Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation of Small-Signal Dynamics of Modular Multilevel Converter Under Unbalanced Grid Conditions

This paper develops a comprehensive dynamic-phasor-based small-signal model for the modular multilevel converter (MMC) system under unbalanced grid conditions, which takes into consideration the dynamics of the MMC system under a balanced grid condition as well as the other emerging internal harmonics produced by the unbalanced grid components and more complex controllers. The small-signal model is validated by comparing the time-domain responses from a detailed electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation in PSCAD/EMTDC. Based on the eigen-analysis and PSCAD-based time-domain simulation studies, this paper reveals the poorly damped modes that cause unstable oscillations in MMC system under the unbalanced grid conditions. From the results, more poorly damped modes involved in the internal harmonics are emerging under unbalanced grid conditions compared with the modes under the balanced grid conditions, and can highly impact the system dynamic behaviors by the selection of the control parameters. It is also shown that, under the unbalanced grid conditions, the feasible region of the control parameters of the vector current control gets narrowed indicating the reduction of the stability margin, smaller (larger) value of proportional (integral) gain of the circulating current suppressing controller can enhance the system stability, and larger values of the proportional and integral gains of the negative-sequence current suppressing control can result in the harmonic instability of the MMC system. Besides, the parameters of multiple complex-coefficient filters for positive- and negative-sequence components extraction also have a big impact on the small-signal stability of the MMC system and are required to be properly selected.
Phylogenetic relationships in the genus Avena based on the nuclear Pgk1 gene

The phylogenetic relationships among 76 Avena taxa, representing 14 diploids, eight tetraploids, and four hexaploids were investigated by using the nuclear plastid 3-phosphoglycerate kinase gene(pgk1). A significant deletion (131 bp) was detected in all the C genome homoeologues which reconfirmed a major structural divergence between the A and C genomes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated the Cp genome is more closely related to the polyploid species than is the Cv genome. Two haplotypes of pgk1 gene were obtained from most of the AB genome tetraploids. Both types of the barbata group showed a close relationship with the As genome diploid species, supporting the hypothesis that both the A and B genomes are derived from an As genome. Two haplotypes were also detected in A. agadiriana, which showed close relationships with the As genome diploid and the Ac genome diploid, respectively, emphasizing the important role of the Ac genome in the evolution of A. agadiriana. Three homoeologues of thepgK1 gene were detected in five hexaploid accessions. The homoeologues that might represent the D genome were tightly clustered with the tetraploids A. marrocana and A. murphyi, but did not show a close relationship with any extant diploid species.
News coverage, digital activism, and geographical saliency: A case study of refugee camps and volunteered geographical information

The last several decades have witnessed a shift in the way in which news is delivered and consumed by users. With the growth and advancements in mobile technologies, the Internet, and Web 2.0 technologies users are not only consumers of news, but also producers of online content. This has resulted in a novel and highly participatory cyber-physical news awareness ecosystem that fosters digital activism, in which volunteers contribute content to online communities. While studies have examined the various components of this news awareness ecosystem, little is still known about how news media coverage (and in particular digital media) impacts digital activism. In order to address this challenge and develop a greater understanding of it, this paper focuses on a specific form of digital activism, that of the production of digital geographical content through crowdsourcing efforts. Using refugee camps from around the world as a case study, we examine the relationship between news coverage (via Google news), search trends (via Google trends) and user edit contribution patterns in OpenStreetMap, a prominent geospatial data crowdsourcing platform. In addition, we compare and contrast these patterns with user edit patterns in Wikipedia, a well-known non-geospatial crowdsourcing platform. Using Google news and Google trends to derive a measure of thematic public awareness, our findings indicate that digital activism bursts tend to take place during periods of sustained build-up of public awareness deficit or surplus. These findings are in line with two prominent mass communication theories: agenda setting and corrective action, and suggest the emergence of a novel stimulus-awareness-activism framework in today’s participatory digital age. Moreover, these findings further complement existing research examining the motivational factors that drive users to contribute to online collaborative communities. This paper brings us one step closer to understanding the underlying mechanisms that drive digital activism in particular in the geospatial domain.
SocialGQ: Towards Semantically Approximated and User-aware Querying of Social-Graph Data

– The proliferation of social and collaborative sites makes users increasingly active in the generation of social-graph data; however, such sea of data often hinders them from ﬁnding the information they need. In this paper, we present SocialGQ (“Social-Graph Querying”), a novel approach for the effective and efﬁcient querying of social-graph data overcoming the limitations of typical search approaches proposed in the literature. SocialGQ allows users to compose complex queries in a simple way, and is able to retrieve useful knowledge (top-k answers) by jointly exploiting: (a) the structure of the graph, semantically approximating the user’s requests with meaningful answers; (b) the unstructured textual resources of the graph; (c) its social and user-aware dimension. An experimental evaluation comparing SocialGQ to leading approaches shows strong gains on a real social-graph data scenario.
A personalized metasearch engine based on multi-agent system

: By providing unified access to multiple underlying search engines, metasearch engine is an intuitiveway to increase the coverage of the WWW. Great progress has been made in this area, butthe previous studies ignore the perspectives of users. This paper proposes a personalization mechanism for metasearch engine based on multi-agent system to improve precision ratio. The proposed mechanism obtains user interests from click-through data, schedules the appropriate underlying search engines according to the expertness model, and merges results based on user interest distribution. Moreover, it also has the ability to provide personalized result recommendation. Compared with the baseline results, experimental results show that the proposed personalization mechanism performs better on precision. The proposed metasearch engine is feasible for providing useful search results more effectively.
Understanding wafer patterns in semiconductor production with variational auto-encoders

Semiconductor manufacturing processes critically depend on hundreds of highly complex process steps, which may cause critical deviations in the end-product. Hence, a better understanding of wafer test data patterns, which represent stress tests conducted on devices in semiconductor material slices, may lead to an improved production process. However, the shapes and types of these wafer patterns, as well as their relation to single process steps, are unknown. In a ﬁrst step to address these issues, we tailor and apply a variational auto-encoder (VAE) to wafer pattern images. We ﬁnd the VAE’s generator allows for explorative wafer pattern analysis, and its encoder provides an eﬀective dimensionality reduction al-gorithm, which, in a clustering application, performs better than several baselines such as t-SNE and yields interpretable clusters of wafer patterns.
Continuous‐time linear equalizer with automatic boosting gain adaptation and input offset cancellation

A continuous‐time linear equalizer (CTLE) for high‐speed serial link is presented whose adaptive boosting gain is obtained with the data and edge values sampled by clock and data recovery circuit. The input offset of the serial link receiver is estimated by the data and edge values as well and cancelled by the CTLE. The adaptation of the CTLE boosting gain is immune to the phase error of the clock and data recovery sampling clock, and the cancellation of the input offset is independent of the boosting gain adaptation. The performance of the proposed adaptive CTLE has been evaluated by applying it to a 5‐Gb/s serial link receiver implemented in a 65‐nm CMOS technology.
Reduced-Order Small-Signal Models of Modular Multilevel Converter and MMC-Based HVdc Grid

Generally, the small-signal model (SSM) of a modular multilevel converter (MMC) needs to consider the dynamics of equivalent arm capacitors, which inevitably increases the model order. In view of this, this paper proposes a general order-reducing approach based on balanced realization theory to reduce the SSM order of the MMC. In particular, two reduced-order models of an MMC-based HVdc grid are proposed with respect to different research objectives. To determine the potential minimum order of single MMC or MMC-HVdc grid, the criteria including singular values (SVs) of the frequency response, dynamic response in the time domain, and the largest absolute error of SVs are fully investigated. The simulation results of a four-terminal MMC-HVdc grid show that reduced-order models of the MMC and the HVdc grid can precisely predict both the stability and instability while the dynamic characteristics are retained.
The ribosomal maturation factor P from Mycobacterium smegmatis facilitates the ribosomal biogenesis by binding to the small ribosomal protein S12

The ribosomal maturation factor P (RimP) is a highly conserved protein in bacteria and has been shown to be important in ribosomal assembly in Escherichia coli. Because of its central importance in bacterial metabolism, RimP represents a good potential target for drug design to combat human pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, to date, the only RimP structure available is the NMR structure of the ortholog in another bacterial pathogen, Streptococcus pneumoniae. Here, we report a 2.2 Å resolution crystal structure of MSMEG_2624, the RimP ortholog in the close M. tuberculosis relative Mycobacterium smegmatis, and using in vitro binding assays, we show that MSMEG_2624 interacts with the small ribosomal protein S12, also known as RpsL. Further analyses revealed that the conserved residues in the linker region between the N- and C-terminal domains of MSMEG_2624 are essential for binding to RpsL. However, neither of the two domains alone was sufficient to form strong interactions with RpsL. More importantly, the linker region was essential for in vivo ribosomal biogenesis. Our study provides critical mechanistic insights into the role of RimP in ribosome biogenesis. We anticipate that the MSMEG_2624 crystal structure has the potential to be used for drug design to manage M. tuberculosis infections.
Differentiation of Hemorrhage from Iodine Using Spectral Detector CT: A Phantom Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Conventional CT often cannot distinguish hemorrhage from iodine extravasation following reperfusion therapy for acute ischemic stroke. We investigated the potential of spectral detector CT in differentiating these lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Centrifuged blood with increasing hematocrit (5%–85%) was used to model hemorrhage. Pure blood, blood-iodine mixtures (75/25, 50/50, and 25/75 ratios), and iodine solutions (0–14 mg I/mL) were scanned in a phantom with attenuation ranging from 12 to 75 HU on conventional imaging. Conventional and virtual noncontrast attenuation was compared and investigated for correlation with calculation of relative virtual noncontrast attenuation. Values for all investigated categories were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Sensitivity and specificity of virtual noncontrast, relative virtual noncontrast, conventional CT attenuation, and iodine quantification for hemorrhage detection were determined with receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: Conventional image attenuation was not significantly different among all samples containing blood (P > .05), while virtual noncontrast attenuation showed a significant decrease with a decreasing blood component (P < .01) in all blood-iodine mixtures. Relative virtual noncontrast values were significantly different among all investigated categories (P < .01), with correct hemorrhagic component size estimation for all categories within a 95% confidence interval. Areas under the curve for hemorrhage detection were 0.97, 0.87, 0.29, and 0.16 for virtual noncontrast, relative virtual noncontrast, conventional CT attenuation, and iodine quantification, respectively. A ≥10-HU virtual noncontrast, ≥20-HU virtual noncontrast, ≥40% relative virtual noncontrast, and combined ≥10-HU virtual noncontrast and ≥40% relative virtual noncontrast attenuation threshold had a sensitivity/specificity for detecting hemorrhage of 100%/23%, 89%/95%, 100%/82%, and 100%/100%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Spectral detector CT can accurately differentiate blood from iodinated contrast in a phantom setting.
Serum Vitamin D Binding Protein Level Associated with Metabolic Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Women with the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Abstract The objective of the study was to measure the levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) and assess their relationships with cardiovascular risk factors in women with the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A group of 267 women, aged 20–35 years (24.7 ± 4.9): 167 with PCOS and 100 healthy women were divided according to body mass index. Biochemical and hormonal parameters were measured. Free and bioavailable 25(OH)D were calculated using the mathematical equations. The percentage of body fat and visceral fat deposit were assessed by DXA. In the normal weight control group total, free, bioavailable 25(OH)D (p<0.001 for all) were significantly higher than in its overweight/obese counterpart, while VDBP levels were comparable. In PCOS women total 25(OH)D (p<0.001), and VDBP (p –0.006) were lower in the overweight/obese subgroups than in the normal weight ones. In both groups serum VDBP levels correlated negatively with serum insulin and positively with sex hormone binding globulin. In PCOS group, in contrast to control group, VDPB was negatively correlated with abdominal fat deposit, BMI, fasting glucose and positively with HDL. Despite lower total 25(OH)D in obese PCOS women, all women with PCOS (lean and obese) had comparable free and bioavailable 25(OH)D, which might be a result of concomitantly lowered serum VDBP levels in obese PCOS women. VDBP might play important role in the regulation of availability of active fractions of 25(OH)D in PCOS women. VDBP seems to be associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as BMI, waist circumference, visceral fat, and fasting serum insulin in women with PCOS.
Surprisal-based activation in recurrent neural networks

Learning hierarchical abstractions from sequences is a challenging and open problem for Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs). This is mainly due to the diﬃculty of detecting features that span over long distances with also diﬀerent frequencies. In this paper, we address this challenge by introducing surprisal-based activation, a novel method to preserve activations contingent on encoding-based self-information. The preserved activations can be considered as temporal shortcuts with perfect memory. We evaluate surprisal-based activation on language modelling by testing it on the Penn Treebank corpus and ﬁnd that it can improve performance when compared to a baseline RNN.
An approach to estimating cited sentences in academic papers using Doc2vec

Most academic authors refer to the literature when introducing their proposed methods and the data used in their experiments. These references can be very helpful when trying to understand a paper; however, some authors do not always state clearly the specific part of the referenced work they are referring the reader to and it can be quite laborintensive to have to read the whole document to identify the relevant information. In this paper, we propose a method for estimating the appropriate parts of a referenced work as the "cited parts," with the aim of reducing this burden. We first extract sentences in an academic paper that cites references to the literature as "citing sentences. " We then vectorize the citing sentences and all the sentences in the cited papers using doc2vec and estimate the most appropriate cited part as the sentence that has the most similar feature vector to that of the citing sentence. To evaluate the proposed method, we conducted experiments using English-language papers and a questionnaire survey that asked subjects to evaluate the appropriateness of the cited parts estimated by the method. The experiments showed that this approach's success in estimating the appropriate parts of a cited paper as the cited parts depended on the citation intention of the citing sentences.
CheckQC: Quick quality control of Illumina sequencing runs

The last quarter of 20th century has been marked by the drive to decode genes and later whole genomes, giving rise to the field of genomics (Lander et al. 2001). In order to study the genome it is essential to know the sequential order of nucleotides in the DNA sequence. The process of determining this order is referred to as DNA sequencing. These technologies are not limited to the study of DNA, but can also be used in a wide variety of other applications such as studying the transcriptome (RNA sequencing) and epigenetic modifications of the DNA itself. One of the most widely used technologies for DNA sequencing is the sequencing-by-synthesis solution provided by Illumina Inc (E. R. Mardis 2017). Sequencing is typically carried out at sequencing core facilities that offer sequencing as a service (Spjuth et al. 2016).
Field Expedient Vasopressors During Aeromedical Evacuation: A Case Series from the Puerto Rico Disaster Response

Abstract Introduction Emergency physicians are using bolus-dose vasopressors to temporize hypotensive patients until more definitive blood pressure support can be established. Despite a paucity of clinical outcome data, emergency department applications are expanding into the prehospital setting. This series presents two cases of field expedient vasopressor use by emergency medicine providers for preflight stabilization during aeromedical evacuation to a hospital ship as part of the United States Navy disaster response in Puerto Rico. A critical approach and review of the literature are discussed. Case Report Two critically ill patients were managed in an austere environment as a result of the devastation from Hurricane Maria (Yabucoa, Puerto Rico; 2017). They both exhibited signs of respiratory distress, hemodynamic instability, and distributive shock requiring definitive airway management and hemodynamic support prior to aeromedical evacuation. Discussion The novel use of field expedient vasopressors prior to induction for rapid sequence intubation was successfully and safely employed in both cases. Both patients had multiple risk factors for peri-induction cardiac arrest given their presenting hemodynamics. Despite their illness severity, both patients were induced, transported, and ultimately admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in stable condition following administration of the field expedient vasopressors. Conclusion: Field expedient vasopressors were safely and effectively employed in an austere field environment during a disaster response. This case series contributes to the growing body of literature of safe bolus-dose vasopressor use by emergency physicians to temporize hypotensive patients in resource-constrained situations. HardwickJM, MurnanSD, Morrison-PonceDP, DevlinJJ. Field expedient vasopressors during aeromedical evacuation: a case series from the Puerto Rico disaster response. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(6):668–672.
Intravitreal Delivery of VEGF-A165-loaded PLGA Microparticles Reduces Retinal Vaso-Obliteration in an In Vivo Mouse Model of Retinopathy of Prematurity

ABSTRACT Purpose: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a condition of abnormal retinal vascularization with reduced levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) causing vaso-obliteration (Phase I), followed by abnormal neovascularization from increased VEGF (Phase II). We hypothesized that intravitreal pro-angiogenic VEGF-A in microparticle form would promote earlier retinal revascularization in an oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy (OIR) mouse model. Materials and Methods: Wildtype mice (39) were exposed to 77% oxygen from postnatal day 7 (P7) to P12. VEGF-A165-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) (n = 15) or empty PLGA (n = 14) microparticles were fabricated using a water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion method, and injected intravitreally at P13 into mice right eyes (RE). Left eyes (LE) were untreated. At P20, after retinal fluorescein angiography, vascular parameters were quantified. Retinal VEGF levels at P13 and flatmounts at P20 were performed separately. Results: VEGF-A165-loaded microparticles had a mean diameter of 4.2 μm. with a loading level of 8.6 weight. %. Retinal avascular area was reduced in VEGF-treated RE (39.5 ± 9.0%) compared to untreated LE (52.6 ± 6.1%, p < 0.0001) or empty microparticle-treated RE (p < 0.001) and untreated LEs (p = 0.001). Retinal arteries in VEGF-treated RE were less tortuous than untreated LE (1.08 ± 0.05 vs. 1.18 ± 0.08, p < 0.001) or empty-microparticles-treated RE (p = 0.02). Retinal arterial tortuosity was similar in the LE of VEGF and empty microparticle-treated mice (P > 0.05). Retinal vein width was similar in VEGF-treated and empty microparticle-treated RE (P > 0.9), which were each less dilated than their contralateral LE (p < 0.01). VEGF levels were higher in P13 OIR mice than RA mice (p < 0.0001). Retinal flatmounts showed vaso-obliteration and neovascularization. Conclusions: Endogenous retinal VEGF is suppressed in OIR mice. Exogenous intravitreal VEGF-A165-loaded microparticles in OIR mice reduced retinal vaso-obliteration and accelerated recovery from vein dilation and arterial tortuosity. This may be beneficial in preventing Phase II ROP without systemic effects.