Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Healing of damaged metal by a pulsed high-energy electromagnetic field

The processes of defect (intergranular micro-cracks) transformation are investigated for metal samples in a high-energy short-pulsed electromagnetic field. This investigation is based on a numerical coupled model of the impact of high-energy electromagnetic field on the pre-damaged thermal elastic-plastic material with defects. The model takes into account the melting and evaporation of the metal and the dependence of its physical and mechanical properties on the temperature. The system of equations is solved numerically by finite element method with an adaptive mesh using the arbitrary Euler–Lagrange method. The calculations show that the welding of the crack and the healing of micro-defects under treatment by short pulses of the current takes place. For the macroscopic description of the healing process, the healing and damage parameters of the material are introduced. The healing of micro-cracks improves the material healing parameter and reduces its damage. The micro-crack shapes practically do not affect the time-dependence of the healing and damage under the treatment by the current pulses. These changes are affected only by the value of the initial damage of the material and the initial length of the micro-crack. The time-dependence of the healing and the damage is practically the same for all different shapes of micro-defects, provided that the initial lengths of micro-cracks and the initial damages are the same for these different shapes of defects.
Comparative Study of Neural Network Algorithms for Servo Control Applications

AC servo systems are extensively used in robotic actuators and are competing with DC servo motors for motion control because of their favorable electrical and mechanical properties. Efficient control schemes for servo motors are required to ensure performance in presence of system parameter variations. Neural networks have emerged as a suitable tool for control applications especially under situations where the plant parameters are varying and a robust control is required. This paper presents a servo control approach based on direct torque control using the neural networks. The main emphasis is on studying the different neural network algorithms and there suitability for servo controls applications.
System level modeling and performance of an outdoor mmWave local area access system

Millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies offer the potential for very large capacity increases from traditional cellular frequencies because of the incredible amount of available spectrum (e.g., 10 GHz in the E-band alone). Additionally the latest channel measurements and research have shown that mmWave frequencies are useable for a 5G-type local area access system. However, employing mmWave frequencies for outdoor local area access presents a challenge particularly from blockage of the signal from the mobile to the access point. Using the latest path loss equations from measured data, a newly developed mmWave channel environment, and a model for distance-dependence LOS blocking probability, system-level capacity results are presented for a dense urban environment. The results show that with adequate access point density that low outage probability can be obtained with cell-edge rates well in excess of 100 Mbps and cell-average user throughputs of up to 5.12 Gbps.
NRC Publications Archive Archives des publications du CNRC

We present a classiﬁcation method for learning an opponent’s preferences during a bilateral multi-issue negotiation. Similar candidate preference relations over the set of oﬀers are grouped into classes, and a Bayesian technique is used to determine, for each class, the likelihood that the opponent’s true preference relation lies in that class. Evidence used for classiﬁcation decision-making is obtained by observing the opponent’s sequence of oﬀers, and applying the concession assumption, which states that negotiators usually decrease their oﬀer utilities as time passes in order to ﬁnd a deal. Simple experiments show that the technique can ﬁnd the correct class after very few oﬀers and can select a preference relation that is likely to match closely with the opponent’s true preferences.
T1 Signal-Intensity Increase in the Dentate Nucleus after Multiple Exposures to Gadodiamide: Intraindividual Comparison between 2 Commonly Used Sequences

The authors performed intraindividual qualitative and quantitative comparison between T1-weighted spin-echo and 3D MPRAGE images in 18 patients who had multiple exposures to gadodiamide. Differences in signal between the 2 sequences for both baseline and last examination dentate nucleus/middle cerebellar peduncle ratios were statistically significant. They conclude that T1-weighted spin-echo and MPRAGE sequences cannot be used interchangeably for qualitative or quantitative signal intensity analysis of the dentate nucleus in patients who received gadodiamide. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Different T1-weighted sequences have been used for qualitative and quantitative evaluation of T1 signal intensity related to gadolinium deposition in the dentate nucleus in patients who underwent several enhanced MR imaging studies. Our purpose was to perform an intraindividual qualitative and quantitative comparison between T1-weighted spin-echo and 3D magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition of gradient echo sequences in patients who had multiple exposures to gadodiamide. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our retrospectively selected population included 18 patients who underwent at least 3 administrations of gadodiamide and had a baseline and a final MR imaging performed with both T1-weighted sequences. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were independently performed. Dentate nucleus/middle cerebellar peduncle signal-intensity ratios and signal changes between the baseline and final examinations were compared by using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Correlation between quantitative and qualitative evaluations was assessed by using a polyserial correlation test. RESULTS: The differences between the 2 sequences for both baseline and last examination dentate nucleus/middle cerebellar peduncle ratios were statistically significant (P = .008 and P = .006, respectively); however, the signal-intensity changes of the ratios with time were not (P = .64). The correlation between the qualitative and quantitative analysis was very strong (near-perfect) (r = 0.9) for MPRAGE and strong (r = 0.63) for spin-echo sequences. CONCLUSIONS: T1-weighted spin-echo and MPRAGE sequences cannot be used interchangeably for qualitative or quantitative analysis of signal intensity in the dentate nucleus in patients who received gadodiamide. Baseline and final examination ratios should be evaluated across time by using the same sequence. Qualitative analysis performed with MPRAGE correlated better with quantitative analysis and may offer advantages over spin-echo sequences for research purposes.
The frequency-dependence of drifting subpulse patterns

Drifting subpulse patterns in pulsar signals are frequently interpreted in terms of a model in which a rotating ring of sparks on the polar cap gives rise to emission from regions of the magnetsophere connected to the sparks by dipolar magnetic field lines. The spacing of drift-bands in time depends on the circulation rate of the polar cap pattern, but to first order the longitudinal phase dependence of the subpulse modulation should obey a frequency-independent relation determined by the geometrical configuration in a similar manner to the polarization position angle. We present here observations at 272-1380 MHz of PSR B0320+39 and PSR B0809+74, both of which show nearly linear drift in two longitude regions, separated by a region of reduced modulation and accompanied by a large step in the phase of the subpulse pattern. We show that the observation of Bartel et al. (1981) that the subpulse spacing for PSR B0809+74 was 1.8 times greater at 102.5 MHz than at 1720 MHz is most likely an artifact of the phase step, which is only present at high frequencies. The phase steps can be understood as a consequence of observing overlapping offset images of the polar cap spark pattern. We also detected more complicated, frequency-dependent behaviour that would require that the images do not simply differ by rotation about their centers. Detailed modelling of non-axisymmetric refraction or distorted magnetic fields is suggested as a means of pursuing an explanation for this phenomenon.
Polymer Electrolyte Membranes for Microbial Fuel Cells: A Review

ABSTRACT Development and commercialization of alternative energy harnessing and storing devices are most necessarily required in today's world. Progressive increase in consumption of energy by the ever-increasing human population, coupled with depletion in conventional non- renewable energy reserves of the world, demands development of renewable energy production. Fuel cells have projected themselves as prospective renewable energy devices. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) represent a category of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), which are comparatively new entities in the field of fuel cell devices. MFCs are unique in such manner that they can produce electricity from industrial and domestic wastewaters while efficiently carry out wastewater purification in the course of this operation; therefore, they can be viewed as dual-utility devices. An MFC often comprises a polymeric ion-exchange membrane as an employed electrolyte. Proper functioning of this membrane is critical toward the overall performance of the cell. Commercial Nafion membranes have found use in majority of the MFC devices reported. However, certain drawbacks of Nafion membranes have recently led to the development of alternative materials for the purpose of fabricating polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs). This review highlights the various PEMs developed so far for application in MFCs.
Dose escalation of infliximab in clinical practice: improvements seen may be explained by a regression-like effect

Objective: To determine whether increased infliximab doses result in better clinical outcome in rheumatic diseases. Methods: Subjects were 124 patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with biological agents at a single institute. Index cases were 44 patients whose infliximab doses had been increased. Controls were patients treated with infliximab without dose increase (n = 44), and patients treated with etanercept (n = 36). Disease activity score (DAS28), ACR28 swollen joint counts, and numerical ACR responses were compared before and after dose increases. For the controls, the point at which the DAS28 value showed any increase (despite infliximab/etanercept treatment) was used as the reference time point. Comparisons were made between three sets of outcomes: best outcome achieved before the dose increase (cases) or before the reference time point (controls); outcomes at this point; and best outcomes after this point. Results: Following dose increase, disease activity showed modest but statistically significant improvements. The improvement achieved after dosage escalation was equal to, but not better than, the best values before dose escalation. While this finding could be interpreted as “recapturing” the previous response, similar improvements were seen in both control groups. Thus the same pattern of worsening and subsequent improvement was seen with or without the infliximab dose increase. Conclusions: Clinical improvement with increased infliximab dose, and the impression that a previous response can be “recaptured” with higher doses, cannot be taken at face value, as similar improvements occurred in two control groups. The use of infliximab at doses higher than 3 mg/kg needs to be evaluated further.
Memory Encoding by Theta Phase Precession in the Hippocampal Network

Recent experimental evidence on spike-timing-dependent plasticity and on phase precession (i.e., the theta rhythm dependent firing of rat hippocampalcells) associates the contribution of phase precession to episodic memory. This article aims at clarifying the role of phase precession in memory storage. Computer simulations show that the memory storage in the behavioral timescale varies in timescale of the temporal sequence from half a second to several seconds. In contrast, the memory storage caused by traditional rate coding is restricted to the temporal sequence within 40 ms. During phase precession, memory storage of a single trial experience is possible, even in the presence of noise. It is therefore concluded that encoding by phase precession is appropriate for memory storage of the temporal sequence in the behavioral timescale.
Synthesis and application of water-soluble, photoswitchable cyanine dyes for bioorthogonal labeling of cell-surface carbohydrates

Abstract The synthesis of cyanine dyes addressing absorption wavelengths at 550 and 648 nm is reported. Alkyne functionalized dyes were used for bioorthogonal click reactions by labeling of metabolically incorporated sugar-azides on the surface of living neuroblastoma cells, which were applied to direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM) for the visualization of cell-surface glycans in the nm-range.
Packet error rate-based adaptive rate optimisation with selective-repeat automatic repeat request for convolutionally-coded M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation systems

Link adaptation using adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) is a popular physical layer technique for efficient use of time-varying fading channels. Using a cross-layer approach, AMC and truncated automatic repeat request scheme at data link layer are jointly considered. For a convolutionally-coded M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation system under block fading channel condition, a variable rate transmission scheme that uses imperfect channel state information is derived. First, a closed-form expression for approximating packet error rate (PER) is found as a function of coded information rate. It is then shown that by solving an optimisation problem using this expression, optimum transmission rate can be determined in a way that maximises the spectral efficiency while satisfying an average PER constraint. Hence, the parameters in physical and medium access control layers are incorporated in the analysis.
People tracking using hybrid Monte Carlo filtering

Particle filters are used for hidden state estimation with nonlinear dynamical systems. The inference of 3-D human motion is a natural application, given the nonlinear dynamics of the body and the nonlinear relation between states and image observations. However, the application of particle filters has been limited to cases where the number of state variables is relatively small, because the number of samples needed with high dimensional problems can be prohibitive. We describe a filter that uses hybrid Monte Carlo (HMC) to obtain samples in high dimensional spaces. It uses multiple Markov chains that use posterior gradients to rapidly explore the state space, yielding fair samples from the posterior. We find that the HMC filter is several thousand times faster than a conventional particle filter on a 28 D people tracking problem.
Observational Studies Are Complementary to Randomized Controlled Trials

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard study design to investigate the effect of health interventions, including treatment. However, in some situations, it may be unnecessary, inappropriate, impossible, or inadequate to perform an RCT. In these special situations, well-designed observational studies, including cohort and case-control studies, may provide an alternative to doing nothing in order to obtain estimates of treatment effect. It should be noted that such studies should be performed with caution and correctly. The aims of this review are (1) to explain why RCTs are considered the optimal study design to evaluate treatment effects, (2) to describe the situations in which an RCT is not possible and observational studies are an adequate alternative, and (3) to explain when randomization is not needed and can be approximated in observational studies. Examples from the nephrology literature are used for illustration.
Nano-composite Membranes and Zero Thermal Input Membrane Distillation for Seawater Desalination

Membrane Distillation (MD) is a thermal-driven membrane-based separation process with great potential in applications such as desalination, wastewater treatment, and separation of volatile components from liquid mixtures. Since the formation of the MD concept in the 1960s, extensive studies have been devoted to both the understanding of the fundamental principles and improving the economic competitiveness of MD. This chapter strives to provide a comprehensive coverage of both the fundamentals and recent developments in association with the application, process design, and membrane fabrication in this field.
Production , Manufacturing and Logistics Shortening cycle times in multi-product , capacitated production environments through quality level improvements and setup reduction

0377-2217/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. A http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.ejor. 2013.02. 026 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel. : +1 413 210 6241; fax E-mail addresses: moustapha.diaby@business.ucon business.uconn. edu (J.M. Cruz), aaron_nsakanda@carl This paper addresses the issue of investing in reduced setup times and defect rates for a manufacturer of several products operating in a JIT environment. Production cycle times can be shortened by investing in setup time and defect rate reductions, respectively. The objective is to determine optimal levels of setup time and defect rate reductions along with the corresponding optimal levels of investments respectively, and the optimal production cycle time for each product. The problem is constrained by demand requirements, process improvement budget limitations, and manufacturing and warehousing capacity constraints. We consider the cases of product-specific quality improvements and joint-product quality improvements. A general nonlinear optimization models of these problems are formulated. A convex geometric programming approximation of these models is developed respectively, in order to solve them. The approximation can be made to any desired degree of accuracy. Our empirical findings provide insights into a number of managerial issues surrounding investment decisions in product-specific quality improvements and setup reductions due to a product redesign as well as in joint-product improvements due to a process redesign. 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Development of a closed-loop recycling process for discontinuous carbon fibre polypropylene composites. Composites Part B: Engineering, 146, 222-231.

9 In this study the effects of a closed-loop recycling methodology are evaluated for degradation using a 10 discontinuous carbon fibre polypropylene (CFPP) composite material. The process comprises two fundamental 11 steps, reclamation and remanufacture. The material properties are analysed over two recycling loops. For neat 12 polypropylene, the molecular weight analysis indicates evidence of minimal matrix degradation that does not affect 13 the material behaviour, as demonstrated by the shear tests. CFPP specimens show no decrease in mechanical 14 properties over repeated loops, the final specimens show an increase of 26 % and 43 % in ultimate tensile strength 15 and ultimate strain, respectively. These are attributed to cumulative matrix residue on the fibre surface after 16 reclamation and subsequently increased fibre-matrix adhesion. The improvement of CFPP properties and 17 insignificant variability in the tensile properties and molecular weight distribution of neat polypropylene validate the 18 potential of this proof-of-concept, closed-loop recyclable material. Future studies will investigate alternative, higher 19 performance matrices.
A facile solid-state synthesis and in vitro antimicrobial activities of some 2,6-diarylpiperidin/tetrahydrothiopyran and tetrahydropyran-4-one oximes

Some 2,6-diarylpiperidin/tetrahydrothiopyran/tetrahydropyran-4-one oximes were synthesized in dry media under microwave irradiation and were evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against clinically isolated bacterial strains i.e. S.aureus, β-H.Streptococcus, E.coli, P.aeruginosa, S.typhii and in vitro antifungal activities against fungal strains i.e. C.albicans, Rhizopus, A.niger and A.flavus. Structure-activity relationships for the synthesized compounds showed that compounds 12 and 15 exerted excellent antibacterial activity against all the tested bacterial strains except 15 against S.aureus and β-H.streptococcus. Against C.albicans and A.flavus, compound 15 exerted potent antifungal activities while against Rhizopus, compound 16 showed promising activity.
Big is Beautiful: Electronic Patient Records in Large Norwegian Hospitals 1980s – 2001

Summary Objectives: This paper aims to describe and analyze the prolonged efforts – spanning close to two decades – of developing and using electronic patient records in the large, university-based hospitals in Norway. Methods: This study belongs to an interpretative approach to the development and use of information systems. Results: The increase in organizational, institutional, political and technological complexity has been seriously underestimated. This paper describes and analyses the prolonged efforts – spanning close to two decades – of developing and using EPRs in the large, university-based hospitals in Norway. The investments involved were considerable, implying that a crucial aspect of these efforts has been the way alliances have been forged with public institutions and agendas. Conclusions: The conditions for small-scale, bottom-up and evolutionary approaches never succeeded in constructing themselves as a viable alternative to the larger, more sweeping electronic patient record initiative, reiterating a more general tendency to privilege the more comprehensive and daring projects.
Moving away from the midline: new developments for Slit and Robo

In most tissues, the precise control of cell migration and cell-cell interaction is of paramount importance to the development of a functional structure. Several families of secreted molecules have been implicated in regulating these aspects of development, including the Slits and their Robo receptors. These proteins have well described roles in axon guidance but by influencing cell polarity and adhesion, they participate in many developmental processes in diverse cell types. We review recent progress in understanding both the molecular mechanisms that modulate Slit/Robo expression and their functions in neural and non-neural tissue.
An advanced interaction framework for augmented reality based exposure treatment

In this paper we present a novel interaction framework for augmented reality, and demonstrate its application in an interactive AR exposure treatment system for the fear of spiders. We use data from the Microsoft Kinect to track and model real world objects in the AR environment, enabling realistic interaction between them and virtual content. Objects are tracked in three dimensions using the Iterative Closest Point algorithm and a point cloud model of the objects is incrementally developed. The approximate motion and shape of each object in the scene serve as inputs to the AR application. Very few restrictions are placed on the types of objects that can be used. In particular, we do not require objects to be marked in a certain way in order to be recognized, facilitating natural interaction. To demonstrate our interaction framework we present an AR exposure treatment system where virtual spiders can walk up, around, or behind real objects and can be carried, prodded and occluded by the user. We also discuss improvements we are making to the interaction framework and its potential for use in other applications.