Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliability comparison of boost PFC converter in DCM and CCM operating modes

Reliability plays an important role in power electronic systems by which the number of system failures, repair costs, guarantee and etc are estimated. In this paper first, a boost power factor correction (PFC) converter is simulated in discontinues conduction mode (DCM) and continuous conduction mode (CCM) under different output power ratings. For these simulations, all of the inherent parameters of MOSFET and diodes are applied according to the actual types. Then, reliability calculation is done based on MIL-HDBK-217 standard. Results have shown that the boost PFC converter would have better performance from reliability point of view in CCM operating mode.
Gene Expression Profiles of Heat Shock Proteins 70 and 90 From Empoasca onukii (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in Response to Temperature Stress

ABSTRACT. Empoasca onukii Matsuda is a worldwide pest that causes great economic loss in tea growing areas and is significantly affected by temperatures. Heat shock protein (Hsp) genes are important in insects' response to temperature stress. In this study, two full-length Hsp genes, Eohsp90 and Eohsp70, were cloned from E. onukii using rapid amplification of complementary DNA ends. The open reading frames of Eohsp90 and Eohsp70 were 2,172 bp and 2,016 bp in length, respectively. Their deduced amino acid sequences of Eohsp90 and Eohsp70 showed high homology with other species. Subsequently, the transcriptional expression of Eohsp90 and Eohsp70 in E. onukii adults exposed to various temperatures (-5, 0, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 38, 41 and 44°C) for 1 h, and at extreme temperatures (0°C and 41°C) for various time duration (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 min) were investigated via real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The relative expression levels of both Eohsp90 and Eohsp70 in E. onukii adults were upregulated as the temperature rises or falls over time, except in the -5°C or 44°C temperature groups. Moreover, the expression level in the temperature elevated groups was higher than that of the lower temperature groups. In addition, the Eohsp70 generally demonstrated a higher transcriptional level than Eohsp90, and both genes had a higher expression profile in female adults compared with the males. The expression profiles indicated that Eohsp90 and Eohsp70 may play important roles in E. onukii adult responses to ecologically relevant environmental temperature threat.
Comparison of different design methodologies of hardware-based image processing for automation in microrobotics

Object-detection and classification is a key task in micro- and nanohandling. The microscopy image is often the only available sensor to detect information about the positions and orientations of objects. FPGA-based image processing is superior to state of the art PC-based image processing in terms of achievable update rate, latency and jitter. Development of specialized FPGA solutions for object detection and tracking using a hardware-description language is time consuming and requires deep knowledge of the target system. Using SystemC, a C++ based class library, fast implementation with less knowledge of the system is possible. However, the gain in development speed is accompanied by higher resource usage of the FPGA and lower performance regarding computation speed. In this paper, several image processing algorithms are implemented in both manners and are compared regarding achievable update-rate, resource consumption and development time. The SystemC implementations could be implemented twice as fast and with less knowledge about the system. The increased resource usage of SystemC is negligible for small series and prototyping applications, while the decreased computation speed may be problematic for high-speed applications.
Decentralized Multi-Level Duty Cycling in Sensor Networks

Prolonging network lifetime while efficiently detecting and reporting events are arguably the most important objectives of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Different WSN protocols aim to improve such measures, yet partially focus on certain aspects (eg. reliability and time latency) and sacrifice others (eg. power efficiency) in application specific approaches. We present DMULD (decentralized multi-level duty cycling), a cross-layer design paradigm aiming at raising performance measures of general WSNs. It integrates tailored multi-level sleep states having varying levels of performance (hence energy consumption) with novel sensing, medium access control (MAC) and routing protocols. Nodes carry on tasks in a decentralized manner with efficient load balancing. DMULD is a dynamic model which is adaptable to application specific requirements, through fine tuning its parameters. DMULD was thoroughly simulated, examining the effects of varying its parameters on network lifetime and efficiency. It achieved over double the lifetime of multi-hop CSMA/CA.
A granularity model for balancing the structural complexity of manufacturing systems equipment and layout

The structural complexity of a manufacturing system results primarily from the complexity of its equipment and their layout. The balance between both complexity sources can be achieved by searching for the best system granularity level, which yields a manufacturing system with the least overall structural complexity. A new system granularity complexity index is developed to sum up and normalize the complexity resulting from the system layout complexity and the equipment structural complexity. A previously developed layout complexity index together with a code-based structural complexity assessment are used to determine the structural complexity of standalone pieces of equipment and to arrive at a balance between the two sources of complexity. Cladistics analysis is used to hierarchically cluster required pieces of equipment and bundle them into more integrated equipment and machines and demonstrate the possible different system granularity levels. The new developed model is a useful tool to create specific system configuration and layout alternatives based on system components adjacency, and then select the system design with the least overall structural complexity among those alternatives. The results of the presented case study clearly demonstrated this trade-off where decomposing manufacturing systems into a highly granular configuration with standalone machines maximizes system layout complexity and minimizes equipment complexity, while at a low level of granularity pieces of equipment are bundled into complex integrated machines, lines or cells but with a very simple system layout. © 2015 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Mutational analysis of Schizosaccharomyces pombe U4 snRNA by plasmid exchange

We have developed a system for testing mutations by plasmid exchange in the fission Schizosaccharomyces pombe. This system has been used to test the requirement for different regions of the small nuclear RNA U4 in S. pombe. Surprisingly, five of seven deletion and substitution mutations tested in different regions of U4 prevent the accumulation of the mutant RNA. Substitution of the U4 sequence in stem 1 of the U4/U6 interaction doamain allows accumuation of the mutant U4, but does not supports viability. Two sequences with homology to the Sm binding site are found in the 3′ region of S. pombe U4; substitution of the 3′ sequence of the two does not interfere with accumulation or function of U4, indicating that the 5′ sequence is the functional Sm‐binding site.
multiplicative functions, Lattice points, representation of integers. Contents

Mixed zeta functions and application to some lattice points problems. Abstract: We consider zeta functions: ] has degree d and f is a function arithmetic in origin, e.g. a mul-tiplicative function. In this paper, I study the meromorphic continuation of such series beyond an a priori domain of absolute convergence when f and P satisfy properties one typically meets in applications. As a result, I prove an explicit asymptotic for a general class of lattice point problems subject to arithmetic constraints.
Discovery of a WZ Sge-Type Dwarf Nova, SDSS J102146.44+234926.3: Unprecedented Infrared Activity during a Rebrightening Phase

Several SU UMa-type dwarf novae and WZ Sge-type stars tend to exhibit rebrightenings after superoutbursts. The rebrightening phenomenon is problematic for the disk instability theory of dwarf novae, since it requires a large amount of remnant matter in the disk, even after superoutbursts. Here, we report on our optical and infrared observations during the first-ever outburst of a new dwarf nova, SDSS J102146.44 + 234926.3. During the outburst, we detected superhumps with a period of 0.056281 ˙ 0.000015 d, which is typical for superhump periods in WZ Sge stars. In conjunction with the appearance of a long-lived rebrightening, we concluded that the object is a new member of WZ Sge stars. Our observations, furthermore, revealed infrared behaviors for the first time in the rebrightening phase of WZ Sge stars. We discovered prominent infrared superhumps. We calculated the color temperature of the infrared superhump source to be 4600–6400 K. These temperatures are too low to be explained by a fully ionized disk appearing during dwarf-nova outbursts. We also found a Ks-band excess over the hot disk component. These unprecedented infrared activities provide evidence for the presence of mass reservoir at the outermost part of the accretion disk. We propose that a moderately high mass-accretion rate at this infrared active region leads to the long-lived rebrightening observed in SDSS J102146.44 + 234926.3.
Ancient forest fragmentation or recent radiation? Testing refugial speciation models in chameleons within an African biodiversity hotspot

Aim East Africa is one of the most biologically diverse regions, especially in terms of endemism and species richness. Hypotheses put forward to explain this high diversity invoke a role for forest refugia through: (1) accumulation of new species due to radiation within refugial habitats, or (2) retention of older palaeoendemic species in stable refugia. We tested these alternative hypotheses using data for a diverse genus of East African forest chameleons, Kinyongia.
Carbon offsetting through computer network redesign

Sustaining green communications in digital data transmission is gaining prime importance, as the 24/7 access networks contribute large electrical power consumption. Presently, the increased number of digital transactions in most of the enterprise network (EN) tremendously increases the volume of data transmitted through out the EN at all the time that would increase the electrical power consumption. We have proposed few operations to redesign the clusters of an enterprise network and we have modeled the cluster redesign problem as an optimization problem and utilized Simulated Annealing (SA) to search for the best re-clustering to reduce traffic at the backbone. The two redesign operations move node and swap nodes as the neighborhood functions in Simulated Annealing are utilized to reduce the traffic at the backbone of the enterprise network and we have extended our algorithm to prove that the decrease in volume of traffic at the backbone decreases the power consumption. We have selected Manchester coding to encode the generated and transmitted data, and it is our basic model to estimate the utilized power. Our simulation results demonstrate that an overall reduction in the backbone traffic after the redesign operations decreases the power consumption by 13% and 3.7% in move node and swap nodes operation, thus offsetting the carbon emissions per year by 45% and 13% respectively.
Visual Clustering of Graphs with Nonuniform Degrees

We discuss several criteria for clustering graphs, and identify two cri- teria which are not biased towards certain cluster sizes: the node-normalized cut (also called cut ratio) and the edge-normalized cut. We present two energy mod- els whose minimum energy drawings reveal clusters with respect to these criteria. The energy model that corresponds to the edge-normalized cut differs from the other energy model in that it is also useful for graphs with very nonuniform node degrees. We show that its drawings provide insights into the structure of an airline routing graph, a citation graph, a social network, and a thesaurus graph.
Comparison of Image Processing Resource Allocation for Multi-Target Tracking of Dismounted Targets

Dismounted targets can be tracked in urban environments with video sensors. Real-time systems are unable to process all of the imagery, demanding some method for prioritization of the processing resources. Furthermore, various segmentation algorithms exist within image processing, each algorithm possesses unique capabilities, and each algorithm has an associated computational cost. Additional complexity arises in the prioritization problem when targets become occluded (i.e., a building) and when the targets are intermixed with other dismounted entities. This added complexity leads to the question "which portions of the scene warrant both low cost and high cost processing? " The approach presented in this paper is to apply multi-target tracking techniques in conjunction with an integer programming optimization routine to determine optimal allocation of the video processing resources. This architecture results in feedback from the tracking routine to the image processing function which in turn enhances the ability of the tracker
Architecture for Scalable , Distributed Database System built on Multicore Servers

Many scientific fields routinely generate huge datasets. In many cases, these datasets are not static but rapidly grow in size. Handling these types of datasets, as well as allowing sophisticated queries necessitates efficient distributed database systems that allow geographically dispersed users to access resources and to use machines simultaneously in anytime and anywhere. In this paper we present the architecture, implementation and performance analysis of a scalable, distributed database system built on multicore systems. The system architecture makes use of a software partitioning of the database based on data clustering, termed the SQMD (Single Query Multiple Database) mechanism, a web service interface and multicore server technologies. The system allows uniform access to concurrently distributed databases over multicore servers, using the SQMD mechanism based on the publish/subscribe paradigm. We highlight the scalability of our software and hardware architecture by applying it to a database of 17 million chemical structures. In addition to simple identifier based retrieval, we will present performance results for shape similarity queries, which is extremely, time intensive with traditional architectures.
Intense Exercise and Aerobic Conditioning Associated with Chromium or L-Carnitine Supplementation Modified the Fecal Microbiota of Fillies

Recent studies performed in humans and rats have reported that exercise can alter the intestinal microbiota. Athletic horses perform intense exercise regularly, but studies characterizing horse microbiome during aerobic conditioning programs are still limited. Evidence has indicated that this microbial community is involved in the metabolic homeostasis of the host. Research on ergogenic substances using new sequencing technologies have been limited to the intestinal microbiota and there is a considerable demand for scientific studies that verify the effectiveness of these supplements in horses. L-carnitine and chromium are potentially ergogenic substances for athletic humans and horses since they are possibly able to modify the metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids. This study aimed to assess the impact of acute exercise and aerobic conditioning, associated either with L-carnitine or chromium supplementation, on the intestinal microbiota of fillies. Twelve “Mangalarga Marchador” fillies in the incipient fitness stage were distributed into four groups: control (no exercise), exercise, L-carnitine (10g/day) and chelated chromium (10mg/day). In order to investigate the impact of acute exercise or aerobic conditioning on fecal microbiota all fillies undergoing the conditioning program were analyzed as a separate treatment. The fillies underwent two incremental exercise tests before and after training on a treadmill for 42 days at 70–80% of the lactate threshold intensity. Fecal samples were obtained before and 48 h after acute exercise (incremental exercise test). Bacterial populations were characterized by sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene using the MiSeq Illumina platform, and 5,224,389 sequences were obtained from 48 samples. The results showed that, overall, the two most abundant phyla were Firmicutes (50.22%) followed by Verrucomicrobia (15.13%). The taxa with the highest relative abundances were unclassified Clostridiales (17.06%) and "5 genus incertae sedis" from the phylum Verrucomicrobia (12.98%). There was a decrease in the phylum Chlamydiae and in the genus Mycobacterium after the second incremental exercise test. Intense exercise changed the community’s structure and aerobic conditioning was associated with changes in the composition and structure of the intestinal bacterial population of fillies. The intra-group comparison showed that chromium or L-carnitine induced moderate changes in the fecal microbiota of fillies, but the microbiota did not differ from the control group, which was exercised with no supplementation. Fecal pH correlated positively with Simpson’s index, while plasma pH correlated negatively. Our results show that exercise and aerobic conditioning can change in the microbiota and provide a basis for further studies enrolling a larger number of horses at different fitness levels to better understand the effects of exercise and training on the intestinal microbiota of horses.
Innate Immunity and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) Related Genes in a Nested Case-Control Study for Gastric Cancer Risk

Objective Genetic variants regulating the host immune system may contribute to the susceptibility for the development of gastric cancer. Little is known about the role of the innate immunity- and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL)-related genes for gastric cancer risk. This nested case-control study was conducted to identify candidate genes for gastric cancer risk for future studies. Methods In the Discovery phase, 3,072 SNPs in 203 innate immunity- and 264 NHL-related genes using the Illumine GoldenGateTM OPA Panel were analyzed in 42 matched case-control sets selected from the Korean Multi-center Cancer Cohort (KMCC). Six significant SNPs in four innate immunity (DEFA6, DEFB1, JAK3, and ACAA1) and 11 SNPs in nine NHL-related genes (INSL3, CHMP7, BCL2L11, TNFRSF8, RAD50, CASP7, CHUK, CD79B, and CLDN9) with a permutated p-value <0.01 were re-genotyped in the Replication phase among 386 cases and 348 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) for gastric cancer risk were estimated adjusting for age, smoking status, and H. pylori and CagA sero-positivity. Summarized ORs in the total study population (428 cases and 390 controls) are presented using pooled- and meta-analyses. Results Four SNPs had no heterogeneity across the phases: in the meta-analysis, DEFA6 rs13275170 and DEFB1 rs2738169 had both a 1.3-fold increased odds ratio (OR) for gastric cancer (95% CIs = 1.1–1.6; and 1.1–1.5, respectively). INSL3 rs10421916 and rs11088680 had both a 0.8-fold decreased OR for gastric cancer (95% CIs = 0.7–0.97; and 0.7–0.9, respectively). Conclusions Our findings suggest that certain variants in the innate immunity and NHL-related genes affect the gastric cancer risk, perhaps by modulating infection-inflammation-immunity mechanisms that remain to be defined.
SYSTEM FOR UNCOVERING HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE IN REAL TIME FOR THE ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND AGRICULTURAL PROCESSES SISTEMA

The use of data mining techniques in systems that capture information in real time is a field with numerous possibilities that has so far been scarcely exploited. This paper presents the results of the Spanish project CONOSER (DPI2006-03060) on the adaptation of classical data mining algorithms for the real time search for association rules using time series of environmental, industrial and agricultural processes. The aim is to develop systems capable of revealing concealed and useful data to the expert in the form of rules, and that this knowledge can be continuously updated. The system developed captures information on a regular basis, pre-processes it, obtains significant patterns and refreshes the database of frequent items. Using this database, a search is made for those rules that fulfil a series of minimum conditions in terms of support and accuracy, updating the rules and selecting those that may be of use to the expert.
A multimodal approach to reduce false arrhythmia alarms in the intensive care unit

As part of the 2015 PhysioNet/CinC Challenge, this work aims at lowering the number of false alarms, which are a persistent concern in the intensive care unit. The multimodal database consists of 1250 life-threatening alarm recordings, each categorized as a bradycardia, tachycardia, asystole, ventricular tachycardia or ventricular flutter/fibrillation arrhythmia. Based on the quality of available signals, heart rate was either estimated from pulsatile waveforms (photoplethysmogram and/or arterial blood pressure) using an adaptive frequency tracking algorithm or computed from ECGs using an adaptive mathematical morphology approach. Furthermore, we introduced a supplementary measure based on the spectral purity of the ECGs to determine if a ventricular tachycardia or flutter/fibrillation arrhythmia has taken place. Finally, alarm veracity was determined based on a set of decision rules on heart rate and spectral purity values. Our method achieved overall scores of 76.11 and 85.04 on the real-time and retrospective subsets, respectively.
Managing generational diversity at the workplace: expectations and perceptions of different generations of employees

The behaviours, attitudes, and work values of three generations of employees may be influenced by their historical, economic, social, and cultural experiences. Work tensions and conflicts are inevitable if the Baby Boomer, generation X, and generation Y employees fail to understand and accept the unique and different characteristics of each group, and to embrace their similarities. If employees from one group constantly blame individuals from another group when they fail to achieve their expectations, aspirations, and personal goals, there would be ramifications, resulting in organisational disharmony and chaos. This article qualitatively highlights the expectation perception gap as a potential source of misperception and misunderstanding between employees from three generational groups. It also provides potential strategies on how to narrow that gap in a multigenerational workforce.