Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SIERPINSKI-CARPET FRACTAL FREQUENCY RECONFIGURABLE MICROSTRIP PATCH ANTENNA DESIGN FOR KU/K/KA BAND APPLICATION

This work discusses the effect of reconfigurability on a Sierpinski-carpet fractal microstrip patch antenna. The implementation of reconfigurability is achieved by modeling a PIN diode as a lumped RC element on HFSS (High Frequency Structure Simulator) simulation tool. The proposed antenna design is also fabricated and tested. It is highly miniaturized having a dimension of 9.5mm × 7.4mm and a significantly high impedance bandwidth which is desirable for most wireless communication applications. The resultant Fractal Reconfigurable Antenna (FRA) exhibits good performance parameters having frequency reconfigurability rendering it useful for Ku/K/Ka band applications.
Digital literacy is associated with more discerning accuracy judgments but not sharing intentions

It has been widely argued that social media users with low digital literacy—who lack fluency with basic technological concepts related to the internet—are more likely to fall for online misinformation, but surprisingly little research has examined this association empirically. In a large survey experiment involving true and false news posts about politics and COVID-19, we found that digital literacy is indeed an important predictor of the ability to tell truth from falsehood when judging headline accuracy. However, digital literacy is not a robust predictor of users’ intentions to share true versus false headlines. This observation resonates with recent observations of a substantial disconnect between accuracy judgments and sharing intentions. Furthermore, our results suggest that lack of digital literacy may be useful for helping to identify people with inaccurate beliefs, but not for identifying those who are more likely to spread misinformation online.
A Contact Stiffness Model of Machined Plane Joint Based on Fractal Theory

A general contact stiffness model is proposed in this paper to study the contacts between rough surfaces of machined plane joints. The proposed model uses fractal geometry for surface topography description, elastic-plastic deformation of contacting asperities, and size-dependent contact stiffness of microcontacts, where the contact stiffness is derived from Hertz contact theory. Three cast iron specimens are produced from different machining methods (milling, grinding, and scraping), and their rough surface profiles are extracted. The structure function method was used to calculate each profile's fractal dimension and scale coefficient. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results of contact stiffness are obtained for these specimens under different contact loads. The comparison between the theoretical contact stiffness and the experimental results at the interface indicates that the present fractal model for the contact stiffness is appropriate and the theoretical contact stiffness is consistent with the experimental data.
Comparative study: Medical Physiology teaching in hybrid problem based learning (PBL) vs. integrated system teacher centered teaching

A new medical program that uses PBL approach was compared to an existing integrated system approach at two different schools in regards to the physiology mapping that includes content, timetable, assessment methods implemented and student performance. The objectives set by the APS forms a background for all medical school programs worldwide were used. Thorough analysis of all blocks and/or courses of the two learning system approaches were undertaken for major and minor objectives. Timetable and performance of the students in the two program approaches were compared and analyzed. The two groups were identical in terms of meeting the major objectives set by the APS. Although a lot of these objectives were set to be met by the students as self study assignment in the PBL approach rather than through lectures given by teachers in the integrated system approach. A lot of minor objectives are met in the integrated system approach compared to little minor objectives were met by the PBL approach. The performance in summative assessment was significantly better in integrated system approach compared to PBL approach, although this tends to be less with advancing years of study. The timetable was identical in both programs. Physiology objectives had not been compromised by the PBL system although they were moved from being delivered by teachers to being acquired through self and group study by the students. Better methods of assessment should be implemented in PBL system approach and students self study should monitored more carefully. Key words: Integrated system, problem based learning (PBL), integrated system approach, physiology teaching.
Study of lymph node lesions using fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC)

Background: Cytology of lymph nodes has become a window for diagnosis of many diseases. Optimal material and experience, when combined, make cytological diagnosis of equal significance as histopathology. In many clinical settings it is very difficult to decide which patient is more likely to have a reactive or neoplastic lymphadenopathy. Aim and Objectives: The main aim of the present study to investigate the pattern of lymphadenopathy by FNAC. Methodology: This retrospective study on aspirates of 50 selected patients with lymphadenopathy, both male and female, was conducted at the Cytology Unit, Pathology Department, Mallaredddy institute of medical sciences, Suraram ‘x’ road, Quthubullapur municipality, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh from august 2013 to June 2014. This period includes review of literature, data collection, data analysis, discussion and finalizing the report. It is a laboratory investigation based study. Approval of ethics committee was obtained. Lymph node aspirates were collected from these patients using fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). These aspirates were then smeared and stained with hematoxylin and eosin and are observed under the microscope. Results: Out 50 cases, 19 cases (38%) were non-specific reactive lymphadenitis, 10 (20%) were tubercular lymphadenitis, 7 (14%) were granulomatous lymphadenitis, 5 (10%) were metastatic deposits, 4 (8%) cases were castleman’s disease, and there was only 1 case (2%) of Kikuchi’s disease. There were 3 cases (6%) of Hodgkin’s lymphoma and 1 case (2%) of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Acid fast staining was performed in suspected cases of tuberculosis. Conclusion: Thus, a simple procedure as FNAC was used to identify the pattern of lymphadenopathy, to highlight the incidence of tuberculosis combined with AFB staining, to diagnose malignancies without surgical biopsy and even diagnose rare diseases of the lymph nodes.
Global meta‐network of legume crops and floral visitors reveals abundance of exotic bees

Legume crops (family Fabaceae, order Fabales) constitute a relevant component of the human food supply. In view of the global decline in crop production, as a result of increasing threats (such as habitat fragmentation and land use change) to pollinators, knowledge concerning legume floral visitors can contribute to world food security. In this study, a synthesis was performed of global data on interactions between legume crops and their floral visitors, in order to improve understanding of the structure of crop‐floral visitor interactions and the roles of different species. A literature review was conducted using three databases, considering 15 legumes of economic importance, enabling the construction of a meta‐network of plant‐floral visitor interactions. Soybean, alfalfa and common bean received the highest numbers of floral visitor species. A total of 208 floral visitor species were recorded, distributed in eight orders. The most diverse group was Hymenoptera (mainly bees), followed by Lepidoptera. The European honeybee Apis mellifera interacted with the highest number of plant species. Modularity analysis identified eight modules that included more than one order of floral visitors. Most species were classified as peripherals, with few links restricted to their own module. The three connector species were the bees Bombus pascuorum, B. terrestris and Megachile rotundata. The only network hub was A. mellifera. The predominance of bees seemed to be related to the predominant floral morphology among the crops. The connector and hub species were typically generalists, and all except one species (B. pascuorum) were used as managed pollinators. The crops studied have an important role in global pollination resilience, maintaining a diversified fauna of pollinators other than bees.
The self-directed learning readiness of access to HE students at City College Plymouth, United Kingdom

This study examines the levels of self-directed learning skills for students on the Access to HE course at City College and how these skills relate to their academic achievement. In this study, 101 students participated in a survey and their self-directed learning readiness was measured using the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SRSSDL). Achievement was determined using the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) tariff point system. The findings showed that 38% of students on the course had moderate levels of self-directed learning and 62% had high levels of self-directedness. The mean SRSSDL score for all students who took part in the study indicated just an above moderate level of self-directed learning. These findings suggest that areas for improvement should be identified and evaluated and strategies adopted with the help of the teacher to help improve students’ self-directed learning skills. Results from further analysis revealed that self-directed learning is strongly correlated with students’ academic achievement and that SRSSDL total score significantly predicted UCAS points (p = .049). Based on these findings, including components of self-directed learning in teaching for students on the Access to HE course might be beneficial in improving their overall achievement.
Shared control of ship autopilots and human pilots for maritime autonomous surface ship in the presence of actuator anomalies

This paper investigates the heading control problem of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASSs) in the presence of actuator anomalies. A shared control framework that includes a ship autopilot and a human pilot, is constructed to realize the accurate tracking of the time-varying command signals. Specifically, the human pilot is responsible for high-level decision making such as anomaly estimation, anomaly correction and monitoring analysis, and the ship autopilot is responsible for a low-level task of command following. With the proposed shared control framework, the ability of the ship autopilot can be significantly enhanced compared to entirely automated tracking. Through Lyapunov stability analysis, it is proven that the tracking error is ultimately bounded, while all the signals of the closed-loop system remain bounded. Finally, a simulation example is presented to prove the effectiveness of the proposed shared control architecture for MASSs under actuator anomalies.
Frequency content of whole body gait kinematic data

The authors analyzed the frequency content of camera image plane data for markers on each body segment during gait. For each segment, they determined the low-pass filter cutoff frequency that balanced the amount of signal distortion and the amount of random noise passed. The frequency content of the data as measured by the cutoff frequency differed for different body segments, being higher for the lower limb segments and lower for the head. This result supports the hypothesis that the frequency content of the kinematics of segments decreases caudal to rostral. >
A study on serum ascites albumin gradient in the etiological diagnosis of ascites

Aim: To study the “Serum ascites albumin gradient in the etiological diagnosis of ascites” Methodology: A total of fifty adult patients with ascites, admitted to the Department of General Medicine, NRI Medical College, Guntur within one year period, whose etiological diagnosis had not been known previously were studied prospectively. The protocol was approved by the hospital’s ethical committee and an informed consent was obtained from all patients. Results: In the present study, considering the etiology of ascites in the population studied, cirrhosis of the liver (28 cases) ranked first followed by decompensated heart failure (8 cases), tuberculous peritonitis (5 cases) and malignant ascites (4 cases). The other causes were nephrotic syndrome (2 cases), splenic abscess (1 case), pancreatitis (1 case), spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (1 case) and hypothyroidism (1 case). The sensitivity and specificity of ascitic fluid total protein (AFTP) in the differentiation of different types of ascites are 83% and 63% respectively The sensitivity and specificity of serum ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) in the differentiation of different types of ascites are 95% and 92% respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of ascitic fluid total protein (AFTP) in the etiological diagnosis of ascites is 68%. The diagnostic accuracy of serum ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) in the etiological diagnosis of ascites is 94%. The serum ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) is superior to ascitic fluid total protein (AFTP) in the differential diagnosis of ascites and it is statistically significant. Conclusion: Thus Serum ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) is the single best test against ascitic fluid total protein (AFTP), in the differential diagnosis of ascites. The terms exudative and transudative can be replaced by high SAAG and low SAAG ascites.
Arterial Performance Measures with Media Access Control Readers

This study reports on the use of media access control (MAC) readers through the Bluetooth protocol by means of off-the-shelf equipment to measure arterial travel performance (segment travel time, average running speed, and origin–destination). First, the MAC reader technology was deployed at the same time that travel time runs by the traditional floating-car method were used to evaluate the general reliability and accuracy of the MAC technology. Second, the MAC reader technology was used to track before-and-after changes to signal timing along the corridor to measure the effectiveness of the adjustments, proving its real-world applicability while requiring far fewer resources than traditional data collection means. A comparison of the Bluetooth MAC address data with traditional Global Positioning System floating-car studies suggests that the larger data set from the Bluetooth data more effectively captures performance characteristics of the arterial. The research was conducted on a 2.5-mi suburban signalized arterial in Portland, Oregon, over 27 days. The paper concludes by discussing the system architecture for a permanent real-time deployment and other areas for future research. The real-time MAC reader information provides substantial opportunity to add new control and performance monitoring capability to other intelligent transportation system components, such as ramp metering, transit signal priority systems, and adaptive signal control.
Toxicity of entomopathogenic fungi against Spodoptera frugiperda larvae under laboratory conditions

Maize Fall Armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is considered an economically important pest and becoming the main threat to food security. This polyphagous pest is widely distributed in various countries of the world especially tropical and subtropical regions. The toxicity of two entomopathogenic fungi such as Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana were evaluated against 2nd instar larvae of FAW under controlled conditions. The results showed that among tested entomopathogenic fungi, B. bassiana was found more toxic than M. anisopliae. B. bassiana caused 79% larval mortality while M. anisopliae 59%. M. anisopliae and B. bassiana were showed LT50 of 84.01 h and 80.99 h, respectively. M. anisopliae and B. bassiana were showed LC50 of 1.3×107 and 1.8×107 spores ml−1, respectively. The current study concluded that Entomopathogenic fungi can give effective control against early instar and further studies are needed to check the efficacy against older instars under field and laboratory conditions.
Cold-Formed Steel Lipped Channel Columns Influenced by Local-Distortional Interaction: Strength and DSM Design

This paper deals with the ultimate strength and design of fixed-ended lipped channel columns experiencing local-distortional buckling mode interaction. First, the paper reports the results of an experimental investigation involving a set of 26 columns with several cross-section dimensions and yield stresses that were tested to determine their failure loads and also to provide experimental evidence of the occurrence of local-distortional mode interaction. These results consist of the column geometries, material properties, initial geometric imperfections, nonlinear equilibrium paths, and ultimate strength values. Then, after comparing the experimental column ultimate loads with the estimates provided by the current direct strength method (DSM) design curves against local and distortional failures, which clearly show that they lead to inaccurate and often very unsafe ultimate strength estimates, the paper presents and assesses the quality of DSM-based design procedures based on approaches providing nominal strengths against local-distortional and distortional-local interactive failures. Next, an in-depth comparison is made between all the experimental ultimate strength results available in the literature and their estimates provided by the preceding DSM design procedures. Finally, the paper closes with design considerations and recommendations, motivated by the conclusions drawn from this investigation.
Exploring the ecotourism service experience framework using the dimensions of motivation, expectation and ecotourism experience

This study explores the ecotourism service experience framework by analysing ecotourists’ motivations and expectations, as well as the dimensions of ecotourism experiences. A total of 51 ecotourists were interviewed in person at ecotourist lodges in Lower Kinabatangan, Malaysia. Interview responses were analysed using thematic analysis, and a multi-data triangulation was carried out to identify key service experience dimensions guided by the co-creation concept. Findings reveal that motivations and expectations of ecotourists are connected to the dimensions of ecotourism experiences. Several findings reveal that key dimensions include ‘wildlife’, ‘nature/environment’ and ‘experiences driven from ecotourism activities’ (such as riverboat cruises and jungle trekking). Based on the interviews, these dimensions can be further interpreted and conceptualised as ‘education’, ‘aesthetic’, ‘escape’ and ‘entertainment’, similar to the four realms of experience in the experience economy model by Pine and Gilmore (1998,1999). Hence, an ecotourism service experience framework, comprising both tangible and intangible elements, is proposed as a sound and practical approach to understanding ecotourism service experiences. This study offers empirical evidence and an innovative approach by identifying the ecotourism service experience dimensions and exploring a relevant framework, which was previously neglected. Ecotourism operators should utilise the four identified service experience dimensions to stage unique ecotourism experiences and enhance destination attractiveness and competitiveness. Experiential marketing can capitalise on these dimensions as innovative selling points and attract ecotourists, thus providing practical value in marketing ecotourism destinations.
Low-frequency noise sources in polysilicon emitter BJT's: influence of hot-electron-induced degradation and post-stress recovery

The noise properties of polysilicon emitter bipolar transistors are studied. The influences of the various chemical treatments and annealing temperatures, prior and after polysilicon deposition, on the noise magnitude are shown. The impact of hot-electron-induced degradation and post-stress recovery on the base and collector current fluctuations are also investigated in order to determine the main noise sources of these devices and to gain insight into the physical mechanisms involved in these processes. >
PLC platform for bidirectional transceiver with wide multimode output waveguide to receiver

We present a new configuration of a thin-film-filter (TFF)-embedded planar-light-circuit platform for a bidirectional transceiver module to enhance a tolerance of the insertion loss to the positional deviation of the TFF, by using a wide multimode waveguide structure that guides a reflected light from the TFF to a photoreceiver. It is experimentally shown that the new scheme has a merit in a high tolerance to the positional deviation of the TFF, and that it maintains a considerably high optical isolation by a proper arrangement of waveguides.
Protein length distribution is remarkably consistent across Life

In every living species, the function of a protein depends on its organisation of structural domains, and the length of a protein is a direct reflection of this. Because every species evolved under different evolutionary pressures, the protein length distribution, much like other genomic features, is expected to vary across species. Here we evaluated this diversity by comparing protein length distribution across 2,326 species (1,688 bacteria, 153 archaea and 485 eukaryotes). We found that proteins tend to be on average slightly longer in eukaryotes than in bacteria or archaea, but that the variation of length distribution across species is low, especially compared to the variation of other genomic features (genome size, number of proteins, gene length, GC content, isoelectric points of proteins). Moreover, most cases of atypical protein length distribution appear to be due to artifactual gene annotation, suggesting the actual variation of protein length distribution across species is even smaller. These results open the way for developing a genome annotation quality metric based on protein length distribution to complement conventional quality measures. Overall, our findings show that protein length distribution between living species is more consistent than previously thought, and provide evidence for a universal purifying selection on protein length, whose mechanism and fitness effect remain intriguing open questions.
Flow of a Maxwell Fluid between Two Porous Disks Rotating about Noncoincident Axes

This paper is concerned with the steady flow of a Maxwell fluid between two porous disks rotating with the same angular velocity about noncoincident axes normal to the disks. An exact solution to the problem depending on the Deborah number, the suction/injection velocity parameter, and the Reynolds number is obtained. It is shown that the core of fluid tends to rotate about the z-axis that characterizes the line in equal distance to the two axes of rotation when the Deborah and Reynolds numbers increase and a thinner boundary layer occurs in the region adjacent to the top disk when the axial velocity of fluid that is based on the suction/injection velocity parameter is upward. In addition, an approximate solution is presented for small Deborah numbers. The comparison between the exact and approximate solutions is given and found to be in excellent agreement.