Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design of a Reflex-Based Bidirectional Converter With the Energy Recovery Function

In this paper, a reflex charging strategy with the energy recovery function for a bidirectional converter (BC) is proposed to build a novel reflex-based BC (RBC) for increasing the battery charging efficiency in an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The proposed RBC can provide a reflex charging current profile to charge the battery to obtain a high battery charging efficiency and prolong the battery life cycle. In particular, the negative pulse energy of the reflex charging current profile in the proposed RBC is recovered to reduce the battery charging dissipation. A soft transfer method is also developed in this paper to really erase the spike current in the RBC. A 400 W prototype is designed and implemented to verify the feasibility of the proposed RBC. Compared with a typical bidirectional converter, the battery charging efficiency, the battery charging speed, and the battery thermal deterioration effect are improved by about 10%, 8.8%, and 7%, respectively, with the proposed RBC.
Self-consistent calculation of the q dependence of the electron-phonon coupling in aluminum.

A new approach is developed to calculate electron-phonon interactions in metals. The method is fully self-consistent and does not assume the rigid-ion or the rigid-muffin-tin approximation. Application is made to aluminum to compute the wave-vector--dependent electron-phonon coupling. The results are in good agreement with experimental estimates of the average coupling lambda and some previous calculations of this quantity.
Primary calibration of hydrophones with extended frequency range 1 to 70 MHz using optical interferometry

A technique for the primary calibration of hydrophones based on an optical principle is presented. An interferometer determines the displacement of a pellicle mounted on the surface of the tank fluid perpendicular to the sound propagation axis; the known acoustic field is then measured using the hydrophone. The application range extends from 1 to 50 MHz and, with a lesser accuracy, to 70 MHz. The loaded and the open-circuit sensitivity are obtained pointwise, and the frequency and the number of the measurement points can be arbitrarily chosen. As an example, two membrane hydrophones with a spot diameter of 0.5 mm are calibrated, and the comparison with a theoretical model describing the acoustic and electrical properties of the hydrophone shows good agreement.
MID-INFRARED PROPERTIES OF THE SWIFT BURST ALERT TELESCOPE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI SAMPLE OF THE LOCAL UNIVERSE. I. EMISSION-LINE DIAGNOSTICS

We compare mid-infrared emission-line properties from high-resolution Spitzer spectra of a hard X-ray (14–195 keV) selected sample of nearby (z < 0.05) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected by the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) aboard Swift. The luminosity distribution for the mid-infrared emission lines, [O iv] 25.89 μm, [Ne ii] 12.81 μm, [Ne iii] 15.56 μm, and [Ne v] 14.32/24.32 μm, and hard X-ray continuum show no differences between Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 populations; however, six newly discovered BAT AGNs are under-luminous in [O iv], most likely the result of dust extinction in the host galaxy. The overall tightness of the mid-infrared correlations and BAT fluxes and luminosities suggests that the emission lines primarily arise in gas ionized by the AGNs. We also compare the mid-infrared emission lines in the BAT AGNs with those from published studies of ULIRGs, Palomar-Green quasars, star-forming galaxies, and LINERs. We find that the BAT AGN sample falls into a distinctive region when comparing the [Ne iii]/[Ne ii] and the [O iv]/[Ne iii] ratios. These line ratios are lower in sources that have been previously classified in the mid-infrared/optical as AGNs than those found for the BAT AGNs, suggesting that, in our X-ray selected sample, the AGNs represent the main contribution to the observed line emission. These ratios represent a new emission line diagnostic for distinguishing between AGNs and star-forming galaxies.
The Employee Factor in the Service-Profit Chain Framework

Abstract This study investigates the employees working in a Chinese leading securities firm by applying Structural Equation Modeling techniques to assess the importance of employee factors in the service-profit chain. The findings of this study indicate that positive linkages do exist between employee factors and corporate profitability. Moreover, we have found that employee satisfaction can be predicted by internal service quality as perceived by employees. A high amount of employee satisfaction can result in lower intentional turnover. And profitability seems to be strongly influenced by employee tenure. Our study has implications for Chinese securities firms because employee factors are measurable and accountable to the company's profitability. This contribution has tried to add to the knowledge domain regarding the service-profit chain model by testing it within Chinese culture.
Completely Determined Known at Test Phrase Unknown at Test Phrase , but Some Information is Known Completely Unknown Impreciseness of Costs Previous CSL

Existing cost-sensitive learning methods require that the unequal misclassification costs should be given as precise values. In many real-world applications, however, it is generally difficult to have a precise cost value since the user maybe only knows that one type of mistake is much more severe than another type, yet it is infeasible to give a precise description. In such situations, it is more meaningful to work with a cost interval instead of a precise cost value. In this paper we report the first study along this direction. We propose the CISVM method, a support vector machine, to work with cost interval information. Experiments show that when there are only cost intervals available, CISVM is significantly superior to standard cost-sensitive SVMs using any of the minimal cost, mean cost and maximal cost to learn. Moreover, considering that in some cases other information about costs can be obtained in addition to cost intervals, such as the distribution of costs, we propose a general approach Codis for using the distribution information to help improve performance. Experiments show that this approach can reduce 60% more risks than the standard cost-sensitive SVM which assumes the expected cost is the true value.
A Broadside-Scanning Half-Mode Substrate Integrated Waveguide Periodic Leaky-Wave Antenna

A detailed study of a half-mode substrate integrated waveguide (SIW)-fed periodic leaky-wave antenna (LWA) with broadside scanning enabled is presented. Design techniques are outlined. Previously presented simulations have been improved with an enhanced structure model that incorporates substrate anisotropy. Additional theory has been applied to the analysis of the antenna to further validate its leaky-wave operation, and extra prototypes have been characterized for comparison to original measurements and simulations. The prototype antenna displayed a 32% impedance bandwidth within which a 10-dB gain over an 86 ° scan range (including broadside) was observed such that its radiation performance appears to be comparable to some of the newly popular SIW-based composite right/left-handed leaky-wave antennas.
Complete mitochondrial genome of the green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)

Abstract The green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae family of order Perciformes, which is native to a wide area of North America. This species was introduced into China in 1998 and became one of the economically important freshwater species. In this study, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of L. cyanellus. The total length of L. cyanellus mitogenome is 16,485 bp, which consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and 1 control region (D-loop), with the genome organization and gene order being identical to that of the typical vertebrate. The overall base compositions of the heavy strand are 27.5% A, 26.2% T, 29.9% C, and 16.4% G, with an A + T content of 53.7%. The mitochondrial genome of L. cyanellus shared 86.8% sequence identity with that of Lepomis macrochirus. The sequence information presented here will be useful for evolutionary as well as population genetic studied.
An Application on Time Series Clustering Based on Wavelet Decomposition and Denoising

Generally, the result of clustering cannot reflect the similarities of time series properly because of the disturbance of noises and details in time series. In this paper, a new approach to this problem based on wavelet decomposition and denoising is proposed. The approach has been tested and analyzed by Synthetic Control Chart Time Series from University of California,Irvine (UCI) knowledge discovery in databases (KDD).
Digital control of a voltage source inverter in photovoltaic applications

Digital control techniques are used to control a voltage source inverter in a photovoltaic system. A digital signal processor is implemented in the voltage source inverter which provides rapid maximum power point tracking through the control of the inverter output current. In addition to this, the digital signal processor provides other necessary system functions including calculation of the inverter switching instants used for current regulation and maximum power point tracking and synchronization with the grid. The system is presented as a fully operational unit and the inclusion of simulation results, analysis of the control implementation technique and experimental verification exhibit the system's functionality.
Faculty Involvement in Planning for the Use and Integration of Instructional and Administrative Technologies

Abstract Colleges and universities increasingly rely on technology for both business and academic operations. Technology, in the form of hardware and software, has made higher education institutions more efficient and has expanded their reach and service areas to a global marketplace. The concern during this period of increasingly pervasive technology at higher education institutions is how to develop appropriate and adequate plans that maximize said technology in both administration and teaching. One method, used on a number of college campuses, involves the formation of faculty advisory groups and, at times, using faculty senate, forum, council, or similar organizations to provide opportunities for broad-based, inclusive decision making. The current study provides a report on a Delphi survey of 29 faculty senate leaders about how faculty should be involved in planning for the use of instructional and administrative technologies.
Tracing sources of Listeria contamination in traditional Italian cheese associated with a US outbreak: investigations in Italy

SUMMARY In 2012 a US multistate outbreak of listeriosis was linked to ricotta salata imported from Italy, made from pasteurized sheep's milk. Sampling activities were conducted in Italy to trace the source of Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The cheese that caused the outbreak was produced in a plant in Apulia that processed semi-finished cheeses supplied by five plants in Sardinia. During an ‘emergency sampling’, 179 (23·6%) out of 758 end-products tested positive for L. monocytogenes, with concentrations from <10 c.f. u. /g to 1·1 × 106 c.f. u. /g. Positive processing environment samples were found in two out of four processing plants. A ‘follow-up sampling’ was conducted 8 months later, when environmental samples from three out of six plants tested positive for L. monocytogenes and for Listeria spp. PFGE subtyping showed 100% similarity between US clinical strains and isolates from ricotta salata, confirming the origin of the outbreak. The persistence of strains in environmental niches of processing plants was demonstrated, and is probably the cause of product contamination. Two PFGE profiles from clinical cases of listeriosis in Italy in 2011, stored in the MSS-TESSy database, were found to have 100% similarity to one PFGE profile from a US clinical case associated with the consumption of ricotta salata, according to the US epidemiological investigation (sample C, pulsotype 17). However, they had 87% similarity to the only PFGE profile found both in the US clinical case and in 14 ricotta cheese samples collected during the emergency sampling (sample B, pulsotype 1). Sharing of molecular data and availability of common characterization protocols were key elements that connected the detection of the US outbreak to the investigation of the food source in Italy. Simultaneous surveillance systems at both food and human levels are a necessity for the efficient rapid discovery of the source of an outbreak of L. monocytogenes.
Intraday Price Discovery in Emerging European Stock Markets

We characterize the price discovery in three emerging EU stock markets—the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland—by employing high-frequency five-minute intraday data on stock market index returns and four classes of EU and U.S. macroeconomic announcements during 2004–2007. We account for the difference of each announcement from its market expectation and we jointly model the volatility of the returns accounting for intra-day movements and day-of-the-week effects. Our findings show that real-time interactions on the new EU markets are strongly determined by matured stock markets as well as the macroeconomic news originating thereby. Monetary news has virtually no impact on stock returns while U.S. prices affect all three markets. The real economy announcements have varying effects but the news on the EU current account affects all three markets in a uniform manner. Only some EU economic climate and confidence announcements affect stock returns. In general, differences in results across markets are driven by differences in key market participants. Volatility of the returns is accounted for at the beginning and end of the trading session and it declines dramatically during the rest of the day. All three markets also show a decrease in volatility by the middle of the business week. Our findings yield insights into the process of stock market integration in the EU as well as portfolio allocation on the new EU markets.
Investigating the impact of direct access on the use of generalised audit software (gas) and on the quality of auditors’ analytical tests

II DECLARATION BY AUTHOR . III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . V LIST OF FIGURES . XI LIST OF TABLES . XII ACRONYMS . XIV CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background and Motivation . 1 1.1.1 The research motivation . 4 1.1.2 The research question . 4 1.1.3 The research process . 5 1.2 Summary of the Outcomes . 6 1.3 Research Contributions . 10 1.3. 1 Theoretical contributions . 10 1.3. 2 Practical contributions . 11 1.4 Organisation of the Thesis . 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW . 13 2.
Neuroimaging Research: From Null-Hypothesis Falsification to Out-of-Sample Generalization

Brain-imaging technology has boosted the quantification of neurobiological phenomena underlying human mental operations and their disturbances. Since its inception, drawing inference on neurophysiological effects hinged on classical statistical methods, especially, the general linear model. The tens of thousands of variables per brain scan were routinely tackled by independent statistical tests on each voxel. This circumvented the curse of dimensionality in exchange for neurobiologically imperfect observation units, a challenging multiple comparisons problem, and limited scaling to currently growing data repositories. Yet, the always bigger information granularity of neuroimaging data repositories has lunched a rapidly increasing adoption of statistical learning algorithms. These scale naturally to high-dimensional data, extract models from data rather than prespecifying them, and are empirically evaluated for extrapolation to unseen data. The present article portrays commonalities and differences between long-standing classical inference and upcoming generalization inference relevant for conducting neuroimaging research.
Selective expression of presenilin 1 in neural progenitor cells rescues the cerebral hemorrhages and cortical lamination defects in presenilin 1-null mutant mice

Mice with a null mutation of the presenilin 1 gene (Psen1–/–) die during late intrauterine life or shortly after birth and exhibit multiple CNS and non-CNS abnormalities, including cerebral hemorrhages and altered cortical development. The cellular and molecular basis for the developmental effects of Psen1 remain incompletely understood. Psen1 is expressed in neural progenitors in developing brain, as well as in postmitotic neurons. We crossed transgenic mice with either neuron-specific or neural progenitor-specific expression of Psen1 onto the Psen1–/– background. We show that neither neuron-specific nor neural progenitor-specific expression of Psen1 can rescue the embryonic lethality of the Psen1–/– embryo. Indeed neuron-specific expression rescued none of the abnormalities in Psen1–/– mice. However, Psen1 expression in neural progenitors rescued the cortical lamination defects, as well as the cerebral hemorrhages, and restored a normal vascular pattern in Psen1–/– embryos. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that Psen1 expression in neural progenitor cells is crucial for cortical development and reveal a novel role for neuroectodermal expression of Psen1 in development of the brain vasculature.
Do Managers Perform for Perks

We examine how the managerial consumption of perquisites is determined and whether and how it impacts firm value. On the one hand, if the consumption of perks is a result of agency conflict, then it represents managerial excesses and is value-destroying. On the other hand, when the transaction cost of monetary compensation is high due to information asymmetry, government regulations and media scrutiny, perks can provide incentives for managers to work hard to create shareholder wealth. Using manually-collected data on direct monetary compensation and perks for firms in China, we find that perks are provided when the relative pay between top managers and average employees is low, in firms with high free cash flows, high economic rent and growth. Further, perks are positively associated with firm value, but to a much lesser extent than monetary compensation. Therefore, while perks appear to motivate managers to work hard to create shareholder wealth, they are not as effective as monetary compensation. In addition, the predicted or the “optimal” portion of perks motivates managers better than the unpredicted portion of perks. Finally, the effect of perks in enhancing firm value is more pronounced in firms with high economic rent, high growth and low relative pay between top managers and average employees.
Performance enhancement in OFDM systems with ICI utilizing the improved double jump linear combination pulse

It is well-know that carrier frequency offset in the subcarriers of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) leads to intercarrier interference (ICI); therefore, system degradation occurs. Nevertheless, this issue may effectively be mitigated via the pulse shaping filter method. In this manuscript, we present the improved double jump linear combination (IDJLC) function. With the goal of minimizing the bit error rate (BER), we then optimize it by employing its extra design parameters. Finally, our filter is compared with some of the best and most recent filters found in the literature in terms of ICI, signal to interference ratio, signal to noise ratio and normalized frequency offset requirements at a BER threshold of 10∼3, frequency profile, and average elapsed time. In general, the performance of the system is improved by using the IDJLC pulse.
Long-term mortality and quality of life in sepsis: A systematic review*

Background:Long-term outcomes from sepsis are poorly understood, and sepsis in patients may have different long-term effects on mortality and quality of life. Long-term outcome studies of other critical illnesses such as acute lung injury have demonstrated incremental health effects that persist after hospital discharge. Whether patients with sepsis have similar long-term mortality and quality-of-life effects is unclear. Objective:We performed a systematic review of studies reporting long-term mortality and quality-of-life data (>3 months) in patients with sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock using defined search criteria. Design:Systematic review of the literature. Interventions:None. Main Results:Patients with sepsis showed ongoing mortality up to 2 yrs and beyond after the standard 28-day inhospital mortality end point. Patients with sepsis also had decrements in quality-of-life measures after hospital discharge. Results were consistent across varying severity of illness and different patient populations in different countries, including large and small studies. In addition, these results were consistent within observational and randomized, controlled trials. Study quality was limited by inadequate control groups and poor adjustment for confounding variables. Conclusions:Patients with sepsis have ongoing mortality beyond short-term end points, and survivors consistently demonstrate impaired quality of life. The use of 28-day mortality as an end point for clinical studies may lead to inaccurate inferences. Both observational and interventional future studies should include longer-term end points to better-understand the natural history of sepsis and the effect of interventions on patient morbidities.
Corporate Reputation Management: Reaching Out to Financial Stakeholders

textabstractCorporate reputation is important for firms’ long-term performance and competitive advantages. This dissertation sets out to understand the relationship between corporate reputation and a company’s attractiveness to financial stakeholders from different angles. Specifically, I examine the role of corporate reputation in the context of the agency problem to explain the causal chain through which the uncertainties and risks are mitigated for investors. This dissertation contributes to the multifaceted conceptualization of reputation (1) by examining different economic values of overall corporate reputation and its pre-condition—visibility, (2) by considering reputation among different stakeholders—public stakeholders and financial stakeholders, and (3) by distinguishing two dimensions of financial reputation—trustworthiness and attractiveness. Acknowledging this multifaceted conceptualization of corporate reputation is crucial for firms to develop an effective strategy for reputation management, and further achieving competitive advantages. The overarching finding across the studies is that reputation management contributes to both attracting financial stakeholders and achieving a superior financial performance of the corporation. Particularly, I identified the mediating role of financial reputation in the mechanism through which public reputation affects financial performance. This result also contributes to the understanding of how reputations among different stakeholder groups affect financial performance differently.