers ϵk/2, with k ⩾ 3, and powers of ln ϵ. Explicit results to order ϵ3/2 are presented for Δper and Δsp,sp, which are used to estimate their values at d = 3.
The contribution of infrastructure characteristics to bicycle crashes without motor vehicles: A quantitative approach using a case-control design

Cycling is one of the main transport modes in the Netherlands and the total number of bicycles and the total cycling distances are still rising. Although this seems a positive development, the number of seriously injured cyclists due to bicycle crashes without motor vehicles increased rapidly in recent years. Within these crashes the infrastructure seems to play an important role and research towards the contribution of infrastructure characteristics to bicycle crashes without motor vehicles is needed because this is limited and especially research on more detailed infrastructure characteristics (e.g. bicycle path width) has not been done yet. This study aims to fill in parts of the knowledge gap between the safety problem and the lack of research done on the contribution of infrastructure characteristics. This study was done by using data from a survey held by VeiligheidNL. In total, 3146 cyclists that were treated at an emergency department responded to the survey and provided information on the crash location and the trip origin. A case-control method was applied in this study which compared infrastructure characteristics of case (crash) and control locations (no crash). The control locations were selected from the route of a bicycle crash victim. The design of the method included basic steps for the selection of the controls and four measures to lower the bias in the method and increasing the statistical power of the results. With the application of the case-control method to the data several results were found: First, the width of streets contributes to riding off the road crashes and handlebar collisions, whereas the width of bicycle paths next to bollards contributes to crashes with these objects. Secondly, the presence of intersections decreases the likelihood of kerb collisions. Thirdly, two-directional bicycle paths are more likely to induce bicycle-bicycle crashes and they possibly induce more severe crashes because frontal collisions were found more severe than same direction bicycle-bicycle crashes. And finally, the placement of bollards increases the severity of the injuries caused by the corresponding crashes. These findings could be used to further increase the quality of bicycle design guidelines such that future bicycle infrastructure could be designed safer.
A lower bound on the mass of cold thermal dark matter from Planck

We show that the new measurement of the effective number of neutrinos (Neff) by the Planck satellite can be used to set a robust lower bound on the mass of cold thermal dark matter of 𝒪(MeV). Our limit applies if the dark matter remains in thermal equilibrium by coupling to electrons and photons or through interactions with neutrinos, and applies regardless of whether the dark matter annihilation cross-section is s-wave or p-wave. To illustrate our bounds we apply them to a model of a supersymmetric neutralino annihilating to neutrinos, via a light mixed left-right handed sneutrino mediator. While this scenario was not constrained by previous data, the Planck limits on Neff allow us to set a lower bound on the neutralino dark matter mass of 3.5 MeV.