Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A novel method for producing x-ray test objects and phantoms

A novel method for producing customized x-ray test objects and clinically realistic phantoms has been developed. Test objects can be created with a drawing software package and the digital images can be printed on a standard inkjet printer but using potassium iodide solution in place of the cartridge's ink. The reproducibility and the consistency, the limiting spatial resolution, the uniformity as well as the potassium iodide thickness per print have been evaluated. The relationship between the number of prints, grey levels and the radiation contrast was investigated and quantified. A copy of the Leeds TO10 contrast detail test object was printed and the x-ray images of the Leeds TO10 and of the printed Leeds TO10 were compared. In addition, the potential use of this method was demonstrated by reproducing a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty clinical digital image. The reproducibility and consistency of this method was found to be better than 0.1%. The limiting spatial resolution of the printer using ink was found to be 3.55 lp mm−1 but it deteriorated when the ink was replaced with potassium iodide and as the print density increases. The uniformity across the printed area was found to be satisfactory although an artefact due to the printer was present in the x-ray images. The comparison between the Leeds TO10 and the printed Leeds TO10 gave differences less than 10%. A good agreement between the clinical image and the printed clinical image was found. In conclusion, the method is a reliable, cost-effective, flexible and alternative way for producing x-ray test objects and clinically related phantoms.
Key comparison BIPM.RI(I)-K3 of the air-kerma standards of the VNIIM, Russian Federation and the BIPM in medium-energy x-rays

A key comparison has been made between the air-kerma standards of the VNIIM and the BIPM in the medium-energy x-ray range. The results show the standards to be in agreement at the level of the stated standard uncertainty for the comparison of 1.8 parts in 103. The results are analysed and presented in terms of degrees of equivalence, suitable for entry in the BIPM key comparison database. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm. org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCRI Section I, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).
Robust Non-Fragile Fuzzy Control of Uncertain DC Microgrids Feeding Constant Power Loads

This paper investigates the problem of dynamic stabilization of dc microgrids (MGs) through a robust non-fragile fuzzy control synthesis of power buffer. The suggested robust fuzzy controller is designed to quickly stabilize the MGs by circulating the power between the dc link and an energy storage system (ESS). By employing the exponential stability analysis and Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy modeling, sufficient controller design conditions are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities, which bring about a simple, systematic, and effective controller. The proposed approach is resilient against the uncertainties of the dc MG and ESS parameters. To show the merits of the proposed approach, it is applied to a dc MG that feeds one constant power load. It is shown that the proposed approach is more robust against system and controller uncertainties compared to the existing results. Finally, experimental results are then presented that show the transient performance improvement of the closed-loop system compared to the state-of-the-art methods.
Connecting orbits and invariant manifolds in the spatial restricted three-body problem

The invariant manifold structures of the collinear libration points for the restricted three-body problem provide the framework for understanding transport phenomena from a geometrical point of view. In particular, the stable and unstable invariant manifold tubes associated with libration point orbits are the phase space conduits transporting material between primary bodies for separate three-body systems. These tubes can be used to construct new spacecraft trajectories, such as a ‘Petit Grand Tour’ of the moons of Jupiter. Previous work focused on the planar circular restricted three-body problem. This work extends the results to the three-dimensional case. Besides providing a full description of different kinds of libration motions in a large vicinity of these points, this paper numerically demonstrates the existence of heteroclinic connections between pairs of libration orbits, one around the libration point L1 and the other around L2. Since these connections are asymptotic orbits, no manoeuvre is needed to perform the transfer from one libration point orbit to the other. A knowledge of these orbits can be very useful in the design of missions such as the Genesis Discovery Mission, and may provide the backbone for other interesting orbits in the future.
Antiferroelectric phase transition in (Sr1-xCax)TiO3: II. X-ray diffraction studies

We present here a detailed Rietveld analysis of the structure of paraelectric and antiferroelectric phases of Sr0.70Ca0. 30TiO3 using powder XRD data. It is shown that the observed antiferroelectric superlattice reflections can be explained by doubling of the Co parameter of the orthorhombic paraelectric phase. The space groups of the paraelectric (PE) and antiferroelectric (AFE) phases are shown to be Ibnm and Pbcm respectively. The ionic displacements in the antiferroelectric phase reveal that the Ti4+and Sr2+/Ca2+ ions are displaced in the + [100] direction in a block of three layers followed by their displacements in the -[100] direction in the next block of three layers, leading to the doubling of the cell parameter in the [001] direction. The paraelectric to antiferroelectric phase transition in (Sr0.70Ca0.30)TiO3 and (Sr0.75Ca0.25)TiO3 is shown to be of first order type since (i) the AFE and PE phases coexist around the phase transition temperature and (ii) the lattice parameters change discontinuously at the transition temperature.
4D gravity on a non-BPS bent dilatonic brane

We investigate the localization of metastable four-dimensional gravity around a bent dilatonic brane, embedded into a five-dimensional space, that exists only up to distances sufficiently small compared to a crossover scale. Far from such scale, five-dimensional effects strongly deviate the Newtonian potential. We study this effect by considering localization of massive gravity on a non-BPS bent dilatonic 3-brane solution of a five-dimensional supergravity. Our results show that the cosmological constant on the bent brane controls the size of the crossover scale. For sufficiently small positive cosmological constant, that is in accord with the present observations, the crossover scale becomes very large.
Factors affecting farmers’ satisfactions with mechanized rice harvesting in Malaysian paddy fields: A case study of hiring custom operators

Shortage of labor during the harvest season is one of the problematic situations for farmers in the Malaysian paddy fields. Thus, combine harvester has been utilized massively in Malaysian paddy field for the purpose of assisting the farmers to overcome the problems. Majority use of combine harvesters in the country was provided by the state farmers’ organization that offers custom operators to be hired by the farmers during harvesting seasons. A case study was conducted to identify and rank the factors that affect farmers’ current satisfactions with mechanized harvesting using combine harvesters that offered by custom operators. A group of farmers comprising of 336 respondents at rice granaries in Tanjung Karang district, Selangor, Malaysiawas chosen as the samples for this case study. The respondents were asked 20-items of questionnaire through face-to-face interviews in a survey method. Five-point Likert scale analysis was used to scales the responses. All the responses were then analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0 software. Meanwhile, the significance level of each factor affecting the farmers’ satisfactions was determined by factor analysis approach. General comments from respondents with regard to services given by the custom operators were also evaluated qualitatively in this study. The findings of study have completely admitted 4 out of 8 factors as the most significant factors in affecting farmers’ satisfactions with mechanized rice harvesting by hiring custom operators in Malaysian paddy fields. Such factors could be refereed by custom operators to improve their services. Generally, these findings could enrich the knowledge of farm machinery management, and particularly in managing the harvesting operation with custom operators to achieve satisfactory field operations both from economics and quality of work aspects.
Exploring a string-like landscape

We explore inflationary trajectories within randomly-generated two-dimensional potentials, considered as a toy model of the string landscape. Both the background and perturbation equations are solved numerically, the latter using the two-field formalism of Peterson and Tegmark which fully incorporates the effect of isocurvature perturbations. Sufficient inflation is a rare event, occurring for only roughly one in 105 potentials. For models generating sufficient inflation, we find that the majority of runs satisfy current constraints from WMAP. The scalar spectral index is less than 1 in all runs. The tensor-to-scalar ratio is below the current limit, while typically large enough to be detected by next-generation CMB experiments and perhaps also by Planck. In many cases the inflationary consistency equation is broken by the effect of isocurvature modes.
Agronomic characteristics of corn hybrids for silage production in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil - doi: 10.4025/actascianimsci.v35i1.15592

The experiment was conducted at the Experimental Farm of the Federal University of Mato Grosso in the municipality of Santo Antonio do Leverger, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil to evaluate the agronomic characteristics of corn hybrids in the cultivation of second crop for silage production. The experimental design was carried out with randomized blocks with 23 treatments (hybrids) and three replications. Corn hybrids from different seed companies and recommended for the midwestern region of Brazil, were used. The agronomic traits were: stem diameter (cm), plant height and ear insertion (m); yield of green matter (ton. ha -1 ), percentage of spike, stem and leaves in green mass; ear productivity (ton. ha -1 ), dry matter content of stem + leaf and whole plant. Hybrids BF 9304, DKB 370, 177 DKB, BF 9534, BF 9417, AG 5020, BE 9701, P 3021 and P 30F98 had the highest production of green matter, plant height and spike insertion. The hybrid BF 9304 was also prominent for spike percentage (50.55%).
Photoelectron energy spectrum in `direct' two-photon double ionization of helium

We study the photoelectron energy spectrum in direct two-photon double ionization of He, and show that in certain ranges of photon frequency it competes favourably with sequential double ionization. When the photon frequency allows two-photon double ejection in both the sequential and direct channels, the latter appears as a background dominated by the peaks of the sequential channel. However, in a different frequency regime, where the sequential channel requires three photons, the spectrum of the direct channel is separated in energy and dominates in magnitude. Our results have been obtained for a range of radiation intensity and pulse duration reasonably expected in high-order harmonic generation sources.
Effect of temperature on the transmission characteristics of high-torque magnetorheological brakes

This paper aims to investigate the effect of temperature on the transmission characteristics of high-torque magnetorheological (MR) brakes by theoretically analyzing a disc brake, the pressure characteristics of the magnetorheological fluid (MRF) in axial, and the heat dissipation of an MR brake. A high-torque squeezing MRF brake with a water cooling method for heat dissipation is designed and a temperature-torque performance experimental system is established to conduct the experiments. The experimental results indicate that the high-torque squeezing MRF brake exhibits workable pressure characteristics. Meanwhile, the braking torque presents a variation trend that is initially increasing then decreasing when the temperature increases from 25 °C to 150 °C. The magnitude of decrease is approximately 210 N m, which decreases from 1800 to 1590 N m. Moreover, the temperature of the MRF presents an almost linear increase at different slip powers and the rate of temperature rise increases with an increase in slip power. The findings of this study prove that an effective cooling method can be vital to the stable operation of the high-torque MR brakes.
Complete Hamiltonian analysis of cosmological perturbations at all orders II: non-canonical scalar field

In this work, we present a consistent Hamiltonian analysis of cosmological perturbations for generalized non-canonical scalar fields. In order to do so, we introduce a new phase-space variable that is uniquely defined for different non-canonical scalar fields. We also show that this is the simplest and efficient way of expressing the Hamiltonian. We extend the Hamiltonian approach of [1] to non-canonical scalar field and obtain an unique expression of speed of sound in terms of phase-space variable. In order to invert generalized phase-space Hamilton's equations to Euler-Lagrange equations of motion, we prescribe a general inversion formulae and show that our approach for non-canonical scalar field is consistent. We also obtain the third and fourth order interaction Hamiltonian for generalized non-canonical scalar fields and briefly discuss the extension of our method to generalized Galilean scalar fields.
Coinfection of Tuberculosis / Human Immunodeficiency Virus in an administrative district in the city of São Paulo

Objective: To characterize the sociodemographic and epidemiological profile of people coinfected with Tuberculosis (TB) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) , who were residents in the administrative district of Capao Redondo in the city of Sao Paulo, during the period between 2000 to 2009. Methods: This was a retrospective study. Results: From a total of 1,612 TB cases, 162 cases were positive for HIV. There was a predominance in the age group of 30 to 39 years (39.5%), male gender (61.1%) and the pulmonary form (68.5%). Only 47.5% of cases progressed to obtain the cure, 13% abandoned treatment and 32.2% died. Results: The results emphasize the need for knowledge of the situation of TB / HIV co-infection in order to offer adequate assistance to these clients, considering that neither of these diseases can be discussed in isolation. Conclusion: We conclude that cases of TB / HIV association contribute to non-adherence to treatment and increased mortality.
Hydrogen-induced anomalies in the heat capacity of C15-type

Heat capacities C(T) of C15-type have been measured in the temperature range 5.3 - 293 K. For all H- (D-) doped samples the low-temperature linear C(T) term is found to contain considerable contributions of non-electronic origin. This feature is consistent with the existence of a glass-like low-energy excitation spectrum. The excess heat capacity strongly changes with hydrogen concentration, being nearly isotope independent. In the range 15 - 50 K marked deviations from the Debye behaviour of C(T) are observed for all H- (D-) doped samples. In addition, for the samples with the heat capacity shows a peak near 60 K which can be attributed to H (D) ordering.
Critical Review of Experimental Studies of the Be II Core-Excited Level System

All published experimental data on the spectrum of the core-excited term system of the Be+ ion are critically compiled and analysed on the basis of Hartree-Fock calculations and computer-aided spectrum-identification and level-optimization programs. As a result, 49 core-excited terms in Be II are firmly established. Another 44 terms need further confirmation. More than 100 spectral lines belonging to transitions in the Be II core-excited term system are compiled. Spectral regions 80–105Å and 580–5200Å are covered. 13 new assignments are made, and 33 old assignments are changed. 44 previously unobserved spectral lines are predicted, including 10 intersystem lines. Several experimental and theoretical problems are outlined.
The impact of a deep-water plunging breaker on a wall with its bottom edge close to the mean water surface

The impact of a deep-water plunging breaker on a finite height two-dimensional structure with a vertical front face is studied experimentally. The structure is located at a fixed horizontal position relative to a wave maker and the structure’s bottom surface is located at a range of vertical positions close to the undisturbed water surface. Measurements of the water surface profile history and the pressure distribution on the front surface of the structure are performed. As the vertical position, $z_{b}$ (the $z$ axis is positive up and $z=0$ is the mean water level), of the structure’s bottom surface is varied from one experimental run to another, the water surface evolution during impact can be categorized into three classes of behaviour. In class I, with $z_{b}$ in a range of values near $-0.1\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{0}$ , where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{0}$ is the nominal wavelength of the breaker, the behaviour of the water surface is similar to the flip-through phenomena first described in studies with shallow water and a structure mounted on the sea bed. In the present work, it is found that the water surface between the front face of the structure and the wave crest is well fitted by arcs of circles with a decreasing radius and downward moving centre as the impact proceeds. A spatially and temporally localized high-pressure region was found on the impact surface of the structure and existing theory is used to explore the physics of this phenomenon. In class II, with $z_{b}$ in a range of values near the mean water level, the bottom of the structure exits and re-enters the water phase at least once during the impact process. These air–water transitions generate large-amplitude ripple packets that propagate to the wave crest and modify its behaviour significantly. At $z_{b}=0$ , all sensors submerged during the impact record a nearly in-phase high-frequency pressure oscillation indicating possible air entrainment. In class III, with $z_{b}$ in a range of values near $0.03\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{0}$ , the bottom of the structure remains in air before the main crest hits the bottom corner of the structure. The subsequent free surface behaviour is strongly influenced by the instantaneous momentum of the local flow just before impact and the highest wall pressures of all experimental conditions are found.
Parameter estimation of a regime-switching model using an inverse stieltjes moment approach

We address the problem of recovering the time-dependent parameters of the Black-Scholes option pricing model when the underlying stock price dynamics are modelled by a finite-state, continuous-time Markov chain. The coupled system of Dupire-type partial differential equations is derived and formulated as an inverse Stieltjes moment problem. We provide numerical illustration on how to apply our method to simulated financial data. The accuracy of the model parameter estimation is examined and sensitivity analyses are included to study the behaviour of the estimated results when model parameters are varied.
Validation of Models

All methods of designing control system assume that it is possible to construct such models; all feed-forward control systems and some complex feed-back systems require a representation of the system behaviour not only for design, but also for direct inco~­ poration into the control loop. Models are increasingly used for learning about the behaviour of all kinds of systems: in addition to the more common use for physical systems, there has been a great increase in their use in the study of biological systems and biological control mechanisms, economic and ecological systems including demography, as well as management systems; models are also proving useful as aids to medical diagnosis. In chemical and nuclear plant, models have been used to help in assessment of the safety of the plant while, in both industry and aerospace, models in the form of simulators are used extensively for the training of operators and pilots. When constructing a model, the objective must always be to make it capable of doing the required job. Thus different models of the same system may be used for different purposes. On the other hand, excessive complexity can be extremely costly (in time and money) and every model is perforce a simplification of the real system. This immediately raises the important question: how much of the system is it necessarv to include to a~hieve the objectives"' and how confident can one be about the simplification? This was the theme of the symposium. It is worth commenting that although all the papers referred to physical systems, the first, in particular, could be of very wide application.
Damage localization with fiber Bragg grating Lamb wave sensing through adaptive phased array imaging

Fiber Bragg gratings are known being immune to electromagnetic interference and emerging as Lamb wave sensors for structural health monitoring of plate-like structures. However, their application for damage localization in large areas has been limited by their direction-dependent sensor factor. This article addresses such a challenge and presents a robust damage localization method for fiber Bragg grating Lamb wave sensing through the implementation of adaptive phased array algorithms. A compact linear fiber Bragg grating phased array is configured by uniformly distributing the fiber Bragg grating sensors along a straight line and axially in parallel to each other. The Lamb wave imaging is then performed by phased array algorithms without weighting factors (conventional delay-and-sum) and with adaptive weighting factors (minimum variance). The properties of both imaging algorithms, as well as the effects of fiber Bragg grating’s direction-dependent sensor factor, are characterized, analyzed, and compared in details. The results show that this compact fiber Bragg grating array can precisely locate damage in plates, while the comparisons show that the minimum variance method has a better imaging resolution than that of the delay-and-sum method and is barely affected by fiber Bragg grating’s direction-dependent sensor factor. Laboratory tests are also performed with a four–fiber Bragg grating array to detect simulated defects at different directions. Both delay-and-sum and minimum variance methods can successfully locate defects at different positions, and their results are consistent with analytical predictions.
CMB distortions from damping of acoustic waves produced by cosmic strings

We study diffusion damping of acoustic waves in the photon-baryon fluid due to cosmic strings, and calculate the induced μ- and y-type spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background. For cosmic strings with tension within current bounds, their contribution to the spectral distortions is subdominant compared to the distortions from primordial density perturbations.