Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new nonlinear anisotropic model for soft magnetic materials

An accurate and efficient nonlinear anisotropic model for soft magnetic materials is developed. In this model, the cross effects of the magnetic field in the different principle directions are decoupled by introducing an equivalent magnetic field magnitude in each principle direction. This equivalence is based on an anisotropic characterization of the energy density. Only B-H curves in the principal directions of the materials-two curves in two-dimensions or three curves in three-dimensions-need to be measured. The anisotropic behavior of laminations with either isotropic or anisotropic steel is also considered. The model is validated by numerical experiments and is applied to three-dimensional finite element analysis of a synchronous reluctance motor with an axially laminated anisotropic rotor
An Effective Model for Demand Response Management Systems of Residential Electricity Consumers

An effective demand response (DR) model framework for DR management systems in a residential premise is proposed. The proposed model consists of dynamic price signals from load serving entity (LSE), benefit function, and loss of consumer comfort. The conventional approaches generally consider these factors as independent in their formulation. Since these factors have functional relationship, the proposed model points to a holistic approach to capture the relationship. The scheduling model can be integrated with the home energy scheduler coupled to the smart meter, which facilitates the flow of dynamic price and energy consumption information to and from the household premise. The objective is to maximize net consumer surplus, which is formulated as a function of all aforementioned factors. A method for developing a practical and dynamic consumer benefit model for matured DR programs is proposed in this paper. For the purpose of showing the effectiveness of dynamic benefit function, a set of analytically formulated benefit functions is also considered. The suitability of the dynamic benefit function, as compared with other alternatives, is illustrated with an example. This paper also reports the dynamic price design from the view point of LSE, in order to cover the risks of wholesale price volatility.
Compensated heart failure predisposes to outer medullary tubular injury: studies in rats.

BACKGROUND Heart failure (HF) is considered a putative factor predisposing to acute renal failure (ARF). Since outer medullary hypoxic injury may play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute tubular necrosis, we explored the impact of experimental HF on the propensity to develop ARF with hypoxic medullary injury following the inhibition of prostaglandin and nitric oxide synthesis. METHODS Compensated, high-output HF was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by aorto-caval fistula. At the eighth to ninth postoperative day, the rats were injected with indomethacin and N(omega) nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; ARF protocol) and were sacrificed 24 hours later for morphologic evaluation. RESULTS Kidney function comparably declined in HF-ARF rats and in control sham operated animals (CTR-ARF). Nevertheless, outer medullary hypoxic damage with medullary thick ascending limb (mTAL) necrosis occurred almost exclusively in the HF-ARF group (11 +/- 4% vs. 0.2 +/- 0.2% of tubules in CTR-ARF, P < 0.03). In a third group of HF animals subjected to vehicles only (HF-Nil), kidney function was preserved and renal morphology remained intact. Papillary-tip necrosis was consistently found in all animals subjected to indomethacin and L-NAME, irrespective of preconditioning. Morphometric evaluation disclosed that HF was not associated with mTAL hypertrophy. CONCLUSIONS Incipient HF predisposes to hypoxic outer medullary injury, probably reflecting the impact of regional vasoconstrictive stimuli rather than tubular hypertrophy when protective local vasodilating mechanisms are hampered. The presence and extent of outer medullary hypoxic damage cannot be predicted from the functional derangement, which in the experimental settings may also represent prerenal azotemia or papillary damage.
A method for self-tuning a PID controller for control of small to medium sized diesel engines

A self-tuning PID controller designed to control a small to medium-sized diesel engine model is discussed. This controller resembles a parameter adaptive controller while it is in the tuning phase. When it is not tuning it functions like a closed-loop PID controller. The model used to represent the diesel engine contains nonlinearities and widely ranging parameters. Computer simulations were used to verify that the tuned system's phase and gain margins meet design requirements. <<ETX>>
Formulation and characterization of a captopril ethyl ester drug-in-adhesive-type patch for percutaneous absorption

Background: The ethyl ester of captopril has been shown to exhibit enhanced permeation across human skin compared to the parent drug. A drug-in-adhesive patch formulation of a captopril ethyl ester was therefore developed for optimum drug release. Method: A wide range of transdermal patches were prepared using two commercially available bioadhesive polymers. Investigational screening was conducted on the patches using microscopy, texture profile analysis, and infrared spectroscopy. Drug release profiles of suitable patches were obtained using both polydimethylsiloxane (Silastic™) and porcine skin in vitro. Results: Diffusion results across Silastic™ showed a gradual plateau in flux with increased drug loading that may be attributable to intramolecular interactions while flux across porcine skin was seen to increase with increasing patch thickness and attained a therapeutic level. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that adhesion and drug loading are significant factors in optimizing a topical patch formulation for the delivery of a captopril prodrug.
Anti-oxidative and anti-genotoxic effects of methanolic extract of Mentha pulegium on human lympocyte culture

In the present work, methanolic extract of Mentha pulegium from Erzurum, Turkey, was used in order to report the results of anti-oxidant capacity, anti-oxidant activity and anti-genotoxic effects. The total antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content were measured by using CUPRAC, ABTS and Folin—Ciocalteu colorimetric methods. The total phenolic content was higher than the total antioxidant capacity (for the results of both the CUPRAC and ABTS methods) of methanolic extract of M pulegium (ME). Also, we evaluated the anti-oxidant enzyme activity such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutation peroxidase, total glutation (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in human lymphocyte culture. In CCI4-treated group, the activity of SOD, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and GSH decreased significantly and the level of MDA increased significantly. A significant increase in the activity of SOD, GPx and the level of GSH were seen when supplemented with ME to CCI4-treated group. Furthermore, a significant decrease in the level of MDA was observed when compared with CCI4 alone treated group. In addition, anti-genotoxic effect of ME was studied by using sister chromatid exchange (SCE) method. As a result, ME has shown anti-genotoxic effect depend on anti-oxidative effect on human lymphocyte culture.
Immunogenicity and pharmacokinetic studies of recombinant Factor VIII containing lipid cochleates

Replacement therapy using recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) is currently the most common therapy for hemophilia A, a bleeding disorder caused by the deficiency of FVIII. However, 15–30% of patients develop inhibitory antibodies against administered rFVIII, which complicates the therapy. Encapsulation or association of protein with lipidic structures can reduce this immune response. Previous studies developed and characterized rFVIII-containing phosphatidylserine (PS) cochleate cylinders using biophysical techniques. It was hypothesized that these structures may provide a reduction in immunogenicity while avoiding the rapid clearance by the reticuloendothelial system (RES) previously observed with liposomal vesicles of similar composition. This study investigated in vivo behavior of the cochleates containing rFVIII including immunogenicity and pharmacokinetics in hemophilia A mice. The rFVIII-cochleate complex significantly reduced the level of inhibitory antibody developed against rFVIII following intravenous (i.v.) administration. Pharmacokinetic modeling allowed assessment of in vivo release kinetics. Cochleates acted as a delayed release delivery vehicle with an input peak of cochleates showed limited RES uptake and associated rFVIII displayed a similar disposition to the free protein upon release from the structure. Incomplete disassociation from the complex limits systemic availability of the protein. Further formulation efforts are warranted to regulate the rate and extent of release of rFVIII from cochleate complexes.
Word Games : Coherent Document Reconstruction

Document reconstruction has several immediate applications. Given a collection of key sentences from related articles, an effective model for document reconstruction can generate a coherent summary of the topic, or, given a collection of candidate documents (e.g. news articles, student reports) such a model might provide insight into which is most coherent. A well-designed model for document reconstruction could also shed light on the broader, extremely challenging problem of modeling structure in and actually generating coherent natural language.
Elevation of soluble E‐selectin levels following gestational diabetes is restricted to women with persistent abnormalities of glucose regulation

objective Increased levels of the soluble adhesion molecule sE‐selectin have been reported in normoglycaemic women with previous gestational diabetes but not in other groups at increased risk of future type 2 diabetes. To explore the basis for these discrepant findings, we studied the relationship between sE‐selectin and glucose regulation in a large group of women with previous gestational diabetes.
From H4, H5 to H6 —Standardization of full-bridge single phase photovoltaic inverter topologies without ground leakage current issue

Leakage current (common mode current) appears through the stray capacitance between the PV array and the grid in transformer-less grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) inverters. The seriousness of the effect has been an area of concern over the past years. Detailed review, investigation, classification and evaluation of full-bridge (H4) single phase PV inverter topologies without this problem are presented in this paper, such as H4, H5 and H6 circuits. Based on the analysis and comparison, some novel H6 topologies with high efficiency and ground leakage current issue eliminated are also proposed, which are also selected as candidate topologies for the standardized inverter topology. Simulation and experimental results are provided for the topology verification, 98.5%maximum efficiency of the prototype is achieved.
Prevalence of lesions and body condition scores among female swine at slaughter.

OBJECTIVE To determine prevalence of foot lesions, dermatitis, shoulder lesions, mammary gland abnormalities, and visceral lesions, and body condition scores among culled female swine at slaughter. DESIGN Observational study. ANIMALS Culled gilts and sows killed during a 1-week period at a Midwest slaughterhouse. PROCEDURE Carcasses were examined, and lesions were recorded. Body condition was scored on the basis of standard criteria. RESULTS 58.9% (1,029/1,747) of the carcasses had foot lesions, 67.3% (1,178/1,751) had dermatitis, and 4.6% (80/1,751) had shoulder lesions. Body condition score was significantly associated with detection of dermatitis and shoulder lesions. Mean +/- SE number of teats (n = 1,432 carcasses) was 13.86 +/- 0.02. Mean numbers of normal-appearing teats in the left and right mammary chains were 6.57 +/- 0.02 and 6.58 +/- 0.02, respectively. Feet from 48% (688/1,433) of the carcasses were condemned. Visceral lesions were found in 48.8% (624/1,278) of the carcasses; of the carcasses with lesions, 412 (66%) had liver spots, and 268 (42.9%) had pneumonia. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Lesions that potentially could have adversely affected production were found in a large percentage of culled gilts and sows at slaughter. Knowledge of lesions commonly found at slaughter may help direct changes in herd health programs.
Data-Driven Decision Making

Data-driven decision making is increasingly important in healthcare as administrators use forecasting and predictive measures rather than depend on historical or descriptive data for strategic planning. Whereas financial metrics comprise a vital role in operational oversight, performance metrics can be useful for ongoing evaluation of internal programs. Administrators and stakeholders want to know if the financial investments in programs are achieving the desired outcomes. In addition, regulatory agencies often require supporting data and benchmarking as evidence of standards compliance. These same criteria should be applied to clinical programs. Development of dashboard reporting is a strategy for gathering data from multiple information sources to create a report useful for monitoring nursing and evidence-based practice (EBP) initiatives. This article will describe a dashboard used to evaluate clinical projects in a large healthcare organization in the Southwest United States. Dashboard development in healthcare adapts a corporate concept for tactically organizing key measures, data sources, and timeframes. The table format enables users to view information from a variety of sources in a single place, like a car’s dashboard. Dashboards can be multilayered performance management tools to enable organizations to measure, monitor, and manage business activities using both financial and nonfinancial measures. Dashboards can be designed to provide summative data that quickly demonstrate whether a program is accomplishing stated goals and objectives. Knowing how and for whom a program is effective and identifying ways to strengthen services are essential building blocks for an organization’s strategic plan. It is critical that a dashboard’s content is relevant to the specific audience so that it is meaningful and can be used for action planning. The dashboard concept can be applied as a mechanism to monitor and manage a variety of clinical activities in an organization and provides a systematic way to learn from past experiences and adjust plans accordingly.
Probabilistic sonar scan matching SLAM for underwater environment

This paper proposes a pose-based algorithm to solve the full Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) problem for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), navigating in an unknown and possibly unstructured environment. A probabilistic scan matching technique using range scans gathered from a Mechanical Scanning Imaging Sonar (MSIS) is used together with the robot dead-reckoning displacements. The proposed method utilizes two Extended Kalman Filters (EKFs). The first, estimates the local path traveled by the robot while forming the scan as well as its uncertainty, providing position estimates for correcting the distortions that the vehicle motion produces in the acoustic images. The second is an augmented state EKF that estimates and keeps the registered scans poses. The raw data from the sensors are processed and fused in-line. No priory structural information or initial pose are considered. Also, a method of estimating the uncertainty of the scan matching estimation is provided. The algorithm has been tested on an AUV guided along a 600 m path within a marina environment and is compared against previous work from the authors, showing the viability of the proposed approach.
A Case Study in Evaluation of Software for Engineering Design

This paper presents a case study in the application of evaluation-guided software development methodologies to software systems to support engineering design. In particular, we consider a research prototype system for ComputerAided Conceptual Design (CACD): CUP. CUP, which stands forConceptualUnderstanding andPrototyping, is an interactive 3D modeling system that enables engineers to specify the semantic layout of an assembly and label major structural and functional relationships. In our case study, CUP was subjected to a cycle of user studies to evaluate its usability, functionality and to provide feedback into the software development cycle. We selected a sample of potential student users, identified evaluation criteria, developed benchmark tasks and executed a user study using the “think out loud” protocol. This study revealed numerous areas for improvement in CUP—changes based on these recommendations are being incorporated into the next version of the system. In addition, we believe that the evaluation methodology we present can be generalized to other systems for collaborative engi-
Study through designing reminiscing activities for the elderly

This study employed a qualitative approach to obtaining an in-depth and holistic understanding of reminiscing in the elderly. Inviting elders as participants, this investigation aimed for full descriptions of individual cases, while also attempting to identify general trends and significant patterns among them. This empirical study comprises a two-year research project. The first year involves an exploratory study, including surveying the related literature and identifying key concepts. During the second year, this study designed a ‘Story Frame’, and conducted case studies and qualitative interviews. Story Frame is an artefact to record the vocalised responses of elderly subjects when viewing photos of the past. To better understand digital material regarding reminiscing in simple form, this study establishes conditions to identify families to participate in three studies using Story Frame. The results indicate that sharing the recorded audio-photos can trigger further conversations. By successfully catalysing embodied and social interaction, reminiscence can establish self-identity, improve social connectedness and create feelings of well-being.
Dietary ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids decrease retinal neovascularization by adipose-endoplasmic reticulum stress reduction to increase adiponectin.

BACKGROUND Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vision-threatening disease in premature infants. Serum adiponectin (APN) concentrations positively correlate with postnatal growth and gestational age, important risk factors for ROP development. Dietary ω-3 (n-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 LCPUFAs) suppress ROP and oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) in a mouse model of human ROP, but the mechanism is not fully understood. OBJECTIVE We examined the role of APN in ROP development and whether circulating APN concentrations are increased by dietary ω-3 LCPUFAs to mediate the protective effect in ROP. DESIGN Serum APN concentrations were correlated with ROP development and serum ω-3 LCPUFA concentrations in preterm infants. Mouse OIR was then used to determine whether ω-3 LCPUFA supplementation increases serum APN concentrations, which then suppress retinopathy. RESULTS We found that in preterm infants, low serum APN concentrations positively correlate with ROP, and serum APN concentrations positively correlate with serum ω-3 LCPUFA concentrations. In mouse OIR, serum total APN and bioactive high-molecular-weight APN concentrations are increased by ω-3 LCPUFA feed. White adipose tissue, where APN is produced and assembled in the endoplasmic reticulum, is the major source of serum APN. In mouse OIR, adipose endoplasmic reticulum stress is increased, and APN production is suppressed. ω-3 LCPUFA feed in mice increases APN production by reducing adipose endoplasmic reticulum stress markers. Dietary ω-3 LCPUFA suppression of neovascularization is reduced from 70% to 10% with APN deficiency. APN receptors localize in the retina, particularly to pathologic neovessels. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that increasing APN by ω-3 LCPUFA supplementation in total parental nutrition for preterm infants may suppress ROP.
Leveraging TSP Solver Complementarity through Machine Learning

The Travelling Salesperson Problem (TSP) is one of the best-studied NP-hard problems. Over the years, many different solution approaches and solvers have been developed. For the first time, we directly compare five state-of-the-art inexact solvers—namely, LKH, EAX, restart variants of those, and MAOS—on a large set of well-known benchmark instances and demonstrate complementary performance, in that different instances may be solved most effectively by different algorithms. We leverage this complementarity to build an algorithm selector, which selects the best TSP solver on a per-instance basis and thus achieves significantly improved performance compared to the single best solver, representing an advance in the state of the art in solving the Euclidean TSP. Our in-depth analysis of the selectors provides insight into what drives this performance improvement.
The Evolution of EDI for Competitive Advantage: The Fedex Case

Abstract “The ideal company makes no product it has not already sold, and buys nothing it does not need right away. Its suppliers behave the same way. the total supply chain — customer, manufacturer, supplier — performs as an integrated unit, operating with the barest of inventory, incurring the least possible cost, communicating seamlessly in real time and, of course, making flawless products. “1 While not quite reality, the arrival of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) made this goal more achievable. This is especially true for FedEx.
The sol–gel template synthesis of porous TiO2 for a high performance humidity sensor

This research develops a simple template assisted sol–gel process for preparing porous TiO2 for a high performance humidity sensor. Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a template was directly introduced into TiO2 sol formed by the hydrolysis and condensation of titanium alkoxide; the following calcination led to the formation of TiO2–SiO2 composite, and the selective removal of SiO2 by dilute HF solution led to the formation of porous structure in TiO2. The resulting porous TiO2-based sensor exhibits high sensitivity and linear response in the wide relative humidity (RH) range of 11%–95%, with an impedance variation of four orders of magnitude to humidity change. Moreover, it exhibits a rapid and highly reversible response characterized by a very small hysteresis of < 1% RH and a short response-recovery time (5 s for adsorption and 8 s for desorption), and a 30-day stability test also confirms its long-term stability. Compared with pure TiO2 prepared by the conventional sol–gel method, our product shows remarkably improved performance and good prospect for a high performance humidity sensor. The complex impedance spectra were used to elucidate its humidity sensing mechanism in detail.
Herpesviruses in brains in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

We evaluated the association of HSV‐1, HHV‐6, and VZV with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Brain specimens for viral DNA polymerase chain reaction represented 34 patients with AD, 40 with PD, and 40 controls. One AD patient (2.9%) was positive for HSV‐1 DNA, 88.2% for HHV‐6 DNA, and 26.5% for VZV DNA; 17.5% of PD patients were HSV‐1 DNA–positive and 75% HHV‐6–positive, whereas 40% had VZV DNA. Twenty‐five percent of the controls were positive for HSV‐1 DNA, 87.5% for HHV‐6, and 27.5% for VZV. HSV‐1, VZV, or HHV‐6 DNA in brains was no additional risk factor for AD.
More significance of TB‐IGRA except for the diagnose of tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB)‐interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) test has the characteristics of short time, high specificity, and high sensitivity, but it lacks the correlation research between TB‐IGRA test results and body's immune cells, disease progression and prognosis, which is explored in this study.