Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 15-GHz Reconfigurable Calibration-Free Linear FMCW Chirp Generator with Type-III Nested-PLL

A 15-GHz reconfigurable calibration-free frequency synthesizer is proposed for linear frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) chirp generation. By utilizing the type-III PLL architecture to adaptively track the ramp, the chirp linearity is improved remarkably for wide bandwidth operation. In addition, to further reduce the quantization noise from delta-sigma modulation (DSM) and suppress the in-band noise folding effect, a nested-PLL architecture is leveraged. Implemented in a 65-nm CMOS process, the proposed FMCW chirp generator consumes 55 mW power and supports triangular and sawtooth waveforms. Measurement results show that the phase noise of 15.17 GHz carrier frequency is −97.8 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. Without any efforts in calibration, the chirp generator achieves 1 GHz chirp bandwidth and 25 μs chirp period with a root-mean-square (RMS) frequency error as low as 341 kHz.
Atorvastatin dose-dependently decreases hepatic lipase activity in type 2 diabetes: effect of sex and the LIPC promoter variant.

OBJECTIVE Hepatic lipase (HL) is involved in the metabolism of several lipoproteins and may contribute to the atherogenic lipid profile in type 2 diabetes. Little is known about the effect of cholesterol synthesis inhibitors on HL activity in relation to sex and the hepatic lipase gene, the LIPC promoter variant in type 2 diabetes. Therefore, we studied the effect of atorvastatin 10 mg (A10) and 80 mg (A80) on HL activity in 198 patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Patients (aged 45-75 years, without manifest coronary artery disease, total cholesterol 4.0-8.0 mmol/l, and fasting triglycerides [TG] 1.5-6.0 mmol/l) were included in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial for 30 weeks (Diabetes Atorvastatin Lipid Intervention study). RESULTS HL activity at baseline was significantly higher in our population compared with an age-matched control group without type 2 diabetes (406 +/- 150 vs. 357 +/- 118 units/l). HL activity in men versus women (443 +/- 158 vs. 358 +/- 127 units/l), in carriers of the LIPC C/C allele versus carriers of the T/T allele (444 +/- 142 vs. 227 +/- 96 units/l), and in Caucasians versus blacks (415 +/- 150 vs. 260 +/- 127 units/l) all differed significantly (P < 0.001). Atorvastatin dose-dependently decreased HL (A10, -11%; A80, -22%; both P < 0.001). Neither sex nor the LIPC C-->T variation influenced the effect of atorvastatin on HL activity. CONCLUSIONS Sex, LIPC promoter variant, and ethnicity significantly contribute to the baseline variance in HL activity. Atorvastatin treatment in diabetic dyslipidemia results in a significant dose-dependent decrease in HL activity, regardless of sex or the LIPC promoter variant.
Extracting Semantics Relationships between Wikipedia Categories

The Wikipedia is the largest online collaborative knowledge sharing system, a free encyclopedia. Built upon traditional wiki architectures, its search capabilities are limited to title and full-text search. We suggest that semantic information can be extracted from Wikipedia by analyzing the links between categories. The results can be used for building a semantic schema for Wikipedia which could improve its search capabilities and provide contributors with meaningful suggestions for editing the Wikipedia pages. We analyze relevant measures for inferring the semantic relationships between page categories of Wikipedia. Experimental results show that Connectivity Ratio positively correlates with the semantic connection strength.
A 3-D-Printing-Compatible In-Line Polarization-Rotated Waveguide Filter Based on Shaped Spherical Resonators

This paper reports on a new design concept of millimeter-wave polarization-rotated waveguide filters taking advantage of high rotational symmetry of spherical and cylindrical cavities. The filter is based on geometrically shaped high-quality-factor spherical resonators that are coupled with cylindrical cavities in an in-line configuration. The polarization rotation is realized by step-rotating the shaped spherical resonators with appropriate angle intervals. The proposed filter features enhanced structural compatibility with additive manufacturing technology. Flexible design of arbitrary polarization rotation angles between 0° and 90° can be achieved without producing any distortion of the filter geometry. A $Ka$-band fifth-order bandpass filter prototype with a polarization rotation angle of 90° is designed and monolithically manufactured by employing metallic 3-D printing process. The 3-D printed filter demonstrates passband return and insertion losses of over 20 dB and lower than 0.8 dB, respectively.
Design, Optimization, and Experimental Characterization of a Novel Magnetically Actuated Finger Micromanipulator

The ability of external magnetic fields to precisely control micromanipulator systems has received a great deal of attention from researchers in recent years due to its off-board power source. As these micromanipulators provide frictionless motion, and precise motion control, they have promising potential applications in many fields. Conversely, major drawbacks of electromagnetic micromanipulators, include a limited motion range compared to the micromanipulator volume, the inability to handle heavy payloads, and the need for a large drive unit compared to the size of the levitated object, and finally, a low ratio of the generated magnetic force to the micromanipulator weight. To overcome these limitations, we designed a novel electromagnetic finger micromanipulator that was adapted from the well-known spherical robot. The design and optimization procedures for building a three Degree of Freedoms (DOF) electromagnetic finger micromanipulator are firstly introduced. This finger micromanipulator has many potential applications, such as cell manipulation, and pick and place operations. The system consists of two main subsystems: a magnetic actuator, and an electromagnetic end-effector that is connected to the magnetic actuator by a needle. The magnetic actuator consists of four permanent magnets and four electromagnetic coils that work together to guide the micromanipulator finger in the xz plane. The electromagnetic end-effector consists of a rod shape permanent magnet that is aligned along the y axis and surrounded by an electromagnetic coil. The optimal configuration that maximizes the micromanipulator actuation force, and a closed form solution for micromanipulator magnetic actuation force are presented. The model is verified by measuring the interaction force between an electromagnet and a permanent magnet experimentally, and using Finite Element Methods (FEM) analysis. The
A 3D localisation method for searching survivors/corpses based on WSN and Kalman filter

Localisation is a key technique in Internet of Things IoT and wireless sensor network WSN. Currently, for indoor localisation there are many approaches, e.g., RFID based, ultrasonic sensor based, etc. However, when an earthquake happens, the devices for localisation in a building may be damaged and how to quickly locate the survivors/corpses buried in a collapse regional is a key issue. In the paper, we propose a 3D localisation method for searching survivors/corpses based on WSN. It mainly consists of two stages. In the first stage, a draft location is calculated based on beacon nodes, and then a detailed location is computed in the second stage based on a mobile beacon node moving along a triangle. Meanwhile, we employed Kalman filter in the method to acquire stable received signal strength indicators RSSIs. Finally, we implement a robot car with a sensor node acting as a mobile beacon node and evaluate the proposed method through experiments in a gym.
OPTIMAL CONSUMPTION AND PORTFOLIO DECISIONS WITH PARTIALLY OBSERVED REAL PRICES

We consider optimal consumption and portfolio investment problems of an investor who is interested in maximizing his utilities from consumption and terminal wealth subject to a random inflation in the consumption basket price over time. We consider two cases: (i) when the investor observes the basket price and (ii) when he receives only noisy observations on the basket price. We derive the optimal policies and show that a modified Mutual Fund Theorem consisting of three funds holds in both cases. The compositions of the funds in the two cases are the same, but in general the investor's allocations of his wealth into these funds will differ. However, in the particular case when the investor has constant relative risk‐aversion (CRRA) utility, his optimal investment allocations into these funds are also the same in both cases.
LOCATIONING IN DISTRIBUTED AD-HOC WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

Evolving networks of ad-hoc, wireless sensing nodes rely heavily on the ability to establish position information. The algorithms presented herein rely on range measurements between pairs of nodes and thea priori coordinates of sparsely located anchor nodes. Clusters of nodes surrounding anchor nodes cooperatively establish confident position estimates through assumptions, checks, and iterative refinements. Once established, these positions are propagated to more distant nodes, allowing the entire network to create an accurate map of itself. Major obstacles include overcoming inaccuracies in range measurements as great as ±50%, as well as the development of initial guesses for node locations in clusters with few or no anchor nodes. Solutions to these problems are presented and discussed, using position error as the primary metric. Algorithms are compared according to position error, scalability, and communication and computational requirements. Early simulations yield average position errors of 5% in the presence of both range and initial position inaccuracies.
Improving Effectiveness of Automated Software Testing in the Absence of Specifications

Program specifications can be valuable in improving the effectiveness of automated software testing in generating test inputs and checking test executions for correctness. Unfortunately, specifications are often absent from programs in practice. We present a framework for improving effectiveness of automated testing in the absence of specifications. The framework supports a set of related techniques, including redundant-test detection, non-redundant-test generation, test selection, test abstraction, and program-spectra comparison. The framework has been implemented and empirical results have shown that the developed techniques within the framework improve the effectiveness of automated testing by detecting high percentage of redundant tests among test inputs generated by existing tools, generating non-redundant test inputs to achieve high structural coverage, reducing inspection efforts for detecting problems in the program, and exposing behavioral differences during regression testing
Portable Ultrasound Imaging

This paper presents a vector flow imaging (VFI) method for the integration of quantitative blood flow imaging in portable ultrasound systems. The method combines directional transverse oscillation (TO) and synthetic aperture sequential beamforming (SASB) to yield continuous velocity estimation in the whole imaging region. Six focused emissions are used to create a high-resolution image (HRI), and a dual-stage beamforming approach is used to lower the data throughput between the probe and the processing unit. The transmit/receive focal points are laterally separated to obtain a TO in the HRI that allows for the velocity estimation along the lateral and axial directions using a phase-shift estimator. The performance of the method was investigated with constant flow measurements in a flow rig system using the SARUS scanner and a 4.1 MHz linear array. A sequence was designed with interleaved B-mode and flow emissions to obtain continuous data acquisition. A parametric study was carried out to evaluate the effect of critical parameters. The vessel was placed at depths from 20 to 40 mm, with beam-to-flow angles of 65◦, 75◦, and 90◦. For the lateral velocities at 20 mm, a bias between -5% and -6.2% was obtained, and the standard deviation (SD) was between 6% and 9.6%. The axial bias was lower than 1% with a SD around 2%. The mean estimated angles were 66.70 ± 2.86◦, 72.65 ± 2.48◦, and 89.13 ± 0.79◦ for the three cases. A proof-of-concept demonstration of the real-time processing and wireless transmission was tested in a commercial tablet obtaining a frame rate of 27 fps and a data rate of 14 MB/s. An in-vivo measurement of a common carotid artery of a healthy volunteer was finally performed to show the potential of the method in a realistic setting. The relative SD averaged over a cardiac cycle was 4.33%.
An Automated Recognition System for Newly Issued License Plate in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

The development of real-time, high-performance automated license plate detection and recognition is a challenging task in computer vision and machine learning. This is due to the detection of each plate within a scene and the subsequent identification of its constituent characters. This study is the first step toward Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) for the newly issued license plates in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The work was carried out in various steps; initially, an object detector was trained to detect the plate in real-time; for this, SSD MobileNet v2 was used. Secondly, the license plate area identified via extraction by the object detector. Thirdly, utilizing the extracted area to detect the characters on the plate using OCR and identifying the license plate governorate using the governorate code. In addition, to train the object detector, 185 high-resolution images of the newly released license plate were collected and labeled. The proposed object detector achieved an AP of 87.7 %, an AR of 84.8 %, a MAP of 87.6 %, and a total loss of 0.17 %. The result experiment demonstrate that the proposed approach properly recognizes almost all license plates.
THE APPLICATIONS OF ANCIENT CHINESE MILITARY STRATEGY IN A NEWLY FORMED CHINESE ENTERPRISE : THE DYNAMICS OF E-SUPPLY RELATIONSHIPS

This study examines the dynamics of electronic supply relationships (e-supply relationships) in a newly formed large Chinese telecom enterprise by employing an interpretive case study approach. This paper illustrates the importance of national and corporate cultures in shaping the relationships within the technological and wider cultural supply network context. It conceptualises the transformation process as interactions between managerial actions and social structures.
Deep Learning-based Person Detection on a Moving Robot

This paper presents a 60 GHz MIMO radar system on a moving robot for person presence detection. Due to the movement of the robot, many environmental influences are added. For this purpose, various scenarios were created and 8,000 data frames were recorded and processed. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained and evaluated using this data. Ultimately this low-cost system achieves 97% accuracy in classifying whether a person is present or absent.
Non-Parametric Bayesian Rejuvenation of Smart-City Participation through Context-aware Internet-of-Things (IoT) Management

Tweaking citizen participation is vital in promoting Smart City services. However, conventional practices deficit sufficient realization of personal traits despite socio-economic promise. The recent trend of IoT-enabled smart-objects/things and personalized services pave the way for context-aware services. Eventually, the aim of this paper is to develop a context-aware model in predicting participation of smart city service. Hence, major requirements are identified for citizen participation, namely (a) unwrapping of contexts, which are relevant, (b) scaling up (over time) of participation. However, paramount challenges are imposed on this stipulation, such as, un-observability, independence and composite relationship of contexts. Therefore, a Non-parametric Bayesian model is proposed to address scalability of contexts and its relationship with participation.
Flexural and visual characteristics of fibre-managed plantation Eucalyptus globulus timber

ABSTRACT The main goal of this study was to investigate the visual characteristics, recovery rate, and flexural properties of sawn boards from a fibre-managed plantation Eucalyptus globulus resource as a potential raw material for structural building applications. The impacts of the visual characteristics, strength-reducing features, and variation in basic density and moisture content on the bending modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR) of the boards were investigated. The reliabilities of different non-destructive methods in predicting MOE and MOR of the boards were evaluated, including log acoustic wave velocity measurement and numerical modellings. The MOE and MOR of the boards were significantly affected by the slope of grain, percentage of clear wood, and total number of knots in the loading zone of the boards. The normal variation in basic density significantly influenced the MOE of the boards while its effect on the MOR was insignificant. The numerical models developed using the artificial neural network (ANN) showed better accuracies in predicting the MOE and MOR of the boards than traditional multi-regression modelling and log acoustic wave velocity measurement. The ANN models developed in this study showed more than 78.5% and 79.9% success in predicting the adjusted MOE and MOR of the boards, respectively.
Effects of forced uncoupling protein 1 expression in 3T3-L1 cells on mitochondrial function and lipid metabolism Published, LR Papers in Press, January 3, 2007.

Obesity-related increase in body fat mass is a risk factor for many diseases, including type 2 diabetes. Controlling adiposity by targeted modulation of adipocyte enzymes could offer an attractive alternative to current dietary approaches. Brown adipose tissue, which is present in rodents but not in adult humans, expresses the mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) that promotes cellular energy dissipation as heat. Here, we report on the direct metabolic effects of forced UCP1 expression in white adipocytes derived from a murine (3T3-L1) preadipocyte cell line. After stable integration, the ucp1 gene product was continuously expressed during differentiation and reduced the total lipid accumulation by ∼30% without affecting other adipocyte markers, such as cytosolic glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and leptin production. The expression of UCP1 also decreased glycerol output and increased glucose uptake, lactate output, and the sensitivity of cellular ATP content to nutrient removal. However, oxygen consumption and β-oxidation were minimally affected. Together, our results suggest that the reduction in intracellular lipid by constitutive expression of UCP1 reflects a downregulation of fat synthesis rather than an upregulation of fatty acid oxidation.
Life-long in vivo cell-lineage tracing shows that no oogenesis originates from putative germline stem cells in adult mice

Significance Whether or not oocyte regeneration occurs in the adult mammalian ovary has been the subject of much debate. By performing a series of in vivo cell-lineage tracing experiments, we have supplied compelling in vivo evidence that mammalian oocytes are not regenerated from any putative germline stem cells in adult life. Our current study provides conclusive evidence that the initial oocyte pool is the only source of fertility throughout reproductive life in mammals. Whether or not oocyte regeneration occurs in adult life has been the subject of much debate. In this study, we have traced germ-cell lineages over the life spans of three genetically modified mouse models and provide direct evidence that oogenesis does not originate from any germline stem cells (GSCs) in adult mice. By selective ablation of all existing oocytes in a Gdf9-Cre;iDTR mouse model, we have demonstrated that no new germ cells were ever regenerated under pathological conditions. By in vivo tracing of oocytes and follicles in the Sohlh1-CreERT2;R26R and Foxl2-CreERT2;mT/mG mouse models, respectively, we have shown that the initial pool of oocytes is the only source of germ cells throughout the life span of the mice and that no adult oogenesis ever occurs under physiological conditions. Our findings clearly show that there are no GSCs that contribute to adult oogenesis in mice and that the initial pool of oocytes formed in early life is the only source of germ cells throughout the entire reproductive life span.
Mechanomyography energy decreases during muscular fatigue in paraplegics

The present work investigated the response of triaxial MMG signals acquired from the rectus femoris muscle of spinal cord injured volunteers during fatigue protocol electrically evoked. A custom functional electrical stimulator voltage-controlled was configured as: pulse frequency set to 1 kHz (20% duty cycle) and burst (modulating) frequency set to 70 Hz (20% active period). The triaxial MMG signal of rectus femoris muscle was processed with third-order 5-50 Hz bandpass Butterworth filter and the values were normalized. A load cell was used to register the force. The stimulator output voltage was increased until the maximal electrically-evoked extension (MEEE) of knee joint. After the load cell placement, the stimuli magnitude required to reach the MEEE was applied and registered by the load cell as muscular force-100% response. Stimuli intensity was increased until and during the control to keep the force in force-100%. Four instants with force functional electrical stimulation (FES)-controlled were selected between force-100% and slope down to force-30%. The MMG energy decreased with FES application due neuromuscular fatigue in paraplegic subjects. X-axis between instant I (1 ± 0) and instant IV (0.74 ±0.27), and the same tendency was found to Y-axis between instant II (1.14 ± 0.44) and instant IV (0.91 ± 0.3).
Large-Scale Model-Based Assessment of Deer-Vehicle Collision Risk

Ungulates, in particular the Central European roe deer Capreolus capreolus and the North American white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus, are economically and ecologically important. The two species are risk factors for deer–vehicle collisions and as browsers of palatable trees have implications for forest regeneration. However, no large-scale management systems for ungulates have been implemented, mainly because of the high efforts and costs associated with attempts to estimate population sizes of free-living ungulates living in a complex landscape. Attempts to directly estimate population sizes of deer are problematic owing to poor data quality and lack of spatial representation on larger scales. We used data on 74,000 deer–vehicle collisions observed in 2006 and 2009 in Bavaria, Germany, to model the local risk of deer–vehicle collisions and to investigate the relationship between deer–vehicle collisions and both environmental conditions and browsing intensities. An innovative modelling approach for the number of deer–vehicle collisions, which allows nonlinear environment–deer relationships and assessment of spatial heterogeneity, was the basis for estimating the local risk of collisions for specific road types on the scale of Bavarian municipalities. Based on this risk model, we propose a new “deer–vehicle collision index” for deer management. We show that the risk of deer–vehicle collisions is positively correlated to browsing intensity and to harvest numbers. Overall, our results demonstrate that the number of deer–vehicle collisions can be predicted with high precision on the scale of municipalities. In the densely populated and intensively used landscapes of Central Europe and North America, a model-based risk assessment for deer–vehicle collisions provides a cost-efficient instrument for deer management on the landscape scale. The measures derived from our model provide valuable information for planning road protection and defining hunting quota. Open-source software implementing the model can be used to transfer our modelling approach to wildlife–vehicle collisions elsewhere.