Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Compact UWB Half-Mode SIW Bandpass Filter With Fully Reconfigurable Single and Dual Notched Bands

Compact ultra-wideband (UWB) bandpass filters based on the half-mode substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) with fully reconfigurable single and dual notched bands are proposed in this article. The lower stopband of the UWB bandpass filter is formed by the intrinsic cutoff frequency of the half-mode SIW, and transmission zeros in the upper stopband are created by utilizing three U-shaped slot resonators. Coupling microstrip resonators loaded by varactor diodes are placed along the open side of the half-mode SIW and microstrip feeding line to construct the in-band notches. By controlling the bias voltages and the size of resonators, fully reconfigurable single and dual notched bands can be obtained. Moreover, the frequency and bandwidth of each notched band can be controlled independently. To demonstrate the proposed technique, five and seven distributed coupling microstrip resonators are first applied to obtain the fully reconfigurable single notched band with the suppression level of 30 and 36 dB, respectively. Then, reconfigurable dual notched bands are demonstrated by changing the bias voltages using the same prototype with seven resonators. At last, nine resonant cells with two sets of different sizes are shown to design reconfigurable dual notched bands with frequency tuning range covering almost the full UWB passband.
Assessment of antibody responses to Newcastle disease vaccination in Nigerian indigenous chicken lines selected for sheep red blood cell antigen

This research was carried out to evaluate serum haemagglutination inhibition antibody titres to a Newcastle disease virus vaccine in two Nigerian indigenous chicken lines selected for sheep red blood cell antigens. One hundred Nigerian indigenous chickens were used. These chickens belonged to the fourth generation of flock that had been divergently distinguished into a high antibody titre chicken line (HATC) and a low antibody titre chicken line (LATC). Chicks were given a NDV vaccine at six weeks of age, while blood samples were collected from each chick at seven days post-administration. The antibody titres of chicks were determined through a haemagglutination inhibition test and the data collected were subjected to analysis of variance using SAS 9.2 version. It was found that sex had no significant effect on the antibody titre values (p>0.05), while the genetic line and sex by genetic line interaction had significant effects on the antibody titre values. Female chicks of LATC recorded a significantly lower ND antibody titre (4.21+0.47) compared to HATC females (8.04+2.02). Also, male chicks of LATC recorded a significantly lower ND antibody titre (4.26+1.20) compared to HATC males (7.25+0.48). Meanwhile, there was no significant difference between male and female chicks of LATC as well as between male and female chicks of HATC. Based on the differences observed in ND antibody titres between the genetic lines, emphasis should be placed on policies to develop HATC and LATC along ND resistance. Therefore, we recommend that when considering ND infection which exerts substantial losses to the poultry industry, HATC should be favoured over LATC.
Piezoelectric MEMS Resonators: A Review

Since two decades piezoelectric MEMS resonator research has been making a headway by leaps and bounds in multiple fronts such as micro/nanofabrication techniques, device and system design, monolithic integration, packaging, material engineering, etc. Piezoelectricity based frequency selective resonant tanks are an integral part of radio frequency communication, inertial sensors, infrared sensors, environmental monitoring modules, energy harvesters, etc. To improve the functionality of the aforementioned modules it is cardinal to understand the underlying concepts of resonator design, material selection, and performance enhancement techniques. Here in this review paper, a comprehensive overview of various piezoelectric thin-film material properties along with different commercial microfabrication platforms with CMOS integration facility is presented. The device characteristics greatly depend on the resonator mode shape and thus suitable modes and thin-film material configurations can be chosen depending on the target frequency, application, and power budget requirements. In addition to device modeling, a synopsis of the several acoustic and material engineering approaches to enhance the figure of merit of the resonator has been presented. The future avenues of piezoelectric MEMS cover a wide spectrum of possibilities such as 5G communication, quantum processing, frequency combs, photonics integration, gesture sensors, etc.
TCANet: Triple Context-Aware Network for Weakly Supervised Object Detection in Remote Sensing Images

Weakly supervised object detection (WSOD) in remote sensing images (RSI) plays an essential role in RSI understanding applications. Currently, predominant works are inclined to first activate the most discriminative region and then pursue the whole object by analyzing the context information of the activated region. However, the most discriminative region usually only covers a small crucial part. Besides, many same-class instances often appear in adjacent locations. In such a case, treating proposals of large spatial overlap as the same-class instances not only introduces potential ambiguities but also misleads the detection model to recognize multiple adjacent instances as one object instance. To address these challenges, a novel triple context-aware network (TCANet) is proposed to learn complementary and discriminative visual patterns for WSOD in RSIs. Specifically, a global context-aware enhancement (GCAE) module is first designed to activate the features of the whole object by capturing the global visual scene context. Then, a dual-local context residual (DLCR) module is further developed to capture the instance-level discriminative cues by leveraging the semantic discrepancy of the local context. Furthermore, an effective adaptive-weighted refinement loss is integrated into the DLCR module to reduce the ambiguities in the label propagating process. The collaboration of GCAE and DLCR formulates a unique TCANet that can be learned in an end-to-end manner. Comprehensive experiments are carried out on the challenging NWPU VHR-10.v2 and DIOR data sets. We achieve a 58.8% mAP and a 25.8% mAP on the NWPU VHR-10.v2 and DIOR data sets, respectively, which both significantly outperform the state of the arts.
N—H bond stretching in histidine complexes: a solid‐state NMR study

N—H bond lengths in imidazolium–carboxylate pairs were studied as models for enzyme active site motifs. The bond lengths were measured using ‘2D 2ϕ‐DipShift,’ a solid‐state NMR method wherein the N,H dipolar coupling is determined using heteronuclear dipolar spinning sideband patterns. Like the situation for compressed O—H···O systems, some complexes exhibit very short N···O distances and weaker N,H dipolar coupling. The weaker time‐average N,H dipolar coupling for systems with short N···O hydrogen bonds can be most likely associated with an altered potential well for the proton, or a ‘stretched’ covalent bond, although other interpretations involving a double well potential are discussed. The range or variation in average bond lengths seen in this study is much narrower than that previously reported for O—H···O systems (1.01–1.07 Å for N—H vs 1.0–1.3 Å for O—H bonds). Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Improved Selected Mapping Technique for Reduction of PAPR in OFDM Systems

High peak to average power ratio (PAPR) is a limiting factor towards the performance of an OFDM system. Selected Mapping (SLM) is a popular peak to average power ratio (PAPR) reduction scheme used with the OFDM systems. In this technique, U set of candidate sequences are generated that leads to improvement in the PAPR reduction ability of the OFDM systems. The major concern of the conventional SLM is that as the number of candidates is increased, there is a proportional rise in the inverse fast Fourier transforms (IFFT) computations of the systems. In our article we have proposed a scheme in which we increase the number of candidate sequence as (U+U2/4) that leads to improved PAPR performance of the OFDM systems without any equivalent rise in the IFFT computations. It has been demonstrated that both the simulation and analytical results are well-approximated in our proposed schemes. We also estimate the threshold value of PAPR at a fixed value of complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF) for different number of subcarriers and candidate sequences. Results demonstrate that our proposed scheme outperforms in terms of PAPR reduction ability of the OFDM signal and obtains effective PAPR threshold values with negligible loss in BER performance of the system.
Eine neue strukturelle Variante des BaAl4-Typs: Der CaBe2Ge2-Typ / A New Structural Variant of the BaAl4-Type: The CaBe2Ge2-Type

The ternary intermetallic compounds CaBe2Ge2, BaMg2Pb2 and BaZn2Sn2 have been prepared. Their crystal-structures have been determined. They are isotypic and crystallize in a new variant of the BaAl4-type (Space group: P4/nmm — D4h7, lattice parameters: CaBe2Ge2: a = 4,02 ± 0,02 Å c = 9,92 ± 0,02 Å BaMg2Pb2: a = 5,00 ± 0,02 Å c = 12,11 ± 0,02 Å BaZn2Sn2: a = 4,69 ± 0,02 Å c = 11,33 ± 0,02 Å).
Activity Measurement and Colloid Chemical Studies of Aqueous Sodium Tetradecyl Sulfate Solutions

A concentration cell using an ion-exchange semipermeable membrane as a septum for the measurement of the activities of ionic surfactants has been constructed, the method of measurement is here in described. The membranes used proved each to be exclusively permeable to one ion. The activities of both the tetradecyl sulfate ion (TS−) and the counterion (Na+) were determined. In the concentration region from 4.0×10−4 mol/1 to CMC, logf±=−(0.070logC+0.283) held for the mean activity coefficient, f±. The f± value at the CMC was found to be 0.81, considerably smaller than the value, 0.978, calculated by the Debye-Huckel equation taking account of the ionic size, 5.5 A. Above the CMC the activity of the TS− ion decreased, that of the Na+ ion increased, and the mean activity slightly increased with the NaTS concentration. The Gibbs adsorption isotherm was applied for the adsorption of NaTS, using exclusively the observed data of the amount of adsorption, the surface tension, and the activities. A satisfactory agr.
How Nostalgia Affects Brand Equity? Consumers’ Attitudes Towards Nostalgic Generational and Transgenerational Brands

Purpose: The article aims to expand the nostalgic brand management area by empirically examining the impact of nostalgia on all components of brand equity and, consequently, on the consumers’ attitudes and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach: The research was conducted in the form of direct and indirect communication with 1000 Polish respondents using the personal and online survey techniques. Two main stages of research were carried out in the fourth quarter of 2018. Findings: The results confirm that consumers are nostalgic towards both generational and transgenerational brands, what positively affects the perceived quality of brands, associations connected with them, as well as consumers’ loyalty. The rating of nostalgic brands equity is higher than in case of brands perceived as non-nostalgic, with the exception of brands from the automotive industry. The nostalgic brands equity depends on age of the respondents but is not dependent on the consumers’ gender. It was also confirmed that brand equity is rated higher in case of nostalgic transgenerational brands than the generational ones. Practical Implications: The results can serve as a guide for managers in implementing the nostalgic brand strategy. Originality/value: The consumers’ attitudes were evaluated considering the type of the nostalgic brand.
Formation of thermotropic and lyotropic smectic and columnar liquid crystalline phases by a novel type of rigid rod-like amphiphilic molecule

4-Benzyloxy-4′-(2,3-dihydroxypropyloxy)biphenyls with lateral methyl substituents are a novel class of amphiphilic mesogens displaying thermotropic and lyotropic smectic and columnar mesophases due to microsegregation of hydrophilic regions from all-aromatic segments in the absence of a flexible alkyl chain.
Optical analysis of an ellipsometric technique for time-resolved magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy

The Mueller matrix calculus is used to derive signal equations for a technique for nanosecond time-resolved magnetic circular dichroism (TRMCD) spectroscopy that is based on detection of the polarization state of highly eccentric, elliptically polarized light. These equations link the observed signal to the magnetic circular dichroism of the sample in the presence of measurement artifacts associated with imperfect optical devices and the birefringence induced in laser-photolyzed samples by photoselection. The results provide a methodical basis for optimization of optics and artifact reduction. An experimental example of the most important artifact, arising from the second-order coupling of birefringence and Faraday rotation, is presented for the case of laser-photolyzed (carbonmonoxy)myoglobin
Adjustment Experiences of First-Year Students in South Africa

Background and Objective: For most students, adjusting to both social and academic life entails engenders a modicum of stress and emotional challenges for most students, resulting in risks of students drop-out. The current study sought insight and understanding into the adjustment experiences of first-year students at a previously disadvantaged tertiary institution of Higher learning in South Africa. Materials and Method: Qualitative research was conducted to establish the lived experiences of the participants. Four focus with eighteen first-year participants from different departments were utilised for data collection. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews, which allowed probing. Thematic Content Analysis was employed to gather themes from the data. Results: The main results indicated that first-year students found life was different, many old familiar and predictable relationships disintegrating. However, they also found independence and the resilience to adapt to change. Positive adjustment experiences and coping mechanisms included working hard, interacting with lecturing staff and attending religious events, while negative ones included drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. Conclusions: The study recommended that orientation for first-year students is imperative and should incorporate a programme that helped first-year students understand the challenges they are likely to face in this new phase of their academic and social development.
COVID-19 and the Unequal Surge in Mortality Rates in Massachusetts, by City/Town and ZIP Code Measures of Poverty, Household Crowding, Race/Ethnicity,and Racialized Economic Segregation

From the Abstract: Despite the paucity of adequate data on race/ethnicity - and no data on socioeconomic position - in US national data on COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] mortality, both investigative journalism and some state and local health departments are beginning to document evidence of the greater mortality burden of COVID-19 on communities of color and low-income communities To date, such documentation has been in relation to deaths categorized as due to COVID-19 However, in a context when assignment of cause of death to COVID-19 is dynamic and incomplete, given developing scientific evidence, one important strategy for assessing differential impacts of COVID-19 is that of evaluating the overall excess of deaths, as compared to the same time period in prior years We employ this approach in this working paper and provide a transparent, easy-to-replicate methodology that relies on the reported data (i e , no model-based estimates or complex modeling assumptions) and that can be readily used by any local or state health agency to monitor the social patterning of excess mortality rates during the COVID-19 pandemic Key findings are that the surge in excess death rates, both relative and absolute, was evident starting in early April, and was greater in city/towns and ZCTAs [ZIP Code Tabulation Area] with higher poverty, higher household crowding, higher percentage of populations of color, and higher racialized economic segregation COVID-19 (Disease);Public health case studies;Mortality
Precipitation of ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composites in the presence of natural rubber latex and selected non‐ionic surfactants

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to obtain ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composites of low bulk density, high homogeneity and consisting of the smallest possible particles. The optimum parameters of precipitation of ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composites impregnated with natural latex rubber were established. The formation and impregnation the ZnO‐SiO2 oxide composites were made to occur simultaneously.Design/methodology/approach – The influence of non‐ionic surfactants added during the precipitation process on the physico‐chemical properties of the oxide systems obtained was investigated. The products were characterised by determination of bulk density, absorption capacities of water and paraffin oil, particle size distribution (applying NIBS and laser diffraction methods), as well as SEM observations of surface morphology and microstructure. Moreover, the colorimetric characteristics of the oxide composites obtained and sedimentation profiles in water were analysed. Energo‐dispersive microanalysis of the products enabled det.
On the Performance of Indoor Multi-Story Small-Cell Networks

Mobile data traffic has been largely generated indoors. However, indoor cellular networks have been studied either on a two-dimensional (2D) plane or as an intractable optimization problem for a multi-story building. In this paper, we develop a tractable three-dimensional small-cell network model for a multi-story building. On each story, the small-cell base stations (BS) are distributed following a 2D homogeneous Poisson point process. We analytically derive the downlink coverage probability, spectral efficiency (SE) and area spectral efficiency for the indoor network as functions of the story height, the penetration loss of the ceiling and the BS density. Our tractable expressions show that a higher penetration loss of the ceiling leads to a higher coverage probability and a higher SE. Meanwhile, with the increase of the story height or the BS density, the downlink coverage probability first decreases and then increases after reaching a minimum value, indicating that certain values of story height and BS density should be avoided for good indoor wireless coverage.
A Survey of Test and Reliability Solutions for Magnetic Random Access Memories

Memories occupy most of the silicon area in nowadays’ system-on-chips and contribute to a significant part of system power consumption. Though widely used, nonvolatile Flash memories still suffer from several drawbacks. Magnetic random access memories (MRAMs) have the potential to mitigate most of the Flash shortcomings. Moreover, it is predicted that they could be used for DRAM and SRAM replacement. However, they are prone to manufacturing defects and runtime failures as any other type of memory. This article provides an up-to-date and practical coverage of MRAM test and reliability solutions existing in the literature. After some background on existing MRAM technologies, defectiveness and reliability issues are discussed, as well as functional fault models used for MRAM. This article is dedicated to a summarized description of existing test and reliability improvement methods developed so far for various MRAM technologies. The last part of this article gives some perspectives on this hot topic.
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Various Branched Polymeric Liquid Crystals

We discuss molecular dynamics simulations for several types of polymeric liquid crystals. Dendrimers with a variety of mesogenic attachments are studied in isotropic, nematic and smectic A solvents, with an emphasize on the coupling between molecular shape and the structure of the phase. The structure and dynamics of liquid crystal side-chain polymers are studied within different bulk phases. Here, again a strong coupling is noted between molecular shape and molecular organisation within each phase. We also consider photo-induced deformation in azobenzene-containing polymers and demonstrate that the “opposite sign” of these deformations, observed experimentally in liquid crystalline and amorphous systems, can be explained solely by the reorientation of trans-isomers of azobenzene.
Improved Biosensing Capability with Novel Suspended Nanodisks

In this work, we provide a theoretical and experimental study of the adverse effects that inherently arise when plasmonic nanoparticles are attached to a solid support. Using the example of short-ordered arrays of gold nanodisks, we show that the right choice for the thin metal adhesion layer that is used to ensure stable binding of the nanodisks to the substrate is extremely important to achieve competitive limits of detection. Furthermore, we show that the presence of the high refractive index support undisputedly results in lower bulk and surface sensing sensitivities. To minimize this effect, we propose an isotropic chemical etch of the supporting substrate, resulting in dielectric nanopillars which distance the nanodisks from this high refractive index material. We demonstrate that this novel method not only preserves the mechanical stability but also strongly increases the sensing performance of these suspended nanodisk arrays. This is demonstrated via the label-free detection of DNA hybridization, reflecting the robustness and the surface-regenerative capabilities of these pillar-supported nanodisk arrays. Furthermore, through the successful implementation of this sensitivity enhancing method to more complex nanostructures, such as arrays of closely distanced nanodisk dimers, this method profiles itself as a simple strategy to improve the limits of detection of a wide variety of nanoplasmonic sensors.
The effect of bispectral index guided anesthesia versus standard practice on recovery after sevoflurane anesthesia in children: a prospective randomized double-blind clinical trial

ABSTRACT Background and aim Using bispectral index (BIS) guided anaesthesia may affect the quality of recovery and consumption of inhalational anaesthetic agents. The target of our study aimed to evaluate the impact of BIS-guided anaesthesia when compared with standard clinical practice to investigate the quality of recovery and sevoflurane concentration. Patients and method 54 children (aged3-12 years) go through ambulatory surgery that they randomized to receive sevoflurane anaesthesia controlled either merely by clinical parameters (controlled group), BIS-guided group within the BIS range of 40–60 (BIS group). The primary outcome has recorded the recovery time. The secondary outcome recorded the quality of recovery, which was measured by the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium score. Results There were no statistically significant differences between Group C and Group BIS as regard age, weight, time of surgery, Time of anaesthesia, sex, ASA, type of surgery, mean value of PAED score at 20,25 and 30 min., heart rate and MAP. On the other hand, there were statistically significant differences between Group C and Group BIS as regarding Time for removal of the laryngeal mask, discharge to PACU, PACU time, PAED score at Baseline, 5, 10 and 15 min., and end-tidal sevoflurane concentration. Conclusion Sevoflurane anaesthesia guided by BIS results in decreased recovery and decreased sevoflurane concentration without affecting the quality of recovery in children go through ambulatory surgery.