Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Satellite Orbit Design and Maintenance for Terrestrial Coverage

This paper presents semi-analytical techniques for the study of the coverage by satellites in Earth’s orbits. In particular, the coverage by a satellite over a designated area on the Earth’s surface is studied as a function of orbital elements. The semi-analytical nature of themethods developed enable the evaluation of several performancemetrics associated with the coverage problem without the need for numerical integration of the orbit’s parameters over the satellite’s lifetime. Results are shown to match very well with those obtained from numerical simulations on a fullscale model. In the second part of the paper, analytical formulas for velocity increments required for orbit maintenance are presented. These formulas are useful for estimating a fuel budget for a particular terrestrial coverage mission.
Effect of position-dependent time constant on photorefractive two-wave mixing

The effect of a position-dependent time constant on nondegenerate photorefractive two-wave mixing is analyzed. For codirectional two-wave mixing the results indicate that the bandwidth of the two-wave-mixing gain decreases when the medium becomes lossy and that the photorefractive phase shift depends on the loss of the medium. In contradirectional two-wave mixing the total local intensity strongly depends on the coupling even if the medium is lossless. Thus the bandwidth is dependent on the energy coupling.
Fuzzy Secure Event-Triggered Control for Networked Nonlinear Systems Under DoS and Deception Attacks

This article investigates the resilient dynamic event-triggered control issue of interval type-2 T-S fuzzy systems (IT2 T-S FSs) under denial-of-service (DoS) and deception attacks. A novel resilient dynamic event-triggering mechanism (DETM) and the corresponding fuzzy dynamic event-triggered controller are proposed to solve the stochastically exponential stability (SES) problem of concerned IT2 T-S FSs in the presence of DoS and deception attacks. Meanwhile, an aperiodic-sampling-based piecewise loop Lyapunov functional is constructed. It is shown that the resulting closed-loop IT2 T-S FSs can achieve SES, and under the piecewise loop Lyapunov functional, some relaxed conditions are derived. In addition, the derived results can apply to IT2 T-S FSs subject to DoS attacks, static event-triggered control, or dynamic periodic-sampling-based event-triggered control. Finally, the effectiveness of the achieved results is verified by a numerical simulation on one-link manipulator.
Digital financial inclusion and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: the role of institutions and governance

PurposeThis study examines the role of institutions and governance on the digital financial inclusion and economic growth nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 2014 to 2020.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts the generalised method of moments technique which controls for endogeneity. The authors employed four main variables namely, index of digital financial inclusion, gross domestic product per capita growth, institutions and governance.FindingsThe results suggest a significant positive effect of institutional quality and governance on the digital financial inclusion-economic growth nexus in SSA. Furthermore, the authors find that effect of trade and population growth on economic growth was significantly positive while inflation reduces economic growth in the region.Research limitations/implicationsThis study also ignored the effect of digital financial inclusion on environmental quality. Future researches should focus on addressing these drawbacks and replicating the study in Africa as a whole and other developing countries across the world that are experiencing digital financial inclusion and economic growth challenges. The results from the study imply that a positive relationship between digital financial inclusion and economic growth. It is important to note that the study was carried out on the premise that institutions play a pivotal role in enhancing economic growth in SSA.Practical implicationsThe results confirm the significance of policies that enhances institutional quality and governance which are other avenues the authorities can pursue to enhance economic growth in SSA.Social implicationsThe paper documents the importance of institutions in boosting economic growth which impacts on social life rather than digital financial inclusion only.Originality/valueThe paper makes a contribution through analysing the role of institutions and governance on the digital financial inclusion-economic growth nexus rather than the traditional financial inclusion–economic growth nexus which is common to the majority of the available empirical studies.
Changes in rain-on-snow events in mountain catchments in the rain–snow transition zone

ABSTRACT A shift from snowfall to rain affecting snow storage is expected in future. Consequently, changes in rain-on-snow (ROS) events may occur. We evaluated the frequency and trends in ROS events and their runoff responses at different elevations related to changes in climate variables. We selected 40 central European mountain catchments located in the rain–snow transition zone, and used a conceptual catchment model to simulate runoff components for the period 1965–2019. The results showed large temporal and spatial differences in ROS events and their respective runoff responses across individual study catchments and elevations, with primarily an ROS increase at highest elevations and a decrease at lower elevations during spring. ROS events contributed 3–32% to the total seasonal direct runoff. The detected trends reflect changes in climate and snow variables, with an increase in air temperature resulting in the decrease in snowfall fraction and shorter snow cover period.
Variationally optimized atomic orbitals for large-scale electronic structures

A simple and practical method for variationally optimizing numerical atomic orbitals used in density functional calculations is presented based on the force theorem. The derived equation provides the same procedure for the optimization of atomic orbitals as that for the geometry optimization. The optimized orbitals well reproduce convergent results calculated by a larger number of unoptimized orbitals. In addition, we demonstrate that the optimized orbitals significantly reduce the computational effort in the geometry optimization, while keeping a high degree of accuracy.
Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) of Medical Professionals on Euthanasia: A Study From a Tertiary Care Centre in India

Introduction: Euthanasia or mercy killing has remained as a matter of extensive debate and ethical conflicts in the scientific literature. Discussions on this theme have got legal, religious, political and philosophical ramifications. Aim of the study: The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of medical professionals in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: After taking prior approval from the institutional ethics committee a structured questionnaire was prepared and distributed among 200 consenting medical professionals in a tertiary care centre in the North-Western region of India. Results: 50% of the respondents said that they were sure of the existing regulation on euthanasia in India. When gender differences were considered a significant difference (p=0.0147) was found between the two sexes regarding the alternate decision maker for deciding euthanasia. It was observed that there was a significant difference(p=0.0055) between those with the age more than 30 years and aged less than 30 years regarding the type of euthanasia that is justifiable. Discussion: In the present study, the percentage of doctors favouring euthanasia is higher than compared in previous studies. The view of euthanasia is highly variable in different studies. Even though passive euthanasia has been legalised recently, there is an apprehension that it might be misused.
“Thinking about drinking tea but not drinking tea”: Pre-service English teacher education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkish EFL context

This phenomenological research aimed to investigate the reflections of 34 pre-service English teachers and 31 lecturers on distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. An online interview form was employed as data collection tool. The participants were sent the online form to collect their reflections on their online learning/teaching experiences during the pandemic. These reflections were analysed using phenomenological research steps. At the end of the analyses, distance education was found to be useful for improving the participants’ technological literacy skills and delivering theoretical courses. However, it was found to be inappropriate for practical courses such as teaching practicum and community service practices. Furthermore, the participants used various metaphors to define their online teaching/learning experiences like emergency exit, one-sided mirror, frozen lake, growing in a cage, driving a car, and sky. The participants mostly did not receive any training before using the online platform. In light of the findings, it can be claimed that necessary arrangements should be made to improve the quality of online learning platforms and both pre-service English teachers and their lecturers should receive training to benefit from distance education more effectively. In this way, pre-service English teachers can be better prepared for their future teaching in case of distance education.
Coherent backscattering of acoustic waves in the near field

SUMMARY Recent studies have shown that interference plays an important role in various phenomena observed for waves propagating through random media. Among these phenomena, the so-called cone of coherent backscattering has received much attention in optics. In this paper, we study analytically and numerically the coherent backscattering of acoustic waves in a seismological context. In particular, we focus on the near-field detection of scattered waves and the effect of transient sources. We show that interference results in an increase of the coda intensity as compared to the prediction of radiative transfer theory. After a transient regime, a spot of backscattering enhancement stabilizes in a sphere of radius half a wavelength centred at the source of seismic waves. Several effects such as absorption, boundary conditions and scattering anisotropy are investigated. Our study demonstrates the robustness of coherent backscattering and may offer a possible means of discriminating single versus multiple scattering in the observed coda.
General results on the convergence of stochastic algorithms

A deterministic approach is proposed for proving the convergence of stochastic algorithms of the most general form under necessary conditions on the input noise and reasonable conditions on the (nonnecessarily continuous) mean field. Emphasis is placed on the case where more than one stationary point exists. We also use this approach to prove the convergence of a stochastic algorithm with Markovian dynamics.
Spontaneous Reasoning in Elementary Dynamics.

Summaries English The scope of this study was to explore and analyse spontaneous reasoning of students in elementary dynamics, from the last year at secondary school to the third year at University. A set of investigations involving several hundred students (mainly French, but also British and Belgian) showed surprising rates of wrong, or right, answers, which are very stable from one sample of students to another. It seems difficult to attribute these results solely to school learning. But they can be reasonably well accounted for if we assume a spontaneous explanatory system, relatively unaffected by school learning. In particular, students seem to use in their reasoning two different notions of dynamics, usually designated by the same word: ‘force’. To detect which of these two notions has, in fact, been used, one must look at their properties: one of these ‘forces’ is associated with the velocity of a motion whilst the other one is associated with its acceleration. Likewise, the part played by energy .
Almost primes represented by binary forms

We demonstrate that, under suitable local conditions on a finite collection F1,…, Fg of binary irreducible forms with integer coefficients, the product F1(x)·…·Fg(x) will have at most r prime factors for infinitely many x. We give explicit upper bounds for r that depend only on g and on the total degree of the product polynomial.
Temperature-Dependent Damping and Frequency Shifts in Collective Excitations of a Dilute Bose-Einstein Condensate

We extend to finite temperature the study of collective excitations of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a dilute gas of {sup 87}Rb. Measurements of two modes with different angular momenta show unexpected temperature-dependent frequency shifts, with very different behavior for the two symmetries; in addition there is a sharp feature in the temperature dependence of one mode. The damping of these excitations exhibits dramatic temperature dependence, with condensate modes at temperatures near the transition damping even faster than analogous noncondensate oscillations. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
Hard of hearing: the effect of distance and experimental noise on mountain chickadee song transmission

ABSTRACT Urban noise can disrupt avian communication networks, resulting in reduced communication among individuals. Mountain chickadees alter their vocalisations in areas of high ambient noise; however, it is unknown how audible their signals are within the nest cavity, where the female remains during dawn signalling. To test the relative audibility of songs within the nest box of urban and rural chickadees, we conducted a playback experiment directed at empty nest boxes using an autonomous recording unit above the box with external microphones and an internal microphone inside the nest box. We placed a speaker 25-75 m from the nest box and played two playback files of mountain chickadee songs – one with added noise and one without. Songs had a higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in rural habitats and in ‘Without Added Noise’ treatments, however, SNR decreased with increasing distance from the nest box. The lower frequency song notes had a lower SNR inside the nest in both treatment types. As expected, noise and distance resulted in decreased SNR of chickadee songs within the nest cavity. These findings suggest a possible constraint in urban birds requiring them to reduce their distance from the nest to ensure audibility to the female while in noise.
Artificial Neural Network Models for Accurate Predictions of Fat-Free and Fat Masses, Using Easy-to-Measure Anthropometric Parameters

Abdominal fat and fat-free masses report a close association with cardiometabolic risks, therefore this specific body compartment presents more interest than whole-body masses. This research aimed to develop accurate algorithms that predict body masses and specifically trunk fat and fat-free masses from easy to measure parameters in any setting. The study included 104 apparently healthy subjects, but with a higher-than-normal percent of adiposity or waist circumference. Multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) models were built for predicting abdominal fat and fat-free masses in patients with relatively low cardiometabolic risks. The data were divided into training, validation and test sets, and this process was repeated 20 times per each model to reduce the bias of data division on model accuracy. The best performance models used a maximum number of five anthropometric inputs, with higher R2 values for ANN models than for MLR models (R2 = 0.96–0.98 vs. R2 = 0.80–0.94, p = 0.006). The root mean square error (RMSE) for all predicted parameters was significantly lower for ANN models than for MLR models, suggesting a higher accuracy for ANN models. From all body masses predicted, trunk fat mass and fat-free mass registered the best performance with ANN, allowing a possible error of 1.84 kg for predicting the correct trunk fat mass and 1.48 kg for predicting the correct trunk fat-free mass. The developed algorithms represent cost-effective prediction tools for the most relevant adipose and lean tissues involved in the physiopathology of cardiometabolic risks.
Major complications following central neuraxial block – A multi-centre observational study in Maharashtra (MGMM CNB Study)

ABSTRACT Background and Aims: Major complications of central neuraxial block (CNB) are rare and their incidence in India is not known. This information is essential for explaining risk and medico-legal concerns. The present multi-centre study in Maharashtra was conducted to provide insight into the characteristics of rare complications following this popular anaesthetic technique. Methods: Data were collected from 141 institutes to study the clinical profile of CNB. Incidence of complications like vertebral canal haematoma, abscess, meningitis, nerve injury, spinal cord ischaemia, fatal cardiovascular collapse, and drug errors was collected over one year. Complications were reviewed by audit committee to assess causation, severity, and outcome. ‘Permanent’ injury was defined as death or neurological symptoms persisting for more than six months. Results: Spinal anaesthesia (SA) was the most frequently used CNB in 88.76% patients. Bupivacaine and an adjuvant were used in 92.90% and 26.06% patients, respectively. Eight major complications (four neurological and four cardiac arrests) were reported in patients receiving SA. In seven of eight instances, SA was responsible or contributory for complication. The pessimistic incidence of complications (included cases where CNB was responsible; contribution was likely, unlikely and could not be commented) was 8.69/lakh and optimistic incidence (included cases where CNB was responsible or contribution was likely) was 7.61/lakh. ‘Pessimistically’ and ‘optimistically’ there were three deaths including one death due to quadriplegia following epidural haematoma after SA. Five out of eight patients recovered completely (62.5%). As only eight patients had complications of different types, it was difficult to establish statistical correlation of major complications with demographic or clinical parameters. Conclusion: This study was reassuring and suggested that the incidence of major complications following CNB was low in Maharashtra.
Effect of Pamphlet on Knowledge Regarding Selected Anticoagulation Therapy among Cardiac Patients in Selected Hospitals in Metropolitan City

Introduction: Anticoagulant drugs are widely used in hospital and community settings. Anticoagulant drugs have an important role in the treatment and prevention of blood clots. Anticoagulants, which are considered “high alert medications,” can often lead to adverse drug events in the inpatient and outpatient health-care setting if not managed appropriately. Many of anticoagulation-associated adverse effects result from medication errors, suggesting they are preventable. To avoid these issues, all healthcare workers who prescribe anticoagulants need to educate the patient and the family. Aims: This study aimed to examine the effect of pamphlet on knowledge regarding selected anticoagulation therapy among cardiac patients. Materials and Methods: A descriptive evaluative research approach with one group pre-test and post-test research design was used for the study. The study was conducted at Mumbai district. The sample comprised of 50 cardiac patient who fulfilled the inclusion criteria for the sample selection. Sample was selected using non-probability convenient sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. In that Paired t-test to assess the effect of pamphlet on knowledge regarding selected anticoagulation therapy among cardiac patients. Results: The result of this study showed that the pre-test the mean of the knowledge obtained by the cardiac patients was 12.600 and in posttest it increased to 21.260. It is evidence by the calculated t-value 18.877 is greater than tabulated value 2.010 at 0.05 level of significance. Conclusion: Pamphlet was effective measure to improve knowledge regarding selected anticoagulation therapy among cardiac patients.
Robust Estimation of Location

Abstract The problem of estimating a location parameter from a random sample when the form of distribution is unknown or there is contamination of the target distribution is attacked by deriving estimators which are efficient over a class of two or more forms (“pencils”) of continuous symmetric unimodal distributions. The pencils considered are the normal, double exponential, Cauchy, parabolic, triangular, and rectangular (a limiting case). The estimators considered are special symmetrical linear combinations of order statistics: trimmed means, Winsorized means, “linearly weighted” means, and a combination of the median and two other order statistics. These are also compared asymptotically with a Hodges-Lehmann estimator. The theory required for deriving asymptotic variances is outlined. Efficiences are tabulated for sample sizes of 4 or 5, 8 or 9, 16 or 17, and ∞. Asymptotic efficiences of at least 0.82 relative to the best estimator for any single pencil are achieved by using the best trimmed mean or li.
THE KINEMATICS OF HH 34 FROM HST IMAGES WITH A NINE-YEAR TIME BASELINE

We study archival HST [S ii] 6716+30 and Hα images of the HH 34 outflow, taken in 1998.71 and in 2007.83. The ∼9 yr time baseline and the high angular resolution of these observations allow us to carry out a detailed proper-motion study. We determine the proper motions of the substructure of the HH 34S bow shock (from the [S ii] and Hα frames) and of the aligned knots within ∼30″ from the outflow source (only from the [S ii] frames). We find that the present-day motions of the knots along the HH 34 jet are approximately ballistic, and that these motions directly imply the formation of a major mass concentration in ∼900 yr, at a position similar to the one of the present-day HH 34S bow shock. In other words, we find that the knots along the HH 34 jet will merge to form a more massive structure, possibly resembling HH 34S.
Local stability analysis of an inviscid transverse jet

A local linear stability analysis is performed for a round inviscid jet with constant density that is injected into a uniform crossflow of the same density. The baseflow is obtained from a modified version of the inviscid transverse jet near-field solution of Coelho & Hunt (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 200, 1989, p. 95) which is valid for small values of the crossflow-to-jet velocity ratio λ. A Fourier expansion in the azimuthal direction is used to couple the disturbances with the three-dimensional crossflow. The spatial growth rates of the modes corresponding to the axisymmetric and first helical modes of the free jet as λ → 0 increase as λ increases. The diagonal dominance of the dispersion relation matrix is used as a quantitative criterion to estimate the range of velocity ratios (0 < λ < λc) within which the transverse jet instability can be considered to have a structure similar to that of the free jet. Further, we show that for λ>0 positive and negative helical modes have different growth rates, suggesting an inherent weak asymmetry in the transverse jet.