Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Improved Reactive Current Detection and Power Control Method for Single-Phase Photovoltaic Grid-Connected DG System

In the single-phase photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected distributed generation (DG) system located at the end of the feeder, it is necessary to provide quickly active and reactive power to the local loads. In this paper, an improved reactive current detection and power control method are proposed to realize active power control and reactive power compensation. To detect quickly the loads reactive current, a fast reactive current detection method using the derivative and ip-iq algorithm is presented, and it can overcome the long delay in a conventional phase-shift method. In the inner current loop, the quasi-proportional-resonant (QPR) control method with grid voltage feed-forward is presented to control accurately the grid current with zero steady error, and to reduce the current distortion due to the frequency offset and distortion of the grid voltage. The inner loop stability is analyzed, and the proper parameters are selected. In the outer loop, proportional-integrator (PI) controller is applied to stabilize the dc-link voltage, and power feed-forward is introduced to speed up system response. Simulation and experimental results verified the validity of the proposed control method.
A Portable Framework Design to Support User Context Aware Augmented Reality Applications

This paper describes a portable framework to support augmented reality applications with user context information. It combines user's body responses with a virtual world by monitoring user's physical activity and vital signs in order to reflect real body status in a virtual world. In this paper we present a design of our portable vital signs monitoring framework, which can be applied to support physiological or affective user context information in augmented reality applications. The pivotal part of our system consists of multiple sensor nodes, and a PDA/smart phone device that aggregates and analyses data before sending it to the virtual world's controlling device as game play parameters. The malleability of the framework's communication's channels makes it compatible with most known game/ serious applications platforms.
Effects of Dietary Crude Glycerin Supplementation on Nutrient Digestibility, Ruminal Fermentation, Blood Metabolites, and Nitrogen Balance of Goats

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing concentrations of crude glycerin (CGLY) in diets on nutrient utilization, ruminal fermentation characteristics, and nitrogen utilization of goats. Four male crossbred (Thai Native×Anglo Nubian) goats, with an average initial weight of 26±3.0 kg, were randomly assigned according to a 4×4 Latin square design with four 21 days consecutive periods. Treatments diets contained 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20% of dietary DM of CGLY. Based on this experiment, there were no significant differences (p>0.05) among treatment groups regarding DM intake and digestion coefficients of nutrients (DM, OM, CP, EE, NDF, and ADF). Likewise, mean serum glucose, BHBA, and PCV concentrations were not affected (p>0.05) by dietary treatments, whereas serum insulin concentration linearly increased (L, p = 0.002) with increasing the amount of CGLY supplementation. Ruminal pH, NH3-N, and BUN concentration were unchanged by dietary treatments, except for 20% of CGLY, NH3-N, and BUN were lower (p<0.05) than for the diets 10% of CGLY, while the difference between the diets 0%, 5%, and 20% of CGLY were not significant. The amount of N absorption and retention were similar among treatments. Based on this study, CGLY levels up to 20% in total mixed ration could be efficiently utilized for goats and this study elucidates a good approach to exploiting the use of biodiesel production for goat production.
Promoting self-directed learning for continuing medical education

Self-directed delivery modes for continuing medical education (CME) are the most effective approaches for improving physician performance. However, instructor-directed programs are still the most popular methods used for CME. The purpose of the study was to assess the utilization, preferences and barriers to use of nine different CME delivery methods by physicians. A self-administered survey of all licensed physicians in Nevada was conducted over a three-month period. Results were analyzed using SPSS for windows (version 10). In-person conferences (92%) and journal review (64%) were the most frequently utilized modes of instruction. Rural physicians were more likely to use interactive video. The top three ranked preferences were in-person conference, print-based self-study and CD-ROM. It is concluded that computer training, dedicated time in the workplace for self-directed methods, and the development of more interactive CD-ROM and Internet programs will encourage the use of self-directed CME.
Rapid screening procedure for detection of plasmids in streptococci

An enrichment procedure, yielding plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid preparations normally containing less than 5% chromosomal contamination, has been devised for the isolation of plasmids from virtually all species of streptococci. The procedure is rapid, reproducible, and inexpensive, requiring no radioisotopes or density gradient centrifugation. The procedure can be used for routine screening of several hundred isolates in a short period of time, and plasmids obtained from 10- to 20-ml cultures can readily be visualized in agarose gels.
THE TOTAL IMPACT OF THE FAMILY ON EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

We employ a three-level model – with siblings nested in families nested in societies – to estimate the variability in family effects on educational attainment across countries and cohorts. To perform this comparative sibling analysis, we use survey data from eleven countries and six time periods. The results first of all show that 34 per cent of the individual variance in educational attainment can be attributed to the family, leaving 37 per cent at the individual sibling level and 28 per cent at the level of the societies investigated. Furthermore, the comparative sibling analysis makes clear that there are significant differences in family effects on educational attainment between countries and cohorts. We find that indicators of modernization, individualization, and socialism negatively influence the measured effects of parents’ socio-economic position on educational attainment. Total family impact does not vary with these societal characteristics in a systematic way, however. This seems to be in line with the reproduction hypothesis, which states that parents use compensating strategies to make up for the loss in effects of parents’ socio-economic position on educational attainment.
On the Accuracy of Nonlinear Optimization Algorithms

This paper considers the accuracy in the solution, and the behavior of the gradient in algorithms for unconstrained minimization. We argue that the nal gradient value may depend on the path followed by the iterates, and that the accuracy in the function is related to the speed of convergence. An in-depth analysis of the steepest descent method on quadratic functions is presented. It reveals unexpected properties of the sequence of gradient norms. Some observations on the behavior of the gradient norm in Newton's method and limited memory methods are also made.
Wide-Band Spectroscopy of the Compton Thick Seyfert2 Galaxy Markarian 3 with Suzaku

We obtained a wide-band spectrum of the Compton-thick Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 3 with Suzaku. The observed spectrum was clearly resolved into weak, soft power-law emission, a heavily absorbed power-law component, cold reflection, and many emission lines. The heavily absorbed component, absorbed by gas with a column density of 1.1x10^24 cm^-2, has an intrinsic 2--10 keV luminosity of ~1.6x10^43 erg s^-1, and is considered to be direct emission from the Mrk 3 nucleus. The reflection component was interpreted as reflection of the direct light off cold, thick material; the reflection fraction $R$ was 1.36+/-0.20. The cold material is inferred to be located > 1 pc from the central black hole of Mrk 3 due to the low ionization parameter of iron (xi < 1 erg cm s^-1) and the narrow iron line width (s < 22 eV). A Compton shoulder to the iron line was detected, but the intensity of the shoulder component was less than that expected from spherically distributed Compton-thick material. The weak, soft power-law emission is considered to be scattered light by ionized gas. The existence of many highly-ionized lines from O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Fe in the observed spectrum indicates that the ionized gas has a broad ionized structure, with xi=10--1000. The scattering fraction with respect to the direct light was estimated to be 0.9+/-0.2%, which indicates that the column density of the scattering region is about 3.6x10^22 cm^-2. This high-quality spectrum obtained by Suzaku can be considered a template for studies of Seyfert 2 galaxies.
Age-prevalence and household clustering of Strongyloides stercoralis infection in Jamaica

The epidemiology of Strongyloides stercoralis was studied in families of clinical (reference) cases and their neighbours at endemic foci in Jamaica. Thirteen foci were studied based on the place of residence of a reference case. For each household of a reference case, the 4 most proximal neighbourhood households (spatial controls) were included in the study. Out of 312 persons contacted 244 were followed up using questionnaires, stool examination and serology. Prevalence of infection based on stool examination was 3·5% and on ELISA 24·2%. Prevalence increased with age but was not related to gender. Reference cases were significantly older than the general study population. The prevalence of infection based on both serology and stool examination was significantly higher in reference than in neighbouring households (the reference cases, themselves, were not included in the analysis). Furthermore, prevalence of infection was highest among persons who shared a bedroom with a reference case and decreased significantly with increasing spatial separation. This is indicative of close contact transmission which has not been previously shown for a geohelminth, but which is common among microparasites.
Interlaced QWERTY: accommodating ease of visual search and input flexibility in shape writing

Shape writing is an input technology for touch-screen mobile phones and pen-tablets. To shape write text, the user spells out word patterns by sliding a finger or stylus over a graphical keyboard. The user's trace is then recognized by a pattern recognizer. In this paper we analyze and evaluate various keyboard layouts, including alphabetic, optimized (ATOMIK), QWERTY, and interlaced QWERTY for shape writing. The goodness of a layout for shape writing has two aspects. For users' initial ease of use the letters should be easy to visually locate. For long term use, however, the layout should maximize the imprecision tolerance and writing flexibility for all words. We present empirical studies for the former and mathematical analyses for the latter. Our results led to a new layout, interlaced QWERTY, which offers excellent separation of word shapes, while still maintaining a low visual search time. Many of the findings in our study also apply to traditional soft keyboards tapped with a stylus or one finger.
English e-learning in the virtual classroom and the factors that influence ESL (English as a Second Language): Taiwanese citizens’ acceptance and use of the Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment

Currently, the speed of knowledge innovation is accelerating with the prevalence of online learning, which penetrates the limits of both time and space. To date, studies examining English e-learning websites have rarely been conducted from the point of view of both the technology acceptance model (TAM) and information technology. In this research, we use the TAM as our basic theory to research the use of English e-learning websites. We find that (1) most English learners think that using the Internet to learn English is more convenient than using traditional methods; and (2) that most adult English learners think that using the Internet to learn English is more helpful than using traditional methods.
Message passing algorithm based on QR decomposition for an SCMA system with multiple antennas

Sparse code multiple access (SCMA) is a nonorthogonal multiple access scheme based on a multi-dimensional codebook with sparse codewords. The sparsity property of SCMA allows the receiver to take advantage of low-complexity message passing algorithm (MPA) detector with maximum likelihood (ML)-like performance. The use of multiple antennas at the SCMA receiver will improve the detection performance of the MPA at the expense of an increase in complexity. To reduce the complexity of the MPA, we propose an MPA detection scheme based on QR decomposition, referred to as QR-MPA detection, for an SCMA system with multiple antennas. The proposed QR-MPA detection scheme achieves performance close to the optimal MPA performance by converting the factor graph into two subgraphs through QR decomposition and exchanging a posterior probabilities between subgraphs in a circular manner. Simulation results are presented to compare the performance of the proposed QR-MPA detection scheme with that of the conventional MPA detection scheme.
Digital Camera-Based Spectrometry for the Development of Point-of-Care Anemia Detection on Ultra-Low Volume Whole Blood Sample

Objective of this paper: Early detection of anemia (low hemoglobin count) at point-of-care (PoC) in a low resource setting is challenging given the associated capital and recurring costs of the device. In this paper, we have developed a faster and reliable method to screen the hemoglobin level in the whole blood in a resource limited point of care setting. We have also investigated a simple scattering-based technique to predict the overall morphology of the red blood cells. Methods: In this paper, we have developed and validated a digital camera-based spectrometer for the early detection of anemia with the whole blood of 10-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{L}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> volume in a low resource PoC setting. The developed device consists of two LEDs [Green (570 nm) and Red (631 nm)], a web camera, a fluid sensing chamber (cuvette holder), and associate electronics. Validation of Beer–Lambert law using the blood of various degree of dilution has been achieved in this <italic>in vitro</italic> experiment. Major results: A significant number of human subjects (300) having a wide range of hemoglobin counts in a hospital is tested and found to reproduce results from a gold standard automated hematology analyzer. Our developed microcuvette requires only 10-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{L}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> unprocessed whole blood sample for the device. Conclusions: The device is expected to serve as a minimally invasive e-health care device for the anemia screening in any resource-limited point of care setting.
Learning Driver's Behavior to Improve the Acceptance of Adaptive Cruise Control

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is a technology that allows a vehicle to automatically adjust its speed to maintain a preset distance from the vehicle in front of it based on the driver’s preferences. Individual drivers have different driving styles and preferences. Current systems do not distinguish among the users. We introduce a method to combine machine learning algorithms with demographic information and expert advice into existing automated assistive systems. This method can save on the interactions between drivers and automated systems by adjusting parameters relevant to the operation of these systems based on their specific drivers and context of drive. We also learn when users tend to engage and disengage the automated system. This method sheds light on the kinds of dynamics that users develop while interacting with automation and can teach us how to improve these systems for the benefit of their users. While accepted packages such as Weka were successful in learning drivers’ behavior, we found that improved learning models could be developed by adding information on drivers’ demographics and a previously developed model about different driver types. We present the general methodology of our learning procedure and suggest applications of our approach to other domains as well.
SpeakUp: remote unsupervised voting

We present SpeakUp, a novel way to cast a ballot remotely, using a personal computer connected to the Internet. SpeakUp is resistant to potential malware installed on the voter’s machine, addresses voter authentication, and oﬀers some degree of protection against massive coercion. The main idea is that voters are required to read out loud a short text that is associated with the candidate for whom they wish to vote. The voting server identiﬁes the voter by the characteristics of their voice and identiﬁes which text was read. The text, along with the voter’s voice, is publicly posted on a bulletin board, and may serve as a receipt for a universally veriﬁable method of tallying. SpeakUp is based on the bio-metric characteristics of the voter’s voice. Speaker veriﬁcation is used to authenticate the voters. Similar to voice biometrics, it is assumed that it is diﬃcult for computers to spoof the voter’s voice.
Learning the piano: a study of attitudes to parental involvement

Numerous studies in general education have concluded that parental involvement improves student achievement. Research in music education indicates that parental involvement is beneficial to progress on a musical instrument. However, few music teachers are known to actively encourage it. This paper reports on a detailed qualitative survey that examines teachers', pupils' and parents' attitudes to parental involvement, the extent and nature of that involvement, and pupils' resultant enjoyment and achievement. The survey found that, while pupils and parents alike welcome parental involvement, some teachers encourage this collaboration and some do not. Teachers who (a) have pedagogical qualifications, (b) have followed specialist courses, and (c) are experienced, prove more likely to encourage parental involvement.
Effect of norgestomet treatment on plasminogen activator activity in the cervical mucus and the endometrium in dairy cows.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of norgestomet treatment, in the absence or the presence of a functional corpus luteum (CL), on plasminogen activators activity (PAA) in the cervical mucus and the endometrium in dairy cows. Eleven days after oestrus (Day 0 = oestrus), 38 cows were randomly assigned to one untreated control group (n = 9) and three treatment groups (S(1), S(2) and S(3)). Animals of S(1) group (n = 9) received an implantation of norgestomet on the outer surface of the ear for 8 days, simultaneous injection of oestradiol valerate 5 mg and norgestomet 3 mg, i.m. , and on Day 19 an injection of ECG 500 IU, i.m. Animals of S(2) group (n = 11) received the treatment of S(1) group, plus an administration of PGF(2)alpha on Day 10 for the regression of CL. Animals of S(3) group received the treatment of S(2) group, plus two additional norgestomet implants inserted on Day 16 for 36 h. Both types of plasminogen activators [the tissue-type (t-PA) and the urokinase-type (u-PA)] were detected in the cervical mucus and the endometrium of the cows. Plasminogen activators activity in the cervical mucus was higher in control group than in S(1), S(2) and S(3) groups (P < 0.001). In contrast, endometrial PAA did not differ among groups (P > 0.05). Oestradiol-17beta concentrations on Day 21 were higher in S(2) group than in control group (P < 0.01) and S(3) group (P < 0.05). Progesterone concentrations did not differ among groups (P > 0.05). Oestradiol-17beta concentrations could positively affect cervical mucus PAA in control group (P < 0.1), but not in other groups (P > 0.05). These findings suggest that control of estrous cycle by norgestomet administration, in dairy cows, exerts a suppressive effect on plasminogen activators synthesis and/or secretion in the cervical mucus, regardless of the absence or the presence of the CL. On the contrary, endometrial PAA is not affected by norgestomet treatment.
Promoting or Perturbing Success

Using event history modeling, this study explored to what extent loans, grants, institutional aid, and work-study affect timing to first departure for Latino college students. The goal is to understand more about how aid promotes or perturbs success for Latino students as well as how those effects vary over time. Federal grants and targeted loans reduced likelihood of departure (attrition). Findings suggest that aid is a necessary but not sufficient condition for success.
There and Back Again: The Study of Mental Disorder and Terrorist Involvement

For the past 40 years, researchers studied the relationship between mental disorder and terrorist involvement. The literature developed in 4 paradigms, each of which differs in terms of their empirical evidence, the specific mental disorders studied, and their conceptualizations of terrorist involvement. These paradigms have not, however, witnessed linear and incremental improvements upon 1 another. Although 1 paradigm has generally tended to dominate a temporal period, many false assumptions and incorrect interpretations of earlier work permeate into today’s discourse. This article provides a history of the study of mental disorders and the terrorist. First, we briefly outline the core fundamental principles of the first 2 paradigms, The article then outlines the core arguments produced by the seminal reviews conducted in Paradigm 3. We highlight how these findings were consistently misinterpreted in subsequent citations. We then highlight recent innovations in the study of terrorism and mental disorder since the various influential literature reviews of 1997–2005. We conclude by outlining how future research in this area may improve in the coming years by broadening our understanding of both terrorist involvement and psychopathology away from simple dichotomous thinking.
‘Breast is best’: Infant feeding decisions and maternal deviance

The insistence that breast feeding confers unique and significant benefits upon children underpins both health policy and professional practice and is part of the context in which women decide how to feed their babies and, in turn, how they display and defend their decisions. This paper applies a framework, drawn from the sociology of deviance, to the accounts which women give of their infant feeding intentions. It draws upon data from a longitudinal qualitative interview study of the food choices made by mothers on behalf of their infants and young children, to show how such choices are irreducibly moral and that the ways in which women can be judged, or indeed judge themselves, to be deviant are legion. However mothers decide to feed their babies, infant feeding is a highly accountable matter. Whether they intend to breast feed or formula feed, women face considerable interactional challenges as they seek to establish that they are not only good mothers but also good partners and good women.