Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contribution à la caractérisation diélectrique micro-onde de cristaux liquides : application aux circuits agiles en fréquence

Ce travail porte sur la caracterisation dielectrique micro-onde des cristaux liquides et leur application en agilite en frequence. A cet effet, des cellules de caracterisation en lignes plaquees et en guides d'onde rectangulaires ont ete realisees en configuration dipole et quadripole. Deux methodes originales de determination de la permittivite pour l'une, et de la pennittivite-permeabilite pour l'autre, sans calibrage de l'analyseur de reseaux vectoriel sont presentees. Elles ont permis de caracteriser le tenseur permittivite complexe de trois cristaux liquides nematiques en bande Ka (26-40GHz). La seconde partie de ce travail est consacree a la realisation de dispositifs agiles en frequence a base de cristaux liquides. Deux circuits dephaseurs originaux et une cavite de Perot-Fabry agile ont ete concus et caracterises. Les performances montrent les potentialites d'applications hyperfrequence des cristaux liquides en agilite en frequence.
Rotating high-frequency voltage injection based on characteristic harmonic elimination

The rotating high-frequency voltage injection is a method of the sensorless field oriented control of permanent magnet synchronous motor. But there are some problems in the traditional method, such as the phase shift brought by the low pass filters, and the position estimation error. The characteristic harmonic elimination method is introduced to replace the low pass filters, and the error brought by the stator resistance and the band-pass filters is compensated. The complete scheme of the improved rotating high-frequency voltage injection method is given in this paper. The experimental results are demonstrated in detail to verify the feasibility and advantages of the proposed scheme.
The investigation of the bio-oil produced by hydrothermal liquefaction of Spirulina platensis using ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

We report the investigation of the hydrothermal liquefaction products of the Spirulina platensis microalgae by using the Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. The hydrothermal liquefaction produced two fractions: one with boiling temperature below 300℃ and the dense residue that remained in the reactor. It was observed that N2 and N classes of compounds that dominate in the positive ESI Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance spectra for both fractions, and that the light fraction is considerably more saturated then the heavy one. The performed hydrogen/deuterium exchange reaction indicated the presence of the onium compounds in the bio-oil.
Health policy evolution in Lao People’s Democratic Republic: context, processes and agency

During the last 20 years Lao People’s Democratic Republic has successfully developed and adopted some 30 health policies, strategies, decrees and laws in the field of health. Still, the implementation process remains arduous. This article aims at discussing challenges of health policy development and effective implementation by contextualizing the policy evolution over time and by focusing particularly on the National Drug Policy and the Health Care Law. Special attention is given to the role of research in policymaking. The analysis was guided by the conceptual framework of policy context, process, content and actors, combined with an institutional perspective, and showed that effective implementation of a health policy is highly dependent on both structures and agency of those involved in the policy process. The National Drug Policy was formulated and adopted in a short period of time in a resource-scarce setting, but with dedicated policy entrepreneurs and support of concerned international collaborators. Timely introduction of operational health systems research played a crucial role to support the implementation, as well as the subsequent revision of the policy. The development of the Health Care Law took several years and once adopted, the implementation was delayed by institutional legacies and issues concerning the choice of institutional design and financing, despite strong support of the law among the policymakers. Among many factors, timing of the implementation appeared to be of crucial importance, in combination with strong leadership. These two examples show that more research, that problematizes the complex policy environment in combination with improved communication between researchers and policymakers, is necessary to inform about measures for effective implementation. A way forward can be to strengthen the domestic research capacity and the international research collaboration regionally as well as globally.
Semantic Network Organization Based on Distributed Intelligent Managed Elements

A new network architecture based on increasing intelligence of the computing nodes is suggested for building the semantic grid. In its simplest form, the distributed intelligent managed element (DIME) network architecture extends the conventional computational model of information processing networks, allowing improvement of the efficiency and resiliency of computational processes. This approach is based on organizing the process dynamics under the supervision of intelligent agents. The DIME network architecture utilizes the DIME computing model with non-von Neumann parallel implementation of a managed Turing machine with a signaling network overlay and adds cognitive elements to evolve super recursive information processing, for which it is proved that they improve efficiency and power of computational processes. The main aim of this paper is modeling the DIME network architecture with grid automata. A grid automaton provides a universal model for computer networks, sensor networks and many kinds of other networks.
Repeated Measurements of 11β-HSD-1 Activity in Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue from Lean, Abdominally Obese, and Type 2 Diabetes Subjects – No Change Following a Mixed Meal

The aim of this study was to measure 11β-HSD-1 activity in subcutaneous adipose tissue by an ex vivo method in three subgroups; lean, obese, and type 2 diabetes subjects, both in the fasting state and after a mixed meal and to determine the variability and reproducibility of this method. Eighteen subjects were investigated; 6 lean, 6 abdominally obese, and 6 type 2 diabetes subjects (BMI 22 ± 1, 30 ± 3 and 31 ± 3 kg/m², respectively). Needle biopsies were taken repeatedly and an index of 11β-HSD-1 activity was measured as percent conversion of (3)H-cortisone to (3)H-cortisol/100 mg tissue. For two separate biopsies taken in the fasting state on the same day, the within subjects CV was 16% and the between CV was 36% for 11β-HSD-1 activity for all subjects. For two biopsies taken in the fasting state at two different days, the total within subjects CV was 38% and the between subjects CV was 46%. Lean subjects had lower 11β-HSD-1 activity (4.8 ± 1.5% conversion of ³H-cortisone to ³H-cortisol/100 mg tissue) than both obese (14.4 ± 1.6% conversion, p<0.01) and type 2 diabetes subjects (11.7 ± 1.9% conversion, p<0.05) in the fasting state. There was no effect of a meal on 11β-HSD-1 activity in any of the three groups. The conclusions from this study are: 1) the variation coefficient for the ex vivo adipose tissue 11β-HSD-1 activity method was ∼25% for repeat measures within subjects; 2) food intake had no major impact on enzyme activity; and 3) 11β-HSD-1 activity in subcutaneous adipose tissue was significantly increased in obese subjects with or without T2DM compared to lean subjects without diabetes.
Characterization of Aerococcus viridans Isolates from Swine Clinical Specimens

ABSTRACT We present here the biochemical and genetic characterization and antimicrobial susceptibility of 58 isolates of Aerococcus viridans isolated in pure culture from different clinical specimens of normally sterile body sites of pigs. A. viridans isolates were commonly susceptible to β-lactam antimicrobials and exhibited a great genetic heterogeneity as determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis typing. The results indicate that A. viridans might be included in the list of possible etiological agents causing disease in pigs.
Maximum power point tracking in PV system using intelligence based P&O technique and hybrid cuk converter

The requirement for renewable energy sources is very high in recent years due to the acute energy crisis. Photovoltaic power is regarded as a chief source of energy in several countries with high solar power density. The main obstruction for reach of solar PV systems is their low efficiency and high capital cost. Therefore, controlling Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) for the solar array has become an essential aspect in a PV generation as Maximum Power Point (MPP) changes with the solar radiation and temperature. In this paper, Perturbation and Observation (P&O) algorithm is used for maximum power point tracking as it has the potential to adjust the solar array reference voltage to attain maximum power point. P&O system has certain limitation which is overcome in this paper with the utilization of fuzzy based P&O. But, this produces oscillations in voltage conversion. To overcome this difficulty, a better converter should be used in voltage conversion. Cuk converter is one of the existing efficient converters in PV systems. One of main drawback in cuk converter is more duty cycles are required for better conversion and some oscillations will persist in voltage conversion. To overcome these drawbacks, hybrid boost mode cuk converter is used in this paper. In hybrid boost mode cuk converter, step up structure is used which will result in better conversion ratio and better damping of oscillations. The main advantage of this proposed system is that the efficiency of the hybrid boost mode cuk converter is increased. The system is simulated under different climatic conditions. The simulation model of controller is built in MATLAB / Simulink background, and the simulation result shows the reduction in oscillations and improvement in power conversion.
Magnetic and magneto-mechanical vibration properties of non-oriented electrical steel

Non-oriented electrical steel, 30ZH105, was purchased from Nippon Steel Corporation. The steel has been widely used in rotating motor, small transformer, and electro-mechanical equipment cores. Because the noise generated from the steel core usually imposes an environment issue, in this study, we focus on the magnetic and magneto-mechanical studies of the 30ZH105 steel. Saturation magnetization (4πM<sub>S</sub>) and coercivity (H<sub>C</sub>), were determined from the hysteresis loop with field (H<sub>E</sub>) along the rolling direction. The complex permeability (μ = μ<sub>R</sub> - iμ<sub>I</sub>), under various excitation conditions, was measured as a function of frequency (f) from 5 to 300k Hz by using an impedance analyzer. Longitudinal or transverse DC magnetostiction (λ<sub>||</sub> or λ<sub>⊥</sub>) was detected by a strain gauge, and by applying magnetic field (H), either longitudinally or transversely. In addition, we used the same gauge to record the AC (e.g. with the exciting frequency, f<sub>d</sub> = 60 Hz) longitudinal magneto-strictive vibrations (λ<sub>L</sub>) as a function of time (t), for the sample under different magnetization states (M/M<sub>S</sub>), where M is magnetization and M<sub>S</sub> is saturation magnetization. By taking the fast Fourier transformation (FFT) on the real-time AC magnetostriction signal, we could analyze the fundamental (f = f<sub>d</sub>) and other higher harmonic (f = nf<sub>d</sub>, where n is a positive integer) vibrations: un-weighted and A-weighted. While performing the AC magnetostriction measurements, a sensitive microphone was placed near the sample in order to record the audio-noise spectrum.
Interseg: a distributed image segmentation tool

Motivated by the rapidly increase of remote sensing data over the last years, this paper presents a tool designed for distributed image segmentation. InterSeg is able to handle efficiently very large high-resolution images using scalable distributed segmentation methods over computer clusters. Through a graphic user interface, InterSeg hides the distributed processing complexity, allowing the user to easily perform distributed image segmentation on a cloud-computing environment. Experiments carried out with the tool attest its potential scalability and its capability to exploit distributed processing over many cluster nodes. Moreover, as an open-source solution, the software can be extended with different segmentation algorithms and methods.
W2Lan: Protocol that transforms a 802.11 mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) into an ethernet lan

To overcome the partial visibility problem that Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANET) exhibit [1] data link-level (level 2 OSI) routing protocols must be considered. Examples of protocols in use are the Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) [2] routing protocol -reactiveand the Destination-Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV) [3] routing protocol -proactive-, and reviews of other routing protocols are available in [4]. A common feature these protocols share is its complexity. Another consideration is that LAN are massively deployed [5] and its protocols and applications are robust and well-known, therefore the idea of keeping them seems reasonable. An Ethernet LAN characteristic is the total visibility issue, that is, a broadcast frame reaches all members of the LAN, however, IEEE 802.11x MANETs do not have it. The proposed W2LAN protocol is a link-level layer protocol that transforms for the higher layers a 802.11x MANET into an Ethernet LAN, maintaining compatibility with other proven and well-established protocols.
Optimal design of a compact 99.3% efficient single-phase PFC rectifier

Due to rising energy costs the efficiency of power electronics converter systems is of higher and higher importance, especially for applications with continuous operation as e.g. server power supplies. For designing such supplies numerous parameters like the switching frequency and the characteristic values and the geometry of magnetic components must be determined. In this paper, an optimisation procedure, which automatically determines the parameter values of a single-phase bridgeless PFC rectifier for maximum efficiency is presented. There, continuous and discontinuous operation mode, as well as a concept for magnetic integration of the CM and DM filter inductors is included. For verifying the considerations, a prototype with 99.3% efficiency and a power density of 1.35kW/dm3 is presented.
Multiobjective controller synthesis via eigenstructure assignment with state feedback

ABSTRACT A general parameter scheme for multiobjective controller synthesis via eigenstructure assignment with state feedback is proposed. The scheme provides total pole configurability, that is, pole assignment constraints, partial pole assignment constraints, generalised regional pole assignment constraints can be dealt with simultaneously without introducing essential conservatism. The scheme is derived from the pole assignment approach using Sylvester equations, and the parameter space is the Cartesian product of some subspaces characterising the free parameters. Under the scheme, the controller design problems are formulated as nonlinear optimisation problems with both objectives and constraints being differentiable and can be solved by derivative-based nonlinear programming technique. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method.
Fast Coherent Signal Subspace-Based Method for Bearing and Range of Buried Objects Estimation in the Presence of Colored Noise

In this paper, a new method for simultaneous range and bearing estimation for buried objects in the presence of an unknown colored noise is proposed. We propose a method based on multiple signal classification (MUSIC) with a new source steering vector which includes both the reflection and the refraction of wave at water-sediment interface at each sensor. The bearing and the range objects at each sensor are expressed as a function of those at the first sensor. To reduce the computational load we propose the fixed-Point algorithm, which it is faster than singular value decomposition (SVD) for MUSIC, to compute only the leading eigenvectors. A novel iterative denoising algorithm based on the noise subspace spanned by the eigenvectors associated with the smallest eigenvalues is developed when the noise spectral matrix is one unknown band matrix. The bilinear focusing operator is used to decorrelate the received wideband signals and to estimate the coherent signal subspace. The performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated by computer simulations. Finally,we test the proposed algorithms on experimental data recorded during underwater acoustic experiments.
A Robust PID-PSS Using Evolutionary Algorithms Implemented Using Developed Interface

Abstract: Power System Stabilizer (PSS) is a supplementary control signal of a generator’s excitation system based on Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR), are now routinely used in the industry to damp out power system oscillations. Optimal tuning gain of AVR PSS is necessary for satisfactory performance of power system. Genetic algorithms (GA) have been widely used for global optimization problems. This paper presents a systematic approach for designing and optimal tuning an advanced Conventional AVR-PSS gains, realized on PID-schemes (called AVRSA), to improve the effectiveness and investigates its robustness under uncertainly constraints on a SMIB system, using Genetic Algorithms. The proposed approach employs GA search for optimal setting of AVR-PSS parameters. The performance of the proposed GA-PSS under small and large disturbances, loading conditions and system parameters variations are tested. The simulation results have proved that GA are powerful tools for optimizing the AVR-PSS parameters, and obtained more robustness of the studied power system. This present work was performed and simulated using our graphical interface ‘GUI’ realized under MATLAB.
Accelerating real-time LiDAR data processing using GPUs

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors are used for acquiring high density topographical data with extremely high spatial resolution. Many LiDAR-based applications, e.g. unmanned autonomous ground and air vehicles require realtime processing capabilities for navigation. The processing of the massive LiDAR data is time consuming due to the magnitude of the data produced and also due to the computationally iterative nature of the algorithms. Graphics Processing Units (GPU) consist of massively parallel cores, have high memory bandwidth and are being widely used as specialized hardware accelerators. A GPU-based parallel LiDAR processing algorithm is implemented with GPU specific memory architecture optimizations. The GPU implementation in this study significantly reduces the processing time of the LiDAR data as compared to CPU-based implementation.
A boundary filtering based spatial join query processing optimization algorithm

Aiming at the problems of the spatial join query processing in the cloud environment, an effective spatial join query processing optimization algorithm is proposed in this paper, which is based on the MapReduce framework. The algorithm applies a grid partitioning method to distribute spatial data objects and uses a boundary filtering strategy to reduce the computation and communication cost of spatial join query processing. Firstly, data space is divided into partition units with the same size, and spatial data objects are distributed into the corresponding partition units according to the inclusion relation between them. Then calculates the MBR of the spatial data objects within a partition unit and uses the MBR to filter the useless data objects across the partition unit, thereby reducing the corresponding computation cost. At the same time, a simple and effective data results duplication avoiding mechanism is applied to avoid repeating output of spatial join processing results, further reducing the computation cost at Reduce stage. Experiment results on synthetic and real datasets show that the proposed algorithm has obvious advantages and good performance than the original SJMR query processing algorithm.
Secreted aspartic proteinase (Sap) activity contributes to tissue damage in a model of human oral candidosis

Secreted aspartic proteinases (Saps) are important virulence factors during Candida albicans mucosal or disseminated infections. A differential expression of individual SAP genes has been shown previously in a model of oral candidosis based on reconstituted human epithelium (RHE), and in the oral cavity of patients. In this study, the ultrastructural localization of distinct groups of Sap isoenzymes expressed during RHE infection was shown by immunoelectron microscopy using specific polyclonal antibodies directed against the gene products of SAP1‐3 and SAP4‐6. Large amounts of Sap1‐3 antigen were found within C. albicans yeast and hyphal cell walls, often predominantly in close contact with epithelial cells, whereas lower quantities of Sap4‐6 were detected in hyphal cells. To elucidate the relevance of the expressed Saps during oral infections, we examined the effect of the aspartic proteinase inhibitor, pepstatin A, during infection of the RHE. The extent of lesions caused by the strain SC5314 was found to be strongly reduced by the inhibitor, indicating that proteinase activity contributes to tissue damage in this model. To clarify which of the SAP genes are important for tissue necrosis, the histology of RHE infection with Δsap1, Δsap2, Δsap3, Δsap4‐6 and three Δsap1/3 double mutants were examined. Although tissue damage was not blocked completely with these mutants, an attenuated phenotype was observed for each of the single sap null mutants, and was more strongly attenuated in the Δsap1/3 double null mutants. In contrast, the lesions caused by the Δsap4‐6 triple mutant were at least as severe as those caused by SC5314. During infection with the mutants, we observed that the SAP gene expression pattern of the Δsap1 and the Δsap1/3 mutants was altered in comparison with the wild‐type strain. Expression of SAP5 was observed only during infection with the Δsap1/3 mutant, whereas upregulation of SAP2 and SAP8 transcripts was observed in the Δsap1 and the Δsap1/3 mutants. These results suggest that Sap1‐3, but not Sap4‐6, contribute to tissue damage in this model. Furthermore, C. albicans may compensate for the deletion of certain SAP genes by upregulation of alternative SAP genes.
Orthogonal multiple carrier data transmission

In this paper, the idea of data transmission by essentially using the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) algorithm, the idea of overlapped but orthogonally sampled multiple data transmission channels, and the idea of subband signal processing by means of DFT polyphase filter banks are combined. The main result in a novel orthogonal multiple carrier (OMC) data transmission system with high computational efficiency and high bandwidth efficiency. Intersymbol interference is avoided by choosing each channel as a Nyquist system. The problem of unavoidable crosstalk between adjacent channels is solved by sampling the equally spaced zeros of the crosstalk impulse response. It is shown that in a critically sampled DFT filter bank the space between the zeros exactly equals one symbol period. The time offset of half a symbol period between the zeros of the real part and the zeros of the imaginary part of the crosstalk impulse response leads to a special staggering technique with time offset. Finally the structure of the polyphase filter banks is optimized resulting in fast Fourier transforms of half of the original length.