Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fault-Tolerant Tracking Control Optimization of Constrained LPV Systems Based on Embedded Preview Regulation and Reference Governance

This article presents some new improvements to the relevant constrained predictive fault-tolerant tracking control (FTTC) methods through embedding optimal preview regulation and reference governance. The main novelty of such a strategy is that some valuable information of finite future references can be adequately scheduled to optimize the robust tracking performance and significantly enlarge the fault-tolerant admissible region. In order to better describe the wide applicability of the proposed strategy, the robust FTTC problem for a class of LPV systems with state/input constraints is considered. Overall, the involved key designs consist of three parts. First, an unconstrained FTTC component is constructed by combining tracking error feedback, reference input regulation, and fault signal compensation. It is used to guarantee the robust tracking stability of closed-loop systems when the constraints are not activated. Second, a tube-based predictive FTTC policy with an embedded optimal preview regulator is designed to achieve the robust constraint satisfaction and transient response improvement. Third, an embedded reference governor is additionally integrated to significantly enlarge the size of the fault-tolerant admissible region. This design further reinforces the feasibility of constrained FTTC optimization. The effectiveness of these results is finally validated by a case study of a single transistor dc/dc Forward converter.
A review of liquid desiccant cooling

Dessicant cooling has the ability to provide efficient indoor humidity and temperature control, while at the same time reducing the electrical energy requirement as compared to conventional vapor compression systems. Unlike other surveys on dessicant cooling, this review focuses on a more detailed coverage of liquid dessicant systems. Physical properties are compared for commonly used liquid dessicants (salt solutions and triethylene glycol). Findings from studies considering dessicant/air contact equipement such as packed towers, finned coils, and solar collector regenerators have been summarized in tables for easy comparison. Key features of these tables include the dessicant material, the influence of design variables on the dehumidifier/regenerator performance, and whether experiments were performed. Finally, system configurations are presented schematically, with additional information listed in tabular form
APPLICATION OF MSC ADAMS - NX NASTRAN/FEMAP INTERFACE IN STRENGTH CALCULATIONS OF TRUCK FRAMES

Summary. In this paper, the finite element method (FEM) is used to calculate the strength of truck frames by integrating the MSC Adams software, for dynamics analysis of mechanical systems, and the NX Nastran/Femap software. At the same time, a method for reducing degrees of freedom is been developed based on the Craig–Bampton method. The interface is applied in order to calculate the strength of the frame in the selected truck, which runs on the test track. The selected model of truck can be treated as the virtual prototype that is useful in the design process.
Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance: Development and Implementation of the Ghanaian National Action Plan (2017–2021)

In recent years, Ghana has been recognised as a leading player in addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Africa. However, based on our literature review, we could not ascertain whether the core elements of the national action plan (NAP) were implemented in practice. In this paper, we present a qualitative analysis of the development of AMR-related policies in Ghana, including the NAP. We conducted 13 semi-structured expert interviews to obtain at a more thorough understanding of the implementation process for the AMR NAP and to highlight its accomplishments and shortcomings. The results show that AMR policies, as embodied in the NAP, have led to an extended network of cooperation between stakeholders in many political fields. Broadly, limited allocation of financial resources from the government and from international cooperation have been deplored. Furthermore, the opportunity for using the NAP in mainstreaming the response to the threat of AMR has not been seized. To the general public, this remained hidden behind a number of other relevant health topics such as infection prevention, veterinary services and pharmaceutical regulation. As a One Health (OH) challenge, developing countries could integrate AMR NAPs into other health and environmental programmes to improve its implementation in practice.
Effects of Dietary Thraustochytrid Schizochytrium sp. and Other Omega-3 Sources on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Meat Quality of Broilers

Simple Summary Thraustochytrid schizochytrium is one of the promising microalgae for omega-3 production. We evaluated the possibility of schizochytrium as omega-3 source comparing with other omega-3 sources that have been used before. The main results were the increased levels of DHA in the thigh meat of broilers fed SP, while EPA and DHA were on the rise in the meat of broilers fed SO, and ALA was increased in the meat of broilers fed FO. The ω-6/ω-3 ratio of the thigh meat improved in all treatments, approaching the guideline levels without adverse effects on the productive performance, carcass traits, and thigh meat quality. Hence, our results suggest that salmon oil, flaxseed oil, and schizochytrium could be used as omega-3 fatty acids sources to improve the omega-3 level and ω-6/ω-3 balance in broiler thigh meat and to allow consumers to easily enhance their intake of these vital nutrients for health benefits. Abstract Background: Looking for alternative omega-3 sources in broiler nutrition, microalgae began to get attention. We suspected that schizochytrium might play a similar role as other omega-3 sources that have been used before. Methods: 20 g/kg schizochytrium powder (SP), salmon oil (SO), and flaxseed oil (FO) in each of the three treatment groups were supplemented in the basal diet (CON), and productive performance, carcass traits, and thigh meat quality of broilers were evaluated. Results: There was a significantly higher weight gain in the SP treatment compared to the other groups, but no difference was found in feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance values increased during storage in all the treatments but were significantly lower for SP than for SO and FO after 7 days of storage. Among the ω-3 fatty acids (FAs), α-linolenic acid increased the most in the FO treatment, eicosapentaenoic acid increased the most in the SO treatment, and docosahexaenoic acid increased the most in the SP treatment in thigh meat, reflecting the FA composition of the lipid source diets. Conclusions: We suggested that all the dietary ω-3 FA sources could improve the FA composition of chicken meat and our results indicated the possibility to supplement broiler diets with 2% level of SP, SO, and FO as ω-3 FA sources to produce meat with a good nutritional quality for consumer’s health benefits.
Effective e-procurement implementation in the public sector - A framework covering critical success factors and project phases

Currently there is a trend towards increased focus on the importance of the purchasing function and costs of maintenance, repair, and operation (MRO) goods. This has led to companies investing in electronic procurement tools in order to reduce those costs and increase efficiency. However, studies have shown that only 20-27% of these investments are successful. To ensure the success of such investments, it is beneficial to consider critical success factors (CSFs) covering important aspects of the implementation. The aim of this master’s thesis is to validate and assess the relevance of a framework covering eleven CSFs for three distinctive project phases of an electronic procurement implementation. The main research question is “Are different CSFs more or less relevant for different types of end-users in an e-procurement implementation context? ”, but is limited to some parts of the framework considering its comprehensiveness. The purpose of the framework is to aid managers in decision-making by presenting a framework with clear managerial implications. In addition, the framework is also intended to assist the ongoing implementation of an electronic ordering system at the case company, St Olav’s Hospital, to which both this master’s and our pre-diploma thesis were written in collaboration with. The framework in focus was developed by us in our pre-diploma thesis, but although looking promising, it needed further validation. This master’s thesis will continue the work by employing a case study survey research design and quantitatively analyzing the results of a survey deployed to 803 end-users at the case company, capturing the end-user perspective of the implementation. The findings of the thesis show that some of the investigated CSFs are indeed important to the sample of end-users, and that there are differences, especially regarding sex and age, in how important end-users consider the CSFs to be. For example, training is found to be more important for both females and for older respondents, while communication is found to be important for all end-users. Moreover, an exploratory factor analysis suggests that there is room for improving the framework, by finding that the perceptions towards electronic systems are important to consider. Furthermore, these findings imply that companies should not only consider the CSFs in the framework, but also the differences that may exist between end-users.
Whey protein concentrate mixed beverages and plasma amino acid response in
young males

Whey protein isolate (WPI) and whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) contains more protein than whey protein concentrate. However, to achieve a better taste, most commercial products mix WPI and WPH with whey protein concentrate (WPC). This study aimed to compare postprandial blood amino acids following ingestion of three beverages: WPImixed with WPC (WPI-mixed), WPH-mixed with WPI (WPH-mixed), and placebo. A total of ten healthy men aged between 18 and 30, who regularly engaged in exercise training, were recruited as participants. They each received 350 mL of each beverage on separate days and 6-day apart. Concentrations of plasma essential amino acids (EAA), branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), and leucine (Leu) were measured in blood samples taken from participants every 15 mins for 2 hrs. Plasma concentrations of EAA, BCAA, and Leu increased after ingestion of the WPI-mixed and WPH-mixed beverages versus the placebo beverage (P<0.05). Plasma EAA did not differ between WPI- mixed and WPmixed trials. In contrast, plasma concentrations of BCAA after WPI-mixed were higher than after WPH-mixed at 30 mins. The same was observed for Leu at 30 and 75 mins after ingestion. The higher plasma BCAA and Leu in the WPI-mixed trial versus the WPHmixed trial may have been due to the presence of short-chain peptides, as bioactive peptides, in WPH-mixed, which were absorbed. In conclusion, there was no difference in plasma EAA, but plasma concentrations of leucine and BCAA were higher in the WPImixed trial than WPH-mixed trial. Therefore, future research should investigate bioactive peptides along with plasma amino acids.
Hybrid Deep Learning Techniques for Predicting Complex Phenomena: A Review on COVID-19

Complex phenomena have some common characteristics, such as nonlinearity, complexity, and uncertainty. In these phenomena, components typically interact with each other and a part of the system may affect other parts or vice versa. Accordingly, the human brain, the Earth’s global climate, the spreading of viruses, the economic organizations, and some engineering systems such as the transportation systems and power grids can be categorized into these phenomena. Since both analytical approaches and AI methods have some specific characteristics in solving complex problems, a combination of these techniques can lead to new hybrid methods with considerable performance. This is why several types of research have recently been conducted to benefit from these combinations to predict the spreading of COVID-19 and its dynamic behavior. In this review, 80 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, and preprints with a focus on employing hybrid methods for forecasting the spreading of COVID-19 published in 2020 have been aggregated and reviewed. These documents have been extracted from Google Scholar and many of them have been indexed on the Web of Science. Since there were many publications on this topic, the most relevant and effective techniques, including statistical models and deep learning (DL) or machine learning (ML) approach, have been surveyed in this research. The main aim of this research is to describe, summarize, and categorize these effective techniques considering their restrictions to be used as trustable references for scientists, researchers, and readers to make an intelligent choice to use the best possible method for their academic needs. Nevertheless, considering the fact that many of these techniques have been used for the first time and need more evaluations, we recommend none of them as an ideal way to be used in their project. Our study has shown that these methods can hold the robustness and reliability of statistical methods and the power of computation of DL ones.
Most common reasons for primary care visits in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

With the Covid-19 pandemic and the introduction of the WHO’s Essential Diagnostics List (EDL), increasing global attention is focused on the crucial role of diagnostics in achieving universal health coverage. To create national EDLs and to aid health system planning, it is vital to understand the most common conditions with which people present at primary care health facilities. We undertook a systematic review of the most common reasons for primary care visits in low- and middle-income countries. Six databases were searched for articles published between January 2009 and December 2019, with the search updated on MEDLINE to January 2021. Data on the most common patient reasons for encounter (RFEs) and provider diagnoses were collected. 17 of 22,279 screened articles were included. Most studies used unvalidated diagnostic classification systems or presented provider diagnosis data grouped by organ system, rather than presenting specific diagnoses. No studies included data from low-income countries. Only four studies (from Brazil, India, Nigeria and South Africa) using the ICPC-2 classification system contained RFE and provider diagnosis data and could be pooled. The top five RFEs from the four studies were headache, fever, back or low back symptom, cough and pain general/multiple sites. The top five diagnoses were uncomplicated hypertension, upper respiratory tract infection, type 2 diabetes, malaria and health maintenance/prevention. No psychological symptoms were among the top 10 pooled RFEs. There was more variation in top diagnoses between studies than top RFEs, showing the importance of creating location-specific lists of essential diagnostics for primary care. Future studies should aim to sample primary care facilities from across their country of study and use ICPC-3 to report both patient RFEs and provider diagnoses.
Interplay between family background and labour-market conditions in shaping students’ occupational status expectations

ABSTRACT This study examines the relevance of labour-market conditions for individual occupational status expectations. We are particularly interested in students’ status expectations in the final stages of their school careers. Occupational expectations are an important basis for adolescents’ biographical decisions and corresponding transitions to vocational training and employment. By anticipating their likely labour-market situation, adolescents adjust their occupational choices; however, this anticipation is strongly moderated by their family background. We demonstrate this interaction using the example of school students in Germany’s secondary education’s tracked system. We link survey data from the German National Educational Panel Study to regionalised administrative data on unemployment. We find expectations for higher-status occupations in poor regional labour markets among students in non-academic school tracks. In contrast, students in the academic track aspire to lower status occupations in poor regional labour markets. In both cases, higher parental occupational status mitigates the impact of labour-market conditions on individual occupational status expectations. Our results indicate a greater awareness of structural conditions in the region among adolescents who are equipped with fewer familial resources.
Verbal fluency in bilingual school-age children: Looking at switching, clustering, and the effect of language experience

Aims: The sparse available evidence on verbal fluency in bilingual children shows them to perform lower than monolinguals on semantic fluency (taken as indicating vocabulary) but on par or better on phonemic fluency (taken as indicating executive functioning). This study takes a more detailed look at verbal fluency skills in bilingual children by examining their search strategies, the extent to which verbal fluency skills are related to bilingual exposure, and how bilinguals perform on verbal fluency across their languages. Data and Analysis: First-graders (n = 43) and third-graders (n = 45) included monolingual speakers of French and French bilinguals who varied in their overall exposure to French and age of acquisition (AoA) to French. Participants were tested in French or in French and English on vocabulary and semantic and phonemic fluency. Language exposure was measured through detailed parent report. Group analyses, correlations, and regressions were conducted to examine performance and the involvement of language experience and vocabulary. Findings: Bilinguals performed lower than monolinguals on semantic fluency, but on par on phonemic fluency. Bilingual performance was not affected significantly by AoA or bilingual exposure. For all participants, performance was predicted by vocabulary size as well as cluster size and switching. However, the groups showed different use of search strategies. In semantic fluency, bilinguals relied more on switching, whereas monolinguals relied on both. Originality: The current paper related the measurement of search strategies (cluster size, switching) and the effect of language experience to the examination of verbal fluency in bilingual children. Implications: The results suggest that verbal fluency is dependent on vocabulary size, regardless of amounts of language exposure or AoA, and highlights need for more research into the relationship with other language skills, such as phonological awareness and reading ability.
Central Annals of Otolaryngology and Rhinology Double Posterior Based Flap Technique in Primary Endoscopic Dacrocystorhinostomy with and without use of Lacrimal Stent

Objective: To demonstrate the double posterior based flap technique in primary endoscopic dacrocystorhinostomy and to compare the long-term surgical outcomes between patients with and without use of lacrimal stent in chronic nasolacrimal duct obstruction. Material method: Total 28 patients with chronic nasolacrimal duct obstruction were included in the study from September 2012 to august 2014. All patients underwent Endoscopic dacrocystorhinostomy with posterior based double lacrimal and mucosal flap technique. In 14 patients lacrimal stents were put for 2 weeks, and in rest 14 patients were operated without using the stent. Patients were evaluated 1 month, 3 months and 1 year after the surgery to check the lacrimal patency and to look for the complications associated with the procedure. Results: Out of 28 cases, recurrences of symptoms were noted in 2 (7.14%) cases, 1(7.14%) from stenting group and 1(7.14%) from non stenting group at the end one month and 3 months. At the end of 1 year, only 24 patients attended the outpatient clinic (11 from non stenting group and 13 from stenting group) and of them 1(9.09%) from non stenting group and 2(15.38%) from stenting group had recurrence of symptoms. The success rate of procedure in non stent group was 90.91% as compared to the stent group which was 84.62% at the end of 1 year. None of the patients in both groups had any major intraoperative or postoperative complications. Conclusion: Double posterior based mucosal and lacrimal flap technique in Primary EDCR is an effective surgical technique associated with satisfactory outcome. No significant difference in the results (p=0.588) and complications were noted between non stenting group stenting group.
Integration of Perceptual Similarity With Faithful Mapping of Phonological Contrast in Loanword Adaptation: Mandarin Chinese Adaptation of English Stops

In loanword phonology, perceptual similarity and faithful mapping of phonological contrast are two main factors which influence loanword adaptation. Previous studies observe that English phonological voicing contrast is mapped to Mandarin Chinese (hereafter, Mandarin) phonological aspiration contrast, indicating faithful mapping of phonological contrast. Nevertheless, the role of perceptual similarity in adaptation of English stops to Mandarin has not been fully explored. The current study investigates the influence of perceptual similarity on loanword adaptation by examining how English voiced and voiceless stops are adapted in Mandarin Chinese using a data set of 1427 novel Mandarin loanwords from English. The results show consistent adaptation of English voiced stops as Mandarin unaspirated stops and English aspirated voiceless stops as Mandarin aspirated ones, while inconsistent adaptation patterns are found for the English unaspirated voiceless stops. In particular, English post-/s/ unaspirated voiceless stops which occupy a similar voice onset time (VOT) region to Mandarin unaspirated stops are adapted as Mandarin unaspirated ones, whereas the rest are mapped to aspirated stops in Mandarin. The overall adaptation patterns provide partial support to faithful mapping of phonological contrast and provide robust evidence for an integration of perceptual similarity with faithful mapping of phonological contrast in loanword adaptation.