Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A novel FSS structure with high selectivity and excellent angular stability for 5G communication radome

A novel frequency selective surface structure (FSSs) with high selectivity and excellent angular stability is proposed in this paper. To improve the performance of the FSS especially in angular stability, the coupling of capacitive surface and inductive surface is employed to realize the miniaturization of the structural unit around 0. 23λ. Furthermore, to enhance the passband of the FSS, a multi-layer FSS structure is adopted to form a 2nd-order filter. In addition, as a bandstop with a high suppression is demanded in the 5G communication, we introduce a “Jerusalem cross“ structure in the inductive surface layer ingeniously to add the LC series resonance which can realize a rapid decline in the passband edge. One significant feature of this FSS design is that the passband and stopband can be controlled by different parts of the structure respectively, which greatly improves the FSS stability. Finally, a novel FSS working at the center frequency of 28.5 GHz with a low-profile broadband and a high rejection stopband is designed. It still has a stable transmission performance, when the incident wave angle changes up to 60°. These results demonstrate that the proposed FSS is a good candidate for 5G communication radome.
Iterative MMSE-DFE equalizer for the high data rates HF waveforms in the HF channel

Several researches investigate the performance of the conventional adaptive equalizers for the medium data rates HF waveforms (up to 8 PSK) and show that they are suitable for mitigating the HF channel. However, the performance of these types of equalizers is very bad for the high data rates HF waveforms (up to 64QAM). Most of the later researches in the high data rates HF waveforms are based on the soft turbo equalizers which are very complicated. In this paper, we try to design the lowest complex equalizer can mitigate the HF channel for the high data rates waveforms. We investigate the performance of the minimum mean square error decision feedback equalizer (MMSE-DFE) indirectly adaptive through channel estimation based on least square estimation (LS). We show that the basic performance of the MMSE-DFE cannot satisfy the standard requirements, and then we introduce two additional enhancements. First, an effective channel estimation technique (double estimation) is proposed. The new estimator shows a clear performance enhancement over simple least square estimation with linear interpolation (about 3 dB gain at 1e-5 BER for the 64QAM). The second enhancement is to use the iterative structure through decoder using the same conventional equalizer and decoder and this gives another 3 dB gain at 1e-5 BER for the 64QAM. Iterative structure is less complicated than turbo equalizers for sure, as turbo equalizers require a lot of changes in the equalizer, decoder and demapper blocks to be SISO modules. Final equalizer model satisfies all the strict requirements of both (STANAG 4539 annex B) and (MIL-STD-188-110B app. C) standards under the ITU-R Poor channel conditions. In addition, we compare our performance with two different vendors of HF modems and other different research and show that our performance is very competitive.
On detailed 3D reconstruction of large indoor environments

In this paper we present techniques for highly detailed 3D reconstruction of extra large indoor environments. We discuss the benefits and drawbacks of low-range, far-range and hybrid sensing and reconstruction approaches. The proposed techniques for low-range and hybrid reconstruction, enabling the reconstruction density of 125 points/cm3 on large 100.000 m3 models, are presented in detail. The techniques tackle the core challenges for the above requirements, such as a multi-modal data fusion (fusion of a LIDAR data with a Kinect data), accurate sensor pose estimation, high-density scanning and depth data noise filtering. Other important aspects for extra large 3D indoor reconstruction are the point cloud decimation and real-time rendering. In this paper, we present a method for planar-based point cloud decimation, allowing for reduction of a point cloud size by 80-95%. Besides this, we introduce a method for online rendering of extra large point clouds enabling real-time visualization of huge cloud spaces in conventional web browsers.
How to encode the modulo-two sum of binary sources (Corresp.)

How much separate information about two random binary sequences is needed in order to tell with small probability of error in which positions the two sequences differ? If the sequences are the outputs of two correlated memoryless binary sources, then in some cases the rate of this information may be substantially less than the joint entropy of the two sources. This result is implied by the solution of the source coding problem with two separately encoded side information sources for a special class of source distributions.
A Vision Based Method for Real-Time Respiration Rate Estimation Using a Recursive Fourier Analysis

In this paper, we propose a simple yet effective, computer vision based method for estimating respiration rate in real-time from the thoraco-abdominal video of a subject being monitored. The periodic motion of the chest wall of the subject is captured through the optical flow in the video sequence. The frequency of the chest wall motion is estimated by performing a Fourier analysis on the time sequence of the optical flow vectors. We present how to perform the Fourier analysis recursively leveraging the sequential nature of a video to speed-up our method. Unlike other methods, our method does not require a selection of region of interest because our method aggregates out-of-phase optical flows by factoring out the their relative phase differences. Unlike many existing methods, our method does not require to be reinitialized if the subject changes the posture during the observation. Our method works with different postures and different views (frontal, side, etc.) of the subject. Our method is very simple to implement. We evaluate our method against an impedance pneumograph and demonstrate the high accuracy of our method on thoracoabdominal videos of many subjects wearing a wide variety of clothing.
Response of Sheep Chondrocytes to Changes in Substrate Stiffness from 2 to 20 Pa: Effect of Cell Passaging

Aim: The influence of culture substrate stiffness (in the kPa range) on chondrocyte behavior has been described. Here we describe the response to variations in substrate stiffness in a soft range (2–20 Pa), as it may play a role in understanding cartilage physiopathology. Methods: We developed a system for cell culture in substrates with different elastic moduli using collagen hydrogels and evaluated chondrocytes after 2, 4, and 7 days in monolayer and three-dimensional (3D) cultures. Experiments were performed in normoxia and hypoxia in order to describe the effect of a low oxygen environment on chondrocytes. Finally, we also evaluated if dedifferentiated cells preserve the capacity for mechanosensing. Results: Chondrocytes showed less proliferating activity when cultured in monolayer in the more compliant substrates. Expression of the cartilage markers Aggrecan (Acan), type II collagen (Col2a1), and Sox9 was upregulated in the less stiff gels (both in monolayer and in 3D culture). Stiffer gels induced an organization of the actin cytoskeleton that correlated with the loss of a chondrocyte phenotype. When cells were cultured in hypoxia, we observed changes in the cellular response that were mediated by HIF-1α. Results in 3D hypoxia cultures were opposite to those found in normoxia, but remained unchanged in monolayer hypoxic experiments. Similar results were found for dedifferentiated cells. Conclusions: Chondrocytes respond differently according to the stiffness of the substrate. This response depends greatly on the oxygen environment and on whether the chondrocyte is embedded or grown onto the hydrogel, since mechanosensing capacity was not lost with cell expansion.
Clinical and angiographic outcomes following first-in-man implantation of a novel thin-strut low-profile fixed-wire stent: the Svelte Coronary Stent Integrated Delivery System first-in-man trial.

AIMS The Svelte Stent Integrated Delivery System (IDS) is a novel fixed-wire thin-strut cobalt-chromium stent characterised by a very low entry profile. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the safety and the feasibility of the Svelte stent IDS implantation in humans. METHODS AND RESULTS The present investigation is a prospective, multicentre non-randomised single-arm study. The primary endpoint was freedom from major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 30 days post-procedure. Invasive follow-up was scheduled at six months post implantation. A total of 47 patients were enrolled and serial OCT imaging was performed in a subgroup of 18 patients. At the index procedure the lesion success rate was 97.9% (46 patients), the mean acute gain was 1.56 ± 0.43 mm with a mean minimum lumen diameter of 2.48 ± 0.43 mm. Post-implantation OCT imaging revealed a minimal mean prolapse area (0.10 ± 0.06 mm²), mean incomplete stent apposition area (0.12 ± 0.13 mm²) and mean intraluminal mass area (0.05 ± 0.03 mm²). Edge dissections were reported in eight cases (mean dissection width 0.17 ± 0.07 mm proximally and 0.25 ± 0.24 mm distally). At 30-day clinical follow-up, one case of myocardial infarction was reported. At six months, the angiographic mean in-stent late loss was 0.95 ± 0.76 mm. By OCT, a high percentage of struts was covered (97.6 ± 15.00 %) with a mean neointimal thickness of 0.31 ± 0.14 mm, all edge dissections were clinically silent and healed. Target lesion revascularisation (TLR) occurred in 11 patients (23.4%) and clinically driven TLR in three of these patients (6.4%). No cases of death or stent thrombosis were reported during the study. CONCLUSIONS Implantation of the Svelte stent IDS was observed to be safe, feasible and associated with a low acute vascular injury and a high percentage of strut coverage at 6-month follow-up.
Antioxidant effects of vitamin C on hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers derived from human cord blood

Abstract Objective To investigated the antioxidant protection effects of vitamin C (Vc) on the hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) solution. Methods Three influential variables were studied including the molar ratio of Vc and hemoglobin, pH and temperature. The HBOCs molecules were characterized through spectral analysis, circular dichroism spectra, the oxygen binding curves and the molecular weights. Results The optimized conditions were molar ratios of above 3, pH of 7.5–8.0 and temperature of 4 °C. HBOCs characterization showed no differences before and after Vc addition. Conclusion Antioxidant effects in HBOCs solution could be presented by Vc, indicating the potential application of Vc in HBOCs development.
Elk‐1, CREB, and MKP‐1 regulate Egr‐1 expression in gonadotropin‐releasing hormone stimulated gonadotrophs

Stimulation of gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) receptors with the GnRH analogue buserelin enhances expression of the zinc finger transcription factor Egr‐1 in a pituitary gonadotroph cell line. The signaling cascade is blocked by overexpression of MAP kinase phosphatase‐1 that dephosphorylates extracellular signal‐regulated protein kinase in the nucleus. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that the phosphorylated form of Elk‐1, a key regulator of gene transcription driven by serum response element (SRE), binds to the 5′‐upstream region of the Egr‐1 gene in buserelin‐stimulated gonadotrophs. Expression of a dominant‐negative mutant of Elk‐1 completely blocked Egr‐1 expression, indicating that Elk‐1 connects the intracellular signaling cascade elicited by activation of GnRH receptors with transcription of the Egr‐1 gene. GnRH receptor activation additionally induced the phosphorylation of CREB, which in its phosphorylated form bound to the Egr‐1 gene. Expression of a dominant‐negative mutant of CREB reduced GnRH receptor‐induced upregulation of Egr‐1 expression, indicating that CREB plays a role in the signaling pathway that regulates Egr‐1 expression in gonadotrophs. We further identified the genes encoding basic fibroblast growth factor, tumor necrosis factor α, and transforming growth factor β as bona fide target genes of Egr‐1 in gonadotrophs. The analysis of gonadotroph cells that express—in addition to GnRH receptors—muscarinic M3 acetylcholine receptors revealed that the nuclear events connecting GnRH receptors and muscarinic M3 acetylcholine receptors with the Egr‐1 gene are indistinguishable. J. Cell. Biochem. 105: 1267–1278, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Conditional Asset Pricing - Predicting Time Varying Beta-Factors with Group Method of Data Handling Methods

Allowing for time-varying risk premia yields sophisticated asset pricing models, but the search for adequate model specifications is more challenging. We introduce, to our knowledge, previously in conditional asset pricing not used Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) that rests on sorting out requiring statsitical models for complex problems of unknown structure but does not require a model to predict conditional variation in betas. We find that lagged instruments used to proxy for expected returns in conditional asset pricing provide a challenge not only for the unconditional CAPM but also the Fama-French-model. Thereby non-linear GMDH-algorithms challenge traditional models of conditional asset pricing as we find a highly non-linear influence of lagged instruments on both conditional alphas and betas. Therefore, predetermining a structure for functional relationships between conditional alphas as well as betas and lagged instruments may lead to a significant misspecification of asset pricing models.
Increasing the RFID readability range using wireless power transmission enhancements

In this paper we propose a possible solution to increase the readability range of an inductive coupled based radio frequency identification (RFID) system. The solution is based on the introduction of a resonant printed spiral coil (PSC) in between the reader and the tag in order to enhance the magnetic field and therefore increase the detection range of the RFID reader. The results obtained proved this to be an effective technique, by more than doubling the readable range of the RFID system.
Supporting Diverse Dynamic Intent-based Policies using Janus

Existing network policy abstractions handle basic group based reachability and access control list based security policies. However, QoS policies as well as dynamic policies are also important and not representing them in the high level policy abstraction poses serious limitations. At the same time, efficiently configuring and composing group based QoS and dynamic policies present significant technical challenges, such as (a) maintaining group granularity during configuration, (b) dealing with network-bandwidth contention among policies from distinct writers and (c) dealing with multiple path changes corresponding to dynamically changing policies, group membership and end-point mobility. In this paper we propose Janus, a system which makes two major contributions. First, we extend the prior policy graph abstraction model to represent complex QoS and dynamic tateful/temporal policies. Second, we convert the policy configuration problem into an optimization problem with the goal of maximizing the number of satisfied and configured policies, and minimizing the number of path changes under dynamic environments. To solve this, Janus presents several novel heuristic algorithms. We evaluate our system using a diverse set of bandwidth policies and network topologies. Our experiments demonstrate that Janus can achieve near-optimal solutions in a reasonable amount of time.
Gain-Tunable Complementary Common-Source Amplifier Based on a Flexible Hybrid Thin-Film Transistor Technology

In this letter, we report a flexible complementary common-source (CS) amplifier comprising one p-type spray-coated single walled carbon nanotube and one n-type sputtered InGaZnO4 thin-film transistor (TFT). Bottom-gate TFTs were realized on a free-standing flexible polyimide foil using a maximum process temperature of 150 °C. The resulting CS amplifier operates at 10 V supply voltage and exhibits a gain bandwidth product of 60 kHz. Thanks to the use of a p-type TFT acting as a tunable current source load, the amplifier gain can be programmed from 3.5 up to 27.2 V/V (28.7 dB). To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest gain ever obtained for a flexible single-stage CS amplifier.
A Computational Strategy to Solve Preventive Risk-Based Security-Constrained OPF

The benefit of risk-based (RB) security-constrained optimal power flow (SCOPF) model lies in its ability to improve the economic performance of a power system while enhancing the system's overall security level. However, the RB-SCOPF model is difficult to solve due to the following two characteristics: 1) the overload severity of a circuit changes with the loading condition on it, thus is hard to express with a deterministic function, and 2) the risk index is a function of the state variables in both normal and contingency states, which greatly increases the scale of optimization. To handle the first issue, a new expression of severity function is proposed so that it is possible to decompose the model into a SCOPF subproblem and a risk subproblem. To deal with the second issue, a nested Benders decomposition with multi-layer linear programming method is proposed. Illustrations use the ISO New England bulk system is provided to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. Analysis is presented to demonstrate the merits of the RB-SCOPF over the traditional SCOPF model.
Industrialization and Structural Change: Can Sub-Saharan Africa Develop without Factories?

With its sustained growth, the unprecedented wave of foreign direct investment and the sharp decline in poverty, Sub-Saharan Africa’s track record over the past fifteen years has been largely positive. Yet, this rebound in growth, accompanied by major economic reforms, democratic progress and a lower incidence of conflicts, remains fragile. In Africa, structural change—which in most of toady’s developed countries has come about through a transfer of resources from the primary to the secondary sector, then to the tertiary sector—appears to have “bypassed” the secondary sector. In fact, be it in terms of jobs or value added, manufacturing has never really flourished in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rather, the trend in most of these countries is towards de-industrialization and this does not seem to have been reversed by the recent growth. The main contributing factors, widely documented by the literature and statistics, include the business environment uncertainties associated with public governance failures, high labor costs relative to worker qualifications, inadequate energy and transport infrastructure (often tied to governance issues) and dysfunctional credit markets. Despite recent improvements in the business climate, few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa offer attractive conditions for manufacturing investment compared to alternative locations, especially those in South East Asia. Can Sub-Saharan Africa pursue its development through its service sectors? To date, cases of countries that have achieved development “without factories” are too scarce and idiosyncratic to serve as a model. However, given the technical progress in services and the lack of plausible alternatives in manufacturing, the question remains open.Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa, (de-)industrialization, structural change, manufacturing, services, exports, poverty, employment, productivity, growth.JEL Classification: F1, J2, L6, O11, O14, O47, O55.
Evaluation of an aquatics programme on fitness parameters of individuals with a brain injury

The primary objective was to determine the effect of an aquatic exercise programme on the physical fitness of people with a brain injury. A pre-test–post-test randomized-groups design was conducted. Sixteen outpatients with a brain injury were included in the study. Eight participants were assigned to an aquatic exercise group and eight to a control group. The components of physical fitness measured included cardiovascular endurance, body composition, muscular strength and endurance and flexibility. Measurements were taken pre- and post-programme. Results indicated an increase in components of physical fitness for the experimental group but not the control group. Increases in fitness were reported as having a positive impact on the functional capacity of individuals in the exercise group as well as enhancing the individual's ability to complete activities of daily living successfully. Results indicate that aquatic exercise may positively impact the primary and secondary physical injuries caused by a brain injury.
Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management for Finance: Application of Real Options Method for Disaster Risk Sensitive Project

This paper discusses the application of real options analysis for a project that is in the process of construction and was affected by a natural disaster. The use of the analytical method has become a way of thinking in making decisions that should be taught to business school students. The case in this paper is based on an MBA thesis at the University of Gadjah Mada that was intended as a showcase for application of real options to address real business problems. It shows one of the strategies in mainstreaming disaster risk management in the business school that also answers the needs of businesses in the disaster-prone country.
Specific Recruitment of Human Cohesin to Laser-induced DNA Damage*

Cohesin is a conserved multiprotein complex that plays an essential role in sister chromatid cohesion. During interphase, cohesin is required for the establishment of cohesion following DNA replication. Because cohesin mutants resulted in increased sensitivity to DNA damage, a role for cohesin in DNA repair was also suggested. However, it was unclear whether this was due to general perturbation of cohesion or whether cohesin has a specialized role at the damage site. We therefore used a laser microbeam to create DNA damage at discrete sites in the cell nucleus and observed specificin vivo assembly of proteins at these sites by immunofluorescent detection. We observed that human cohesin is recruited to the damage site immediately after damage induction. Analysis of mutant cells revealed that cohesin recruitment to the damage site is dependent on the DNA double-strand break repair factor Mre11/Rad50 but not ATM or Nbs1. Consistently, Mre11/Rad50 and cohesin interact with each other in an interphase-specific manner. This interaction peaks in S/G2 phase, during which cohesin is recruited to the DNA damage. Our results demonstrate the S/G2-specific and Mre11/Rad50-dependent recruitment of human cohesin to DNA damage, suggesting a specialized subfunction for cohesin in cell cycle-specific DNA double strand break repair.
ECB Unconventional Monetary Policy and the Italian Economy during the Sovereign Debt Crisis

We assess the impact of the main unconventional monetary measures adopted by the European Central Bank in 2011–12 (the Securities Markets Programme, the three-year longer-term refinancing operations, and the Outright Monetary Transactions) on the Italian economy. We first estimate the indirect effects on financial and credit markets and then we map them onto their macroeconomic implications. The results suggest that all operations have, to varying degrees, contributed to counteract the increase in government bond yields and to improve credit supply and money-market conditions. From a macroeconomic perspective, the measures have had a large positive effect, mainly through the credit channel, with a cumulative impact on GDP growth of 2.7 percentage points over the period 2012–13.