Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multilayer Microstrip Closely-Spaced-Channel Wideband Diplexer With Highly Selective Fourth-Order Filtering Responses

A type of multilayer microstrip diplexer with highly- selective wideband filtering channels is reported. Its closely-spaced fourth-order passbands are attributed to two circuit parts: (i) two third-order quasi-elliptic-type microstrip-to-microstrip wideband vertical transitions and (ii) a shunt two-stub dual-band bandpass filter (BPF) junction printed on the top layer. The two microstrip vertical transitions are developed by means of open-/short-circuit-ended microstrip lines and slotline stepped-impedance resonators (SIRs), respectively, and they correspond to the constituent lower and upper channels. The shunt dual-band BPF junction produces one additional transmission pole and one more pair of close-to-passband transmission zeros (TZs) for each channel to further increase their filtering selectivity. The RF theoretical foundations and design procedure of the engineered broadband diplexer are detailed. For practical-validation purposes, a proof-of-concept prototype of two-layer fourth-order microstrip wideband diplexer is simulated, manufactured, and tested. Its measured lower and upper channels has two closely-spaced sharp-rejection passbands with center frequencies of 1.496 GHz and 2.759 GHz and 3-dB fractional bandwidths of 62.83% and 24.83%, respectively, while featuring power-isolation levels above 27.39 dB from 0.5 to 4 GHz.
Containers of Stories: using co-design and digital augmentation to empower the museum community and create novel experiences of heritage at a house museum

Abstract This paper presents current research on the design and evaluation of tangible interaction within house museums – a particular type of heritage site. Containers of Stories was an interactive installation co-designed with the volunteers at the Bishops’ House museum, one of the few surviving Tudor buildings in Sheffield, UK. Dating from the 16th century, the house was turned into a museum in the 1970s for its historical and social importance and is now managed by a community of local volunteers who constantly needs to increase both visitors’ interest and awareness of the place for its survival. The experience of co-designing Containers of Stories pushed the volunteers beyond day-to-day management toward more creative and curatorial roles. This paper gives insights on how this hybrid physical-digital installation succeeded in engaging visitors in new ways with heritage that has the potential to strengthen the resilience of the community.
Predictive Braking With Brake Light Detection - Field Test

Driver assistance systems, such as adaptive cruise control, are an increasing commodity in modern vehicles. Our earlier experience of radar-based adaptive cruise control has indicated repeatable abrupt behavior when approaching a stopped vehicle at high speed, which is typical for extra-urban roads. Abrupt behavior in assisted driving not only decreases the passenger trust but also reduces the comfort levels of such systems. We present a design and proof-of-concept of a machine vision-enhanced adaptive cruise controller. A machine vision-based brake light detection system was implemented and tested in order to smoothen the transition from coasting to braking and ensure speed reduction early enough. The machine vision system detects the brake lights in front, then transmits a command to the cruise controller to reduce speed. The current paper reports the speed control system design and experiments carried out to validate the system. The experiments showed the system works as designed by reducing abrupt behavior. Measurements show that brake light-assisted cruise control was able to start deceleration about three seconds earlier than a cruise controller without brake light detection. Measurements also showed increased ride comfort with the maximum deceleration and minimum jerk levels improving from 5% to 31%.
Análisis del punto de oro y su relación con el rendimiento en jugadores profesionales de pádel masculino y femenino (Analysis of the gold point and its relationship with performance in male and female professional padel players)

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la influencia de la regla del punto de oro en el rendimiento en pádel profesional, observando las posibles diferencias existentes entre ganadores y perdedores, así como entre género, rondas de juego y sets. Para ello, se analizaron todos los partidos de cuartos de final, semifinales y finales, tanto en categoría masculina (n=100), como femenina (n= 74) de 15 torneos del circuito World Padel Tour de 2021, con un total de 838 puntos de oro. Los resultados muestran que en el pádel femenino se disputan un mayor porcentaje de juegos con puntos de oro que en pádel masculino (28.19±9.24% vs 23.48±10.51%; p<.001), existiendo diferencias según la ronda de juego y el set del partido (p=.001). Las parejas ganadoras consiguen significativamente más puntos de oro ganados que las perdedoras, tanto en masculino (3.17±1.79 vs 2.24±1.87) como en femenino (4.01±2.01 vs 2.54±1.72). Además, las parejas ganadoras femeninas ganan significativamente (p<.05) más puntos de oro que las masculinas. En conclusión, ganar el punto de oro parece ser un factor de rendimiento en pádel, existiendo mayores diferencias en el género femenino entre ganadores y perdedores. Además, el mayor % de juegos con puntos de oro en pádel femenino indica una mayor igualdad en el juego. Sin embargo, a medida que avanzan las rondas, el pádel masculino es más igualado respecto al marcador del set, por un mayor número de juegos disputados, sobre todo en semifinales y final. Abstract. This study aimed to analyse the influence of the “no-ad scoring” or “gold point” rule on performance in professional padel, observing the differences between winners and losers, as well as between gender, game rounds and sets. For this, all the quarter-final, semi-final and final matches were analyzed, both in the male category (n = 100) and female (n = 74) of 15 tournaments of the World Padel Tour circuit in 2021. A total of 838 “gold points” were analyzed. The results show a higher percentage of games with gold points are played in women's padel than in men's padel (28.19 ± 9.24% vs 23.48 ± 10.51%; p<.001), with differences depending on the game round and the match set (p=.001). Winner pairs score significantly more gold points than losing pairs, both male (3.17±1.79 vs 2.24±1.87) and female (4.01±2.01 vs 2.54±1.72). Additionally, female winning pairs win significantly (p <.05) more gold points than male winning pairs. In conclusion, winning the gold point may be a key factor of performance in padel. In female players more differences are observed between winning and losing couples. In addition, in women's padel there is greater equality in the games score, due to the higher % of games with gold points. However, as the rounds progress, the men's padel is more equal even with respect to the score of the set, due to a higher number of games played, especially in the semifinals and final.
High Magnitude of Fecal Carriage of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae at Debre Berhan Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia

Background Gastrointestinal colonization rate of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE) is the major risk factor for infection and dissemination of resistance clones in healthcare facilities. This study aimed to investigate the magnitude of the fecal carriage of ESBL-PE and associated factors among hospitalized patients at Debre Berhan Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, North Shoa, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. Methods A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 383 hospitalized patients from November 2020 to March 2021. Stool sample or rectal swab was aseptically collected and cultured on different culture media for isolation of Enterobacteriaceae. Identification was done by conventional biochemical tests. Screening of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production was done by using cefotaxime and ceftazidime and confirmed by the combination disk method. Data analysis was performed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 25 and a P-value ≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results From the total of 383 hospitalized patients, a total of 347 Enterobacteriaceae were isolated. The overall gastrointestinal colonization rate of ESBL-PE was 47.3% (164/347). The predominant ESBL-PE were E. coli 54.9% (90/164) and K. pneumoniae 33.5% (55/164). The overall multi-drug resistance rate (MDR) was 87.8% (305/347). The highest resistance was observed to ampicillin (98.3%), followed by gentamicin (80.7%), and tetracycline (73.3%), respectively. ESBL-PE were highly susceptible to meropenem (90.2%) and imipenem (89.0%). History of antibiotic use in the past 3 months (p<0.001), admission in the neonatal intensive care unit (p=0.023), and presence of chronic disease (p<0.001) were independently associated with fecal carriage of ESBL-PE. Conclusion The magnitude of ESBL-PE and MDR was high in the study area. Meropenem and imipenem were active against ESBL-PE. Therefore, strict infection control measure is needed in the study area to limit the infection and dissemination of ESBL-PE.
Does Financial Constraint Hinder Firm Growth?

ABSTRACT Financial constraint is a major obstacle for firm growth in emerging economies. Using a World Business Environment Survey (WEBS) dataset, we find that formal financing constraint hampers firm growth. Small firms suffer more than large ones from financial constraint, whereas there is no significant difference between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-SOEs. Our results are robust when we use collateral constraint as an instrumental variable for formal financial constraint. We provide supporting evidence for the promulgation of financial liberalization, which can help alleviate financial constraint, enhance firm growth, and therefore improve economic resilience and prevent financial risks in an emerging economy such as China.
Discovery of protein-based natural hydrogel from the girdle of the ‘sea cockroach’ Chiton articulatus (Chitonida: Chitonidae)

Hydrogels are widely used materials in biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and agricultural fields. However, these hydrogels are usually formed synthetically via a long and complicated process involving crosslinking natural polymers. Herein, we describe a natural hydrogel isolated using a ‘gentle’ acid treatment from the girdle of a chiton species (Chiton articulatus). This novel hydrogel is shown to have a proliferative effect on mouse fibroblast cells (cell line, L929). The swelling capacity of this natural hydrogel was recorded as approximately 1,200% in distilled water, which is within desired levels for hydrogels. Detailed characterizations reveal that the hydrogel consists predominantly (83.93%) of protein. Considering its non-toxicity, proliferative effect and swelling properties, this natural hydrogel is an important discovery for material sciences, with potential for further applications in industry. Whether the girdle has some hydrogel activity in the living animal is unknown, but we speculate that it may enable the animal to better survive extreme environmental conditions by preventing desiccation.
PSC-PWM Scheme for Modular Multilevel Converters with Highly-reduced Carrier Numbers and Low Control Complexity

The Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) has been recently accepted as an advantageous choice for high-voltage applications. However, for extending this topology to higher voltages, the number of its submodules should be increased. On the other hand, using high-frequency carrier-based modulation schemes is very popular for voltage-source converters; since they provide improved output quality, and don’t involve complex calculations. When this strategy is employed for MMCs, the number of carriers would increase for more submodules, and the control complexity and required memory become more as result. Moreover, synchronizing several carriers is another issue. In this paper, a novel PSC-PWM scheme with low control complexity is proposed. The number of carriers employed in the designed scheme is always two, and independent of the submodule numbers. Despite this fact, the benefits of the conventional PSC-PWM, like the excellent harmonic content for different operating points, are completely remained. The performance of the proposed method is validated through conducting simulations in the MATLAB/Simulink environment.
ICT in building construction: prospects and challenges in developing country

For century, humans have created structures but the American wonder which is technology, made what seems impossible possible. The traditional adobe buildings with thatched roof and mud block have been developed to the modern skyscraper. Today, a house can be built with insulation and can be inflated or deflated to adjust to outside temperature through technology. This paper looked into the roles of ICT in building design, innovations in building construction through modern technology and challenges facing the use of ICT in developing countries. Building construction demands a tacit coordination, collaboration, and communication among all stakeholders. Project team structures are complex and sometimes located at different places. It is only the adoption of ICT that can perform the “magic” of effective teamwork, just as the world is now a global village.Keywords: Building, Construction, Globalisation,ICT, Team, Technology
Bearing fault diagnosis with auto-encoder extreme learning machine: A comparative study

Intelligent fault-diagnosis methods using machine learning techniques like support vector machines and artificial neural networks have been widely used to distinguish bearings’ health condition. However, though these methods generally work well, they still have two potential drawbacks when facing massive fault data: (1) the feature extraction process needs prior domain knowledge, and therefore lacks a universal extraction method for various diagnosis issues, and (2) much training time is generally needed by the traditional intelligent diagnosis methods and by the newly presented deep learning methods. In this research, inspired by the feature extraction capability of auto-encoders and the high training speed of extreme learning machines (ELMs), an auto-encoder-ELM-based diagnosis method is proposed for diagnosing faults in bearings to overcome the aforementioned deficiencies. This paper performs a comparative analysis of the proposed method and some state-of-the-art methods, and the experimental results on the rolling element bearings data set show the effectiveness of the proposed method not only with adaptive mining of the discriminative fault characteristic but also at high diagnosis speed.
Development of the Invasion Models in Wireless Sensor Networks Based on the Flows of False Events

Wireless sensor networks are often used to monitor mobile devices in a specific sensor field from unauthorized intrusion. The research examines intrusions into wireless sensor networks based on the creation of streams of false events. According to the simulation results, the property of the dependence of the wireless sensor network life cycle on the type of error event flow is revealed. Research on the impact of erroneous events on the sensor field has shown that ensuring the mobility of sensor nodes can increase the life cycle of the network. A model of a wireless sensor network is proposed, which is a Poisson sensor field and a flow of events in the form of erroneous streams crossing a given plane. According to the research results, the density distribution from the faulty object to the first sensor, the required sensor node density, and the required sensor node detection radius at a given probability of detecting a faulty object, the number of messages transmitted by the object through the sensor field in the network.
Uptake of HIV Re-Testing among Postpartum Women Who Initially Tested Negative during Antenatal Visit in Ubungo District, Dar es salaam

BACKGROUND: It is recommended that HIV re-testing should be done at third trimester, labour and at six months postpartum. Reports indicate low rates of HIV re-testing among women after delivery. The study assessed the uptake of HIV re-testing among women during postpartum after initially testing negative at ANC clinic in Ubungo district, Dar es salaam. METHOD: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among women who delivered during the study period. Data was collected through a standardised questionnaire and secondary data was collected from the Health Information System and ANC cards. SPSS version 28 was used to analyse data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio and to quantify the association. RESULTS: 426 women participated in the study. The overall HIV re-testing rate was 76.1%, 23.9% did not re-test and 2.1% were infected with HIV after the second test. Married women have higher re-testing rates (52.8%) than single, separated and divorcees. Women aged 25-34 years have significant higher (84.6%) proportion of re-testing for HIV than those < 25 and those > 34 years of age (p<0.001). Other significant predictors for HIV re-testing were women who made at least five or more visits to ANC and those who knew the HIV status of their partners. CONCLUSION: HIV re-testing has not reached the Tanzania national target of 95%. Efforts to sensitise communities on the importance of early ANC booking at ANC and re-testing for HIV during labour, delivery and postpartum should be enhanced.
Communication-Efficient Federated Learning: A Second Order Newton-Type Method With Analog Over-the-Air Aggregation

Owing to their fast convergence, second-order Newton-type learning methods have recently received attention in the federated learning (FL) setting. However, current solutions are based on communicating the Hessian matrices from the devices to the parameter server, at every iteration, incurring a large number of communication rounds; calling for novel communication-efficient Newton-type learning methods. In this article, we propose a novel second-order Newton-type method that, similarly to its first-order counterpart, requires every device to share only a model-sized vector at each iteration while hiding the gradient and Hessian information. In doing so, the proposed approach is significantly more communication-efficient and privacy-preserving. Furthermore, by leveraging the over-the-air aggregation principle, our method inherits privacy guarantees and obtains much higher communication efficiency gains. In particular, we formulate the problem of learning the inverse Hessian-gradient product as a quadratic problem that is solved in a distributed way. The framework alternates between updating the inverse Hessian-gradient product using a few alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) steps, and updating the global model using Newton’s method. Numerical results show that our proposed approach is more communication-efficient and scalable under noisy channels for different scenarios and across multiple datasets.
ACCURATE DETECTION AND CASSIFICATION OF VENTRICULAR ABNORMAMLITIESS USING MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES

Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a bioelectrical signal which presents the electrical activity of different parts of heart in time domain. The accurate study of this signal leads to precise detection of ventricular arrhythmias that are serious problems in today's world and might lead to Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD). This research attempts to achieve accurate and fast detection and classification of ventricular abnormalities from morphological features using cross correlation between normal sinus beat and abnormal beats. Cross correlation between RR intervals and TT intervals in zero lag was used because of separation between normal sinus rhythm and T wave alternans. Specific morphological features were attained for T wave alternans and normal sinus rhythm signals. The classification accuracy of normal sinus rhythm with ventricular tachycardia, ventricular flutter, ventricular fibrillation, premature ventricular contraction and escape beat rhythm were obtained as 100%, 92.8%, 86.8%, 90.81%, 96.28% and 91.8%, respectively. Classification accuracy of T wave alternans was achieved as 95.03%.
Urbanization Level in Chinese Counties: Imbalance Pattern and Driving Force

Urbanization level is a key indicator for socioeconomic development and policy making, but the measurement data and methods need to be discussed further due to the limitation of a single index and the availability and accuracy of statistical data. China is urbanizing rapidly, but the urbanization level at the county scale remains a mystery due to its complexity and lack of unified and effective measurement indicators. In this paper, we proposed a new urbanization index to measure the Chinese urbanization level at the county scale by integrating population, land, and economic factors; by fusing remote sensing data and traditional demographic data, we investigated the multi-dimensional unbalanced development patterns and the driving mechanism from 1995 to 2015. Results indicate that: The average comprehensive urbanization level at the Chinese county scale has increased from 31.06% in 1995 to 45.23% in 2015, and the urbanization level in the permanent population may overestimate China’s urbanization process. There were significant but different spatial and temporal dynamic patterns in population, land, and economic levels as well as at a comprehensive urbanization level. The comprehensive urbanization level shows the pattern of being high in the south-east and low in the north-west, divided by “Hu line”. The urbanization of registered populations presents high in the northern border and the eastern coastal areas, which is further strengthened over time. Economic urbanization based on lighting data presents high in the east and low in the west. Land urbanization based on remote sensing data shows high in the south and low in the north. The registered population urbanization level is lower than economic and land urbanization. County urbanization was driven by large population size, reasonable industrial structure, and strong government capacity; 38% and 59% of urbanization levels can be regarded as the key nodes of the urbanization process. When the urbanization rate is lower than 38%, the secondary industry plays a strong role in powering urbanization; when the urbanization rate is higher than 38% but less than 59%, the promotion effect of the tertiary industry is more obvious, and the secondary industry is gradually weakened. When the urbanization rate exceeds 59%, the tertiary industry becomes the major driver.
Oscillating Magnetized Color Superconducting Quark Stars

The main objective of this work is to study the structure, composition, and oscillation modes of color superconducting quark stars with intense magnetic fields. We adopted the MIT bag model within the color superconductivity CFL framework, and we included the effects of strong magnetic fields to construct the equation of state of stable quark matter. We calculated observable quantities, such as the mass, radius, frequency, and damping time of the oscillation fundamental f mode of quark stars, taking into account current astrophysical constraints. The results obtained show that color superconducting magnetized quark stars satisfy the constraints imposed by the observations of massive pulsars and gravitational wave events. Furthermore, the quantities associated with the oscillation f mode of these objects fit the universal relationships for compact objects. In the context of the new multi-messenger gravitational wave astronomy era and the future asteroseismology of neutron stars, we hope that our results contribute to the understanding of the behavior of dense matter and compact objects.